The President Obama Thread - Part 6

[Kelly]

I think that a Snowden Pardon is unlikely.
But Obama is still president until 12:01pm tomorrow, you never know.

He couldn't pardon Snowden even if he wanted to, you can't pardon someone who has not gone before a court.

 

[Herofan]

Obama had fine ideas and some successes but he didn't succeed nearly enough in what a lot of people cared the most about, improving the economy and decreasing terrorism. I doubt a lot of his supporters were either very impressed with his legislative accomplishments or felt secure about the economy or terrorism.

 

[samsnee]

What's the unemployment rate now vs when Obama started? How many people have health insurance now vs when Obama started? Is Bin Laden alive or dead?

Because Obama didn't accomplish everything, he is guilty of accomplishing nothing for some people.

 

[Kelly]

What's the unemployment rate now vs when Obama started? How many people have health insurance now vs when Obama started? Is Bin Laden alive or dead?

Because Obama didn't accomplish everything, he is guilty of accomplishing nothing for some people.

Unemployment rate... 7.8% (Jan. 2009) 4.5% (Jan. 2017)
Health Care #'s Uninsured rate in 2008 was 15% today around 9%.
Terrorism --
-- Reagan 1981-1988

1983 - Bombing at United States Embassy in Beirut, April 18, 1983. 63 people killed.

1983 - Beirut barracks bombing, October 23, 1983. 305 people, including 241 US servicemen, are killed by a large truck bomb.

1984 - Twenty-two people were killed and seventy were wounded when another truck bomb exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy annex in Awkar, Lebanon.

1985 - TWA Flight 847 hijacked, U.S. Navy diver is killed by Hezbollah.

1985 - Achille Lauro hijacking, wheel-chair bound American killed by Palestinian militants.

1985 - US Army Specialist Edward Pimental was murdered by members of the Red Army Faction.

1985 - A car bomb exploded at Rhein-Main Air Base, killing two and wounding eleven.

1986 - Four Americans were killed and five Americans were injured when a bomb exploded aboard TWA Flight 840 as it traveled from Rome to Athens.

1986 - On April 6, a Berlin discotheque bombing killed a Turkish woman and 2 US servicemen and injured 230 people.

1988 - On April 14 at 8 p.m., a car bomb exploded in front of the USO Club in Naples, Italy. Five people died and fifteen were injured.

1988 - Pan Am Flight 103, outbound from London for New York with 259 people aboard, was destroyed by a bomb on December 21, 1988 while over Lockerbie, Scotland. Plus eleven persons on the ground.

1988 - 1990 - Marine Col. Rich Higgins kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Hezbollah
--------------------

-- GHW Bush 1989-1992

Presents an argument for promoting CIA Director to President. Nothing big and bad happened during his administration.

Gulf War 1990-1991 had 458 coalition troops killed. 190 from enemy action. Nobody knows how many Iraqis were killed.
---------------------

-- Clinton 1993-2000

1993 - World Trade Center bombing, February 26: 6 killed, 1,042 injured.

1995 - Two US diplomats killed in Pakistan, March 8.

1995 - Oklahoma City bombing, 168 killed, over 800 injured. April 19.

1996 - Khobar Towers bombed: 19 American servicemen killed.

1998 - US embassies bombed: U.S. Kenya Embassy, 214 killed; U.S. Tanzania Embassy, 11 killed. (Other sources cite 232 dead.)

2000 - USS Cole attacked, 17 U.S. Navy sailors killed, 39 injured.
-----------------------

-- George W. Bush 2001-2008

2001 - September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,997 killed;

2002 - Reporter Daniel Pearl, kidnapped and beheaded in Karachi.

2002 - Nine people killed by bomb blast near US embassy in Lima - seen as attempt to disrupt forthcoming visit by President George W. Bush.

2002-2006 - Karachi consulate attacks: three separate attacks killed 18 people and injured 87.

2002 - Two Marines shot, one killed in Kuwait.

2003 - Riyadh Compound Bombed, killing 9 Americans, among 35 others.

2003 - Three American diplomats are killed by a roadside bomb targeting their convoy in Gaza.

2004 - Civilians Nick Berg, Jack Hensley, and Eugene Armstrong kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq.

2004 - Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr, civilian working in Saudi Arabia, kidnapped and beheaded; five other Americans die in attacks in Saudi Arabia in 2004.

2007 - American embassy attacked in Athens, Greece.

2008 - John Granville, US diplomat, assassinated in Khartoum, Sudan
-------------------

-- Barack Obama 2009-2016

(The ones I put below are only those attacks where people lost their lives, there are about 4 -5 other attacks where there was no loss of life.

Little Rock, Arkansas, June 1, 2009. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot and murdered one soldier, Army Pvt. William Andrew Long, and injured another, Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, at a military recruiting station in Little Rock. Muhammad reportedly converted to Islam in college and was on the FBI's radar after being arrested in Yemen–a hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism–for using a Somali passport, even though he was a U.S. citizen. In a note to an Arkansas judge, Muhammad claimed to be a member of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, the terror group's Yemen chapter.

Fort Hood, Texas, November 5, 2009. Major Nidal Malik Hasan shot up a military base in Fort Hood and murdered 14 people. Hasan was in contact with al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack and shouted "Allahu Akbar!" as he fired upon the soldiers on the Fort Hood base. After being sentenced to death, Hasan requested to join ISIS while on death row. It took six years for Obama to acknowledge the shooting as a terror attack instead of "workplace violence."

Boston, Massachusetts, April 15, 2013. Tamerlan and Dhozkar Tsarnaev set off two bombs at the 2013 Boston marathon, killing three and injuring over 260 people. The Tsarnaev brothers later shot and murdered Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier. The Tsarnaev brothers were self-radicalized through online jihadist propaganda and through a mosque with ties to al-Qaeda.

Moore, Oklahoma, September 24, 2014. Alton Nolen beheaded a woman, Colleen Huff, at a Vaughan Foods plant and stabbed and injured another person. While Nolen's motives are unclear, he appears to have been another radicalized Muslim who was obsessed with beheadings.

Brooklyn, New York, December 20, 2014. Ismaayil Brinsley shot and murdered two police officers execution-style and his Facebook page featured jihadist postings and had ties to a terror-linked mosque.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, July 16, 2015. Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed four Marines and a sailor at a military base in Chattanooga and was believed to have been inspired by ISIS.

San Bernardino, California, December 14, 2015. Two radical Islamists, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, shot and murdered 14 people and injured 22 others at an office holiday party.

Orlando, Florida, June 12, 2016. Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire at a gay nightclub, killing 49 and injuring 53. The FBI investigated Mateen twice before his rampage, but did not take any substantive action. Officials believe Mateen was self-radicalized but he pledged fealty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before his death. "The real muslims will never accept the filthy ways of the west," Mateen posted on his Facebook page after committing his heinous act at Pulse nightclub. "I pledge my alliance to (ISIS leader) abu bakr al Baghdadi..may Allah accept me," he wrote.




Hey.....I was bored....

 

[Thundercrack85]

Obama had fine ideas and some successes but he didn't succeed nearly enough in what a lot of people cared the most about, improving the economy and decreasing terrorism. I doubt a lot of his supporters were either very impressed with his legislative accomplishments or felt secure about the economy or terrorism.

You just can't please some folks.

The unemployment rate is at 5%. In 2012, Romney said he could lower it to 6%. Remember New Gingrich's $2.50 gas? How much is you unleaded these days? Trump predicted the stock market would crash. How is that doing?

Osama Bin Ladin is dead, and there have been no major terrorist attacks in 8 years.

The people who feel insecure about those things need to stop watching Fox News.

 

[samsnee]

And as I understand it, the incarceration rate is lower than when Obama started. First time that's happened during a Presidency in awhile.

 

[terry78]

A lot of good has happened since Obama got in, but apparently if it doesn't benefit you personally it means dick all.

 

[samsnee]

Basically. I mean I get it. If I'm some 50 year old white guy in the Midwest who's seen progress everywhere but my town, and everyone born here moves out, I'd feel left out too.

 

[terry78]

And those guys voted for Trump.

 

[Marvolo]

Basically. I mean I get it. If I'm some 50 year old white guy in the Midwest who's seen progress everywhere but my town, and everyone born here moves out, I'd feel left out too.

Republicans like to talk about people needing to do work and succeed without government help so let's use their logic.

That 50 year old white guy should move to a different town. One that isn't a dying **** hole in BFE. If a person's town isn't succeeding they should move. If that person's job sucks they should get another one. If they can't that's tough ****. They shouldn't be relying on a president (especially a very incompetent one) to make their life rainbows and lollipops.

Seriously tho, American's really do need to realize that the success or failure of a single town and their own lives is not indicative of the condition of America as a whole. Just like they need to realize snow falling in Alaska doesn't disprove Climate Change.

 

[terry78]

That will never happen. Nobody set in their ways wants to uproot, the government should improve my way of living. That is the mindset.

 

[DeadPresident]

That will never happen. Nobody set in their ways wants to uproot, the government should improve my way of living. That is the mindset.

You know this applies to every single voter just in different contexts right? If the trope is true it applies more to democrats.

 

[terry78]

Yeah, but some take it almost too literally and don't even attempt to do anything of their own accord.

 

[DeadPresident]

Yeah, but some take it almost too literally and don't even attempt to do anything of their own accord.

Again, this seems to apply to both camps just on different issues. Democrats encourage government dependency and intervention.

 

[Sawyer]

You just can't please some folks.

The unemployment rate is at 5%. In 2012, Romney said he could lower it to 6%. Remember New Gingrich's $2.50 gas? How much is you unleaded these days? Trump predicted the stock market would crash. How is that doing?

Osama Bin Ladin is dead, and there have been no major terrorist attacks in 8 years.

The people who feel insecure about those things need to stop watching Fox News.

There is a certain level of similarity between the more delusion right-wingers and the purity left. "Oh, it's good, but it isn't perfect? Well then we just don't want it."

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Snowden's leaks were considered more harmful, plus he fled the country. Manning was court-marshaled and convicted, and served her time.

The only folks that consider Snowden's leaks more harmful are those that wanted the government to spy on their fellow countrymen with impunity. Snowden leaked information to the press so they could (hopefully) protect those who were innocent in the information. Manning did a document dump of TS military intel that anyone (including enemy combatants) could access at will. Pretty big f***ing difference there.

A lot of good has happened since Obama got in, but apparently if it doesn't benefit you personally it means dick all.

Human nature is to inherently place one's own well-being first. Rare is the person that can suffer and sacrifice in their own live so that the greater good can be served.

Basically. I mean I get it. If I'm some 50 year old white guy in the Midwest who's seen progress everywhere but my town, and everyone born here moves out, I'd feel left out too.

Exactly this, many of the economically sound areas were able to rebound quickly. Vast swaths of burbs, middle America, and low income areas did not see much of a difference. Oddly enough, the issues really affecting them had much more to do with local and state government than federal, but the buck stops with the president.

Republicans like to talk about people needing to do work and succeed without government help so let's use their logic.

That 50 year old white guy should move to a different town. One that isn't a dying **** hole in BFE. If a person's town isn't succeeding they should move. If that person's job sucks they should get another one. If they can't that's tough ****. They shouldn't be relying on a president (especially a very incompetent one) to make their life rainbows and lollipops.

Seriously tho, American's really do need to realize that the success or failure of a single town and their own lives is not indicative of the condition of America as a whole. Just like they need to realize snow falling in Alaska doesn't disprove Climate Change.

This goes right back to passing the buck past their local and state government right up the Obama. Many of the worst hit areas have been run into the ground by poor local/state government but have no issue believing the lie that it was all Obama's fault (not to say he has no effect there of course).

To your last point, see my above statement in regards to human nature and one's own self-preservation.

Again, this seems to apply to both camps just on different issues. Democrats encourage government dependency and intervention.

I def agree it's true that it certainly applies to both parties but the Dems encouraging dependency is a logical fallacy. The true test of any democracy is how it treats it's poorest citizens.

 

[SV Fan]

1983 - Bombing at United States Embassy in Beirut, April 18, 1983. 63 people killed.

1983 - Beirut barracks bombing, October 23, 1983. 305 people, including 241 US servicemen, are killed by a large truck bomb.

1984 - Twenty-two people were killed and seventy were wounded when another truck bomb exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy annex in Awkar, Lebanon.

Can't you imagine if these 3 things happened in such a short time under a Democrat President in today's political culture.

 

[hellified]

 

[Kelly]

For me.....had they simply said who gave the stand down order, and even at the least given a clear reason for why support was not sent immediately, Benghazi crap would have been lessened a lot. You leave big questions unanswered, crap gets thrown at you.

 

[Sithborg]

I can imagine Obama is pissed that he doesn't get a week to completely escape before he kind of has to jump back into the fray.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

I can imagine Obama is pissed that he doesn't get a week to completely escape before he kind of has to jump back into the fray.

He didn't have to. It was a choice he made to get involved.

 

[Thundercrack85]

He didn't have to. It was a choice he made to get involved.

He has a responsibility and he realizes that.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

He has a responsibility and he realizes that.

Responsibility for what? All he's doing is getting attention back for himself and coddling a bunch of people who don't seem to understand what the word "temporary" means.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Responsibility for what? All he's doing is getting attention back for himself and coddling a bunch of people who don't seem to understand what the word "temporary" means.

His responsibility help try to stop an ill-conceived unconstitutional law. To try to help refugees and other innocent people being targeted by this bigot and his supporters.

Saying it is temporary is cold comfort for the people it impacts, many of whom are among the most vulnerable people on this God damn planet. Did you learn nothing from your history classes?

This country's reputation is going down the toilet.

 

[ADollarADay]

His responsibility help try to stop an ill-conceived unconstitutional law. To try to help refugees and other innocent people being targeted by this bigot and his supporters.

Saying it is temporary is cold comfort for the people it impacts, many of whom are among the most vulnerable people on this God damn planet. Did you learn nothing from your history classes?

This country's reputation is going down the toilet.

It's not unconstitutional.