Obama Doesn't Owe This Country Shit

[sheshe2]

Barack Obama is not your Magical Negro. I know y’all want him to be, but you have to give the man a break. He just got out of one of the most abusive eight-year relationships imaginable. I’m sure he needs some time to decompress.

snip

Nolan contends that Obama “sucks as a post-president” because rather than jump immediately into saving the same Americans who demanded to see his birth certificate, called his wife an ape, used “Muslim” as a pejorative against him and questioned every policy decision he made, he’s gone on to quietly enjoy his funemployment, living his best life and not worrying about what you haters think.



snip

His old job is literally expecting him to come back and fix the fuckups of his replacement for free, just because he used to work there. Sir, please.

Then there’s this:

It is, in a very real way, a chance to pay back America for its belief in you—to use the incredible gift you have been given to do the maximum amount of good that you can in the time you have left.

snip

The most privileged and entitled part of the entire essay comes in its last line, when Nolan says, “Barack Obama: your life is not just about you. Get your fucking shit together man.”

I would beg to differ. His life is about him. We don’t own him. We aren’t entitled to him. You don’t own him. You aren’t entitled to him. The days of America benefiting off the free labor of black folks are long over.

Read More:https://www.theroot.com/obama-doesn-t-owe-this-country-shit-1826309455

………………………..

Yeah yeah yeah. You voted for him then left him on the first step of the WH and walked away. You heard the GOP say on the day of his Inauguration that they would make him a one term President. You left him alone. I watched it all. From the start he did nothing right, so said some. I watched it all. He did nothing fast enough or good enough. He was quietly saving us from a great depression, yet that sorry black man just did nothing right. I heard the insults hurled at him. I heard him called a POSUCS. I saw what America did and it was not pretty. In fact it was shameful.

Now they want him back, to work for free. Slavery By Another Name?

[spanone]

1. K&R...

[BumRushDaShow]

2. It's pretty incredible, ain't it?

[sheshe2]

4. Yep...

Never wanted him there in the first place. To Black. To Uppity. And as Cornell said, he wasn't black enough Now they want Barack back for free.

[BannonsLiver]

67. So Cornell is back to not having completely irrational contempt for President Obama?

If true, I am glad to hear it.

[GaryCnf]

3. K&R

[Me.]

5. The Most Telling Line To Me Was The One

where he tells PBO to get it together. Who does he think he's speaking to? They're not friends, he's not PBO's parent nor family member, friend or Owner.

[sheshe2]

7. This last part.....

he's not PBO's parent nor family member, friend or Owner.

this this this.

[brer cat]

6. SMH.

"Get your fucking shit together man.”

[sheshe2]

8. Yup.

Where is that finger smilie when you need it.


Never mind. This will work.

[Hekate]

46. Lady Mary does a terrific eyeroll

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. But we owe him a hell of a lot.

I think history will recognize that sooner or later. While it wouldn't surprise me if he starts becoming more politically active when he finds it appropriate to do so, he isn't obligated to do so. He put up with eight years of crap from the right wing (and some from the left, too, as from someone who called him a "piece of shit used car salesman" - even more infuriating because it came from "our" side). And he never blinked. He doesn't owe us any more than he's already given.

[sheshe2]

11. " But we owe him a hell of a lot."

We do. That is a fact, Velveteen Ocelot.

Obama does not need to be in front of the cameras to be working for us all, he does it quietly as he always has.

I miss our President.

[Devil Child]

10. Amen!

Obama did his time. He put in his eight years of service in the White House. He endured the criticism. He withstood the abuse lobbed at his wife and daughters. He smiled and waved and hugged and kissed babies and was the picture of dignity the entire time he was in office. He did his time, and he moved on.

Thank you President Obama. It is WE who owe you, not you who owes us.

[sheshe2]

12. Aaah. This.

"It is WE who owe you, not you who owes us."

Thank you, Devil Child.

[pazzyanne]

39. Well said, Devil Child.

[treestar]

64. +1

well said!

[narnian60]

73. Tears here.

[Blue_true]

13. When have the country ever expected a former President to fix the mistakes of the current one?

The mere thought is insane. President Obama should spend time on the things that HE thinks are important, not ones we think are important.

[4now]

14. The right wing treated him like dirt

But I am ashamed to say that the left did too.

[sheshe2]

15. Yes they did. eom

[Afromania]

25. I remember teeth gnashing by late March. They didn't even give him 3 full months before the attacks

Started up.

[Hekate]

49. I remember it starting before the Inauguration with his choice of minister...

...apparently meaning the complete betrayal of the LGBTQ community. It never quit among some people. So folks like me -- and Sheshe and Cha and a bunch of others who actually trusted and liked the POTUS, ended up hiding out in the BOG for eight fricking years.

[sheshe2]

55. And the bibles

Two bibles.

The first is the Bible used by former President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, when he took the oath of office for the first of his two terms in 1861. The second Bible is the so-called "traveling Bible" used by slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

https://www.voanews.com/a/obama_using_two_bibles_at_swearing_in/1587823.html

Heathen!!!! And we had to hide.

[Afromania]

60. Ah, k I was just a casual reader back then, hadn't even signed up yet.

[treestar]

63. There were a couple of posters who would never give him a

pass for that even after he had done many things that made him the POTUS who had done the most to advance LGBTQ rights.

[mcar]

68. And the complaining that he didn't do...Whatever...On Inauguration Day

I spent a lot of time in the BOG too. The disdain for our President was shameful. And remember how us BOGers were scorned and mocked?

[stevenleser]

82. And I remember those folks saying "oh we're only holding his feet to the fire"

As if that justified the bullshit they hurled at him.

But of course if you do that to the favorite politician of those folks they get all upset.

I guess holding feet to the fire was only for the black guy.

[Cha]

16. Yes, President Obama's life is his own, of course.

But, I imagine he wants to help get us out of the tragic mess we're in no matter how badly almost 1/2 of the country's brainwashed suckers treated him. And, has already been working behind the scenes.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

We want to tell stories. This [Netflix deal] becomes a platform. We are interested in lifting people up and identifying people doing amazing work. We did this in the White House. For instance, the very first time Lin-Manuel Miranda performed the first song in Hamilton was at the White House at a poetry slam we did.

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2425742/barack-obama-explained-why-he-and-michelle-are-making-netflix-shows-now?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Mahalo for the OP, she

[sheshe2]

19. He works quietly.

He always has.

The Netflix will be superb and uplifting. He and Michelle promote others and not themselves. I love them for that, Cha.

[EffieBlack]

17. Thank you!!!

Many of the same people who demand that he “do something” were the ones bitching and moaning and whining and refusing to vote in midterms because they “needed to teach him a lesson.”

They got and stayed pissed because he refused to govern like Trump does - catering to one element of his base and acting like the rest of the country didn’t matter.

President Obama needs to do exactly what he’s doing - whatever he damned well pleases - and screw everybody else. Let some of the loudest mouthed know-it-all’s get off their asses and do something for a change.

I’m totally with you on this. Screw them!

[mcar]

23. This all over the place!

Many of the same people who demand that he “do something” were the ones bitching and moaning and whining and refusing to vote in midterms because they “needed to teach him a lesson.”

Or wanted to "hold his feet to the fire," or falsely claimed he was going to take away SS.

I wish him and Michelle a long, happy and lucrative life. I am confident they will live it right.

[sheshe2]

29. The old feet to the fire routine that was played here.

That got old.

Lol~ He is having the time of his life.

[Grokenstein]

38. Sapheads will always do that

Look at the ones who bellowed that they would never vote for Hillary, consequences be damned; after the election, many of them turned around and started carping that she wasn't "fighting hard enough" to contest the results.

I miss having a grown-up as a President, but President Obama's more than earned his "retirement."

[sheshe2]

56. Welcome to DU, Grokenstein.

[treestar]

65. I well remember how "holding his feet to the fire"

was incredibly necessary and supporting him in order to increase his political capital was characterized as "lockstep" "fan worship" and the like!

[mcar]

70. And of course, there was POSUCS

[sheshe2]

27. Agree...

Love that huge grin. Let him soar for now.

But, Effie you and I both know he is still working quietly. That is who he is. He was treated deplorably. Yet the man is a true patriot and may the birthers, including the current 'Resident and his wife go eff themselves for denying his birth as an American citizen. Obama then and now has never sought the lime light to do his work. He did not need to.

The man is incredibly awesome and I miss him every dayum day. He should have flipped them all the bird, yet he won't. He loves his country to much for that.

[tblue37]

18. Besides, I'm pretty sure he IS working quietly to help the Resistance, just not seeking

the spotlight for his organizing efforts.

[Mountain Mule]

20. Yes, I agree but

Damn, I miss him something awful. Guess I just have some unresolved abandonment issues.

[mcar]

21. Thanks for posting this, she

I read it earlier but didn't have time. It is completely correct!

[sheshe2]

31. Thanks mcar.

We really did not deserve the man.

[montana_hazeleyes]

22. The only time I've stayed away from DU

for a period of time in my 15 years of being a member was when I could not put up with the bashing of President Obama on here.

Anyone putting him down then or now can go to hell as far as I'm concerned!

[sheshe2]

30. I moved to The Barack Obama Group and became a host.

I know.

[murielm99]

37. I always thought it was a shame

that we NEEDED a Barak Obama Group. This is a Democratic website, for heaven's sake. And don't tell me it was all trolls and bots. I have run into plenty of racist Democrats IRL, too.

I made it a point never to criticize something President Obama did when I was online. I discussed anything like that at home, or with trusted Democratic friends.

[sheshe2]

42. I joined a month before the 2012 election.

I was horrified with what I was reading here. I spent my time in that group and then AA, who I felt to be a sister/brother group of BOG.

[Hekate]

50. The BOG saved my sanity, Sheshe

[sheshe2]

52. Mine too hon.

I was so new and overwhelmed when I joined. I was perusing the home page one day...looked to the left and saw the list of the groups. Clicked on Democrats and the BOG came up and I started to post. Cha and Freshwest greeted me, saying what took you so long. Then Hekate, I was home.

Lol~ Then Cha made me a host before I could even catch my breath.

[bobbieinok]

80. Bashing Obama started AT ONCE on DU i went to balloon-juice b/c the commenters viewed him positively

Never understood what happened at DU. Decided DUers had had 8 yrs of opposing 'the president' and were in a rut. Or, on my more bitter and infuriated days, that many DUers just enjoyed being 'agin' and saw no point in stopping.

[raven mad]

24. Rock on, sheshe2!

[sheshe2]

32. Truth, Raven Mad.

[nini]

26. Funny how there aren't expectations like that of other former presidents

They tend to stay out of the fray and who can blame any of them.

But of course Obama is always held to some other standard. I don't know how he's stayed so dignified all these years.

[betsuni]

28. Nolan is advanced level privilege and arrogance.

I used to read Gawker until it became overrun with a certain type of idiot, started after Snowden/Greenwald and got worse and worse.

[Grokenstein]

35. Same Here. And Hammy, No! Was The Final Straw

...although I've wandered back after a long period, initially for io9's nerd news.

It's going me a world of good to see Nolan getting his ass torn off and handed to him. Criticizing Hammy back then got my comments permanently "sent to the greys" under Gawker's arbitrarily-punitive moderation scheme, but now he's pissed off too many people to exile thusly.

[Initech]

34. We went from "hope and change" to "fuck off and die, snowflakes!".

[Leith]

36. Nolan Has Some God Damn Gall

How come he isn't telling IQ45 to get his shit together? Why isn't he calling for orange boy to do something good for the country because he owes us?

We all know why. It's racial and it's because we got used to having an intelligent, calm, and capable adult taking care of things while the reichwing spit in his face.

Ol' Hammie Nolan can go fuck himself.

[betsuni]

40. I'd love to see what Obama's anger translator has to say about it.

[sheshe2]

48. Hmmmmm

That would be very interesting.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

41. Good times

Great times.

But he is gone now

[sheshe2]

47. Yeah well,

The article is trashing him anew. Some seem to think he STILL needs to correct all the ills of the universe since obviously it is all that black mans fault.

Nolan contends that Obama “sucks as a post-president” because rather than jump immediately into saving the same Americans who demanded to see his birth certificate, called his wife an ape, used “Muslim” as a pejorative against him and questioned every policy decision he made, he’s gone on to quietly enjoy his funemployment, living his best life and not worrying about what you haters think.

[LisaM]

43. I have never been able to understand

Why so many who voted for him failed to give him the tools he needed to govern by showing up at subsequent elections.

[catrose]

44. Not a thing does he owe anyone

Though if you did want his help, I'd think SNLs approach would be more likely to succeed than Nolan's, which makes me madder every time I think of it.
come Back, Barack

[msongs]

45. he will be busy raking in the big bucks, made possible by his being president. If he

does anything free it will by his choice nt

[Hekate]

54. Guarantee there will be a claque here pissing and moaning that No True Dem works for big money...

...or flies first class or sends their kid to private school or elite college. No True Dem is allowed out of the crab bucket, I guess.

Just like they complain about the Clintons (whose Clinton Global Initiative and Clinton Foundation benefit Americans and people around the planet), especially when Hillary ran for POTUS.

[sheshe2]

53. No, we did not deserve him.

Welcome to DU, MfM.

[dawg day]

57. We do owe him, however--

him and his lovely family.
Miss them.
Have a great next part of your life, Obamas! And Malia and Sasha, you lovely girls, enjoy your college years!

[dawg day]

58. Let's say what we admired--

Mr. Obama--
Your composure, your thoughtfulness, your depth, your smile.
Your family, and your family love.

I don't even want to sully the memory of you kissing Michelle's hand with the thought of-- you know. Melania batting aside that awful man's hand (and who could blame her).

A president who respected AND loved his wife. Wow.

Okay, okay, enjoy your life, Mr. President, but.... WE MISS YOU!!!

[radical noodle]

59. Most of those whining about what he's (not) doing

are the same ones who couldn't be bothered to come out to vote for the candidate he asked them to vote for. The way he was treated *was* shameful. He doesn't owe us anything but he's working quietly in the background for us anyway.

[oberliner]

61. The Fusion Media Group playbook: 1. Publish some clickbait garbage on one platform

2. Have a writer on another platform attack the first article

3. Ramp up the outrage via twitter and other social media

4. Direct additional traffic to both articles, generating more page clicks

5. Sell more advertising across all platforms

Fusion Media Group has been playing this game more and more frequently of late.

They own The Root, Deadspin, Jezebel, Splinter, all the former Gawker properties, and various others.

They generate revenue by creating these fake arguments.

[betsuni]

62. LOL

[kcr]

78. Well look at you!

[oberliner]

81. Thanks for the hat tip

If you look at some of the other "articles" that are attributed to Hamilton Nolan, it becomes pretty clear what he is all about.

Pieces asserting that college students are dumb and rich people should have their money taken away and other similar shit-stirring nonsense.

(In one email exchange he tells a commenter "I like to talk shit" (in regards to his bashing DC)).

[yallerdawg]

66. Kick...

and highly recommend!

[BannonsLiver]

69. This is one white liberal who remains prouder than ever of PBO

I have a fairly large framed pic of him in my office at home (more of a lounge really) right next to my framed photo of FDR.

Loved PBO since the moment I saw him speak in 2004 and am proud of everything he did. Also proud of my support of his campaigns.

Hamilton Nolan can go fuck himself sideways. PBO doesn’t owe me or anyone else but his wife and kids a god damned thing.

[Quayblue]

71. K&R

[CrispyQ]

72. Traditionally, past presidents have kept any criticism of the current president to themselves.

Can you imagine the outrage if Obama spoke his true thoughts about the Con? It would drown out the noise of the entire universe. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[DonCoquixote]

74. nd of course, let us not forget one thing that many forget

if Obama so much as said he prefers 7-up to Sprite, there would be a small army of people weaponizing it, saying that 7-up is an evil satanic thing. Directives would be issued from Mississippi to Moscow. In short, Obama would be fuel for the Maga heads.

and sad to say, there are many "wypipo" who would say that 7 up is not liberal too. Obama is still picking knives out of his back, from the Sanders left to yes, the ones that claimed to be Clinton supporters that never gave up their cherished words like "he is too weak, not experienced, not a muslim as far as I know", and all that vile stuff that still smells up the air since 2008.

Yes, there are times I wished Obama would have done A as opposed to B, yes, I think if anything, he was way too nice to the right, but time is showing how right he was, and how much better he did in the office than Bush or the current occupant. America does not deserve him.

[heaven05]

75. BAM!!!! SO TRUE

no potus has been called out like this POTUS to fix a sitting presidents shit like trump's shit. Leave President Obama alone. Yeah, slavery by another name, no doubt. Always want him to go the extra mile that wasn't asked of other Democratic Party Presidents. President Obama doesn't owe this country shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He quietly and competently ran this country for 8 years. DONE!!!

[sheshe2]

77. He is a brilliant man.

“another tradition to politics, a tradition (of politics) that stretched from the days of the country’s founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done.”
― Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

[guillaumeb]

76. Many apparently expected President Obama to be Superman,

and were disappointed. If any voter expects perfection from a politician, they will inevitably be disappointed.

[kacekwl]

79. People are scared to death of the Orange anus and his group.

It's a little over the top to suggest slavery or some such thing. People loved him ( myself included ) and wish he was still here.