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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI trust President Obama
I think his every decision has been for the greater good of the people. He has shown himself to be thoughtful, even handed, moral, and ethical. Every single thing he has done has been to benefit the American people, and every single thing he has fought for has been in service for the American people. He has not been beholden to the plutocrats like the last guy.
Has he been successful 100% of the time in his fight for the ordinary citizen? Of course not. Like it or not, he has to work within the system that has been set up to be of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation. Congress is almost completely bought and paid for, and he's had no choice but to deal with that. The president isn't a king. But his heart is in the right place, and we all know this to be true. From his community organizing days all the way up: He has always been on the right side.
It's saddening to see liberals condemning him for the crimes of the past administration. This man is NOT George W. Bush. He is NOT a liar, he is NOT a puppet, he is NOT evil, he is NOT a religious nut, he is NOT a buffoon. He doesn't deserve the treatment he has been getting from the left. He hasn't earned it.
I cannot name one thing he has earned true criticism for, I really can't I'm not talking about the bullshit criticism, I'm talking ACTUAL, legitimate criticism. Something he has actually done that was actually wrong. Sorry to break it to some people here, but there isn't anything there. This is the most scandal free presidency in history. Never mind all the accomplishments he has achieved despite the seeming impossibility of them. The opposition, and sadly, much of the people who are SUPPOSED to be on his side have been blocking his efforts since he first came into office, and still he has gotten more shit done than can be imagined.
Never mind those things. Even if he hadn't gotten anything done, what has he done so far to deserve the wrath I'm seeing? What has he done to make some here mistrust him? To call him a liar? To question his motives? I understand the media is against him. Of course they are, they're run by corporations. But why are supposed liberals so easily swayed by that media garbage?
Sorry, but in the end it just feels like haters are gonna hate. And I didn't really want to bring race into the discussion, but I can't help but at least mention it once here: Is it because he's black? It's possible that plays a part and it pains me to say it. Bush deserved the wrath. He actually DID THINGS to deserve the wrath. What has Obama done to deserve the wrath?
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hobbit709
(41,694 posts)
choie
(6,889 posts)or he/she is in la la land.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,139 posts)
demmiblue
(39,648 posts)dkf
(37,305 posts)Or do you trust Obama will keep all future Presidents in line magically?
Can you think past the next few years or are you not expecting to live that long?
Mainly because I'm not a fortune teller and can't predict who will be president after him. That's not my point. What has Obama said, what has Obama done, to warrant any criticism? I'm talking legitimate stuff here, not bullshit media made up stuff.
theaocp
(4,577 posts)just run a search. The apologists will be happy to tell you why he's both impotent and the second coming. It's truly inspirational.
pnwmom
(110,251 posts)prevent a future administration, with a cooperative Congress, from doing whatever it wants? As long as the technology is there, the possibility of abuse will be there.
Amonester
(11,541 posts)it from doing whatever it wants and we all know it.
I repeat: it would NOT care.
A cheney II maladmin would just go ahead and do all the torture it wants if it would have just a House majority; it wouldn't need Obama trying to block them preemptively: it would just vote new laws, that's ALL.
(caps for emphasis)
cali
(114,904 posts)
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)premium
(3,731 posts)and raise you +1000.
This thread is nothing more than a propaganda piece, there is legitimate reasons to criticize Pres. Obama, just off the top of my head, the decision to arm the Syrian rebels.
There are other reasons as well, I'll back Pres. Obama when I feel he's right and I'll criticize him when I think he's wrong, this crap that we gotta walk in lockstep with the Admin is bullshit, we're not repubs.
Actually, + 1 million.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)are allowed in GD.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)
bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)what I listen to.
pnwmom
(110,251 posts)that we could banish his fan club to.
Uzair
(241 posts)Holy Mother of Christ. Is this RepublicanUnderground or something?
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)at starting fights. Just sayin.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)
dgibby
(9,474 posts) 
The Russian word for God is......BOG!
As Bog is my witness....
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)
treestar
(82,383 posts)That some person is basically good? The OP only states OP sees no wrong done by a certain person and you label that propaganda?
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)I have no problem with that. But the posts that are totally adulation, IMHO are not appropriate for GD. There is the lounge and of course BOG. It's my opinion that the posts that are purely adulation (meaning that the poster claims that the Pres can do no wrong) are intended to be divisive and start fights.
cali
(114,904 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Most if not all on here have supported POTUS and got him elected and realected.
We don't hate Mr Obama, we criticize him. We have the right to do so, since we are the ones who lobbied for him.
This is not a totalitarian country, we have the right to speak our mind.
cali
(114,904 posts)Im gonna have to go to church tomorrow, and have my sins forgiven.
How dare I..
Uzair
(241 posts)You know, it's one thing to legitimately criticize someone, and another thing to criticize for criticism's sake. Nobody is saying you don't have the right to criticize Obama, but what of his words or actions have warranted any?
I'm saying all the "criticism" of Obama is baseless. And it is, if you actually look at things objectively.
HangOnKids
(4,291 posts)All criticism of Obama is baseless? Please give it a rest dude, nobody is buying what you are peddling. But keep going it is fucking entertaining.
Occulus
(20,599 posts)AND THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR GIVING US YOUR PERMISSION,
but it's another thing entirely for those same people giving us that permission (I still can't believe the arrogance of some of you) to then turn directly around and bleat that we hate Obama when we say we think he could have chosen a better color tie for the day, which is exactly what has been going on here for months on end. Every. Single. Time. anyone gives voice to even the mildest and most politely-worded of criticisms, people who are starry-eyed with Jonesville-redux personality worship flash into Gorgon mode and tell us "we never loved him", "he didn't give us our pony", "would we rather have President Romney", and on and on and on!
You know what? FUCK THAT SHIT. Fuck it right in the ear. Those of you who keep saying those things- and I assure everyone, these shitsticks know exactly who they are, and we all can probably name three different ones each without five seconds of thought- are doing a whole whole lot more damage even than the people here who are regretting their second vote for him.
He's not up for reelection. There's exactly zero harm to be done by "allowing" us to voice even the very harshest and least-politely-worded shouts of rage against Obama any of us wish to express.
SO SHUT UP, HANG THE MIC, AND GET OFF THE STAGE. You had your chance, you got what you wanted, Obama got reelected, and now all of you can shut up and let his critics have aaaaallllllllll the time they want to vent, and pick, and nitpick, and pick apart your Cherished Hero and Vaunted Leader Barack Hussein Obama.
And if you can't take that much you have no business being here in the first place!
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)if you'd mosey on over and read my reply to your OP, for well-based reasons Obama must be criticized:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023021711#post130
treestar
(82,383 posts)and just because you make a criticism does not mean it is automatically valid and we all have to agree. That is the position some here take. We are called worshippers just because we question it. Then if we look into things further and find we agree with President Obama rather than the critic, we are accused of being paid.
It's not unlikely that President Obama will be more persuasive on an issue to a person who voted for him than on the say so of random message board critics that he is wrong on something. Most of the criticism here seems predicated on the idea that presidents are all powerful or always corrupt just by virtue of having been elected, succeeding in American politics. We don't have to follow that in lockstep.
I'm not all the names I have been called, but a person who generally agrees with Obama on political issues anyway, and finds him to be a measured and informed person and just plain finds him more credible and convincing than the people on the message boards with their hair on fire. I'm tired of not being allowed to even raise an issue defending ridiculous criticisms that are lacking in logic and full of emotional and uninformed reaction on a Democratic Board.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Goes on here everyday. This is not criticism, not based on fact but the gut contention PBO is a person of incredible evil that really loves killing and hurting people, that he hates this country, all its people, and the people of the world. That he wants them enslaved, that he wants to be impoverished, suffer, etc.
Obama the anti-christ, DU version. It's the same thing as a RWNJ site. After a while, this contention that it's all the same is theirs and arises from the Koch funded disinfo agents that have cultlike followers. This is continuous. Most recent example:
Today is the 798th anniversary of the Sealing of Magna Carta
...How, one wonders, is president Obama going to mark this day?
Perhaps by marking someone for murder by drone without trial, perhaps by disappearing someone else, or perhaps by instituting - in the name of Freedom - random searches of people walking down the street?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023021135
Oh, lookee. A random Wikipedia page that suddenly says Obama is over turning a thousand year of freedom. That doesn't even fly, those freedoms didn't free the slaves, give women the right to vote, end child labor etc. But let's go back to those thrilling days of yesteryear and say that Obama is destroying the Enlightment and all of Western Civilization, Except when he's enforcing the things that Western Civilization, with all its festering wounds insist on happening aournd the world today. Anyone who doesn't know, just don't ask. You might decide to just shoot yourself.
Let's see, murdering, not allowing a trial, disappearing someone else, etc. As if it's an establshed fact.
Well it is according to Alex Jones, World Net Daily, Drudge an the other spiritual kin of this stuff. Really? Really? Given a pass as a criticism of the government or Obama? Freeperville has found a new home!
Don't worry, it'll get a lot of recs. Next thing will be the anniversies of any mass murder to attach to Obama. Let's see, St. Valentine's Day massacre, Hiroshima, or 911, Boston, after a while it's all a blur of hatred that is based on the idea that American government doesn't do anything right is a total sham, so burn it down and then utopia wll arise. Thanks, Ayn Rand, what a lovely idea.
We've already got several threads I read but didn't comment on, insisting Obama is intending to commit a holocaust and attacking anyone who didn't go along with all of that. Really?
Sounds like this place was annexed by Glennbeckistan. But hey, the big money media made it so ubiquitous, that it's just what everyone has to agree with.
Here's the image folks are looking for, this describes your view of a man following the laws you don't like. And it's straight from Glennbeckistan. But many here really do express this at DU. So how to separate the spirit of this from what's being posted at DU?
Don't bother, it can't be, just here it is:
Laws written by people you elected, or failed to elect, and then scream since you think both parties are the same, that Rand Paul is the new savior to worship at the feet of (beware if you get too low to the ground, his crew stomps on heads), and you didn't vote, won't vote, will never vote again, never, ever, ever.
And are too proud to work in a precinct to change the government, because that's just piddling worthless shit. Any person that advises that is a partisan hack like me and not at all cool.
So let's not be partisan, not support the platform of a social safety net and equal ritghts. Let is all go rot, it's not good enough anymore. The same who wailed and left the party because of CPI, now found another cause. And after that it will be another one, and another. The Koch brothers have enough money to influence the media, and they are so proud of their success.
Let's all sit at home and cry. And cry we will, because there are real partisans who will definitely show up at every local meeting and vote in every election. The ones who steal the rights of people daily, but those don't matter as we revel in the coming of ragnarok at DU.
Nah, only civil 'liberties' matter, not hose for the others.
So many want government to disappear to save that freedom, liberty, life, etc. Grover Nordquist and Charles Koch want the same thing along with the heroes of the Libertarians that are being worshipped here.
How did it happen that all the rest that these evil fucks did, do now and intend to do, just doesn't matter? Why continue to denigrate Obama and all government, with no solution being offered, which is what the Becks and their crew want? Think the church and corporations will protect the rights of Americans then? Or will they suddenly go away when the government is gone? Does it look like they are giving up right now, and only barely held back by that awful government, and Obama?
Looking at the big picture, too many are not interested in improving government, despise every single person that works in it. That's the source material for this dreckt.
And we're called Obamabots, asskissers, authoritarian swooners, cheerleaders, groupspeakers worshippers, sheeple, mindless drones of the state when the voice of the Koch Left to Right media machine rules this place?
Pot, meet kettle. But it's not that simple, either. It's not like the GOP and Democratic Party platforms are sports teams here. They are not the same, except to Alex Jones, Patriot Movement, David Duke and the Paulites, and the Libertarians. They want the government gone.
They want a theocracy based on their view of liberty, which will truly make the rest of us slaves and are working to create poverty, discrimination, steal the rights of women and minorities, make everything unaccountable through privatization.
The two parties and these entities, are not the same. I guess while the conservative owned media says to go bonkers over their latest creation, like the Tea Party before, we should just forget civil rights in this country.
treestar
(82,383 posts)
Only the "freemen" were protected, so should not that have been "not enough" in those days, like the ACA is not single payer?
Sir Glenn Greenwald would have been ready to go home! What about the not-freedmen! King John is no different from King Harold!
They love to quote the Fourth Amendment as if there is no case law interpreting it. It's self evident to them that their opinion is the only right one.
Go home, Supreme Court! You are not needed. Random internet poster knows what is Constitutional or not. Close the law schools, we don't need that stuff, it's simple.
Great rant!
JustAnotherGen
(38,016 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)jessie04
(1,528 posts)He's trying to get the 2 sides to the peace table and the G8 summit this week may help by putting pressure on Putin.
I don't think there will ever be American boots on the ground.
I agree with the hate comments. Unless Obama agrees 100% with some people, there are some who make him "the enemy".
just my 2 cents
Laelth
(32,017 posts)That's a very courageous call. I'd be interested to hear the reasoning behind it.
-Laelth
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)First off, bit silly to suggest anyone has never deserved any criticism. No human being in the history of history has made it through a day without earning criticism of some kind.
But it's beside the point when raised in the context of something like NSA spying or drone killings or what have you. These are processes that defy any just or democratic rationale. As the partisans here are so fond of saying, the President cannot "wave a magic wand" and fix these things.
He is responsible for his failure to increase transparency, for the adoption of clearly horrendous Bush administration policies and legal interpretations, and plenty more.
But the broad issues simply do not belong to him. He sits at the Complaint Desk, because "President" fills that role. But criticism of the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA do not magically become personal attacks on one person because he happens to be a Democrat sitting in office.
It's also utterly specious to answer questions about constitutionality, fairness, and the democratic process, with complaints that people have been "too harsh" in commenting on Obama. That's not a rebuttal of any kind. It's like someone saying civil rights concerns are nonsense because of those two "New Black Panthers" Fox News dug up, or men worrying that some feminist somewhere might be a "man hater."
It's a dodge. Take personality and politics and whose name calling is theoretically more unkind out of it, and you are left with issues that we need to solve, and to which Obama and OTHERS need to respond.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)"The buck stops here."
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)I frankly don't understand what the same knee-jerk partisans we see savaging every critic who merely exists during this time period think they are accomplishing. Sure, in the dumdum world of politics, particularly in this country, we expect the Presidency to address every ill, and try to hang every success or failure on that person.
But it's obviously more complicated than that. What the facts of the past few years have suggested is that the unprecedented Executive power Bush conceived has not been rooted out. It's well and good to trust Obama's motives or "believe" he wants what's right for the common good, but as citizens in a supposed democratic style of government, we are REQUIRED to do the opposite of what diehard partisans suggest -- put "the leader" in place and then simply defend.
Obama didn't build the NSA, or the spying program, and it is unrealistic to even imagine he would somehow dismantle all the horrors that followed on the Patriot Act and the gigantic, money-fueld surveillance boom that followed it.
It's reasonable for people to direct their questions and criticisms in his general direction. But at the end of the day, these are processes and technologies and now, an entire industry, over which even he does not exert control.
Ergo, it's not a personal attack on Obama to object to NSA spying or drone killings or what have you. He's not the source, or the solution, all on his own.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)But "The buck never stops here." is a poor substitute.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)out of office would not fix it. Anyone in that chair right now has the choice of accepting a huge, well-funded network of likely unconstitutional surveillance, of a kind and a scope which we already know tends to be used against, more than for the people, or trying to reign it in.
My sense is that Obama has tried to moderate the machine Bush put into motion. Small steps. But the fundamental problem -- the Executive interpreting the law to mean it has not only virtually unfettered power in the name of "national security," but the right to keep it all absolutely secret -- cannot be undone by one person, nor used responsibly by anyone.
If anything, then, it makes more sense to complain now. If anyone even suspects Obama is fundamentally a good President -- as most here still do -- NOW is the time to seek change. Not when President Rubio is in power, or whatever the next Republican horror may be.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)However, some here always seem to find Obama in the wrong. Always. And if we even look into getting more facts before jumping on the bandwagon, we are called cheerleaders and worse.
And just making a criticism doesn't mean everyone has to agree with it. Some people seem to think that if they make a critique they are automatically on top of the issue.
Questions of whether something is constitutional are complex and go to the courts. So "Obama's spy network" is the from people either so ignorant they don't know that or people just trying to lay everything at the President's door. The media tends to do it, and it happens here plenty. I've seen Obama held responsible, on this board, for other election results, state and local laws, the actions of other countries, the actions of all 435 Congressmen and Senators, along with general demands he enforce and let the government argue in court for only laws the poster likes and not those duly passed that they don't like.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Yes, it did.
treestar
(82,383 posts)DirkGently
(12,151 posts)
jimlup
(8,010 posts)Obama isn't free of the system that produced him.
I would also remind you of the compelling slippery slope arguments. As many of us older liberals know, we can not count on Obama or a reasonable person being president.
Finally, I take issue with your sweeping generalizations of those who criticize Obama. Criticism isn't the same as condemnation. In a functional democracy criticism is essential and must occur from the left as well as the right for all viewpoints to be heard.
I'm not intending to be argumentative, I just am pointing out that reasonable people can disagree. And that reasonable people can take issues with several of the stands of the Administration. Further it is quite naive to think of the administration as one individual. Yes, Barack Obama is a nice guy. His personality resonates with our own but one person does not a whole administration make.
Apophis
(1,407 posts)
tblue
(16,350 posts)I don't believe any politicians is above reproach. Who thinks that way??? They do good, I support it. They do bad, I don't. I guess I'm just not wired for unconditional support of politicians. En masse, it usually doesn't end well.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)"Loving" or "trusting 100%" is just not what we should do with politicians. It seems silly to me to even think of it.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)Response to Uzair (Original post)
seaglass This message was self-deleted by its author.
deurbano
(2,985 posts)It wasn't some hard-fought compromise he needed to make in order to win the general election; it was an actual choice to renege on an important campaign promise and to violate important principles I assumed he held. It was inexplicable (and extremely disappointing) to me at the time, but many defended the vote because they "trusted" Obama to do the "right" thing, so either this vote was right (after all).... or it was just one move in a bigger plan (to which we were not yet privy) that would benefit us in the end-- after he was elected president. That was a very faith-based response, and it was almost as inexplicable to me as Obama's vote since I judge presidents (and presidential candidates) by their actions, not my faith in their good intentions. (The blind devotion to Bush by so many Republicans made me nauseous... but it was much more discouraging for me to witness Democrats exchanging their critical thinking skills for "Father Knows Best." ) Based on the decisions Obama has made as president, it would seem the campaign promise was at odds with his actual position. Unfortunately the FISA vote reflected his REAL position.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)When someone promotes protections for corporate personhood, but none for individuals, then their motives are suspect. For them, the NSA "scandal" that we've known about for 10yrs & has been through the courts already, the IRS "scandal" of proper investigations of fraudulent applications for tax-exempt status, the AP & Faux Snooze "scandal" where actual secrets were actually revealed to our actual enemies, and, of course BENGHAZI are all part of the same thing - "The most corrupt Administration in US history".
Next they'll be demanding that Obama release his *REAL* birth certificate.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)if we didn't criticize him when it's deserved. That would be coddling him and treating him like we think he's very special and beyond all reproach. He has to own his part in this, even though it was brought to us by the BFEE. I'm sure he's tough and smart enough to take it. He's not a defenseless child.
That being said, this is bigger than Obama, so we must speak out against it. If these issues are positively addressed during his term, he can come out with roses. He's in a position to help with the cancer removal.
You don't help Obama by seeking to protect him. He has an opportunity to do the right thing now. He may or may not take it, but it is an opportunity. It's there for him to take. And we need to push him and congress as hard as we can to take it.
treestar
(82,383 posts)One poster I tangled with actually said only bad and corrupt people could manage to get elected in this day and age.
There's a lot of trollery going on too, some sound like right wingers in their bashing and others are Libertarians, who dislike all government and government officials, elected and not.
They have no intention of even considering his side of an argument, and you are a kool aid drinker if you even ask that it might be considered.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)you must be referring to this
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2970109
and the following 5 posts.
So which am I, right winger or libertarian?
treestar
(82,383 posts)thanks for identifying yourself.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)I got nothing to hide.
kentuck
(115,379 posts)But verify.
Progressive dog
(7,598 posts)it is propaganda, the same crap that Glen Beck used to throw at the blackboard on Faux news. This "criticism" starts from the premise that Obama is always wrong or if he's right it's for the wrong reasons.
This is the same crap spouted by the corporate ass kissing libertarian sites of poppa Paul from Texas and his idiot son.
This is the same crap glommed onto by the tea-hadist wing of the Bush family party.
Expect more.
Off Topic question-Do they allow posting from Hong Kong to DU?
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Autumn
(48,941 posts)with the policies Bush put in place. 
Number23
(24,544 posts)that has blanketed this board (well, mostly just GD) for the last five years that much more incomprehensible.
with the policies Bush put in place.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)While you're entirely welcome to your opinion, your post is just that--entirely subjective. Obama shares culpability for the largest spy program in history. It's still expanding.
dgibby
(9,474 posts)indefinite detention of prisoners. Oh, I almost forgot, there's that little matter of "looking forward" rather than investigating war crimes of the previous administration.
Having said that, I voted for him twice, and would again, given the same choices I had in the last 2 elections.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)
Fearless
(18,458 posts)
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,607 posts)*nods* The greater good.
Fearless
(18,458 posts)
NRaleighLiberal
(61,831 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Am I reading a parody of 1984? Is that you Winston?
Or am I reading material produced by the Central Committee on Comrade Stalin? Perhaps on Dear Leader?
Either this is high comedy, or we are witnessing the level of true belief we saw in 2003-4 or so...
And that is quite more scary than all the terrorists in the world. Yup, Usama won.
markiv
(1,489 posts)is that they never put you in a position where you had to trust them, if they could possibly avoid it
the one thing i've noticed about the LEAST trustworthy people i''ve known, is that they try to put you in a position of having to trust them, right away. that's why they're called 'con men', it's short for 'confidence men'. iit means they play on your confidence, and winning your confidence is the first step in their MO
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)Government doesn't work on trust but rather on accountability.
Do you even know Barack Obama? You don't have trust, you have faith.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)seeing a lot of people that think trusting a politician to always do what's right is a virtue. It isn't.
"And I didn't really want to bring race into the discussion"
Sure you didn't. Every time anyone voices even the mildest complaint about something Obama has done, someone accuses them of being a racist. Apparently it's racist to criticize the policy of a politician, but not to assume the person you're talking to is white because everyone knows white is the default or something.
markiv
(1,489 posts)I guess we just have to trust on that one, too
cali
(114,904 posts)insinuate or plain out state that other DUers who criticize the president do so because they are racists.
Really, it renders those folks beneath contempt.
markiv
(1,489 posts)that most reasonable people now understand, that you dont have to be a 'closet racist' to say that the tactic exists
JVS
(61,935 posts)
Buzz505
(92 posts)People buying into the republican bullshit. GET REAL!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)The vast majority of the betrayals on this list had nothing to do with Republican obstructionism:
Corporate and bank-cozy appointments, over and over again, including major appointments like:
A serial defender of corrupt bankers for the SEC; the architect of "Kill Lists" and supporter of torture, drone wars, and telecom immunity for the CIA; and a Monsanto VP who has lied and been involved in extremely disturbing claims regarding food safety for the FDA. An Attorney General who has not prosecuted a single large bank but wages war against medical marijuana users and *for* strip searches and warrantless surveillance of Americans. And let's not forget Tim Geithner.Bailouts and settlements for corrupt banks (with personal pressure from Obama to attorneys general to approve them),
Refusal by Obama's DOJ to prosecute even huge, egregious examples of bank fraud (i.e, HSBC)
signing NDAA to allow indefinite detention,
"Kill lists" and claiming of the right to assassinate even American citizens without trial
Expansion of wars into several new countries
A renewed public advocacy for the concept of preemptive war
Drone campaigns in multiple countries with whom we are not at war
Proliferation of military drones in our skies
Federal targeting of Occupy for surveillance and militarized response to peaceful protesters
Fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for warrantless surveillance
Fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for strip searches for any arrestee
Supporting and signing Internet-censoring and privacy-violating measures like ACTA
Support for corporate groping and naked scanning of Americans seeking to travel
A new, massive spy center for warrantless access to Americans' phone calls, emails, and internet use
Support of legal immunity for telecoms/warrantless wiretapping
Support of legislation to legalize massive surveillance of Americans
Militarized police departments, through federal grants
Marijuana users and medical marijuana clinics under assault,
Skyrocketing of the budget for prisons.
Failing to veto a bipartisan vote in Congress to gut more financial regulations.
Passionate speeches and press conferences promoting austerity for Americans
Bush tax cuts extended for billionaires, them much of it made permanent
Support for the payroll tax holiday, tying SS to the general fund
Support for the vicious chained CPI cut in Social Security and benefits for the disabled
Social security, Medicare, and Medicaid offered up as bargaining chips in budget negotiations, with No mention of cutting corporate welfare or the military budget
Advocacy of multiple new free trade agreements, including The Trans-Pacific, otherwise known as "NAFTA on steroids."
Support of drilling, pipelines, and selling off portions of the Gulf of Mexico
Corporate education policy including high stakes corporate testing and closures of public schools
Entrenchment of exorbitant for-profit health insurance companies into healthcare, through mandate
Legal assault on union rights of hundreds of thousands of federal workers
New policies of targeting children and first responders in drone campaigns,
New policies of awarding medals for remote drone attacks,
Appointment of private prison executive to head the US Marshal's office
Massive escalation of federal contracts for private prisons under US Marshall's office
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)powers.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)You can't even parody the propaganda anymore.
TM99
(8,352 posts)That second video filled me with such rage I had to walk away before I could reply cogently.
How can anyone with any sense of mindfulness trust Obama at this point when it comes to constitutional rights?
That extreme vocal pausing when directly mentioning 'Big Brother' was a dead give away to anyone with training in psychology that he is hiding something and is not being fully honest.
The propaganda here is not surprising but certainly sickening.
Thank you.
tblue
(16,350 posts)Not one of those is Obama's fault! Hater hater hater! Racist racist racist! He's the best POTUS we ever had who is not responsible for anything bad. 
woo me with science
(32,139 posts) 
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)Obama's faultless! He's our man!
Haters Racists understand,
He's never done a thing that's bad!
For he's the best we've ever had!
He walks on water YES HE CAN!
He's so much more than just a man!
He watches us when we're asleep
protecting us from thoughts that creep.
He sends his drones do do God's work,
The children killed are just a perk.
He walks on water YES HE CAN!
He's so much more than just a man!
He loves the banker common man.
Appoints the ones that understand
That greed is good and jail is bad
For he's the best we've ever had!
He walks on water YES HE CAN!
He's so much more than just a man!
His wars are just his coal is clean,
Haters racists just can't glean
The brilliant chess we all have seen.
They all just hate him 'cause they're mean!
He walks on water YES HE CAN!
He's so much more than just a man!
840high
(17,196 posts)was a very wise man.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)Another one will be coming along.
avaistheone1
(14,626 posts) 
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)patients? You trust a man that sold us out on Universal Health Care? You trust a man that let war criminals off the hook but goes after whistleblowers with the gusto of a psychotic? You trust a man that has broken every promise to do something about climate change?
After all these things he's done, you say there's NOTHING he's done to earn criticism?
You're a fool. And I have no patience for fools.
ucrdem
(15,720 posts)
Separated at birth?
Skeeter Barnes
(994 posts)I'd trust him before I'd trust a guy that looks nice and sounds nice but governs like Ronald Reagan.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)But I still think I'll ROFL with this guy:
Rofl.
Democrats supporting a Democratic administration on a Democratic discussion forum are now "right-wing griefers."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12592119#post1
ucrdem
(15,720 posts)
p.s. teabaggers, Pauloons, CATO-bots, Carlyle creeps, loony left, rabid right -- all one big bag 'o rats!
freshwest
(53,661 posts)
Grossed out by our new overlords.
ucrdem
(15,720 posts)Hail to the œuf!
Le plus gros œuf de Pâques est un argentin de 7,5 tonnes.
http://www.franceinfo.fr/consommation/le-plus-gros-oeuf-de-paques-est-un-argentin-de-7-5-tonnes-580297-2012-04-08
JustAnotherGen
(38,016 posts)
This subthread is awesome!JustAnotherGen
(38,016 posts)I'm glad Skinner wrote that.
Lady Freedom Returns
(14,198 posts)Glad to see us who do support/ trust our President is out there showing it!
I know that it is not the most popular thing to do.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022661678
But I am GLAD you posted this! 
tavalon
(27,985 posts)We are angry at things that have been revealed under Obama's watch, but were there before and will be there when President Boehner is in power. Think about it. This isn't about our benevolent leader, if he is benevolent, it's about what is good for the goose will be just as good for the gander.
In the end, it seems like people who aren't going to get it just aren't going to get it. Get it?
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)
ucrdem
(15,720 posts)backwoodsbob
(6,001 posts)his every single decision has been for the greater good?..Really?
wow
billh58
(6,655 posts)2008 primary elections, it has been cool on DU to "criticize" President Obama. The definition of the term "criticize" however, is subject to interpretation by various DU factions. There are those who will never get over the 2008 Primaries, and a few who will swear that they have, but reserve the right to harshly "criticize." One of the milder DU terms for these individuals is "hater."
In the other corner, we have those who have supported President Obama since 2008, and continue to do so. Some of these individuals agree with a need to hold President Obama accountable when necessary, but by and large recognize his accomplishments. One of the milder DU terms for these individuals is "cheer leader."
Bottom line here is that NO individual is perfect and fault free, and personal impressions of political figures will always frame differing opinions of them. Reality often overshadows expectations, and the resulting disappointment leads to DU-ers calling each other nasty names, and vitriolic arguments over which side deserves a political pony the most.
It would serve both sides in this on-going brouhaha well to remember that our Congress plays as big a (or in some cases a much larger) role in the direction and governance of this country than a single individual sitting in the Oval Office.
Such is life.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Including Obama.
ucrdem
(15,720 posts)The FISA vote was a letdown, the first-term appointments were a letdown, and there weren't investigations into Bushler crimes like many hoped there would be.
But by 2010 I was over it and at this point I pretty much agree with the OP. I try not to get carried away but the thing with Obama is that even when he's a letdown he's still 100% better than most. And the absence of actual scandal is a relief. Love him or hate him he's Mr Clean meaning the GOP will never really sink their claws in and I am hugely grateful for that.
HangOnKids
(4,291 posts)Now that was hilarious.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)A really good politician. No more, no less.
bike man
(620 posts)the very first President.
Even without reading them, one might imagine that they would include reasons for trusting (or not) the President on whom the essay is/was written.
Why then, in this one on Trust, is it necessary to mention race at all? If race doesn't matter to you, it should not be an issue with regards to Trust. "I trust President Obama", and then a list of reasons why YOU trust President Obama.
"...And I didn't really want to bring race into the discussion, but I can't help but at least mention it once here:..."
OmahaBlueDog
(10,000 posts)The end of combat operations in Iraq
The drawdown in Afghanistan
The loans to Detroit
Elena Kagan
Sonya Sotomayor
Trying to give Elizabeth Warren an appointed job before she was elected to a job
Giving the order to send Seal Team 6 to kill Osama Bin Laden
Closing GITMO is politically impossible. Too much fear and NIMBY here in the states. If you were to get honest answers from most Americans, they'd say "just take the prisoners out somewhere and shoot them." I don't blame the President for that.
Anyone who is upset by the revelations of surveillance should consider the Presidency of FDR. Unless you are a deluded wingnut, you know that FDR is the greatest President of the 20th Century. He led this nation out of the depression and through WW II. He also condoned torture of selected enemy prisoners and locked up Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. As Oscar Wilde wrote, "The truth is rarely pure, and never simple."
NaturalCommunist
(15 posts)Look if Obama needs this information to keep us safe, then fine. Our agenda is much more important than our phone records at this point.
We are close to having one of the largest, most well run, global progressive governments in the entire history of the world. Why would we want to shoot ourselves in the foot now? Because of some phone logs?
Obama is not listening to your phone calls. If you have nothing to hide, then what's the problem?
HangOnKids
(4,291 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)shake my head.
Bush lied to get us into the war in Iraq. That was so blatantly obvious. He coerced other countries, namely Britain and Australia, to go along.
This is entirely different from beginning to end. I was floored by the knee jerk resistance to the small measure of support that he is sending the rebels. There are alot of underlying issues at play but getting rid of Assad should be on every decent person's to do list. For the US military, as bloated and overgrown as it is, sending aid to people in desperate need should be the very least that it could do.
RetroLounge
(37,250 posts)
RL
HangOnKids
(4,291 posts)
DiverDave
(5,244 posts)Then you hate the rest of us.
How many sick people that use cannabis got arrested?
How many innocent people spyed on?
How many drone kills of woman and kids?
Your trust him? 9th dimension chess, right?
Well I DONT. and pollyanna tudes like yours are bringing this country down.
Oh, and explain the 'to big to fail' to me, please.
How in the hell is that helping the rest of US??
Now it turns out when the bank was supposedly HELPING me keep my house, they were foreclosing.
Yeah, thats a trustworthy guy all right.
he LIED to us, and you are just smiling and asking for more.
When is YOUR tipping point?
Response to Uzair (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Daniel537
(1,560 posts)If you did, i would highly suggest you seek immediate medical attention, if not i suggest you move to Pyongyang and become a writer for State TV. They could sure use the help.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Taverner
(55,476 posts)That doesn't mean I trust the entire Government
Response to Uzair (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)Nothing different there now than in 2008. In fact, it is accelerating on Obama's watch. Nothing nothing nothing.
Corporate Profits Have Grown By 171 Percent Under Obama -- Highest Rate Since 1900
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/corporate-profits-have-grown-171-percent-under-obama-highest-rate-1900
"Average annual corporate profit growth under Obama is the highest since 1900, whereas profit growth declined during both Bush presidencies. As a share of the economy, corporate profits have never been higher.
Unfortunately, this profit deluge has not been shared by workers, whose wages as a percentage of the economy have fallen to all-time lows. Workers also got dinged by the recent increase in the payroll tax, which was large enough to wipe out a minimum wage increase in some states."
8 Huge Corporate Handouts in the Fiscal Cliff Bill
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/8-huge-corporate-handouts-fiscal-cliff-bill
"Throughout the months of November and December, a steady stream of corporate CEOs flowed in and out of the White House to discuss the impending fiscal cliff. Many of them, such as Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, would then publicly come out and talk about how modest increases of tax rates on the wealthy were reasonable in order to deal with the deficit problem. What wasn’t mentioned is what these leaders wanted, which is what’s known as “tax extenders”, or roughly $205B of tax breaks for corporations. With such a banal name, and boring and difficult to read line items in the bill, few political operatives have bothered to pay attention to this part of the bill. But it is critical to understanding what is going on.
5) Subsidies for Goldman Sachs Headquarters – Sec. 328 extends 'tax exempt financing for York Liberty Zone,' which was a program to provide post-9/11 recovery funds. Rather than going to small businesses affected, however, this was, according to Bloomberg, 'little more than a subsidy for fancy Manhattan apartments and office towers for Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Corp.' Michael Bloomberg himself actually thought the program was excessive, so that’s saying something. According to David Cay Johnston’s The Fine Print, Goldman got $1.6 billion in tax free financing for its new massive headquarters through Liberty Bonds."
The Untouchables: How the Obama administration protected Wall Street from prosecutions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/23/untouchables-wall-street-prosecutions-obama
Yes, Virginia, the Rich Continue to Get Richer: the Top 1% Got 121% of Income Gains Since 2009
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/02/yes-virginia-the-rich-continue-to-get-richer-the-1-got-121-of-income-gains-since-2009.html
U.S. banks in 2012 post highest profits since '06
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-usa-fdic-earnings-idUSBRE91P0N820130226?utm_source=Daily+Digest&utm_campaign=de8376aab3-DD_2_27_132_27_2013&utm_medium=email#.US5jjkXSlU8.twitter
This Year’s Subsidy to Wall Street = the Amount of This Year’s Sequester Cuts
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/02/this-years-subsidy-to-wall-street-the-amount-of-this-years-sequester-cuts.html#.US_yiFwwnHY.facebook
Don’t Blink, or You’ll Miss Another Bailout
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100466032
America faces more than a dozen deadlines, all caused by billionaires and wealth transfer
http://americablog.com/2013/02/america-faces-more-than-a-dozen-deadlines-all-caused-by-billionaires-and-wealth-transfer.html
Bank Bailout 2: Obama Lets Mortgage Abusers Off the Hook
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/09-5
I hate the domestic terrorism Obama has either ordered or allowed to occur for well over year. That taken from the "patriot act" and FBI definitions of the use of force or threat of force against the civilian population, especially to alter their political position. 7400 of us bullied and jailed while the banksters who trashed the economy walk perfectly free, continuing to accept offers of taxpayer money bailouts. OUR money going to Wall Street, because Obama.
Here is what peaceful protesters faced at the Democratic National Convention last year. Tell me this is not a police state. At minimum, the 1st Amendment is dead on Obama's watch. The message is clear: Protest and you will face our riot cops and the prison-industrial complex.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002710303
Some five people are still fighting charges from last year.
The astonishing crack-down on whistle blowers. The spying upon journalists, who say sources are now clamming up due to spying, jamming the process of the freedom of press. DHS saying they can seize your electronics on a hunch anywhere along the border and up to 100 miles inland from it.
Robot death planes killing children in more than five countries with whom we are not at war, creating (purposefully, to me) the next generation of Osama Bin Ladens. Extrajudicial execution of Americans. Secret kill lists. Warrantless spying.
This is like some kind of bad movie plot, not the country based upon the Constitution and the principles of the Founding Fathers.
And of course:
Indefinite Surveillance: Say Hello to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014
http://truth-out.org/news/item/17070-indefinite-surveillance-say-hello-to-the-national-defense-authorization-act-of-2014
Passed in 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set the groundwork for surveillance, collection, and analysis of intelligence gathered from foreign powers and agents of foreign powers, up to and including any individual residing within the U.S., who were suspected of involvement in potential terrorist activity. On October 26, 2001, a little over a month after 9/11, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law. Two provisions, Sec. 206, permitting government to obtain secret court orders allowing roving wiretaps without requiring identification of the person, organization, or facility to be surveyed, and Sec. 215 authorizing government to access and obtain “any tangible thing” relevant to a terrorist investigation, transformed foreign intelligence into domestic intelligence.
NDAA 2014 builds on the powers granted by both the Patriot Act and FISA by allowing unrestricted analysis and research of captured records pertaining to any organization or individual “now or once hostile to the United States”. Under the Patriot Act, the ability to obtain “any tangible thing” eliminated any expectation of privacy. Under NDAA 2014 Sec. 1061(g)(1), an overly vague definition of captured records enhances government power and guarantees indefinite surveillance.
On May 22, 2013 the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, one of several Armed Services Committees, met to discuss the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014. The main subject of the hearing was Sec. 1061, otherwise known as Enhancement of Capacity of the United States Government to Analyze Captured Records. This enhancement provision of NDAA 2014 would effectively create a new intelligence agency, one with the authority to analyze information gained under the Patriot Act, FISA, and known spying programs such as PRISM.
Sec. 1061(a) authorizes the Secretary of Defense to "establish a center to be known as the 'Conflict Records Research Center'" (Center). The main purpose of the center, according to the bill text, is to create a "digital research database," one with the capability to "translate" and facilitate research on "records captured from countries, organizations and individuals, now or once hostile to the United States." The authorization also says the Center will conduct research and analysis to "increase the understanding of factors related to international relations, counterterrorism and conventional and unconventional warfare, and ultimately, enhance national security."
(More at the link.)
A better question about Obama is, why the fuck aren't you paying attention to what is actually happening? Busy catapulting the propaganda? It is not possible to be an active DU member in GD and not be aware of even one reason Obama is doing more harm than good.
"Everything is fine, just keep watching TV" T-shirts are available here:
http://www.zazzle.com/everything_is_fine_t_shirt-235494518151481399
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)quinnox
(20,600 posts)you have overdosed on the kool aid. Jesus Christ. I do give you credit for being honest though. We get it, Obama is perfect and divine, and has made no mistakes. And anyone who disagrees must be a racist. 