And it's done. "Mele Kalikimaka"

[mnhtnbb]

I have to say that it made me very, very sad to see this presser. Obama's demeanor was so lacking in energy, animation, and determination. Almost depressed. It's very sad to see but I truly think he is at a core, personal level, hugely disappointed to see what the American people elected
to succeed him.

[etherealtruth]

1. I agree ... it is pretty clear he beleives he is handing the country over to a buffoon

.... a grotesque buffoon with malfeasance in his heart and mind

[Ilsa]

14. A grotesque, vulgar, greedy, ignorance-embracing buffoon. nt

[etherealtruth]

15. Exactly n/t

[KamaAina]

2. Note that he did not add "...a me Hau'oli Makahiki Hou."

(and Happy New Year) 'Cause he knows damn well it won't be, and he didn't lift a finger to stop it.

[mnhtnbb]

4. He made it pretty clear he didn't see it as his responsibility--as POTUS--to stop it.

He came right out and said it wasn't up to him to choose his successor. He put it on the American people,
although I did hear him say it was up to Democrats to deliver a message for which people would vote.

[ellisonz]

11. I seem to recall President Obama actively campaigning for Hillary.

Didn't lift a finger isn't fair. He's trying to do the right thing and for that I can't blame him even if I wished it was different.

[yardwork]

18. What is he supposed to do?

[KamaAina]

22. He could have gone public with what he knew

certainly after the Comey letter. But nooooooo! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! He had to take the high road! Too bad it led straight off a cliff.

[awoke_in_2003]

23. Yep, I can't see what he could have done...

hopefully in retirement, he can start a push for transparency and integrity in our elections. The system has been a joke for a long time. These damn black boxes and tabulators have to go. We need to go back to optical scanners at the least. We need physical proof of votes on a ballot. We do not need concession speeches by midnight of election night- we can wait a few days. Hell, the media clowns ought to love that idea- they would have days of inane babbling to sell ad time.

[madaboutharry]

3. He looks sad.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Yes, indeed. His voice sounded sad, too.

[Hekate]

6. My response the day after the election: How the hell did we go from Barack Obama to Donald Trump?!

Just gobsmacked and gutpunched. We go from an intelligent, classy, better than we probably deserve man to what? Mad King Donald in his Golden Tower.

[ffr]

9. Far worse. His alignment with Putin to raid American wealth.

Blueprint within.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017415286

From 90-Percent.

[VOX]

17. Same. It's a mega-reactionary shift, impossible to comprehend.

I always believed that even if America shifted rightward (as has been the case since 1968), it would never embrace one-party rule, elect a dictator or stoop to fascism. As recently as last month, there was even talk about the "death" of the Republican Party, that it'd take decades for them to catch up, and the Supreme Court would finally be rational and in touch with the times. Not only is all that ground to dust, the tables have been switched completely.

I was very much mistaken in my beliefs. I now deeply distrust a good number of fellow Americans. The fallout from this debacle is only beginning. There are very dark times ahead.

[bpositive]

29. From an evidence and fact based president to

a fact less, evidence free buffoon.

Un freakin believable

💩

[polichick]

7. Yes, he seemed sad. I do wonder if he understands why his "coalition...

didn't hold together" during the midterms - or the once in a century opportunity he was given when the people of the world stood with him and he chose an administration filled with corporate tools and opened his door to big pharma lobbyists on day one.

Obama is a far more thoughtful and capable man than Trump, but he also stabbed supporters in the back much as Trump is doing now. Wonder what a Sanders administration would look like.

[Skidmore]

13. Bullpucky.

If anything, he has a sense of fairness to all. He has tried to be president to the entire nation.

[polichick]

16. If the party wants to be relevant in the future, it (and he) needs to...

get real about what happened since millions of people around the world bought that message of hope and change.

We were conned just as the Trump voters were conned when it comes to putting corporate players in charge rather than public servants. THIS is what has to change.

[yardwork]

19. More assholish false equivalence. This is is why I grieve for my country.

If you can't see the difference between Obama and Trump, I don't know what to say.

[polichick]

24. If you can't see the similarities, nothing will ever change...

btw I mentioned some of the differences - read more carefully, with an open mind.

[Hekate]

26. This is why I grieve for DU, frankly

[yardwork]

30. Sometimes I remind myself that I'm arguing with bots.

It's momentarily comforting.

[Hekate]

31. Ahhhh. If I spritz them with water, will they rust like the Tin Man?

[Hekate]

25. Talk to us about who Obama "stabbed in the back." The LGBTQ people who can get married ....

....in all 50 states? Those who can serve openly in the military? And could get married in the military no matter what state they were serving in before all 50 caught up?

Were you one of those who wailed endlessly that Obama had thrown this group and that group and the other group under the bus? Before any of his plans had a chance to come to fruition?

Are you convinced he's just a POSUCS because 20million more people have some kind of health insurance despite the worst efforts of the GOP? But we don't have single payer because the same GOP that would shut the country down in a heartbeat would have rolled over for the POSUCS if -- if he had done what exactly?

Do tell about the stabs in the back. I'm sure your shoulder blades are itching.

[polichick]

27. Your nasty tone is similar to the disdain of the Clinton campaign...

that drove voters away.

For readers who care about what has actually happened and want to win again, I'll answer your rudely put question:

Obama stabbed millions of supporters in the back, people who watched his hope-and-change campaign and expected him to put public servants in charge of the people's agencies instead of the corporate tools he did install.

Many of those same voters were conned by another populist campaign - and we see the same switcheroo happening in Trump's cabinet choices. Would Bernie have done that?

[Hekate]

28. We lost in red states. Frankly, it looks like we have to move rightward rather than leftward...

...correct? If we want those voters.

I, for one, don't think that's what we ought to be doing.

What has traditionally happened all along is that both parties play to their bases during primaries, and then move to the middle for the GE. Not further to the left or right. Because most people live in the middle.

So whatever the hell you think went wrong, our terrible awful no good very bad candidate got THREE MILLION MORE VOTES THAN TRUMP. The votes you say you want are by and large on the right wing.

Thanks.

[libtodeath]

8. I think he knows what happened

and feels as powerless as we do.

[Initech]

10. Obama all class. Trump no class.

Actually I don't think there is a unit of measurement created to show how little class Trump has.

[flamingdem]

12. We're in a slide to third world status

Hold on tight

[Lotusflower70]

20. I don't blame him

He is burnt out. He put up with so much bs for 8 years. He did his part. I am so glad I got to witness this remarkable man break through the rich, old, white dude barrier in my lifetime. Screw the haters. He did what he could. It's time for him to relax and enjoy his life. I wish him all the best. There was resistance to his presidency, I am not surprised that there is resistance afterwards. Now it's time for us to take that mantle of progress and move forward.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

21. I feel pretty deflated too after the election

and dreading what's to come. My only hope is basically that he and the Republicans in Congress can't get their act together to do much damage and that Democrats can exploit their weaknesses and division.