re: Obama is...

a pretty good president in a tough spot with the most polarized Congress in history who comprised too much early on mistakenly thinking it would do some good with the oposition party.

quote:

---

But I think he's a crappy leader.

---

Because he's black?

That statement always makes me laugh. We had a Civil War at one point, are we more polarized than that?

quote:

---

Obama's failings come down more in his failings at politicking than his lacking leadership. He's no great leader of men, but he established an adversarial tone with the opposition as soon as he stepped into office. In negotiations with the other party, he hasn't left Boehner with room to make things work with his unruly party in the House. It's not like the GOP has acted in good faith at any point since he got into office, but the President needs to be able to rise above that in the name of compromise.

Compromise isn't always the right answer to a policy problem, but it does build some good will between the parties. Those efforts have been sorely lacking.

---

Pretty spot on...but it does go both ways. Also have to remember that Obama isn't in Congress. He may have influence, but it Congress at the end of the day who pass bills.

For every Boehner, who might be willing to compromise, there is a Ted Cruz who will do anything to put the POTUS in a bad light (aka. government shutdown).

The greatest troll of old white conservative frickheads ever.

not someone I voted for, but isn't nearly as bad as people wish he was.

quote:

---

Because he's black?

---

I'm the lone conservative on this board saying he's not the worst thing ever and you go to me being racist?

the most unprepared person ever to be President. But we should have expected it from someone who had neither held public office for more than a couple of years, or had never owned a business.

I personally think the President needs to be a more business minded individual. I am amazed that nobody is calling out President Obama for a COMPLETE lack of a jobs program. In his first few years he rolled out a few programs that were "shovel ready", but they were mainly for green type startup companies.

Where is the incentives for small business (which is the true engine of the American economy) to hire? In years past (under both republican and Democrat administrations) when taxes were cut, and businesses were given incentives for hiring we had tremendous grown. What we have now is month after month of flat "growth". If they feel the need to throw a bunch of money somewhere, why not do scholarships for unemployed people, or job training to teach someone a new trade, instead of wasting it on untested technologies (Solyndra).

If he did something about the economy (other than a stupid arse idea like raising the minimum wage to $15) he would be much more favorably viewed.

quote:

---

with the most polarized Congress in history

---

You can't be serious. You really think today's congress is the most polarized? It isn't ANYWHERE close.

Nobody's been beaten senseless

quote:

---

Obama's failings come down more in his failings at politicking than his lacking leadership. He's no great leader of men, but he established an adversarial tone with the opposition as soon as he stepped into office. In negotiations with the other party, he hasn't left Boehner with room to make things work with his unruly party in the House. It's not like the GOP has acted in good faith at any point since he got into office, but the President needs to be able to rise above that in the name of compromise.

---

My assertion is that inability is leadership failure. For contrast, you need to look no further than Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. Very different men from opposite parties. Both had to deal with a congress controlled by the other side but each had the skill to make it work (and not coincidentally were very popular and had highly successful presidential terms). Each also effectively led through political crisis far greater (Iran/Contra & Lewinskygate) than anything Obama's faced.

From a leadership perspective, Obama just doesn't have the IT factor he (or any president) needs to really get the job done.

quote:

---

I'm the lone conservative on this board saying he's not the worst thing ever and you go to me being racist?

---

No you're not. I've repeatedly said I strongly dislike him (and did not vote for him) but he's not the worst ever. If I were ranking him, I'd put him at about the same level as his predecessor (whom I did vote for). Of the presidents I remember, he immeasurably better than Carter.

But as far as the racist thing, anybody who doesn't like him is obviously a racist because, well, he's black so if you don't like him you by definition must be a racist.

quote:

---

Because MLK was a republican.

---

Lol.

quote:

---

“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God’s children.”

---

quote:

---

"I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective—the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income."

---

quote:

---

"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

---

quote:

---

"The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism."

---

quote:

---

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

---

Yep. Sounds like a republican to me...