The American President

[Fenrisúlfr]

He's going to run the economy further into the ground. I've devised a leveraged options strategy involving 10-year treasuries and gold that is recalibrated every time he opens his fat mouth, safe to say, I will have the last laugh.

 

[_Wes]

Interesting thoughts & conclusions - on both sides.

I tend to fall to the right more often than not - so safe to say I wasn't too happy with GWB's bloating of the gov't. I'm for letting folks control their own destiny - but with the size of our gov't - that's just not realistic.

As far as the racist comments - I'm from a pretty small town, and I've seen none of that. I think the race card gets played up way too often, and by race-baiters creating issues where there aren't any.

I didn't vote for Obama - but I support him. I'm very aware that most politicians are self aggrandizing - and he seems no different - but he is a good speaker. Congress & the banks created the majority of the current fiscal issues we are facing - and yes, as did the folks defaulting on loans didn't help at all.

None of this is easy fix - there's lots going in to creating this mess. . . and I'm sure politicians will do everything they can do make it worse. . . they always do. Funny how they brag about it - and only end up lining thier own pockets.

imo - ymmv - etc.

 

[OldScratch]

the voter turnout THIS election was spectacularly larger than any previous election in the entire history of the country and i still stand by my previous statements

Not exactly. While turnout was high, record high even, it ultimately fell well short of many of the more optimistic predictions. Moreover, percentage-wise it was in no way "spectacular" compared to spikes in previous election cycles.

http://blogs.wsj.com/politicalperceptions/2008/11/13/2008-voter-turnout-good-but-not-great/

I am surprised to see so many with apparently high hopes for Obama. Indeed, I'm surprised to see so many with any faith left in the current democratic system at all! Nary a fascist, anarchist, or nihilistic rant in sight!! Things have changed here...

 

[monoxide_child]

Not exactly. While turnout was high, record high even, it ultimately fell well short of many of the more optimistic predictions. Moreover, percentage-wise it was in no way "spectacular" compared to spikes in previous election cycles.

http://blogs.wsj.com/politicalperceptions/2008/11/13/2008-voter-turnout-good-but-not-great/

I am surprised to see so many with apparently high hopes for Obama. Indeed, I'm surprised to see so many with any faith left in the current democratic system at all! Nary a fascist, anarchist, or nihilistic rant in sight!! Things have changed here...

plus the people that DID NOT actually vote seem to be mostly people that wanted McCain to win, resulting in me surrounded by people that are pissed off that Obama won.
i went around telling people that "Hillary Clinton is part of the presidential cabinet now" and most of the people responded "i'd rather have Sara Palin in the White House than Hillary Clinton"

 

[Demiurge]

What does this have to do with philosophy?

 

[hexwind]

Hi i'm from Tunisia (North africa for any one who doesn't know ) and I hope that Obama will stop the war in Iraq and remedy the things that Bush had done. and I hope he will do his Job and stop those Freemasonry thing and any kind of governments behind the American government.
Peace out

 

[monoxide_child]

What does this have to do with philosophy?

the thread itself didn't really have anything to do with philosophy, i just wanted to know if you guys thought Barak Obama would be a good or bad president, and whether or not you guys thought that he would be able to fix the problems that Bush Jr caused

 

[monoxide_child]

Hi i'm from Tunisia (North africa for any one who doesn't know ) and I hope that Obama will stop the war in Iraq and remedy the things that Bush had done. and I hope he will do his Job and stop those Freemasonry thing and any kind of governments behind the American government.
Peace out

i don't know about Tunisia specifically
but for most of the countries in the Middle East, their cultures demand revenge for every murder
there is absolutely nothing that can ever be done that will ever stop the violence in the middle east, the is absolutely no "endgame" scenario
also
there was a "12-sided war" going on in the middle east on sept 10th, and a lot of the killing/bombings going on right now, actually have absolutely nothing to do with anything america actually did or didn't do or failed to do, every american on earth could die simultaniously and there would still be a horrendously huge amount of violence continuing to go on in the middle east

 

[razoredge]

every american on earth could die simultaniously and there would still be a horrendously huge amount of violence continuing to go on in the middle east

more than alot of truth in that
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as for the "philosophy" question, every person and every topic known to man has a philosophy behind it. I find the jabs placed here by those who only associate "philosophy" with standing by the thoughts of the supposed great philosophers kinda sad, yet amusing at the same time.

 

[monoxide_child]

there's about to be another american presidential election
how do you guys feel about how Barack Obama's presidency so far??
you guys want him to be president for another 4 years??

 

[AllShallFall]

^Yes, I do. Paul Ryan and his bitch Mitt Romney scare the hell out of me, as they will send the U.S. into the depths of oblivion if they're elected. Damn I hope they aren't elected

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

there's about to be another american presidential election
how do you guys feel about how Barack Obama's presidency so far??
you guys want him to be president for another 4 years??

I will definitely vote for Obama again. I'm just hoping that we can replace enough of the Republican congress and senate with Democrats to actually pass some of Obama's proposals. It would be a huge relief to see some bills that will actually benefit the public make it through the voting stage, rather than being continuously suppressed by filibusters.

 

[monoxide_child]

^Yes, I do. Paul Ryan and his bitch Mitt Romney scare the hell out of me, as they will send the U.S. into the depths of oblivion if they're elected. Damn I hope they aren't elected

I will definitely vote for Obama again. I'm just hoping that we can replace enough of the Republican congress and senate with Democrats to actually pass some of Obama's proposals. It would be a huge relief to see some bills that will actually benefit the public make it through the voting stage, rather than being continuously suppressed by filibusters.

i'm not really sure if i want specifically Obama to be president, i'm just gonna vote against Mitt Romney

america has gotten to the point where there's not really any chance in hell of a really good person ever actually getting anywhere near having his name on the ballot for president, the last hundred years, it's just been choosing betrween the lesser of 2 evils

and now
the lesser of 2 evils is Obama
Obama won't fulfill any of his campaign promises, but Romney will totally fuck over the country

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

Obama won't fulfill any of his campaign promises, but Romney will totally fuck over the country

This isn't Obama's fault. The founders, in their effort to establish a system that wouldn't be as easily corruptible as the monarchies that most early Americans fled from, specifically founded a system of government that required the cooperation of multiple branches before any major changes could be made. It's worked pretty well to keep ambitious rich folks from becoming dictators, but one of the trade-offs is that campaign promises are unlikely to be fulfilled, even with public support, if all three branches aren't on the same page. Over the past four years Obama's done an incredible job of actually initiating his campaign promises, but the Republican dominated legislature has gone out of their way to block virtually everything he's attempted, only to turn around and criticize him for not bringing about the very change that they, themselves, intentionally prevented.

If you want to see any of the change that Obama's proposing, we're going to need a 2/3 Democratic majority in the legislature.

 

[Dak]

There are no significant differences between these candidates. Both are big government, big deficit, special interest whores. The US economy is pretty much irreparably fucked from years of compounded debt living and year over year fiscal and monetary insanity. Default on personal/local/state/national level is pretty much unavoidable. Or hyperinflation. Not pretty either way. Anyone who thinks that either one of these candidates could fix the mess, or even has a plan that would attempt to, is a god damn gullible idiot who can't do basic math or spot pandering bullshit talking points. The rats are sucking every last dime out of the nation's wealth before jumping off the ship they helped to sink.

 

[BlackMetalWhiteGuy]

There are no significant differences between these candidates. Both are big government, big deficit, special interest whores. The US economy is pretty much irreparably fucked from years of compounded debt living and year over year fiscal and monetary insanity. Default on personal/local/state/national level is pretty much unavoidable. Or hyperinflation. Not pretty either way. Anyone who thinks that either one of these candidates could fix the mess, or even has a plan that would attempt to, is a god damn gullible idiot who can't do basic math or spot pandering bullshit talking points. The rats are sucking every last dime out of the nation's wealth before jumping off the ship they helped to sink.

Obama's actually done a good job minimizing the damage and initiating a restoration. Considering the mess that he inherited, I don't think anyone but the most ignorant and blindly optimistic of voters expected any kind of drastic, immediate "change." You hit the nail right on the head describing Romney though, especially considering yesterday's leak regarding his indignation toward 47% of voters. Political analysts on both sides are now joking / lamenting (depending on which side you're on) that Romney is more of a threat to his own campaign than he is to Obama's

 

[monoxide_child]

i understand the whole "checks and balances" thing where a Democratic President will never really be able to fulfill any of his campaign promises

but with the Republican party, the only people that get anywhere near having their name on the Presidential Ballot are those specific men that really have no intention of even trying fulfill any of their campaign promises anyway

so
it's actually kinda like voting for the lesser of 2 evils
the country's gonna be fucked up no matter who becomes president
it's really just a matter of how badly the country gets fucked up

Obama's 2nd term won't really make the country any better, but it won't really make the country that much worse either

Romney getting to be president though, will fuck over the general public just as much as the last few Republican presidents

 

[monoxide_child]

Obama's actually done a good job minimizing the damage and initiating a restoration. Considering the mess that he inherited, I don't think anyone but the most ignorant and blindly optimistic of voters expected any kind of drastic, immediate "change."

honestly
when Obama got elected, my first thought was
"i really really fucking hope he gets a second term"
cuz when you look at the mess he inherited, there was really no way in hell he could fix the country in only just one term
and unlike the rest of the dumb-ass population, i already knew that the very moment he won the goddamn election

 

[AllShallFall]

^That is so fucking true. No one has thought that, and they need to give Obama another chance.

 

[monoxide_child]

^That is so fucking true. No one has thought that

Americans are idiots