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On October 11 2010 10:19 Floophead_III wrote:Show nested quote +On October 11 2010 04:42 Mickey wrote:On October 10 2010 12:51 Floophead_III wrote:
As for comparing him to Bush:
Personally, I think Bush was an incredible president and a great man. I think he had some failed policies and blunders too. But, he did the 1 thing he needed to do - protect America - and he did it damn well. He united Americans in a moment of fragility and we've been safe ever since. There have been numerous plots and potential attacks averted because he put focus on strengthening national security and brought the war on terror back onto their soil.
You can't be serious?..... Good counter argument there. Of course I'm serious. My apologies for being one of the thinking Americans and one of the few people on this forum who aren't afraid to voice a conservative viewpoint on the internet. You do realize the primary function of the President is to serve as commander-in-chief and to protect America, right? Nowhere in the constitution does it say that the President should help everyone by giving away gov't money or make sure every person is taken care of though. That being said, the presidency is massively, ridiculously strong compared to what the founders anticipated. The Presidency has expanded wildly beyond what the constitution enumerates. Bush certainly bent a few rules with regards to national security, but at least he was doing so in order to carry out a constitutional duty. Obama is just trying to use his power to serve a liberal agenda that, constitutionally speaking, he does not have a duty to pursue. The fact is, I'd rather him just do his damn job instead of try to be an idealist. I stand by everything I say with regards to politics, and I use reason and logic to back up my statements. Can you say the same?
I'm sorry but I don't see one ounce of "reasoning" or "logic". Also afaik Bush stretched the reach of presidential powers quite far, so why don't you hate him also? Or you just base your hate of politicians based on their affiliation?
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Most of the big spending is lap over from the prior administration. The perception that there have been huge increases in government spending are false in my opinion
Ny times article outlining the same point
Additionally 15 years ago Japan dealt with the exact same market crisis we are facing now. I think it would be wise to copy their solution
Interview with Japanese Economist
[edit] grammar [edit]
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On October 11 2010 10:19 Floophead_III wrote:
Good counter argument there. Of course I'm serious. My apologies for being one of the thinking Americans and one of the few people on this forum who aren't afraid to voice a conservative viewpoint on the internet. Quick side note here. How dare you insinuate that everyone who dislikes Bush isn't a "thinking American." I wrote a long reply to you, and can retype it if you like, but I feel this statement sums up why arguing is pointless. You sincerely believe that everyone who is against Bush, and by proxy, in favor of Obama, isn't thinking for themselves.
Also, this is excellent! Thank you very much for linking it:
Interview with Japanese Economist
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I feel that it is my patriotic duty to remain disinterested in politics, and to keep myself morally clear of the dirty business.
That being said, Obama has been doing a job of being the commander and chief, and that is much harder than a lot of jobs that people do in America. Some people sit around all day collecting welfare checks as a profession. I think that as far as Obama is concerned, the presidential office is maintaining the dignity of being a more stately position than that of the professional welfare beneficiary.
On the other hand, there are some other crazy jobs, like mining for coal, which might be considered more taxing than being President. But these other jobs do not offer as much pay or recognition. So in this sense, Obama is in a pretty good position, relatively. He appears on television regularly, and sees his family often, unlike undercover agents embedded in Mexico's drug cartels.
So I guess as far as bad and good are measured, the office of President is definitely on the good side, and since Obama is the acting president, it is argued by me that Obama is good.
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Obama took the oath of office at a time when the country was in a total shitshow. For a pro-business guy in a pro-business country, economic downfall for the small business and unfavorable aggregates for big business meant that he was facing a challenge of virtually impossible proportions. He was expected by his supporters to solve these problems. It was an impossible expectation. He was expected by those who were more conservative than those who elected him to fail and present the country with a rigged ballet in '12. Those people had a more realistic appraisal. I just wanted to get this out of the way since I think people must be talking politics in this thread (I don't like posting without reading at least a percentage of the thread, but I'm pretty sure this is a shitshow).
As to my own opinion, I think that he has done an admirable job given the situation he was presented with. You can't stop a multi-front international war with an election. If you could it would be a horrible outcome. You can't stop economic crisis with an election since there is essentially an ongoing arms race between speculators and regulators, which is a systematic problem that passable policy has no influence on. I think that what his supporters elected him for, he has pretty much done. I don't think they could expect more.
Getting, I suppose, closer to my own opinion, he is pretty much a normal president, fulfilling party and state obligations with the grace of a wealthy person. Passing policy to please his supporters and be realistic given the persistent limitations on policymaking in the US. He is nothing special.
I didn't vote for him. I haven't voted for any president because I see their actions reflecting on me. I think that people who voted for Obama, who don't hold that moral tie to their democratic decision, should probably be happy about him. If I voted, I'd be guilty. That's why I'm the politics major who never voted.
Basically, a good person can't be put in charge of a bad country. I love a lot of things about the US, from side to side, top to bottom, but its political mindset is disgusting and the failures of its public education have been becoming apparent year after year until we have tea party nominations. The place is fucked to me right now. If I can help it, I'm never moving back.
EDIT: (Ok, that turned into a shit rant. It's appropriate for this thread though, so I'm posting it. I'm going to poke around in this thread and see if it's appropriate.)
(Swift update: The thread is full of party-line and otherwise bad posts, so I think this isn't too bad.)
Also, I want to mention that Japanese government issue. Their bubble was a smaller thing that popped earlier. Their policies may have been good, but the state really backs people here up. That's something that they just do. They're dealing with that problem right now with the issues caused by a strong yen, which are very serious.
The main difference is a severe difference in the sociopolitical climate. The Japanese government has wholly different capabilities, administratively and practically, than the American government.
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EPT
