Quote :

"maybe Obama should have pushed through "smaller" in initiatives before ACA"

He had majorities in both houses for his first two years, and most progressives are pissed he didn't ram something stronger than the ACA through instead of trying to work the aisles. ACA was the compromise.

6/18/2017 12:26:34 AM

As long as insurance lobbies exist, there will never be a single-payer system. The ACA was a tribute to the insurance lobby gods.

6/18/2017 11:40:37 AM

Why is no one talking about the news that Obama knew about Russian interference, but decided to keep it secret out of fear that it might help Russia or Donald Trump?

6/23/2017 5:37:41 PM

Because, based on what I've seen since October, we'd be hearing the following from people who support Trump:

1) Obama leaked classified intelligence
2) Obama did it to help Hillary
3) OMG, Hillary won because Obama scared the country into thinking the Russians were hacking us
4) OMG, Obama is trying to bring us into a war

He kept it secret because he didn't want Trump to lose and then claim Obama made it happen (if you're referring to the Washington Post article it mentions in there that Trump had spent at least a few weeks talking about how the election was going to be rigged against him).

6/23/2017 6:23:18 PM

^^ that is so insanely ass backwards it makes my head spin. That isn't even a defense of Obama, who fucked up this whole situation beyond belief.

But to intimate he did it to protect Clinton is bonkers. You can argue his incompetence handed Trump the presidency since he didn't clearly tell the American people what was going on.

I refuse to believe you aren't trolling with that kind of take.

[Edited on June 23, 2017 at 8:27 PM. Reason : And I posted a two page article about this 10 hours ago -- tons have talked about it]

6/23/2017 8:26:20 PM

You find my position so outrageous because you are operating in hindsight with information Obama did not have and I have suspended knowledge of the outcome which at the time, was completely out of question.

Cherokee gets its. Hillary was going to win and it was only a matter of if she was going to win with no one knowing about the Russian influence or if she was going to win with people thinking Obama interfered by bringing up Russian interference.

6/23/2017 8:59:36 PM

Good times

https://twitter.com/pourmecoffee/status/880141570124771328



[Edited on June 28, 2017 at 6:30 PM. Reason : ]

6/28/2017 6:30:31 PM

Back when the press would lob softballs and kiss ass...

6/28/2017 7:30:17 PM

6/29/2017 9:55:28 AM

I miss Obama.

At least there was an intelligence there you could be confident in. Even if you didn't agree with him, he was stable in the leadership. Strengthening of alliances. He made mistakes, but the ones he made were once or twice a year compared to the biweekly Trump mismanagement's.

Trump is the embodiment of bitterness and cowardly interaction with the world. Fear of the deep state, fear of not being in complete control. Its demeaning to the country and an insult to people both foreign and domestic. His team is even under staffing the state department to undermine Tillerson.

Diplomats cant even engage the state department because there's nobody to talk to. They go to the NSA.

Thank god we have an overwhelming Military force as a backstop to this incompetence.

/rant



[Edited on June 29, 2017 at 10:19 AM. Reason : yay rants]

6/29/2017 10:18:00 AM

Quote :

"Strengthening of alliances."

lol

6/29/2017 1:14:27 PM

It's pretty fucking hilarious that Obamacare became so popular after he left office, that the GOP just decided that it would be easier to repeal Medicaid instead. GOAT.

6/29/2017 2:47:52 PM

expanding medicaid was part of aca

6/29/2017 2:58:51 PM

Quote :

"Back when the press would lob softballs and kiss ass..."

Seriously though-- what was there to drill him on? Arugula and dijon and FEMA camps, I guess.

Trump's getting harsh treatment from the media because he's doing an objectively terrible job.

6/29/2017 3:03:55 PM

Interesting. The press was 100% anti-Trump before he was sworn in, then 100% anti-Trump on his first day.

If they are 100% anti-Trump on day 90, it must be because he didn't do a good job yet... it couldn't possibly be because the press is in bed with the DNC

6/29/2017 3:08:10 PM

Your deep state conspiracy statements are cute.

6/29/2017 3:27:58 PM

Quote :

"It's pretty fucking hilarious that Obamacare became so popular after he left office, that the GOP just decided that it would be easier to repeal Medicaid instead. GOAT."

seriously, what happens if they pass these medicaid cuts? i feel like this would be the breaking point for the lower & middle class.

6/29/2017 3:58:28 PM

For what it's worth, the press harshly condemned Obama and defended Fox News when Obama wrongly went after them. Jake Tapper especially. Fox, of course, would never reciprocate but that is besides the point.

They don't like when people attack any other media, which Trump has done from day one.

^ maybe but who would get blame? The Democrats messaging would be so bad as always that I'd wager Trump and Ryan/McConnell could pull off shifting it.

[Edited on June 29, 2017 at 4:00 PM. Reason : And has been said, this may be the messiest but most efficient way to get to single payer]

6/29/2017 3:58:36 PM

i don't think single payer will happen unless something drastic happens. i think it will take people literally dying on the steps on the capitol.

6/29/2017 4:22:03 PM

Quote :

"expanding medicaid was part of aca"

Oh I know, but the cuts they're proposing go way beyond undoing the expansion, it would eventually completely cripple the program leaving another 49 million without access to care.

6/29/2017 5:47:03 PM

OMGWTFBBQ

6/30/2017 1:02:25 PM

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170703000991

Quote :

"Moon meets Obama, says last chance for NK talks President Moon Jae-in renewed his resolve to pursue sanctions and dialogue to tackle North Korea’s nuclear program during a meeting with former US President Barack Obama on Monday, saying now is the “last chance” for the regime to return to the negotiating table. During the 40-minute talk, Moon shared the results of his recent summit with his incumbent US counterpart Donald Trump, asking for Obama’s advice on ways to advance the relationship. The former president stressed bipartisan US support for the alliance and wished Moon success in his presidency, according to Cheong Wa Dae. “President Trump and I agreed to continue to apply sanctions and pressure to resolve the North’s nuclear and missile issues, while pursuing dialogue in parallel,” Moon was quoted as saying by his press secretary Yoon Young-chan. “Obama said that as many South Koreans hope for his success, Moon would no doubt meet the people’s expectations, quoting former President Abraham Lincoln whom he said he respects the most that with the people’s support you can do anything.” Obama arrived in Seoul on Sunday along with his wife Michelle and daughters, Sasha and Malia, marking his first visit since his term came to an end in January. The meeting came at a delicate time, a day after Moon returned from Washington. At a joint news conference there, Trump openly derided Obama’s “strategic patience” policy on North Korea as “failed” and a bilateral free trade pact sealed during his term as “not exactly a great deal.” Obama is enjoying his postretirement life nonetheless, basking in one of the highest ratings for any former US leader. Earlier Monday, he took part in the Asian Leadership Conference hosted by the Chosun Ilbo and met with former President Lee Myung-bak, which he called a chance to “catch up with my old friend.” At the forum, Obama sought to counter Trump’s criticism for his North Korea policy, pointing to his efforts to intensify sanctions, plug loopholes and boost cooperation with China -- the defiant regime’s economic lifeline -- and other countries such as in Southeast Asia. While expressing skepticism a quick solution, he emphasized the need to tighten the enforcement of the sanctions to ensure no “leaks” that may facilitate arms trade and cash flows into the North. “We should be under no illusions that there is some silver bullet and solve this problem right away,” Obama said. “But I do think that a good dialogue has opened up between the US and China around this issue, and my hope is that the current administration is continuing that. I think it is also important for us to maintain the kinds of strong application of sanctions.” The staunch Democrat also took a veiled swipe at Trump over his exit from the Paris climate accord, while defending globalization and the liberal global order in stark contrast to the hawkish Republican’s “America First” and “peace through strength” doctrine. “In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change -- an agreement that, even with the temporary absence of American leadership, will still give our children a fighting chance,” Obama said. “Democracy is hard. Progress does not move in a straight line. Its gains are often fragile. “But the future does not favor the strongman. I believe deeply that the liberal international order; order based not just on military power or national affiliations, but on principles -- the rule of law, human rights and individual freedoms -- is the only choice.” By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)"

Poor Obama. As President Donald Trump continue to successfully dismantle his legacy, all he has is his around-the-world billion dollar vacations and his pleas to world leaders to listen to him, regardless of the fact he has no power.

7/3/2017 12:35:15 PM

Quote :

"his pleas to world leaders to listen to him, regardless of the fact he has no power."

Um, your article literally states the exact opposite of this. It says Moon asked him for advice.

I'm actually a little uncomfortable that he would meet with a world leader so close to the transfer of power. But these guys (meaning other world leaders) crave some semblance of normal I'm sure after talking to a psychopath like Don.

7/3/2017 1:30:30 PM

That's President Don.

7/3/2017 1:44:15 PM

CREDIBLE

7/27/2017 3:42:46 PM

Dude is drinking a coconut!

BEST PRESIDANT EVAR!!!

7/28/2017 8:21:05 PM

There was an op-ed on WaPo yesterday that I'm really surprised they even published, that laid bare all of the serious inadequacies that Obama and the media kept quiet regarding his foreign policy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/08/14/obamas-foreign-policy-haunts-trump-and-the-united-states/?utm_term=.e0081aff12d8

Ed Rogers appears to be a fairly staunch conservative, but again, I'm surprised I'm reading that on WaPo. Seems like something I'd find on Fox News.

At this point, I wish we could have Bill Clinton back. Or George.

8/16/2017 8:39:46 AM

Why are you surprised? Both the NYT and WaPo have had conservative opinion columnists for decades. You'd have to actively avoid them to not know this.

And Obama's foreign policy failures have been well documented and talked about from the right and the left.

8/16/2017 9:09:48 AM

^

8/16/2017 10:25:27 AM

^^^He didn't exactly have a lot of leverage after the fucked up economy and two wars he was handed.

You take Ukraine - I FULLY believe we fucked up royally with Crimea/Ukraine. But what option did he have? Americans are sick of war and he campaigned on getting out of the middle east. Nobody even knows where Ukraine is. And look how long it's taken to get people to start taking the Russia shit seriously. Back then, nobody would have given an ounce of support to helping Ukraine deal with Russia.

The same can be said about Syria.

I mean, don't get me wrong, each President has to deal with the shit before them, so Obama has to deal with Bush's nonsense, Bush had to deal with Clinton's nonsense, etc. But you CAN compare the magnitude between administrations and the mess Bush left behind for Obama dwarfs that left behind by Clinton to Bush or quite frankly, Obama to Trump.

Don't forget the economic shit that was going down throughout all of this, too.

[Edited on August 16, 2017 at 10:30 AM. Reason : a]

8/16/2017 10:28:05 AM

Quote :

"Say what you will about President Trump Obama, but none of these problems started on Inauguration Day in January [2009]"

here's an example of an awful conservative op-ed piece that the New York Times ran:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/opinion/trump-obama-terrorism-charlottesville-isis.html

[Edited on August 16, 2017 at 10:41 AM. Reason : .]

8/16/2017 10:34:16 AM

I may have missed rjrumfel's point - he was just surprised that an opinion article like that would show up in the Washington Post (if I am now understanding it correctly).

^To your (and his points), I tend to stick away from the opinion section of any newspaper.

8/16/2017 10:45:58 AM

That opinion article is basically this,



and the WaPo has been posting conservative OpEds full of garbage like that for years. Look at anything Jennifer Rubin wrote between 2009 and 2017, for example.

8/16/2017 11:18:51 AM

I still can't believe you guys are still drudging up the "he can't do no wrong - it's because he's black" trope.

I would actually like him back as well, I couldn't stand to hear his speeches, but I hate the current one's speeches even more.

But if previous presidents were lining up to take Trump's place, it would be B. Clinton > George II > Obama > Zombie Reagan

8/16/2017 1:16:48 PM

Wat?

8/16/2017 1:22:22 PM

Exactly what Dave Chappelle said in the post above. And what Shrike is saying by posting it. As someone else stated, Obama's foreign policy issues have been documented in many places, and that op-ed piece points it out. But Shrike goes and posts what he did above.

But hey, I digress.

Can he come back for a third term? Can any of them? I'll take shitty passive aggressive foreign policy over what we have now, which is almost active aggressive.

Not to mention the social issues that are going on currently.

8/16/2017 1:31:50 PM

Wat?

8/16/2017 1:36:47 PM

I'll sum it up for you. Obama wasn't perfect, but I don't think he wasn't perfect because of the color of his skin.

And also, can he come back?

8/16/2017 1:38:12 PM

Quote :

" I couldn't stand to hear his speeches"

I'd genuinely love to hear your reasons for this, as I thought even those on the right had conceded that he's one of the best orators of his generation

8/16/2017 1:55:30 PM

I didn't say he wasn't a good orator. I just didn't like to hear his orations.

Look, I'm entitled to an opinion, even if, in you're eyes, it's a stupid one.

But I'm sitting here sayin'....can he come back? That ought to be worth something.

8/16/2017 1:57:11 PM

You can have your opinion, but the question of why you didn't like them is still unanswered. What made you not like them?

8/16/2017 2:03:12 PM

Well, me, personally, I felt like I was almost being talked down to, or lectured, in many of his speeches. I also didn't like his constant gaze left and right.

That's all.

8/16/2017 2:04:55 PM

^^i think the point of the confusion is that you seem to be arguing with yourself, who here do you think is arguing that obama is perfect and any criticism is over race?

8/16/2017 2:05:08 PM

Mainly just Shrike and his post.

8/16/2017 2:06:12 PM

^^^ fair enough.

I actually had "talked down to me" as one of the top 3 probable reasons, along with "sounds like a baptist minister" and "uses too many big words".

[Edited on August 16, 2017 at 2:07 PM. Reason : .]

8/16/2017 2:07:07 PM

Seriously? You're gonna be a condescending prick?

I don't recall many big words being used.

See you're making my point. You can't disagree, because if you are, you're either a racist or stupid.

8/16/2017 2:16:41 PM

lololol

but to your earlier points, nobody did this:

Quote :

"I still can't believe you guys are still drudging up the "he can't do no wrong - it's because he's black" trope."

You're wildly missing Shrike's point.

[Edited on August 16, 2017 at 2:29 PM. Reason : and a little of that is due to you mistaking one opinion piece for another...but just a little.]

8/16/2017 2:26:58 PM

rjr doesn't know that "CAN do no wrong" and "can't do anything right/everything is his fault" aren't the same thing.

8/16/2017 2:42:05 PM

I wasn't trying to be condescending to you, I was just being honest based on my observations from during his presidency.

Looking back at my post it looks like I expected one of those answers from YOU and had already judged you. I actually had no idea what you would say, but thought it was funny that it happened to be one of those reasons.

The reason you gave is the most credible and understandable. The other two were laughable.

[Edited on August 16, 2017 at 2:54 PM. Reason : .]

8/16/2017 2:51:52 PM

Quote :

"I felt like I was almost being talked down to"

The unfortunate thing about this is that anytime someone smarter or more informed speaks it comes across as "talking down" almost always. It's why liberals are called "elitist" and is incredibly frustrating when it comes to getting political support to solve problems. It doesn't mean the speaker is wrong at all. It just means the person listening is grappling with the psychological problem related to challenging one's own beliefs, particularly when they are wrong.

8/16/2017 3:02:50 PM