obama haters come talk to me please

I wish some Obama haters would be willing to explain, in measured tones with stuff like Facts, why they hate the guy so much. Leave all that birther nonsense out of it and whether he's a Muslim (which shouldn't matter--if it does, you're the one with the problem), but focus on precisely what he has done POLITICALLY in the past three years to make people hate him.

I won't promise to never dispute what you say if I have some insight into it, but I also promise to ask lots of questions. It could be like political jeopardy. :)

Thing is, I think the guy is measured, calm, moderate. I think he is quiet and thoughtful. I think he doesn't spout off when he's unsure; he just keeps thinking and talking to his advisers. (Perfect example: the upheaval in the middle east--he's been pretty quiet. And I think that's probably the right approach. You might not. What would you have him say?)

Economy:  I think he inherited a Big Mess (those are Facts; he didn't create the bad economy; it bottomed out well before he was elected and the mess started in Bush's era. Anyone with stocks knows that. Remember 2008?) But I don't know a ton about economics and it kinda bores me, so I probably won't have a lot to add on that.

And like, healthcare? Well I benefit from the new plan. I've given insurance companies 10-20K more per year than the rest of my family combined because of a prior condition that got me refused (cover colorado helped me get insurance but trust me, it's apain in the ass. Government sucks at stuff like healthcare. But from what I've read, the law is regulatory, not invasive. Oh, and that condition that got me refused? It's actually the CURE that saved my life. So, um. Yeah. Something needed to be done about healthcare.

Now, I'm no Obama lover (my first favorite candidate got voted out in primaries last election) but I don't view him as the anti-Christ either.

But hell. Try to prove me wrong. I'm willing to listen. I'm not looking for pithy one liners. Write me a post on everything he's done wrong. With, yeah, facts.

At least we'd be talking rather than sitting on the other side of the fence with a shotgun, which is how the US feels to me. Seriously, maybe it's the writer in me, but I wonder how long we can go without a civil war in this country. A decade? Two? As people get more entrenched, I get more worried.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll bite. I'm voting Obama, but I have serious qualms about his foreign policy. Gitmo remains open, and detainees remain detained indefinitely. American citizens have been treated as enemy combatants and executed without trial. I don't approve of assassination and wish bin Laden had been captured alive. And we're still in Afghanistan for some damn reason.

Sarah Laurenson said...

Not sure I count since I'm voting for him again. The one thing he did in the first run to the office was call a female reporter 'sweetie'. Chapped my ass. Apparently still chaps my ass. Love Michelle. Love their marriage. It feels real and not something paraded around for his image. So I'm basically taking her word for it that the sweetie comment was an aberration.

Taken him a long time to uphold his promises to the gay community, too. But he has gotten there - the wheels are in motion.

ssas said...

Anonymous (if that is your real name) (haha, I crack myself up)

Good points all. I've kind of liked his light hand, but I agree with Gitmo. Though I'm not nearly smart enough to figure out what to do with all of them!

I think, though I'm no proponent of the death penalty, that there was nothing else to do with Bin Laden. He's the one who declared war on us and war has different rules. I'm hoping the thought was that "dead, he'll go away faster." and I think that's true. If he were still alive, he'd still be someone Al Qaeda (sp??) talks about, I guess.

ssas said...

Ditto on the gay thing. That took SO LONG!

Anonymous said...

I haven't yet decided who I'm supporting in the upcoming election. I have several major reservations with Obama and at least that many with Romney.

This is the thing about Obama that bother me most. He came in saying he'd work with the other side. That he'd compromise and be fair. That we weren't a Democtratic America and a Republican America, we are THE UNITED STATES of America. He made big beautiful promises. But as far as I can see he didn't deliver. I feel like the political climate today is 100 times worse than when he took office. You can blame the republicans in congress (and yes, they do deserve some of the blame), but the president deserves the biggest part. He's failed to act on his promise to bring people together. In many instances he's left republicans completely out of discussions and used executive orders abusively.

I'm waiting for the debates. I want to vote for the man that can give concrete ideas about how he will fix what is wrong. I'm done listening to pretty words. I want someone who will bring people together, compromise, and fix the economy.

So yeah, I don't think he's perfect.

Chris said...

Ugh. Why I am going to respond? Where do I start?
First off, I think Obama would be a great guy to hang out and drink a beer with. I would also love to play some one-on-one and give him a lesson in basketball. While I'm at it, I would give him a lesson in economics.
Yes, he inherited a mess. The Fed created the ridiculous housing bubble by continuing to lower interest rates for the sole reason of perpetuating housing sales. After the bubble burst, the administration's response was to create a $967B stimulus package to jump-start the economy. Congress voted to approve the package without reading it. Genius! Unfortunately, the stimulus response was the equivalent of having your hours cut at work so you applied for as many credit cards as possible and maxed them out so you could buy rims for your '87 Buick. You can see where the money went here: http://stimuluswatch.org/2.0/ After looking at the figures, try to honestly tell yourself that after spending all that money, the economy would not only get moving, but could also maintain.
The idea for universal healthcare is great—if you can pay for it. The problem is that our government can’t afford it without raising taxes. The bottom 50% of income earners don’t care if taxes go up because they most-likely DON’T PAY taxes anyway. http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html I have trouble following the logic that high-income earners are somehow being unfair to the rest of the country because they don’t pay enough in taxes.
If you vote Democrat or Republican because of social issues (pro-choice, pro-life, gay marriage, etc…) you’re deluding yourself. These issues are brought up to rally the voting base, nothing more.
It is going to take some serious PAIN in order to get the economy back on track, and neither party has the guts to do what it takes to right the boat (duh, CUT SPENDING). No matter who is elected in November, we’re going to see more of the same from Washington.

Stacy said...

I probably don't count in this because i'm voting for the guy and like him as a president.

The only real disappointment I've had is that he hasn't done more on the environment. Definitely he's made some progress, but I'd like to see stronger measures taken this time around if he wins.

ssas said...

Chris, while I might not agree with all the details of what you said, I agree that nothing will change there.

ssas said...

Stacy, yeah. I second that. However, I do think he's had his hands full, unfortunately.

Stacy said...

Oh, absolutely! After I made that comment, I read that he has actually invested heavily in newer environmental technologies, but it's not been something exactly dwelled upon by the press. Not sexy enough, I guess.

Virginia Llorca said...

Could anyone actually believe al Qaeda didn't have someone to step in and fill his space? Seriously. It was a political dog and pony show and when the plane full of Seals gets taken out--we do nothing? The ambassador dragged through the streets? The statue of liberty wept. So did Uncle Sam and Jesus.