Tag: Barak Obama

Obama Speaks To Dems

With the midterms closing in on the country ex-president Obama speaks to the Dems on how they should approach the coming election….

It’s not just Republicans who have been intimidated into silence as President Trump carries out policies they oppose, Barack Obama told members of his party over the weekend. If Democrats are going to come back, the former president said, they’ll have to take a stand, the New York Times reports. “It’s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions,” Obama said. “And it’s going to require Democrats to just toughen up.” He made the comments in a speech—which had multiple command sentences—to donors at a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee at the home of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday night. The points Obama made include:

  • No savior: “Stop looking for the quick fix. Stop looking for the messiah,” Obama said, per CNN. “You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates.” He mentioned the Democratic nominee for governor of New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
  • No party splits: Referring to differences of opinion among Democrats, Obama said that—whatever their ideology—they still need to produce results for voters if they expect to regain power. “You want to deliver for people and make their lives better? You got to figure out how to do it,” he said, per the Times. “I don’t care how much you love working people. They can’t afford a house because all the rules in your state make it prohibitive to build.”
  • Special mention: Obama called for institutions, including universities, to resist Trump policies. He singled out law firms that he said had agreed to “set aside the law” under presidential pressure—”not because, by the way, that they’re going to be thrown in jail, but because they might lose a few clients and might not be able to finish that kitchen rehab at their Hampton house.” He added, “I’m not impressed.”
  • Speak up: “Don’t say that you care deeply about free speech and then you’re quiet. No, you stand up for free speech when it’s hard,” Obama said, adding, “What’s needed now is courage.”
  • The moment: “For most of our lives, it was easy to stand for equality and justice, et cetera,” the former president said. “You didn’t really have to make a lot of sacrifices. That hasn’t been true for most of human history or American history. It’s still not true in most of the world. So these are moments where your values are tested and you have to stand up for them.”

I know that he is respected in some quarters but I have a problem with these words of wisdom….

He tells Dems to be strong but is doing the same things to continue the status quo being strong or just getting by?

I agree with him the the Dems need to figure out how to deliver for the people and make life better but is holding on to the ‘good ol’ boys’ network the best way to do that?

Like all the status quo Dems they are worried about holding power within the party and trying desperately to avoid any splits and deliver for the voter….I agree but is clinging to the re4lics from the Clinton days the best way to ‘stand and deliver’?

It will be interesting to see how the DNC shakes out for the upcoming midterms….

Will they deliver?

Or will the vote be a protest to Trump and we keep the do-nothings we have now?

Any amazing thoughts here?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That True Obama

Remember back in 2008 and the Dem nominee, Barack Obama, was  labelled by the Right as a secret socialist….basically because of his acquaintance with some radical people of his past.

Then there was the 8 years of his presidency and the media of the Right did all they could to drive the narrative that he, Obama, was a socialist that was coming to take away your guns, your freedoms, etc…..remember those days?

Plus for those 8 years I wrote almost weekly that Obama was no progressive…..definitely not a socialist……that in fact he was nothing more than a corporatist candidate like Clinton…..of course I was not very popular with those people enamored with the Obama candidacy…….

Fast forward to 2020….Obama has made it known just how “center” he really is…..

Barack Obama spoke at a Democratic Unity Fund fundraising event Thursday and, unsurprisingly, called for Democratic unity. The former president said the party needs to “chill out” about the 2020 field and focus on defeating Trump instead of fighting over “relatively minor” differences, CNN reports. “Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates, but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process,” the former president told around 100 high-dollar donors at the Silicon Valley event. “The field will narrow and there’s going to be one person, and if that is not your perfect candidate and there are certain aspects of what they say that you don’t agree with … I don’t care, because the choice is so stark and the stakes are so high,” Obama said

Obama has rarely commented on the 2020 candidates, and aides say he won’t be doing so again this year, the New York Times reports. He warned against “purity tests” and said Democratic differences were minor relative to the goal of defeating Trump and a Republican Party that has taken “a sharp turn away from a lot of the core traditions and values and institutional commitments that built this country.” He spoke in favor of a wealth tax, saying: “That’s one area where I guarantee you where you will get Joe six-pack and the single inner-city mom agreeing. They would like to see a little bigger share of the pie and you know, the rent is too damn high.”

That was good advice to the Dems…..after all they all want the same thing….to beat Trump……but what I originally saw as some good advice turn ugly (at least for me)……

As we gear up for next year’s presidential race, the only political class in the United States that may be as terrified of losing power as the Republican Party is that of centrist Democrats. Former President Barack Obama embodied this fear in his recent remarks at an event for wealthy liberal donors when he said, “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.” It was a not-so-veiled reference to the rising chorus of demands for a “Medicare for All” health care system, a climate action plan like the Green New Deal or taxes on billionaires that redistribute some of their obscene wealth.

Obama’s statements prompted a backlash on Twitter under the hashtag “#TooFarLeft,” with people asserting that if their demands for drastic solutions to solve our many serious problems are seen as too far left, then so be it. It was the second time in the last few weeks that the former president, who still enjoys a great deal of popularity, admonished leftist activists. At an event in late October, he said, “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically ‘woke’ and all that stuff … you should get over that quickly.” He was referring to what an older and more conservative generation of Americans have denounced as “cancel culture” on the left.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/21/ok-obama-time-cancel-radical-centrism

But to get back to the morons that still think Obama is a socialist…..it has been reported that he, Obama, would work against Sanders it he was the nominee…..wait is not Sanders an actual Democratic Socialist?  Yes he is.

President Obama privately said he would speak up to stop Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) from becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Politico reported Tuesday.

The former president reportedly said if Sanders held a strong lead in the Democratic primary, he would speak out to prevent him from becoming the nominee.  

A close adviser to Obama told Politico he could not confirm whether Obama would stand up against Sanders.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/472090-obama-privately-said-he-would-speak-up-to-stop-sanders-report

All I can say is that I thank Obama for proving what I said all those years ago correct…..his policies were Clintonian and is NO way a socialist…that is an insult from mental midgets that have nothing but a slogan.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Making American (History) Great Again–Part 37

I have been writing and posting about American history….history that most Americans have never been taught or even thought about…..Maj. Sjursen takes on American history with the passion and the learning that Howard Zinn many years ago.

So far this series has taken the reader through all aspects of American history….from the very beginnings to today……but for those that have not been reading this series all along I will help you get caught up….please take some time and read the history that should be taught….

Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10; Part 11; Part 12; Part 13; Part 14; Part 15; Part 16; Part 17; Part 18; Part 19; Part 20; Part 21; Part 22; Part 23; Part 24; Part 25; Part 26; Part 27; Part 28; Part 29; Part 30; Part 31; Part 32; Part 33; Part 34; Part 35 ; Part 36.

We step into the recent history with the first elected black president….Barack Obama……all gthe drama that goes with that event……

Most serious historians, especially academics, believe that accounts of recent events—particularly within 10 years of the present—are more journalistic than historical. It is for good reason that journalism has been called the “first draft of history.” As the “American History for Truthdiggers” series nears an end, it looks at the administration of Barack Obama, who left the presidency less than 32 months ago. Because so little time has passed, the essay below is more a brief, analytical essay than a comprehensive reading based on established, long-scrutinized historical sources and discovery of new information. It should be viewed as this author’s first draft of rather recent history. —Danny Sjursen

Barack Hussein Obama. That a man with a black Kenyan father and a name derived from African and Islamic etymology was elected president of the United States seemed profound indeed. America’s legacy of chattel slavery and racial apartheid was such that only a decade and a half before the 2008 election Tupac Shakur would rap that Americans “ain’t ready to see a black president.” Nonetheless, Obama won—with authority—over his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. By carrying traditionally Republican states such as Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana, Obama appeared to have forged a new Democratic coalition. Perhaps more important was the claim of some of his admirers that he inaugurated a new “post-racial” America. That would turn out to be only wishful thinking.

American History for Truthdiggers: The Obama Disappointment

I admit it I was expecting a lot more out of the Obama presidency….I was very disappointed in his foreign policies……plus I suspect that election of a black man as president is what gave the country a Donald Trump presidency.

We have now been taken into the present by Maj. Sjursen and his next article in the series should be very telling.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

Class Dismissed!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Is Obama A Socialist?

Have you noticed that some things never change when it comes to the “Ignorati”?

This is one of my favorite pieces of manure from the Right….Obama is a socialist…or is it Marxist….or ……..what it is is total fabrication from loonies that would not know a socialist if one walked up and bit them in the ass.

Months after Obama has left office the dog whistle idiots on the Right are still going on about Obama as some sort of “socialist”…..I understand why they do it…..it is because they will not bring themselves to admit that their man in the White House is incompetent fool….so they are still stuck on Obama and anyone that will not agree with them as some sort of “socialist” conspiracy….FYI….do not compare Trump to a fascist or they, the Right, will go batcrap crazy for only they can make shit up about a president past of present.

But let’s look at Obama being a socialist.

The easy answer to the question is NO….but that is not good enough for the chin wagers on the Right…..so let’s look deeper…..

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, is not a socialist. While varying theories and approaches exist among socialists, all of them advocate for some form of social or state ownership over the means of production. Obama proposes none of this

While Obama has argued for enhanced and even structural regulation of certain industries, including health care, this in no way suggests a move toward all-out socialism. In contrast, Obama received widespread support from Wall Street interests during campaigning and, as of 2014, continues to receive only muted approval of his policy decisions from self-identified American socialists.

The term “socialist,” as applied to Mr. Obama, may have become a fear word or pejorative deployed by some conservatives convinced of its ability to shock the public and create ideological rifts among the electorate, according to CNBC. This, the same source suggests, possibly results from the weakening shock value of words such as “liberal” in American political discourse. While Mr. Obama may support some socialist-inspired policies when applied to social justice issues and public protections, a broad coalition of American statesmen and women have supported similar policies for generations, both Republican and Democrat. Some such policies have become essential features of America’s capitalist democracy, policies such as government regulation of food and workplace safety, social security, Medicaid and Medicare, along with publicly supplied protections for veterans and their families.

With all that said…..cut it anyway you slow mental midgets like…the answer is still….NO!

BTW….being black does NOT make a socialist either….contrary to popular belief.

The Obama Doctrine: The Audacity of Ignorance

I know I have been sort of hard on the foreign policies of the GOP elite and their little bobble-heads that they call candidates….I admit it…..not one of them has a foreign policy that smells of anything but more WAR.

Likewise I have been pretty hard on Clinton and Sanders for their world views….to me they are NO better than the neocon bullsh*t of the GOP…..

And then there will be some cross-eyed person that will think that I in some way approve of the Obama doctrine around the world….well those people would be mistaken and mistaken badly.

I think Obama has leaned too heavily on his paid sponsors in the M-IC and that he has done nothing to try and make this a safer world for our children……I feel that he has waddled into a international ignorance that he cannot escape and his legacy will show this……

Think what it must be like to be one of America’s allies. You enjoy some trade, watch Beyoncé and Brad Pitt at the movies, and visit Disneyland on holiday. But then there’s America again at your cubicle, asking again that you join some coalition, get some troops into another wacky American overseas intervention for freedom, […]

Source: The Obama Doctrine: The Audacity of Ignorance – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Sadly, I see NO change in our foreign policy anytime soon….especially with this crop of candidates……

Humor Is Where You Find It

And friends, this is beyond humorous!

Ever read something that makes you chuckle….and then there are stories that make you laugh out loud…..

The polls show that Obama is sliding in the approval polls…….you know that worthless momentary snapshot we get everyday from the media?  Then the pundits build the story of the day around the polls….that is what they do….make up as much crap as they possibly can and use polls to justify their analysis…..this one just makes me smile with disgust…..

(Newser) – Just how bad are things for President Obama a year into his second term? So bad that if the American people got a mulligan on the 2012 election, there’s a good shot we’d be looking at a President Romney. A Washington Post–ABC News poll reveals that if the election were held today, Obama would lose the popular vote 45% to 49%. While the Post reminds us that the Electoral College, not the popular vote, is the ultimate decider, it notes that spread roughly mirrors the 4 points Obama actually won by, and reflects plummeting support from his key demographics:

  • Obama won women by 11 points; now, his edge is down to one point.
  • He won voters aged 18-39 by 18 points; that’s down to two.
  • He won voters earning less than $50,000 by 22 points; it’s down to three.
  • He’s now nine points in the hole with voters without a college degree, after winning them by four points.
  • While he’d still win 59% of liberals, that’s down from 75%—and 20% now say they’d vote for Romney.

Obama’s approval rating has fallen 13 points this year to 42%, tying its lowest mark ever in the poll. The culprit, as you might suspect, is at least in part the Affordable Care Act rollout, which 63% think has been handled poorly. The public now opposes the law itself 57%-40%, its worst numbers yet, and 71% favor delaying the individual mandate.

(AP photo)

Mitt could not beat Obama in November of 2012…..and regardless what the mental midgets say….he could NOT beat him today…….hindsight is 20/20……wishful thinking knows NO bounds!

Anyone who uses the daily snapshots they call polls as a fact of reality is NOT playing with a full deck……not the sharpest tack in the box….not…..well you get the point.

The Poka In Boca–Prez Debate #3

The Mass-Debaters met in Boca Raton to debate for the third and final time….mercifully putting us out of misery…..well, our debate misery….there is still much money to be spent in the battleground states and those poor people should be raving lunatics by election day with all that spin thrown at them….

I learned that Mitt has the same position as the prez for getting out of Afghanistan…..well, basically, he has most of the same positions as the Prez….the one surprise for me was the lack of a drumming on Benghazi, a good choice to not focus on it, but the echo chamber is still going on and on about Benghazi….Mitt and his boyz decided not to on about it……to me Romney look off balanced almost the whole time for the exception for the first 10 minutes or so, when he looked like he was going to be in it for the haul……especially when he gave Obama his props for taking out Osama…taking one of the Prez talking points out of the debate…..good ploy!  Romney seemed a bit mild mannered from the bolster that has been  present in the campaign stops…..

Obama was calm and collected…….but his most newsworthy quote for the next several days will be his comment on the number of horses and bayonets in the military…….Obama spent a good percentage of his answers pointing to the ever changing positions the Romney campaign has held on foreign policy…

All in all, the Prez won this debate, my opinion…..but I am sure that others will see it differently……..I was expecting no different……the Prez had an advantage in a foreign policy simply because of his office…..Romney once again, in the last two weeks, has tacked to the middle….but is it enough or did he wait a bit too long, two weeks before the election, to make this course change?

Since this is the last debate of 2012 I want to add a few notes……as I have always said….these debates were about optics not substance….they are too rehearsed!  They have not been real debates but rather a short TV program….there needs to be a serious look at the formats and the whole presidential debate system…it needs to be updated.

Once again, it was the optics that made your decision on who won……..and of course they, meaning the media, has assembled “undecideds”…..and once again it was all theater….if there are any “undecideds” at this point then them are just looking for some attention….but idf they are truly “undecided” then just make sure that they have a coin in their pocket on election……. and for God sake….Do NOT ask them if they prefer paper or plastic!

Presidential Debate #2

Last night our political warriors battled with each other at the Hofstra battlefield……..as usual it was all about the optics not the substance…….optics?

If you have made up your mind for whom to vote….then your candidate won the night.  Makes NO difference what points were made for or against…..your political choice won the night and we can all go about with the spin.

Personally, I do not think that the town hall is the best format for a debate…it is more just throwing platitudes out there for the people to devour.  If you went into the debate undecided then you came out of it with nothing but a headache.  Why?  You heard nothing that has not been said already in the campaigns.

I will say that Obama had a better night than in the past…..and that is not saying that he won the night……Romney looked like Romney…..neither person commanded anything on that stage…..neither man was angry……both were calm and presented their points calmly and coolly….almost to the point of indifference.

So all you Romney supporters should be pleased……likewise for all those Obama people……you heard a reiteration of points that are obscure and heard nothing that is new or was a clarification……

Maybe next time there is a town hall we could have the candidate break out into a tap routine after every point….at least then it would be entertaining….God knows these debates are anything but informative….if you cannot inform at least be entertaining..this night was neither.

Readers!  Your guy won!  Congrats!  The voter lost this debate….once again.  Let the spin….begin! (the poetry just follows from my fingers….LOL)

I will admit that I did learn one thing from this debate……I learned the this whole diatribe about the “undecideds” is hokum……the focus group of undecideds that was interviewed after the debate showed me that they had already made up their minds prior to the debate……..I have often thought that this issue was a made up issue by the media….nothing I saw or heard changes my mind on that issue……I still think that at this late point of the campaign if one is still undecided then they are the people that are confused by simple questions like “paper or plastic”.

On to the next edition of debate night in the US.