Thoughts & Commentary on the Obama Administration

**PanzerJaeger** · 02-05-2010, 01:03

Originally Posted by Lemur

Just our of curiosity, PJ, do you believe America has had a worse president than Obama? If so, who?

Rhetorical?

**Lemur** · 02-05-2010, 01:09

No, a serious question. Your rhetoric on Obama is so negative, I'm wondering if you think him the absolute worst, or if there is room for lower. You're not required to answer anything you don't want to, of course.

-edit-

To clarify -- knowing just how low you rank Obama would be instructive. Worse than Harrison? Worse than Buchannan? Or is he more mid-list? It's impossible to get a sense of what you actually think of him, since your points about him are universally negative. Not much information there. And based on your posts in the Liberal Fascism thread, you appear to believe that rhetorical extremity is perfectly legitimate as a corrective, so I can't begin to get a sense of what you actually believe.

**Xiahou** · 02-05-2010, 01:30

Originally Posted by Lemur

To clarify -- knowing just how low you rank Obama would be instructive.

How would it matter? How he ranks Obama shouldn't be relevant to the merit of any criticism made. It sounds more like you're trying to set up some kind of ad hominem. ie: He thinks Obama is the worst president ever, therefore his criticism is invalid. That doesn't follow.

But maybe I'm just missing what the relevance is.

**Sasaki Kojiro** · 02-05-2010, 01:42

It is pretty rare for someone to only say negative things about a politician.

**Lemur** · 02-05-2010, 02:29

Originally Posted by Xiahou

How would it matter? How he ranks Obama shouldn't be relevant to the merit of any criticism made. It sounds more like you're trying to set up some kind of ad hominem. ie: He thinks Obama is the worst president ever, therefore his criticism is invalid. That doesn't follow.

Thank you for inventing an entire argument for me. Why, I barely need post with you putting all kinds of interesting words in my future self's mouth.

PJ postures, and he is the first to admit he postures. Is it so freakish and diabolical to want to know how he ranks the current President when he isn't forming a specific line of argument?

By way of contrast, while I thought George W. Bush was a very bad president, I always took issue with people who made the argument that he was the worst ever. To me that showed a real, palpable lack of history. I wouldn't even put GWB in the bottom ten. Our republic has survived some pretty terrible chief executives in its time.

Sasaki, if you need any help stuffing your straw man, please let me know, I'm free after the kids' bathtime.

**PanzerJaeger** · 02-05-2010, 03:30

Originally Posted by Lemur

No, a serious question. Your rhetoric on Obama is so negative, I'm wondering if you think him the absolute worst, or if there is room for lower. You're not required to answer anything you don't want to, of course.

Obama unquestionably represents the worst elements of contemporary American politics, but is he the worst president in United States history? It’s way too early to tell; or to issue him a rank. He certainly hasn’t done as much damage to the fabric of the nation as FDR or LBJ, for example. Actually he hasn't done much at all.

Ironically, that dismal failure in actually executing his job as president– despite a rare supermajority ensuring a powerless opposition – may just have saved him from the full fury of future history books. The profligate spending ensures he won’t go down as a “good” president, but had he passed that massive unfunded liability that was (is) healthcare “reform” and the penalty on industry, based on crumbling science, that was (is) Cap and Trade, things would look far worse for him.

Who knows, though? Despite being roundly rejected by the populace time and again, Obama’s agenda continues to rear its ugly head. He’s still got plenty of time to fall even further down the list.

Originally Posted by Megas

Hey, it's that German! Never saw the euro post around for a long time. Mindi moonyaqueh animush.

Hey man. Good to see you are still around. The posturing and rhetorical flourish that Lemur speaks of got the best of me one too many times and I wound up on the wrong side of the ban-stick. Lesson learned the hard way.

**Lemur** · 02-05-2010, 04:24

That's a fair answer, PJ. Thanks for satisfying my prosimian curiosity. (And while I understand why you single out FDR and LBJ as baddies, you'd have to agree that no chief executive has ever done more to tear the United States apart than James Buchanan. I believe he sets the bar so low that no president past or future will ever get under it.)

-edit-

Bit of a side note, but while thumbing through Wiki, I ran across this article about president rankings. I had no idea it was such a sport.

**PanzerJaeger** · 02-05-2010, 04:45

Originally Posted by Lemur

That's a fair answer, PJ. Thanks for satisfying my prosimian curiosity. (And while I understand why you single out FDR and LBJ as baddies, you'd have to agree that no chief executive has ever done more to tear the United States apart than James Buchanan. I believe he sets the bar so low that no president past or future will ever get under it.)

Well, I believe the Governor of Texas threatened secession last year, and several other states have reasserted their rights under the 10th amendment, so you never know.

All kidding aside, I can agree that Obama has a long way to fall before he gets anywhere close to the bottom of the list.

**KukriKhan** · 02-05-2010, 14:45

Originally Posted by Lemur

Bit of a side note, but while thumbing through Wiki, I ran across this article about president rankings. I had no idea it was such a sport.

Yeah. Look at the sea of red in the mid-1800's, with Lincoln the only green island.

-edit-
aw, heck. I didn't address "Thoughts & Commentary on the Obama Administration". How about this:

A Tibet Freedom Movement activist makes a portrait of U.S. President Barack Obama with his blood in Shimla, India as he thanks him for agreeing to meet the Dalai Lama, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010. China on Wednesday again urged Obama not to hold a planned meeting with Dalai Lama, saying it would further hurt already strained bilateral relations. According to Chhime R. Chhoekyapa, the Dalai Lama's secretary, the Dalai Lama will be in Washington on Feb 17-18.

(my bolded underline).

from this story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020500566.html

Q: Should Obama meet with the Dali Lama?

A: Sure. Gonna meet with the pope, dinner-jacket, and (maybe) 김정일,... what harm can the Dali do? How many Divisions has he?

**PanzerJaeger** · 02-09-2010, 19:50

In a coming-full-circle moment, the current administration accuses its critics of helping the terrorists. Ironic.. hypocritical.. hilarious?

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."