Obama: History's Verdict?

[Idris2002]

I use the question mark advisedly. When Irish-American president Barry O'Bama (no joke, he really is I-Am on his mum's side) was inaugurated, my cousin asked me what I thought, and I said "he will try to do the right thing, but his ability to do the right thing will be limited by the nature of the system".

McCain or Hilary would probably have started a war with Iran, and he didn't - but then again you've got all the thousands killed by drone strikes.

Lots of jobs created. . . but mainly dead-end, low-paid, insecure jobs.

Here's a piece talking about young African-Americans and their perceptions of Obama and the legacy of the Obama years:

America just spent 8 years with a black president. For many African Americans, it meant one big thing: freedom to 'dream'

What else can we add to either the debit or the credit side of the Obama file?

 

[J Ed]

I think we will look back on Obama as the last president to give neoliberalism a kind face but whose dedication to that ideology, alongside the foreclosure of socially useful outlets of dissent, made possible the unleashing of horrors which might well extinguish humanity, probably through climate change.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Its pretty shoddy when his plus points include not invading another country and kills tens of thousands

 

[J Ed]

Its pretty shoddy when his plus points include not invading another country and kills tens of thousands

The US is currently at war in at least 7 countries

 

[not-bono-ever]

He killed OBL before OBL could tell the world the truth about 911

 

[Pickman's model]

The US is currently at war in at least 7 countries

name them so people can add others in as they occur to us.

i'll start you off with the obvious ones, iraq, afghanistan, syria...

 

[J Ed]

name them so people can add others in as they occur to us.

i'll start you off with the obvious ones, iraq, afghanistan, syria...

Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia

Probably others as well, US forces are engaged in counter-insurgency in the Philippines for example.

 

[Idris2002]

BHO sent some US forces to Nigeria to 'help' with the fight against Boko Haram - something he shouldn't have done, IMO. The Nigerian government should have been told "you broke it, you bought it" ("it" being the area where the Bokes roam free, because the Nigerian government broke the area).

 

[camouflage]

BHO sent some US forces to Nigeria to 'help' with the fight against Boko Haram - something he shouldn't have done, IMO. The Nigerian government should have been told "you broke it, you bought it" ("it" being the area where the Bokes roam free, because the Nigerian government broke the area).

Yup, lets pretend AFRICOM and its wants don't exist. While crazy out-there conspiracies have gone mainstream and are doing the rounds on the evening news I'd like to float the idea the US "broke it", so as to have yet another something to perpetually solve with their giant hammer industry..

 

[camouflage]

He killed OBL before OBL could tell the world the truth about 911

Preach it brother, why shouldn't the melting point of steel be considered decent debate if the concept of Russian controlled president elects are now considered serious topics of discussion.

 

[The39thStep]

Essentially that the colour of skin does not determine their politics .

 

[camouflage]

Essentially that the colour of skin does not determine their politics .

hooda thunkit.

 

[A380]

Essentially that the colour of skin does not determine their politics .

What? orange?

 

[Idris2002]

Yup, lets pretend AFRICOM and its wants don't exist. While crazy out-there conspiracies have gone mainstream and are doing the rounds on the evening news I'd like to float the idea the US "broke it", so as to have yet another something to perpetually solve with their giant hammer industry..

If anyone outside Nigeria broke that country, it was London, not Washington.

 

[camouflage]

If anyone outside Nigeria broke that country, it was London, not Washington.

Do tell?

By the way I wouldn't say the country is broken, it's usual level of fucked-upness had an uptick in line with the rest of the world, and now there's a low-level war in the North. Doubt it could be said it's as bad as it was in terms of political violence as it was during the Biafran War though.

 

[where to]

for me, as good as we'll ever get.

 

[Yossarian]

3 out of 10, needed more purges.

 

[redsquirrel]

for me, as good as we'll ever get.

Really? I mean even on his own terms how is he better than the post-war consensus where inequality went down? Under Obama inequality increased.

Anyway his legacy isn't really any different than that of any other president - a scumbag who should be doing hard labour

 

[J Ed]

for me, as good as we'll ever get.

You must have an extraordinarily limited knowledge of history and, at the same time, a real lack of imagination.

 

[Pickman's model]

for me, as good as we'll ever get.

You set the bar low I see

 

[agricola]

Better in his second term than he was in his first.

 

[ferrelhadley]

I think in terms of racial, sexual orientation and gender equality, desire of health care and action on climate change he has been on the "right side of history". That is America is moving in the direction he was. These are the kind of issues that together with the economy and wars seem to be used to judge presidents.

He may get down marked for his use of executive orders as a precedence setting circumvention of the legislative branch.

The more radical left judgement would be "more of the same".

Unless there is a significant re-alignment in US politics (and given the likelihood of his replacement screwing up) he is likely to take on the role of a kind of national grandfather figure.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

He was exceptionally good at the President-as-father-of-the-nation stuff - Sandy Hook, Charleston etc. Even the way the OBL thing was handled was well-judged, I thought.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

3 out of 10, needed more purges.

Bit of Terror wouldn't have gone amiss either.

 

[brogdale]

The last politician to hold the office.

 

[Fez909]

His style was better than his substance

 

[Casually Red]

Essentially that the colour of skin does not determine their politics .

Yup . He proved a black guy can bail out banks just as quickly as a white guy . Oversaw 3 coups...Honduras, Libya and Ukraine . Verdict still out on Brazil but it'll probably lead back to his door . Syria coup a massive failure . Reignited the cold war . Caused both China and Russia to switch from a nuclear policy of no first use to high alert hair trigger status . Highly aggressive .

Liberals love him for his " coolness " , in much the same way they fawned over Blair and his " cool Britannia " bollocks . And Bill Clinton and his saxophone " first black president " and all that bollocks . Aesthetics trumps all for the shallow minded .

He was a massive cunt , is my verdict .

 

[camouflage]

Yup . He proved a black guy can bail out banks just as quickly as a white guy . Oversaw 3 coups...Honduras, Libya and Ukraine . Verdict still out on Brazil but it'll probably lead back to his door . Syria coup a massive failure . Reignited the cold war . Caused both China and Russia to switch from a nuclear policy of no first use to high alert hair trigger status . Highly aggressive .

Liberals love him for his " coolness " , in much the same way they fawned over Blair and his " cool Britannia " bollocks . And Bill Clinton and his saxophone " first black president " and all that bollocks . Aesthetics trumps all for the shallow minded .

He was a massive cunt , is my verdict .

A skin-deep understanding you could say. I don't know if the man himself is a cunt... it's a complete mystery how much power any US president has, they must beg and scrape power where they can and the system they're in has it's own imperatives. I see the office of POTUS as probably like being strapped into a sort of giant robotic exo-suite (a Mech, in skiffy-geek speek) that amplifies some of ones own strengths... but also has a mind of its own if that makes sense. Be interesting to see what Trump will do wearing the thing.

 

[The39thStep]

I think in terms of racial, sexual orientation and gender equality, desire of health care and action on climate change he has been on the "right side of history". That is America is moving in the direction he was. These are the kind of issues that together with the economy and wars seem to be used to judge presidents.

He may get down marked for his use of executive orders as a precedence setting circumvention of the legislative branch.

The more radical left judgement would be "more of the same".

Unless there is a significant re-alignment in US politics (and given the likelihood of his replacement screwing up) he is likely to take on the role of a kind of national grandfather figure.

Any achievements with the economy for the working class ?

 

[squirrelp]

Comparisons with Blair are quite apt I think.

Smooth war criminals.