Tweet
"Obama will go down as one of the worst Presidents the USA ever had."
How did this work out? Do the "believers" think I was wrong?
How did this work out? Do the "believers" think I was wrong?
-
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
I was never a believer but we will probably have to wait until the end of his term to determine if he is the worst ever. He still has more than two years to make a bigger mess. MSNBC still loves him.Originally posted by J. Ken MacDonald View Post -
The Empire ... reloaded?
When it comes to the use of torture and other inhuman practices, the Obama regime was only a little better than its predecessor. TomDispatch explains:
Mind you, the use of drones to remotely kill civilians at a distance has increased under Obama ... so much so that he has been mockingly referred to as the "Drone President". And the attempt to silence whistle-blowers like Edward Snowden who tell the truth about the horrific things their government is doing, including spying on everyone, everywhere, all the time has increased under Obama as well. So maybe he really is as bad as or worse than the previous Republican administration.I’ll bet you didn’t know that June is “torture awareness month” thanks to the fact that, on June 26, 1987, the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment went into effect internationally. In this country, however, as a recent Amnesty International survey indicated, Americans are essentially living in Torture Unawareness Month, or perhaps even Torture Approval Month, and not just in June 2014 but every month of the year.
One simple fact of the post-9/11 era should make this clear and also boggle the mind, but has had almost no impact here. But for this you need a little background from the early years of what was once called the Global War on Terror. In addition to a stream of international kidnappings (euphemistically called “renditions”) of terror suspects, including completely innocent people the CIA snatched off the streets of global cities, as well as from the backlands of the planet and “rendered” into the hands of well-known torturing regimes (with the help of 54 other countries) and the setting up of a network of “black sites” or offshore prisons where anything went, the CIA tortured up a storm. And it did so at the behest of the top officials of the Bush administration, including the president and vice president who were convinced that it was time for Washington to “take the gloves off.” In those years, torture techniques were reportedly demonstrated in the White House to some of those officials, including the vice president and national security advisor. At the time, they went by the euphemistic, administration-approved term “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which was quickly picked up and used in the U.S. mainstream media in place of the word “torture” -- though only when the enhanced interrogators were American, of course. The bad guys out there continued to “torture” in the usual fashion.
In the Obama years, torture was (at least officially) tossed out as a useful tactic. But the torturers themselves were given a pass, every last one of them, by the Justice Department, even two cases in which the CIA’s acts of enhancement had led to death. No charge was ever brought against anyone, including the Justice Department lawyers who wrote the tortured memos endorsing those techniques and redefining torture as only happening when the torturer meant it to, or the officials who green-lighted them. Think of the Obama administration then as Amnesty National. That administration did, however, have the guts to go after one man connected to the torture program, forced a plea deal from him, and sent him to jail for two years. I’m talking about former CIA agent John Kiriakou, the only person since 9/11 convicted of a torture-related crime. To be specific, his criminal act was to blow the whistle on his former employer's torture program to a journalist, revealing in the process the name of a CIA agent. That was considered such an indefensible act -- in effect, an act of torture against the American security state -- that justice, American-style, was done.
But that's not saying much. To some degree, the US President is a hood ornament on a runaway train. The train looks a little different, but the horrific destruction and loss of life continues, regardless.Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
We will have to wait for the last president ever so we know for sure if he was the worst ever..
Joking aside, you really think anything can beat the abysmal performance of his predecessor? The guy was practically medically retarded. Nothing Obama did comes close to the carnage Bush did.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
The use of drones to kill civilians and the malicious prosecution and persecution of whistle-blowers has increased under President Obama. Bush arranged to destroy Iraq and the horrific consequences are still echoing today; Obama destroyed Libya, once the country with the highest living standards in Africa, and turned it into impoverished, bloody warring tribes that managed to kill an American Ambassador, among many others. It's hard to choose.Originally posted by Miroslav Stefanovic View PostDogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
Economy is moving in the right direction and health insurance for everyone... where you wrong?Originally posted by J. Ken MacDonald View PostComment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
I'm not sure what you mean by "believers", but it was an odd prediction to make, for sure. Let's remember, his immediate predecessor's record. Upon examination of that record, for someone to be even worse than that - well that's really something of a long shot prediction - almost crazy to make.Originally posted by J. Ken MacDonald View Post
So here goes:
George W. Bush:
1) Was in office when 9/11 happened. Managed to mess up the war against al Qaeda, by attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. Almost all the data presented to the United Nations Security Council by the Bush administration turned out to be false. Bush' Vice-President actually took the rhetoric much further yet. Now I'm no particular fan of Saddam Hussein, but the war against al Qaeda was clear and just; but a further war based on all false intelligence served to only muddy the justification. Oh and one more thing: Bush insisted that the war against al Qaeda wasn't against just an individual and refused to have Osama bin Laden targeted.
2) Crowing "Mission Accomplished" was a clear sign of a very deep lack of understanding of what had transpired.
3) On the economic front, he gave us a banking/housing crisis triggering a real recession which has had lasting impact until today. In part, the crisis was due to lax banking regulations. This was still a mess left for Obama. Bush's response to the crisis is considered weak, in retrospect.
4) Bush's response to the devestation from Hurricane Katrina was astonishingly pathetic. Not only did he fail to act quickly enough; he praised the person in charge, only to have to fire him shortly thereafter. This showed him as totally out of touch with the realities that were on the ground.
5) He called Iran a bunch of bad names but never did anything about it.
Now onto Obama:
1) He was the President when bin Laden was assassinated. He personally gave the orders to go through with the mission.
2) He was the President as the US pulled out of the recession.
3) He toned down the ineffective rhetoric against Iran.
4) He took the first steps toward social health care in the US.
Bottom line - I don't think it would be possible to be a weaker President than GW Bush. And accomplishing 1) alone puts him high up on my own list of Presidents. Just my opinion.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
In May, 2008, I also had to remind responders that I said "One of the Worst" not "The Worst." With that in mind, would you say he won't be regarded as one of the worst?Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
Absolutely. One of the 44 worst Presidents EVER.Originally posted by J. Ken MacDonald View PostDogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
Well - that's now relative. How do we rate Nixon, for instance? He actually accomplished some decent things in office though, but has to rank as a terrible president. Here's one list of the worst - Obama isn't on it. http://www.usnews.com/news/slideshow...t-presidents/1Originally posted by J. Ken MacDonald View Post
Here's another interesting list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histori..._United_States
Don't think Obama is terrible enough to be amongst these other stellar candidates.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
At times, I hate CT because I just spent about 20 minutes responding and I am sure I submitted my reply and it is not there.Originally posted by Andrei Botez View Post
I listed a few things which I will now shorten considerably!
VA
IRS
Benghazi
The bald-faced lies and bribes to get the Obamacare (ACA) act in (not unlike many others who have done the same).
The implementation of the ACA.
DOJ refusing to uphold the law or upholding the law selectively.
The Deficit
The undocumented border crossers and welcoming them in. This one is going to hurt them a lot in the future. I always say, "No Borders, No Country!"
That Taliban exchange that he was surprised few liked!
He needed much better advisors.
Oops! I forgot, all those things were phony! Not real scandals!Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
Good one!Originally posted by Nigel Hanrahan View Post
People are incredibly short-sighted for even suggesting that Obama could be one of the worst US presidents ever.
Still not a fan of his, but we've seen much worse even just recently.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
I am curious, Nigel, with your far left ideology, which leaders do you think were good leaders, USA and Canada, Russia maybe, just for examples. I am curious!Originally posted by Nigel Hanrahan View PostComment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
It must always be considered who should be blamed for debt/deficit. Bush started 2 wars and expanded drug coverage under medicaid - none of which he made any plan to pay for. Instead he cut taxes. Blaming Obama for this is not fair. Blaming him for not doing anything about it is closer to being fair, but when the great recession was on, how was he supposed to balance the books? If he makes some progress to breaking even over the next 2 years, it should be considered a success on the economic front.Comment
-
Re: In May 2008, I made the following comment on CT
That's a difficult question you're asking him. Conservatives in Canada and the US have been in a bit of a rut for a couple of decades.
Hard to call Mulroney or Harper "good". Clark was a good guy, but not a good leader. In the US, maybe Reagan - but he certainly wasn't the brightest bulb in that office. Clinton and Obama have been the only bright bulbs in that office, though for a long time. You have to go back to Roosevelt to find a great American leader. You didn't ask about Britain, but Churchill was a superb leader - but only until the war ended. I've always had a soft spot for Thatcher.
In Russia - the only great leader that comes to mind (in my opinion) is Gorbachev. He's a braver man than I could be. Yeltsin was brave too, but otherwise not that inspiring.
Great Canadian leaders? Mike Pearson comes first to mind. Laurier, Trudeau, and even Chretien. Not that you were asking me.Comment
Comment