Did Obama Meet Your 2008 Expectations?

Agreed. And I'm happy that on his recent visit to the UK he came out strongly in favour of our continued membership of the EU, much to the annoyance of the right wing nutjobs who want us to leave.

I would have liked to see Guantanamo Bay closed down though.

 

Me too, after all he stated that he would. Not sure I really expected it to happen though. I can't say I felt really suprised to hear time and time again it is still there, even with some prisoners. You?

 

With regards to government my expectations are extraordinarily low. So yes, Obama, congress and the whole damn country met my expectations.

 

Like you, not surprised. But in fairness even if he wanted to close it he'd have had to get support from congress, and they haven't exactly made anything easy for him.

 

Our President looks great in a suit. Like Cary Grant.

 

To be honest, I didn't have any expectations, but I think he has been a pretty good president. I think he is better than Bill Clinton.
Having said this, there are some things that he has done that I don't agree with, and there are things he should have done which he hasn't.

 

I expected an age of racial enlightenment and renewal. We got the exact opposite, a serious slide backwards. I won't lay that all at Obama's feet of course. In fact it's more the responsibility of hucksters who used Obama's success as a springboard for their own agenda. However, Obama did not allow this for Jesse Jackson. If you noticed, Jackson has been on the back burner this whole time. Ever since he was caught on an open mic suggesting that Obama needed to be castrated for something he said that Jesse didn't like.

Face it America, it doesn't matter who becomes president, the entire government is just a collection of mafia families fighting for the top seat. Yet another century of corruption ahead of us. Assuming the US stays together!

 

Me too.

 

I think having a black president made a lot of racists come out of the closet.

I know, i know, it isnt kosher to say such stuff around here because of my white guilt and other bs

Whatever though - i've heard (or seen online) a lot of people say some pretty disgusting things about Obama that have nothing to do with his politics. Shit i thought we left behind decades ago.

 

Some of them appeared to be able to tolerate racial progress until they were confronted with the daily reality of seeing a black face in the Oval Office, and the sight of ordinary black Americans celebrating in the streets that they had "made it", that the bad old days of racism were over for good. That seemed to be a breaking point for the hardcore racists.

Now a total breakdown seems to be in progress. When I treat black people in a way that I think is totally fair and unbiased, it doesn't seem to make them hate me any less for being white. The situation seems hopeless.

That makes me wonder if a Hillary victory might trigger a fresh wave of extreme sexism.

 

While I never liked Obama, I agree the racial attacks were totally in bad taste.

 

Indeed it did. I remember when he was running that people were "afraid" that the KKK or David Duke would take a shot at Obama. I admit it seemed viable if I was to believe all the stories I had been told. However, people like Duke and a raft of others who won't admit their alliances took the opposite position. They already feel shit on by the government, so they were more than happy to see this happen. I was kind of perplexed when I heard this, so I went to one of the popular racisto de blanco sites (who I will not mention so as not to drive traffic their way) and sure enough it's as if they are celebrating it. Why?

Because they thought it would drive MORE white people into their waiting arms. It has not. Even when the KKK was at their pinnacle, most Americans wanted nothing to do with them. That hasn't changed. The media helps expose klan losers whenever they pop up, but it seems like it's always the same group of kooks in costumes. Regardless, they make a great focal point to pull our attention away from the government that's sucking us dry. It kind of seems like the Black Panthers are trotted out for the same kind of political distraction.

Who's zoomin who?

 

I would like to see the southern states secede. They seem to want to do their own thing anyway. They receive more from the federal government Than they give. Basically, they are NVA. Let's see how they do on their own.

 

Yes, and his approval rating remains high among African American at 94%

If it were up to us we would revise Section 1 of the XXII Amendment and increase the limit to 3 terms of 4 years


Hotwater

 

While that seems like a reasonable plan, let all those "rednecks" starve, I think you may be overlooking the resource angle. Aside from oil, gas and hydroelectric power, the "south" also has quite a few major US ports. I moved to Atlanta from California via Orlando, so I am not a native southerner. When I took the job here I fully expected to see cross burnings, swastikas, black people beaten in the streets and wall to wall fried chicken joints (ok, that part is close to truth). I expected to find narrow-minded rude assholes who made fun of the way I talk and treated me like I was a revenue agent after their moonshine still. None of that came to pass.

I know the press makes it seem like there's a klan meeting every week down here, but it's just not true. And so far all of the secessionist "movements" involve a few kooks, not whole states. But the news makes it sound that way. Most of the new aircraft, automobile and energy-related factories in the US are in the south. I'm here because the technology I work with barely exists in California. I miss California, but Atlanta is not the hell hole I thought it would be. I admit I was wrong and that I got most of my information about the south from old movies.

 

No.

Like George said, most of what you hear about the south is bullshit. There is an urban/rural divide, so yes you will find people in rural areas who might fit your stereotype, but the same can be said about anywhere. I didnt see much of a difference in the rural sou th and rural upstate NY, for example, except i didnt see any black people in upstate NY and the population density was smaller.

Urban cities in the south are faring quite well, thanks. The population in my own city has exploded in the last decade, mostly because our economy is doing better than much of the country and also because a lot of people from cold climates come down here and fall in love with the weather and all the nice people.

Educate yo'self.

 

I think Obama is smarter than I would have guessed. Very insightful and that's helpful in about all he does is give speeches and his opinion. I find him a bit disappointing, after all he is no Bernie Sanders. Even with Sanders I don't think any of them are going to be super in touch with reality. Sure maybe the reality that is politics, news, and the average persons opinion. But none of them really struggle to survive and beat the odds. They all seem to have life easy, a smooth destiny.

 

Poster artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey, who designed the famous HOPE, CHANGE, graphic designs is now coming out and saying Obama is a failure.

Esquire asked Fairey if he thought that Obama has “lived up” to the “Hope” poster?
Fairey’s answer was: “Not even close.”

 

Sounds like PC drivel to me! You're just trying to be nice about them but lets face it: the south consists of homophobic racists and no one who says something nuanced about them should be taken seriously :-D