Support
1 - Saved our economy from depression with the stimulus
2 - Reformed healthcare, people are just now learning about how much they have benefited from this.
3 - Reformed the financial sector, created a consumer protection agency.
4 - Implemented important anti-discriminatory laws re: LGBTQ people
5 - Stopped torture
6 - Drawn down our presence in Iraq to minimal levels, soon we will also be out of Afghanistan. Killed Bin Laden.
7 - Overall diplomacy is quite progressive for a US president, Libya aside.
8 - Progressive on immigration - wants to implement the Dream Act. Generally speaking he has gone from one ambitious reform to another, instead of obsessing over how he looks politically

Overall assessment - one of the top Presidents the US has ever had. I think we'll only find out how great he really has been well after he leaves office. I'm certain that won't be until January 2017.

ROFL!!!! Such an predictable, assinine response from the man with blinders firmly affixed to his head! Wait 'til Putin gets out of college and joins reality, tries to get a job, etc. NO!!!! An economy that naturally would have found it's way out of recession has been pounded into the ground by *horrifying* economic policies and an increase in debt that is unbearable! My 12 and 13 year old daughters are smart enough to grasp that laying debt upon THEIR future children and and chldren's children is immoral, and unsustainable. The media is continually amazed when unemployment numbers continually fail to go down in any significant way. Housing continues to decline in value. The economy is failing, inflation is skyrocketing and effective household income is in free fall.

Obama has put us into a third war with NO defined goal. Iraq is no better today than is was when Bush left office...and we are not and will not ever going to leave Iraq. Afghanistan is ramping down? PUH-LEASE! My brother deploys to Afghanistan in July...ask him about the so-called draw-down. Gitmo is still open. Obama used the information gathered by "torture" to kill Bin Laden (instead of bringing him to justice in the courts...they could have *easily* captured himmm). Obama is a raging hypocrite. He has turned against our best ally in the Middle East, Israel, and supported this bogus "Arab Spring", which is nothing but an regional uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood, which will ultimately turn AGAINST the US and it's allies (witness the lifting of the embargo on gaza....meaning that WEAPONS can now freely flow in to Gaza from Egypt and now more innocent Israeli citzens will be killed by random rocket attacks as they go about their daily lives...."

Obama is the *worst* President of my lifetime. Make me long for the days of Kimmy Carter...

By the way, if Obamacare is SO damned good, how come all his Union buddies are asking for waivers? How come Pelosi just got a bunch of waivers for people in her district? How come Harry Reid has secured waivers for people in Nevada? Obamacare is ALREADY dramatically increasing the cost of health care in certain sectors, and the continued increase in cost and derease in availability is just around the corner.

Oh...Dream Act? That' where the Democrats make a bunch of illegals sudenly legal in hopes that they will gain a voting block. And...by the way....with unemployment at 9% (more like 18% when you take into account underemployed and those that have fallen off the roles or just have given up...) where the fuck are all these illegals...made suddenly legal....going to find work? STUPIDEST idea ever.

Note: Putin is an avowed Communist and thinks Obama is the best ever....tells you *exactly* what President Obama's guiding philosophy most accurately represents....just as most Conservatives were proclaiming prior to his election.

"1 - Saved our economy from depression with the stimulus"
Translation - Bailed his banker buddies with taxpayer money. Banks are saved and can now loan tax payers *own* money back to them at interest. If I have $100, I'm not going to give it to you just so you can loan it back to me. that's retarded.

"2 - Reformed healthcare, people are just now learning about how much they have benefited from this."
Translation - Forced socialism on the AMerican people under the threat of jail.

"3 - Reformed the financial sector, created a consumer protection agency"
Translation - Saved his Wall Street buddies and campaign donors.

4 - no comment

"5 - Stopped torture"
Are you serious?

"6 - Drawn down our presence in Iraq to minimal levels, soon we will also be out of Afghanistan. Killed Bin Laden. "
.....

I quit...this is ridiculous.

Obama? Oh, you mean Bush's third term. Against.

I am opposed to Obama. His only good decision was to kill Osama, which any American president would have done.

Why is it that eveyr time a thread gets put up that deals with any political, social, or economic issue, krellin and putin are always here? If it weren’t for you guys, we could have a vaguely reasonable discussion, but between the hard-line socialism and inane CAPS LOCKED blathering, there’s no real room for moderation. You guys are literally the spitting image of the two political parties, and everyone else here is the people- i.e. they have no voice.

To answer the question, I don’t particularly like him, but that’s typical. I probably won’t like any president who is a Democrat or a Republican because they’re all too afraid of corporate lobbies, the media, and the other party to actually get anything fixed around here.

@Aurevir. You are an idiot. One....is there some blatant use of caps here? Here is one for you: FUCK OFF! LOL Other than that, I think that Putin and I have succinctly out forth the general opposing views on Obama. If you have something unique to say then SAY IT (like my use of caps there for emphasis?) Otherwise, don't be such a whiny bitch.

Stopped torture? The enhanced interrogation techniques from the Bush administration are completely still in force. Obama mostly is Bush's third term, with the flaws magnified and a liberal cover.

As you could guess, I don't support him politically. Oppose is too strong a word, since I actually think he's not been a complete disaster and, well, you gotta give the president something of the benefit of the doubt, no matter who he is. But as for reasons...

1. Wasted nearly a trillion dollars on an ineffective stimulus. If you're a Keynesian it was too small to do enough good, and if you're not it was an irresponsible splurge that we haven't even gotten pretty high schools and decent roads out of, as happened during the Great Depression.

2. Obamacare. Something needed to be done, but certainly not this. I'll admit my eyes glaze over when health care comes up in a discussion, but the mandate part of this plan is chilling. If the government can fine citizens for NOT engaging in an activity then we don't have limited government any more.

3. Libya. Unconstitutional, unnecessary war. Even Bush got Congressional permission for Afghanistan and Iraq. Even if you agree with the decision to got into Libya, Obama's actions in keeping Congress out of the loop totally and relying solely on international organizations to legitimize the intervention is a disgrace. He can schmooze the Arab League but can't be bothered to go to Congress? Even when he'd almost certainly get their full support? Jesus, he campaigned against doing things like this! It's a scandal.

4. Is a Sox fan.

5. Israel-Palestine. Although he was mostly right on what Israel needs to do for there to be peace, his speeches and policy on the issue has been so hamfisted (settlement freeze, 1967 borders) that the peace process has been frozen for 2 years and we are now on the cusp of the UN voting to admit Palestine. Israel needs to stop building settlements and the 1967 borders need to be the base for a Palestinian state, but you don't talk about those things outside of the negotiating room since demagogues on both sides will go nuts. Obama thought he could bring peace just by being Obama, and instead has made it even more elusive.

6. Syria. Why is our ambassador still there?

I could go on. He seems like a nice enough guy and I truly believe he has the nation's best interests in mind on almost everything (like any president, reelection always influences some stuff), but on balance I don't think he's been very good for the country. He's done some good stuff and I respect him, but I do not want him back for 4 more years. We should think of him more like the first George Bush than Jimmy Carter.

As much as I dislike Obama's policies, I will agree that I think he has the nations best interests at heart. the problem is that his *stated goal* from the time he was a Senator in IL until elected as president -- if you listened to what he said -- was to bring the US economy down a notch or three because he believed we consumed too much of the world's resources. His destruction of the economy is purely by design, and he thinks this is a GOOD thing (liek the caps there, people? lol) So again...he thinks he is doing good on a grand scale even while he brings us down. His "leading from behind" internationally, again, is his attempt to bring the US down a notch or three so that we are not leaders, but are part of the group, because he does not believe in the inherent goodness of the United States. he thinks he is doing good...but all he does is tear us down. He does seem to be a good Dad, though...

I'm not understanding Aurevir's lashing out at me. I didn't post anything 'socialist' here. I thought it was quite moderate.

Diplomancer, its typical of you pinko baby-eating Obama supporters to push your arrogant bread-and-butter ideals down our throats.

Everyone knows that Dill are better.

The more I see of American politics, the more I believe who wins the Presidential election doesn't really matter. As far as Iraq, Afganistan and Libya are concerned I doubt things would have been any different under any President. The same can be said of the Bin Ladin stuff.

Still, he doesn't rate too badly. He may have failed miserably to put a stop to torture and close Guantanamo Bay, but I've learned to expect all presidential candidates to be lying bastards. The health care reform was a good idea, but the timing of it couldn't have possibly been worse. On the international stage he at least manages to come across as an intelligent man and makes a few good speeches, so that's a plus.

All pretty average, to be honest.

Putin....strange days are upon us, brother....we have been lumped together! lol Perhaps we will have to sit down and share a beer someday and ponder this strange occurrence. (And...for the record...though i despise your philosophy, I would *most certainly* sit with you and have a beer and talk about the world. )

I can find nothing to substantiate this claim that Obama did not end torture. His first act as President was to enact an executive order which prohibited all interrogation techniques not in the Army Field Manual. If Obama isn't against them, it's a wonder why his administration repeatedly says they are, and it's a wonder why Bush administration talking heads went out in full force criticizing him for ending them, both before and after the killing of OBL.

support.

in that he is at the very least better than whatever else there is on offer.
but on the whole i have actually been pleased with the job he did.

granted he got lucky in more ways than one but i have approved of his style of handling things overall. calm and pensive is how all presidents should be, regardless of what they actually do.

so, support.

for reference i also supported bush II, by and large.

it's too bad they gave him the nobel though... that did more harm than good i must say.

for both obama and for the nobel peace prize. lol.

I agree with some of his policies, and disagree with others, but I'm Canadian so I don't really count.

In the US, where the constitution says that all items not explicitly given to the federal government are reserved to the states or else to the people, why does the federal government take most of the tax revenue and the state tax rates so low? Should not the states be responsible for more (Like health care and education) so why is there the 'No Child left behind' act and Obama-care.

Putin: I would have to say that, from what I have seen so far of your activity in this forum, that your views are fairly heavily socialistic and generally do not stray far from the left. If that was a mistaken impression, I apologize, and I’d be happy to sit down and try and figure out where this discrepancy arose.

Krellin: Often, it appears to me like you’ve got some very good points that end up getting swallowed up in argumenta ad hominem and rudeness. Taking your reply to my post as an example:
"You are an idiot.” That’s pretty obviously "Here is one for you: FUCK OFF! LOL” You could have said that in a slightly more reasonable manner. "Other than that, I think that Putin and I have succinctly out forth the general opposing views on Obama. If you have something unique to say then SAY IT” See, here’s that reasonable discussion I was talking about. "Otherwise, don't be such a whiny bitch.” And there’s one of the ad hominem attacks.

Basically, my point was that I don’t, generally, trust either of the two big political parties because they both seem unwilling to accept reality and do what’s really in the best interest of the people instead of the corporations. If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what both of you have to say on that subject.

Whoops, left a sentence unfinished there. It was meant to say “That’s pretty obviously a baseless attack."

Obama has done great for all the crap he has had to put up with and all the problems he inherited from Bush. I'd rather have him then McCain. He may not be the best president in history but he's definitely a step forward. And if the US continues to have a successful string of Presidents who keep pushing for progress we will be the top dog once more.

Yes, I am a socialist and 'far-left'. But I don't see what this has to do with my post here. Many socialists oppose Obama for being too moderate. I disagree with them because my philosophy with politics is *win all that can be won*. Anybody who thinks Obama is just like Bush and the Republicans is living in another world. A world where "center-left" is a click away from the extreme right that ran the Bush administration and extremer right that runs the GOP right now.

Well, the problem with that philosophy is that the lesser of two evils is still an evil, and settling for what you can get may mean going against your conscience. Imagine a scenario wherein there are three main Presidential candidates, a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent. Polls show a dead heat between the candidates from the major parties, each with nearly 50% of the total. The independent consistently has just 1% of the poll total, and therefore has essentially no chance of winning. Now, while you disagree strongly with the Republican’s views, and are iffy about some of the Democrat’s planned policies, the independent’s platform coincides near-perfectly with your own beliefs about what is best for the country.

Now, in this situation, do you vote for the independent who you support but won’t win, or for the Democrat, so you can “win all that can be won”?

c"Well, the problem with that philosophy is that the lesser of two evils is still an evil, and settling for what you can get may mean going against your conscience."

Well being morally pure doesn't feed anybody. It doesn't prevent unions from getting busted. It doesn't prevent tax cuts from going the rich. You get the idea. All it does is make me *feel good* and does nothing for real people. And actually, that doesn't make me feel good either, since I didn't do anything productive.

"Now, in this situation, do you vote for the independent who you support but won’t win, or for the Democrat, so you can “win all that can be won”?"

Absolutely yes. 'Democracy', especially in a separation-of-powers system, can never result in anyone getting their way 100%. You have to live with maybe getting 60 or 70% of what you want, as opposed to 0% if the Republicans get in. These choices make a real difference. Only people who are unaffected by politics can afford to waste their vote for the sake of their 'conscience'.

While Obama isn't perfect, he's a lot better than a lot of other choices and he has done some really good things.
Support.

But you see Bush wasn't actually extreme right. He spent a lot of money and... yeah. Never mind let's not talk about Bush that's not what this thread is for.

Suffice to say he is no tea-partier. He was a lip-service social conservative and an economically normal president. It was his foreign policy that really made him famous. And the Iraq blunder had nothing to do with being far-right or far-left, just having poor judgment.

See, that leads to stagnation. The reason we have this two-party system is because any third-party or independent candidates have to fight against this “well, this guy isn’t great, but that guy I like can’t win” bug. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, wherein this polarized political system exists simply because it exists. If nobody ever takes a stand, then nothing will ever change.

Now, that’s not to say I don’t agree with you, in this situation- there’s no hope in hopelessness. But now let’s imagine what happens four years later; the Democrat was elected, but was unpopular, and there was also some displeasure with, say, a Republican-controlled Congress. Because of this, a lot of independents and loose party affiliates have gravitated towards the independent candidate. It’s a new election, and the vote is divided 40-40-20, R-D-I. Those are still long odds, the independent still isn’t likely to win, but he’s a serious contender this time around. There’s the same situation with the politics of each candidate, too. How do you vote?

And as you answer, consider this; if you go for the independent, why? What changed? And if you go for the Democrat, could you tell me how close to a plurality the independent would have to get for you to pick the independent?

The choice is not support or oppose BO, it's Obama vs the GOP opponent. It's early, but I don't take see any viable candidate in 2012 from the right side of the aisle.