sure he has flaws, but i still think he's probably the most 'normal' and certainly the most decent president we've had in a long time.
maybe this is an indictment of american democracy or just of the limits of my imagination, but i just can't see this country at its present state electing anyone better at the job than him.
― wizzz! (amateurist), Sunday, 3 July 2016 07:51 (seven years ago) link
oops, i had meant to share that with this article/link
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/us/politics/obama-after-dark-the-precious-hours-alone.html
― wizzz! (amateurist), Sunday, 3 July 2016 07:52 (seven years ago) link
yeah i liked that article a lot
oddly related to this line about the night: "it's smaller. it lets you think."
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Sunday, 3 July 2016 09:38 (seven years ago) link
can you imagine 7 years with a maximum 5 hours of sleep a night? jesus.
― wizzz! (amateurist), Sunday, 3 July 2016 10:05 (seven years ago) link
is he the first president in decades who cares so much about the prose of speeches and actually writes many of those speeches himself?
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 3 July 2016 11:19 (seven years ago) link
probably -- i don't know much about carter, but i can't imagine him being quite so detail oriented.
obama's obviously brilliant, and a better writer than i am obviously, but he's not a great speechwriter IMO. when giving proper speeches, he seldom has the quality of pith, and i can't think of many phrases in his speeches that are particularly memorable. the phrase "the soft bigotry of low expectations" that some hack put in GWB's mouth is more memorable than anything BHO has said... it's got assonance, a nice rhythm, parallelism....
― wizzz! (amateurist), Sunday, 3 July 2016 12:08 (seven years ago) link
I forgot that in the first few years Reagan wrote many of the big speeches.
The clarity of the Jeremiah Wright kiss-off was a tonic.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 3 July 2016 12:13 (seven years ago) link
horrifying revive
'decent' my ass
― helpless before THRILLARY (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 3 July 2016 15:36 (seven years ago) link
Morbius who are your top ten presidents
― ogmor, Sunday, 3 July 2016 15:56 (seven years ago) link
DylanDylanDylan...
― 6 god none the richer (m bison), Sunday, 3 July 2016 15:59 (seven years ago) link
I want to be open to the idea that the approach taken with Al Qaeda and ISIS has been a calculation relative to the amount of death of suffering that's been possible. Maybe I should be, but I'm still not entirely convinced that the offensive approach taken ultimately results in more death and suffering than what is possible if they are left alone.
― timellison, Sunday, 3 July 2016 16:35 (seven years ago) link
I guess that's true of the initial impulse to defend that city in Libya than initially got us into that conflict, regardless of what ended up happening.
― timellison, Sunday, 3 July 2016 16:40 (seven years ago) link
I guess that's *also* true, I meant to say
― timellison, Sunday, 3 July 2016 16:41 (seven years ago) link
horrifying revive'decent' my ass― helpless before THRILLARY (Dr Morbius), Sunday, July 3, 2016 10:36 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― helpless before THRILLARY (Dr Morbius), Sunday, July 3, 2016 10:36 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
jeez, what took you so long?
― wizzz! (amateurist), Monday, 4 July 2016 09:18 (seven years ago) link
Insight like that doesn't shoot from the hip.
― Oh baby, if only you knew / Gabnebb hit a hundred-and-two (stevie), Monday, 4 July 2016 13:15 (seven years ago) link
i know a fucking pigshit moron who needs to die
― helpless before THRILLARY (Dr Morbius), Monday, 4 July 2016 14:08 (seven years ago) link
Thats a terrible way to talk about steven spielberg
― Οὖτις, Monday, 4 July 2016 14:25 (seven years ago) link
morbs transitioned from lovable crank to homicidal demagogue so gradually i barely noticed.
― a basset hound (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 4 July 2016 14:37 (seven years ago) link
i lost a lot of respect for president obama when i found out how he stopped returning morbs's calls.
― the event dynamics of power asynchrony (rushomancy), Monday, 4 July 2016 16:21 (seven years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/OZU6tpI.jpg?1
"What the... It's 3 am. This better be important."
http://i.imgur.com/ynOmM4h.jpg?1
"i know a fucking pigshit moron who needs to die."
http://i.imgur.com/NCBxxCS.jpg
"Aw, Morbs. Didn't know it was you!"
― pplains, Monday, 4 July 2016 18:07 (seven years ago) link
tbqh, morbs, you would be a lot more flawed as president than barry's been
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, 4 July 2016 18:21 (seven years ago) link
he would dissolve the executive branch and we would live in an autarkist paradise forever
― wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 July 2016 14:14 (seven years ago) link
sorry to post-police but morbs "horrifying revive" would have been a totally hilarious standalone post and would have actually focused yr message but instead you went personal-attack. I am available to edit ppl's posts and my rates are reasonable
― The bald Phil Collins impersonator cash grab (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, 5 July 2016 14:47 (seven years ago) link
it wasn't much of an "attack"-- it was just an acknowledgment that i had indeed expected a morbs response, and that he did not disappoint. the response to that seemed like a significant escalation to me, but others may disagree.
i guess if this were a school playground--and i'm not sure it differs much from one sometimes--i would be told to simply "ignore" him. and that would be good advice! a bit harder to take after repeated "you need to die" posts though.
― wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 July 2016 14:51 (seven years ago) link
whatever. sorry to take up eyeball real-estate with this, people. move on.
Listening to Obama speak the other night made me feel proud to be an American. He always strikes me as a very moral and wise person, able to see how individual policies relate to a larger vision/pattern. His endorsement of Hillary made me like her more.
That said wtf is going on with these deportations? http://fusion.net/story/252637/obama-has-deported-more-immigrants-than-any-other-president-now-hes-running-up-the-score/ I think I have reconciled myself to the drones, which used to sicken me, as it's not clear to me what a "good" middle east policy would look like. But he is basically refusing refugees here -- these people are coming from nations torn apart by violence
― Treeship, Friday, 29 July 2016 14:01 (seven years ago) link
Im not sure Ive even seen him address this policy
― Treeship, Friday, 29 July 2016 14:02 (seven years ago) link
I do wonder if Clinton is intending to counter that policy but doesn't want to position herself against Obama at this point in time. She seemed to hammer home her intention to curb mass deportations in her speech last night. But, yes, it's fucked up (particularly since there are reported instances of deportees being murdered upon returning to their home countries) and I hope that she sees that.
― a charisma-free shitlord (Old Lunch), Friday, 29 July 2016 14:16 (seven years ago) link
i hope she stops it but why hasnt obama? Does he really just not care about these people?
― Treeship, Friday, 29 July 2016 14:21 (seven years ago) link
1. explain that laws are dumb and should be changed2. get shouted down3. make executive decision to not enforce all parts of dumb laws4. get shouted down more5. enforce dumb laws to the very letter6. reform vote now louder than ever
― El Tomboto, Friday, 29 July 2016 20:24 (seven years ago) link
^^^
― Οὖτις, Friday, 29 July 2016 20:44 (seven years ago) link
an act of political genius!
― k3vin k., Friday, 29 July 2016 20:49 (seven years ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-wont-revive-obama-plan-to-shield-illegal-immigrants-from-deportation/2016/06/23/6cea5f1e-3950-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html
― Bnad, Friday, 29 July 2016 21:15 (seven years ago) link
for your consideration
https://theringer.com/president-obama-summer-playlist-spotify-8fd9c5696aaa#.eqlwfmkmi
― j., Thursday, 11 August 2016 23:33 (seven years ago) link
i support malia obama smoking weed at coachella
― Treeship, Friday, 12 August 2016 00:11 (seven years ago) link
XP thx 4 new dn
― a full playlist of presidential sex jams (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 12 August 2016 00:42 (seven years ago) link
We're watching http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-presents-love-happiness-an-obama-celebration.html and why is Bradley Cooper at this thing?
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 3 December 2016 03:11 (seven years ago) link
ha this is that thing that Chappelle was talking about at the end of his SNL monologue right
― Nhex, Saturday, 3 December 2016 03:22 (seven years ago) link
Yeah. It's nice to go in a time machine back to October.
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 3 December 2016 03:28 (seven years ago) link
His incredible, unshakeable faith in the meritocracy.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/01/obamas-climate-legacy
Given the constraints of an extremist opposition, there’s probably not much more Obama could have done on climate change. He sums up his achievements and the need to move forward in an article in Science, written by him, although almost certainly not actually written by him. This is the first time a sitting president has ever published in the prestigious journal.Of course one can argue that Obama’s biggest weakness is thinking that anyone cares what is published in a journal like Science instead of playing the dirty politics that actually leads to power in this country. It would be nice if this country could have nice things, but what a pipe dream.
Of course one can argue that Obama’s biggest weakness is thinking that anyone cares what is published in a journal like Science instead of playing the dirty politics that actually leads to power in this country. It would be nice if this country could have nice things, but what a pipe dream.
― The beaver is not the bad guy (El Tomboto), Saturday, 14 January 2017 18:59 (seven years ago) link
In that case, all this 'bipartisanship' talk makes me worry he'll let the plutocrats walk all over him in the name of unity. It's too early to tell, of course. The problem is, I'm guilty of being a little star struck by the dude and his speeches and advisors and stuff, so I'm probably missing important defects. So maybe that's a flaw, too.― Oilyrags, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 3:37 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― global tetrahedron, Saturday, 14 January 2017 19:13 (seven years ago) link
Nice job screwing over the Cubans, buttface lame duck.
― rb (soda), Saturday, 14 January 2017 20:13 (seven years ago) link
I don't have a problem with it tbh
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 January 2017 20:15 (seven years ago) link
I'm sorry for the emigres who didn't get the news
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 January 2017 20:16 (seven years ago) link
qft
― the late great, Saturday, 14 January 2017 20:19 (seven years ago) link
tell it to the Salvadorans, Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Haitians, etc and see how many tears they shed for the poor Cubans.
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Saturday, 14 January 2017 20:23 (seven years ago) link
i've managed to avoid most inauguration coverage today. if you'd like something else, this group of people assessing the end of obama is p interesting
http://radioopensource.org/looking-back-obama/#
marilynne robinson is worshipful, david bromwich is of course v critical
― goole, Friday, 20 January 2017 20:55 (seven years ago) link
CL: You caught my attention in the London Review of Books many months ago just with the observation that he can sound like the president of the Ford Foundation, or something. It’s the sound of a vaguely anonymous board room voice, an intelligent mind among a lot of intelligent minds, representing some kind of anonymous consensus of the good people.
DB: Yeah. That’s sort of the good and competent elite who are meant to run things. I call him a Fabian non-socialist for that reason. The Fabians – H. G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw among them – believed in the reform of society by a group of technocrats, from above, in the direction of equality, but not with much consultation of the populace. And there’s nothing at all low about Obama, nothing the least bit vulgar or ill-bred. In fact, if he had just a dash of vulgarity it might increase the democratic quality of his charm.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 20 January 2017 21:18 (seven years ago) link
deporting 3m ppl, assassinating citizens = lil bit vulgar
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 January 2017 21:26 (seven years ago) link
how many would you have deported morbs
― trilby mouth (darraghmac), Friday, 20 January 2017 21:28 (seven years ago) link