what are barack obama's flaws?

buying into lincoln hatred is sort of the kiss-the-ring moment for true right-libertarian nutjobs. you find someone that's on that shit you know you've struck GOLD.

Butterfingers Obama Lets Blackberry Slip
Sign In to E-Mail or Save This Print By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 16, 2009
Filed at 12:31 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama's cherished Blackberry slipped through his fingers Friday -- but it was only a butterfingers moment.

Obama, who has been reluctant to relinquish the device when he becomes president, dropped his Blackberry and its hard plastic case onto an airport tarmac as he emerged from his fortified vehicle.

A Secret Service agent hustled to pick it up.

Secret Service officials are among those urging Obama to give up his Blackberry habit, because it causes security worries. Lawyers think it also poses difficulties in keeping public records.

The wireless e-mail and phone device is Obama's constant companion and link to the outside world.

Told about the fumble, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs quipped: ''That may have solved his Blackberry dilemma, right? Forget the lawyers!''

No word yet on whether the Blackberry still works.

Broke bread with Will, Krauthammer etc.

If he can make new friends of old enemies, then more power to him.

Yeah I think given the response of the conservative pundits that was a remarkably shrewd move. Do I like any of those guys? No. But not having them hate your guts from the get-go is probably not a bad idea.

I am less thrilled about his overall desire to "reach out" to the right though on certain policy matter (those business tax cuts are ugh and his Guatanamo comments this weekend were pretty irritating) but I'm not sure some of that stuff isn't built to fail (i.e. let a dem congress strip it out while letting Obama seem very bi-partisan).

I can't even imagine Clinton having vodka tonics with Newt Gingrich, let alone Bush with Daschle, so anytime a president can seduce the opposing camp's lapdogs is a huge plus.

i know this has probably been covered ad nauseam elswhere on ilx, but fuuhuhuhuhuuck that Rick Warren dude. I realize that it's a purely ceremonial function, relegated to one half hour of one day and it's not like he's being bandied about as replacement for Sec of Ed. if Arne Duncan gets accused of point shaving during his tenure in Australian league basketball (lol), but I feel Barry could have easily found a clergyman (or woman) with gravity and notoriety that embodies Christian principles without the hateful (re: gays) and willfully ignorant (re: creationism) rhetoric.

Agree about the recent Guantanamo comments, but I still (optimistically) expect real progress on the closure as soon as he's in office. Half expect to be disappointed though...

as the CIA guy says in Charlie Wilson's War, "WE'LL SEE"

i know this has probably been covered ad nauseam elswhere on ilx, but fuuhuhuhuhuuck that Rick Warren dude.

More fun with Rick Warren.

so as far as flaws, Obama's eagerness to reach out to those who vehemently oppose him could be seen as a slap in the face to a lot of people who campaigned tirelessly for him, even when he was spouting off some political CYA bullshit like marriage = man + woman, could, you know, be one.

wotta dick x-post

lol "saddleback" - isn't that when christian youths engage in anal in order to technically stay virgins? ;)

Yeah but his supporters knew they were backing someone whose management style was marked by openness and inclusivity.

Saddlebackers?

Sometimes uses nominative-case pronoun as object of preposition.

precis for the backlash?
"I can't recall a similarly disastrous start in a half-century (far worse than Bill Clinton's initial slips). Obama immediately must lower the hope-and-change rhetoric, ignore Reid/Pelosi, drop the therapy, and accept the tragic view that the world abroad is not misunderstood but quite dangerous. And he must listen on foreign policy to his National Security Advisor, Billary, and the Secretary of Defense. If he doesn't quit the messianic style and perpetual campaign mode, and begin humbly governing, then he will devolve into Carterism—angry that the once-fawning press betrayed him while we the people, due to our American malaise, are to blame."
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDA1MTkzYTc4NjA5MWQxOGNjMzU3YmZiYTJhZDQ5YTY=
i still have faith that b-o's running a long game around this kind of transparent partisanship, but i wouldn't mind seeing some proof soon

in understanding the world it's important to stay as far away from the writings of victor davis hanson

He's doing a pretty crappy job so far with the "stimulus". Or rather he's sitting back and letting congress do a crappy job. Amounts to the same thing, basically.

hanson's a total tool, true, but there's a lot of similar droning going around in the right-wing echo chamber. i'd like to think it won't gain a wide hearing, but right now the republicans are showing way more on-message party discipline than the democrats

Uh like they always do?

it helps if your statements don't have to be true? there's not a sentence in there that not in bad faith if not outright wrong.

"he promised so much and delivered on half! in two weeks! what a horrible president snicker snicker!"

oh no, democrats are worried about something

re: Daschle:

"I think I screwed up," Obama said in a wide-ranging interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"And I take responsibility for it and we're going to make sure we fix it so it doesn't happen again."

Though I'm less concerned with the screw-up and more-or-less happy that dude can admit a mistake like a human being. I couldn't imagine this sentence coming out of W's mouth for any reason.

look VDH has always batted around .001 so this is good news if it's anything. plus most of his "points" are predictions, ah yes it will all come to pass as you say professor. he's not an analyst but a cosplayer of one, every time he says "it will" or "is going to", read "i really wish and pray super hard that..."

The thing that's most stuck with me from the acceptance speech in November was this:

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.

Now, this can easily be read as a 'get out of jail free' card -- "Hey, I told you I'd goof!" And the proof ultimately is in the pudding. Still, I'm glad he said it, and the presumption is that he won't have to say it every week, so here's hoping.

i think his flaws may not be any naive expectation of love and comity in international relations, but in expecting that from his domestic political enemies. i basically agree with this (posted to tpm) but i'm not sure the public will be receptive to a 'major address' anymore.

From Theda Skocpol ...

In response to what you are saying: Obama is, sadly, much to blame for giving the Republicans so much leverage. He defined the challenge as biparitsanship not saving the U.S. economy. Right now, he has only one chance to re-set this deteriorating debate: He needs to give a major speech on the economy, explain to Americans what is happening and what must be done. People will, as of now, still listen to him -- and what else is his political capital for?

Speaking as a strong Obama supporter who put my energies and money into it, I am now very disillusioned with him. He spent the last two weeks empowering Republicans -- including negotiating with them to get more into Senate and his administration and giving them virtual veto-power over his agenda -- and also spending time on his personal cool-guy image (as in interview before the Super Bowl). The country is in danger and he ran for president to solve this crisis in a socially inclusionary way. He should be fighting on that front all the time with all his energies -- and he certainly should give a major speech to help educate the public and shape the agenda. That is the least he can and should do. Only that will bypass the media-conserative dynamic that is now in charge.

personal cool-guy image

wtf why are people retarded

^^^OTM

hey shakey and dan, stop working your personal cool-guy images

dude has been president for what, three weeks?

Whiney totally OTM about the apology/admission of error thing

Poll: Public Turning Against Stimulus Bill

By Eric Kleefeld - February 4, 2009, 2:07PM
A new Rasmussen poll shows that support for the stimulus plan appears to be falling precipitously in the last two weeks, since it became as heavily politicized as it is now:

Do you favor or oppose the economic recovery package proposed by Barack Obama and the Congressional Democrats?

Favor 37%
Oppose 43%

A week ago Rasmussen had a 42%-39% plurality favoring the plan, and a 45%-34% margin of support two weeks ago. Support among independents has fallen to 27%, unchanged from a week ago but down from 37% support two weeks ago.

So the Republican talking points out there against he bill -- too much spending, redistribution of wealth, stacking hundred-dollar bills on top of each other, etc -- appear to be having some measure of success.

that's what i'm saying. rightwing pundits and politicians are all over the place trash talking the stimulus and i'd like to see b-o take command of the dialogue again. but maybe he's just giving the naysayers enough rope to hang themselves

"This guy who kept saying that he wanted to end partisan politics keeps trying to work with people in the other party! That's not why I voted for him!" <--- this line of rhetoric earns an instant "stfu, douchebag" from me

Such fucking irresponsibility among Republicans is hard to fathom, even when it is perfectly evident and has been for a long time.

It is time to rewrite Chapter 11 to require all corporate officers of bankrupt corporations to place their own assets into the bankruptcy and follow the corporation into receivership. Then the fuckers won't be so happy to see hard times coming.

that idea appears to not make even a lick of sense beyond being vindictive

Maybe that's because you haven't given it a lick of thought, Dan.

the gop has a lot of batshit economic ideas floating around in it as a general rule, but now they have a positive incentive to torpedoing the stimulus -- tank the economy, give the president a black eye, blame him for the mess in '10.

quite a few things have gotten me riled up a bit in the past week or so, say, right-wingers talking about how obama's a failure already, cheney's politico interview, republicans more or less dominating the stimulus debate despite not being in political power, mainstream press talking about how much of a disaster the nomination process has become, a bunch of things.

but it helps to take a deep breath and remember that the gop just faced some serious fucking losses (seems like ages ago), probably aren't poised to gain any congressional majorities in '10, and obama is actually in there for 4 more years at least (i still can't get over this after feeling like bush was president like forever), likely eight if nothing major happens.

there's a difference between being fair to the other party and hearing them out vs. letting them frame the stimulus debate in the media

what goole posted is basically otm - who cares what the republicans think!! if obama thinks that the bill is on point he should tell them to fuck off and pass it w/ only dem support. what are the drawbacks, politically? if it's a wild success then it will reflect highly on him, no matter who voted for it. and if it's a wild failure then it will reflect poorly on him, regardless of who voted for it.

and yeah the fact that he has allowed them to 100% control the debate on this issue is mind blowing

this is a bit o_0

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-v-santore/what-is-obamas-rendition_b_162927.html

at least, i wanna see one of these fabled threatened filibusters actually happen. make mitch mcconnell stand up and read the fucking phone book or whatever and we'll see who really gets embarrassed by it.

and while i'm at it, i think the fact that bank nationalization is totally off the table is even more frustrating.

gee where's morbs when we need him

toasting marshmallows

"this is a bit o_0"

Article has been largely debunked elsewhere.

It basically conflates "rendition" with "extraordinary rendition," one of which is a synonym for "extradition from another country to the United States in order to face due process" and one of which is a synonym for "extradition to countries that will torture you." Obama is keeping the former and suspending the latter.

cool, good to know.