tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379287241318002122.post4732084673445763285..comments2024-01-28T08:54:32.914-06:00Comments on That's interesting...: This is the Obama I voted forBill Garthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08552459555883204060noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379287241318002122.post-22408597087570490932012-04-04T11:01:50.115-05:002012-04-04T11:01:50.115-05:00No, John, I really think there's more to it th...No, John, I really think there's more to it than that. You just <i>can't function</i> as president without the opposition party, not unless you have an overwhelming majority in Congress.<br /><br />For example, Democrats would need not just 60 Democrats in the Senate, but 60 Democrats who wouldn't join the constant Republican filibusters (like my own "Democratic" senator does).<br /><br />Filibustering was never intended to be a tactic used for <i>everything</i>. The Senate was supposed to be a matter of simple majority rule, with supermajorities only needed occasionally. But Republicans have broken the Senate.<br /><br />And, of course, Republicans now control the House of Representatives <i>and</i> the Supreme Court. (Admittedly, they only controlled the Supreme Court the first two years of his term, and it was Democratic timidity that might have lost them the House.) This isn't a dictatorship. There's no way a president can function effectively without the opposition party.<br /><br />In effect, Republicans have broken America's system of government. Our government institutions don't work anymore, because Republicans value their own political ambition above everything else (or else they've just gone batshit crazy).<br /><br />At any rate, Barack Obama had the right idea. A president <i>has</i> to work with the political opposition. Unfortunately, he's got the wrong opponents, so there's nothing he could do to appease them. Even adopting <i>their own</i> health care reform plan didn't do it!<br /><br />IMHO, in a case like this, the only thing you <i>can</i> do is push your own side as hard as possible. Personally, I think that Barack Obama took too long to realize that. On the other hand, we're still suffering from the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. And his compromises - yes, even the tax cuts - have made things better than they would otherwise have been.<br /><br />He's really been between a rock and a hard place, John. He hasn't had <i>any</i> good options. And note that being an "angry black man" probably won't help him with most Americans, although his re-election probably depends more on how the economy is doing in November than anything else.<br /><br />As long as the American people don't see what the Republicans are doing to us, we're not going to get out of this mess. I've been unhappy the past three years, but the reason for that has far more to do with the Republicans than with Obama.Bill Garthrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08552459555883204060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379287241318002122.post-73637725998691389472012-04-03T21:10:03.168-05:002012-04-03T21:10:03.168-05:00I agree if he'd talked like this and had actio...I agree if he'd talked like this and had actions to match, then I would have been a lot happier with his presidency. I'd like to think that he's just done taking shit from the conservatives, but I'm afraid like you said that it's just candidate Obama and he'll disappear forever after the election.Chimeradavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14373236451090168388noreply@blogger.com