President Barack Obama with Chinese President Hu Jintao
I am surprised at how quickly President Obama’s loyal followers have turned on him. In the Washington Post editorial, “One and Done” today by Douglas E. Schoen and Patrick H. Cadell, two Democratic pollsters, President Obama is pressed hard to declare he will not run in 2012. They think this will take away the pressure of the political parties and create an atmosphere where something can get done. I personally think they’re dreaming!
Here is a section directly from their article:
Obama owes his election in large measure to the fact that he rejected this approach during his historic campaign. Indeed, we were among those millions of Democrats, Republicans and independents who were genuinely moved by his rhetoric and purpose. Now, the only way he can make real progress is to return to those values and to say that for the good of the country, he will not be a candidate in 2012.
They believe for the good of our country President Obama needs to move back to the values he ran on in the election of 2008. They feel he needs to step down to take away the politics. I find all of this amazing. I cannot remember any president having this suggestion made to them before and especially in such an open format. Personally, I don’t think it would make any difference. So what happens if he steps down? Will anything change in the House and Senate? It would just mean both parties would be in a frenzy to get their candidates ready for the 2012 election. There would probably be much posturing in the Senate with big speeches by potential candidates for the presidency.
Many people online, including myself, would really like to see Hillary Clinton as president, but I think this is crazy talk and I find it interesting that there is even any discussion about it at all. I first learned about this opinion piece in the Washington Post on CNN today which tells me that there must be much talk of it in political circles. Just as Nancy Pelosi is being pressured to step down it appears that President Obama is getting the same treatment.
Of course he brought a lot of this on himself. If you listen to the pundits, he went too far to the left. I find that amusing. What did he go left on? We are still involved in two wars. Guantanamo Bay is still going strong and he even put a “hit” on an American citizen. Gays still cannot openly serve in the military. He passed health “insurance” reform, not health care reform. He kept many of President Bush’s people and policies in place. He governed more like the last president than any president from the “left”. The biggest complaint seems to be about the stimulus money and the bank bailout. The bailout was started by Bush and continued by Obama and the stimulus from the left’s point of view was too small.
I find all of this even more interesting because of the last president and his divisive policies. The period under President Bush was extremely divisive. He started his presidency by a vote from the Supreme Court. That alone made his presidency tarnished with a sense of corruption because his brother was the governor of Florida. He started out on a rocky road. Many Democrats could hardly say the words, “Our president!” Many thought he wasn’t “their” president. Just before September 11th he had many warnings about terrorist attacks and these were ignored. Low and behold September 11th happens. President Bush is in some classroom in Florida reading about a pet goat. Time goes by with no action. He was flown all over the country, not knowing what to do and he put the VP in charge. Some how after all of that President Bush emerged with the fireman at the World Trade Center, or Ground Zero, as it has become known, and suddenly he became our national hero and leader! He could have gotten the country to do much at that time because he had our attention and devoted patriotism. His answer was for us to go “shopping” and to give tax breaks to us. After two unfunded wars we are in a heap of trouble financially. In walks President Obama, who seems to think what President Bush was doing isn’t so bad, so he continues with those same policies.
Suddenly, we have a problem with this president. To me he is a lot like the old president. I don’t see many things that have changed. Maybe it takes time for them to show up and maybe we as a country haven’t given him enough time. I’m not sure. However, I find it offensive how the Democratic Party people appear to eat their own. The Republicans stand firm with their people, well, with one exception, Christine O’Donnell, didn’t get much support from the likes of Karl Rove and gang. If you think about it Senator David Vitter who was going to prostitutes and wearing diapers is still going to be a senator in January. He wasn’t pushed out by his party. Democrats are supposed to be the “big tent” Democrats that take in all people with all ideas. It’s interesting to see these two pollsters pushing for Obama, the first black president, to step down for 2012.
Obviously, a lot can happen in two years. Who would have thought that in 2010 President Obama would be treated with such disrespect by people from his own party and even from the Republican Party? Did you see where Representative Eric Cantor met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu? He promised that his party would be a “check” on the Obama administration. I cannot believe that he did this. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140624
It looks to me like maybe he should be charged with a felony. According to the Logan Act unauthorized citizens cannot negotiate with foreign governments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act
Like him or not, President Obama, is the president and as president he deserves to be treated with a form of respect. To do anything but that undermines our country. It doesn’t mean we cannot discuss him and his policies on blogs like mine or yours. However, it does mean that we don’t do anything that might have the potential to harm our country! Most of us wouldn’t be in a position to negotiate with a foreign country. Representative Eric Cantor should know the law better. Since he is in a position of power in the Republican Party he should be held to a higher standard as well. I don’t see anyone holding his feet to the fire, but they should!
President Obama still could turn things around and gain the support of the Democratic Party. He just has to quit governing like a Republican. I think we’ll know what kind of leader he really is when we see what he does with the Bush tax cuts. I’m beginning to think they should just let all of them go, even my tax cut. I would like to see the tax cuts kept in place for the 98%, but not at the expense of our country and infrastructure. We have been living on borrowed money for far too long. The politicians are trying to get us to accept those tax cuts for the wealthy which I think is just a tad ridiculous. The divide between the poor and the rich just keeps growing. It’s time we figured out how to help the poor and the middle class. The 98% should not be held hostage to the other 2%. If President Obama steps up and leads this country, then things will turn around for him politically. If he continues to vacation like President Bush and govern like him as well, 2012 won’t come soon enough!