Top Five Reasons I'm Grateful for President Obama

[PJABBER]

I don't think our President is stupid. He obviously has some native intelligence. His failure is a common one for those who rise to power. He suffers from hubris and narcissism.

After the elections in November the nation will have two more years of Obama as President. That is plenty of time for an epiphany, though I somehow doubt one will come to him.

We who are classical liberals, conservatives, libertarians, independents, we have many things to thank him for.

Ben Shapiro captures five reasons that he is grateful that Obama is President.

Myself, I like the top four. They give me hope for the future of America.

Top Five Reasons I'm Grateful for President Obama

Ben Shapiro
October 20, 2010

I spend a good deal of time in this space criticizing President Barack Obama. His policies are wrongheaded; his manner is arrogant and condescending; his ideology is Marxist in tenor and content. He is, through his first 21 months, the worst president in American history, a leader who has purposefully polarized the country along racial and economic lines for his personal benefit.

So, why am I grateful for President Obama? Here are five reasons:

Five: Obama is dumb.

Although the media has proclaimed President Obama as the "Smartest Man Ever to Walk the Earth," he is actually rather stupid, at least when it comes to pushing his agenda. Unlike President Clinton, who knew enough to moderate himself in order to win re-election, Obama believes that he has the King Midas mouth -- the word he speaks will automatically turn to electoral gold. If his policies aren't turning up roses, therefore, it's just that he's not utilizing that King Midas mouth often enough. So he turns up the rhetoric, all the while irritating the entire populace.

Four: Obama has exposed the media.

When President Bush won re-election in 2004, the New Media proclaimed victory. I predicted that the Old Media would have its revenge and they would dedicate themselves in toto to the promotion of Democratic candidates. I underestimated. The Old Media has actually acted as a public relations machine for Democratic candidates, particularly Obama, as well as a rear guard protecting them from attack. They are blatantly, obviously and openly liberal. And that means we can discount them. The Old Media is busily playing Brynhildr, achieving Pyrrhic victory in 2008 but destroying themselves for all time as a respected voice of objectivity.

Three: Obama has elevated the discourse.

Or rather, he has forced conservatives to elevate their discourse. Believe it or not, the political debate in this country is not at a new low but at a marked high. While Obama's rhetoric is third grade at best (see No. 5), he has triggered a debate that is historic in its implications. It is rare throughout our history for Americans to openly talk about founding principles, the relevance of the Constitution and the wisdom of the Bill of Rights. In May, the Government Printing Office announced that since September 2009, it had sold 8,700 copies of the Constitution to the public; in 2009, Congress authorized a resolution to print 441,000 copies of the Constitution for distribution by the House and another 100,000 copies for distribution by the Senate. Our educational system has done a piss-poor job of educating Americans about their heritage and basic values. Now we're doing it ourselves, and it's incredible to watch.

Two: Obama has killed the race card.

He didn't do it purposefully. In fact, Obama himself remains one of the prime practitioners of the race card. President Obama has, however, ended the legitimacy of shouting "racist" as a political tool. In the past, too many politicians (think Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson) have been able to maintain the illusion of moderation by shouting down political opponents. Now that we have a half-black president, it is obvious to everyone that opposition to a black person's politics is not equivalent to racism. Obama's foolhardy use of the race card has rendered it absolutely moot.

One: Crystallization.

Thank God we live in an age when our choices don't generally mean life and death; even our civilizational foes threaten our existence over the course of decades rather than months. Our choices aren't stark but instead gradual. That means, however, that it is difficult to get excited on a daily basis about the events that surround us.

At least it was until President Obama. He believes he can ram his agenda down our throats wholesale. We aren't facing a gradual slide toward socialism under President Obama. Instead, we once again face a stark choice. And stark choices motivate us to action.

So thank you, Obama voters -- well, those of you who are still willing to admit that you were Obama voters.

You've given this nation new hope. Before Obama, this country was already a hell of a lot closer to socialism than the small government capitalism of the Founding Fathers; true change would have been restoration rather than a "forward to poverty" leveling. Now we're not going to stop until we get true change. Perhaps, Obama's promises weren't so empty after all.

 

[Balt]

Or rather, he has forced conservatives to elevate their discourse.

Americans need real and practical policies, not people parroting Sarah Palin and Glen Beck.

 

[trenchfoot]

Hey, thanks for posting that commentary. It's really interesting to read every once in awhile the kinds of pep talk the conservatives have among themselves. Well, more than half of it was the same 'ol talking points that get mentioned here at P&N, but it's the style of delivery that interested me the most. His style is very similar to a "well-known" ghost writer for a well-known romance novel series. Nah, j/k....sort of.

 

[sportage]

Just gotta remember... Tea Partiers...
It was GW's Paulson that ran to the senate in a cold sweat claiming the ENTIRE US economy was about to have a meltdown creating a new 1929 depression, everyone becoming unemployed, all banks closing and everyone without.
It was Paulson that did this. And it was the Bush era that caused this, since if you remember (and I know it's sooooo hard) that Obama was not president...yet.
But then... reality doesn’t seem to matter anymore...

 

[IGBT]

your obama is a hugo Chavez liberal with less experience then a liquor store clerk. The bush blame game is over. Your obama only believes in his own magnificence and nothing else.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

your obama is a hugo Chavez liberal with less experience then a liquor store clerk. The bush blame game is over. Your obama only believes in his own magnificence and nothing else.

If experience is what you look for in a president, does that mean you're voting for Obama in 2012? Who is going to have more experience in that race than someone with four years as president?

 

[Acanthus]

your obama is a hugo Chavez liberal with less experience then a liquor store clerk. The bush blame game is over. Your obama only believes in his own magnificence and nothing else.

You have to give credit where it is due.

Bush's TARP and Obama's ARRA have effectively mitigated economic disaster.

BOTH of those policies could have been executed much better, but they did the job so to speak.

Obama is a fantastic speaker and has lent more credibility to the US on the world stage. We don't have the image of unilateral warmongers with unprecedented bravado that the Bush administration garnered for itself.

The position Obama is in is a very hard one. You have liberals that don't like him because he has done too little, and conservatives that don't like him because he has done ANYTHING. Personally i'm in the former.

Errors of the Obama administration from a center-left independent voter.

-Don't ask don't tell should be gone. Sexual orientation should not be a deciding factor in whether someone wants to fight and die for their country.

-Total failure of repealing or scaling back free trade policies with nations that do not adhere to our societal work standards. This is especially damaging to my opinion of him when we are in the middle of a labor crisis.

-ARRA would have been more effective with no tax cuts.

-Dems should have pushed through full socialized medicine. They failed to sell it to the American people and republican interventionism left us with a bastardized insurance system that may or may not be better than what we already have. I'm on the fence about this one because socialized medicine may not have passed, and at least the poor can get their basic care now and ripoff insurance systems are essentially banned.

There are a few more recent moves by the administration that have improved my view of them and Obama:

Banking reform: Specifically the new consumer protection agency, and his choice for the head to form the CPA's structure and doctrine. If he has the balls to let her head it after the framework is laid, i will love him for this. Elizabeth Warren really does know what she is talking about, and knows the intricacies of how lenders fuck over their customers and corner them into financial ruin.

Obama's veto of the rushed "bankers amnesty" for all of their fraudulent foreclosures. I am saddened that something like this even made it to Obama's desk but at least he veto'd it.

Congress's bipartisan support for labeling China a currency manipulator... This is big and could lead to the imposition of trade policies that will bring jobs back to the United States.

 

[IGBT]

If experience is what you look for in a president, does that mean you're voting for Obama in 2012? Who is going to have more experience in that race than someone with four years as president?

experience as a failure doesn't count. Unless you conclude everything he has done/not done was according to plan. In either case the end result is retrograde for the US.

 

[Acanthus]

experience as a failure doesn't count. Unless you conclude everything he has done/not done was according to plan. In either case the end result is retrograde for the US.

Actually the current administration is on track to do the MOST work in the last 45 years.

 

[theeedude]

Sounds like conservatives need to re-elect Obama in 2012, since he's the only reason Republicans are acting conservative.

 

[jman19]

Yeah the discourse has really been elevated... Beck, Hannity, and Palin raving like loons has really improved the discourse.

Democrats will lose this November because the economy stinks, not because the Republicans have any good ideas.

 

[trenchfoot]

How convenient it is to forget that Obama is tangled in a mess that the repubs created out of pure unadulterated greed during the Bush years and all the repubs have been doing since Obama took office is vociferously and purposefully keeping him tangled in that mess they made by any means possible to grab control back.

The repubs could have spent that time showing at least the slightest bit of interest in fixing what they broke instead of keeping things broke for their own self-interests.

For Obama and the Dems to have gotten what they've done so far is amazing considering the disgraceful and shameful behavior the repubs have shown since 2000.

 

[Pens1566]

I'm almost convinced the OP is a paid shill now. Multiple posts daily of nothing but talking points op eds from darlings of the right. Yep, I'm convinced.

 

[SP33Demon]

Obama removed health insurance caps and pre-existing conditions which = the largest social reform in 40 years. He could take a big, smelly dump on his desk for the next 2 years and it won't change the fact that he still accomplished more social reform than both Bushes, Reagan, and Nixon combined.

 

[werepossum]

I do not believe that Obama cannot move to the center if he loses Congress. Everyone thinks that Clinton is the great centrist, but remember that he introduced a health care bill that put the federal government in complete control of your health. If you needed health care, the government system did not approve it (or approve it quickly enough), and you had the hubris to spend your own money on your own health care, Hilarycare would send both you AND your doctor to federal prison. If Clinton can become the great centrist, surely Obama can do the same.

 

[zsdersw]

I'm almost convinced the OP is a paid shill now.

Very likely.

 

[trenchfoot]

I'm almost convinced the OP is a paid shill now. Multiple posts daily of nothing but talking points op eds from darlings of the right. Yep, I'm convinced.

The idea of the double-edged sword comes to mind wrt the OP's postings...the more the OP reveals said talking points/ op eds that describe the viewpoint of those that he/she represent, the more those talking points can be refuted with truth and factual evidence in a widely viewed public forum....and that will get refuted with more talking points....and the battle goes on...and on....in public.

Bottom line: we all benefit from the discourse. Not to mention how much fun it is witnessing or participating in the process.

 

[thraashman]

I do not believe that Obama cannot move to the center if he loses Congress. Everyone thinks that Clinton is the great centrist, but remember that he introduced a health care bill that put the federal government in complete control of your health. If you needed health care, the government system did not approve it (or approve it quickly enough), and you had the hubris to spend your own money on your own health care, Hilarycare would send both you AND your doctor to federal prison. If Clinton can become the great centrist, surely Obama can do the same.

Considering how many of Bush's policies that are right that Obama is continuing and how few liberal policies that he's actually implemented, I'd be thrilled if Obama moved to the center as he'd be moving LEFT. Unfortunately the right has hit this point where anything that isn't shoving against the fascism line they call socialism. They've actually considered kicking the center-right people out of the national convention for not being conservative enough if you remember last year! If you actually look at the Constitution and the founding fathers, we were meant to be a pretty liberal country.

 

[Jaskalas]

If experience is what you look for in a president, does that mean you're voting for Obama in 2012? Who is going to have more experience in that race than someone with four years as president?

A governor would be a better choice. At the minimum an equal choice.

 

[Drako]

If experience is what you look for in a president, does that mean you're voting for Obama in 2012? Who is going to have more experience in that race than someone with four years as president?

Hillary?

 

[Balt]

A governor would be a better choice. At the minimum an equal choice.

Probably. Just make sure it isn't Haley Barbour.

 

[Painman]

Obama = a Socialist, Terrorist, African, Muslim, everything but what you really fear and what you really wish you could call him in polite society... a N*****...

Politically, he's arguably to the right of Bill Clinton, but he's BLACK.

Fess the fuck up already... he symbolizes the decline of white power in the US.

Politically, he's milquetoast, bordering upon Fascist.

But he's BLACK.

And everyone is tied up in knots...

 

[thraashman]

Obama = a Socialist, Terrorist, African, Muslim, everything but what you really fear and what you really wish you could call him in polite society... a N*****...

Politically, he's arguably to the right of Bill Clinton, but he's BLACK.

Fess the fuck up already... he symbolizes the decline of white power in the US.

Politically, he's milquetoast, bordering upon Fascist.

But he's BLACK.

And everyone is tied up in knots...

I believe you've hit the nail on the head. Most true liberals I know are upset with Obama because he's so far to the right and continuing so many fascist far right policies of GWB.

 

[Acanthus]

Serious reply gets 0 responses.

You shill bastards

 

[werepossum]

Obama = a Socialist, Terrorist, African, Muslim, everything but what you really fear and what you really wish you could call him in polite society... a N*****...

Politically, he's arguably to the right of Bill Clinton, but he's BLACK.

Fess the fuck up already... he symbolizes the decline of white power in the US.

Politically, he's milquetoast, bordering upon Fascist.

But he's BLACK.

And everyone is tied up in knots...

Ah, the liberal deck. Fifty-one Race cards and a joker.