Posted on 12/09/2013 1:21:59 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
There are plenty of reasons this is the lowest point of Barack Obama's presidency. He hasn't fulfilled a major legislative campaign promise, his signature second-term immigration initiative is paralyzed, and the administration may never entirely recover from the unforced errors surrounding the Affordable Care Act's rollout. But don't blame these problems alone for Obama's record-low 40 percent approval rating. In truth, his agenda went off the rails on a crisp December morning last year, when Adam Lanza strolled into Sandy Hook Elementary and killed 20 children and six adults. Obama hasn't gotten back on track since.
The Connecticut massacre set in motion a cascade of events that led the White House to burn through its only real window to accomplish its goals. The month before the shooting, Obama had won a convincing reelection and a modest popular mandate. One major liberal wish-list entry, immigration reform, seemed not only within reach but almost inevitable.
Immigration was in an almost impossible bipartisan sweet spot: a singularly important policy goal for Democrats that could be a political boon for both parties. For Republicans, it was a way to fix a demographic problem revealed by the 2012 election. Still, they'd have to move quickly. The populist Right that had torpedoed immigration reform under George W. Bush seemed quieted by defeat, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.
Then Lanza's rampage altered the debate in Washington. Suddenly, priority No. 1 wasn't immigration reform but gun control. The base that had just elected Obama was clamoring for background checks and magazine-clip restrictions, threatening to desert the president before his second inauguration. Many in Washington, including Connecticut's Democratic senators, were convinced that the much-feared National Rifle Association had become a "paper tiger." The gun lobby's muscle hadn't been truly tested in almost a decade...
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
I cannot.
Destroying a once great nation.
“winning” twice
Convincing reelection. I wanted to stop there.
Define “success”...I believe the joker has been wildly “successful”.
A racially divided and balkanized nation, economic ruins, foreign policy in tatters, military being pc’d to death, lawlessness on the border, Fast and Furious (bonus points for dead Americans), 0care, etc., etc. ad nauseum.
He used his firearm to blast the glass near the door open, supposedly.
Copy & paste this link into a browser:
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/blog_post.aspx?id=976241#.UqZBivRDvkg
The champagne is still in our refrigerator from 2012, sad to say.
Actually, there have been numerous Obama successes -- as liberals measure "success".
All were defined by the following headline (fill in the blank):
"Obama Scores Victory Over Republicans On _________"
Political victories are the only kind of success liberals care about -- because political victories allow them to impose their agenda.
I'm listening to Steely Dan right now. Aja.
Well at least we are making progress. It wasn’t George Bush’s fault this time.
1950’s British Prime Minister Harold Mcmillian was asked by
a reporter soon after his election what he feared most.
“Events My Dear, Events....”
What McMilliam was stating that while a politician may have
run on a certain agenda, outside events can quickly derail it
Like the Russians nearly 60 years before, the NRA backed by real Americans handed Obozo his political ass for the first time, demonstrating that the "Invincible Democrat Blitzkrieg" could be beaten after all, thus energizing and empowering their opponents, i.e. real Americans.
It was a watershed moment, just as it was 60 years before.
What kind of male twerp has a hyphenated name?
Steely Dan bump. A major fav.
Millions of successes. Lost jobs, lost homes, wrecked families, ruined health care system and millions of new uninsured as well liberties taken away. Successful in terms of Obama's goals. From his perspective I'd say he's done pretty damn well.
“Like the Russians nearly 60 years before”
Must be dense today... nasty cold...
Please explain historical reference... 1948?
Its not you, my math is bad (posting w/ boss next door can cause one to make mistakes).
Meant over 60+ years, when the Russians first beat the “invincible 3rd Reich”.
(1) Obama had no magic window period on immigration.
The Republican Party would have irreparably fractured if Boehner and McConnell had pushed through Amnesty, last December, and any time in the future as well.
(2) “Then Lanza’s rampage altered the debate in Washington. Suddenly, priority No. 1 wasn't immigration reform but gun control. The base that had just elected Obama was clamoring for background checks and magazine-clip restrictions, threatening to desert the president before his second inauguration.”
Oh, come on.
An “unwilling” Obama had to be “forced” into the gun control debate?
Obama passionately hates private gun ownership.
Obama thought that Adam Lanza had created the crisis and the hysteria the Democrat Party needed to pass gun control.
No one in America was more shocked or more disappointed than Obama when that legislation failed.
Alex Seitz-Wald is the Assistant Editor of ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Alex grew up in California and holds a B.A. in international relations from Brown University. Prior to joining ThinkProgress, Alex interned at the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.
From an Brown to an internship at PBS to Think Progress? I guess we’re looking at the next William F. Buckley, huh?
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