Posted on 07/08/2014 7:47:27 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Gazette opinion: Obama earned the low ratings
Sometimes, you have to admit you're wrong.
And, we were wrong.
We said that things couldn't get much worse after the sub par presidency of George W. Bush.
But, President Barack Obama's administration has us yearning for the good ol' days when we were at least winning battles in Iraq.
The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal polls show that Americans are giving Obama lower marks than in 2006 when Iraq was going poorly for Bush and a tepid response to Hurricane Katrina sunk Bush's ratings.
It's not that popularity polling should be the final or even best measure of a president. There is that old saw that points out there's a difference between doing what is right and what is popular.
For us, though, it's the number of bungled or blown policies in the Obama administration which lead us to believe Obama has earned every bit of an abysmal approval rating.
Let's recap some of the mistakes:
- Maybe the worst and most widespread invasion of privacy occurred when the Obama administration continued a controversial National Security Agency program of spying on millions of citizens culling their phone records to intercepting online information. The administration has done nearly nothing to safeguard civil liberties or put in safeguards to protect our Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.
- The Obama administration has continued to ratchet down on emissions from coal-fired power plants while giving consumers little new innovation to replace the power supply. Meanwhile, Obama continues to thwart other energy projects that might be helpful to the economy, like the Keystone XL pipeline. The war on carbon might not be so bad if indeed it was being counterbalanced by true innovation.
- Iraq was an inherited quagmire from the Bush administration. But six years later, Obama has to own the current situation which, as this is being written, looks perilously close to civil war and a complete breakdown of government in Iraq. If that were to happen, the sacrifice of thousands of Americans' lives would be cheapened, if not in vain. His handling the situation seems uncertain and we can't help but wonder if the same type of inaction will lead to a civil war similar to Syria's?
- The Bowe Bergdahl situation is an example of right instinct, completely wrong handling of a prisoner exchange. The Obama administration should be lauded for not wanting to leave any American solider behind. But, surprising Congress, trading possible terrorists and not doing enough to vet the background of Bergdahl had the net effect of looking incompetent. What should have been an easy public relations victory for bringing a lost soldier home turned into a public relations nightmare, and continued to erode public confidence, leading some to wonder if Obama's team can't even get something as important as bringing home a captive soldier correct, what can it be successful at?
- The VA scandal showed that wait times for veterans access to health care was so bad that some veterans actually died before they could get the medical care they were entitled to. While the VA system was not invented by the Obama administration, after six years of management, it's clear that problems were not be corrected quickly enough and that our nation was not living up to the promise it made to take care of soldiers. The most recent debacle led to the sacking of retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, but it was another black eye for the administration which appeared to look incompetent when it comes to taking care of wounded, or in-need veterans.
- Speaking of health care, Obama had also pledged that his administration would embrace new stem cell technology, and part of the hope and change we heard so much about would happen as lives improved through medical innovation. But as his presidency has continued, we see little evidence that Obama is pushing for new cures, science or solutions when it comes to medical problems.
- For years now, reports by watchdog organizations and journalists that have shown despite Obama's promises of being more transparent, his administration has actually cracked down on journalists, spied on citizens and retaliated against those who leak information to the press. In fact, the Obama administration has become so opaque and difficult that it has earned the reputation of being far worse than Nixon, the disgraced president whose terrible clampdown of information led to federal law being changed for more transparency.
- Finally, Obamacare has become synonymous with boondoggle. To be fair, there has not been enough time to judge whether the comprehensive health care reform program works, but one thing is certain: The public presentation and roll-out of the program was so riddled with technical glitches and problems, it greatly undermined the public's confidence in the system.
These are all signs — none of them definitive on their own, necessarily. However, when taken in completely, these demonstrate a disturbing trend of incompetence and failure. It's not just that Americans are in a sour mood about national politics. That's probably part of it. Instead, Obama has become another in a line of presidents long on rhetoric and hopelessly short on action.
Obama's hope and change have left liberals and conservatives alike hoping for real change, not just more lofty rhetoric.
The buyers' remorse just grows and grows ...
Like the song from the 1970’s,”Too Much, Too Liitle, Too Late...”
but that won’t stop them from endorsing the next incompetant boob who comes along with their kind of socialism
They are only upset he is such a dumbass, and did not achieve all their socialst goals
It took ‘em six freekin’ years to figure this out? Geniuses.....
sarc/
did they apologize to those they called or insinuated were racist for not backing obama, b/c how could anyone be against such a awesome guy unless you had to be racist?
The lie that keeps on giving.
note how they still manage to take a shot at bush, at the same time.
futher muckers. that’s why your circulation is going down the toilet.
one apology and it’s all better, right, libtard propagandists?
hardly. wallow in your crapulence that is obama.
remember that the writers are communists. they are just unhappy he sucks so bad, not that socialism/communism is wrong.
you have to take it in the proper context.
Promoting a community organizer because of his skin color dosen't mean he can perform.
this "experiment" is going to have far reaching ramifications.
They didn’t even mention Fast N’ Furious, the IRS abuses, the Benghazi lies,...
agreed!
Just wait. They'll endorse Hitlery in '16.
Here’s the original endorsement. The reference to Palin, now the first prominent person to call for impeachment, is amusing:
Gazette Opinion: Obama would be the president America needs now
By The Gazette Staff
A year ago, few people would have predicted that Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama would be their parties’ nominees for president. A few months ago, when their party selections were assured, there was reason to hope that the general election campaign would be conducted on a higher level of debate than has marked recent presidential contests. So it has been a disappointment that much of McCain’s campaign has focused on smearing Obama.
Enormous obstacles
McCain, who has served in the U.S. Senate many more years, reasonably called attention to the first-term Democrat’s shorter tenure. Yet McCain selected a running mate who had been governor of Alaska for only two years. As troubling as Sarah Palin’s lack of knowledge on national and foreign issues is her role in making the campaign rhetoric uglier and more divisive. The Palin pick was a mistake.
Like McCain, Sen. Joe Biden has a long track record in Congress and great depth of knowledge in international policy. He is a much stronger VP candidate than Palin.
Regardless of whether McCain or Obama is elected, the new president will face enormous obstacles in putting this nation on a path to prosperity that all citizens can share. Major tax policy changes should be delayed until there is substantially greater stability in the U.S. economy. The new president will have to surround himself with smart advisers and break the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed Washington, D.C. If Obama wins the White House and Democrats control both chambers of Congress, he must stand up to his own party members if they try to block reforms, refuse necessary spending restraints or bog down his proposals.
Raised by a single mother and her parents, Obama wasn’t born to privilege; he earned it. He entered Harvard Law School on his own merit and graduated at the top of his class. Before being elected to the Illinois state Senate and then the U.S. Senate, he worked on the streets of Chicago on behalf of low-income residents. He’s a devoted husband and father. Obama’s life is the America Dream - that each citizen can better himself through hard work and higher education. He understands that affordable, accessible health care and educational opportunity for all Americans are integral to our society and our economy.
A unifying leader
At this extremely challenging time, America needs a uniter, not a divider. In this economic turmoil, America needs a thoughtful, cool-headed optimist who envisions a bright future for all citizens. After several years in which worldwide respect for America has been diminished, our great nation needs a new leader who can inspire confidence at home and abroad.
Obama is that leader. As Gen. Colin Powell said last week, Obama is the president America needs now “because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities. ... He has both style and substance.”
Put that Chia/Obama Head out for the dogs to water.
Just like General Patton did when he gave his dog Willie a bust of Hitler to pee on.
Ole Colon really cleansed his bowels with that endorsement didn’t he.
Even crap has flies that cling to it.
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