Couldn't Help But Notice

[Big Daddy Funk]

I don't wish to start a lot of arguments with a political thread. But, I can't help but notice there seems to be alot of people critical of the Obama Administration. Is the honeymoon over? or is it just like up here in Canada where we love to hate all politicians.
Is this just normal Republican/Democrate rivalry? It seemed he won convincingly in the election, Has all that support dwindled because of the economic situation?. Or is it some of his other policies?
Both candidates gave speeches up here and seemed to be intelligent and insightfull leaders. I would have to say that Senator McCain came across as far more genuine.
It's hard to get a perspective from news programs as they just try to sensationalize every little thing. Has there been some sort of shift in support? It would seem he is trying to do what he promised during his campaign, which NEVER happens up here.
Just looking for a little non radical enlightenment as an interested observer.

[Fix]

My problem with our political process is that we have to elect a politician. Obama's a politician. I don't like or dislike him any more than any other politician.

[John]

I think everybody should just be quiet, and let the man try to get us out of
43's mess. Everyone is blaming Obama for this mess, but in actuality it started long before the election. It may be the only problem is that some folk don't like having a black man in charge.

[Guy_b_g]

According to the latest CBS poll Obama currently has a 62% approval rating. Bushes final approval rating was 22%.

I doubt that the members here vary from the national average by very much...but you could conduct your own poll I guess.

The Republican party has some serious issues to deal with right now. The Republican party's public face has been much more radical lately than I can ever remember. There is a a serious split between "center right" and "far right" camps, with the "far right" being much louder and more radical.

My dream candidate, Colin Powell, whom I have met personally, and who was smart enough not to run for office...has been ostracized by the loudest members of the Republican Party for endorsing Obama..but his concern was that the Republican party was no longer representing the center, and had shifted too far to the right. I agree. Those who feel or claim that it was a racial choice are mistaken.

I am neither Republican nor Democrat but have always voted for the candidate I felt was most needed by the country.

I cringe when I read some of the posts here..some are extremely right wing and some are very radical. But they are preaching to the choir...so far none of the more moderate or even "left leaning" members here have taken up the threads in opposition... probably out of the same fear that I have...that the site would be worse off for having a political row, it should be about our common love for XS11s and motorcycling, and not a place for political hammering.

Now for my personal choice..I voted for Obama.

Before anyone here goes off the deep end about that...some personal history.

I am a white 50 year old Military retiree (US Army Infantry and JAG Corps, last combat tour Afghanistan 2004/05) who works in the construction industry. I grew up in Eastern Oregon (bastion of the Posse Commitatus and various white supremist groups). I voted for Reagan, Bush (Sr.) twice, and Bush (Jr.) once. I own weapons and recently had to pull a gun on a neighbor (who was physically abusing his girlfriend and who sought refuge at my house to get help). I too value my freedom, enough to defend everyone's right to free speech, to keep and bear arms, and to vote their conscience. I do not believe in "enhanced interrogation techniques" (ie: torture). I do not fear that I will lose these freedoms under the current administration. I have paid my dues. I have nothing to prove. Feel free to flame me...I won't take the bait.

[trbig]

I wasn't real thrilled with MCcain either.. but I didn't want Obama then and I don't want him now. He had/has absolutley NO qualifications to be president.. other than the previous one did so bad that people wanted something "different". With the political correctness that society has, if he didn't get elected, it would obviously be because we were all racists and would have turned the country on end.

What really gets me is if you don't like someone that happens to be a different race other than "white" (Which nobody really is any more) it is always assumed it's because of what color they are. If a white guy goes to apply for a job and doesn't get it, he assumes someone else was more qualified. If the same thing happens to a minority, it's automatically assumed that the company/employer is racist. The racism I see most are things like Black Entertainment Television (But you sure couldn't have White Entertainment Television). Jet Magazine "For people that want to know what's going on in the black entertainment business". You sure couldn't have a Cloud Magazine, "For people who want to know what's going on with white people in entertainment". What about the American negro college fund? Why can't there then be a Poor White kid college fund?

I, and most people I know, don't give a rat's azz about what color a president or anybody else is, but if we don't like him, that has GOT to be the reason. What they want is a good choice for president, and I don't think Obama was it. Unfortunately.. neither was Mccain. I like a few decisions Obama has made, but for the most part.. I still stand by my first opinion. I think many of the people that voted for him were expecting all the miracles he was promising.. and are finally waking up to see that he is just a man, not the Mesiah.


Tod

[egleaves]

I think everybody should just be quiet, and let the man try to get us out of
43's mess. Everyone is blaming Obama for this mess, but in actuality it started long before the election. It may be the only problem is that some folk don't like having a black man in charge.

Unfortunately, I have been witness to a number of people automatically disliking Obama for superficial reasons. The biggest (and stupidest) reason seems to be his skin tone. My own neighbor across the street even said to me one day before the election "I just can't bring myself to vote for somebody with the middle name Hussein." I lost some respect for my neighbor that day.

Here in Ohio there is still a lingering racial divide that a lot of people cant seem to overcome and now that the president is a black man some people see that as an open door to attack him for anything and everything.

Things were a mess when Obama was elected to office and I think we need to afford him every opportunity to repair the damage done during the previous administration.

[Bigfoot]

I have no problem with Obamas skin color. I detest his politics. During the campaign I felt that he was just telling people what they wanted to hear so he could get elected and then would do whatever he wanted after the fact. Look at how many of his campaign "promises" that he has alread broken. I don't think he ever had any intention of living up to them. I did not like Clinton for the same reason. He proved over and over that he had no problem lying to the american public to further his agenda.

Now let me say, I think that the majority of our politicians (on both sides of the aisle) would do the same thing. It is a sad commentary on the state of the american political system.

[DJinNH]

I don't give a rat's butt if he was Scottish Plaid, a female, or whatever. I think what we all want is a President who put's us, the taxpayers as his or her #1 priority, not the folks that help finance their campaign.

What is he going to do about Illegal Immigration? What about all those drug wars in Mexico that are leaking into the U.S.? Iraq? Aghanistan? North Korea and Iran playing with nukes?

Will he keep my family safe and will he do a darn thing to improve jobs, healthcare, social security, care for our wounded military veterans?

THOSE are the things I want to know. So far, I am not impressed.

Don

[Ivan]

Obama gives black folk a bad name, and he isnt even black. He is a halfbreed from a mudshark mother. I am repulsed by the fact that he can ignore half of his heritage and no one cared. How is that not racist? I am pretty much a split between Scott and Germanic, but to say I am only Scottish would be a complete lie. (Although I do look pretty good in a kilt )

Obama has absolutely nil experiance. He was a freshman senator that made a name for himself with a voting record that is the most "liberal" there is. He supported several bad and evil plots, one of them being a thumbs up toward partial birth abortion. Anyone who agrees with that doesnt value human life. period. If he doesn't value human life, how could he give a flat damn about his constituency? The answer is clear through his actions, he doesn't.

During the first month and a half he spent more money than the previous year's budget. If anyone cared to take notice, the first round of unsolicited bailouts were directed squarely at the biggest supporters of the democratic party. He was paying off those that financed his trek to the (Half)White House. Just as his prescedent Clinton, he only cares about garnering power and influence. All these handouts have to come from somewhere. The government's only source of revenue is taxation. So, where is the only place that money can come from? The feds don't make their own money, they don't invest, they dont earn.

Obama is socialist. He has done some very key things that are direct pointers toward socialism. The bailouts, which have strings of government control were the first. His nomination to the SUpreme Court has been quoted as saying the Court's job is to make policy that controls people. In the US, the judicial branch DOES NOT have the authority to make policy. This is a definate bluring of the balance of powers. There are several other indicators that he does not have the best intrest of America at heart.

There are volumes of other issues. Citizenship descrepancies, islamic ties to terrorist organizations, and use of cocaine are just a few.

There is no doubt his administration is gearing up to strip its citizens of their freedom. That is why I detest him.

[trbig]

I also wanted to add...

Everything that happens and every problem we have is always another administration's fault. How long will Obama be president before some of the problems seen are his fault? I doubt 8 years would be enough for that to happen. My hopes though.. are that it just 4 years won't be enough for that to happen.

Tod

[EricHa]

It's a very slick presentation that Obama and the left have engineered, "If you don't like our policies, it's either Bush's fault, or you are a racist." Sadly, it has worked on very many naiive Americans.

[EricHa]

We should also remember that close to half of voters did not vote for Obama, even after the "coronation" that he was given in the press. But I suppose that those people should just shut up, like the left did for Bush 43 .

[DGXSER]

Wow...It is so crazy that so many who seem to say they don't want more government, they don't want government taking over their lives, or telling us what to do. But the same ones tend to want to blame government for everything that went wrong.

My opinion is that it does not mean a blinkin thing who sits in that chair. It still is money that drives the political process, and there are senators and congress that still rule the country more so than the guy in that chair, and they continue to answer to the dollar more than the voter because they can spend enough money to get the votes next time. In my opinion it could have been Dennis the Menace who got elected and we still would have the same issues and the same problems. To many people and companies being allowed to operate on a much bigger debt ratio than they could ever pay. That is what is killing us.

[CatatonicBug]

As I've said in other threads, I am no political enthusiast. I don't follow the issues, and I am not associated with any political party. I don't pay attention to what party any politician is associated with either. That being said, I am an Obama supporter at the moment. One of the main reasons is that he can TALK! He has an ability to put words together in a way that is understandable and gets the point across to the public (unlike his predecessor), without upsetting the tender feelings of the general population. He also makes a much better international representative for this country than Bush ever did. I feel a lot better sending Obama overseas to discuss things with international leaders than I ever would have with McCain, simply because he is a much more convincing and powerful speaker.

He embodies the American people at this point in time. He is a "mixed race" American, with heritage from all over the place, much like most of us. He is well-educated, as is his wife, and is a self-made man. He is not riding on anyone's coat-tails, and simply arrived in his position at a time in this nation's history when a person like him is needed. Obama is young, energetic, and willing to take on the mess that was left for him. Granted, he had little political experience, but isn't that what people have been complaining about with other "career politicians" forever? We don't need someone who is stuck in a rut and plays plays political games behind our backs - We need a fresh face with hopes and dreams, and the will to get there. He's only been in office for a few months, and I'd say he's gotten quite a bit done so far, considering all the things that he has on his plate, all over the globe.

The President of this country is virtually powerless. Yes, he can make some decisions, appointments and things, as well as influence policy, but the way our government is set up, it is Congress that has the power. They are the ones to blame when things go wrong. The President has to ASK Congress for permission to do just about anything. If you want to make a difference in government, pay attention to your representatives. They are more accessible, and some of them actually listen when their constituents complain to them. If you don't talk to them while they are making their decisions and voting on legislation, you can't complain about the direction this country is going.

[DJinNH]

The President of this country is virtually powerless. Yes, he can make some decisions, appointments and things, as well as influence policy, but the way our government is set up, it is Congress that has the power. They are the ones to blame when things go wrong. The President has to ASK Congress for permission to do just about anything. If you want to make a difference in government, pay attention to your representatives. They are more accessible, and some of them actually listen when their constituents complain to them. If you don't talk to them while they are making their decisions and voting on legislation, you can't complain about the direction this country is going.

Very good addition to this thread! I'm no big fan of Obama but the facts are, if you have a problem with Obama, it's hard not to have a problem with Congress as they are more to blame than anyone in my opinion.

Hey, I didn't vote for the guy, I voted for McCain but Obama is the man at the wheel right now so I'm just trying to support him when he does something I can appreciate, ie: taking a second look at Gitmo. I mean, heck, did anyone really put much thought into where they'll go if Gitmo is closed?

Don