Obama's first 100 days - a short review.
In light of Barack's Obama first 100 days in office, I would like to offer my perception of where America is and how Obama appears to have acted so far in office. This is all from memory and I am sure there have been moments of frustration and happiness that have now been forgotten, but these are the elements that stand out.
The good.
- Freezing White House pay: This was done in the first week I believe and I am not entirely sure what the outcome was. There were no details on how long the freeze was supposed to stay in place, but to me there was some kind of effort undertaken to curtail spending.
- People getting involved: Whether you like Obama or not, he got people interested in politics on a wider scale than anyone else before him. Utilizing technology he brought many individuals, mostly misguided, into the political fray. Hopefully if they continue following the developments they will be able to learn more about the economy, politics and will be in a better position to make a more educated vote.
The bad.
- Shutting down CIA black ops prisons: Our CIA was finally pulling their sh*t together and he is starting to dismantle them due to three cases of water-boarding? Clinton has demonstrated during his presidency that gutting our intelligence leads to 9/11, why not learn from our mistakes?
- Ending enhanced interrogation techniques: Despite overwhelming evidence that "torturing" KSM and Abu Zubayda stopped Americans from dying, Obama prefers to end the only mechanism that save lives and apologize to scumbags for the mistreatment.
- Leaving war veterans out to dry: Obama proposed at one point that war veterans acquire private insurance to pay for their medical needs. This proposal was so disgusting and flagrant that he quickly pulled the idea after a massive backlash. He would rather provide free medical insurance to illegal aliens than to our vets! The implication this could possibly have is devastating and to contrive an idea of this nature is simply unthinkable. Imagine if a soldier had to run under gunfire to save his buddy, but then realized he did not have insurance and could not risk being shot in the foot. Just how out of touch must Obama be to consider this?
- Apologizing on behalf of America: Because Obama makes the distinction between his presidency and everyone before him, he apologized to seemingly everyone for all our sins. We are the greatest country in the world not because we were apologizing for our accomplishments, but because we were proud and confident in what we were doing. Insetead Obama prefers to hug Chavez, talk with Cuba, listen to South American dictators and grovel in front of Europe.
- Bowing to the Saudis: This is a matter of personal dissatisfaction, but bowing to Saudi monarchy was a spineless and disgusting gesture. There is no justification for it, considering how badly Bush was bashed for even being friends with them - I can't imagine who could possibly have applauded the move. To me it was just a gesture of weakness and not some innovative approach to diplomacy that some liberals made it out to be.
- Disrespecting the British: Returning the bust of Churchill and giving Gordon Brown a pathetic gift paves the way to a chilly relationship with our closest ally.
This is what comes to mind and it is definitely an incomplete list. I also specifically avoided some of the legislature that Obama pushed for and signed because Congress plays a significant role in such cases. Instead I prefer to delve into the man himself and some of the policies that stem from his values and beliefs.
Overall I am unhappy with our president and not because I refused to vote for him and not because I could never support a liberal president - but rather that his liberalism has gone beyond what I could have ever imagined. Oddly enough, I do not fall into the camp of media pundits that have now suddenly realized that Obama is a socialist, I was fully aware of his capabilities, I simply am stunned at the speed in which some of the policies and actions have been implemented.
The good.
- Freezing White House pay: This was done in the first week I believe and I am not entirely sure what the outcome was. There were no details on how long the freeze was supposed to stay in place, but to me there was some kind of effort undertaken to curtail spending.
- People getting involved: Whether you like Obama or not, he got people interested in politics on a wider scale than anyone else before him. Utilizing technology he brought many individuals, mostly misguided, into the political fray. Hopefully if they continue following the developments they will be able to learn more about the economy, politics and will be in a better position to make a more educated vote.
The bad.
- Shutting down CIA black ops prisons: Our CIA was finally pulling their sh*t together and he is starting to dismantle them due to three cases of water-boarding? Clinton has demonstrated during his presidency that gutting our intelligence leads to 9/11, why not learn from our mistakes?
- Ending enhanced interrogation techniques: Despite overwhelming evidence that "torturing" KSM and Abu Zubayda stopped Americans from dying, Obama prefers to end the only mechanism that save lives and apologize to scumbags for the mistreatment.
- Leaving war veterans out to dry: Obama proposed at one point that war veterans acquire private insurance to pay for their medical needs. This proposal was so disgusting and flagrant that he quickly pulled the idea after a massive backlash. He would rather provide free medical insurance to illegal aliens than to our vets! The implication this could possibly have is devastating and to contrive an idea of this nature is simply unthinkable. Imagine if a soldier had to run under gunfire to save his buddy, but then realized he did not have insurance and could not risk being shot in the foot. Just how out of touch must Obama be to consider this?
- Apologizing on behalf of America: Because Obama makes the distinction between his presidency and everyone before him, he apologized to seemingly everyone for all our sins. We are the greatest country in the world not because we were apologizing for our accomplishments, but because we were proud and confident in what we were doing. Insetead Obama prefers to hug Chavez, talk with Cuba, listen to South American dictators and grovel in front of Europe.
- Bowing to the Saudis: This is a matter of personal dissatisfaction, but bowing to Saudi monarchy was a spineless and disgusting gesture. There is no justification for it, considering how badly Bush was bashed for even being friends with them - I can't imagine who could possibly have applauded the move. To me it was just a gesture of weakness and not some innovative approach to diplomacy that some liberals made it out to be.
- Disrespecting the British: Returning the bust of Churchill and giving Gordon Brown a pathetic gift paves the way to a chilly relationship with our closest ally.
This is what comes to mind and it is definitely an incomplete list. I also specifically avoided some of the legislature that Obama pushed for and signed because Congress plays a significant role in such cases. Instead I prefer to delve into the man himself and some of the policies that stem from his values and beliefs.
Overall I am unhappy with our president and not because I refused to vote for him and not because I could never support a liberal president - but rather that his liberalism has gone beyond what I could have ever imagined. Oddly enough, I do not fall into the camp of media pundits that have now suddenly realized that Obama is a socialist, I was fully aware of his capabilities, I simply am stunned at the speed in which some of the policies and actions have been implemented.
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