Obama… FIX THE OIL LEAK
Obama… SHOW MORE EMOTION
Obama… FEEL OUR PAIN
Obama… FIX OUR ENERGY DEPENDENCY
Obama… FIX HEALTH CARE
Obama…Obama…Obama…
From all the shouts to President Obama from near and far to “FIX EVERYTHING,” you’d think he’s Cinderella, and we’re all his wicked step-sisters yelling our commands. But is that really fair?
Barack Obama is the President of the United States, not the Town Mayor. So although it’s easy for us Americans to think of him as “Mister-Fix-It” with a magic wand he can wave to fix every single wrong in our lives and make them all right, that is far from realistic. A president has a plethora of things to deal with on his plate all at once, both domestically and internationally. And yes, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has grown into an environmental catastrophe that will effect the U.S. for years to come. But for as much as we all want our president to be engaged and “feel our pain,” it is certainly an unfair assessment to expect him to micro-manage the situation.
“If Bill Clinton were still president, he would have been down here at the Gulf in a wet suit” exclaimed Democratic Strategist James Carville on CNN recently. Good sound bite? YES. Realistic expectation? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! But we get the point. Still, it is not a fair point. Barack Obama did not cause this oil spill. So why then do so many people keep saying they want him to “do something” (as if he’s not already)? Mr. Obama’s ability to secure a $20. billion Escrow fund for Gulf victims was unexpected and actually pretty good. But for some, it still wasn’t enough. Which begs the question: Exactly what is it we all expect our President, Barack Obama to personally do — swim to the depths of the ocean and plug the oil spill himself???
Barack Obama inherited a boatload (no pun intended) of problems from his predecessor, George W. Bush. From a failed economy, to a health care crisis, to a non-existent energy policy (which allowed situations like the BP oil spill to occur in the first place). And now, like Cinderella, he’s left to clean up the mess. But once again, is that fair? Are our expectations for our president far too high? Do we really expect him to be some micro-manager and fly into town like Superman and fix every little thing? Are Americans trying to make their president a Mayor, City Council President, Governor, Senator, oh and U.S. President all at the same time???
I think we all need to take a step back and recognize the reality of how things work. Barack Obama can not solve every little problem himself, if for no other reason than the way our system of government is set up. No president can. The president is part of the Executive branch of government, which is extremely limited in what it can or can’t do without the permission of the Legislative branch of government (Congress). And as we all saw when the president tried to fix health care or our economic mess (Thanks, Bush), Republican members of Congress fought him every step of the way just for the sake of being disruptive and disagreeable. But was that his own fault?
So no matter how magical we may think he is, Barack Obama can not personally plug that gushing oil well in the Gulf himself. If he could, I’m sure he would have done so by now (after all, why wouldn’t he?). But he can’t. Nor can he fix the economy, or our health crisis, or the Iraq war, or anything else BY HIMSELF. Again, If he could, I’m sure he would have done so by now (after all, why wouldn’t he?). So how about we get off of Obama’s back. He’s not Cinderella. He is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. No matter how much we want him to, he can’t do it all. But at least he’s trying.
THANK YOU DJ!This is a excellent post. Once again the co-workers were just discussing this last week. I held my own saying Obama is getting way to much criticism for something he can't really help. I hope more people see this story and the truth thats in it. You hit all points right on the head.
Um_guess I'll have to be the ODD "girl" out_:)DJ:"From all the shouts to President Obama from near and far to "FIX EVERYTHING," you'd think he's Cinderella, and we're all his wicked step-sisters yelling our commands. But is that really fair?"No. But from my reading of American History, hasn't that been the nature of “the beast,” meaning, the general mindset of what most Americans EXPECT of Our Presidents going back, certainly, to Lincoln? _and dare I suggest, to Washington? I do agree with DJ's following points: "Barack Obama inherited a boatload (no pun intended) of problems from his predecessor, George W. Bush. From a failed economy, to a health care crisis, to a non-existent energy policy (which allowed situations like the BP oil spill to occur in the first place)."AND the President knew FULL-WELL what he was getting himself into when he made the decision to seek the Presidency. He ran on the “Vote for ME and I’LL WORK TO FIX IT” platform. Turned out, a majority of voters believed him, voted for him and EXPECT him to deliver on much of it. I'm cool with that. However, here's where I believe most Americans need to "GROW UP": MOST Americans have little-to-NO PATIENCE whatsoever! They are totally UNnrealistic in THEIR time-schedule for allowing the President the actual TIME needed to EFFECTIVELY "get sh*t done" and NOT just throw "sh*t" together, as PREVIOUS administrations obviously did (and on a REGULAR basis I might add) which eventually led to the SORRY state America finds itself in today. But again: Pres. Obama knew “the deal” when he made the decision run. He knew that being the First African-American President in U.S. history would mean the bar would automatically be set HIGHER for him from the word “GO!” Moreover, he knew that employing a great PR machine to MANAGE expectations, and shape public opinion AND perceptions would be crucial to his ability to:1. CLEARLY spell out the REALITIES of ANY given critical issue/situation to the American people _and to the World. And ultimately… 2.Succeed Conclusion: Pres. Obama is NOT the first President to have to deal with "Cinderella" expectations of the American people. And he won't be the last.
"Exactly what is it we all expect our President, Barack Obama to personally do — swim to the depths of the ocean and plug the oil spill himself???"LOL good line. I'm not a Obama supporter (registered Independent). But I do agree with much in this article. Not sure what people expect him to do about a ongoing natural disaster besides show that he cares. He locked down the money, he appointed top people to monitor the situation, so what's left? Like the blogger said its as if people want Obama to swim and plug up the hole himself. Get over it people!
I am happy to be able to agree with a few points made by Truthis today. Mr. Obama ran on a platform with the promise to fix America. It was the entire reason why so many voted for him. Now he is failing miserably in fulfilling the very promises that put him in the White House in the first place. But in fairness I do want my fellow Republicans in Washington to be more involved in assisting with this disaster.
@Beth – Thanks for nod. I appreciate it!I’m gonna have to differ with you on your point about the President “failing miserably.” I think most fair-minded Americans would admit that the President is NOT "failing miserably" by any stretch of the imagination.Would they like for him to be doing more? Yes.But the fact remains: He IS “getting sh*t done.” His "failuire," thus far, has been his inability to effectively communicate THAT to the American people which has led to a “PERCEPTION” problem that needs to be addressed_AND SOON!Another area of concern I have: The President APPEARS to NOT recognize, early on, when he’s being PLAYED by utterly RUTHLESS people in HIGH places who do NOT respect him as President and Commander-in-Chief__BP execs and U.S. military GENERALS come quickly to mind (see Gen. McChrystal’s latest DIRTY act unfolding as I write this). Those cretins are driven by very different agendas than the President’s and they will NOT hesitate to try and undermine his authority at EVERY opportunity! In fact, McChrystal has a history of just BAD behavior. He should turn in his resignation TODAY and the President should accept it! Hat-tip: Joe Scarborough @ MSNBC, CNN Morning NewsStory: "Will Heads Roll due to McChrystal’s Controversial Rolling Stone Profile?"http://themoderatevoice.com/77451/will-heads-roll-due-to-mcchrystals-rolling-stone-profile/
Correction: I meant to say "Commander-and-Chief.Politico:“It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened,” McChrystal said. “Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard. I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war, and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.” NATO issued a statement overnight indicating continued support for McChrystal despite the “unfortunate article.” It will be hard for the White House to get past this since the remarks appear to amount to some level of insubordination. “This general has to be fired; he has to be gone by the end of the day,” said Joe Scarborough, on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. Full story; <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38837_Page2.html#ixzz0rbHdqkgXhttp://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38837_P… />Andrew Sullivan – The Daily Dish:“It doesn't take a genius to see this contempt as rooted in the growing recognition among many and the growing fear among the McChrystal clique that Biden has been right all along, that the McChrystal strategy was a product of hope OVER experience, and that the arrogance that drove it was part of what had long been wrong with the conduct of both tragically flawed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You see the same fear in McChrystal's contempt for Eikenberry, who took the Biden position."McChrystal_“a Cheney darling.”
Okay so I was right the first time_it is "Commander-in-Chief."Okay I'm done_lol.
I looked over your whole article. With all due respect, there is some double talk & hypocrisy. And this is what I'm referring to.—- The same people who say that Americans shouldn't be critical of democrat Obamas handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf, were the MOST critical of our ex. president Republican George Bush Jr.s handling of Katrina back in 2005.In addition, these same people were TOTALLY silent when it came to the COMPLETE & TOTAL neglect of New Orleans mayor democrat Ray Nagin & Louisiana governor, democrat Kathleen Blanco. It was democrats Ray Nagin & Kathleen Blanco who TRULY dropped the ball in regards to Katrina. Yet, these very same people who were critical of Bush Jr. were TOTALLY silent when it came to the complete & total neglect of Nagin & Blanco. In regards to your article —– You mentioned that Bush Jr. caused Americas economic troubles. Well, Bush Jr. didn't. It was the democrats. And this is why.The democrats pushed for everyone to own a home. And the democrats did this for votes, so that they could get reelected to office. And just some of the top & major democrats who did this were Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd & the Congressional black caucus.And the midde class footed the bill for the underclasses homes.And the buyers bit off more than what they could chew.So, Obama was part of the clique which brought about the Subprime Crisis.And the Republicans WANTED to & the Republicans TRIED to regulate Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac back as early as 2005. However though, the Republicans were blocked by the democrats. And just some of the major & top democrats who blocked the Republicans were Maxine Waters (Democrat — California), Gregory Meeks (Democrat — New York), Barney Frank (Democrat — Massachusetts) & Christopher Dodd (Democrat — Connecticut).In addition, many regulations were also removed under the previous presidential administrations of democrats Bill Clinton & Jimmy Carter. Especially under Clinton with the revising of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). In regards to the Subprime Crisis.—-It even goes back to 1977 with our former president, democrat Jimmy Carter.—- The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). And this entailed giving loans to people who CANNOT afford it.And then, under our other presidential administration of democrat Bill Clinton.— Clinton revised the Community Reinvestment Act.In addition, democrat Bill Clinton repealed the "Glass-Steagall Act".And the REAL push for everyone to own a home REALLY got into full throttle soon after the democrats won back the House & Senate back in November, 2006.And the democrats are always after big businesses, after the banks, after the insurance companies & after the private sector.And the democrats FORCED the banks to make the loans to people who WEREN'T qualified. The democrats forced the banks to make loans to people who were not capable as well as not competent towards paying it back.In addition, the democrats even forced banks to open up in poor & in high crime areas. And George Bush Jr. EVEN tried to create an agency back in 2003 in order to regulate Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. But, this was blocked by the democrats.Now, back in 2003, the Congress had a Republican majority. But, this attempt to regulate by Bush Jr. was blocked by the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. And the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs had a democratic majority. And as a result of this, it was unable to even make it out on to the floor of the Senate for a vote by them as it has to make it through committee first.