DISAPPOINTED
a cranky opinion for
CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY
The following is the opinion of a
cranky old man with no facts to back up his assertions. Opposing opinions are welcome, but please be
nice. Mean spirited comments will only
be deleted. As always, please, no name
calling, and that means you, you big stupid-head.
I was not a
supporter of Barack Obama in 2008. I
didn’t think he had the experience as a politician or as an executive. I did not think he would be good for the
economy, and I thought he would be weak on the international front. All these things plus he is a liberal
Democrat and I have always favored a more conservative approach to the economy,
and while I tend to be more liberal on social issues, I am probably not as
liberal as our President.
The one
thing I did think we would gain as a country with Mr. Obama as our President
was improved race relations throughout the country. I thought a successful black man who earned
his position without any special treatment or advantages would set a tone
within the black community that biases and discrimination do not have to be a
roadblock to success.
I thought
that a strong black leader in the White House would be a positive influence in
the black community when leadership and a positive influence were needed.
I thought a
strong black leader in the White House would help dispel racial prejudices in
the white communities.
I thought a
strong black leader in the White House would help to heal racial wounds and
unite our country.
I thought
wrong.
It seems to
me that racial problems in this country have been exacerbated, not mitigated
since Mr. Obama took office. When there
have been incidences of white injustice against blacks, the President has been
more inflammatory than calming. When
there have been black injustices against whites, the executive office has been
silent. The uniter many of us hoped for
has been more of a divider.
We have been
more divided racially, more divided economically, more divided politically.
The poor
hate the rich even more than they did in 2007.
Blacks and whites are more fearful of each other than they were in
2007. Democrats hate Republicans even
more than they did in 2007. Republicans hate
Democrats even more than they did in 2007.
People talk,
but no one listens. Minds are made up, and
hatred is solidified. The country has never been more polarized at so many
levels. This can only be blamed on a
lack of leadership.
Perhaps
healthcare (Obamacare) will prove to be hugely successful. Perhaps Iran will
lose their nuclear desires, and maybe the Middle East will settle down. Maybe
the economy will reach full employment and the gap between the wealthy and the
middle class will shrink. All that would
be wonderful, except if the country is more polarized than ever, we will still
be worse off. Hatred and polarization is
more destructive than any of the societal ills the current administration has
set out to cure.
Many people
voted for Mr. Obama to show the world that we can rise above racial differences
and because they thought a highly educated well spoken black man who was not
born to privilege would provide the leadership we need to end the divisiveness that has been a dark cloud over the country for 150 years.
I might be wrong;
maybe things aren’t really worse than they were before 2008. I guess cops shooting blacks isn’t new, and
blacks ambushing cops isn’t new. I have
been called horrible names by liberals when I declare myself to be a
Republican, and I know Democrats are not treated much better by many conservatives,
but that isn’t new either.
Maybe hatred,
distrust and divisiveness in this country is no worse than before 2008; but it
certainly is no better, and for that I am disappointed.
The preceding was the opinion of a
cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.
i am saddened and concerned about the state of our 'union' too. i had hoped a black president would unite as well, yet it has driven folks into opposite mode more than i ever thought i'd see in my lifetime (i was born in 63 so missed a lot of the civil rights troubles.) i thought we humans had gotten past much of that but i was wrong, too.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There have been many cop killings over the weeks...and where is the President's press conferences on them? Where is his outrage? SILENCE. I feel like he stirs the pot, as if he almost wants to cause an even further divide. I don't trust the guy. I never have. Obamacare made my family have switch to an HMO. Our existing healthcare was wonderful -- we were very happy with it. But Obamacare made it triple in price. We had to switch to an HMO and now whenever someone in my family needs to see a specialist for something, we have to see our primary care physician FIRST so that she can give us a "referral" to a specialist -- what kind of crap is that? Like I have time for that extra office visit. Ugh. Nope, this mama is not a fan of Obama.
ReplyDeleteThe gap between the wealthy and the rest of us will never shrink.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama got off to a good start, then took a detour, or maybe got taken for a ride...the national healthcare program is a good idea, we have a similar thing here called Medicare and when you front up at any hospital for anything the first question is NOT do you have insurance. It does get asked, but if you don't have it, you get treated just the same.
I know very little about American politics and far less than I should about English politics too. I do know that the health care provided by our NHS (and paid for directly from earnings from those in work) is second to none and available to all regardless of their financial situation. I always find it incredible that people are denied care in other countries because they can't afford the insurance.
ReplyDeleteThis Congress set out to disagree with everything this President proposed from day one while insulting him personally. Blaming him for increasing the racial divide is a bit much. Why would he do that? What would he want to do that?
ReplyDeleteI do not think he wants to, I believe he has been so hurt personally by racism that he is not able to take a leadership posture to combat it. He is not one to discus and compromise, combativeness is his knee jerk reaction. He is not a leader on any front. Sure he faces strong opposition from Republicans, all Presidents face strong opposition from Congress when they do not have a majority, he is not very good at finding common ground, preferring to make political points. I do not dislike the man, I think he wants the best for this country, I just believe he is a poor leader and for that I am disappointed. Blaming others for ineffectiveness is easy and is a mark of a poor leader.
DeleteIt is not being a traitor to ideals, party or country to be disappointed in the leadership qualities of our President.
To say he is ineffective as a leader because others do not want to be led is actually an admission that he does not have the ability to lead.
Leading willing followers is pretty easy.
There may be instances where Congress was totally against a President from day one, but I have not seen it to this extent. Usually it is a go along for a while.
DeleteThe president cannot unite a country that intends to be divided. The idea was glorious; he did his part and was elected. I agreed with every word from Tabor. I commend the president for all the hatred he has taken on the chin.
ReplyDeleteYou and I feel exactly the same. I think I have one democrat blogging friend and sometimes she takes me over the edge. All the rest I've deleted from my reader. They blindly follow anything democrat. And many conservatives blindly follow anything republican. That's just what you've said in the post. We are more polarized than ever.
ReplyDeletePlease remember how awful the left treated Bush. Please remember that. Obama has not been treated any worse than Bush was. The media was all over Bush at every turn. Obama gets a pass on everything.
All lives matter. These that are killing our law enforcement are criminals, thugs and mental health patients. The silence from the white house speaks volumes.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Bush deserved his criticism. The mess in the Middle East is the fault of his administration. The war in Iraq was an enormous disaster. White all his faults Saddam Hussein kept fundamentalist Islam in check.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long liberals will continue to deflect every criticism of our President, mind you all I said is I'm disappointed he has not done more, on President Bush?
DeleteWe get it, you hated Bush, you think he was a terrible president. Can we ever move on? I didn't like Hoover either.
LOL on the rebuttal!
DeleteI saw recently on Facebook someone had a countdown to how many more days our present president remains in office. I will be interested to see who takes his place and not disappointed that he cannot run for a third term, though my husband "fears" he will do something to try to make that happen. He speaks eloquently but I have yet to see anything he has done in actions as a result of his words. People here in Prescott aren't happy with him because when 19 hot shot firefighters lost their lives in 2013, Joe Biden came to the memorial; a lot of people think he should have been the one. I suppose if any of them were not Caucasian, he probably would have. Only thing I feel bad about is I should have prayed more for him during his presidency; otherwise I won't be disappointed in January 2017.
ReplyDeletebetty
I had great hopes for him, but all I see is a guy who tries to be all things to all people and has no convictions. He could have been great.
ReplyDeleteNot since Lincoln has a president been more vilified. This is the only president I'm aware of whose birthplace and religion are questioned; 57% of Republicans believe Obama is a Muslim yet during his first campaign they groused that by sitting in Reverend Wright's church he was the wrong sort of Christian. So which is it? We now have a fake news organization(FOX) trying to pick our presidents and defaming our current one by manipulating falsehoods. Conservatives met on the first day of the Obama presidency (George Will was there) and they agreed to thwart this president at every turn, deny him any victories even at the expense of the country.
ReplyDeleteBlacks see this president being vilified and disrespected, and this has taken much of the power Obama might have had when it comes to dealing with racial issues.
Yes, I'm disappointed that the hope we all felt for our coming together as a country wasn't fulfilled, but that doesn't undo Obama's achievements.
His accomplishments are growing and he's redefining the notion of a lame duck presidency. History will regard him well.
I don't care where he was born or if he believes in any religion, I am disappointed he hasn't done more to unite. Go ahead and blame others, that is easy, but in my opinion it is not leadership.
DeleteLeaders lead, others blame those that do not follow.
Joeh, the only way that the President could 'lead' the current GOP majority congress is if he had the ability to walk on water and transform the water coolers in the Senate to Chablis. Several commenters have made valid points that you dismiss by making the same statement.
DeleteYou may not care where he was born or about his religion, but the fact is that the GOP has consistently used the same falsehood to try to derail his presidency, and has been somewhat successful.
The ton of disrespect that was heaped on Bush is an anthill compared to the mountain of hatred piled on Obama.
No, he didn't manage a miracle and unite a country that a significant percentage of didn't want to be untied, and he couldn't convince a congress to meet him in the middle when they simply said 'no' to whatever he said.
Perhaps we should make a requirement for candidacy that one has to perform transubstantiation to qualify, eh?
Leading congress has little to do with improving race relations in this country unless you believe all Republicans and Conservatives to be race hating bigots which would not surprise me. It is this area where I express my disappointment and will not be swayed. This President could have been a powerful leader in this area where all but the KKK would support progress and he has not succeeded or even tried that I can see.
DeleteThe country has made progress in some areas, other areas we will not know for years, but the area of improved race relations and overall divisiveness (is that a word?) has disappointed me.
It's sad, and it's frightening, and i wish i could do more about it.
ReplyDeleteYou know what bothers me most about the left side? All the crying about the rich. Give me a break! Unless you are living in a one room shack without plumbing and electric, then you are richer than most have ever been on this planet.
ReplyDeleteEverything now boils down to "who can we blame?" and if we can't find anything to blame someone for then, by golly, we make something up.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it has been years since a 'recent' legislative change has affected me negatively enough to speak of. Maybe if we can keep these whoozers at each others throats they won't have time or energy to screw us for the foreseeable future. For some time now I've felt that the best government is a do-nothing government. You know, the whole do-no-harm thing comes to mind .....
A recent visit to a town in Idaho saw the carcass of a beheaded Northern Timberwolf. Point taken. And mask of Obama was attached. And so it goes on as from the beginning. And you spout the fair and balanced line of Fix News and talk radio types. Pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI believer this to be a completely false and unfair characterization of my post. Unless is it completely unfair to voice any criticism of our President: "you spout the fair and balanced line of Fix News and talk radio types. Pathetic."
DeleteSorry, I do not think he has led on issues where he could lead better.
Also, I seldom watch Fox or any of the Liberal stations, and i listen almost exclusively to Howard on the radio. Not Rush and some of those other douche bags.
Regarding the wolf thing, There are idiots all over, I recall effigy burnings galore in previous administrations.
DeleteI, too, am disappointed, because I had inordinately high hopes for this president and his ability to inspire us as a country to do better. However, I don't believe he deserves all the blame. It is appalling to me that so many politicians, who ostensibly are in office to serve the good of this country and her people clearly stated their intentions of fighting this president at every turn from the get-go. Now, I don't want an answer to this question, but I'm just kinda thinking out loud. (Sorta.) I wonder if we (if I) expected too much from Obama regarding race relations simply because of his skin color?
ReplyDeleteBottom line, I think he accomplished much more than most are giving him credit for, and I think history will treat him kindly. I've never seen and heard such an unmitigated level of hatred and utter disrespect regarding any sitting president before. Makes me sad.
It might be a bit much to expect one man to change 200 years of hate. It would be like one person smoothing out the Middle East. Sometimes, I am just glad I am old.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to know which of the previous presidents, if any, were good leaders, in your opinion.
ReplyDeleteOr alternatively, what you think Obama should have done on the racial divide front that would have constituted good leadership.
A bit off topic, but anything else has already been said and would not add to this discussion: why is Obama considered black? Isn't he 50% white? Why would that not make him white? Are black genes stronger than white genes?
ReplyDeleteIn Nazi Germany, you were a Jew if you were 50% Jewish, 25% Jewish, 12.5% Jewish... and, of course, all persecuted.
All this frothing at the mouth makes me wish I'd brought my raincoat.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you a hundred percent. Racism is still at the same point if not worsened. I mean on every one's part.
ReplyDeleteGutsy post, Cranky. I admire you for speaking your mind and not holding back.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I must agree with you. Our country has never been farther apart on so many VERY important issues. But I will add this: Both of our political parties seem more than willing to throw the entire country under the bus if it will enable them to somehow poke the opposition party in the eye. That's just WRONG! And seldom does a president...any president ...deserve as much credit as they get when things go right, or as much vilification as they receive when things go wrong. Things move in cycles....world events, the economy, etc and most presidents are caught behind the curve. They usually RE-act instead of being PRO-active. But I must agree, Obama has not had the healing effect I had hoped he would. He often doesn't seem to be....dare I say it?...."fair and balanced". But I doubt any of the Tea Party candidates today would be any more healing, either, if they were to get their chance. "My way or the highway" isn't a winning formula for the country.
S
I don't see any candidates out there that are not divisive. And this will be my last official post or comment on anything political, it is not worth it and this blogging venue is not conducive to discussing anything that might be controversial.
DeleteGuess you can't say anything today without getting some flak! I disagree with your conclusion! This has been a lively and interesting discussion in a forum where it's safe to say what we think - and we're all still gonna be friends tomorrow! (I hope!)
DeleteI am a rare liberal in rural Alabama so I do get trashed regularly. But that's OK.
ReplyDeleteIn looking back, I'm not sure race relations is any better or worse than it was when Obama was elected. I think social media and today's approach to "the news" is the main reason we are so divided.
These days, news travels at the speed of light.
There are no easy answers. Both the right and left have valid points, but neither end will make progress until we find some common ground in the middle.
You know, the thing is that we've gone so far astray with our politics that we think every politician should be opposed to their opponent. In everything. Any line of agreement is seen as weakness or worse, compromise, as though those are necessarily bad words. The 'modern' electorate wants so much to be 'right' that they couldn't find a good candidate even if that candidate were the only one. They'd be out scouring the world for any idiot who holds a different position and elect 'em just out of spite for the first being too perfect.
ReplyDelete