The biggest mistake Obama made as president was trying to work with Republicans..

[Wvvtayy]

As great a president as he was, his biggest downfall was trying to compromise and work with Republicans. It didn't work, it didn't save his party from losing control of Congress, and it didn't cause the next Republican president to offer Democrats the same courtesy.

I hope the next time Democrats control both Congress and the presidency the Democrats learn from this and shun the Republicans from everything, and ram through everything they can without even the slightest bit of compromise. Because they know next time Republicans have control after that they're just going to do the same again.

Just like how you don't negotiate with terrorists, you also don't try to negotiate with right wing lunatics.

[cubby]

As great a president as he was, his biggest downfall was trying to compromise and work with Republicans. It didn't work, it didn't save his party from losing control of Congress, and it didn't cause the next Republican president to offer Democrats the same courtesy.

I hope the next time Democrats control both Congress and the presidency the Democrats learn from this and shun the Republicans from everything, and ram through everything they can without even the slightest bit of compromise. Because they know next time Republicans have control after that they're just going to do the same again.

Just like how you don't negotiate with terrorists, you also don't try to negotiate with right wing lunatics.

Agreed. I think when 2024 rolls around and we've got the White House and Congress, we should ram through everything possible. I sincerely weep for the future of american politics.

[mvaliz]

I have to sight that I don't think that was Obama's mistake. Obama, like generally most Americans, assumed their neighbor was willing to to work together and work to compromise. That is what the country stood for, and that is what he tried to represent.

The mistake made was on the Republican side - it was they who fostered hate and rage instead of meeting-in-the-middle, trying new ideas and attempting compromise. It was they themselves who shouted "It is our job to make him a one-term President!" instead of wanting to work with him.

They engaged in fearmongering, rage, slandering, bigotry and every scumbag move in the book to piss enough people off that 2 years into his presidency they ran out and voted all his power away in 2010. Then, knowing how fickle and short-memoried their supporters are - worked tirelessly to make sure Obama never got anything done, just to accuse him of never getting anything done 6 years later - and they believed it, ignoring the fact it was THEY who prevented Obama's admin from getting anything done in the first place.

...and the Republicans ate that shit up and raged. Even Skroe celebrated, encouraged and engaged in that rage...

...until 2016 when a couple people woke up a bit and saw Godzilla starting to awaken - but by then it was too late.

To paraphrase from memory a quote from Stephen King: "The Republicans have been sharpening the teeth of hatred for so long that they are shocked to find they had awoken an actual Dragon."

You know who did see the rage awakening besides the handfull of us? The Russians. :P

[Kujako]

Naw, I'm gonna say it was his expansion of the drone assassination program that the CIA says only hits the right target around 20% of the time.

[Wyrt]

I think Obama just underestimated how much Republicans absolutely hated him and just how insane that hate drove them.

[Xeones]

It was hard to believe how much republicans hated him for no reason.

Maybe I just hadn't paid attention to politics before but the extreme partisanship was wild to me. And watching the rapid shift to the radical right that the party has taken is just horrifying.

We have to do everything we can in 2020 to fix the damage the republicans have done. It's not going to be easy, and there are some things there is no magical fix for. Like our standing in the world.

[lockedout]

As great a president as he was

Besides the ACA and dropping hundreds of bombs what did he do that was "great" in your opinion.

[draynay]

It was hard to believe how much republicans hated him for no reason.

They had a reason.

[Wyrt]

It was hard to believe how much republicans hated him for no reason.

Oh, there was definitely a reason. It was because he was black.

[Xeones]

I know the racism was the reason, but they will violently argue it wasn't.

[Darkeon]

I know the racism was the reason, but they will violently argue it wasn't.

Just like the reason people don't like Trump is because he is fat. Those darned fat-shamers.

[D Luniz]

They had a reason.

well, it cant be his policies

they are claiming Trump is using all his policies and that we're all hypocrites for not liking Trump using them

and my ear is bleeding...that's not right, tasting orange wrinkle

[Svifnymr]

Maybe I just hadn't paid attention to politics before but the extreme partisanship was wild to me. And watching the rapid shift to the radical right that the party has taken is just horrifying.

They learned it from the other side during Bush Jr. I really only began paying attention during Clinton, where Hillary labeled every disagreement "partisan politics", but at least then it really seemed like the two sides disagreed because of actual different ideas, rather than just because. Speaking to other people, watching videos with older political types, this stuff predates Clinton as well.

Today we just get immersed into it with non-stop news and social media making everything a clickbait headline and polarizing everyone.

Hell, contrast the change-over from Clinton to Bush (damage done, petty pranks) with the change-over to Obama. Obama to Trump was certainly not as bad as C-B, but not a friendly encounter.

We have to do everything we can in 2020 to fix the damage the republicans have done. It's not going to be easy, and there are some things there is no magical fix for. Like our standing in the world.

Outside this forum echo-chamber, roughly half of voters voted for Trump. To disregard everything they believe and label it as wrong and racist and such, with no regard for any form of understanding, is not how you end the polarized partisan nature of US politics.

[Xeones]

They learned it from the other side during Bush Jr. I really only began paying attention during Clinton, where Hillary labeled every disagreement "partisan politics", but at least then it really seemed like the two sides disagreed because of actual different ideas, rather than just because. Speaking to other people, watching videos with older political types, this stuff predates Clinton as well.

Today we just get immersed into it with non-stop news and social media making everything a clickbait headline and polarizing everyone.

Hell, contrast the change-over from Clinton to Bush (damage done, petty pranks) with the change-over to Obama. Obama to Trump was certainly not as bad as C-B, but not a friendly encounter.



Outside this forum echo-chamber, roughly half of voters voted for Trump. To disregard everything they believe and label it as wrong and racist and such, with no regard for any form of understanding, is not how you end the polarized partisan nature of US politics.

Roughly half of the people who voted voted for him. Voter turn out was really low.

But yea I don't have a problem labeling the blatant racism, nepotism, anti-intellectualism, corporatism, sabotaging international relations, and just general stupidity displayed by the administration as wrong. Nor do I have problems saying the people who can, to this day, still support him as wrong.

Just look at the Trump supporters on this forum if you don't know any in real life.

[Svifnymr]

Roughly half of the people who voted voted for him. Voter turn out was really low.

But yea I don't have a problem labeling the blatant racism, nepotism, anti-intellectualism, corporatism, sabotaging international relations, and just general stupidity displayed by the administration as wrong. Nor do I have problems saying the people who can, to this day, still support him as wrong.

Just look at the Trump supporters on this forum if you don't know any in real life.

I know all sorts of Trump supporters in real life. Do you only know them via the internet? The internet is not real life, it's a shared delusion.

[Wvvtayy]

I know all sorts of Trump supporters in real life. Do you only know them via the internet? The internet is not real life, it's a shared delusion.

I'm surrounded with fucktarded trump supporters in my daily life.

[pathora44]

The Republican party has been corrupted to it's core with racists, xenophobic nationalists, corporate stooges, and the extreme religious right. For the good of this country the party needs to break up and reform purging out the sick corrupting parts they have allowed to infest them. It is a cancer infested bloated mess that should be put down for it's own good.

[Ghostpanther]

I'm surrounded with fucktarded trump supporters in my daily life.

In New Jersey?

His biggest mistake was supporting and endorsing Hillary and commenting Trump would not get elected.

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

Besides the ACA and dropping hundreds of bombs what did he do that was "great" in your opinion.

The economic recovery was pretty good.

[Fugus]

Agreed. I think when 2024 rolls around and we've got the White House and Congress, we should ram through everything possible. I sincerely weep for the future of american politics.

Agreed. Have them....

-Outlaw gerrymandering and move it to a non-partisan system.
-Public funding of elections and ban campaign contributions and PACs.
-Bring back the fairness doctrine
-Codify Net Neutrality where it can't be screwed with.
-Term limits for Supreme Court Justices while appointing 2 new justices to balance out the stolen seat.
-Change the voting system to ranked voting instead of first past the post.
-Encourage states to mandate that electoral college votes be apportioned by popular vote and not winner take all or an amendment to abolish it entirely.

Just doing those right there would completely neuter the Republican party in both financial and political power and have their heads explode.

The question is would the Democrats have the balls to do it or would the donor money be too much to resist and holding onto the dream that they will always stay in power so no reason to fix stuff now.