Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[MMH]

Again, I can't emphasize this enough.  Hating the "other" side is exactly why this country is so farged up right now.  It's not us v. them, repubs v. dems.  We're all supposedly Americans, right?

[rjs246]

I get the feeling that Demon is just goading you, Dio. Because there's no way he actually believes that the Gitmo thing is a lie. Especially since closing it was a symbolic act in the first place.

One point that Demon makes is valid though. People on both sides of the aisle are 100% guilty of wallowing in the failures of the opposition. They may not take 'joy' in it necessarily, no one wants to see their country's leaders fail, but they do enjoy a bit of 'I told you so'. Neither side is immune and it's unfortunate because it adds to the endless political animosity that keeps people from being civil to one another.

Edit: MMH beat me to it. And said it better than I could have.

[Rome]

bush's eight years in office were an unmitigated catastrophe for this country.    i take no joy in saying that.    obama's first year in office has been a mixed bag but at least there is someone in office now that (1) isn't a total moron, (2) is willing to listen to and work with the supposed loyal opposition, and (3) seems to be working to help the 99% of people in this country who don't control most of the wealth.

[rjs246]

I don't know if I agree with point number 2 there, Rome. He started out trying very hard but has since abandoned the efforts and (as Demon's posts illustrate) has managed to alienate the entire conservative segment of the population. And that, in my opinion, is his single biggest failure so far. Now part of that (a big part) is a staunch obstructionist stance by the Right, which makes any of his overtures fruitless. But whatever the case, he hasn't exactly been extending olive branches lately and he needs to do that, even if its just for show.

Your other points are 100% accurate.

[Rome]

He's tried more in one year in office than his predecessor did in eight.  Granted, his predecessor seem to view the presidency as little more than a take it or leave it proposition, but still, I admire the fact that he's at least tried to include the far right lunatics in public policy.

[rjs246]

I agree with you but the fact is that Bush went the opposite direction and went into hiding for the first 7 months of his presidency. After that 911 dominated everything so we will probably never really know whether he had any inclination to work with his opposition.

The big problem here is that everyone seems to view politics as a sporting event. With teams to root for and rivals to root against. And that includes the players themselves. This stuff is important and neither side is willing to work with the other to help improve the country. Its frustrating.

[Sgt PSN]

The big problem here is that everyone seem to view politics as a sporting event. With teams to root for and rivals to root against. And that includes the players themselves. This stuff is important and neither side is willing to work with the other to help improve the country. Its frustrating.

boom goes the dynamite. 

[SunMo]

i root for laundry

[rjs246]

Lewinsky's dress doesn't count.

[phillymic2000]

Im not saying Obama has failed, I'm saying he hasnt lived up to his change promise. He should have rammed thru his bill on Healthcare instead of letting the crazies Harry or Nancy write it. No one is happy with this bill, it needs to be either dumped and re done or voted thru and fixed to his liking in reconciliation, (which is what most of the progressive talk shows are asking for) he should have the votes to do that.

I don't agree with a lot of the presidents or the dems ideas, but they have failed to get the major bills passed and now instead of trying to push them Nancy is out there saying she doesn't have the votes, Harkin is bringing a bill to the floor about taking away the minorities ability to filibuster, Feinsteins saying cap and trade is dead. It just seems they are cowering in the corner when they still have the majority across the board? IMO they need to step up and get done, some of what they said they were going to do, or it will be 1994 all over again next year.

Looks like neither party is capable of accomplishing what they say they will do and they cannot handle the power when they get it. They are all to busy getting caked off by big business and the unions.

[rjs246]

I disagree that they have failed to get their major bills passed. Healthcare is the only example so far of a bill failing to get done and that still has a heartbeat. Cap and trade was seriously deprioritized. That may count as a failure, may not. I guess it depends on your perspective.

Anyway, right now I'm just disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing. I mostly agree with your post. They have options to get this bill done but the clowns aren't doing it. Neither party shows the smallest bit of competence when they are in power. They're all a bunch of monkeys who are trained to do one thing, get elected. Once they're in office they don't have the first farging clue how to do anything other than present their whore asses to the pimps who financed their campaigns.

[Father Demon]

rjs seems to get it.  

There is no way Obama is trying to work with the opposition, just as the opposition doesn't want to work with him. Just as managers in the corporate world have to figure out a way to get the "bad" employees working with him rather than against him, Obama needs to be putting forth a public effort to work with the Repubs - whether he can get them to turn around or not is another story. But he has to make it look like he's trying.

The only thing I took "joy" in has been MA losing it's seat to a Repub.  That alone will force the issue that both sides need to work to get any progress, rather than fall back on the "we out number them, so we'll just do what we want" attitude that was rampant.

[MMH]

 I disagree, Demon.  I don't think that Obama has been so unwilling to work with the repubs, as the lunatics in the democratic party have been (Pelosi, Reid, Barney).

That was my biggest concern with Obama in the first place, is that he didn't have the political savvy or clout to control the crazies in the party.  And those above, among others, have definitely been in payback mode since they captured the house.  He needs to rope the loonies in and build a coalition with the moderates on both sides.

While RJS is right about people treating politics like sports, I think most people would like to get sensible legislation passed.  That requires sensible legislation to be written first, though.

[ice grillin you]

Again, I can't emphasize this enough.  Hating the "other" side is exactly why this country is so farged up right now.  It's not us v. them, repubs v. dems.  We're all supposedly Americans, right?

but you guys are so easy to hate


and barrys first year has been an unmitigated disaster...he came into office with a solid mandate incredible momentum and 60 votes and he has essentially done squat...his problem is that he is way to nice and unpartisan...farging bush and his militia rammed shtein down the countries throat with ruthless efficiency for 8 years and didnt give a farg about anyone else...obama shoudl have done should be doing everything possible to do the same but with non MA progressive modern ideas

[Sgt PSN]

lol.  barry should use the same tactics bush did?  you mean he should ignore the constitution and break international laws?  considering that obama's election platform was "change" i can't say that he'd be winning people over if he continued doing things the same old tired ways. 

and his first year has been anything but a disaster.  it's had some set backs, speed bumps and short comings but it's also had it's highlights and successes as well.  and considering that barry is being scrutinized more than any other 1st year president ever, i can't say dude is doing all that bad.  certainly not an "unmitigated disaster"