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> the guy who actually said and then did get bin Laden I'm fairly sure that Obama himself didn't "get" bin Laden. The army worked to get information on his whe

> the guy who actually said and then did get bin Laden I'm fairly sure that Obama himself didn't "get" bin Laden. The army worked to get information on his whereabouts, and the opportunity presented itself to the President. I'm fairly certain that, aside from discussions about tactical moves, all Obama did to "get" him was give the army the go-ahead for the operation. > the guy who pushed for and signed a law that is as close to healthcare reform as anyone has gotten since Medicare was enacted almost 50 years ago Which was itself mostly a sleazy compromise like DADT, barely worth celebrating. --- Perhaps I was too hard on Obama. But his administration has been a failure on the whole, especially compared to the FDR-like, sweeping political moves promised during his election.

shadowfiend 15y ago
FDR-like, sweeping political moves require not only an FDR-like President, but a corresponding Congress and popular support. For reference, FDR won 57% of the popular vote, while Obama got 52%. And when things didn't immediately improve after the 1932 election, the Democrats maintained their majority in 1934. Compare the dominance here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1932prescountymap.PNG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1932prescountymap.PNG to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008prescountymap.PNG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008prescountymap.PNG In short, the circumstances of the times did not allow for the kind of complete shift that the Great Depression triggered.
wtracy 15y ago
Obama deserves credit for giving the army the resources needed to catch bin Laden. Under Bush, most of those resources were diverted to Iraq. At the moment, this is the only relevant article that Google is pulling up for me: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/05/03/163155/bush-did-not-catch-bin-laden/ http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/05/03/163155/bush-did... (I know how sketchy a news source called "thinkprogress.org" looks--if you care enough to want a more reputable citation, you'll need to dig a little more on your own.)

shadowfiend 15y ago

FDR-like, sweeping political moves require not only an FDR-like President, but a corresponding Congress and popular support. For reference, FDR won 57% of the popular vote, while Obama got 52%. And when things didn't immediately improve after the 1932 election, the Democrats maintained their majority in 1934. Compare the dominance here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1932prescountymap.PNG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1932prescountymap.PNG to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008prescountymap.PNG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008prescountymap.PNG In short, the circumstances of the times did not allow for the kind of complete shift that the Great Depression triggered.

wtracy 15y ago

Obama deserves credit for giving the army the resources needed to catch bin Laden. Under Bush, most of those resources were diverted to Iraq. At the moment, this is the only relevant article that Google is pulling up for me: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/05/03/163155/bush-did-not-catch-bin-laden/ http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/05/03/163155/bush-did... (I know how sketchy a news source called "thinkprogress.org" looks--if you care enough to want a more reputable citation, you'll need to dig a little more on your own.)