Why I’m (Still) Thankful For President Obama

[OKNancy]

http://www.nationalmemo.com/im-still-thankful-president-obama/

Nice article by Joe Conason

snip first paragraph>

On this day, it seems appropriate to reflect not only on Obama’s considerable achievements, but on how much worse our situation might be if his opponents had been in control of events from January 2009 until now.

With our continuous immersion in harsh commentary from factions and ideologues across the spectrum, a mindless negativity tends to dominate assessments of his presidency. He is certainly more flawed than his most zealous supporters would ever have admitted six or seven years ago, which is why some of them are disproportionately disappointed today; he has made regrettable mistakes in both policy and politics; and, as we saw in this month’s midterm election, he has suffered declines in public confidence that injured his image and the fortunes of his party. His approval ratings remain low.

And yet, whatever his fellow citizens may feel, the undeniable truth is that Obama righted the nation in a moment of deep crisis and set us on a navigable course toward the future, despite bitter, extreme, and partisan opposition that was eager to sink us rather than see him succeed.

So I’m thankful that Obama was president at the nadir of the Great Recession, rather than John McCain, Mitt Romney, or any other Republican who might have insisted on austerity and prevented the stimulus spending that saved us from economic catastrophe. It wasn't large enough or long enough to prevent the human suffering of unemployment, but it was sufficient to bring recovery, more rapidly than most countries have recovered after a major panic.

more good stuff at the link

[chieftain]

1. Agreed

I thought Joe's column was accurate and balanced. I have had many of the same disappointments with the Obama Administration but I am extremely thankful that he is our President. He has some truly historic accomplishments while dealing with an opposition party that has bordered on treasonous and digging us out of the epic mess left by W. Thank you Mr. President.

[Thinkingabout]

2. We should not forget the auto industry, the one Mitt wanted to go bankrupt.

Those industries are back working and their workers are paying taxes and off of the social safety net.
Obama pushed more control of the auto industries and was different from the financial system bailout which was put into place by Bush's man.