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sufrommich

(22,871 posts)
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 11:12 AM Jul 2015

Barack Obama’s Long Game,A month of victories has transformed the President’s second term.

Barack Obama is not a modest man, but when it comes to assessing his or any president’s place in the long American story, he has been heard to say, “We just try to get our paragraph right.” Yet the way a raft of recent events have broken sharply in his favor, Obama suddenly seems well on his way to writing a whole page—or at least a big, fat passage—in the history books.

From the Supreme Court decisions upholding his signature health care plan and the right of gay Americans to marry, to contested passage of fast track trade authority, the opening of normal diplomatic relations with Cuba and an international agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Obama is on a policy and political roll that would have seem unimaginable to many in Washington only a few months ago.

“Obama may be singular as a president, not only because of his striking background,” says Kenneth Adelman, who was Ronald Reagan’s arms control negotiator with the Soviets three decades ago, and who has his doubts about the Iran deal. “It may turn out that unlike virtually any other president, his second term is actually better than his first.”

Rallying his cabinet in January in the wake of the Democratic Party’s decisive defeat in last fall’s midterm elections, Obama himself maintained, “Interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter.” This president has always been something of a clutch player, but his command of recent events—from his soaring eulogy for the victims of the Charleston church massacre, to his commutation of more sentences for non-violent criminal offenders than any president since Franklin Roosevelt—goes a good way toward proving the prescience of his words.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/barack-obamas-long-game-120259.html#ixzz3gA6Bn900

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Barack Obama’s Long Game,A month of victories has transformed the President’s second term. (Original Post) sufrommich Jul 2015 OP
President Obama is rewriting the definition of 'lame duck'... Spazito Jul 2015 #1
Yes he is. He's pretty amazing. nt sufrommich Jul 2015 #2
A Little Slavery and Some Mass Graves Won’t Deter Obama From the TPP brentspeak Jul 2015 #4
LOL, lame attempt to hijack the thread... Spazito Jul 2015 #7
Yeah, mass graves and slavery are always "lame" things to point out n/t brentspeak Jul 2015 #12
You do know you can start your own OP on this, right? Spazito Jul 2015 #23
Yes, no doubt our first African American President sufrommich Jul 2015 #10
Obama always gives his base one big F*** Y** and then a bunch of smaller (baby steps) successes fasttense Jul 2015 #26
his base approves of him in huge numbers JI7 Jul 2015 #33
Yeah, a lot of them don't understand they are being played. fasttense Jul 2015 #34
+1 YoungDemCA Jul 2015 #9
Sorry all the good Obama is doing now... Rockyj Jul 2015 #3
does he give you a sad? snooper2 Jul 2015 #5
I guess no President is absolutely perfect. Stellar Jul 2015 #13
Funny, no word about my family's personal info in China's hands. He hasn't addressed that publicly. TwilightGardener Jul 2015 #6
Boo hoo LordGlenconner Jul 2015 #14
Yeah, it's trivial that his incompetent political hacks gave away millions upon millions TwilightGardener Jul 2015 #16
Again LordGlenconner Jul 2015 #17
LOL, I made my point. TwilightGardener Jul 2015 #18
Post removed Post removed Jul 2015 #20
OK. TwilightGardener Jul 2015 #21
I'd like to apologize LordGlenconner Jul 2015 #22
I'm a long-time supporter--since 2007. But his style-over-substance all-politics-all-the-time TwilightGardener Jul 2015 #24
Obama is a great President, LG.. I feel sorry for those who are on the wrong side of history.. Cha Jul 2015 #36
You Personally Hold The President Responsible For China Hacking? Corey_Baker08 Jul 2015 #25
"...to A Different Message Board!" < Ahhh, a fan of the Donald Trump approach. rofl n/t jtuck004 Jul 2015 #29
+ONE! Cha Jul 2015 #37
Don't forget yesterday's groundbreaking decision against employment discrimination YoungDemCA Jul 2015 #8
Great! nt sufrommich Jul 2015 #11
If I envied anyone, it would probably be a man fadedrose Jul 2015 #15
There hasn't been such a successful second term since FDR. eom MohRokTah Jul 2015 #19
Finally...but hope and change faded"...nt N_E_1 for Tennis Jul 2015 #27
I noted this very early in his presidency, to much criticism bluestateguy Jul 2015 #28
If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress. jtuck004 Jul 2015 #30
Historic, by all measures. Tarheel_Dem Jul 2015 #31
For me, the TPP outshadows everything else. ananda Jul 2015 #32
He's an excellent President.. and I support him on the TPP, too. And, the country appreciates him.. Cha Jul 2015 #35
Always nice to know zipplewrath Jul 2015 #38

Spazito

(50,477 posts)
1. President Obama is rewriting the definition of 'lame duck'...
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 11:32 AM
Jul 2015

and is doing it with dignity, humor and amazing accomplishments.

brentspeak

(18,290 posts)
4. A Little Slavery and Some Mass Graves Won’t Deter Obama From the TPP
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 11:44 AM
Jul 2015

And Obama is doing it with such amazing dignity. And humor too -- I'm sure there's a joke hidden in there somewhere:

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/a_little_slavery_wont_stop_obama_from_defending_the_trans_20150712

A Little Slavery and Some Mass Graves Won’t Deter Obama From the TPP


Posted on Jul 12, 2015

After the Obama administration and congressional Republicans failed last month to delete from the controversial trade deal language banning trade with countries on a State Department human trafficking list, the president appears to have simply reclassified an offending nation.

That nation is Malaysia. The Nation’s Washington editor George Zornick reports that the country “is home to many ‘outsourcing companies’ that are, in reality, professional slaving operations: foreign workers, often refugees fleeing desperate situations in nearby countries like Burma, are recruited to the country with the promise of legitimate work but then subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The State Department and international human rights groups have routinely concluded the Malaysian government does very little to inhibit the traffickers’ operation.”

"Senator Robert Menendez inserted language into the Senate version of fast-track prohibiting the use of fast-track for a trade deal with a Tier 3 country, presumably with an eye on Malaysia. The Obama administration and Republican leaders in the House tried to have the language removed but were unable to excise it due to the complicated path the fast-track bill took through Congress.

Observers were then unsure what would happen next. Would Malaysia be thrown out of the deal? Would the United States lean hard on the Malaysian government to crack down on human traffickers so it could sign the trade deal? Was there any chance fast track would be disengaged for the TPP?

Instead, the Obama administration appears to have chosen another path that has shocked the human-rights community: It will simply reclassify Malaysia. Reuters has reported that when the Trafficking in Persons report comes out next week, Malaysia will no longer be a Tier 3 country.

There is essentially zero evidence Malaysia has done anything to earn this reclassification. Just two months ago, police found 139 mass graves along the Malaysian border that contained migrant workers that had been trafficked or held for ransom."


The broad concern, Zornick writes, “is that the move suggests the administration isn’t serious about enforcing other areas of fast track and the TPP when it comes to other human-rights, environmental, or labor standards.”


Spazito

(50,477 posts)
23. You do know you can start your own OP on this, right?
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:36 PM
Jul 2015

It's really easy and is better than a lame attempt to hijack another thread instead.

sufrommich

(22,871 posts)
10. Yes, no doubt our first African American President
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 11:59 AM
Jul 2015

is pro slavery.


"I'm sure there's a joke hidden in there somewhere"

I'll bet you are.

 

fasttense

(17,301 posts)
26. Obama always gives his base one big F*** Y** and then a bunch of smaller (baby steps) successes
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:49 PM
Jul 2015

Like when he extended the uber rich's tax give aways for 2 years with his lame duck congress. He also gave us at the same time 1 year of tax breaks for everyone else and 1 year of extended unemployment. He always disguises his big FUs with smaller liberal successes. It's so his base doesn't totally abandon him and he can pretend to be a liberal.

I mean the TPP and Fast Track authority for the next president too is sooooooo neoconish, so destructive, so kissing the feet of the rich white oligarchs and pissing on liberals that anything after that would look liberal by mere comparison.

Obama is always playing off his base. In tiny little minuscule baby steps we get some kind of health insurance reform but then with adult like strides he dumps TPP on us. I will never forgive him for fast track, all the other "free" trade deals or the coming middle class killer TPP.

All the other stuff will probably be forgotten, but those awful trade deals, fast track authority for the next president and TPP are horrors that keep on giving for decades and decades.

JI7

(89,271 posts)
33. his base approves of him in huge numbers
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 02:16 PM
Jul 2015

Which is mainly minorities , young people and single women

 

fasttense

(17,301 posts)
34. Yeah, a lot of them don't understand they are being played.
Mon Jul 20, 2015, 11:35 AM
Jul 2015

He comes off as a likable, smart, cool guy, unlike Trump, Mitt and other RepubliCONS in congress. So it's hard to disapprove of the destructive trade deals he's done, the anti-Union meme he promotes, the pro tax cuts for the rich while offering austerity for the rest of us neocon ideals he pushes. Then he throws us liberals a bone now and then with pro LGBT, and immigration.

Didn't most of the RepubliCON base love the bushes too, at least until he left office? At least the bushes were doing RepubliCONS things. If he had only been more liberal, he would have pushed the country to the liberal side instead it gets more and more RepubliCON.

Rockyj

(538 posts)
3. Sorry all the good Obama is doing now...
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 11:39 AM
Jul 2015

doesn't outweigh allowing drilling oil in Artic, not taking a solid stance against Keystone XL, and now TTP!

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
6. Funny, no word about my family's personal info in China's hands. He hasn't addressed that publicly.
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 11:50 AM
Jul 2015

Not as important to him as lighting up the WH with rainbows. Sorry, I'm no longer a fan.

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
16. Yeah, it's trivial that his incompetent political hacks gave away millions upon millions
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:23 PM
Jul 2015

of federal workers' personal files to China. It's so trivial that his administration first hid the extent of the theft, then released the info in little fits and spurts over months so as not to overshadow the political victories. And never addressed it publicly. Obama should have done more than "accept the resignation" of a woman who was basically a politically-connected schoolteacher, he should have publicly apologized for compromising so many Americans' personal info. But no, eulogies and Amazing Grace and light shows and hand-written prison pardons are what matter. He's a decent guy, but he can't manage his way out of a paper bag even now. Nuts-and-bolts government competence still escapes him.

Response to TwilightGardener (Reply #18)

 

LordGlenconner

(1,348 posts)
22. I'd like to apologize
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:36 PM
Jul 2015

That was an insensitive comment I made. I'm sorry about your personal information being given to China. I hate that. It's happened to a family member and identify theft is a terrible thing.

I guess my problem with your comment is that you don't like Obama, and probably have never liked him. And if it wasn't this, you would find something else to criticize him over. I just don't buy the narrative that he has no redeeming qualities which is very popular right now with those further to the left than the POTUS or those who support him.

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
24. I'm a long-time supporter--since 2007. But his style-over-substance all-politics-all-the-time
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:40 PM
Jul 2015

schtick has finally worn me out.

Cha

(297,692 posts)
36. Obama is a great President, LG.. I feel sorry for those who are on the wrong side of history..
Mon Jul 20, 2015, 12:10 PM
Jul 2015

But, the country appreciates him.. and that's what matters

Corey_Baker08

(2,157 posts)
25. You Personally Hold The President Responsible For China Hacking?
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:43 PM
Jul 2015

It's the 21st Century it's a reality. That would be like blaming President Obama for someone mugging you in the parking lot of a damn Wal-Mart.

Jesus Get Over Yourself & If You No Longer Support The President Who Is Also The Leader Of The Democratic Party Then Please Take Your Pity Party To A Different Message Board!

fadedrose

(10,044 posts)
15. If I envied anyone, it would probably be a man
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 12:23 PM
Jul 2015

Joe Biden, for having the great fortune to see Obama up close doing all these things and writing history every day. What luck for anyone who works in the White House to be part of this great presidency....

bluestateguy

(44,173 posts)
28. I noted this very early in his presidency, to much criticism
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 01:12 PM
Jul 2015

As various interest groups were lining up, making demands, and shouting "betrayal!" before the inauguration ball was over, I noted that everyone would just have to take number, have a seat and wait your turn.

ananda

(28,876 posts)
32. For me, the TPP outshadows everything else.
Fri Jul 17, 2015, 02:12 PM
Jul 2015

I will always see his presidency as tarnished and corrupted
by the corporate oligarchy.

Cha

(297,692 posts)
35. He's an excellent President.. and I support him on the TPP, too. And, the country appreciates him..
Mon Jul 20, 2015, 12:05 PM
Jul 2015

I don't care about those around here who are "disappointed".

mahalo su~

zipplewrath

(16,646 posts)
38. Always nice to know
Mon Jul 20, 2015, 12:14 PM
Jul 2015

It's always nice to be told that someone doesn't care about you.
I suspect this president agrees with you too.
Which of course is where the disappointment comes in the first place, but again, you don't care.

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