Mr. Kane
Thank you for your concise clarification. I apologize I was unable to comprehend your original intention. I can certainly appreciate your point of view on this one -- which is why I have clung to my optimism with both hands. After all, 2012 is not that far off.
So instead of continuing to beat a dead horse, since we are for the most part in agreement with each other, let me give you a few things that you can, in fact, hang your hat on as 2009 comes to a close:
1. Your president, who may be idealistic and at times, overly optimistic, has succeeded in getting the Health Care debate front and center in 2009. As stated previously, no administration in American history has actually succeeded in getting Health Care to the floor of Congress. While an actual piece of legislation may be far off, the fact is it is finally within arms reach.
2. Your president, our president, has not been caught in any sort of scandal. In an age where financial and marital problems are on the rise, President Obama has been able to escape scandal in both his personal and political life. He had no involvement in the Blago scandal (former IL governor who now stands trial on federal corruption charges), as well as ties to Tony Rezko, the prestigious fund raiser from Chicago. For someone who is tied very closely to Chicago politics, he has managed to come out on top. Trust me, this is far easier said than done in this city.
3. He remains optimistic. While critics (tea party participants, FOX "news" corespondents and others) continue to dig for dirt on how to minimize his accomplishments, the President has frequently turned the other cheek and continued on his road to recovering America's soiled reputation. He has managed to carefully and tactically expose the GOP for what they truly are: a bunch of whiny, hypocritical idiots who wouldn't be able to find morality with two flashlights and a Garmin.
These 3 things are just a few of the many accomplishments this administration has delivered in 2009. I encourage you to look back on a year-to-year basis under previous administrations and try to find the same.
Well played, Mr. Kane! Well played.
-- Kaela
Thursday, December 17, 2009
RESPONSE: No Good Thing Ever Dies
(This blog post is a readers response to Adam's blogpost from 12/17/2009)
While I am certainly in no position to judge the video and lyrics posted to your post, I am in a position to completely disagree with you when you say, "...he hasn't been the inspiring leader we all thought he would be."
You're a smart man, so I urge you to take another look.
While the President has yet to successfully pass any sort of health care reform, you have to admit he is closer and more determined to do it than any other President in this nations' history. What other President ever got Congress to even consider health care reform, let alone getting it to the floor of both houses of Congress in under 8 months. Arguing health care reform isn't about right and wrong; it's about social responsibility and financial repercussions which would be felt by everyone from the doctor performing surgery to the nurse who's assisting all the way down to the janitor who sweeps the floors of the hospital. Health care involves so many people, so many industries, this is not something that can be reformed in 8 months, let alone less than one calendar year. Bush, Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr. all promised Health Care reform, but none of them ever delivered the progress the current president has delivered. And in his first 11 months in office? Come now.
You are correct in saying it took nearly a year to get a decision on Afghanistan. And while that may seem like a long time to you, I personally find myself to be relieved to finally have a President who is willing to sit down with the right people, ask the tough questions and make the tough decisions that will inevitably lead to a successful end. Perhaps if the previous administration had paid more attention to the war in Afghanistan and less time fabricating a war in Iraq, well, suffice it to say, we would be living in a very, very different America. And while a year may be too long for some, I'm confident that in that year, he weighed the decision against the budget; the resources against what we could afford and was able to declare at the end of the deliberation that the age of "blank checks" is over. America will no longer take solo responsibility for the stability of this region.
The reason why, dear friend, we we all so confident that the man who change it all would be Obama is because we saw him for what he was: a man with very few answers, but the patience and temperament to figure out the answers. He is a man who brings ALL the players to the table, not just the ones who agree with him and at the end of all of it, he's able to weigh the pros and the cons and take the necessary steps to stabilize these situations that we inherited.
You are right when you say he is not living up to the expectation of the people -- however, I say this: if you expected him to fix a recession, not one but TWO wars and a health care crisis in 11 months, than your expectations were a little high.
Response? Bring it on, friend!
"I'll be in the Roosevelt Room, giving Louis oxygen."
Your friend,
KAELA
While I am certainly in no position to judge the video and lyrics posted to your post, I am in a position to completely disagree with you when you say, "...he hasn't been the inspiring leader we all thought he would be."
You're a smart man, so I urge you to take another look.
While the President has yet to successfully pass any sort of health care reform, you have to admit he is closer and more determined to do it than any other President in this nations' history. What other President ever got Congress to even consider health care reform, let alone getting it to the floor of both houses of Congress in under 8 months. Arguing health care reform isn't about right and wrong; it's about social responsibility and financial repercussions which would be felt by everyone from the doctor performing surgery to the nurse who's assisting all the way down to the janitor who sweeps the floors of the hospital. Health care involves so many people, so many industries, this is not something that can be reformed in 8 months, let alone less than one calendar year. Bush, Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr. all promised Health Care reform, but none of them ever delivered the progress the current president has delivered. And in his first 11 months in office? Come now.
You are correct in saying it took nearly a year to get a decision on Afghanistan. And while that may seem like a long time to you, I personally find myself to be relieved to finally have a President who is willing to sit down with the right people, ask the tough questions and make the tough decisions that will inevitably lead to a successful end. Perhaps if the previous administration had paid more attention to the war in Afghanistan and less time fabricating a war in Iraq, well, suffice it to say, we would be living in a very, very different America. And while a year may be too long for some, I'm confident that in that year, he weighed the decision against the budget; the resources against what we could afford and was able to declare at the end of the deliberation that the age of "blank checks" is over. America will no longer take solo responsibility for the stability of this region.
The reason why, dear friend, we we all so confident that the man who change it all would be Obama is because we saw him for what he was: a man with very few answers, but the patience and temperament to figure out the answers. He is a man who brings ALL the players to the table, not just the ones who agree with him and at the end of all of it, he's able to weigh the pros and the cons and take the necessary steps to stabilize these situations that we inherited.
You are right when you say he is not living up to the expectation of the people -- however, I say this: if you expected him to fix a recession, not one but TWO wars and a health care crisis in 11 months, than your expectations were a little high.
Response? Bring it on, friend!
"I'll be in the Roosevelt Room, giving Louis oxygen."
Your friend,
KAELA
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
VIEWER’S RESPONSE: Barack Obama and the War in Afghanistan
Let me clear before I start this blog post: I do not support war; I do not support the taking of civilian lives and I do not support the brave men and women of this country being taken too early because of a cause that isn’t worth fighting. Let me clear: I do not support war.
In March, 2003, I sat on the floor of my room in my mother’s home and watched as my President addressed this nation. He looked me square in the eyes, lied to me, and then dropped a bomb on Baghdad that started a “conflict” that continues to this day. I opposed the war in Iraq; I opposed the taking of innocent lives and I opposed the capturing and execution of a leader who frankly, did absolutely nothing to us.
I oppose the Iraq War.
I oppose the blank check we signed over.
I oppose War without strategy.
To say I feel differently about Afghanistan would be untrue. I do not support war and I do not support the taking of innocent lives. But I do support my country – and when my country realized that it was the Taliban insurgency that caused the horrific events on 9/11 which have defined my generation, I took a deep breath and prayed that God would keep those being sent to fight safe. We were joined, at that time, by many countries from around the world, including full support from the UN Security Council. Do not misunderstand me – I don’t see this as a “justified” fight, but rather an affirmation, that what we did was the right decision at the time.
Had the United States not invaded Iraq in March, 2003, perhaps we’d all be singing a different song today. Perhaps the Taliban would not have reemerged after we pushed them back; perhaps Afghanistan would not only be self-sufficient economically, but politically and militarily as well. Perhaps the women of that nation would be free; and the men would not be able to keep them as slaves. Perhaps this worls would in fact, be different.
Unfortunately we will never know. What I do know is this: the war in Afghanistan is not an option, and it’s not a choice, but a decision that is being made in the best interest of America and the best interest in the security of the world.
I disagree with John McCain that the 18 month timeline will only force the Taliban underground for 18 months; I think it is time for the United States to declare that we will support the countries that need support, but we are done fighting your fights for you. The decade of fighting the fights because they need fighting needs to come to an end. We can no longer afford to support an open-ended war; we can no longer afford to spend American tax-payer money on a problem that has no viable solution.
I oppose the Iraq War; I oppose War overall. But I support my President. I trust my President. I have faith that my President has taken his time, had the tough discussions and made the best decision at this time in our nations’ history.
I do not support War; but I agree that in this time, it's time to end all the spending, all the death and all the fighting and bring our troops home.
Unfortunately, this seems to be the only way to do it.
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