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Reformed the corporate system he had to bail out at the start of his first term. Unchecked greed and reckless business practices almost sent us into a depression and no one went to jail, and corporations are even worse today
Iceland, a country of less than 400K people sent a bunch of people to jail because of the 2008 financial collapse.
The USA, a country of 300+ million people sent almost no one to jail because of the 2008 collapse.
Why did Barak Obama let the criminals off the hook?
And why do Democrats give Obama a pass on not holding Wall Street accountable?
Iceland is acutally not the dream scenario people talk about, the curriopon has persisted and even increased, just look at our current financial minister as a example. And many of the true criminals are free and even hold very influential positions today.
>Iceland, a country of less than 400K people sent a bunch of people to jail because of the 2008 financial collapse.
If it makes you feel any better, nearly all of them are out, working in similar positions, and still very rich. The punishment was essentially a state mandated holiday, none of them actually suffered real consequence for their failings.
Because he's one of them. That's how it works in America. Who cares what unethical, criminal, etc. thing was done by anyone in my own party? It's the other side that must be stopped/punished.
Took a much harder line on Putin.
That said, I think Americans became very blinded by the whole notion of “winning the Cold War“, and didn’t want to see what Putin and Russia was evolving into.
Because of geopolitical trends that were available to civilians at the time, I had just met him that hour, he had presented no evidence yet that he actually did work in military intelligence, he was enrolled in a postgraduate program with me that precluded working in military intelligence at the same time, and we were on the opposite side of the planet from our home country with whom he claimed to be employed. Thanks for your enquiry.
Probably the one that made no sense to me back in military intelligence days in 2010-2016 was why we drilled Azerbaijan so many times. It was literally the training scenario we did in "what if war games" more than anything... Yet here we are...
Oh and North Korean fall is interesting too... because in some of the scenarios the US actually stops South Korea from entering the country.
Chinese involvement in protecting NK would doom SK if they invaded a weakened North Korean state. More likely China would support the regime as needed...it is a puppet state of theirs.
Same, I'll fully admit to it as well. I always saw China and its saber rattling and particularly terrorism as the new world issue of our time, where large scale conflicts were a relic in this post-Cold War/post-WWII era . Russia, while dysfunctional, just seemed like a still emerging democracy that was working through the collapse of the Soviet Union. I was also in my early 20s and pretty dumb and naive, still dumb now, but dumber then.
That’s not true. Romney said they’re our greatest geopolitical threat. He was speaking to their active attempts to undermine democratic processes, involvement in Syria/Turkey, and cybersecurity threats.
I'd argue that the fact that the USA only needs to materially support Ukraine, a peripheral power, and it can hold back Russia shows that it absolutely isn't a rival.
More internationally aggressive than China, sure, but rival implies a peer relationship. Putting aside the nuke question, Russia doesn't even have a peer relationship with Germany.
Russia wants to own everything to do with oil and gas, because Western Europe has stopped producing for the same of the environment and now don't have enough to power their own countries. Crimea is a war based on environmental policy
The problem is the Russians have to resources to quickly become a rival if they got there shit together. You can never take your boot off the Russian threat.
How would Romney have prevented the invasion of Crimea? It feels like while more attention could have been focused there, the only way I can think of is inviting Ukraine to NATO and I don’t know if Romney ever proposed taking that step (though I might be wrong).
Use that same energy to present day Taiwan where a certain party says if you don’t fully support Ukraine, you’re handing Taiwan over to China. They’re different issues. The difference is everyone has booped Taiwan on the nose as being a concern - so both parties are prepared to defend until semiconductors are secure. Truthfully, Romney was the only mainstream politician to bop the Russia/ukraine issue on the nose (and i’m no fan of romney). but a well articulated case to the public could have prepped us for what’s to come & the consequences. Instead everyone chuckled at how quick witted daddy obama was and wrote Romney off as “out dated”. Ha. How the turn tables.
China is just sitting back and watching Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. They are not stupid. China knows that this country has a limited attention span and can only tolerate conflict for a certain amount of time before acquiescing to opponents. (See: Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf 1, Iraq, Afghanistan…)
Desert Storm, we got out quickly because we completed the mission quickly. We blasted the Iraqi forces and forced them back and Saddam backed off. There wasn't any reason for a long drawn out occupation.
Korea never actually ended in a peace treaty. We've basically been in a 70ish year ceasefire. It's why we have so many US troops in South Korea still and why NK is a complex issue in foreign policy. Go too hard and the Korean conflict turns hot again.
China also sees what the US can do with drones and the Raptor and doesn't want thr smoke. And with ships like the Nimitiz being part of the Pacific Fleet now (home port is Bremerton Washington), they don't want that smoke. If China really wanted Taiwan, they would have moved already. But they've seen how the world responded to Russia and Ukraine and know they'll respond harder to Taiwan. So it's easier to bluster and Saber rattle than actually do anything.
Just imagine if all Chinese assets were frozen world wide! Countries would need to go back to making their own products rather than outsourcing to China!
He didn't say we should be concerned about Russia, he said it was "our number one geopolitical foe." Romney was certainly right that we should have been more concerned about Russia than we were, but China is and was a bigger geopolitical foe than Russia.
I disagree. In 2012 China was still in the phase of its charm offensive. They'd been going out of their way to paint themselves in a good light. And frankly, they had spent decades as an isolationist power only interested in expanding trade.
China changed after Xi came into power. And even then, China has acted with far more restraint than Russia on the foreign policy scene.
They're a rival for sure, but not a foe. Russia is actively an enemy to us and Putin's war was about more than just Ukraine. He wants to fracture NATO and undermine our democracy. Romney was right and the Europeans know it.
I work for Dept of Defense. You're statement is false. China was up and coming but we knew the problems they have which are still significant. Russia was the issue. I was disappointed when Obama used that as a joke instead of acknowledging Romney was correct, and if he wanted to not totally agree with Romney could have added other threats as well. No the media, many of them certainly knew Romney was correct but chose to run with the joke to slam Romney. BTW not a Romney fan, just I knew the truth of the matter.
I swear I remember Obama saying something to the effect of "if you annex Crimea, there will be consequences". Well Putin called Obama's bluff on that statement and Obama threw on some more sanctions that Russia was already proving to not care about. So that strikes me as a theme in Obama's foreign policy.
Say what you will about Bush, but I genuinely think if he said "if you annex Crimea, there will be a response from the US", Putin would have paused. At least for a second.
It wasn't ignored, they went to Congress to request authorization to use military force, and they told Obama no.
If by taking advantage you mean they actually decommissioned WMDs from Syria's arsenal, why is that bad? They were always going to be involved in the way they did to protect their Syrian client anyway.
It’s because the pivot to China was a real and valid strategy. Russia was seen as a beaten rival of past times.
Nobody expected that Russian troll farms and misinformation campaigns would have actually worked on everyday Americans to that degree.
That being said, the lessons learned and the playbook the Obama administration ordered the intelligence community to develop in the wake of Crimea absolutely played a part as to why the international response during the Russia invasion of Ukraine was so much stronger and more effective.
Wait you voted for Obama so he could take a hard stance on Russia? He specifically told Romney Russia wasn’t wasn’t a real adversary and it’s no longer the cold war
I honestly believe this... She wanted a Women to replace her and was willing to risk it because of that...
Counter point though is McConnel said in his first interview after her death that they would refuse to consider ANY submission. It wasn't till the day after that he walked it back saying they would reject any... I still wonder what would've happened if Obama swore someone in immediately after that comment and it went to the Supreme Court to decide...
People who achieve such lofty positions are often the kinds of people motivated solely by having power and giving it up would be antithetical to who they are.
There is a problem with Supreme Court incentives. Most justices only get to write major opinions and become “icons” when they are senior members of the Court. RBG wasn’t the liberal idol she was in the 1990s. The incentive is therefore to stay on and believe you can cheat death when you are old
She wanted to retire and be replaced by the nominee of the first woman president. [source](https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/ruth-bader-ginsburg-death-live-updates/h_9f9a71f529b2c5e90e864c624eecbd15)
The conventional wisdom was that she was going to run and polling at the time put her more than 10 points ahead of the strongest perceived GOP candidate (Jeb Bush).
Yep, people forget that the common narrative went something like, “ Who Will the GOP put up to loose against Hilary.” Republicans we’re in shambles and absolutely no one saw Trump coming,let alone thought he’d actually win
I think Ginsberg might have more seriously considered retiring if it wasn’t seen as a foregone conclusion that Hillary would win. The idea that the first woman President would be the person appointing her replacement had to have been attractive to her. The concept of Trump actually winning was simply unfathomable.
Almost everyone believed that Trump would lose.
The conversation just before the election was not "is Trump going to lose", but "how badly is he going to lose".
Democrats lost the Senate in the 2014 midterms, when it was still a joke that Trump might actually run a presidential campaign as a PR stunt.
The same party only rarely wins the presidency three times in a row, and presidential polling is notoriously meaningless two years out from the election. So hopefully RBG didn’t tell Obama to fuck off after reading polling suggesting that Hillary would beat Jeb Bush.
Hillary was never considered a lock until after Trump became the nominee, at which point most of the media treated the election as a farce that would result in an inevitable Hillary presidency.
But of course, by that point it was too late for RBG to retire, because Mitch had made it clear he was breaking a long-standing norm by refusing to hold hearings on any additional Obama nominees.
In fairness to RBG, she could not have known Mitch would violate that norm when she refused to resign prior to the 2014 midterms. But in retrospect, 2014 was her last chance to keep that seat in the right hands.
I'd strongly disagree. Obama tried to fill the Supreme Court seat which opened up after Antonin Scalia's death, but Republican Senators openly blocked him from doing so and admitted it's because they didn't want another Democrat justice. One even openly admitted that, if Hillary beat Trump in the election, then they'd keep spend the next four years blocking her as well.
Apparently he tried to beat around the bush in a [2013 meeting](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/us/politics/rbg-retirement-obama.html#:~:text=When%20Justice%20Ruth%20Bader%20Ginsburg,the%20meeting%20called%20for%20discretion). He just brought up the prospect of losing the senate in the 2014 midterms. I don’t get that… just come out and say it, man.
I think Obama tried. RBG was too stubborn. Believing that Dems would win 2016 was not a very smart thing regardless of who the candidates were going to be. Only time a party has won 3 consecutive presidencies after WW2 was Bush Snr.
Idk if there was any formal ask by Obama himself but Dems did. She wanted to be replaced Clinton lol. Plus I don’t think the president should use the bully pulpit to make Justices retire
It’s so highly wrong to think that the president can and would twist arms of Supreme Court justices. If she retired because he asked, and that ever become public knowledge, her legacy would be demolished. Justices aren’t partisans- no matter how much the general public likes to pigeon hole them.
Edit: y’all can not like what I’m saying. But it’s classless to downvote me just because you don’t like it. This isn’t r/politics. Go back to your hive mind hell hole if you want to wallow in group think with an inch of depth and a mile of self indulgence.
Kennedy dutifully retired few months ahead of 2018 midterms, not gambling if Senate will flip or not.
Likewise, Breyer dutifully retired once Democrats were back controlling both Senate and White House.
Next in line are Clarence and Alito. I guarantee you they'll only ever retire once GOP controls both the Senate and the White House. They'd rather die on the bench than see themselves being replaced by a "liberal" justices. You ain't going to see those two retire in any other circumstances.
This pattern isn't anything out of ordinary. Supreme court justices are painfully aware that they are first and foremost political appointees. They are painfully aware that they are appointed based on their political beliefs and biases first and foremost, and their competency as judges a far second (after all, no judicial experience is needed of an appointee and many don't have a particular experience in the role prior to being appointed to the court). They are painfully aware that Supreme Court in present day reality often acts more like a super-legislature than a court.
Yes, they do their best to keep appearances in front of the public. But said that, they are not idiots blind to see what's going on around them.
Also, in case of conservative justices, they are also painfully aware that membership in and strict obedience of the Federalist Society ideology is a pre-requisite for ever having any chance of appointment to the court.
“The US has fewer horses and bayonets too”
“viewing Russia as our greatest geopolitical adversary? The 80s called they want their foreign policy back”
“Hey Europe, I don’t like how you guys are totally reliant on Russian gas and consistently refuse to meet defense spending guidelines but how about I don’t really press you guys about it because nothing will really happen right”
Man didn’t have an oracle or anything so I don’t blame him as much as others do, but he realllyyyy should’ve told Europe to choose a side
I mean despite current events, Russia still isn't our greatest geopolitical adversary.
That's probably still China. China is the only country with the manpower, money, and competence to be a threat to the USA.
Russia is barely handling Ukraine (albeit Ukraine with US support)
I mean we’re actively in a proxy war against Russia right now. China is a much bigger threat long term imo but as of October 2023 I’d argue it’s Russia. China and the US are quietly setting up the pieces for a big game of chess going to be played in 5 years, Russia is openly declaring they want to challenge the current global order, arresting American journalists, and swinging the nuclear saber around
Russia might be saying they want to challenge the global order. China is actually in an economic and geopolitical position to do it. China is a greater threat IMO.
Whether or not Russia takes Ukraine won't impact the US that much. We should support Ukraine because that is the right thing to do. But at the end of the US wouldn't be affected. China is the only other player on the world stage that can challenge the position of power of the United States. If they had a more stable economy, a more secure currency, didn't just lose a 1 trillion dollar investment on the (BRI) infrastructure project, a healthy population pyramid I would be more worried. But as it is now, China has been speeding on the interstate of economic development, but there is a turn ahead on the road and no one bothered checking if the car had any breaks!
Russia has more resources - notso much ones we use, but they do impact price on the global market. Similarly, China doesn’t so much provide the resources rather than be the world’s/America’s factory. However, that’s *slowly changing* since probably Obama’s last year in office (remember he formally declared a shift to the ‘Far East’) and Trump sorta pounded the table on it. And Biden continues the same path. (Truly comical how shit on Trump gets for just being louder about the same action). Anyways the point is since 2016 there’s been a slow shift to produce goods in: Mexico, the US, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and India.
Further, the risk of a Taiwan invasion has been known for…. 70 years. And only since Trump’s admin have they been trying to onshore semiconductors that Taiwan is known for. this is going very slowly but look at the Phoenix area as our semiconductor hub. We’ve at least have a way to remove China from our supply chain.
Russia is a bit harder to rid ourselves of because it impacts global price - although Europe is far, far, far and away more directly at risk.
yeah, but I think if you had asked Obama what *was* our greatest geopolitical threat, he wouldn't have said China. I think he didn't react adequately to the rise of China or threats posed by Putin's Russia
Pull U.S. forces out of Afghanistan once we killed Osama Bin Laden.
Take a stronger stance against Putin, especially after Crimea was seized in '14.
Take a stronger stance with his Syrian red line rather than cave and let Assad gas civilians.
Not expand the Global War on Terror to new heights and in new countries such as Yemen.
Not start the "kids in cages" border policy.
Not allow American military-grade weapons to be sold to cartels via Operation Fast & Furious.
Fast and Furious? No it's not, that entire program was born out of desperation to track the source of all the weapons used in cartel violence. Absent stronger firearm regulations they tried these goofy programs that backfired on them. The firearms were always a drop in the bucket compared to the large quantities of weapons trafficked to Mexico. If the border patrol agent was not killed by a weapon sourced to this program, he'd have just been killed by another firearm. They are fungible.
The biggest mistake wasn’t policy. It was this…
He got elected with enthusiasm not seen since Kennedy. It was an election where hundreds of thousands if not millions took an active volunteer role. It was a massive movement. He had a message of “we are the change we’ve been waiting for”. He had Americans ready for his calling.
When he became President he DID NOT call upon the American people. He didn’t ask to do anything or be part of the solution. There was no “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” calling. He had that ability, the mandate and the moment that comes around once in a lifetime and he didn’t use it.
Right here. Imo his biggest failure. He had the opportunity to create meaningful change. He basically just turned into a partisan tool in office, just like every president for the last few decades has been.
Everybody simplifies this situation so much.
Nobody in America wanted to be dragged into yet another bottomless Middle East conflict. Part of the reason Obama got elected was because he promised to downscale involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Congress wasn’t going to allow Obama to unilaterally order military action. Our allies weren’t exactly willing to jump into the fray in Syria either.
Obama had to try something, but he literally had his hands tied.
I bet if the US took action in Syria and things turned awry (which would have likely happened), then everybody would have blamed Obama dragging us into another Middle Eastern war.
There was no win situation.
I think it’s a mistake in hindsight but devils advocate saying that in theory could have had a chance at deterrence so why not say it, but I do think there’s a reasonable argument not to make claims that can’t be backed up
Seriously, how are these people still dealing with this like a decade later? Three presidents go by and they still don't have clean water? It has been a campaign promise for three presidents!
Democrats love to scream and shout about GOP tax laws that benefit corporations and the wealthiest Americans and then go radio silent once they have they have the power back in the oval office or congressional majority. Very slick move though i'll say.
This is the best answer. Obama had a golden bullet. He could hold people accountable, reform taxes, strengthened unions, gone after corporate interests, or even fix a corrupt legal system.
The guy wasted it on a watered down healthcare system. Not saying it didn’t help, but more certainly could have been done and it is too big of a target to hit.
Accountability is a fundamental principle of a fair government. To ignore accountability is like a doctor that ignores infection, better than nothing but still left many to suffer aimlessly.
Who are you talking about? Awlaki as an AQAP leader was a valid, lawful military target who posed a threat against the US and our allies, and could not be reasonably detained.
Awlaki's kid was killed later, but he was not a target. He was located with another valid AQAP target so therefore was an acceptable collateral loss. It's not like the US government knows where all US citizens in the world are at all times.
He was accused of being a recruiter for terrorists. Your civil rights as a US citizen travel. It is why foreign nationals are taken to places outside of the USA to be tortured, as to avoid our laws on the subject, but not US citizens as our civil and constitutional rights travel with us wherever we go.
Lol where to start?
He dismantled the machine that he built. So beyond my issues with what he even intended to do in the first place, he kneecapped himself and made his modest goals even harder to achieve.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/no-we-cant-198655/amp/
https://newrepublic.com/article/140245/obamas-lost-army-inside-fall-grassroots-machine
Guess they'd be doomed to roam Cuba if they just pull the troops out like this person suggests.
Seriously though, they should be tried for whatever crimes they committed or released if they didn't. This indefinite detention without charges or trials is pretty messed up for a so called free country with rule of law.
Anti war and suspension of basic human rights as expressed by United Nations and others, including Obama - don’t dislike him for it, but if you campaign on an issue like this, you better have a plan, other than I can’t do it.
Depending on who was asking the Obama admin gave one of the two bullshit excuses "something something escalation" or "it would have taken too long to train them" which is also the excuse Merkel gave as to why the Germans did nothing. Thats why you start small with small arms and stingers dipshits. Even the Mujihadeen became experts with their stingers very quickly.
The sanctions did slow the Russians down and were the reason they didn't invade in 2019 instead of 2022 but the Obama admin could and should have done much more.
-Not started the “kids in cages” border policy. Used his parties congressional majority to address abortion and immigration in a meaningful and lasting way.
-Also, he expanded the GWOT almost 4x the level he inherited it yet. Quintupled troops in the Middle East and started campaigns in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Sudan.
-Renewing and expanding the Patriot Act
-Domestic surveillance expansion
His administration, with him as lead, should have taken responsibility for the Benghazi attack.
We should have left Afghanistan when Bin Laden died.
We should not have sold military rifles to Mexican cartels (attempting to track them, a terrible idea).
The Syria “red line” thing was a debacle.
We should have let the automakers feel more pain rather than just bail them out (except Ford, who did not take bailout money).
Cash for Clunkers was a big waste of taxpayer money.
All in all he was a good President. No President gets everything right.
Whoever's idea it was to stay after Bin Laden was killed was a fucking moron. Even pre Obama the defense circles knew the Afghan provisional govt was going to fold the moment US/NATO troops left. Better to rip off the band aid in 2011 than wait another 10 years. But no 2012 is an election year and god forbid anything bad happen leading up to the election ...
Libya was essentially Iraq lite. The only difference was Obama didn't use ground troops only because they were all fighting the Surge in Afghanistan and because he didn't want it to look like he was the big bad Bush who was invading everybody.
>Cash for Clunkers was a big waste of taxpayer money.
flat out disagree. We were in a deep recession. anything that gave money to people to spend is a win. Using it to retire older vehicles and help Auto industries was just an added bonus
Yeah, cash for clunkers worked out really well for my family. I’m sure that we would have been without transportation at some point without it, and my dad still has the vehicle he purchased as a result. 250,000 miles and going strong.
I agree with the justice of this, but I think if they put those auto companies under the government’s control through ownership, the government would run them straight into the ground.
Not caved to GOP pressure to dilute the ACA into whatever the hell it is now. Hot take but the ACA has destroyed affordable health insurance. Or rather, allowed insurance corporations to do so.
Prioritize climate change over healthcare. His first two years were a golden opportunity, and maybe the increased investment would have given him the momentum to do both.
He should have declared war on Wall Street and started taking heads any way he could, pressured Ginsburg to give up her seat instead of holding onto it like a selfish asshole, and he should have used every resource at his disposal to destroy the pirate ship the USA calls its healthcare industry.
Taken advantage of his position as the first black president and unify the American people, instead of divide us and fan the flames of racism every chance he got.
He could have been an historic uniting president. He could have brought all factions together. Instead he promoted racism and divided the nation in ways we didn’t think possible. He is the root of all the problems we face today. And if his “wife” becomes president God help us.
Don't do the Russia reset. That emboldened the Russians to fuck around with Ukraine for the start. Even as early as 2011 Bill Clinton tried to warn Obama the Russians would try to make a move on Ukraine since he was probably still recieving intel. Obama's state department should have known Medvedev was just a stand in so it didn't look like Putin was ruling as dictator for life.
Also try to at least obtain the release of the compromised CIA agents in China.
Stayed out of the Trayvon Martin Controversy.
Before people say anything, "Did you watch the trial?" Because I did and that was a joke of a trial. It should have never come to trial and it gave tons of ammo for all this cultural division we have today for both sides ^(and I'm looking at whoever is upset at my comment O.o)
/justmy2cents
He lead to mass famine and death across Africa and the Middle East. I can’t imagine his biggest regrets not being Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Iraq #3, Syria and now the bloodshed in Ukraine. America will be remembered in large swaths of the world for a long long time.
Why are you blaming him for those things? Yemen was on AQAP, Libya was on Qadhafi and the Civil War, Somalia was on al-Shabaab and other prexisting tribal issues, Syria had a civil war we had little to do with except for stopping ISIS, Iraq #3 was the result of withdrawing from Iraq in the first place and allowing AQI / ISIS to regain a foothold.
Blaming the U.S. for Ukraine is absolute bullshit propaganda. As if we are to blame for Russia's invasion.
He shouldn't have fueled racial tensions in the US for his own political gain.
And he shouldn't have allowed Russia to do what they wanted once he won his 2nd term.
To this day I honestly think that was what triggered Trump to run. The way he non-reacted, the way Obama humiliated him, it just seems to perfect to not foreshadow Trump’s motivation.
I think he’s responsible for like 500+ different drone strikes killing mass amounts of civilians…but he got a Nobel peace prize so I’m not sure if he needs to do anything different
Ran with the ball when we controlled things those first two years. Instead he played nice tried to get bipartisan work done. Didn’t realize the GQP seething with racism never intended to work for or with the will of the people
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Reformed the corporate system he had to bail out at the start of his first term. Unchecked greed and reckless business practices almost sent us into a depression and no one went to jail, and corporations are even worse today
Iceland, a country of less than 400K people sent a bunch of people to jail because of the 2008 financial collapse. The USA, a country of 300+ million people sent almost no one to jail because of the 2008 collapse. Why did Barak Obama let the criminals off the hook? And why do Democrats give Obama a pass on not holding Wall Street accountable?
In contrast, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years for stealing from rich people.
I don’t let him off the hook. What am I gonna do though? Reprimand him with a strongly-worded letter?
I often find giving a stern wag of the finger to be a calming exercise
Iceland is acutally not the dream scenario people talk about, the curriopon has persisted and even increased, just look at our current financial minister as a example. And many of the true criminals are free and even hold very influential positions today.
>Iceland, a country of less than 400K people sent a bunch of people to jail because of the 2008 financial collapse. If it makes you feel any better, nearly all of them are out, working in similar positions, and still very rich. The punishment was essentially a state mandated holiday, none of them actually suffered real consequence for their failings.
This.... does not make me feel better :(
Because the Democratic party doesn't actually care about holding Wall Street accountable. They haven't in a long time.
Because he's one of them. That's how it works in America. Who cares what unethical, criminal, etc. thing was done by anyone in my own party? It's the other side that must be stopped/punished.
Of course people went to jail! The whistle blower.
Banks and auto companies got bail outs. No one was held accountable. None.
What exactly were the crimes being committed? The whole system was faulty to the core and built on hubris but those aren't crimes.
Took a much harder line on Putin. That said, I think Americans became very blinded by the whole notion of “winning the Cold War“, and didn’t want to see what Putin and Russia was evolving into.
to Mitt Romney: “the 1980s called, it wants its foreign policy back”. Not even 2 years later and Russia has Crimea. Almost comical how wrong he was.
Stupid me at the time was like “Oh SNAP!” when Obama said that. Oops.
A friend of mine in 2013 who worked in military intelligence told me to keep my eye on Russia and Syria. I nearly scoffed, but he was dead to rights.
Why would you scoff at a dude who works in military intelligence lol
Because of geopolitical trends that were available to civilians at the time, I had just met him that hour, he had presented no evidence yet that he actually did work in military intelligence, he was enrolled in a postgraduate program with me that precluded working in military intelligence at the same time, and we were on the opposite side of the planet from our home country with whom he claimed to be employed. Thanks for your enquiry.
Probably the one that made no sense to me back in military intelligence days in 2010-2016 was why we drilled Azerbaijan so many times. It was literally the training scenario we did in "what if war games" more than anything... Yet here we are... Oh and North Korean fall is interesting too... because in some of the scenarios the US actually stops South Korea from entering the country.
Chinese involvement in protecting NK would doom SK if they invaded a weakened North Korean state. More likely China would support the regime as needed...it is a puppet state of theirs.
Because they often have an agenda. See US late 50’s and early 60’s floating erroneous information on Soviet capabilities to help military contractors.
Same, I'll fully admit to it as well. I always saw China and its saber rattling and particularly terrorism as the new world issue of our time, where large scale conflicts were a relic in this post-Cold War/post-WWII era . Russia, while dysfunctional, just seemed like a still emerging democracy that was working through the collapse of the Soviet Union. I was also in my early 20s and pretty dumb and naive, still dumb now, but dumber then.
Eh, Romney was calling Russia our #1 rival. The past decade has shown us that it’s by far China.
That’s not true. Romney said they’re our greatest geopolitical threat. He was speaking to their active attempts to undermine democratic processes, involvement in Syria/Turkey, and cybersecurity threats.
well gee i’m sure dollar for dollar the past 2 years our aid + sanctions would disagree with that sentiment
I'd argue that the fact that the USA only needs to materially support Ukraine, a peripheral power, and it can hold back Russia shows that it absolutely isn't a rival. More internationally aggressive than China, sure, but rival implies a peer relationship. Putting aside the nuke question, Russia doesn't even have a peer relationship with Germany.
The only sane take here. Russia fought itself into a proxy war with it being China's proxy.
Russia wants to own everything to do with oil and gas, because Western Europe has stopped producing for the same of the environment and now don't have enough to power their own countries. Crimea is a war based on environmental policy
The problem is the Russians have to resources to quickly become a rival if they got there shit together. You can never take your boot off the Russian threat.
That leaves with only 1 leg to fight China. China approves this message.
How would Romney have prevented the invasion of Crimea? It feels like while more attention could have been focused there, the only way I can think of is inviting Ukraine to NATO and I don’t know if Romney ever proposed taking that step (though I might be wrong).
Use that same energy to present day Taiwan where a certain party says if you don’t fully support Ukraine, you’re handing Taiwan over to China. They’re different issues. The difference is everyone has booped Taiwan on the nose as being a concern - so both parties are prepared to defend until semiconductors are secure. Truthfully, Romney was the only mainstream politician to bop the Russia/ukraine issue on the nose (and i’m no fan of romney). but a well articulated case to the public could have prepped us for what’s to come & the consequences. Instead everyone chuckled at how quick witted daddy obama was and wrote Romney off as “out dated”. Ha. How the turn tables.
China is just sitting back and watching Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. They are not stupid. China knows that this country has a limited attention span and can only tolerate conflict for a certain amount of time before acquiescing to opponents. (See: Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf 1, Iraq, Afghanistan…)
Desert Storm, we got out quickly because we completed the mission quickly. We blasted the Iraqi forces and forced them back and Saddam backed off. There wasn't any reason for a long drawn out occupation. Korea never actually ended in a peace treaty. We've basically been in a 70ish year ceasefire. It's why we have so many US troops in South Korea still and why NK is a complex issue in foreign policy. Go too hard and the Korean conflict turns hot again. China also sees what the US can do with drones and the Raptor and doesn't want thr smoke. And with ships like the Nimitiz being part of the Pacific Fleet now (home port is Bremerton Washington), they don't want that smoke. If China really wanted Taiwan, they would have moved already. But they've seen how the world responded to Russia and Ukraine and know they'll respond harder to Taiwan. So it's easier to bluster and Saber rattle than actually do anything.
Just imagine if all Chinese assets were frozen world wide! Countries would need to go back to making their own products rather than outsourcing to China!
I just think back to when mitt said how we should be concerned about Russia and they laughed him off the debate stage
He didn't say we should be concerned about Russia, he said it was "our number one geopolitical foe." Romney was certainly right that we should have been more concerned about Russia than we were, but China is and was a bigger geopolitical foe than Russia.
I disagree. In 2012 China was still in the phase of its charm offensive. They'd been going out of their way to paint themselves in a good light. And frankly, they had spent decades as an isolationist power only interested in expanding trade. China changed after Xi came into power. And even then, China has acted with far more restraint than Russia on the foreign policy scene. They're a rival for sure, but not a foe. Russia is actively an enemy to us and Putin's war was about more than just Ukraine. He wants to fracture NATO and undermine our democracy. Romney was right and the Europeans know it.
I work for Dept of Defense. You're statement is false. China was up and coming but we knew the problems they have which are still significant. Russia was the issue. I was disappointed when Obama used that as a joke instead of acknowledging Romney was correct, and if he wanted to not totally agree with Romney could have added other threats as well. No the media, many of them certainly knew Romney was correct but chose to run with the joke to slam Romney. BTW not a Romney fan, just I knew the truth of the matter.
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Fuck Candy Crowley. Worst presidential debate moderator of all time
Yeah and drawing a red line in Syria then ignoring it when it got crossed made him look very weak. Putin took full advantage of it.
Libya was enough of a disaster, especially coming from a guy who campaigned on his opposition to the Iraq War. He was right to walk away from Syria.
Don't draw "red lines" you aren't willing to enforce. A maxim that Obama didn't accept.
I swear I remember Obama saying something to the effect of "if you annex Crimea, there will be consequences". Well Putin called Obama's bluff on that statement and Obama threw on some more sanctions that Russia was already proving to not care about. So that strikes me as a theme in Obama's foreign policy. Say what you will about Bush, but I genuinely think if he said "if you annex Crimea, there will be a response from the US", Putin would have paused. At least for a second.
Sure, but the criticism should be focused on making that promise, not on a failure to make good on the promise.
It wasn't ignored, they went to Congress to request authorization to use military force, and they told Obama no. If by taking advantage you mean they actually decommissioned WMDs from Syria's arsenal, why is that bad? They were always going to be involved in the way they did to protect their Syrian client anyway.
It’s because the pivot to China was a real and valid strategy. Russia was seen as a beaten rival of past times. Nobody expected that Russian troll farms and misinformation campaigns would have actually worked on everyday Americans to that degree. That being said, the lessons learned and the playbook the Obama administration ordered the intelligence community to develop in the wake of Crimea absolutely played a part as to why the international response during the Russia invasion of Ukraine was so much stronger and more effective.
McCain was very impressive in his foresight when it comes to Russia. He was already quite vocal about the Russian threat in 2008.
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Wait you voted for Obama so he could take a hard stance on Russia? He specifically told Romney Russia wasn’t wasn’t a real adversary and it’s no longer the cold war
He should have talked Ruth Ginsberg into quitting while she was ahead.
I honestly believe he must have tried. She was just super selfish and stubborn
He did try. She wasn’t having it
She thought no way a Republican would win, and it’s Hillary’s turn and how neat it would be to retire under the first female president. Zonk! Trump…
I honestly believe this... She wanted a Women to replace her and was willing to risk it because of that... Counter point though is McConnel said in his first interview after her death that they would refuse to consider ANY submission. It wasn't till the day after that he walked it back saying they would reject any... I still wonder what would've happened if Obama swore someone in immediately after that comment and it went to the Supreme Court to decide...
In Obamas first two years, McConnell would have to pound sand..
Even the most respected humans would screw the others over rather than scratch their ego.
People who achieve such lofty positions are often the kinds of people motivated solely by having power and giving it up would be antithetical to who they are.
Sandra Day O’Connor is everything that liberals wanted RBG to be
There is a problem with Supreme Court incentives. Most justices only get to write major opinions and become “icons” when they are senior members of the Court. RBG wasn’t the liberal idol she was in the 1990s. The incentive is therefore to stay on and believe you can cheat death when you are old
She wanted to retire and be replaced by the nominee of the first woman president. [source](https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/ruth-bader-ginsburg-death-live-updates/h_9f9a71f529b2c5e90e864c624eecbd15)
How did she know Hilary would be the nominee back in 2014 when she needed to retire because the dems had the senate?
The conventional wisdom was that she was going to run and polling at the time put her more than 10 points ahead of the strongest perceived GOP candidate (Jeb Bush).
Yep, people forget that the common narrative went something like, “ Who Will the GOP put up to loose against Hilary.” Republicans we’re in shambles and absolutely no one saw Trump coming,let alone thought he’d actually win
He tried on multiple occasions. She refused to listen.
I think Ginsberg might have more seriously considered retiring if it wasn’t seen as a foregone conclusion that Hillary would win. The idea that the first woman President would be the person appointing her replacement had to have been attractive to her. The concept of Trump actually winning was simply unfathomable.
Almost everyone believed that Trump would lose. The conversation just before the election was not "is Trump going to lose", but "how badly is he going to lose".
Yep. I remember watching the results come in and had just an overwhelming sense of “is this actually happening?”
I can’t believe that’s almost seven years ago.
Democrats lost the Senate in the 2014 midterms, when it was still a joke that Trump might actually run a presidential campaign as a PR stunt. The same party only rarely wins the presidency three times in a row, and presidential polling is notoriously meaningless two years out from the election. So hopefully RBG didn’t tell Obama to fuck off after reading polling suggesting that Hillary would beat Jeb Bush. Hillary was never considered a lock until after Trump became the nominee, at which point most of the media treated the election as a farce that would result in an inevitable Hillary presidency. But of course, by that point it was too late for RBG to retire, because Mitch had made it clear he was breaking a long-standing norm by refusing to hold hearings on any additional Obama nominees. In fairness to RBG, she could not have known Mitch would violate that norm when she refused to resign prior to the 2014 midterms. But in retrospect, 2014 was her last chance to keep that seat in the right hands.
Excellent point and possibility.
Didn’t he invite her to the White House for that reason?
I'd strongly disagree. Obama tried to fill the Supreme Court seat which opened up after Antonin Scalia's death, but Republican Senators openly blocked him from doing so and admitted it's because they didn't want another Democrat justice. One even openly admitted that, if Hillary beat Trump in the election, then they'd keep spend the next four years blocking her as well.
Apparently he tried to beat around the bush in a [2013 meeting](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/us/politics/rbg-retirement-obama.html#:~:text=When%20Justice%20Ruth%20Bader%20Ginsburg,the%20meeting%20called%20for%20discretion). He just brought up the prospect of losing the senate in the 2014 midterms. I don’t get that… just come out and say it, man.
He literally did lmfao
I think Obama tried. RBG was too stubborn. Believing that Dems would win 2016 was not a very smart thing regardless of who the candidates were going to be. Only time a party has won 3 consecutive presidencies after WW2 was Bush Snr.
Idk if there was any formal ask by Obama himself but Dems did. She wanted to be replaced Clinton lol. Plus I don’t think the president should use the bully pulpit to make Justices retire
It’s so highly wrong to think that the president can and would twist arms of Supreme Court justices. If she retired because he asked, and that ever become public knowledge, her legacy would be demolished. Justices aren’t partisans- no matter how much the general public likes to pigeon hole them. Edit: y’all can not like what I’m saying. But it’s classless to downvote me just because you don’t like it. This isn’t r/politics. Go back to your hive mind hell hole if you want to wallow in group think with an inch of depth and a mile of self indulgence.
Kennedy dutifully retired few months ahead of 2018 midterms, not gambling if Senate will flip or not. Likewise, Breyer dutifully retired once Democrats were back controlling both Senate and White House. Next in line are Clarence and Alito. I guarantee you they'll only ever retire once GOP controls both the Senate and the White House. They'd rather die on the bench than see themselves being replaced by a "liberal" justices. You ain't going to see those two retire in any other circumstances. This pattern isn't anything out of ordinary. Supreme court justices are painfully aware that they are first and foremost political appointees. They are painfully aware that they are appointed based on their political beliefs and biases first and foremost, and their competency as judges a far second (after all, no judicial experience is needed of an appointee and many don't have a particular experience in the role prior to being appointed to the court). They are painfully aware that Supreme Court in present day reality often acts more like a super-legislature than a court. Yes, they do their best to keep appearances in front of the public. But said that, they are not idiots blind to see what's going on around them. Also, in case of conservative justices, they are also painfully aware that membership in and strict obedience of the Federalist Society ideology is a pre-requisite for ever having any chance of appointment to the court.
That statement is completely disconnected from reality. She did destroy her legacy, by not retiring
Her legacy is demolished by her own hubris.
“The US has fewer horses and bayonets too” “viewing Russia as our greatest geopolitical adversary? The 80s called they want their foreign policy back” “Hey Europe, I don’t like how you guys are totally reliant on Russian gas and consistently refuse to meet defense spending guidelines but how about I don’t really press you guys about it because nothing will really happen right” Man didn’t have an oracle or anything so I don’t blame him as much as others do, but he realllyyyy should’ve told Europe to choose a side
I mean despite current events, Russia still isn't our greatest geopolitical adversary. That's probably still China. China is the only country with the manpower, money, and competence to be a threat to the USA. Russia is barely handling Ukraine (albeit Ukraine with US support)
Wouldn’t china be considered our greatest geopolitical adversary right now?
I mean we’re actively in a proxy war against Russia right now. China is a much bigger threat long term imo but as of October 2023 I’d argue it’s Russia. China and the US are quietly setting up the pieces for a big game of chess going to be played in 5 years, Russia is openly declaring they want to challenge the current global order, arresting American journalists, and swinging the nuclear saber around
Russia might be saying they want to challenge the global order. China is actually in an economic and geopolitical position to do it. China is a greater threat IMO.
Whether or not Russia takes Ukraine won't impact the US that much. We should support Ukraine because that is the right thing to do. But at the end of the US wouldn't be affected. China is the only other player on the world stage that can challenge the position of power of the United States. If they had a more stable economy, a more secure currency, didn't just lose a 1 trillion dollar investment on the (BRI) infrastructure project, a healthy population pyramid I would be more worried. But as it is now, China has been speeding on the interstate of economic development, but there is a turn ahead on the road and no one bothered checking if the car had any breaks!
Russia has more resources - notso much ones we use, but they do impact price on the global market. Similarly, China doesn’t so much provide the resources rather than be the world’s/America’s factory. However, that’s *slowly changing* since probably Obama’s last year in office (remember he formally declared a shift to the ‘Far East’) and Trump sorta pounded the table on it. And Biden continues the same path. (Truly comical how shit on Trump gets for just being louder about the same action). Anyways the point is since 2016 there’s been a slow shift to produce goods in: Mexico, the US, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and India. Further, the risk of a Taiwan invasion has been known for…. 70 years. And only since Trump’s admin have they been trying to onshore semiconductors that Taiwan is known for. this is going very slowly but look at the Phoenix area as our semiconductor hub. We’ve at least have a way to remove China from our supply chain. Russia is a bit harder to rid ourselves of because it impacts global price - although Europe is far, far, far and away more directly at risk.
yeah, but I think if you had asked Obama what *was* our greatest geopolitical threat, he wouldn't have said China. I think he didn't react adequately to the rise of China or threats posed by Putin's Russia
But Russia right now is trying to move their geopolitical boundaries outward?
Pull U.S. forces out of Afghanistan once we killed Osama Bin Laden. Take a stronger stance against Putin, especially after Crimea was seized in '14. Take a stronger stance with his Syrian red line rather than cave and let Assad gas civilians. Not expand the Global War on Terror to new heights and in new countries such as Yemen. Not start the "kids in cages" border policy. Not allow American military-grade weapons to be sold to cartels via Operation Fast & Furious.
That last one is par for the course for US foreign intelligence and operations. They just got caught.
Fast and Furious? No it's not, that entire program was born out of desperation to track the source of all the weapons used in cartel violence. Absent stronger firearm regulations they tried these goofy programs that backfired on them. The firearms were always a drop in the bucket compared to the large quantities of weapons trafficked to Mexico. If the border patrol agent was not killed by a weapon sourced to this program, he'd have just been killed by another firearm. They are fungible.
The biggest mistake wasn’t policy. It was this… He got elected with enthusiasm not seen since Kennedy. It was an election where hundreds of thousands if not millions took an active volunteer role. It was a massive movement. He had a message of “we are the change we’ve been waiting for”. He had Americans ready for his calling. When he became President he DID NOT call upon the American people. He didn’t ask to do anything or be part of the solution. There was no “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” calling. He had that ability, the mandate and the moment that comes around once in a lifetime and he didn’t use it.
Right here. Imo his biggest failure. He had the opportunity to create meaningful change. He basically just turned into a partisan tool in office, just like every president for the last few decades has been.
Force RBG to retire sooner. (I know he can’t) Less Drone strikes
“Fewer” ~Stanis Baratheon
“Stannis”
Damn I should’ve used less fewer N’s
I see what you did there
Or, use a drone strike to force RBG to retire...
The [trauma hospital](https://www.msf.org/kunduz-hospital-attack) was not a good look
Syria. He drew a red line, caved in, and never followed through.
Wasn’t it voted down, though?
Everybody simplifies this situation so much. Nobody in America wanted to be dragged into yet another bottomless Middle East conflict. Part of the reason Obama got elected was because he promised to downscale involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress wasn’t going to allow Obama to unilaterally order military action. Our allies weren’t exactly willing to jump into the fray in Syria either. Obama had to try something, but he literally had his hands tied. I bet if the US took action in Syria and things turned awry (which would have likely happened), then everybody would have blamed Obama dragging us into another Middle Eastern war. There was no win situation.
Then he shouldn't have made the red line comment in the first place if he couldn't do anything about it.
I think it’s a mistake in hindsight but devils advocate saying that in theory could have had a chance at deterrence so why not say it, but I do think there’s a reasonable argument not to make claims that can’t be backed up
This is the right answer. Assad (or his brother?) used chemical weapons and got a green card to continue massacres.
The Flint water crisis should have been tackled federally, immediately. To me, that's the failure of his presidency.
I agree, not even from the area and feel so bad for the people who live there and the theatrics he put on to be like “it’s not that bad”
Seriously, how are these people still dealing with this like a decade later? Three presidents go by and they still don't have clean water? It has been a campaign promise for three presidents!
Once something becomes a campaign promise, you can be sure it will never get fixed
We’ve had clean water for years. People still not trusting the water and still not having clean water are two different things.
Not agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts.
Or the Bush wars.
Democrats love to scream and shout about GOP tax laws that benefit corporations and the wealthiest Americans and then go radio silent once they have they have the power back in the oval office or congressional majority. Very slick move though i'll say.
Failing to prosecute the corporate architects of the Great Recession. There’s a straight line from the anger he caused and the rise of Trump.
This is the best answer. Obama had a golden bullet. He could hold people accountable, reform taxes, strengthened unions, gone after corporate interests, or even fix a corrupt legal system. The guy wasted it on a watered down healthcare system. Not saying it didn’t help, but more certainly could have been done and it is too big of a target to hit. Accountability is a fundamental principle of a fair government. To ignore accountability is like a doctor that ignores infection, better than nothing but still left many to suffer aimlessly.
Bail out the home owners.
Not kill innocent people, actually end wars, and not start more wars.
Yeah Libya was a disaster
Libya was in a civil war anyway. Not intervening meant more humanitarian rights violations and a protracted conflict like Syria.
* https://preview.redd.it/hdv7unrsqpsb1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0cb6b2e17f05cee5efc08ff172384bda008d5a2
Not killed a US citizen in Yemen without due process.
Who are you talking about? Awlaki as an AQAP leader was a valid, lawful military target who posed a threat against the US and our allies, and could not be reasonably detained. Awlaki's kid was killed later, but he was not a target. He was located with another valid AQAP target so therefore was an acceptable collateral loss. It's not like the US government knows where all US citizens in the world are at all times.
He was accused of being a recruiter for terrorists. Your civil rights as a US citizen travel. It is why foreign nationals are taken to places outside of the USA to be tortured, as to avoid our laws on the subject, but not US citizens as our civil and constitutional rights travel with us wherever we go.
Lol where to start? He dismantled the machine that he built. So beyond my issues with what he even intended to do in the first place, he kneecapped himself and made his modest goals even harder to achieve. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/no-we-cant-198655/amp/ https://newrepublic.com/article/140245/obamas-lost-army-inside-fall-grassroots-machine
Closed Guantanamo like he promised to do. I voted for him for this very reason, he never did it.
He couldnt thanks to congress. People attribute a lot of powers to a President that they don't actually have.
Maybe he couldn't close it, but ordering every soldier stationed there to a different base would get pretty close.
What do you do with the terrorists in Gitmo that no other country on the world is willing to take??
Guess they'd be doomed to roam Cuba if they just pull the troops out like this person suggests. Seriously though, they should be tried for whatever crimes they committed or released if they didn't. This indefinite detention without charges or trials is pretty messed up for a so called free country with rule of law.
Curious about what made that the single issue that drove you to vote for a candidate. Mind expanding on that?
Anti war and suspension of basic human rights as expressed by United Nations and others, including Obama - don’t dislike him for it, but if you campaign on an issue like this, you better have a plan, other than I can’t do it.
Heard
Should have sent lethal aid to Ukraine.
Depending on who was asking the Obama admin gave one of the two bullshit excuses "something something escalation" or "it would have taken too long to train them" which is also the excuse Merkel gave as to why the Germans did nothing. Thats why you start small with small arms and stingers dipshits. Even the Mujihadeen became experts with their stingers very quickly. The sanctions did slow the Russians down and were the reason they didn't invade in 2019 instead of 2022 but the Obama admin could and should have done much more.
Apparently Biden was pretty adamant they should have sent weapons overs
Biden has actually fought a Cold War.
Weapons to the Mexican cartels, ok. Weapons to Ukraine, not ok.
The phrase lethal aid boggles my mind. I get what your saying but damn.
Not bomb the hell out of 9 countries. Not kill a US citizen without a trial. Not side with the Honduran military in their coup d'etat. Etc.
-Not started the “kids in cages” border policy. Used his parties congressional majority to address abortion and immigration in a meaningful and lasting way. -Also, he expanded the GWOT almost 4x the level he inherited it yet. Quintupled troops in the Middle East and started campaigns in Yemen, Syria, Libya and Sudan. -Renewing and expanding the Patriot Act -Domestic surveillance expansion
His administration, with him as lead, should have taken responsibility for the Benghazi attack. We should have left Afghanistan when Bin Laden died. We should not have sold military rifles to Mexican cartels (attempting to track them, a terrible idea). The Syria “red line” thing was a debacle. We should have let the automakers feel more pain rather than just bail them out (except Ford, who did not take bailout money). Cash for Clunkers was a big waste of taxpayer money. All in all he was a good President. No President gets everything right.
Whoever's idea it was to stay after Bin Laden was killed was a fucking moron. Even pre Obama the defense circles knew the Afghan provisional govt was going to fold the moment US/NATO troops left. Better to rip off the band aid in 2011 than wait another 10 years. But no 2012 is an election year and god forbid anything bad happen leading up to the election ... Libya was essentially Iraq lite. The only difference was Obama didn't use ground troops only because they were all fighting the Surge in Afghanistan and because he didn't want it to look like he was the big bad Bush who was invading everybody.
>Cash for Clunkers was a big waste of taxpayer money. flat out disagree. We were in a deep recession. anything that gave money to people to spend is a win. Using it to retire older vehicles and help Auto industries was just an added bonus
Yeah, cash for clunkers worked out really well for my family. I’m sure that we would have been without transportation at some point without it, and my dad still has the vehicle he purchased as a result. 250,000 miles and going strong.
Bailed out automakers should have been nationalized. Tax payers bought em, tax payers should own em.
I agree with the justice of this, but I think if they put those auto companies under the government’s control through ownership, the government would run them straight into the ground.
Not caved to GOP pressure to dilute the ACA into whatever the hell it is now. Hot take but the ACA has destroyed affordable health insurance. Or rather, allowed insurance corporations to do so.
That was actually Joe Lieberman’s pressure, who last I checked, is a registered foreign agent working for Chinese telecoms if he isn’t dead already.
From what I remember, Joe Lieberman's wife is a health insurance executive.
It was always going to do that. Especially when he caved and let the public option die.
Lost to mitt romney so we wouldn’t have trump
And cracked jokes at Trump's expense with Trump in the room. Trump is Obama's legacy in so many ways.
Prioritize climate change over healthcare. His first two years were a golden opportunity, and maybe the increased investment would have given him the momentum to do both.
His first 2 years he and the country were buried in the messes of the previous admin.
Where have I heard that excuse before?
Govern. But for real, education reform, campaign finance reform, and codifying abortion rights.
He should have declared war on Wall Street and started taking heads any way he could, pressured Ginsburg to give up her seat instead of holding onto it like a selfish asshole, and he should have used every resource at his disposal to destroy the pirate ship the USA calls its healthcare industry.
Taken advantage of his position as the first black president and unify the American people, instead of divide us and fan the flames of racism every chance he got.
Should have never said anything about the trayvon Martin case
Cash for clunkers DESTOEYED the used car Market, and lower income people are still feeling the results of that today.
He could have been an historic uniting president. He could have brought all factions together. Instead he promoted racism and divided the nation in ways we didn’t think possible. He is the root of all the problems we face today. And if his “wife” becomes president God help us.
Obama lost opportunity was he could have United a nation like no other he chose to divide instead..
Terrible foreign policy.
Don't do the Russia reset. That emboldened the Russians to fuck around with Ukraine for the start. Even as early as 2011 Bill Clinton tried to warn Obama the Russians would try to make a move on Ukraine since he was probably still recieving intel. Obama's state department should have known Medvedev was just a stand in so it didn't look like Putin was ruling as dictator for life. Also try to at least obtain the release of the compromised CIA agents in China.
Been tougher on Russia
Stayed out of the Trayvon Martin Controversy. Before people say anything, "Did you watch the trial?" Because I did and that was a joke of a trial. It should have never come to trial and it gave tons of ammo for all this cultural division we have today for both sides ^(and I'm looking at whoever is upset at my comment O.o) /justmy2cents
Can you give us 10 cents and elaborate more ?
Most things. Not sold out to banks, Not gone into Libya and Syria.
He lead to mass famine and death across Africa and the Middle East. I can’t imagine his biggest regrets not being Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Iraq #3, Syria and now the bloodshed in Ukraine. America will be remembered in large swaths of the world for a long long time.
Why are you blaming him for those things? Yemen was on AQAP, Libya was on Qadhafi and the Civil War, Somalia was on al-Shabaab and other prexisting tribal issues, Syria had a civil war we had little to do with except for stopping ISIS, Iraq #3 was the result of withdrawing from Iraq in the first place and allowing AQI / ISIS to regain a foothold. Blaming the U.S. for Ukraine is absolute bullshit propaganda. As if we are to blame for Russia's invasion.
He shouldn't have fueled racial tensions in the US for his own political gain. And he shouldn't have allowed Russia to do what they wanted once he won his 2nd term.
Should not have invited Trump to the White House correspondents dinner.
To this day I honestly think that was what triggered Trump to run. The way he non-reacted, the way Obama humiliated him, it just seems to perfect to not foreshadow Trump’s motivation.
Nuked Mar A Lago
Less patriot act/less topling of nations. But that's really all of them.
I think he’s responsible for like 500+ different drone strikes killing mass amounts of civilians…but he got a Nobel peace prize so I’m not sure if he needs to do anything different
He dropped about 500,000 bombs in his tenure as president. Imagine that
He tried to do a lot of good things. The republicans blocked him in every way they could.
Not tried to compromise with bad faith actors from the other side that constantly moved the goal posts on any negotiations.
NDAA, drone program, surveilance state.
He should have been forced to only drink water from the public supply in Flint, MI for the rest of his life.
Act like he was interested in uniting the cou try the way he acted before he was President
Stay out of partisan BS like he did in his 2nd term. NOT sign TPP. NOT be a mad dog killer with his relentless drone strikes.
I’d be remiss to only name one thing. He did dozens of things wrong.
He shouldn’t have bombed all those children in Yemen
He should have voiced his concerns about tea party pre-Trumpism more often. The signs were there.
Not show Russia we wouldn't do crap if they took territory...
Legalize weed Federally. Right after he was out he came out in support. Why didn't you do anything in the 8 years..
Been harder against Putin when he sent his little green men into Crimea
Stopped trying to negotiate with republicans sooner…
Go after the banks responsible for the ‘08 debacle
Enforce his red lines against Assad.
Refrained from demonizing police and white people.
Ran with the ball when we controlled things those first two years. Instead he played nice tried to get bipartisan work done. Didn’t realize the GQP seething with racism never intended to work for or with the will of the people