If I Were President Obama...

We had an interesting discussion in a Bible study class concerning knowing and doing God's will.

It got me thinking on President Obama. He has one life to live and his daughters will be children only once.

If I were he, I would tell the news media--"I will not seek another term. You can badger someone else."

What would you do?

Curious as usual.

That reminds me of Nixon's speech to the press when he was defeated in his run for Governer of California:

"You won't have Nixon to kick around any more."

It would be effective for any elected officials to tell their constituency, "I am not running for re-election. I do not expect a second term. My actions and decisions during this term are based only on what I think is right for the [country/state/city/etc.] not on their political currency in a bid for re-election."

That would be a surprise.

I don't see it happening. I think he knows that the badgering goes with the job, and I think he will still have stuff he wants to accomplish.

I'm not sure, yet, what is going to happen this November, and his re-election is still two years away.

We are still in a chaotic situation all over the world. It is difficult to predict what will happen between now and November 2012.

But, what do I know? I would never consider running for a neighborhood office of any kind, so I have no concept of what makes anyone want to be President of the US.

Ann

I am naive and idealistic enough that I believe the drive to be president comes from a need "to make a difference."

Even seeking local positions that serve people requires a certain desire "to make a difference." That "difference" always makes waves and has detractors whose self-interest isn't served.

Personally, I think he needs another four years to really be tested whether his goals can be met. It's been nice for me to have pride in the United States for a change; I'd like it to continue a while more. I've taken pleasure in the freedom to speak my mind and not be chastised for a lack of patriotic verve.

For me, my citizenship in this great country gives me the right to speak for and against policieis of governmental bodies without fear. That right is returning bit by bit. It was snuffed out in the recent Bush years. You were either for the Bush policies or not a patriot and suspect. It was an awful time for thinking people, my closest experience to what other countries suffer without our freedoms.

The Tea Party and the news commentators who live or die by their sensationalism ratings are having a field day. They have the podium in a time when we are again free to speak. They benefit from the very administration they malign.

8/15/2010

Not seek a 2nd term, if your first term is
bad, rating are below 45%, your getting
grey hair from the job, it's time to say I
did it , time to move on and think of my
two young children....


Cheers..Joe

I think he is doing the best job possible under the circumstances. My concern is for him, his wife and children.
I also think approval ratings are fickle.

I would like to see him with two terms. He cannot accomplish all his goals in one term. Besides, it takes one term to fully understand the job and how to get things done. Further, a second term provides continuity internationally.
As DK pointed out, we regained lost prestige and confidence people had in America. The momentum that is building can continue with a second term. If he doesn't succeed in the next election, much of the gains made will be lost.
There are those who want him to fail for the sake of politics.

All the presidents get gray hair in office. It's a horrific job. However, he has a strong wife and a live-in mother-in-law and works diligently to provide some semblance of a normal life for his two daughters.

I think the families of servicemen, firemen, police officers and other high risk occupations (oil rig workers) suffer far worse then the family of a president with financial resources to fill in the gaps. We don't tell these brave men to leave their jobs after four years to take care of their families. We encourage them to continue in their careers because their experience is valuable.

Some people have a short memory. I remember when my home value hit the toilet and my investments were halved and job opportunities were nil so that I am currently worse off than ten years ago. It didn't happen in this administration; it happened in the prior one. I want this administration to have the chance it needs to dig us out of the mud it inherited.

I have been a turn around specialist in my career. I turned around a five county regional board that almost dissolved from its challenges and a state senator ready to celebrate at its funeral. It took me three years, not two; it was only five counties not an entire nation.

Then, there are some turn arounds that are impossible. I took on one of those recently. Since I was the third administrator for that place in one year; they are now on their fourth for that same year; that points out the fact that sometimes in spite of our expertise, the circumstances that create the challenges are beyond our cure.

Yes, the country is still in an economic mess; the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. The wealthy class certainly need to get their people back in power because over time, the poor might start catching up; and the wealthy have the funds and the radio propagandizers to emotionalize the downtrodden into believing their favorite voice. I vote for a consistent government so we can actually measure the progress. If things haven't turned around in eight years of an Obama administration, then I'll be ready for a change also.

DK wrote:

Quote :

All the presidents get gray hair in office.

So did George W. It's the only thing the two men have in common, other than holding the office.

Ann

Ann,

You are so right! I voted for both of them also.

I voted for George Herbert, but I went to college with too many "W"s. (Not terribly bright rich boys trying to avoid going to Vietnam through the family money and connections.)

I voted for the winning candidate: Al Gore.

Ann

8/15/2010


He should resign ! All Socialist democrats should be ashamed of
themselves .........


Cheers...Joe

Joe,
I think you have a "socialist" phobia.

8/16/2010

No Abe, I don't ...I don't want to see this
country turn communist and that's exactly
what the socialist democrats including Obama
have in mind , must I remind you this is not
Europe where they run socialist govt.'s, we
are unless you have forgotten a republic, we
have to go back to our founding father's the
way they set up our govt. We will not tolerate
a dictator nor a leftist president nor the morons
who run Washington , thinking the American
people are stupid or we don't see through their
plans......

Cheers..Joe

Joe,
You tend to generalize and generalization is flawed. When one talks of America it implies that the conditions and laws in California are the same as those in West Virginia.

When you refer to Europe as a whole, you are equating Moscow with London. They are not the same.

When you talk of communism, you are speaking of the past. Russia has become capitalistic and communism as a way of life is history.

You speak about the evils of socialism in Europe. Can you be specific? Can you give some examples?

It is plain and simple. Communism did not work. Period. End of discussion.

There is a saying that all politics is local. When I was in my thirties my husband ran for village trustee. Our town was known as a "bedroom community" close to the expressway in Chicago where developers wanted to build a 26 story high rise which the mayor said would put our town "on the map."

There were many coffees held at residents' homes. My husband was called to many and wives went along for support. I had five children at this time and would get a babysitter and get dressed up and put on my nicest face.

One day one of the campaign organizers called me on the phone. She said some people had characteristics that were not conducive to getting votes for their candidate and they did not want me going to their coffees.

Life gives us strange feelings at time, and these were hurtful, probably more so than deserved, but hurtful just the same. One of the other wives, a few years my senior, called and said she and her husband would be picking Tom and I up for the next coffee.

But the damage had been done. I went and held my head as high as I could, never really figuring out what terrible traits I had. It was never forgotten.

My husband won the election in spite of a less than perfect wife.

Love, Carol

Carol,

She was probably jealous of you.

In the early day's of my husband's career, the wives were as much a part of the "package" as the credentials of the husband. I was always a midwestern girl from the poor side of town who didn't readily pick up the aura of wealth and power. At some of the "family picnics" I was more engaged with my new baby than playing politics for my husband. I was very uncomfortable at cocktail parties. He was not made partner but was positioned by his firm in a very excellent company. He always led me to believe it was because I didn't "court" the other wives or say the right things to his colleagues.

In later years as we went up his corporate ladder, I learned to play "social" and did smooth his way in other countries, learning the languages and playing hostess. The sting from the early years remained anyway.

Communism did not work. Not because of it's economic principles, but because it stifles excellence and requires enforcement. There is no room for the entrepreneur in a communist society. "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" does not encourage people to excel because there is no incentive. Since you get the same rations as everyone else, you might as well kick back and let the world go by.

The dole is for everyone, and it's all you get.

To keep everyone's receipts on an even keel, you need a dictatorship enforcing the economic model. Without a dictorship, people seize opportunities to improve their individual lot. With a dictatorship, freedom is lost. People no longer have choices.

But once a people taste freedom, they do not give it up readily. Communism always followed and overthrew regimes of corruption and control by the rich of a poverty-stricken people. People gave over their freedoms to the communist dictator only because it had to be better than their impoverishment.

With the loss of freedom goes the right of the people to choose their own leaders. That is why it is unfair to compare our economic and political model to communism. If we do not like how things are being run, we can take our grievances to the polling place.

We are not headed for communism. Don't worry about that. Big business and the wealthy would never allow that to happen. And they are the ones who are really in control here. They use their money to manage your thoughts and opinions.

Most people get their political attitudes from bumper stickers, campaign ads, sound bites, and talk show hosts. Nobody reads anything of substance anymore. Irrespective of their freedom to choose, the people will vote the way big money wants them to vote.

Al,

I think you hit the nail on the head, as usual.
Sound bites are a problem.

Al wrote:

Quote :

Most people get their political attitudes from bumper stickers, campaign
ads, sound bites, and talk show hosts. Nobody reads anything of
substance anymore. Irrespective of their freedom to choose, the people
will vote the way big money wants them to vote.

And often, they do so without realizing it. If you haven't read George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives, you might want to look at it.

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Think-Elephant-Debate-Progressives/dp/1931498717

Quote :

Lakoff, a cognitive scientist and linguist at Berkeley, believes he knows why conservatives have been so successful in recent years and how progressives like himself can beat them at their own game. This slim book presents a simple, accessible overview of his theory of "moral politics" and a call to action for Democrats mourning November [2004]’s election results. Lakoff’s persuasive argument focuses on two ideas: what he calls "framing," and the opposition of liberals’ and conservatives’ concepts of the family. Conservatives, he says, have easily framed tax cuts as "tax relief" because of widespread, preexisting views of taxes as burdensome, and liberals have had little success conveying the idea that taxes are a social responsibility. In Lakoff’s view, conservatives adhere to a "strict father" model of family, in contrast to liberals’ "nurturant parent" view, and he sees this difference as the key to understanding most of the two sides’ clashes.

So, the framing implies that the "tax cuts" will benefit middle America, when, if you look closely at the regulations, you will see that the bulk of the cuts go to the wealthy, and middle America is still stuck doing more of the paying. Nothing "trickles down."

Ann

So the rich get richer and the poorer get poorer.

Carol, this is a little off topic, but your statement, " I went and held my head as high as I could, never really figuring out what terrible traits I had," is really hitting home with me right now. Many people here know, but I ask for silence from them, what tutoring service I have been involved with over the past several years. The situation is complicated. I have friends and family associates involved, whom I care much about.

Last Monday I handed in a letter telling them I would not be available after the end of this month. The service has been having problems that are closely tied, from many directions, to the financial crisis. Parents, for one thing, are thinking of private tutoring as a luxury they cannot afford. Corporations that had been relying on a bull market are finding themselves in difficult times, and there is a crumbling cookie process that has been affecting some of the individuals who are immediate superiors, who see their jobs threatened and need scapegoats. The tutors, being the lowest common denominator, have become the scapegoats. Let me just say that I have decided to voluntarily leave a situation that is becoming less and less profitable, monetarily and psychologically. Like you, I don't really know or recognize any "terrible traits," but stand, along with several others, of being considered the reason for the center's failures. If we were better teachers, they say, the center would not be showing poorer results and losing clients.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have had there, and I am also grateful for the excuse to leave so I can refocus on my writing. I am doing lots of new stuff that I will be sharing soon.

One of the coolest things about this is that I won't have to bow out of the discussions that always seem to hit their highest (or lowest?) point just as I have had to leave for work.

Ann

Ann,

That is ridiculous in the extreme. I am sorry--no way do you deserve blame.
They should give you a medal of honor.

It isn't just me. The other tutors are getting flak, too. It's one of the things about education generally. Administration tends to hold the teachers responsible when problems come up.

I have a good pension. Tutoring was mainly a way to keep a foot in the door. Now, it's time to close it.

Ann