If failure is an orphan, and the Iraq war is indeed a failure, then George W. Bush is its father. So please don't go after Mr. Obama for child support.
72
President Obama seems to have forgotten the people who elected him.
14
This is an entirely destructive and, quite frankly, an easy "pile on attack" on a President who continues to demonstrate extraordinary personal courage and conviction in spite of the clear risks to his presidential legacy. Global trade agreements are as unpopular among Democrats as they are with the radical right-- his support of this trade agreement was yet another example of his willingness to "do the right thing, and take the long view." I look to the NYTimes editorial page for thoughtful opinion. This kind of personal attack on the President's "style" at schmoozing congress is "beltway" sniping, and of little interest to most thinking people.
84
After reading that the Penagon wants heavy artillery in E. Europe to message Putin, this is another dime dropping on war sounds to deluge us from war hawk fearmongers and ante-uppers pre 2016 election, escalating global conflicts as needed.
Perhaps, Ms Dowd, you can embed in Latvia and report on whether we are going to take this all the way to nuclear. It's what so many have a hankering to do---to be The Rifleman, come in guns blazing and blow away the bad guys.
That'll show 'em to mess with the US of A.
It's all so nicely good vs evil. "How convenient", said SNL's Church Lady.
Perhaps, Ms Dowd, you can embed in Latvia and report on whether we are going to take this all the way to nuclear. It's what so many have a hankering to do---to be The Rifleman, come in guns blazing and blow away the bad guys.
That'll show 'em to mess with the US of A.
It's all so nicely good vs evil. "How convenient", said SNL's Church Lady.
27
I don't know about anything flickering but I will tell you something for nothing. The rich people love Obama. Both Republican and Democrats. But I do not blame Pres Obama because in the end the rich people always get what they want. Electing a black man made the blacks think he was going to miraculously lift them up but that ain't never going to happen.
Obama pays lip service to the poor but puts his lips on the rich. It is how it always has been and always will be.
Flickering maybe but the Obama family is set for life.
Obama pays lip service to the poor but puts his lips on the rich. It is how it always has been and always will be.
Flickering maybe but the Obama family is set for life.
26
If there's a more biased way to blame Obama for the Middle East, it could only come from the mouths of people like Jeb Bush, who recently indicated that Iraq was "stable" when W left office in 2009. The Iraq invasion, Maliki, even the exit date were established by W and his band of profit hungry cohorts, including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz - all cowards, and famous liars. Along with an economy in shambles.
Sometimes there's just nothing that can be done to convince people that a certain deal is better than nothing, but in terms of the TPP agreement, just wait until China starts cutting deals with 10 or 20 nations, and our products become obsolete on the international market because we're left out of the loop. Isn't that a greater danger than trying to legislate for jobs that can be offshored in any sort of global economy?
Wanting a "better deal" for American workers - what does that mean? Whatever it is, it's probably something the rest of the world will find anathema, given our standard of living. More whistling in the dark from Congress.
Obama wasn't a bridge builder, but when you hand the opposition the health care plan that they developed, and still can't get anyone to sign on, what does that tell you.
This country can't change unless Hillary and Dems in Congress start running the show. Otherwise, it will get much, much worse. Keep writing the Dem bashing columns - they're playing right into the Koch brother's greedy hands.
Sometimes there's just nothing that can be done to convince people that a certain deal is better than nothing, but in terms of the TPP agreement, just wait until China starts cutting deals with 10 or 20 nations, and our products become obsolete on the international market because we're left out of the loop. Isn't that a greater danger than trying to legislate for jobs that can be offshored in any sort of global economy?
Wanting a "better deal" for American workers - what does that mean? Whatever it is, it's probably something the rest of the world will find anathema, given our standard of living. More whistling in the dark from Congress.
Obama wasn't a bridge builder, but when you hand the opposition the health care plan that they developed, and still can't get anyone to sign on, what does that tell you.
This country can't change unless Hillary and Dems in Congress start running the show. Otherwise, it will get much, much worse. Keep writing the Dem bashing columns - they're playing right into the Koch brother's greedy hands.
74
If we drowned in quicksand going full-bore for a dozen years beside Iraqi soldiers who did not want to fight, what good will 450 more American trainers do?
It has been said many times, many ways, but not stated any better. My only comment: The American foul-up in Iraq is not a Democratic or Republican responsibility. The problem is systemic. Neither party seems able to lead or make reasonable decisions.
Following WWI the Ottoman, Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires fell. But the French and British governments stood...to make with the help of the Americans a terrible peace. They weren't held responsible for their political ineptitude. And, neither were Bush and Cheney, nor Obama's democrats.
America needs to find a way to elect it's leaders. Figuring out how to defeat ISIS is not the problem at hand.
It has been said many times, many ways, but not stated any better. My only comment: The American foul-up in Iraq is not a Democratic or Republican responsibility. The problem is systemic. Neither party seems able to lead or make reasonable decisions.
Following WWI the Ottoman, Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires fell. But the French and British governments stood...to make with the help of the Americans a terrible peace. They weren't held responsible for their political ineptitude. And, neither were Bush and Cheney, nor Obama's democrats.
America needs to find a way to elect it's leaders. Figuring out how to defeat ISIS is not the problem at hand.
10
I still prefer the Obama form of arrogance to the Bush form- including the one that's coming down the road. Real arrogance is much more insidious. I'm not sure Ms. Dowd gets that completely. She's too stuck on style.
It's interesting that she likes an old tv show where the mother figure is absent.
It's interesting that she likes an old tv show where the mother figure is absent.
46
I couldn't wait for Chenny, I mean Bush to leave the White House, but with Obama, I'm counting the days left in his Presidency with marks showing bundles of five on my living room walls.
8
The President grew to appreciate big banks, big corporations and big bureaus.
He possibly half-believes he is helping most or many of us, but that's not unusual for newly arrived rich people.
He possibly half-believes he is helping most or many of us, but that's not unusual for newly arrived rich people.
23
It's terribly sad to watch the death of hope. The problem was, and still is, that the President does not have the personality needed to do the job. Brilliant, but aloof with far too much time spent navel-gazing. I wish someone would have taught him how to horse-trade.
20
Peter de fasio acts like a child, "go play with your republican friends." Please tell me these are not the "leaders" running our country. sad that we have sunk so low. No wonder the trade deal got so far. We have imbeciles making decisions for us.
13
Regardless of the relative merits, it is refreshing to see people like Pelosi, Warren, et al, standing up to a president from their own party for what they think is right. Right or Left, the Congress is there for a reason. Some call it gridlock but it may be the Congress doing its job serving as a 'check and balance' in accordance with their constitutional role.
13
Lyndon Johnson was a great president, but his control of Congress eventually caused the worst of the Vietnam fiasco. Obama is not Johnson. Never could be. We didn't want another Johnson when we elected him, and no one running at that time would ever be able to "control" the Congress that we inflicted on ourselves. Obama accomplished incredibly much, considering, not the least of which was a very low casualty rate for our volunteer boots on the ground.
40
If the President had been personally stand-offish but had insisted on a trade agreement that did not allow corporate "courts" to nullify protections for workers & the Earth, if he had insisted on publishing the text of the agreement instead of keeping it ultra-secret, he probably would have failed to get it passed because the Republican Party would have opposed it -- but what do you know, striving to be the best Republican President since Teddy Roosevelt led him to failure anyway. With a different policy -- not a different personality -- he could have had the Democrats enthusiastically behind him, could have given his party a vigorous lift into the 2016 campaign. Ms. Dowd is obsessed with handshakes and clambakes. As analysis, it's utterly lame.
32
So it's Obama's personality that's the problem? I don't think so. As with Vietnam, where a defeat had to be covered over in so-called "Peace with Honor", --the images of people clinging to helicopters on the roof of the U.S. embassy notwithstanding--no President could get elected by telling the truth:we sent off our kids to be killed for no sensible reason.
So we applaud the brave sacrifice and say we've concluded our mission in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush and Cheney left Obama with a booby-trapped political nightmare from which he almost escaped. Because to tell the truth about these catastrophes makes you radioactive. And even to tell some of the truth about them (as Obama did) makes you appear less than "Amercan"--
A meme highly exploitable given Obama's "otherness".
The tragedy of Obama is not his aloofness or distaste for the crumby mediocrities that populate Congress--it's that forthrightness and truth-telling are anathema to the American people. And since Vietnam, the happy-talk and amnesia-inducing rhetoric have hatched these "roosting chickens".
So we applaud the brave sacrifice and say we've concluded our mission in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush and Cheney left Obama with a booby-trapped political nightmare from which he almost escaped. Because to tell the truth about these catastrophes makes you radioactive. And even to tell some of the truth about them (as Obama did) makes you appear less than "Amercan"--
A meme highly exploitable given Obama's "otherness".
The tragedy of Obama is not his aloofness or distaste for the crumby mediocrities that populate Congress--it's that forthrightness and truth-telling are anathema to the American people. And since Vietnam, the happy-talk and amnesia-inducing rhetoric have hatched these "roosting chickens".
75
Clinton was right.
Obama would have been right too.
Globalization ultimately good for US.
But should have learned from Nafta how to prevent
further destruction of our middle class along the way.
If you can't beat them join them and then produce the goods they
need and want and feed them better then ever.
Who wants to fly in a plane built in PRC?
But our petty pols out do themselves.
This Congress takes the cake.
Obama would have been right too.
Globalization ultimately good for US.
But should have learned from Nafta how to prevent
further destruction of our middle class along the way.
If you can't beat them join them and then produce the goods they
need and want and feed them better then ever.
Who wants to fly in a plane built in PRC?
But our petty pols out do themselves.
This Congress takes the cake.
11
Ms Dowd is emphasizing personal relationship over
substance of trade deal. President has not made a
good case about this deal except to say that if we
don't make the rules China will. It seems more like
a political pact than an economic one. We already have
a free deal with Canada and Mexico-our largest trading
partners with trade of $1.2Trillion. Next big is Japan
with $200Billion. Negotiate a separate deal with that
country. Peru, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia don't have
significant trade and their economies are not big
enough for potential growth. The job creation is a
mirage and job losses are a real possibility. Democrats
understood the substance without knowing the details
of TPP negotiations. Good they supported common men.
Regarding Iraq it is well to remmeber Gen Powell's
famous statement: if we break humpty dumpty we
own it. He is compelled to have token involvement
but it is difficult to put humpty dumpty back together.
substance of trade deal. President has not made a
good case about this deal except to say that if we
don't make the rules China will. It seems more like
a political pact than an economic one. We already have
a free deal with Canada and Mexico-our largest trading
partners with trade of $1.2Trillion. Next big is Japan
with $200Billion. Negotiate a separate deal with that
country. Peru, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia don't have
significant trade and their economies are not big
enough for potential growth. The job creation is a
mirage and job losses are a real possibility. Democrats
understood the substance without knowing the details
of TPP negotiations. Good they supported common men.
Regarding Iraq it is well to remmeber Gen Powell's
famous statement: if we break humpty dumpty we
own it. He is compelled to have token involvement
but it is difficult to put humpty dumpty back together.
20
It is pretty easy to pass the bucket of blame to Obama for his "un-involvement", aloofness and unwillingness to schmooze the Congress as the reason things are not getting done and Democratic agendas are not being successful.
Naive as I may be, the "blame" should rest with us. We, the voters, have inhaled the smoke of flaming rhetoric which froze our feet on the way to the polls and elected legislators we got I don't think we wanted.
WE dropped the ball because we did not keep the pressure on our Congress to (1) act on gun control issues (dare I say caved to the monetary pressure of the NRA?); (2) take a stand on the Middle East and ISIS (they instead invited Netanyahu to appropriate our national pulpit for his political campaign; (3) do the jobs the were elected to do, including bring Presidential appointments of judges to the floor for consideration, much less voting; (4) waste our time and money by bringing "repeal Obamacare" bills to a vote more than 50 times; (5) either ignored or destroyed legislation that would have created jobs (the Keystone Pipeline does not build long term employment and carries its own issues.)
So while I don't think Obama is completely the shining star I thought he was, he has kept afloat our national boat, riddles as it is with leaks that WE put there. Let's stop bashing him Maureen. He is not a candidate who is running for office, but a president who has accomplished much during a difficult time with little support from us,
Naive as I may be, the "blame" should rest with us. We, the voters, have inhaled the smoke of flaming rhetoric which froze our feet on the way to the polls and elected legislators we got I don't think we wanted.
WE dropped the ball because we did not keep the pressure on our Congress to (1) act on gun control issues (dare I say caved to the monetary pressure of the NRA?); (2) take a stand on the Middle East and ISIS (they instead invited Netanyahu to appropriate our national pulpit for his political campaign; (3) do the jobs the were elected to do, including bring Presidential appointments of judges to the floor for consideration, much less voting; (4) waste our time and money by bringing "repeal Obamacare" bills to a vote more than 50 times; (5) either ignored or destroyed legislation that would have created jobs (the Keystone Pipeline does not build long term employment and carries its own issues.)
So while I don't think Obama is completely the shining star I thought he was, he has kept afloat our national boat, riddles as it is with leaks that WE put there. Let's stop bashing him Maureen. He is not a candidate who is running for office, but a president who has accomplished much during a difficult time with little support from us,
80
One more example of a failed Presidency. So much promise 7 years ago and so little progress. Obama has shown himself to be "all hat and no cattle"
19
Yes i am surprised Obama went along with another failure trade deal designed for Corporations. However the foreign stuff , you are being unfair and uninformed. Shia-Sunni. Been going on for 1000 years. Bush and his group installed Maliki and upheld him. Obama inherited him. Remember, once elected he was a "democratically elected " government and we had no right to interfere with a "soverign " nations acts. This was the reason #200 why we entered the war, to allow a democratic government. Remember? Rumsfield seem to be forgetting his role. So Obama had no real control. Also, it was Bush who signed the agreement to withdraw,Obama inherited this and was unable to turn it around. ISIS? it was the result of Saudi,Turkey, and others, with our approval. giving money and Arms the the rebels in Syria who were mainly ISIS and Al Queda. Yes, we looked the other way hoping the Sunni types would defeat the shia types (as Iran is shia). No, this mess was long in the making and we must accept we started it up with our invasion and now no one can control it except the people in the area. We are spectators.
25
The media/pundit narrative that a President of any party needs to coddle a member of Congress in order for them to do their job is absurd. I don't pay Congressional salaries for them to sit on the Truman balcony, sip whiskey and break bread. They are elected to do a job. It's a tough, serious world Congress, grow up.
230
Maureen Dowd indeed brings Obama's chickens home to roost. There's a lot of them, too. Mr. Obama doesn't offer lifts in his limo to Congress people or lifts to concerns of American workers about lost money and benefits as a result of his trade bill. He doesn't see fit to grease the wheels at the Capital with some socializing as he doesn't socialize with Americans via TV to allay their anxieties about this bill. Much of it, reclusively, he keeps in secret. Not new. He disdained keeping on top of the ACA as it moved through Congress, failing to make sure it would emerge without major snafus, both electronic and in syntax. However, the most troubling accusation by Ms. Dowd is that Mr. Obama is waging a cosmetic war against ISIS, doing just enough to avoid being criticized for doing nothing while telling us almost nothing about what he's doing there. We can't assess his strategy or our involvement there. That attitude could lead to a very large chicken coming home to roost in the future.
10
I am an ordinary American worker who is ecstatic that President Obama's Trade Pact got scuttled. Thank you Democrats and some Republicans. But that's where I stop agreeing with you Ms Dowd. Politics should'nt be about schmoozing, kneading, whipping and horse-trading to pass legislation. It should be about policy discussions and coming to a consensus about what is good for our country. Yes, the President's agenda was checked and balanced this time because the legislators could not be deaf to the roar of disapproval from our citizenry. I just wish Congress behaved the same way during the last Presidency. The difference it would have made! And the difference it would have made If the real winner, Al Gore was at the helm. Ah! What's the use crying over spilled milk!
14
Obama has not been a bad domestic-issue president. His Affordable Health Care Act, no matter your position on it, is historic and took great skill to enact.
However, his international positions and policies have been tragic. While "ending the wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan, to satisfy his out-of-touch and often "know nothing" Party left wing, the President has failed to even articulate a coherent response to the rise of Islamic fascism, catering again to his Party's left wing's fear of being labeled "Islamophobes."
The President's recent pacific trade agreement's defeat in Congress should make us all think many times before affording this Administration carte blanche in giving up American security, let alone that of Israel, to promises of an Iranian theocracy which even our own CIA recently proclaimed the "world's largest state sponsor " of Islamic fascism and terror.
However, his international positions and policies have been tragic. While "ending the wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan, to satisfy his out-of-touch and often "know nothing" Party left wing, the President has failed to even articulate a coherent response to the rise of Islamic fascism, catering again to his Party's left wing's fear of being labeled "Islamophobes."
The President's recent pacific trade agreement's defeat in Congress should make us all think many times before affording this Administration carte blanche in giving up American security, let alone that of Israel, to promises of an Iranian theocracy which even our own CIA recently proclaimed the "world's largest state sponsor " of Islamic fascism and terror.
5
Just like a lot of readers and commenters, I want to object to Ms. Dowd's premises and, also, her tone when she disses the President. However, on her two topics today, the trade bill and the handling of ISIS, she's absolutely right. As much as I am a supporter of Obama, he surely could have arm-twisted a few more votes on the trade bill if he had spent some time with the troops in Congress over the past six years. And on ISIS--we don't have to convince anyone that there is no strategy because Obama has said so publicly a couple times.
But I am a supporter of Obama. I think his intellectual approach to politics gives hope that this country will retain the respect that it has gained during his term. His ideals and his innate character and accomplishments outweigh his miscalculations and his mistakes. What rankles in today's column and others that are harshly critical of the President is the unwillingness to acknowledge those accomplishments--and to correct your implication, for example, that the the trade bill is his legacy when it surely is the ACA that will be remembered as his singular achievement. Surely a writer can understand the importance of context, Ms. Dowd?
But I am a supporter of Obama. I think his intellectual approach to politics gives hope that this country will retain the respect that it has gained during his term. His ideals and his innate character and accomplishments outweigh his miscalculations and his mistakes. What rankles in today's column and others that are harshly critical of the President is the unwillingness to acknowledge those accomplishments--and to correct your implication, for example, that the the trade bill is his legacy when it surely is the ACA that will be remembered as his singular achievement. Surely a writer can understand the importance of context, Ms. Dowd?
28
For TV chestnuts we can hardly do better than the kicker of every episode of "The Life of Riley," featuring the hapless protagonist played by William Bendix who despite his every attempt to do better, winds up muttering the capstone, "what a revolting development this is." It is revolting, yes, and has many authors.
1
Let's be honest here, Mr Obama has never played well with others and his insincere attempts at it this late in his presidency are just pathetic. He should look back at Tip O'Neill's comment about all politics being local and understand that genuine and sincere partnerships with those on both sides of the aisle are what makes a legacy of greatness. A little late for that now..
11
So the specifics of the policy don't really matter. What really matters is how friendly the president is with congress. Maybe we should have a kitten as president and a puppy for vice president (according to Dowd).
13
I think recent events say more about the Democratic Party, than Barack Obama (as much as Ms. Dowd likes to slam the president). Most chatter is about the schisms in the GOP, but there are splits just as great on the Democrat side. This time the Lefty/Environmentalists/Unions won. But a party that can't communicate with its' leader and come up with a legislative solution is a party that is certainly not guaranteed a presidential win in 2016. I don't know if Hillary Clinton is any better at herding the cats, but she better learn how quickly.
7
Thanks for your bi - annual list of failures and accomplishments of this president.
As I write I am listening to Mitt Romney and Chuck Todd.
I rest my case.
Sticking with the Dems.
As I write I am listening to Mitt Romney and Chuck Todd.
I rest my case.
Sticking with the Dems.
32
As Theodore Roosevelt reminds us:
It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
The famous Man in the Arena quote is meant as an attack on skeptics “of lettered leisure” who, cloistered together in academia, “sneer” at anyone who tries to make the real world better.
http://lifeamongtheordinary.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-main-in-arena-part-...
It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
The famous Man in the Arena quote is meant as an attack on skeptics “of lettered leisure” who, cloistered together in academia, “sneer” at anyone who tries to make the real world better.
http://lifeamongtheordinary.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-main-in-arena-part-...
16
"A flustered Nancy Pelosi abruptly and stunningly deserted Obama..."
In one article after another, the NY Times has affixed this narrative frame of democrats abandoning Obama when it's obvious to anyone with the slightest capacity for observation that when Obama aligns with a cluster of the most toxic establishment republicans in order to push a secretive, sinister package of corporate give-aways designed to undermine if not outright nullify democratic principles and processes, that it is Obama who has abandoned the democrats -- abandoned and betrayed them along with everyone else who, having believed what Obama professed on the campaign trail, voted for his administration to halt such Washington sell-outs, not expand them.
In one article after another, the NY Times has affixed this narrative frame of democrats abandoning Obama when it's obvious to anyone with the slightest capacity for observation that when Obama aligns with a cluster of the most toxic establishment republicans in order to push a secretive, sinister package of corporate give-aways designed to undermine if not outright nullify democratic principles and processes, that it is Obama who has abandoned the democrats -- abandoned and betrayed them along with everyone else who, having believed what Obama professed on the campaign trail, voted for his administration to halt such Washington sell-outs, not expand them.
19
I can see where people are upset with Obama given that unemployment has only been lowered 6.3% so far under his tenure. At least that's according to the true U6 numbers.
9
"[T]he most murderous terrorists on the face of the earth."
That's not really true. The people of the Middle East simply have something to fight for. When Americans have something to fight for, they are at least just as murderous. Has there ever been an act so terrorizing as the nuking of Japan or the firebombing of Dresden? Has any battle ever been as murderous as the Civil War? The intelligent people of the world still shudder over that internecine blood bath.
Thus, the real question is whether what is being fought for in the Middle East is something America needs or has to fight for.
Obviously, W and his cronies stepped into it. And as Collin Powell noted, "You break it, you bought it," so we are kind of stuck.
However, this does not mean that we should be imperialistic. There is a solution. To get there, we have to take everyone's position seriously. This includes stopping with the demonizing of the people who are opposed to American activities. If they are willing to die for what they believe in, we should at least give some thought to what they believe in. That is the only way we will ever get to understanding the situation.
If we are going to achieve peace through strength, we should also try to achieve strength through peace. Peace is generally the product of shared prosperity.
We've tried killing. It hasn't worked, and it won't work. We should think about trying something else, even if we have to continue killing in the short term.
That's not really true. The people of the Middle East simply have something to fight for. When Americans have something to fight for, they are at least just as murderous. Has there ever been an act so terrorizing as the nuking of Japan or the firebombing of Dresden? Has any battle ever been as murderous as the Civil War? The intelligent people of the world still shudder over that internecine blood bath.
Thus, the real question is whether what is being fought for in the Middle East is something America needs or has to fight for.
Obviously, W and his cronies stepped into it. And as Collin Powell noted, "You break it, you bought it," so we are kind of stuck.
However, this does not mean that we should be imperialistic. There is a solution. To get there, we have to take everyone's position seriously. This includes stopping with the demonizing of the people who are opposed to American activities. If they are willing to die for what they believe in, we should at least give some thought to what they believe in. That is the only way we will ever get to understanding the situation.
If we are going to achieve peace through strength, we should also try to achieve strength through peace. Peace is generally the product of shared prosperity.
We've tried killing. It hasn't worked, and it won't work. We should think about trying something else, even if we have to continue killing in the short term.
18
I have no issue with critiquing individual actions of this president--and all of them. But I look at the difficulties he has faced (is he out there "in the wild" because he wants to be or because he's been pushed there), and I look at his character and example (not a whiff of scandal, not a whiff of moral failing, at least on the personal level, whatever one thinks of drones and the war on terror), and I look at a country that was reeling economically and in many ways in 2008, and I see it stabilized. Not much glamour in making a patient stable, but given our desperate straits when he took office, I think Ms. Dowd gives very little credit where it's due.
63
Has there been another time in American history when an American political party announced it would oppose the president on all issues in order to bring him down? Treason?
After 8 years of vilifying and undermining the president on all issues, the continued and repeated overkill of a president ending his term is the desperate call of racists attempting to smear any possibility of a black man leaving a legacy of success.
How can the press be so consistently and easily present treason and racism as reasonable logical discussions?
After 8 years of vilifying and undermining the president on all issues, the continued and repeated overkill of a president ending his term is the desperate call of racists attempting to smear any possibility of a black man leaving a legacy of success.
How can the press be so consistently and easily present treason and racism as reasonable logical discussions?
37
Anyone out there remember the concept of the "common good"? Obviously no one in D.C. does. Today, party loyalty trumps doing what's best for the entire country with compromise and a grasp of consequences flung out the window. Partisanship, pandering to special interests, power grabs and political games and the public...the folks that pay the bills and shed the blood be damned. The American people deserve better.
18
I still prefer Obama at the helm over any of the republicans, especially when I consider the damage done by the republicans on the supreme court.
55
This column is yet the latest installment in Maureen Dowd's ongoing saga of "Billary, Barry & Bush".
I cut President Obama some slack on the TPP issue. This is a bad bill, focused mainly on intellectual property rights. The Congressional Democrats did Obama a favor by defeating this bill. I think he may even have purposely taken a hit on this issue in order to strengthen the position of Congressional Democrats with the party's base.
And like many other posters here, I question the media's obsessive focus on the "who wins, who loses" and "legacy" aspects of this matter. The focus of the reporting should be on whether or not this is a good bill in the interest of ordinary Americans.
I cut President Obama some slack on the TPP issue. This is a bad bill, focused mainly on intellectual property rights. The Congressional Democrats did Obama a favor by defeating this bill. I think he may even have purposely taken a hit on this issue in order to strengthen the position of Congressional Democrats with the party's base.
And like many other posters here, I question the media's obsessive focus on the "who wins, who loses" and "legacy" aspects of this matter. The focus of the reporting should be on whether or not this is a good bill in the interest of ordinary Americans.
36
I've got a few problems with this piece:
Democrats in Congress are ignoring the pressure China is putting on the US in the Pacific Rim. If we don't work out a true and lasting pact we will lose sway in Asia. The Democrats in congress are guilty of only seeing the short-term electoral cycle, not the long-term benefits for the US. Obama has nothing to lose as he put forth an economic and foreign policy plan that can position the US to be a partner in the long-term with a growing market in Asia. Bear in mind, China does not play by the rules and does not care about American prosperity. So the more alliances with have in Asia the better.
Democrats in Congress are ignoring the pressure China is putting on the US in the Pacific Rim. If we don't work out a true and lasting pact we will lose sway in Asia. The Democrats in congress are guilty of only seeing the short-term electoral cycle, not the long-term benefits for the US. Obama has nothing to lose as he put forth an economic and foreign policy plan that can position the US to be a partner in the long-term with a growing market in Asia. Bear in mind, China does not play by the rules and does not care about American prosperity. So the more alliances with have in Asia the better.
10
The coalition that is fighting and promised to destroy ISIS has killed 10k and how many american lives have been lost? And didn't Obama say it would be long fight? Just because we are not engaging in a ground war and committing thousands of troops does not mean Obama is trying to push this fight off to the next president and protect his legacy.
Also, anyone who compares the political world of today with the years of Tip O'Neal or LBJ is mistaken. The amount of money from special interests and the never ending media news circus...errr..cycle, especially with the emergence of cable TV and the internet, has made the impact of 'hobnobbing' on policy outcomes far less important. Decisions are made by politicians based less and less on personal relationships and more on what is going to be in the next 24 hours news cycle and how will that effect their campaign coffers.
The real story is that Democrats congressman/women made a calculation that the money from labor would have more of an impact than support from Obama in the next election. It didn't work out well for them in 2014 when they ran from Obama...i expect the same in 2016.
Also, anyone who compares the political world of today with the years of Tip O'Neal or LBJ is mistaken. The amount of money from special interests and the never ending media news circus...errr..cycle, especially with the emergence of cable TV and the internet, has made the impact of 'hobnobbing' on policy outcomes far less important. Decisions are made by politicians based less and less on personal relationships and more on what is going to be in the next 24 hours news cycle and how will that effect their campaign coffers.
The real story is that Democrats congressman/women made a calculation that the money from labor would have more of an impact than support from Obama in the next election. It didn't work out well for them in 2014 when they ran from Obama...i expect the same in 2016.
34
In January 2009 Obama had a Democratic Congress and people were talking about a new FDR, the anti-Reagan, who was going to reverse the last 30 years of economic policy. By June 2015 he has not only lost both houses of Congresses, he's lost his own minority party's support. The competing explanations seem to be: (1) Obama's personality flaws and political incompetence or (2) intractable opposition from Republicans. It was probably both.
13
Dear Maureen,
You and your companion columnists have got to stop debasing the colorful language of politics.
a 'Lame Duck' is a person still in office till the end of his/her term but who has been defeated in a recent election.
Obama is not a lame duck. He never was and never will be.
Cut it out.
You and your companion columnists have got to stop debasing the colorful language of politics.
a 'Lame Duck' is a person still in office till the end of his/her term but who has been defeated in a recent election.
Obama is not a lame duck. He never was and never will be.
Cut it out.
81
History will record him simply as "The Asterisk". His legacy: the first person of color to be President of the United States of America. As Porky Pig used to say: "That's all, Folks!"
23
Like the media in general, Ms. Dowd frames the narrative of the trade agreement vote as Democrats betraying the President. The reality is that President Obama's advocacy of this bill is a betrayal of the Democrats and of the platform upon which he sought the presidency.
39
Ingenuous and unfair. I'm with the Democracts not Obama on this issue, but believe he was acting sincerely, if with less-than-perfect skill. Unfortunately for the USA, skillful Presidents don't come around that often.
19
I'm saddened that Maureen isn't focusing more on the clown car that are the 2016 Presidential candidates. This article seems a bit like old news, with a dash of bitterness thrown in. Obama is a disappointment to most liberals -- got it. Obama doesn't schmooze like other politicos -- got it. Obama has turned out to be more centrist than he promised -- got it. But we can hardly put him in the same category of ineptness as Bush.
Now ask yourself what the alternatives were for POTUS. McCain -- imagine where that would leave us today; deep in wars, deep in debt, deeply demoralized. Romney? Undoubtedly even further down the path to prediction with Wall Street, Republican nut-job ideas, and a White House so out-of-touch with Americans that it's hard to imagine any good coming of it.
So take a Lucas McCain point of view: Choices have consequences. Choose wisely.
Now ask yourself what the alternatives were for POTUS. McCain -- imagine where that would leave us today; deep in wars, deep in debt, deeply demoralized. Romney? Undoubtedly even further down the path to prediction with Wall Street, Republican nut-job ideas, and a White House so out-of-touch with Americans that it's hard to imagine any good coming of it.
So take a Lucas McCain point of view: Choices have consequences. Choose wisely.
68
Here's a Pollyanna-ish take on Obama's ineffectuality:
Pick the worst Republican contender you can think of, actually winning in 2016. Some anti-intellectual, science denying, religious fundamentalist who has a majority in the House and Senate, and who vows to roll the country back into a medieval theocracy. Guess what? He ain't gonna get what he wants either!
The only folks who have gotten, and will continue to get their way, are the 0.1% of plutocrats who already run the place.
It almost makes you want to throw up your hands and stop voting. But I won't.
Pick the worst Republican contender you can think of, actually winning in 2016. Some anti-intellectual, science denying, religious fundamentalist who has a majority in the House and Senate, and who vows to roll the country back into a medieval theocracy. Guess what? He ain't gonna get what he wants either!
The only folks who have gotten, and will continue to get their way, are the 0.1% of plutocrats who already run the place.
It almost makes you want to throw up your hands and stop voting. But I won't.
38
I want a President who will put his/her foot on the necks of the pharmaceutical insustry -- and save us poor American slobs the outrageous price gouging on medications (including generics!)
And get out of the Middle East entirely. Once we make it clear that we wash our hands of them, I'll bet dollars to donuts that Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, and whoever else actually LIVES in their neck of the woods might actually step up and use their own reaources to combat, contain, or eliminate this scourge.
And get out of the Middle East entirely. Once we make it clear that we wash our hands of them, I'll bet dollars to donuts that Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran, and whoever else actually LIVES in their neck of the woods might actually step up and use their own reaources to combat, contain, or eliminate this scourge.
27
Anyone with a moment of clarity and perspective has got to have come to this conclusion long ago. We sent a child to do a man's job.
22
That we could not pass gun control legislation, when the idea had 90% voter approval, is more a statement about the corporate stranglehold on our "representative government" than anything Obama did or did not do.
55
Rep. Hear there people. And there people said no way to this TPP. That. Simple.
4
The US has gotten so many things backward in recent years I doubt anyone can straighten it out. It doesn't even understand the basic theory of its own constitution, and the law of contracts it is derived from.
13
The whole premise of this oped is absurd in suggesting any notion of greatness being in reach for this president. His legacy is to be the worst president in the history of the United States.
13
I often think back to the kerfuffle over Obama not wanting to wear an American flag pin on his lapel when he was running for president. One could argue all day about how insignificant the gesture was..and yet he mounted this convoluted defense about how he didn't feel he had to publicly express his love for America in this way. He eventually acquiesced, no doubt after some advisor told him to just swallow his pride and get on with it. Let's face it, the man simply doesn't like to do what he doesn't like to do- and that includes relationship building with congress and foreign leaders. One can sense his passive-aggressive attitude about the day to day requirements of being president. Maybe he didn't read the entire job description when he applied.
19
Not much of a politician true.
But his heart is pure.
But his heart is pure.
12
Conservatives love to bash Barack Obama. Just read these comments under Ms. Dowd's column. But something is only as good as what it's compared to.
Now compare Barack Obama to George W. Bush.
Conservatives love to end their comments with the words, "Nuff said."
Well, Nuff said.
Now compare Barack Obama to George W. Bush.
Conservatives love to end their comments with the words, "Nuff said."
Well, Nuff said.
48
Hah!
Obama's argument is that he is only doing what other presidents before him have done.
He campaigned that he would not be like other presidents. He would have the most transparent, ethical administration in history.
The fact is that he has exceeded all the presidents who came before him. Exceeded them in deception, prevarication, and arrogance.
Obama's argument is that he is only doing what other presidents before him have done.
He campaigned that he would not be like other presidents. He would have the most transparent, ethical administration in history.
The fact is that he has exceeded all the presidents who came before him. Exceeded them in deception, prevarication, and arrogance.
19
The sight of Democrats smartening up and acting independent is a welcome change and hope for our country.
31
Clinton's legacy is that of a philandering schmoozer; Bush, an amiable loafer. Obama could have benefitted from two of these characteristics - he could have displayed amiable schmoozing with Congress - instead he chose a path of smugness and aloofness that will define his legacy. What began as "Hope and Change" is ending with "Disappointment and Gridlock"
9
This article shows once again why TV shows are such a poor guide to understanding life. When Obama was first elected, it was clear that he would have to govern cautiously, and in the interest of his corporate donors. This he has largely done.
Perhaps the railroads, the banks and the meatpackers didn't show up as romantic characters in Maureen's childhood viewing, but they won in the end.
Perhaps the railroads, the banks and the meatpackers didn't show up as romantic characters in Maureen's childhood viewing, but they won in the end.
10
I agree with the central point about Obama's fabled detachment. But Dowd doesn't mention the much more important reason the Dems abandoned their leader: The party base of unions, anti-globalists and across-the-board anti- (or highly-suspicious-of) corporate interests, fueled by a totally understood wariness after NAFTA caused the implosion of US manufacturing.
The president found himself closely allied with C of C, Main St., big-capitalist & laissez-faire free-market Republicans. It's happened before; e.g., one Johnson bucking his GOP on Reconstruction; another Johnson bucking his Southern base on civil rights; fury over Clinton returning Elio Gonzales; many others.
The president found himself closely allied with C of C, Main St., big-capitalist & laissez-faire free-market Republicans. It's happened before; e.g., one Johnson bucking his GOP on Reconstruction; another Johnson bucking his Southern base on civil rights; fury over Clinton returning Elio Gonzales; many others.
2
Not only are Congressional Democrats weary of supporting a president who has used them up until exhaustion, his loyal press corp is peeling away, too. Ineffective at best, incompetent at worse, Mr Obama has put himself on an island where he has lost influence for the duration. Crossing the isle to make Paul Ryan his best friend on trade is a woeful harbinger. Maureen, I love the Prufrock reference. Is the president a "pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of silent seas?" Becoming that irrelevant?
3
In secular France there is something we really dislike: preachers. Where there is a fraud in Obama there it was for everyone to see front and center in his speeches, in his communication style from the beginning. I did not like what I saw then and it is unfolding badly. I would have want Hillary to win instead as I thought that she was a terrific and powerful lively politician compared the pomposity of Obama. Why did so many smart got carried away by Obama? In many ways he was just a bubble month. So was G W. We were on a roll.
3
"At this pivotal moment for his legacy at home and abroad, his future reputation is mortgaged to past neglect," columnist Dowd writes of President Obama's recent - and relatively minor - setbacks with Congress.
Ridiculous. President Obama's legacy is very secure. History will remember that the largest economy in the world was rescued from the brink on President Obama's watch and that the US took a major step toward joining other first world countries in providing national health care. Apparently Ms. Dowd was too busy watching re-runs of "Tje Rifleman" to notice.
Ridiculous. President Obama's legacy is very secure. History will remember that the largest economy in the world was rescued from the brink on President Obama's watch and that the US took a major step toward joining other first world countries in providing national health care. Apparently Ms. Dowd was too busy watching re-runs of "Tje Rifleman" to notice.
14
No president in my memory has been more successful in implementing his agenda. Unfortunately his agenda was to destroy America and every system in it. The o'bama legacy is intact.
12
Speaking of a failed Presidency, how could you have left out the fact that income inequality has gotten dramatically worse under Obama? Thanks to Obama's support for the largest banks, enabling them to recapitalize at very low borrowing rates, Wall Streeters make as much money as they've ever made. Wasn't undoing this a primary reason for his candidacy? He will leave office with economic inequality worse than ever, and no one can be blamed other than Obama.
11
For a brief period, Obama seemed like he was becoming more popular, not only with his own demographic that elected him twice, (The Hope and Change crowd), but many who were never a fan. I now get the feeling, try as he may on a bunch of issues, historians may determine a Jimmy Carter comparison. Now Hillary and Bill will inherit mostly un-resolved issues, and zero foreign policy. Pushing another trade deal, after what people are enduring with no wage gians, and a history exporting jobs, boggles one's mind.
4
It is interesting how the corporations which spurned American workers for years, now want the support of politicians who represented those workers, in the cause of "free trade". Likewise, the party of the corporate moguls, the Republican Party, needs Democratic votes to prevent even more economic power shifting from the U.S. to China. You reap what you sow. We suffered through decades of "free trade", and it will take decades of policy reversals to restore vitality to the American economy.
As for Iraq, President Obama should have followed his initial instincts and ended that war as soon as possible. Defending Iraq is a very low priority in a world where two nuclear superpowers, China and Russia, are cyber-attacking us daily and on the move with their aggressive military machines.
As for Iraq, President Obama should have followed his initial instincts and ended that war as soon as possible. Defending Iraq is a very low priority in a world where two nuclear superpowers, China and Russia, are cyber-attacking us daily and on the move with their aggressive military machines.
7
Union opposition may have helped to swing some Democratic votes in the House, but it was more a case of the Party's left wing political leadership standing up against the trade deal that led to its (at least temporary) defeat.
Sadly, our labor unions have been so marginalized over the past couple of decades that they seldom can be credited or blamed for any legislative result in the political realm.
Sadly, our labor unions have been so marginalized over the past couple of decades that they seldom can be credited or blamed for any legislative result in the political realm.
5
An Opinion piece that presented a (short) list of criticalproblems for our nation is much more valuable than one focusing on the obvious weaknesses of the people our voters have elected.
At least, in my opinion.
My list (glad you asked ) includes
1. Developing broad citizen involvement in political discussion and voting.
2. Minimizing gerrymandering.
3. Discussion of the role of the U.S. in world affairs: "the" superpower vs one of the community of naions vs...
4. Revamping our laws to reduce economic inequality and the influence of the powerful and the wealthy over politicians.
5. Sustainability (including overconsumption) in an over human populated world, that has been pushed beyond its carrying capacity.
6. Promoting the good life for all citizens and for our society as a whole, rather than just a job to buy fast food and toys (houses, cars, etc). (Discussing what a "good life" might be to different people is the basic action).
I guess all of these (and many others) follow from the jewish principle, "Don't do to another what you don't want done to you".
I am interested in other people's critical issue lists...
At least, in my opinion.
My list (glad you asked ) includes
1. Developing broad citizen involvement in political discussion and voting.
2. Minimizing gerrymandering.
3. Discussion of the role of the U.S. in world affairs: "the" superpower vs one of the community of naions vs...
4. Revamping our laws to reduce economic inequality and the influence of the powerful and the wealthy over politicians.
5. Sustainability (including overconsumption) in an over human populated world, that has been pushed beyond its carrying capacity.
6. Promoting the good life for all citizens and for our society as a whole, rather than just a job to buy fast food and toys (houses, cars, etc). (Discussing what a "good life" might be to different people is the basic action).
I guess all of these (and many others) follow from the jewish principle, "Don't do to another what you don't want done to you".
I am interested in other people's critical issue lists...
9
Apparently, We The People cannot make up our minds whether we want a bully or a negotiator for a President. Whichever one we have at a given time, we clamor for the other. We do seem to be in general agreement that We Are # 1 (USA! USA!) and it's the job of our President (whether by threatening or negotiating) to make sure all other countries share that belief and do whatever we decide is in our interest.
We The People also cannot decide what kind of foreign policy we want. Trade across the Pacific will happen with or without us. We can choose to play or be played. Different religious and ethnic groups in Europe and Asia will fight each other with or without us. Some in other countries will demand US "leadership" (aka US blood and treasure) one day and decry US interference the next. Either way the defense industry is laughing all the way to its offshore banks, and its representatives among our elected officials will not complain.
Do we really want the kind of arm-twisting and backroom dealing from this President that was the legacy of previous "strong" Presidents? And do we really want a legislature that needs to be bullied or bribed into doing its job?
This President will be gone in two short years (and his legacy will look a lot better in hindsight) but we will be stuck with the same recalcitrant legislature for ever (except when they leave to become lobbyists for the same special interests that got them elected).
We The People also cannot decide what kind of foreign policy we want. Trade across the Pacific will happen with or without us. We can choose to play or be played. Different religious and ethnic groups in Europe and Asia will fight each other with or without us. Some in other countries will demand US "leadership" (aka US blood and treasure) one day and decry US interference the next. Either way the defense industry is laughing all the way to its offshore banks, and its representatives among our elected officials will not complain.
Do we really want the kind of arm-twisting and backroom dealing from this President that was the legacy of previous "strong" Presidents? And do we really want a legislature that needs to be bullied or bribed into doing its job?
This President will be gone in two short years (and his legacy will look a lot better in hindsight) but we will be stuck with the same recalcitrant legislature for ever (except when they leave to become lobbyists for the same special interests that got them elected).
12
We voted for him because we liked his message and once elected, we rolled over and went back to sleep, a sleep of denial, and hoped he's solve our problems for us. We abandoned him instead of listening and supporting him. That enough Americans keep the Republican Party a viable (and destructive) force in our government only makes me believe that President Obama (flaws and all) is not worthy of such a clueless, uneducated, greedy population.
We have the government we deserve; the last midterm election proved that deep down, we couldn't care less about participating in our democratic process.
We have the government we deserve; the last midterm election proved that deep down, we couldn't care less about participating in our democratic process.
25
Eighth paragraph smacks of the bad old days of good old boy politics. So nineteenth (the Rifleman's own) century! I prefer the President's style because it requires responsibility to good ideas, dare I say ideals. By the way, billions has been spent, with vast damage to to environment and society, and very few American lives lost, in this latest attempt to limit our involvement to air strikes and advisers.
10
President Obama's greatness has been flickering since he began. He burned brightest in 2008 as the reformer and great speech maker of that Presidential campaign. After that his presidency's have been underwhelming and full of compromise and retreats to the safe world of the American Elites. He let the nation down, he let the people down, his health care bill was an insurance company bill, his retreat from war was a fraud, his use of drones a disaster, this trade bill would have been more of the same. Progressives should be congratulated for stopping fast track, but the bill will be coming back. What Obama should do is say, "I put my eggs in the wrong basket and I have changed my mind." I imagine he thinks himself too great to do this.
12
While he has flaws, Obama remains the only president in my lifetime (70) that uses his brain to govern. He shuns the political reflex to posture for electorate. His thinking is long term.
I shudder to think what would happen if McCain, Perry, etc. were to be elected. They have no appreciation for history and how it's lessons should be applied to governance.
However, it remains a pity that he does not recognize that legislation is still a "team sport".
I shudder to think what would happen if McCain, Perry, etc. were to be elected. They have no appreciation for history and how it's lessons should be applied to governance.
However, it remains a pity that he does not recognize that legislation is still a "team sport".
27
Pelosi turning her back on the Trade deal smells like the Bernie factor to me, something the Corporate Democrats did not count on. Trade deals and military decisions seem for quite some time to be made by the bankers, auto and pharmaceutical CEO's and whatever "deal" is best for business. Senators are bought and paid for, and Presidents are packaged. Regardless, this President was intelligent, respectful of his electorate, never embarrassed me. I am proud of him and all he did, and all he tried to accomplish.
31
Obama has tendency to blame the others for his shortcomings and ineptitude, for that he should be thankful for the Republicans they provided a good cover for him. This really looks like the end of the Wizard of Oz, the movie.
10
It's not Obama's lack of schmoozing that caused a failure in Congress. It is that his objective abrogates fundamental Democratic principles. TPP would be a disaster for America's economy (e.g., the economy of America's 99%). With its private tribunals that would enable multinational corporations to rescind our environmental, health and safety laws, one can only hope that no amount of future schmoozing will gain support for the TPP.
10
From reading these comments, it is clear Obama supporters in the public will continue to support him no matter how badly things go. It is difficult to let go of a dream. Luckily, Democratic leaders are not so blind, and are acting according to the situation and facts.
10
Let's face it, Obama has been in over his head since day one. He has no true managerial experience whatsoever, and the failure to even *check* on the state of the ACA website before its unveiling is evidence of that.
He truly believes that he can just sit in the Oval Office, make pronunciamentos about his wishes and that it will all just come to fruition with a snap of his fingers.
He truly believes that he can just sit in the Oval Office, make pronunciamentos about his wishes and that it will all just come to fruition with a snap of his fingers.
17
Nice updated version of The Emperor has no Clothes.
12
Yesterday I toured the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall Texas, and clearly a centerpiece of the tour remarks was how frequently the President used his spread for entertaining key legislators whose votes he needed to carry his legislation. He was known to joke about his captive audience who probably would be more amenable to favoring his initiatives after big barbecues beneath the giant oaks next to the Pedernales River with plenty of Lone Star Beer. There's a lesson here for all Presidents, given that LBJ did it best.
3
President Obama knows exactly who he is and what he wants to do; no surprise there. Those who voted for him and expected a result contrary to the unfolding legacy his administration, judging by Ms Dowd's comments, as well as her peers, are the ones who are surprised.
6
This is a pretty objective assessment of Obama's somewhat feeble presidency. I am reading comments below which ascribe the problems of this presidency bad advice and bad luck. A President is responsible for the advice to which he chooses to listen and for the steering of his presidency through "Republican Recalcitrance" and "Bad Luck".
George Bush the First once said of his appointment of Souter to the Supreme Court "I appointed him, and he disappointed me. That how I feel about my vote for Obama.
George Bush the First once said of his appointment of Souter to the Supreme Court "I appointed him, and he disappointed me. That how I feel about my vote for Obama.
11
I do hope this generations of American's have learned that just because a person is articulate, but has never ran a bushiness of any kind, or had to lead people in any capacity, should not be elected to the highest office in the land.
9
Mr. Obama may have been watching reruns of another Western on that channel Ms. Dowd is watching. He may be watching "Rawhide" and thinking he can round up Congressional Democrats the way Gil Favor and Rowdy used to.
But in all seriousness, I doubt no matter how he dealt with Democrats it would have made much of a difference with such strong opposition to the trade agreement from labor unions. They can vote for what the Chamber of Commerce wants till the end of time and it isn't going to offer them support in elections.
As to Iraq, I've heard a lot of criticism that Obama's wrong but haven't heard anyone offer a realistic alternative.
But in all seriousness, I doubt no matter how he dealt with Democrats it would have made much of a difference with such strong opposition to the trade agreement from labor unions. They can vote for what the Chamber of Commerce wants till the end of time and it isn't going to offer them support in elections.
As to Iraq, I've heard a lot of criticism that Obama's wrong but haven't heard anyone offer a realistic alternative.
5
What did Maureen write about Bush when he hid out at the Texas ranch for a weeks at time. When Cheney communicated with no one but the one percent, plus big oil, and some considered him to be brilliant. Plus, Maureen forgot to criticize the fact that he had "more important" things to do, then be drafted during the Vietnam War.
Obama inherited a mess from Bush and company. And unlike the Vietnam War we truly have falling dominoes in the Middle East. With religion, opportunists, in the mix, the Middle East is truly witches brew
Obama inherited a mess from Bush and company. And unlike the Vietnam War we truly have falling dominoes in the Middle East. With religion, opportunists, in the mix, the Middle East is truly witches brew
9
Funny you would mention Bush's lack of military service (he served on the sidelines) when both Clinton and Obama had none. That being said, military service is not a prerequisite for greatness. Leadership is. And it can come about in a myriad of ways.
1
When I think of Obama, the term "greatness" would never come to mind - unless I was using it to as a measure of his failure to America.
15
Incredible - no matter how far to the right this president finds himself, it's too little and too late. It's not enough that he wants to make corporations legal rulers of the spending world; that he seeks to send more weapons and our young men into harms way; that he blithely stands by and watches as the republicans cut spending on food for the poor, handing it to big Agg.
It's just never enough, is it - he's got to be the bad guy..
It's just never enough, is it - he's got to be the bad guy..
7
Obama far to the right? What a rewrite of history!
1
Well put Ms Dowd,a President who managed to become made a lame duck as soon as he took office.But on the subject of the trade deal,it is the Democrats in Congress who should be ashamed.There is no better example of trying to push water up hill than pandering to the Unions and pretending that objections to the deal will do much for a Middle class beset by structural,secular issues resulting from limited education and obsolete skills.
2
A lot of anger and disappointment in these comments. I'm no expert but hasn't this president had more or less an impossible time of it, given the constant blocking of his every attempted move by the greed and special interests of his colleagues in DC? No amount of buddy-buddy schmoozing would have changed that; it seems that it's all about the money. It's miracle he was able to accomplish anything at all.
I'm certain most of the critics here, including the Op-Ed Columnist and any presidents to come, could do no better and probably not half as well with the same cards. The system is corrupt, maybe irrevocably. We were lucky to have Obama's equanimity at work for us; most people would have given up long ago.
I'm certain most of the critics here, including the Op-Ed Columnist and any presidents to come, could do no better and probably not half as well with the same cards. The system is corrupt, maybe irrevocably. We were lucky to have Obama's equanimity at work for us; most people would have given up long ago.
350
This president had the red carpet rolled out for him as few presidents have had before. He squandered the first two year of his presidency when he had the opportunity with a democratic congress to remake America. Problem is, even liberal democrats in Congress, don't actually want to remake America. If they did, they could have.
3
Yes, let's talk about Mr. Obama's legacy. He kept the economy from falling over a cliff after 8 years of Bush mismanagement, put into place a national health initiative that while it needs improvement is a huge step toward Medicare for All -- and tracked down and killed the man responsible for 9/11.
But please use a dated pop culture reference as a way to psychoanalyze him and his administration's failings.
But please use a dated pop culture reference as a way to psychoanalyze him and his administration's failings.
16
I think most people would say we fell over the cliff and still haven't gotten out of it.
2
Dowd's columns attract a cross section of comments akin to the fable of "the three Blind Men and the Elephant"
Those to the left of Dowd blame the previous administration, the Republicans, and their fellow, "disrespectful" Democrats, and of course Dowd.
Those to the right Blame the Democrats, "left wing press", The President's solipsistic leanings, and the left wing press, excluding Dowd.
I tend to believe that both sides are wrong (right?) here, and that this particular elephant (Trade) will be in the room for a long time to come, without either side ever being able to understand the totality.
Those to the left of Dowd blame the previous administration, the Republicans, and their fellow, "disrespectful" Democrats, and of course Dowd.
Those to the right Blame the Democrats, "left wing press", The President's solipsistic leanings, and the left wing press, excluding Dowd.
I tend to believe that both sides are wrong (right?) here, and that this particular elephant (Trade) will be in the room for a long time to come, without either side ever being able to understand the totality.
4
There are failures of every presidency but the issue here is not the tactics or lack thereof of President Obama, The issue here is the TPP and what it does to American interests and that of its people. Since negotiations have been held in "secret" we are not privy to the details but from what we do know is it only serves the interests of that new important class of people in our country the big corporate personages. Obama has always been protective of that class as has most of our politicians as they line their campaign coffers. The only speaking to the truth is Bernie Sanders.
15
Well, I can't argue with any of that.
5
I don't accept the infantile demands of the United States Congress to be molly-coddled, cajoled, and wet-nursed for them to pretty-please make an effort no-matter-how-feeble to help our desperate, devastated, and foundering society. Why is this even a thing?
10
The president apparently agrees with you. Sadly, it is a thing.
1
It will be sixteen years of two of the worst Presidents in our history to say nothing of an abominable Congress and the Supreme Court. Now, take a look at who will be running in 2 years. They used to tell us that democracies were self-correcting political systems. That's why they were better than the rest. Well, this one ain't, at least not anymore.
9
I seem to recall this president saying that he was going to take the important issues straight the American people, engage them in national debate and have a referendum on our policies. Contrast that with the man slinking around DC ballparks with homebrew desperate to make backroom deals with Republicans on a trade pact his own party despises and the rest of us cannot even read. A legacy isn't something you manufacture, a legacy is the cumulative effect your policies, principals and character had on the world. This president seems to have fewer and fewer and less and less. What a disgrace.
11
Just a detail, but it is wrong wrong wrong to blame Bremer for dismantling the Bathist Iraqi army. There is no way that a decision of this magnitude should not have been made by the planners from the moment this ill-conceived venture was conceived, not left to the spur of the moment call of an administrator who admitted his total ignorance of the local scene.
4
BHO is such a dissapointment due largely to one issue; surrounding himself with only those advisors/people with which he's "comfortable" rather than effective politically. And particularly Valerie Jarrett... Who is clueless about how to get things done in Washington. She may be a good friend, but she did him/us no favors by accepting/keeping a job for which she is ill equipped. And he gave her too much authority.
22
Obama's greatness was only in his and the main stream media's mind.
16
Possibly the worst negotiating president we've ever had. First he tried to negotiate with Republicans by insulting them and angering them, then when he finally learns to deal with them respectfully he totally angers the Democrats.
11
Over the past 6-7 years, I have been startled by how much President Obama dislikes politics. Sort of like a doctor who dislikes science and disease! It is still, to me, a head scratcher as to why he ran for president or chose politics as his vocation. The fact of the matter is that the president's relationship with Congress is vital to the health of American politics. As Ms. Dowd pointed out, the home brew beer and baseball was too little, too late!
14
Yes, absent a dictatorship, politics is compromise. The president for all of his book learning and innate intelligence has never had the ability or, apparently, the desire to work on what is needed to compromise and play the angles.
Ms. Dowd likes Yiddish; she knows schmoozing when she sees it, when it is needed and who can do it. Barry doesn't have it and therefore will forever lack the ability to be a great politician.
Ms. Dowd likes Yiddish; she knows schmoozing when she sees it, when it is needed and who can do it. Barry doesn't have it and therefore will forever lack the ability to be a great politician.
1
When you are all about "my way or the highway" as this President and most of his party are, who is shocked? Both parties and the president need to learn how to ethically wheel and deal, no one can get their way 100% of the time.
5
History - if we are even going to be history the way climate change is progressing - will be very harsh on the people and the Congress of the United States for the past two decades.
The environmental policies, the economic policies, the "defense policies", and the social policies (the bigotry for example,directed at President Barack Obama).
The environmental policies, the economic policies, the "defense policies", and the social policies (the bigotry for example,directed at President Barack Obama).
3
I'm at a complete loss to understand how anyone can be expected to support a trade agreement when its contents are kept secret.
Why doesn’t every discussion, article, press release, or mention of the TPP begin and end with this obscene, overwhelming abuse of power?
Why doesn’t every discussion, article, press release, or mention of the TPP begin and end with this obscene, overwhelming abuse of power?
16
I find it hard to blame Obama for 3000 years of sectarian hatred and violence. We need to get out of the way, stop arming these religious zealots and intervene only when our national interests are truly at risk…like when a nuclear bomb is being built. As long as the Hatfields are killing the McCoys and visa versa, we need to stay clear and stop choosing sides. We always choose the wrong side because the sides keep changing. Meanwhile, there's a pothole on the Major Deegan that really does need some attention.
2
Narcissistic leaders are among the most destructive.
7
It's obvious that the president, along with his wife, has done a wonderful job raising his two children. I wonder why he failed to apply that experience to the
children in congress.
children in congress.
2
Thank you Ms Dowd to put eligantely the gaps of Obsma's miscalculations - American president is a concept that combines the humanity and power. The display of this forces in Obzma administration is more like a chaos and less like a symphony. The basic concern of American people did not go deep into Obama's mind - why Gini index in America is almost double of that Scandinevian countries? There are fundamental policy distortions in America and Obama did not put all his energy to correct it.
Starting with Health care fight and withdrawing from Iraq we thought, Obama started correcting this anomaly. But he then started drifting - extending AfgNisthan war, planning to make Iraq another experiment of Vietnum war, putting all his energy for a trade pact where motivating force is business lobbyists, not American citizens - it seems he lost the direction. And in the way American people also, due to curse of legacy of slavery and black hatred did not help him. A glorious Presidency will end with many unfulfilled dreams.
Starting with Health care fight and withdrawing from Iraq we thought, Obama started correcting this anomaly. But he then started drifting - extending AfgNisthan war, planning to make Iraq another experiment of Vietnum war, putting all his energy for a trade pact where motivating force is business lobbyists, not American citizens - it seems he lost the direction. And in the way American people also, due to curse of legacy of slavery and black hatred did not help him. A glorious Presidency will end with many unfulfilled dreams.
1
At one level, this op-ed appears to be a simple statement (or view) of a complex situation. So it's easy for a bystander (who has no skin in the game) to criticize, isn't it?
4
Maureen, your lens has always been clearly focused on the adverse results of the President's aloofness. But it's edges have blurred your vision to possibility that this trade bill was defeated because it simply wasn't a good deal for America, and Democrats unlike their counterparts still know how to put aside party politics - and unconditional loyalty to a president or party - to do what they believe is right for America.
230
When Obama and Clinton were running for the Democratic ticket, I told my friends who are democrats that although I thought Obama had a good mind that he did not have the experience, connections, and temperament to be President.
I tried to tell them that although I am not a big Hillary fan, she did bring something to the table that he did not. That is years of inter-personal connections in DC.
Like LBJ, people have a relationship with the Clintons and in some cases owe them. I told people that when it comes to crunch time...Obama will be out in the wild alone.
When you couple the lack of connections and a personality that is more solitary and intellectual you get a President that is not going to be particularly effective.
Exactly what I thought would happen has come to pass with a loss to the country, intellectualism, and Barack Obama in the process.
I tried to tell them that although I am not a big Hillary fan, she did bring something to the table that he did not. That is years of inter-personal connections in DC.
Like LBJ, people have a relationship with the Clintons and in some cases owe them. I told people that when it comes to crunch time...Obama will be out in the wild alone.
When you couple the lack of connections and a personality that is more solitary and intellectual you get a President that is not going to be particularly effective.
Exactly what I thought would happen has come to pass with a loss to the country, intellectualism, and Barack Obama in the process.
87
I don't want to hear even a HINT of a suggestion about Obama's mishandling of the Mideast while Rumsfield, Cheney, et al are walking around as free men. They should have been charged as war criminals.
33
every time one of you libs say that the Bush admin were war criminals -- is disgusting. You may not have agreed with the war or its execution but there are no grounds for saying they were war criminals -- except the completely fabricated leftist narrative that the progressives mindlessly repeat.
Do you really want a US President or high officials charged with war crimes for doing what they thought was in America's and the world's best interests? Do you really believe that all Bush wanted was an excuse to take out Saddam?
I really don't understand you people.
Do you really want a US President or high officials charged with war crimes for doing what they thought was in America's and the world's best interests? Do you really believe that all Bush wanted was an excuse to take out Saddam?
I really don't understand you people.
MS DOWD, LET'S FACE IT . . .
...no matter what President Obama does he would be criticized by the usual suspects. As far as the Middle East goes, I suspect that doing nothing would be far better than doing something.
All of these problems emanate with "Presidents" Cheney and Rumsfeld and their gang. They left office with unsurmountable problems and Obama who had to face them did remarkably well.
...no matter what President Obama does he would be criticized by the usual suspects. As far as the Middle East goes, I suspect that doing nothing would be far better than doing something.
All of these problems emanate with "Presidents" Cheney and Rumsfeld and their gang. They left office with unsurmountable problems and Obama who had to face them did remarkably well.
14
You are kidding right? Obama seems a pretty nice guy but he was an amatuer when people like you elected him and he still is.
Top that off with the fact that he patronizes everyone including Congressional Democrats and what you get is a failed President who never really liked the political side of his job and has had to pay the price.
He is simply getting what he asked for.
Top that off with the fact that he patronizes everyone including Congressional Democrats and what you get is a failed President who never really liked the political side of his job and has had to pay the price.
He is simply getting what he asked for.
1
To sum up: He has been a failure as President. He was anointed by the Daley and Kennedy clans and other Democrats got in step with the dream. He received a Nobel Prize before finishing a year in office. His arrogance and hubris prevented him from understanding how politics on a national scale really works. Comparing him to Bush 43 is meaningless. Bill Clinton, with his larger than life ego, was a much better President, politician and strategist.
13
Not so fast, History will be the judge.
3
Maybe the Democrats' vote against the trade package didn't really have a lot to do with whether Obama had given them a lift in his limo. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that their Democratic constituents were heavily against another trade deal that would probably be bad for the American middle class. The real story is why was Obama pushing this secretive deal so hard? What in the world was he thinking?
18
A very bright, withdrawn person, President with unfortunately the significant gaps she describes..
4
Perhaps instead of discussing Obama's failure sufficiently to schmooze, and the limits of his personality, perhaps Ms. Dowd could examine why he has pushed so hard for a treaty that is so strongly supported by the US Chamber of Commerce, Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan--who have opposed every progressive initiative he has offered--while so strongly opposed by Stiglitz and Warren (and yes, the famously powerful American labor movement)--all those who have fought for the ACA and higher minimum wage laws and more progressive taxation.
Maybe, Ms. Dowd, it has nothing to do with his personality.
Maybe, Ms. Dowd, it has nothing to do with his personality.
15
Maybe the party rank-and-file are starting to rise up against Wall Street-fed DINOs. But I doubt there's enough power in the democratic wing to overcome the co-opted centrists in control, and there's little hope that Sanders can beat the machine to get nominated, and less that he's electable in this gullible, fear-ridden country. Hillary sees some writing on the wall, and is making the right noises. But who can believe her? She may ride gender bias to victory in 2016, but it'll be same ol', same ol' with respect to economic issues. Watch what they do, not what they say.
(And deFazio's one to talk, having knuckled under to the airline industry on fare disclosure... He used to be my congressman, way back when, and had an ethical stature. Been there too long...)
(And deFazio's one to talk, having knuckled under to the airline industry on fare disclosure... He used to be my congressman, way back when, and had an ethical stature. Been there too long...)
6
An interesting and thought provoking column. First, Iraq is an endless can of worms. One suspects that whatever we do, more troops, less troops, get out, will all result in a big mess. Thus, I have sympathy for Obama on Iraq. The rest of his Middle East policy has seemed naive and clumsy and has aided in the rise of ISIS. On the trade pact, he once again seems clumsy, at the 11th and one half hour he appears to schmooze. He may be correct on the merits, time will tell, but he sure isn't very good at process.
2
"So Obama failed to keep his foot on the throat of our Shiite puppets, who balked at leaving an American troop presence there, with immunity, and who treated the Sunnis badly to punish them for the decades when Saddam treated the Shiites badly":
"hey we put a Shiite partisan in power because we wanted someone like that in charge of "spreading democracy", someone we (Bush that is) signed an agreement with to be out of their business by 2011 (conveniently after someone else is POTUS), someone who would step up persecution of Sunnis as soon as he has the store to himself, stop bankrolling the "Sunni insurgency", kick the Sunnis out of the government and enable "al Queda in Iraq (that's ISIS) and we expect the next President to start a whole new futile disastrous war so we will look not so bad by comparison, and Obama failed us". But maybe I am missing the irony. How long exactly was our foot going to stay on the throat of those puppets (in defiance, I guess, of the exit agreement Bush signed) in order to create a better outcome, just so I understand what we should have done?
"hey we put a Shiite partisan in power because we wanted someone like that in charge of "spreading democracy", someone we (Bush that is) signed an agreement with to be out of their business by 2011 (conveniently after someone else is POTUS), someone who would step up persecution of Sunnis as soon as he has the store to himself, stop bankrolling the "Sunni insurgency", kick the Sunnis out of the government and enable "al Queda in Iraq (that's ISIS) and we expect the next President to start a whole new futile disastrous war so we will look not so bad by comparison, and Obama failed us". But maybe I am missing the irony. How long exactly was our foot going to stay on the throat of those puppets (in defiance, I guess, of the exit agreement Bush signed) in order to create a better outcome, just so I understand what we should have done?
3
Maureen, please set aside your trite mockery of President Obama as aloof and look seriously at the subtext here. President Obama is not being cut down to size as payback for arrogance, he and Congress are colliding over which branch wields the most power. From the ACA to immigration reform, from the Iran talks to Netanyahu's pre-election address, and so on, the conflict is not personal, it is political. The Pacific Trade deal is looking to be the latest plus for the Legislative branch, which is winning over the Executive.
13
The secret Pacific Trade deal is BAD for U.S. Not as bad as secret Iran Nuclear deal, but this stop of Obama's bad trajectory is GOOD.
1
Pettiness from republicans and now his own party - what a shock.
3
"The Obama White House has managed Congress poorly, with arrogance — or worse, neglect."
Ah yes, Maureen...and they've been so marvelous to him!
Ah yes, Maureen...and they've been so marvelous to him!
35
If he compromises with the republicans he sold out the democrats. If he refuses to deal with the republicans then he doesn't know how to compromise.
As usual Ms. Dowd holds Obama to a higher standard.
The main reason that Obama has not achieved many of his goals (except of course saving the U.S. from a depression, solving the unemployment problems, ending 2 wars, etc.) is that the republicans set out to destroy his presidency and the nation be damned.
As usual Ms. Dowd holds Obama to a higher standard.
The main reason that Obama has not achieved many of his goals (except of course saving the U.S. from a depression, solving the unemployment problems, ending 2 wars, etc.) is that the republicans set out to destroy his presidency and the nation be damned.
32
It's not enough for a US president to make great speeches. He (and at some point in the future, she) has to be able to make great deals. And not just deals with other national leaders. Deals with the 535 members of Congress who have the constitutional duty to approve laws and treaties before the president gets to sign or veto them. President Obama was never a politician. He was and is the antithesis of great deal-making presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. The occasional beer or golf game isn't going to make Congress your partner.
6
I don't wonder, that a column predicated on Reaganite video simplifications only wallows in preachiness on being let down. The central point, that the President is as obtuse as Wilson was in partisan maintenance, is indisputable and well taken, but the sarcasm and snark are out of place, even for a pop star. The President wrought historic good for this Nation more than once, and if his political capital is spent, at least it was not at the expense of our honor.
13
Given the congressional hostility, the racism, that Pres. Obama has endured since 2008, his trade deal snafu is a drop in the bucket. The increasing complexity of our international situation would baffle even Franklin Roosevelt. Circumstances may keep Obama below the presidential level of FDR and Lincoln, but he is a great man; I would love to shake his hand.
25
Fine article by Ms. DOWD. Figuratively speaking, she attacks Obama with a scalpel, rather than a hatchet for his unwillingness to consult Congress, and for his liberal immigration policies which can only lead to a further marginalization of American workers. I cannot see any immediate benefits for American workers as a result of Obama's, for all intents and purposes, open borders policy, or his signing off on a deal that would allow computer specialists from the sub continent to obtain visas to come to the US, and thereby replace, make redundant their American counterparts. Obama's core belief that he need not consult Congress, that to do so would be demeaning to him personally, is the result I believe, of a pampered childhood, of having been raised by those who inculcated into him the belief that anything he did was superb, and above criticism, which, of course is not the case for Obama or anyone else. To return to the fine writing, perhaps Dowd's friend, the French ambassador, would describe "Flickering Greatness" as a "joli coup de bistouri, et le tout proprement dit( a swipe of the scalpel, and well written)!"But of course, if Araud were to do so, it would be off the record.
6
Maureen, let's face facts. Had Obama put every effort in fostering the closest possible relations with Congress, it is not clear that anything would have come out differently. Maybe in the beginning of his first term, when he had the thinnest possible Senate majority, he could have better courted moderate Southern Democrats whose support was seldom clear, and it might have made a difference. But after 2010, it is not clear that anything Obama could have done to further his relationships with Congress would have resulted in any different outcomes. Republicans were, first and foremost, committed to denying him a second term. Many GOP members changed their positions on issues they previously supported simply because they did not want to be on Obama's side of the issue. You cannot name one single policy position where it is clear that the GOP opposition would have sided with Obama, if only he had worked harder on his relationships with them. It is an often-cited, fact-free red herring.
34
Maureen,
We have not had a great president since FDR. I find it somewhat ironic that Republicans no longer have the stomach for sending more troops to Iraq. The Dems may have loaded the gun, but it was Bush and a Republican Congress that pulled the trigger. More than a decade later, and we are still reeling from the consequences of those decisions. You cannot blame Obama for his indifference since the strategy of containment was cast aside, in favor of adventurism. I will never forget the words of Hans Blix at the time. PBS did the interview and they asked him: So you feel that the U.N. could have contained the situation -- could have contained Saddam, if you'd been given longer to carry on your work?
Yes, I think so. I mean, there is a risk and I realize that there can be a fatigue in exercising a pressure. Parliaments don't like to have the expenses. On the other hand, long-term monitoring was not all that costly. After all, we cost about 80 million for a whole year.
We have not had a great president since FDR. I find it somewhat ironic that Republicans no longer have the stomach for sending more troops to Iraq. The Dems may have loaded the gun, but it was Bush and a Republican Congress that pulled the trigger. More than a decade later, and we are still reeling from the consequences of those decisions. You cannot blame Obama for his indifference since the strategy of containment was cast aside, in favor of adventurism. I will never forget the words of Hans Blix at the time. PBS did the interview and they asked him: So you feel that the U.N. could have contained the situation -- could have contained Saddam, if you'd been given longer to carry on your work?
Yes, I think so. I mean, there is a risk and I realize that there can be a fatigue in exercising a pressure. Parliaments don't like to have the expenses. On the other hand, long-term monitoring was not all that costly. After all, we cost about 80 million for a whole year.
4
You mean the guy that prolonged the Great Depression? The one that threatened the Supreme Court? That guy? You have a strange criteria for greatness.
2
President Obama was elected twice with sizable majorities. Scott Brown and Joe Lieberman were elected in Massachusetts and Connecticut and helped to water down a bill in order to reach the super majority of 60 votes the arcane rules of the Senate required in the face of 100% Republican opposition to Universal Health Care. Schmoozing would not have changed that reality.
It was not the President who lost the House and then the Senate in mid-terms. It was the American electorate, all 55% of them who come out to vote.
This President has faced near unanimous obstruction of every proposal or nomination he made. How much schmoozing would he have had to do to overcome that hurdle?
The problem in America is not the style of the President, but the indifference and I am afraid utter ignorance of the American voter. It is an ignorance of fact, science, history and the way our government works.
Nevertheless, given the obstacles President Obama faced he got a health care bill passed, got finance reform passed, got two decent Supreme Court Justices confirmed and ended America's ill advised invasion of Iraq. All without Ms. Dowd's schmoozing.
It was not the President who lost the House and then the Senate in mid-terms. It was the American electorate, all 55% of them who come out to vote.
This President has faced near unanimous obstruction of every proposal or nomination he made. How much schmoozing would he have had to do to overcome that hurdle?
The problem in America is not the style of the President, but the indifference and I am afraid utter ignorance of the American voter. It is an ignorance of fact, science, history and the way our government works.
Nevertheless, given the obstacles President Obama faced he got a health care bill passed, got finance reform passed, got two decent Supreme Court Justices confirmed and ended America's ill advised invasion of Iraq. All without Ms. Dowd's schmoozing.
58
All politics is local said Tip O'Neil and it was a rule he lived and thrived by. It allowed him to sit with Ronald Reagan and sip cocktails while they negotiated and horse traded bills that were in the best interest of the country. LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act with a hostile Congress and Senate many of whom were virulent racists. He never stopped schmoozing, cajoling, threatening and embarrassing until he got what was needed. Sadly President Obama who says he is a student of history , missed these lessons. No one , not even the President is above the fray when it comes to negotiating and doing whatever is necessary to get things done that improve the lives of Americans. He has abandoned his own party when it has been convenient and politically expedient for him and never tried to actively engage the Republicans . Great oratory skills are good for campaigns but interpersonal skills make hope and change possible.
4
From the beginning President Obama was abandoned by a large, influential plurality of Americans; not just abandoned but disrespected and maligned. This extended to the floor of Congress. Not a Congress not facing an inevitable great tide of social change but one struggling to push back against it in a bizarre Tea Party flavored spasm.
LBJ accomplished the impossible by getting a civil rights act passed in 1964, a year when blacks were still being lynched in the south and black children being blown up on churches. But let no one doubt that he horse traded for most of those votes, something current Presidents are constrained from doing because of laws limiting pork that have been promoted by (surprise!) people like John McCain. Trading favors has been the currency by which this republic has gotten business done since its inception. It's mo wonder we are stuck in the mud dependent upon our politicians doing the right thing strictly because it's right? Seriously??? Bring back the pork ... it's the only way to get things done. LBJ knew that.
1
I and all Americans will be eternally grateful to President Obama for taking a Nation 'bottomed out' by the Republican Bush, with staggering Debt, Trillion Dollar a year Deficits, not one but Two wars still unresolved, bleeding treasure and American Blood, massive unemployment and a collapsed Economy with millions of Americans incapable of affording decent medical care, back to prosperity. And Obama did it in the face of unrelenting Republican opposition even when Obama wanted to accept some things the way Republicans said they wanted. Republicans were more interested in undermining the New President than helping and saving Americans at home and abroad. Not since FDR inherited The Great Depression has an American President faced such impossible odds. Thanks Miz Dowd for a few more good kicks, the Republicans owe you !
Thank You President Obama for excelling at a truly thankless Job and ending the Republican Bush's multi-catastrophe steaming pile of ignorance and mistakes.
Thank You President Obama for excelling at a truly thankless Job and ending the Republican Bush's multi-catastrophe steaming pile of ignorance and mistakes.
83
Allow me to add my thanks also.
2
History will not validate your wrong opinion. FDR extended the depression and introduced creeping big government and the entitlement/welfare state.
"Sound and fury, signifying nothing." This Dowd column is petty commentary. Big picture on the Obama tenure is the American health care system is starting to look a little more like those of the rest of the civilized world, and despite sabotage, government muscle is starting to be applied to deal with the biggest challenge of all, climate change.
No small accomplishment as well, has been keeping expenditure of American treasure, including lives, in foreign wars, relatively small.
Not achieved, and with no visible plan or effort to tackle it, is reversal of the economic devastation of the middle class and the destructive excessive concentration of wealth.
I score it 3+, 1-. My guess, history will judge more favorably than Ms. Dowd.
No small accomplishment as well, has been keeping expenditure of American treasure, including lives, in foreign wars, relatively small.
Not achieved, and with no visible plan or effort to tackle it, is reversal of the economic devastation of the middle class and the destructive excessive concentration of wealth.
I score it 3+, 1-. My guess, history will judge more favorably than Ms. Dowd.
54
When Obama initially ran for office, one recurring doubt was that he would become another Carter - cerebral, right-minded yet self-righteous and alienating. Carter has spent the rest of his life and energy trying to show Americans how wrong they were about him. I can see Obama being profoundly disappointed in the nation failing him, writing a few books explaining what we did wrong but, unlike Carter, I do not see him rolling up his sleeves, getting out among us, showing us that he has been better and misunderstood than we thought.
Frankly, that may or may not be a good thing.
In any event, this article is another argument for a Hillary candidacy. It will not be pretty and it will be maddening, but it will appear as though she will "get things done" until later. How did we arrive at choosing between holy roller blinkered no-knowings and fundamentally corrupt compromised nepotistic empty suits with occasional time outs for self-righteous failed saviors?
Ultimately, most countries get the government they deserve.
Frankly, that may or may not be a good thing.
In any event, this article is another argument for a Hillary candidacy. It will not be pretty and it will be maddening, but it will appear as though she will "get things done" until later. How did we arrive at choosing between holy roller blinkered no-knowings and fundamentally corrupt compromised nepotistic empty suits with occasional time outs for self-righteous failed saviors?
Ultimately, most countries get the government they deserve.
59
President Obama's principal economic mistake was taking Bill Clinton's economic advisors as his own. It was Robert Rubin and Larry Summers who engineered the passage of NAFTA and deregulation of banks and Wall Street. It was they who persuaded President Obama to use tax credits for business instead of major investment in infrastructure and education to confront the economic crash created by Clinton's financial regulation.
And when it came to fighting for his programs, he abandoned Elizabeth Warren and did not put her in charge in financial regulation. Worse, he attacked her personally for her opposition as a Senator to his expansion in Asia of Clinton's trade policies.
Jimmy Carter's Administration failed because he failed to work with Congress. President Obama should have studied the consequences of ignoring his allies in Congress. As Maureen Down correctly notes the cost of that inattention is now being paid.
And when it came to fighting for his programs, he abandoned Elizabeth Warren and did not put her in charge in financial regulation. Worse, he attacked her personally for her opposition as a Senator to his expansion in Asia of Clinton's trade policies.
Jimmy Carter's Administration failed because he failed to work with Congress. President Obama should have studied the consequences of ignoring his allies in Congress. As Maureen Down correctly notes the cost of that inattention is now being paid.
6
Does anyone truly believe the result would have been any different? I don't think so.
1
NEVER RIGHT Whatever Barack Obama does, he's always wrong. Because he's working in a highly-polarized country, with an even more highly-polarized political system, he's been under an historic barrage of attacks 24/7. So I take Maureen's criticism with lots of grains of salt. Obama courted the Republicans in Congress. What did he get in return? NOTHING! He courted the Democrats in Congress. What did he get in return? NOT MUCH MORE! The ACA has helped millions. What did he get for it? A mountain of manure. Obama supports Israel consistently. What did he get in return? A kick in the teeth from Bibi. Yet he keeps on, no drama Obama, doing his job to the best of his ability. When the Conservatives' racial prejudice rears its ugly head, we shrug. That's what they do. But when those on the left blame him for not being able to deliver a dream package that comports with their biases, nobody blinks. I disagree with Maureen: History will treat Obama much more kindly than he's being treated in the here-and-now. Some of us will take the view of history and celebrate his struggles now!
150
DH, results matter. I was trying to think of any accomplishments that President Obama could list on his resume. Well, he did get healthcare done. But even this was a dubious "accomplishment" at best. And now his administration's incompetence (in drafting it) threatens to kill it. His policies in the Middle East have lost Iraq, nurtured ISIS, squandered the Arab Spring, and placed Iran on the verge of getting everything they want in the nuclear negotiations. And, last but probably not least in the foreign policy arena, both Russia and China have capitalized on our weakness to expand, through intimidation, or outright military action, the orbits of control around their countries. The economic "recovery" has been tepid at best with growth at this stage being about 1/3 of that which Reagan's policies created after the disaster that was Jimmy Carter. Oh, and do I have to tell you? Race relations are in the toilet. Results matter D.H., results matter.
1
Maureen, your column is right on target. President Aloof has met his Waterloo. How can a bright man not know the importance of personal relations with members of Congress to get his goals accomplished? And how can he promote things like TPP designed to protect Big Pharma and exclude generics in developing countries? Maybe because he does not listen.
So he fell from Mt. Olympus, but he can still learn by his misadventures. For starters scrap the TPP and develop some real ideas to address the immense problem of income inequality. We don't need speeches; we need ideas and then hard work with members of Congress and the public to get those ideas adopted.
Obama can recalibrate and if he does he may find success and improve his legacy.
So he fell from Mt. Olympus, but he can still learn by his misadventures. For starters scrap the TPP and develop some real ideas to address the immense problem of income inequality. We don't need speeches; we need ideas and then hard work with members of Congress and the public to get those ideas adopted.
Obama can recalibrate and if he does he may find success and improve his legacy.
14
harold berk - please read D.H. President aloof indeed! No president met a
congress as inimical to him as Obama - with racism looming everywhere in
the country, he stayed the course and took a lot of lumps in the process.
It's the congress that is shameful and treated this President with a level
of disrespect I've never seen in my long years observing the political scene.
That will go down in history along with his many achievements.
congress as inimical to him as Obama - with racism looming everywhere in
the country, he stayed the course and took a lot of lumps in the process.
It's the congress that is shameful and treated this President with a level
of disrespect I've never seen in my long years observing the political scene.
That will go down in history along with his many achievements.
24
But, but, but the leftists always told us he was a genius!
It's almost a relief to be thinking about the usual power plays (okay, unusual usual) over policy and legislation than fretting over the next revelation that substantiates, groaningly, that congress is comprised of a greater concentration of lechers, thieves, and child molesters than the average county jail.
5
Oh please. We voted for G. W. Bush because we thought he'd be fun for a beer or two. Whatever happened to the quaint notion that members of Congress who are empowered to vote, thanks to the citizens who put them there, are responsible for the consequences of THEIR actions.
So President Obama is now paying for his schmoozability deficit? Not at all. The American people are paying for their electoral choices of legislators who vote based, as Ms. Dowd would have it, on presidential beers and backslaps rather than on any coherent vision of a future course of the nation.
Think what we will about the policy advisability of the TPP, but let's focus on the body that actually voted down the preamble measure on worker assistance, not on the President whose core personality some columnist finds eternally objectionable.
As taught by our parents and scoutmasters, Congress should own the consequences of its own actions.
So President Obama is now paying for his schmoozability deficit? Not at all. The American people are paying for their electoral choices of legislators who vote based, as Ms. Dowd would have it, on presidential beers and backslaps rather than on any coherent vision of a future course of the nation.
Think what we will about the policy advisability of the TPP, but let's focus on the body that actually voted down the preamble measure on worker assistance, not on the President whose core personality some columnist finds eternally objectionable.
As taught by our parents and scoutmasters, Congress should own the consequences of its own actions.
12
Don't discount the probability that Obama's relationship with Congress, particularly with the Senate, is built in large measure on resentment of how fast he rose from their ranks. Lickety-split, he was a senator and then he was gone.
Who wouldn't wonder: why him and not me?
Jack Kennedy rose with great speed, but he had the patina of a rich boy, coupled with good looks and a war record that none could question and few would dare to envy. He was the golden boy, the offspring of wealth, married to beauty and with an apparent natural physical grace that war wounds and a serious illness did not dampen, at least in public.
An entire race paid Obama's dues for him, so he didn't have to himself. It was entirely predictable that some day a man of color would rise to claim the prize because his race had suffered so much throughout our history. Obama just happened to be the guy. He had no special right to that ticket to the top, having been too young for the peak of the Civil Rights movement and no breakthrough accomplishments of his own.
Obama has often been compared unfavorably to LBJ. Johnson was the consummate man of the Senate who acted as legislator-in-chief. Obama wanted the same credit, but he was unwilling and unable to find the right levers. In fairness, they might not exist any more. The well is poisoned.
Iraq is a war he didn't start, a war he can't end and a war we can't win. Obama will be remembered for trying while chaos consumed the Bush legacy in bright flames.
1
Unfortunately, Maureen you are right; Obama never got it. He never dealt with dirty stuff of governing. His signature legislation was Obamacare which of course was not available for reading until it passed. The legislation perpetuated a medical system that slowly is failing and is only likely to get more expensive.
The Sunni Shia mess is unbelievable and he switches enemies to friends without any coherent strategy.
In the Economist two weeks ago Senator Manchin, a moderate was reported to have remarked that Obama takes so many policy arguments personally. The Senator is probably onto something. The guy just does not get it.
The Sunni Shia mess is unbelievable and he switches enemies to friends without any coherent strategy.
In the Economist two weeks ago Senator Manchin, a moderate was reported to have remarked that Obama takes so many policy arguments personally. The Senator is probably onto something. The guy just does not get it.
5
Globalization and the resultant loss of masses of manufacturing jobs in America will not be ended by defeating TPP. America's economic strength will not be improved by preventing the success of America's multinational corporations. Climate change will not halted by failing to pass a trade bill. Foreign nations will not reduce their carbon emissions, improve labor standards or respect intellectual property because we don't have a trade deal. Let's let them negotiate in private (because that is the only way you can negotiate) and then vote the resultant deal up or down on its merits or lack thereof.
I seem to recall that the president has made proposals about minimum wage, inequality, gun control, infrastructure investment, two free years postsecondary education for all, paid leave, etc etc, all of which died in the face of an only-do-more-plutocracy Congress whose greatest passion is for taking food from hungry families.
14
Doug, I seem to recall that the President had Democratic majorities in both houses from 2009-11. So much could have been done then. Why wasn't it?
1
I find it incredible that the Democrats in Congress are about as worthless as the Republicans. With all the disrespect and more that President Obama has endured, one would think his own party would allow for some deference and vote for the Pacific trade agreement. Obama was overwhelmingly elected- twice. However our pathetic self indulgent and self interested Congress won't allow him to lead. What a sorry sight. It really reinforces my decision to become and remain an Independent. I hate to be pessimistic but we, the people, probably don't deserve such a stellar President. Congress certainly doesn't.
8
Pres Obama was the fortunate recipient of a cyclical participating blip. An accident of history, nothing more. His blackness was/is a benefit rather than a handicap.
Overwhelmingly elected and re-elected by convincing the uninterested and uninformed to stop watching the E channel for a couple hours and vote (bcuz George Clooney said so and he's so dreamy)
Notice he was re-elected with less votes than his 08 election. The first in modern times...
We are entering a down trend in participation, or a return to the mean. Or a return to normal.
Overwhelmingly elected and re-elected by convincing the uninterested and uninformed to stop watching the E channel for a couple hours and vote (bcuz George Clooney said so and he's so dreamy)
Notice he was re-elected with less votes than his 08 election. The first in modern times...
We are entering a down trend in participation, or a return to the mean. Or a return to normal.
1
I respect President Obama for his role in dealing with the 2008 economic disaster. I don't agree on his handling of the health care law, immigration, the Middle East or much of anything else. This trade agreement has the stench of millions of jobs lost in the Unites States and abuse/slavery of workers overseas to benefit multinational companies, It is as disgusting as his approval of Shell drilling in the Artic..but I guess he needs those corporate sponsors to make money after he leaves the White House.
6
I just hope my kids will be able to get real jobs here in the US. It costs so much to get through college now -- and jobs are scarce. Perhaps they will develop their own sub-economy, one that trades in skills and goods that cannot be so easily replaced by overseas sources that the multi-national corporations control. And something other than working in "private equity" -- which basically means being a pawn that helps the super-rich snowball their wealth into even more massive sums. It will be close to the land -- growing vegetables, renouncing beef, gathering solar energy, refurbishing sold old things rather than buying and discarding cheap new stuff. It will earn a penny by saving one. It will be healthier, but also seek health care and medications abroad, if need be, out of the US medical-industrial-insurance complex that siphons off 10 additional percent out of the economy unnecessarily. It will come in closer, out of the suburbs, into the near-burbs, but avoid the biggest cities. It will cleanse its own water, purify its own air. It will teach its own children.
It is baffling to me how Obama abandoned our middle class in this Asian trade deal that could have been written by Romney. Perhaps it is because Obama went to Harvard Law School, then became a law professor -- and never really was middle class himself.
But now we know -- no one in Washington will ever really have the best interests of the common people as a priority.
All of Washington is a monster.
It is baffling to me how Obama abandoned our middle class in this Asian trade deal that could have been written by Romney. Perhaps it is because Obama went to Harvard Law School, then became a law professor -- and never really was middle class himself.
But now we know -- no one in Washington will ever really have the best interests of the common people as a priority.
All of Washington is a monster.
9
For 6 years, the 'mainstream' aka left-leaning press has flogged the story-line that Republican obstructionism was the reason bipartisan legislation wasn't happening. Almost unmentioned was Obama's contemptuous treatment of Republicans, his attempt to "guilt people and impugn their integrity." Now that he has turned his contempt on Democrats who disagree with him, Democrats are coming out and echoing exactly the same complaints.
We would have been better off as a country had we gotten more honest reporting over the past 6 years, with accountability for dysfunction more accurately placed at the feet of both the President and Republicans.
We would have been better off as a country had we gotten more honest reporting over the past 6 years, with accountability for dysfunction more accurately placed at the feet of both the President and Republicans.
7
I wonder if Mrs. Obama is proud of America now?
You worry more about the source of the coverage as opposed to the content provided by it. Can you name an instance where Republicans offered any compromise in terms of policy? Lets' see - healthcare, no to that, climate change - nope, Immigration reform - no, increasing taxes to cut the deficit - not a chance, foreign policy - oh they wanted to send more troops back into the quagmire they created in the first place, gun control after 20 children were killed in Conn. by a kid with 100 shot magazines - not a chance, financial regulation of Wall Street - are you kidding me, infrastructure investment and a jobs bill - no, we had the cheapest cost of financing in history but that doesn't matter because I guess the deficit matters when it comes to that but not to borrowing for war. That all said, what contemptuous treatment are you talking about. Policy matters, ACA was a compromise from a single payer solution in the first place. Where has been the compromise from Republicans? Not a chance, because they use the excuse of being primaried out of existence by right wing people who only want a free ride for themselves and nobody else, and the right to impose their beliefs, religious and otherwise on the rest of us. Someday soon, you will wish for the day when a Democrat reached across the aisle.
I have no idea why the President had any notion he would be able to negotiate and compromise with Republicans. Despite the Republican Party having a liberal to moderate wing in the early 1960's there was no reason to think today's Republican Party would do more that blame their opponents and only a few side with Democrats on practical matters to their peril. That seemed naive especially with his agenda that seemed more progressive than the Clinton and Carter agendas. Compromising in a way to bring sequestration into play and powering through the ACA seemed doomed. Conservatives still hope to destroy the ACA. Still I have no doubt that Barack Obama has been the better choice of Presidential candidates. And somebody tell me how do you deal with bankers as powerful as Jamie Dimon and the like who whine and cry when they do not have free reign over the investment community but enough reign to keep control of our financial destinies while invoking every invisible force claimed. The President may not be a great puppeteer. It can't be easy to advocate and maintain strategies and policies we can barely sell to our allies. When are Western Europe, Asia, and so much of the rest of the world going to start meeting their security obligations? I once had hopes for the President being able to begin a new era of more cooperation among our allies. Instead he is fighting the creep of the "neocons" and facing the potential a lunatic Supreme Court ruling on ACA subsidies.
7
Wow, just wow
What nonsense on stilts.
For the 20th time, it's the Dems that support protectionism, as unions are their biggest contributors (adding all contributions, especially in-kind) even though unions represent less than 10% of the private sector workforce.
What nonsense on stilts.
For the 20th time, it's the Dems that support protectionism, as unions are their biggest contributors (adding all contributions, especially in-kind) even though unions represent less than 10% of the private sector workforce.
Rumsfeld, Cheney and Dubya put Americans in such place that we have to keep soldiers in Iraq for next forty fifty years without any benefit to Americans except Cheney's war friendly companies. In last 14 years now since 2001, we are paying for all the war that Dubya started and charged it on credit card, such that although economy has gone up from 11 trillion to almost 16 trillion the American employees in work force has reduced by 16% unemployment has stayed between 6% to 12% and unemployment of minorities teens is above 30%. The 19-29 age group, 30%+ are neither in education, nor in workforce nor in any training, just surviving with help of family and friends, first time this decade since depression because of George W. Bush and Cheney getting us in war and giving riches tax break that economy has 20% of total benefit to less than 500 people/families whose wealth has multiplied to over 250% in last 10 years. Unless weeping Boehner wakes up and turns the Republicans steering wheel around, he will get such a big defeat even if Koch spends all his capital. Walmart has realized and giving raises to its employees, we have to see what Companies including Microsoft and apple will do, still bring 40000 low paid workers by VISA saying Americans are not available for work while laying off 55+ and asking them to train their replacements. This article puts Obama down but is not touching root causes.
13
You neglected to factor in President Clinton's repeal of Glass-Steagall, granting China most favored trading nation trading status despite its human rights record, and NAFTA.
3
Sounds like the Korean Peninsula to me. We seemed to do ok there.
Oh, BTW we still have troops there...
Oh, BTW we still have troops there...
Awesome summary of every liberal talking point from the last 13 years. Well done.
1
Global businesses have a great interest in standardizing a set of global business laws - it will give them protection for contracted agreements and will stabilize emerging markets, giving investors a predictable playing field. Emerging markets (AKA the least wealthy, least fairly governed countries) are difficult places for large-scale business activity, and global businesses want a clear road to travel. They don't want to deal with local laws - or the lack of local law.
These large business interests have been putting this deal together for quite a while. When the white house took up the project, many of the businesses' objectives were already defined and whatever the negative effects on U.S. citizens and workers, the business interests had made their own case a priority.
Could there be a better way to put the brakes on this project than having a president - who's unpopular with the party supporting the bill - voice his support for this trade agreement and turn the republican's base against it? The one thing President Obama can count on is the animosity of the republican party - and, of course, the animosity of Ms. Dowd.
These large business interests have been putting this deal together for quite a while. When the white house took up the project, many of the businesses' objectives were already defined and whatever the negative effects on U.S. citizens and workers, the business interests had made their own case a priority.
Could there be a better way to put the brakes on this project than having a president - who's unpopular with the party supporting the bill - voice his support for this trade agreement and turn the republican's base against it? The one thing President Obama can count on is the animosity of the republican party - and, of course, the animosity of Ms. Dowd.
6
What president? We have none. Not one who actually works for the American People. I am ready for him to quit and leave forever. All these sorry politicians can go with him too.
1
Even families who love and respect one another at times disagree.
So do Democrats who disagree with President Obama regarding the trade bill. And the differences aren't coming from pettiness or retaliation. They are well thought out and authentic.
And counter to what conservatives think, placing legacy above what's in the best interest of our country is simply not part of President Obama's soul or mode of operation.
Also, unlike the other side, Democrats aren't a "monkey see monkey do" bunch. No Democrat, for example, would have agreed to shut down the government because one off-base senator manipulated them into believing it was a good idea even though, for many, going along went against the grain. But they did it anyway. Democrats respectfully disagree with one another; they don't just go along.
Also, Ms. Dowd's interpretation of the persona, character, motivations, and guiding principles of President Obama, like her conservative cohorts, are always negatively stunning and seriously off base. President Obama isn't a mean-spirited ogre as they want to make him out to be. Where do they come up with that stuff. They apparently fail to realize that they actually see President Obama through their own filters that reflect the disowned unattractive parts of themselves. So, without realizing it, their judgments are actually self exposure; like broadcasting the results of a private Rorschach test.
So do Democrats who disagree with President Obama regarding the trade bill. And the differences aren't coming from pettiness or retaliation. They are well thought out and authentic.
And counter to what conservatives think, placing legacy above what's in the best interest of our country is simply not part of President Obama's soul or mode of operation.
Also, unlike the other side, Democrats aren't a "monkey see monkey do" bunch. No Democrat, for example, would have agreed to shut down the government because one off-base senator manipulated them into believing it was a good idea even though, for many, going along went against the grain. But they did it anyway. Democrats respectfully disagree with one another; they don't just go along.
Also, Ms. Dowd's interpretation of the persona, character, motivations, and guiding principles of President Obama, like her conservative cohorts, are always negatively stunning and seriously off base. President Obama isn't a mean-spirited ogre as they want to make him out to be. Where do they come up with that stuff. They apparently fail to realize that they actually see President Obama through their own filters that reflect the disowned unattractive parts of themselves. So, without realizing it, their judgments are actually self exposure; like broadcasting the results of a private Rorschach test.
59
Filters? We see Obama and we hear what he says. We live what is happening to our country every day. If you are old enough to know a better America you know the one we have now is not fit for anything. Washington better stop what they are doing and work for the people. Not big business. Republicans voted big in the last 2 elections and we can do so again and send many folks home from their cushy jobs.
Mr. Obama believed he could avoid being a politician while in the highest political office. He should have looked at the example set by LBJ. President Johnson was the ultimate politician, working the phones day and night, schmoozing members of his party and the opposition to get the votes he needed. Although the war in Vietnam ended LBJ's presidency, he was still one of the most effective presidents in dealing with the political process that is needed to accomplish effective legislation.
8
LBJ had solid Democratic majorities in both Houses. Republicans vowed to stymie Obama even before he announced any policies or was inaugurated, and they have succeeded in obstructing almost all of his initiatives. Obama invited McCain and other GOP pols to the White House to watch the Super Bowl and have a beer shortly after he was sworn in, in 2009, and was snubbed.
5.7 million new job openings in April, the most in 15 years and an unemployment rate of 5.5 %. President Obama would be the first to say that he isn't satisfied with the pace of improvement for all Americans but given the obstructionism by a Congress opposed to a more robust jobs plan(infrastructure such as highways) the president is doing remarkably well.
63
So many years after the housing bust and subsequent recession of late 2008, one would expect a recovery eventually.
The issue is the "flattened U" shaped recovery caused by this Presidents policy preferences put in place in 2009-2010. This is the recovery shape preferred by Dems since the depression (unfortunately extended until WWII by these same policy preferences).
This is nothing to brag about. Recovery would have come sooner if we had done "nothing"
The issue is the "flattened U" shaped recovery caused by this Presidents policy preferences put in place in 2009-2010. This is the recovery shape preferred by Dems since the depression (unfortunately extended until WWII by these same policy preferences).
This is nothing to brag about. Recovery would have come sooner if we had done "nothing"
3
And how many of those jobs are flipping burgers or washing cars. TPP would be another disaster of a trade deal like NAFTA. Face it Obama did not have the personality to do what is necessary in government. Granted he has been faced with a recalcitrant and radical Congress. But he is a centrist Republican. He was raised by them. His aloofness and reluctance does not match his rhetorical skills. He is akin to an actor or singer with a talent but the rest is mediocre. Any Dem in 2008 could have been elected that could half way make a cogent speech and debate. Obama has done nothing to match his soaring words with deeds. He is foremost a law instructor not a legal pugilist. There is all the difference in the world. His only achievement is health. In war he has droned killing innocents and had not the courage to leave the middle east which any sane person would do. He pursued neither the criminals of wall street or of the previous administration. The deductions outweigh nightly the additions of his presidency.
1
It calls for psychological analysis, of which there will be much (endless) in coming years. A man half-formed by virtue of inexperience and egregious pandering. An ego elevated to ethereal heights. An ideologue who imagines ideas are fact. What would you expect. And, a person who instinctively enjoys his privacy and thinks (and prefers to act) alone. A personality better suited to artistry rather than presidency.
History will look on these eight years as the naive ones. Hope and change.
History will look on these eight years as the naive ones. Hope and change.
12
I disagree with those who think Ms. Dowd is missing the point by focussing on the man vs. the issues. whenever this country has faced crises (and it assuredly faces several crises today, from the tepid economy, to foreign policy ad infinitum), it has been blessed with leaders who rose to the occasion. Without strong leadership, polarization renders us impotent to solve problems. This president has been gifted with oratory skills, but little else. It's bad enough that he's not worked with Republicans (how else does one compromise?), but he's ignored those in his own party as well. He prefers simply to issue Executive Orders. It's been pointed out many times that it's far more difficult today than in LBJ's time to horse trade, but there has been absolutely no attempt to do the tough lifting our nation requires. It's constant campaigning only. What a tragedy.
11
Something has eluded you in your analysis. Compromise with the right has not been possible. Each time the president attempted compromise, it became no compromise, from the right...their way or the highway. And there we are, a congress that vowed, from the day of his inauguration, to take down the first black president, a brick wall. Tell me, how does one massage a brick wall?
It doesn't seem surprising to me that a cerebral president views dealing with the Senate as an exercise in logical persuasion rather than kissing the ego inflated posteriors of the card board cutouts and cemented shut minds of some current Senators. I can understand why the President expects issues to be the central focus. Trade agreements are complex but it should be possible to create a Trade Agreement that satisfies the American worker's justifiable concerns as well as giving the President the authority he needs to build American influence in the Asian marketplace. Too bad Republicans in Congress cannot give Democrats what they need in order to support such an agreement. Is that Obama's fault?
30
Obama has never felt the need to work hard om any deal that required bipartisan support. He thought his intellect, personality and charm would carry the day. Well, what we see from this fiasco is that the left doesn't care about issues that may be best for the US as a whole but only what appears to be best for their constituency. Congrats to the Prez for attempting to pass an importnat bill for the country. Shame on Dems for thinking that protectionism ever accomplishes anything positive for the nation. And shame on Obama cor not working harder from day one to schmooze Congress and build trusting relationships.
5
The Republicans in Congress started Obama's first term by promising to make him a one term president. To them, compromise meant him doing exactly what they wanted. Beyond that, they opposed--and continue to oppose--whatever he proposes. There was no way any amount of schmoozing would have changed that.
Ms. Dowd’s column that she titled Flickering Greatness is apropos. To be sure, when President Obama was elected in 2008, most of the nation had expectations that he just might lead us into a revival of what most Americans always want, namely peace abroad, justice at home, equality of opportunity and freedom from want. Sadly, Obama has largely failed to accomplish what we wanted. Is this all of his fault? Of course it is not but he did not accomplish what we had hoped for.
In the end, however, is it really Obama’s fault? Aren’t we culpable too? Did we challenge our president to do better? Did we agitate Congress enough?
So Ms. Dowd my hat is off to you. You wrote a poignant column for your readers but you should’ve directed it at Obama’s boss: the US electorate.
Challenge yourself America and fight for your rights because the plutocrats are fighting for their privileges everyday.
In the end, however, is it really Obama’s fault? Aren’t we culpable too? Did we challenge our president to do better? Did we agitate Congress enough?
So Ms. Dowd my hat is off to you. You wrote a poignant column for your readers but you should’ve directed it at Obama’s boss: the US electorate.
Challenge yourself America and fight for your rights because the plutocrats are fighting for their privileges everyday.
44
Considering the enormity of the job Mr. Obama took on and how it is pretty much a no-win position........please try to see that in this head of state you
have a decent man who has held America as well as anyone could do during these very difficult times.
have a decent man who has held America as well as anyone could do during these very difficult times.
57
All presidents face difficult challenges and the challenges Obama has faced are no worse than any others. Obama is an "affirmative action" president who has never worked for anything, which is why he expects everything to be handed to him. He is a thin-skinned, spoiled, man-child. He has never tried to work with Congress or anybody else. He never persuaded the country that Obamacare was a good thing -- he couldn't even persuade the Olympic Committee to hold the games in Chicago. He is a complete and utter failure as president. I do not understand why this man is given so much credit. He has only done harm to this country.
1
Contrary to what Maureen Dowd suggests, all of the chickens coming home to roost at the White House are not tagged “Product of Aloofness”. Some are tagged “Product of Inexperience”, and others have “Product of Timidity” and “Product of Bad Advice” tags. Many of the chickens display a ”Product of Previous Administration” tag, and a few are even tagged “Product of Bad Luck”.
Interestingly, every single one of the returning chickens shows the ill effects of having been fed a daily diet of “Republican Recalcitrance”.
Interestingly, every single one of the returning chickens shows the ill effects of having been fed a daily diet of “Republican Recalcitrance”.
43
How about product of "he doesn't give a darn..." I'd use a stronger word but don't want to be censored.
1
Might also be a "product of a republican entrenchment to defeat Obama in any way they can regardless of whether it help or hurts us citizens".
Politics and its analysis aside, I was intrigued by Ms. Dowd's introductory paragraph attesting to her love of that great old TV western chestnut, "The Rifleman". Intrigued because, as I recall from television coverage at the time, "The Rifleman" was also a great favorite of long-time soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev who also cited the show's cogent presentation of simple moral themes. In fact, on one of Mr. Brezhnev's visits to the United States, President Richard Nixon made sure that Mr. Brezhnev was introduced to Mr. Connors, and I remember one of them bear-hugged the other. This casts, of course, no reflection on Ms. Dowd or her accompanying political analysis, and I hasten to add that I too am a great fan of the late Mr. Connors and his fine show. But we "Rifleman" fans are an oddly diverse lot, apparently.
14
Indeed the squat, burly Mr. Brezhnev, impressed by Connor's striking height, embraced him about the knees and hoisted him a couple or so feet into the air.
We are members of the MeTV generation.
I have several friends (from both political parties) who work in Washington and in the Congress, and they have said for years that Obama has been an amateur in how he handles them. He has been aloof, condescending, and overall taking them for granted. He never made a single friend during his time as a Senator, and he acts as if he is better than them.
But most importantly, they cannot believe he has not improved over the last seven years! Bill Clinton figured out how to work with a hostile Congress, but he was an amazing politician. Obama never even tried.
But most importantly, they cannot believe he has not improved over the last seven years! Bill Clinton figured out how to work with a hostile Congress, but he was an amazing politician. Obama never even tried.
34
Wait, your blame Mr. Obama for not getting along with Mitch McConnell, John Boehneer, Ted Cruz and the rest of the right-wing cabal? I know Dowd does, but she's a closet conservative and Obama-hater, too. You're blaming the guy lying on the sidewalk bleeding for being mugged.
49
The incessant stream of excuses, such as this, that we, Mr. Obama's allies, have constantly offered in his defense have actually had the effect of handicapping him by not challenging him to grow and do better. There always will be 'idiots' on the other side; there is nothing new or unique about that. A mature politician learns how to deal with what and whom he has been dealt; he doesn't sit around in effect repeating 'oh woe is me...' mantras for 5 or more years. To many excuses and rationalizations for not creating meaningful relationships for governing.
2
Even on the day Obama walks out the White House door, the Left will blame Bush for leaving the lights on.
Among the Left, I'm afraid Maureen is alone in her criticism of Obama.
Among the Left, I'm afraid Maureen is alone in her criticism of Obama.
25
Maureen Dowd is not the left.
1
Maureen, you have had Barry's number from the start. I couldn't have said it better. I've watch with dismay the guy's aloofness, disinterest, and sell-out of the people who put him in office. The way he's let the Republican's push him around, and then to give them practically everything they want is disturbing. Then to see the picture of him strolling in to congress expecting Democrats to again do the heavy lifting for him was rich.
22
No, she didn't have his number from the start. She was one of those who swooned over him during the 2008 primaries while attacking the Clintons at every turn. Yet she always writes as if she were 100% correct-- no mea culpas
12
From the start? Gimme a break. Ms. Dowd was a main cheerleader for Obama very early on, using cute metaphors like "Obambi" and what not. Her hatred of everything Clinton led her to be a relentless champion of Obama, when all the signs of his inexperience, inadequacy and aloofness which can doom a President to mediocrity (not necessarily failure) were already there in broad daylight.
To give Ms. Dowd credit: apparently she has come around to a more realistic point of view. It would be nice, though, if she revisited some of her columns from 8 years ago and acknowledged that she might have been the slightest bit off in her assessment. I am not holding my breath, though.
To give Ms. Dowd credit: apparently she has come around to a more realistic point of view. It would be nice, though, if she revisited some of her columns from 8 years ago and acknowledged that she might have been the slightest bit off in her assessment. I am not holding my breath, though.
1
We sure have come a long way from "Hope and Change" and "Change You Can Believe In," haven't we?
Dan Perkins, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial cartooning this year and draws This Modern World under the nom de plume Tom Tomorrow, refers to President Obama as Middle-Man, which is a charitable way to say leading from behind (and often going backwards). What a disappointment.
Now, Mrs. Clinton proclaims, "It's Your Time." Yet when looking at the condition of the world after her four years as secretary of state, she looks suspiciously like part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
The Pacific trade proposal brings to mind the N.S.A. program of dragnet surveillance of "everyday Americans" that was secretly doubled down on after the Bush/Cheney years: If it's in our best interests, then why is the nitty-gritty kept from us? Words matter, and "Trust me" just doesn't cut it anymore.
Which again raises the question of a White House that's not transparent -- and whether the successor to an insular, secretive president should be one who's even more so.
Dan Perkins, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial cartooning this year and draws This Modern World under the nom de plume Tom Tomorrow, refers to President Obama as Middle-Man, which is a charitable way to say leading from behind (and often going backwards). What a disappointment.
Now, Mrs. Clinton proclaims, "It's Your Time." Yet when looking at the condition of the world after her four years as secretary of state, she looks suspiciously like part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
The Pacific trade proposal brings to mind the N.S.A. program of dragnet surveillance of "everyday Americans" that was secretly doubled down on after the Bush/Cheney years: If it's in our best interests, then why is the nitty-gritty kept from us? Words matter, and "Trust me" just doesn't cut it anymore.
Which again raises the question of a White House that's not transparent -- and whether the successor to an insular, secretive president should be one who's even more so.
30
So smart and so clueless. So promising and so disappointing.
27
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Smart is as smart does." When all of the emperical evidence is examined and evaluated, based purely on objective merit - the premise that this man was ever the smartest in any room will be readily disproven.
1
Millard Fillmore had a moment of greatness; so did Herbert Hoover. Ms. Dowd's stance on the president is well known and justified.
As for Lucas McCain, at the opening of the show, when he looks into the camera while loading his rifle, as a child I thought he was saying: "You should be in bed."
As for Lucas McCain, at the opening of the show, when he looks into the camera while loading his rifle, as a child I thought he was saying: "You should be in bed."
7
As usual, Maureen Dowd brings very substantial insight to her subject.
If Preident Obama would just talk to her, for even a few minutes now and then,
I am very sure he would be able to do his work a lot more successfully.
If Preident Obama would just talk to her, for even a few minutes now and then,
I am very sure he would be able to do his work a lot more successfully.
11
Right as rain on this one, Mo.
7
What really isn't a pretty sight is Maureen Dowd continually excoriating this president, who from day one has confronted a disloyal opposition driven by retrograde classism and poorly disguised racism. He's been the Jackie Robinson of american presidential politics, keeping his sangfroid through all the hypocrisy and hatred the unhinged opposition has thrown at him. It's going to take a lot more than eight years to clear the wreckage left by the Bush administration, but however long it takes, we can count on Maureen Dowd to continue to indulge her prejudice against smart democrats from outside the beltway who refuse to kiss her ring.
263
I keep hoping for wisdom and insight from NYT op-ed columnists - you know, columns about vital political issues that help shape the discussion, frame the options, bring the background discussions out in the public. Ms Doud could do that, she does have the chops. But clearly she too has gotten sucked into the quicksand engulfing our entire political system. I just don't know what to think about TPP and TAA legislation because no one is explaining it clearly from a reliable vantage point. I do know many people who have been ripped by NAFTA even though economic results are mixed. The TPP will be far, far worse I'm afraid. But what do I know? How can I know anything in the midst of this nonsense? Maureen leaves me furious and afraid all at the same time. But at least she managed to put Prufrock and the Rifleman in the same column. Surely that's a promising sign of something.
33
Maybe that is hard because, as I understand it, the text of this legislation has been kept secret.
What has happened to representative government?
What has happened to representative government?
1
Not sure how we coherently segue from a rebuke by House Democrats on trade to a muddled foreign policy, but I am happy that House Democrats were able to reveal that this President is not only far from being the socialist that conservatives have always (ridiculously) accused him of being, but that, in fact, he's barely a Democrat at all.
19
I don't think that socialist applies. I not sure it comes down to a simple label. This president, along with billionaires from both sides of the aisle, are intent on open borders and destroying/diluting American jobs.
1
Metaphorically one on your best columns to date. Also resonates with reality. Conjured Chuck Connor, too. Well done.
9
I'm so not impressed with this column. It jumps from topic to topic, is full of jargon and has two misspellings in one short paragraph. The verbal mish-mash distracted me from the topic. Somehow I think, if President Obama were criticizing a reporter, he'd do it so much more skillfully.
46
Maureen I agree with you. Like most jobs, it's about communication. President Obama hasn't played the 'game' in D.C. and has been a bit aloof and arrogant. He's also been vilified by the Republicans and the media unfairly and in hindsight I think he will be seen as a good President. He kept us out of the abyss. But, this could be a unique opportunity for Hillary Clinton. She can use all the good he did and the fact that she was able to become his Secretary of State in return for her support when Obama won the nomination (he couldn't offer her Vice President that would not have been suitable). Today, she can point to the good he's done, but also for those who supported the Obama then were disappointed she can say "well, you didn't want me, are you ready for me to come in and make things right?" Yes Hillary, we are. But make Bernie Sanders VP.
8
This column is exactly what's wrong with political reporting. It focuses on the horse race nature of politics and whether the president is chatty enough instead of focusing on the issues which is what matters.
114
The fact that the trade bill has 'displaced workers retraining fund' as an add-on shows that workers will be displaced as they were under NAFTA and other trade deals. The unions do not like to lose members because, who knows, what those displaced workers will be retrained to do.
It was a temporary setback for the 'second Messiah' as the French ambassador referred to Obama, and in the next go-around, it will be Pelosi who will be eating crow-pie.
But, it was a rebuke and rejection nevertheless, the kind that hurts a Leo like Obama. He is not a schmoozer but one who thinks that you can talk down to people because he is the president. He thinks that his 'beer diplomacy' works its magic every time. He learned the hard way that it did not this time.
It would seem to me that Obama is competing hard with Scott Walker to do serious harm to the unions. So, Obama is a DINO - Democrat in name only.
It was a temporary setback for the 'second Messiah' as the French ambassador referred to Obama, and in the next go-around, it will be Pelosi who will be eating crow-pie.
But, it was a rebuke and rejection nevertheless, the kind that hurts a Leo like Obama. He is not a schmoozer but one who thinks that you can talk down to people because he is the president. He thinks that his 'beer diplomacy' works its magic every time. He learned the hard way that it did not this time.
It would seem to me that Obama is competing hard with Scott Walker to do serious harm to the unions. So, Obama is a DINO - Democrat in name only.
7
Seems to me, in NY in particular, the unions are doing extraordinarily well. The non-union workers have taken the brunt of the recession. In metro NY the union workers, with salary and benefits may not be the 1 per-centers but certainly are to most middle class workers,who are being crushed by those taxes.
Really? "So Obama failed to keep his foot on the throat of our Shiite puppets" ? Why should the president play tyrant in another country? The problems in Iraq go back for centuries, and why should the U.S. force one side of an ancient sectarian combat to behave better? The responsibility lies in Iraq itself, not in the United States. This is not a country interested in Middle Eastern conquest.
What a sick and perverse idea. Much as you hate the president and have written interminable columns against him, please do not support this imperialist nonsense that would just cost more American lives.
What a sick and perverse idea. Much as you hate the president and have written interminable columns against him, please do not support this imperialist nonsense that would just cost more American lives.
125
I have oft wondered how Obama managed to mismanage relations with Congress so badly. Then again, given the intransigence of Republicans in the House even before he officially took office, what did one expect? The House has mismanaged relations with the President just as badly.
40
History will think of our POTUS's eight years in office as the Obama Deignasty.
Tom Benghauser
The Denver Home for The Bewildered
Tom Benghauser
The Denver Home for The Bewildered
5
Why do the Times writers insist on giving unions the credit for defeating PTT. If the writers have any knowledge of working America they would know that only six point five percent of private sector workers belong to unions. To give such power to seven and a half million workers is silly or devious.
You can safely substitute " working Americans" every place "unions" occurs.
You can safely substitute " working Americans" every place "unions" occurs.
17
Incorrect. Learn about the difference between concentrated and dispersed interests.
I had the same thought. Also, it seems that most unions these days represent people whose jobs are not threatened by foreign labor. Some examples that come to mind are govt. workers, electricians, and plumbers. It seems unlikely that someone in India is going to work on my house.
1
Like most big-time commentators, Ms. Dowd seems to think that the events of this week relating to trade were all about insider politics and poor representatives having their feelings hurt by that awful Barack Obama.
She not only slams the President, she gives no credit, or even mention, to the likely real story: Democrats know that they did poorly in the 2010 and 2014 elections because their base wasn't motivated to vote. That ambivalence is the result of an administration and a Congressional party that has done too little to advance the progressive ideals that drove Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters to the polls in 2008 and, to a lesser extent, in 2012.
Mr. Obama has charted a cautious, moderate course as President. It is absurd in the extreme to blame him for the aftermath of George W. Bush's disastrous intervention in Iraq. It is also silly to think that members of Congress, who care above all about their re-election prospects, are more concerned about Mr. Obama's somewhat detached style than they are about the likely consequences in 2016 if they again support a policy that is totally at odds with the Democratic platform and the Democratic tradition of backing the working people in this country.
TPP would destroy what little is left of our manufacturing economy. It would also open up our laws to a corporate veto in an international tribunal over which Americans have little influence or control. It's a bad idea regardless of Mr. Obama's schmoozing style.
She not only slams the President, she gives no credit, or even mention, to the likely real story: Democrats know that they did poorly in the 2010 and 2014 elections because their base wasn't motivated to vote. That ambivalence is the result of an administration and a Congressional party that has done too little to advance the progressive ideals that drove Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters to the polls in 2008 and, to a lesser extent, in 2012.
Mr. Obama has charted a cautious, moderate course as President. It is absurd in the extreme to blame him for the aftermath of George W. Bush's disastrous intervention in Iraq. It is also silly to think that members of Congress, who care above all about their re-election prospects, are more concerned about Mr. Obama's somewhat detached style than they are about the likely consequences in 2016 if they again support a policy that is totally at odds with the Democratic platform and the Democratic tradition of backing the working people in this country.
TPP would destroy what little is left of our manufacturing economy. It would also open up our laws to a corporate veto in an international tribunal over which Americans have little influence or control. It's a bad idea regardless of Mr. Obama's schmoozing style.
74
Today a man gave me a lamp, and told me it was my smile that made him know how much I liked it. We have only met twice but he added that it looked right for my taste, and it is a house-warming present that he found at a garage sale.
He is the contractor building my new nest, and at lunch I told him of The Affordable Care Act. He does not follow politics or read much, but creates firm and creative foundations for housing. His twin daughters need health insurance, both hard workers, and this is an opportunity to thank the President once again for only one of the many outstanding actions he has taken during these times of adversity.
The President is going forth and this American is joining him. Others may continue to place obstacles in his way, but Mr. Obama is a shining light in my eyes, and brings to mind what Edith Wharton what said: 'There are two ways of spreading light. One is to be the candle, or the mirror that receives it'. Mr. Barack Obama is both.
Described by Ms. Dowd as a lame duck, he makes the rest of us look like a chattering of chicks.
He is the contractor building my new nest, and at lunch I told him of The Affordable Care Act. He does not follow politics or read much, but creates firm and creative foundations for housing. His twin daughters need health insurance, both hard workers, and this is an opportunity to thank the President once again for only one of the many outstanding actions he has taken during these times of adversity.
The President is going forth and this American is joining him. Others may continue to place obstacles in his way, but Mr. Obama is a shining light in my eyes, and brings to mind what Edith Wharton what said: 'There are two ways of spreading light. One is to be the candle, or the mirror that receives it'. Mr. Barack Obama is both.
Described by Ms. Dowd as a lame duck, he makes the rest of us look like a chattering of chicks.
60
I am with you. I think President Obama has faced the same type of problems Franklin Roosevelt faced and he has led our country through almost ruin and catastrophe brought on by Cheney and W. He is not perfect, but I trust him to always try to do the right thing for Our Country and for Our People. He has never, ever embarrassed or made me ashamed of being an American, I cannot say that for the previous President Cheney.
President Obama will be remembered in history as one of the Greatest Presidents, along with Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt.
President Obama will be remembered in history as one of the Greatest Presidents, along with Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt.
He never was a politician - There are worse things !
18
Although I voted for Obama twice, I have since regarded him as a de facto Republican. On the TPP, Obama has sided with Wall St. over Main St. This isn't too surprising when you look at Obama's record. Remember, if Obama had his way, Timothy Geithner and Wall St. toady, would be in charge of the feds. On Iraq, we spent billions of dollars and many years training their army but now they have demonstrated that they do not possess the will to fight. In spite of this, Obama is sending more troops. On many occasions, he has used the quote attributed to Einstein about defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
12
A few thoughts for Ms Dowd. You would have learned a lot from listening to Brooks and Shields on the PBS Newshour re Obama and trade. It was a civil discussion in which both men spoke objectively about the pros and cons of the trade agreement. I particularly listened to Shields when asked if the POTUS's tendency to not reach out to Congress enough hurt the final vote. The answer was that it was about substance, not the President's habit of distancing himself from legislative action. There just was not enough assurances that our American jobs would not be jeopardized. The "may not" of the deal needs to be replaced with "will not." Re Ms Pelosi, do not underestimate her gifted ability to strategize. She and Obama are on the same side, as partners, when playing chess, not checkers. He was most likely fully aware of her move, knowing that she will try to get something etched in stone from the GOP who wants this deal more than she and most democrats. Perhaps, it may be a highway bill, Ms Dowd, of which I have heard many, many times the President asking Congress for, either from his "bully pulpit" or on the road. One final thought, I have spent most of these past 6 years avoiding your column because of your unwarranted disrespect toward the POTUS. I guess it will be another six years of the same old, same old when Ms Clinton becomes our next president.
65
I fully agree. The president plays the long game, and there may be negotiations afoot that will benefit the country or force the TPP to become a better bill. And I also generally avoid Dowd columns for the same reason - endless negativity and carping, endless disrespect for the president.
1
If Obama's greatness or not is to be measured by history, Maureen Dowd's peculiar observations are likely to have no influence. Look at the financial condition of American markets and complain. Look at the withdrawal from W's and Cheney's silly war in Iraq and complain. Then look at the awesome caution Obama applied to all of the harpies' calls for troops on the ground in the Middle East. I think Churchill and Obama are on the same, correct, wavelength. Time for Ms. D to move on to screeching about Hillary and to leave Obama as Ms. D.'s claim to fame as a critic.
43
He was never great. You wanted him to be great, but he was a fraud from day one.
18
FUNNY! The clown was NEVER great! He is as fake as the greek columns as his "nurmeburgesque" rally!
10
Representative Peter DeFazio: "The attitude of many [House Democrats] was 'O.K., go have fun with your Republican friends.'"
Can we please put public policy over our hurt feelings?
Can we please put public policy over our hurt feelings?
9
Guess that's what happens when you rely on your pen too much. Surprised he even went to Congress for approval..........As far as the Middle East goes, his only strategy now is the tried and true "prevent defense". And we all know how well that works. It's going to be a long 18 months.
6
Such a shame now that sparkling nugget is found to be nothing but a lump of iron pyrite.
8
Okay, Maureen. If you like to watch the Rilfeman, you can't be all bad. :-)
2
Ms. Dowd's column today is the definitive description of the inept, disengaged, and narcissistic performance of the worst national leader since Louis XVI.
This President has presided over disaster after avoidable disaster, turned potential and traditional supporters into opponents or indifferent citizens, and failed absolutely to lead anything. Most egregiously, the President continues to mislead Americans and to risk US blood and treasure in a sham military campaign against ISIS -- a campaign that has no hope of success but gives every indication of empowering a dangerous enemy.
What Ms. Dowd has captured here is the terrible reality that instead of a determined captain we have a re-arranger of deck chairs.
This President has presided over disaster after avoidable disaster, turned potential and traditional supporters into opponents or indifferent citizens, and failed absolutely to lead anything. Most egregiously, the President continues to mislead Americans and to risk US blood and treasure in a sham military campaign against ISIS -- a campaign that has no hope of success but gives every indication of empowering a dangerous enemy.
What Ms. Dowd has captured here is the terrible reality that instead of a determined captain we have a re-arranger of deck chairs.
10
Why does Ms. Dowd make politics personal? It was a bad bill. End of story.
26
As someone who served as a Marine in Iraq during 2003 and supported operations there from in the rear with the gear 2008-2012, can I offer one view?
When will all these pencil necked pundits (Maureen excluded), politicians, public talking-heads and Chicken Hawks of the Right, and Humanitarian Interventionists of the Left stop appropriating and using military terms?
We are not "boots on the ground", we are soldiers and Marines.
We do not "go into harm's way".
We go into combat and out on combat operations. It's called war, not the quaint harm's way (great John Wayne movie, but not reality).
Soldiers and Marines and SEALS sent to train Iraqis are not "advisers" or "trainers", we are combat forces, we are soldiers and Marines.
We are not working like DeVry University teachers or Harvard dons, we are in a place trying to make it harder for ISIS to kill Iraqis and serve as targets from 360 degrees all the time. Trainers, advisers, please!?
These terms should not ever be used as they are so freely by pols and pundits or the public; we who serve can use them as needed. But the problem here is that both Republicans, Democrats, Congress and the Executive Branch, and much of the media are being intellectually dishonest.
They are using tough-guy terms for things that are in fact very basic, and they distract from what we are doing and deceive the public.
If you send men and women to WAR, that is not a police-action or hum-int, or training it is combat, and people die.
When will all these pencil necked pundits (Maureen excluded), politicians, public talking-heads and Chicken Hawks of the Right, and Humanitarian Interventionists of the Left stop appropriating and using military terms?
We are not "boots on the ground", we are soldiers and Marines.
We do not "go into harm's way".
We go into combat and out on combat operations. It's called war, not the quaint harm's way (great John Wayne movie, but not reality).
Soldiers and Marines and SEALS sent to train Iraqis are not "advisers" or "trainers", we are combat forces, we are soldiers and Marines.
We are not working like DeVry University teachers or Harvard dons, we are in a place trying to make it harder for ISIS to kill Iraqis and serve as targets from 360 degrees all the time. Trainers, advisers, please!?
These terms should not ever be used as they are so freely by pols and pundits or the public; we who serve can use them as needed. But the problem here is that both Republicans, Democrats, Congress and the Executive Branch, and much of the media are being intellectually dishonest.
They are using tough-guy terms for things that are in fact very basic, and they distract from what we are doing and deceive the public.
If you send men and women to WAR, that is not a police-action or hum-int, or training it is combat, and people die.
73
The President's willingness a) to think that every negotiation will end in a result he sets out to achieve and b) allowing himself to be captured by of his staff, bureaucracies, big, international businesses, and those who have a specific financial interest in the outcome of any aspect of his political agenda are his recurring weaknesses.
Time and again, he succumbs to the same siren song, this time with the trade pact, same as it was in developing a specific plan to allow the US to exit Iraq, reforming the security agencies to prevent their insidious domestic activities, and even in health care reform.
During the long period it took to enact what came to be known as Obamacare, the President placed the negotiations in the hands of Democratic Senators who were the largest beneficiaries of hospitals and pharm, and then sat them at the head of the table when everyone got together for camp pictures. It didn't take long to figure out that the massive healthcare reform promised was going to be weakened to nothing, giving opponents an easy try to demolish it.
The same process is at work here: saving the Clinton NAFTA legacy of vast job losses and lowered wages while big companies, in the driver's seat once more, writing rules and paving a gilded highway to vast riches derived from trade with the Pacific Rim while US workers suffer.
Dowd is absolutely right. My President, a guy I admire and respect, should have gotten out more often and not just in Washington without his staff.
Time and again, he succumbs to the same siren song, this time with the trade pact, same as it was in developing a specific plan to allow the US to exit Iraq, reforming the security agencies to prevent their insidious domestic activities, and even in health care reform.
During the long period it took to enact what came to be known as Obamacare, the President placed the negotiations in the hands of Democratic Senators who were the largest beneficiaries of hospitals and pharm, and then sat them at the head of the table when everyone got together for camp pictures. It didn't take long to figure out that the massive healthcare reform promised was going to be weakened to nothing, giving opponents an easy try to demolish it.
The same process is at work here: saving the Clinton NAFTA legacy of vast job losses and lowered wages while big companies, in the driver's seat once more, writing rules and paving a gilded highway to vast riches derived from trade with the Pacific Rim while US workers suffer.
Dowd is absolutely right. My President, a guy I admire and respect, should have gotten out more often and not just in Washington without his staff.
135
The analysis of the President's defeat in the House on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is excellent. The pivot to the Iraq discussion is disjointed and unevenly argued, undercutting what could have been a fine column. Not your best, Mo.
6
A 'moment of greatness'? We're still waiting for at least one moment that rises to 'mediocre'. Barack is measuring up to all that he accomplished prior to being installed as president under our affirmative action laws; nothing.
12
“The president descended from the mountain … to schmooze with Democrats and Republicans at the annual congressional baseball game.”
President Obama may or may not have accomplished more for his international and his domestic programs, had he been able “to schmooze with Democrats and Republicans” more. However, maybe we should not fault him too much for not engaging in this activity, which appears to be against his nature.
Instead, perhaps we should concentrate on President Obama’s overall confrontational foreign policy with Russia over Ukraine and over the newly acquired East European NATO members, and with China over the issue of the islands in the South China Sea.
This confrontational policy may pose a more dangerous threat to our national security as that policy relates to the issue of war and peace, than all the dangerous issues pertaining to Iraq, Syria, ISIS, Iran and the entire Middle East.
President Obama should perhaps mend fences with Russia by seeking a diplomatic solution to the combustible conflict over Ukraine. He should refrain from provoking Russia by sending heavy armaments to the new East European NATO members on its borders. He should seek a diplomatic solution with China over the issue of the islands in the South China Sea.
President Obama should perhaps avoid igniting a new and dangerous cold war with Russia and with China, which would tarnish his legacy irreparably and which could make George W. Bush’s blunder over Iraq seem insignificant.
President Obama may or may not have accomplished more for his international and his domestic programs, had he been able “to schmooze with Democrats and Republicans” more. However, maybe we should not fault him too much for not engaging in this activity, which appears to be against his nature.
Instead, perhaps we should concentrate on President Obama’s overall confrontational foreign policy with Russia over Ukraine and over the newly acquired East European NATO members, and with China over the issue of the islands in the South China Sea.
This confrontational policy may pose a more dangerous threat to our national security as that policy relates to the issue of war and peace, than all the dangerous issues pertaining to Iraq, Syria, ISIS, Iran and the entire Middle East.
President Obama should perhaps mend fences with Russia by seeking a diplomatic solution to the combustible conflict over Ukraine. He should refrain from provoking Russia by sending heavy armaments to the new East European NATO members on its borders. He should seek a diplomatic solution with China over the issue of the islands in the South China Sea.
President Obama should perhaps avoid igniting a new and dangerous cold war with Russia and with China, which would tarnish his legacy irreparably and which could make George W. Bush’s blunder over Iraq seem insignificant.
7
President Obama ran on the idea of "Hope" as in he would restore hope to the country and change the culture in Washington. It turns out that he did not know how to implement his ideas. This is a weakness that is also a problem for the Senators of both parties running for President. They have lots of ideas, but have never had to actually do something and been held accountable for their results.
This time I am "Hoping" to find someone who has the vision and experience to move our country forward; someone who knows that compromise is part of the job description. Looking at the candidates from both parties, I have to say its not looking promising. . . .
This time I am "Hoping" to find someone who has the vision and experience to move our country forward; someone who knows that compromise is part of the job description. Looking at the candidates from both parties, I have to say its not looking promising. . . .
4
I love it that even when Ms. Dowd is belittling Obama she can't help herself from taking a shot at the Clinton's. She should just admit she made a terrible mistake 8 yrs ago by backing Barry and relentlessly slamming Hillary.
2
To give congressional Democrats the benefit of the doubt, maybe they think the TPP is bad for the country. After all, if assistance is needed for those who lose their jobs due to such trade agreements (the TAA), then that is an admission that it will cost American jobs. Maybe, just maybe the Democrats who voted against Trade Promotion Authority believe that their job is to do what is best for the country, rather than showing blind loyalty to President Obama.
13
Maureen - Crisply said. And for the most part, accurately. What do YOU think are avenues to solutions? We have had enough of war and the costs of lives and trillions of taxpayer dollars fighting in conflicts we really do not understand. Petro-dollars and the wholesale extermination of women and children. We seem too content to relegate these factions to religious conflicts. We need clarity. As a people and a powerful nation - we have been long-ready to listen.
2
Explain to the parents of ducks being sent to lily pads, why are their children being put in danger?
Wait for the first duck to be beheaded. Then you will see how lame this lame duck is.
Wait for the first duck to be beheaded. Then you will see how lame this lame duck is.
6
An independent Sunni state is struggling to emerge in the northern Middle East. Why can't our marvelous intelligence agencies figure this out? Like the Kurds, the Sunnis have no taste for being ruled by Shia in Baghdad. That the the US is fighting what should be a welcome development testifies to the woodenheadedness of the White House.
The US should move to establish a Sunni state in western Iraq and eastern Syria now. Time to erase those Sykes-Picot borders. An independent Sunni state would attract support and most likely could lead a coalition to defeat ISIS.
It's time for a Sunni Awakening in Washington D.C.
The US should move to establish a Sunni state in western Iraq and eastern Syria now. Time to erase those Sykes-Picot borders. An independent Sunni state would attract support and most likely could lead a coalition to defeat ISIS.
It's time for a Sunni Awakening in Washington D.C.
8
The majority of Americans are not going to blame the continuing Middle East crisis on President Obama. As far a the trade bill goes Americans know products are being produced in Asia in sweatshops. Americans want income equality around the globe. Hillary Clinton invoked Barack Obama as an inspiration in her announcement that she is running for President.
4
I do not think that Americans "Give a damn" about "income equality" across the globe. Especially, when the real unemployment rate in this country is in the mid-teens. Thanks, to the policies credited by Obama.
1
Drilling down for details, suggests that workers in Americas top export businesses like autos and energy might benefit. The agreement is also said to do a better job of protecting American intellectual property. Personally speaking, I believe the variables change too, much. It's difficult to assess these international deals, when currencies are manipulated and corporations can relocate out of the USA, almost at will.
One more consideration: Distributive manufacturing is all the rage. Large US corporations are researching and investing in this ecological scale movement. It's another variable that could change all the equations we now use.
Sunni, Shia- believing that one can actually deal with these groups and their extremely subjective ideation is magical reasoning! We just need to show face!
One more consideration: Distributive manufacturing is all the rage. Large US corporations are researching and investing in this ecological scale movement. It's another variable that could change all the equations we now use.
Sunni, Shia- believing that one can actually deal with these groups and their extremely subjective ideation is magical reasoning! We just need to show face!
4
Yes, trade agreements are always a tough sell with razor-thin vote margins. While fair trade, properly negotiated, may be good for America--not just its corporate elite, the President of transparency did not win any supporters from his party by keeping the details of the TPP (Trans-Pacific partnership) trade deal "classified." With his own party turning rapidly leftward toward progressive, populism, Mr. Obama relied to much on Nancy Pelosi and not enough on good political judgment. But with respect to Iraq, your Rifleman shot clearly missed the mark. President Obama now clearly realizes that the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abidi has not been able to bring Sunnis into his government and the task requires direct military support that essentially bypasses the Iran-backed Shiite regime in Baghdad. Whether a separate Sunni force can be successful in fighting ISIS remains to be seen, but it's too early to call it a "bandage" or a "sad, symbolic move."
Dear Ms. Dowd,
Sitting first through two terms of W. as he broke Iraq into little pieces and then two terms of watching O just letting the pieces scatter in the wind reminds me, as if a reminder were needed, that a genuine conservative (H.W. Bush) knew better than to tear asunder what madness had joined together, and that a genuine liberal (like Truman) would have rained hellfire on the monstrous beast that is ISIS without hesitation and until he ran out of ammunition.
Sad to say, we've spent 16 years watching the flickering mind of Bush Junior and the wandering attention of Obama slowly transform the smoldering cauldron that has long been the Middle East into a volcano of chaos whose eruptions have likely only just begun.
Cordially,
S.A. Traina
Sitting first through two terms of W. as he broke Iraq into little pieces and then two terms of watching O just letting the pieces scatter in the wind reminds me, as if a reminder were needed, that a genuine conservative (H.W. Bush) knew better than to tear asunder what madness had joined together, and that a genuine liberal (like Truman) would have rained hellfire on the monstrous beast that is ISIS without hesitation and until he ran out of ammunition.
Sad to say, we've spent 16 years watching the flickering mind of Bush Junior and the wandering attention of Obama slowly transform the smoldering cauldron that has long been the Middle East into a volcano of chaos whose eruptions have likely only just begun.
Cordially,
S.A. Traina
7
THE ESTEEMED MAUREEN DOWD is only partially correct. The Main Reason that Obama lost the Congressional fight is that over these past almost 7 years, he has been losing the support of his base. He got my vote -- and I suspect the vote of all those who voted for him, certainly all the democrats -- by promising Hope for Change. Instead, we got Bush-Cheney, light (or the same in some matters). So we don't trust Obama anymore.
Maureen Dowd says Obama's TPP failure was all about his arrogance. But I'm pretty sure that's a bit short sighted. Obama says that all Trade deals are done this way, and I believe him. But when he says we should trust him to negotiate the best deal possible, I don't believe him. You know... the TPP might very well turn out to be a great deal. But I don't trust Obama anymore.
Maureen Dowd says Obama's TPP failure was all about his arrogance. But I'm pretty sure that's a bit short sighted. Obama says that all Trade deals are done this way, and I believe him. But when he says we should trust him to negotiate the best deal possible, I don't believe him. You know... the TPP might very well turn out to be a great deal. But I don't trust Obama anymore.
8
Well - schmoozing or no schmoozing, the secretive nature of the Transpacific Trade issue turns off many Americans. And from what's been leaked and written, it doesn't sound like a good deal to a surprisingly broad swathe of Americans, including many on the Right.
The puzzlement, to me, is why President Obama is in league with people like Boehner and McConnell in the first place. Given GOP philosophy since Goldwater and certainly, Reagan, I think a lot of Democrats figure, if they like it, we don't.
Nobody has tried to discuss this trade deal with the people or even with Congress. We are feeling really burned by multinational corporations, by big money, and certainly by arrogant "leaders," so I'd like to think the Democrats in Congress who are standing against the President on this are not rebelling against him so much as standing up for their constituents.
No real democracy would be best served by fast-tracking secrets in any case.
As for ISIS, there may be a path forward but it involves admitting that Iraq and Syria are failed states. We need, perhaps, to stop pretending otherwise, and admit that the Kurds should get some real help. Just throwing good money and American lives after bad in the service of Iraq in particular doesn't make much sense.
More frightening to me is the dispatch of American might to Eastern Europe. Why on earth are we poking the Bear? Are we looking for conflict?
Aren't our best interests served by spending some money here at home?
The puzzlement, to me, is why President Obama is in league with people like Boehner and McConnell in the first place. Given GOP philosophy since Goldwater and certainly, Reagan, I think a lot of Democrats figure, if they like it, we don't.
Nobody has tried to discuss this trade deal with the people or even with Congress. We are feeling really burned by multinational corporations, by big money, and certainly by arrogant "leaders," so I'd like to think the Democrats in Congress who are standing against the President on this are not rebelling against him so much as standing up for their constituents.
No real democracy would be best served by fast-tracking secrets in any case.
As for ISIS, there may be a path forward but it involves admitting that Iraq and Syria are failed states. We need, perhaps, to stop pretending otherwise, and admit that the Kurds should get some real help. Just throwing good money and American lives after bad in the service of Iraq in particular doesn't make much sense.
More frightening to me is the dispatch of American might to Eastern Europe. Why on earth are we poking the Bear? Are we looking for conflict?
Aren't our best interests served by spending some money here at home?
13
Yeah, and it wasn't pretty for Bush and Cheney sending ducks over there either.
7
Democrats found out the hard way the price of ignoring their constituents out of loyalty to Obama. They lost both houses because of their blind loyalty and many a Democrat's political career was ended.
Now, it is Republican's who are ignoring their base out of loyalty to their corporate owners. The very Party who promised to stop Obama has done nothing except to rubber stamp his agenda since becoming the majority in both Houses. They will pay a handsome price for their betrayal come 2016 when enough of their base stays home or votes for a Democrat to spite the GOP for stabbing them in the back. Let's face it, both Party's are full of corrupt traitors. Americans don't have a representative Government.
Now, it is Republican's who are ignoring their base out of loyalty to their corporate owners. The very Party who promised to stop Obama has done nothing except to rubber stamp his agenda since becoming the majority in both Houses. They will pay a handsome price for their betrayal come 2016 when enough of their base stays home or votes for a Democrat to spite the GOP for stabbing them in the back. Let's face it, both Party's are full of corrupt traitors. Americans don't have a representative Government.
9
The US doesn't have real political parties.
1
No Democrat is going to lose his or her seat because of opposition to corporate "free trade."
Maureen,
Forget Barak, he’s more than a lame duck.....he's a passé!
In a rally in Roosevelt Island today, Hilarious Clinton "vowed" to close the income gap. What a repellent farce that rally was!
The woman who claimed to be penniless and dead-broke upon leaving WH has magically amassed more than 200mil in a short 10 years. Same woman who didn't go back to either ARK or IL after White House stint , and opted to live in NYC and rub elbows with the Super Rich and famous of Manhattan and The Hamptons. Same woman who used her job as SoS to peddle access for donations to the so-called Clinton Foundation. Same Wall Street darling who happily collected $700000 for 1 hr speech @ Goldman Sachs.
She is telling the usually gullible Dems she going to turn on the very people who own her!
If anybody in America believes ONE word from this woman, I have a big Brooklyn Bridge to sell ya!
Forget Barak, he’s more than a lame duck.....he's a passé!
In a rally in Roosevelt Island today, Hilarious Clinton "vowed" to close the income gap. What a repellent farce that rally was!
The woman who claimed to be penniless and dead-broke upon leaving WH has magically amassed more than 200mil in a short 10 years. Same woman who didn't go back to either ARK or IL after White House stint , and opted to live in NYC and rub elbows with the Super Rich and famous of Manhattan and The Hamptons. Same woman who used her job as SoS to peddle access for donations to the so-called Clinton Foundation. Same Wall Street darling who happily collected $700000 for 1 hr speech @ Goldman Sachs.
She is telling the usually gullible Dems she going to turn on the very people who own her!
If anybody in America believes ONE word from this woman, I have a big Brooklyn Bridge to sell ya!
17
Hasn't the Brooklyn Bridge already been privatized?
Ouch, all this, after the President tried to work with Republicans at the start, whose responses bordered on sedition, or worse. Aha, the Rifleman, great series. An American who speaks so much sense, while carrying a carbine. Republicans thrill at the thought of the rapid fire, reload opening.
Ah, the Thrill of it all.
Ah, the Thrill of it all.
5
There is no way to remain pretty when saying "I told you so." But it feels so good, doesn't it Ms Dowd?
Only problem is there is no way for the American presidency, in any hands, to return America to greatness on the international stage. It has been too long since we talked softly and carried a big stick.
Oh sure, we have the big stick. But now that we have wasted our image by using it so often in an effort to kill ants the world knows us for the ineffective bully that we are.
Obama has done as much as we could ever hope for in repairing the American image in a pair of terms. It will take several more reserved and careful people doing the same before we can hope to resume the natural leadership so many since Reagan have worked so hard to destroy.
Only problem is there is no way for the American presidency, in any hands, to return America to greatness on the international stage. It has been too long since we talked softly and carried a big stick.
Oh sure, we have the big stick. But now that we have wasted our image by using it so often in an effort to kill ants the world knows us for the ineffective bully that we are.
Obama has done as much as we could ever hope for in repairing the American image in a pair of terms. It will take several more reserved and careful people doing the same before we can hope to resume the natural leadership so many since Reagan have worked so hard to destroy.
20
Given the Democrats refusal to participate in the execution of the last American factory worker, I wonder who is going to spearhead the campaign to build the Obama Presidential Library. He has made no friends. He has built no relationships. And when he is out of office, he has nothing to offer. That will be a sad final act.
14
Miss Dowd calls it the way she sees it alot of people don't like it but she isn't wrong the people who run for office and the ones we elect lack and she writes about it you need proof look at our once great country you need more proof look ahead a decade or two in a Tom Friedman column a couple weeks ago he cited a study that within the next twenty years 47% of the workforce would be replaced by smart machines and software who is talking about this I could a pin drop who believes it is not going to happen think about that half the workforce Un or underemployed where is the president he wants to pass a trade bill to send more jobs overseas and he will do what he can just to save face don't shoot the messenger because you don't like the message
1
1.) Obama never has trouble schmoozing FOR HIS OWN CAMPAIGNS.
2.) A thought bubble over Pelosi's head THAT ISN'T EMPTY?
2.) A thought bubble over Pelosi's head THAT ISN'T EMPTY?
5
A master of disguise, Obama is leading like Houdini pulling white rabbits out of their burrowed holes. Thus, the frog on the lily pad idea is fruitful. It will collect many a fly with a quick flick of the tongue. This is a far superior idea than a bull crashing into a china shop signature W Bush footprint. As far as courting Congress, that is like asking the coolest girl in Hollywood to flirt with the some backwards yahoos from the backwoods. Painfully awkward, like Jeb Bush attempting to flirt with a bunch of angry Democrats who would love to tar & feather him given the opportune moment.
10
President Barack Obama's legacy is one of inept failure to lead, govern, and honor his own commitments to those who voted for his presidency, twice!
13
The attitude of many was “O.K., go have fun with your Republican friends.” On this topic, this was a good article. He lost me with this and I hope to God he and the knuckledraggers don't get their way in the end. Somehow though, they'll find a slick way around it and get it done. It's not over until the fat lady sings.
6
Nothing is ever resolved. Look how the right to choose has aborted the Supreme Court. The full court press for religious government is still in effect in the US.
1
Maureen, why not call the oiled parties out of Iraq?
3
Ms. Dowd would rather have a fictional rancher who speaks in stern homilies as her president than Barack Obama. Apparently daddy-marksman-rancher presidents would never have problems getting Congress to do what they want, because they are just so manly and authoritative.
I'll go with the real person of real accomplishments, thank you very much.
I'll go with the real person of real accomplishments, thank you very much.
31
Real person? Real accomplishments? That's beyond laughable.
1
"...he got only 54 votes in the Senate for gun curbs that 90 percent of Americans wanted."
Ninety percent of Americans? That's simply not true.
Ninety percent of Americans? That's simply not true.
8
But it is true. Check the public opinion polls at the time. It probably had something to do with the senseless murder of 20 babies and 6 of their teachers. Of course, the semiautomatic rifle in the hands of a crazy person had nothing to do with it.
1
Yes , Maureen , everything is Obama's fault .
if only he had worked with that nice Mitch McConnell , who publicly said his main goal was to defeat anything that Obama proposed, everything would have run smoothly .
If only he had been able to persuade George Bush to negotiate a deal that would have left American troops protected in Iraq , everything would have been OK. , If only he had been able to persuade Cheney and Bremner not to disband the Iraq army , there would have been no Isil problem.
We must all be grateful to NYT for sharing your unbiased and thoughtful analysis of the Obama presidency and we know you will do the same for Hillary
if only he had worked with that nice Mitch McConnell , who publicly said his main goal was to defeat anything that Obama proposed, everything would have run smoothly .
If only he had been able to persuade George Bush to negotiate a deal that would have left American troops protected in Iraq , everything would have been OK. , If only he had been able to persuade Cheney and Bremner not to disband the Iraq army , there would have been no Isil problem.
We must all be grateful to NYT for sharing your unbiased and thoughtful analysis of the Obama presidency and we know you will do the same for Hillary
53
I can't actually find much fault with Maureen's column today. Normally, I find her presidential critiques unfair and grating. However, she's spot on with the Congressional last-minute wooing after years of benign neglect.
But since I so vehemently disagreed with the Mr. Obama on this TPP fast-track railroading job, I was actually thanking God he was rebuffed by his own party. So, whether you choose to believe it's finally payback or simply the President on the wrong side of history, doesn't really matter to me. At least this week, the American worker won for a change. And if the President is still scratching his head over this one, he's not alone--I've been scratching my head ever since he's tried to railroad this thing down Congress's throat.
I'm not going to comment on the hopeless mess that's Iraq and the rise of ISIS. Suffice it to say, Rand Paul has been the only one making sense regarding the rise of ISIS more due to the initial foreign policy disasters of his own party than anything this President did or did not do. After all, he was elected to get Americans home, not continuing the perpetual GOP drums of war.
Moreover, maybe he alone understand that if some Iraqis didn't feel like fighting way back then, or last week, they certainly aren't going to want to fight tomorrow. Are we supposed to still keep dragging them into battle 50 years from now?
But since I so vehemently disagreed with the Mr. Obama on this TPP fast-track railroading job, I was actually thanking God he was rebuffed by his own party. So, whether you choose to believe it's finally payback or simply the President on the wrong side of history, doesn't really matter to me. At least this week, the American worker won for a change. And if the President is still scratching his head over this one, he's not alone--I've been scratching my head ever since he's tried to railroad this thing down Congress's throat.
I'm not going to comment on the hopeless mess that's Iraq and the rise of ISIS. Suffice it to say, Rand Paul has been the only one making sense regarding the rise of ISIS more due to the initial foreign policy disasters of his own party than anything this President did or did not do. After all, he was elected to get Americans home, not continuing the perpetual GOP drums of war.
Moreover, maybe he alone understand that if some Iraqis didn't feel like fighting way back then, or last week, they certainly aren't going to want to fight tomorrow. Are we supposed to still keep dragging them into battle 50 years from now?
10
What a fantastic last line.
W dragged all of us nose-deep into the quagmire that is Iraq and Obama has not been able to calculate the way out or come close to fixing the mess he inherited.
Pity.
W dragged all of us nose-deep into the quagmire that is Iraq and Obama has not been able to calculate the way out or come close to fixing the mess he inherited.
Pity.
6
DeFazio complains, "Obama had “tried to guilt people and impugn their integrity.”
All one can say is, you Dems have supported and encouraged that behavior. That is how Obama rolls if you disagree with him. Dems empowered him, now you have to live with him and the damage he has done and will do to your party through his arrogance and willingness to demean any opponent.
Can't blame me for feeling a bit of schadenfreude for you dems who just now seem to understanad what Reps have been saying since 2009.
All one can say is, you Dems have supported and encouraged that behavior. That is how Obama rolls if you disagree with him. Dems empowered him, now you have to live with him and the damage he has done and will do to your party through his arrogance and willingness to demean any opponent.
Can't blame me for feeling a bit of schadenfreude for you dems who just now seem to understanad what Reps have been saying since 2009.
9
Was it only eight years ago that Maureen Dowd, convinced that Barack Obama was THE ONE, penned one worshipful column after another in an attempt to sway America to elect this handsome youthful political neophyte who had only served one term in the Senate as our POTUS??? Isn't it amazing how quickly one's perceptions can change in such a short period of time? Now in 2015 a very disillusioned Maureen Dowd, who is clearly suffering from Obama burnout, can't stop writing one Obama bashing column after another. Compounding Maureen Dowd's problem is that there isn't a single candidate on either side running for president for her swoon over. What a pity. Anyhow, her columns merely reflect the attitude of the American electorate who have also become bored and disillusioned with Barack Obama. Barack Obama is no longer a novelty and has lost that mystique he once had in those more innocent days. Sadly we all learned the hard way that Barack Obama is just another politician so pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. It's a fraud.
8
Americans eventually get tired of everybody.
The secrecy surrounding the terms of the TPP deal came as a surprise to as did the idea of the "fast track". I suppose I'm being naive to think that more sunlight would have led to a better outcome.
The secrecy surrounding the terms of the TPP deal came as a surprise to as did the idea of the "fast track". I suppose I'm being naive to think that more sunlight would have led to a better outcome.
As an old timer ,I recall how much we democrats wanted Adlai Stevenson back
when intelligence mattered. When Pres. Obama appeared on the political scene
I thought - at last, we have a professor in the White House and his brightness
will reign. Alas, professor types don't smooze with congress , specially this
congress that rejected him from the outset. He was an outsider from the
very beginning - even Harry Reid thought he was "clean looking " etc. to
dwell in that white house and make waves. Come on people, this President
has suffered the slings and arrows of more racism and push back from our
elite congress than any before him. He 's had every reason to be sensitive and cautious in these surroundings - you don't have to be a shrink to know
that. I just thank god I lived to see an extraordinary Black man elected to the
presidency despite the odds, despite the bigotry that raves through this
land and despite his critics who seem so impervious to what he inherited
and to his very nature. An intelligent man , a man of peace.
when intelligence mattered. When Pres. Obama appeared on the political scene
I thought - at last, we have a professor in the White House and his brightness
will reign. Alas, professor types don't smooze with congress , specially this
congress that rejected him from the outset. He was an outsider from the
very beginning - even Harry Reid thought he was "clean looking " etc. to
dwell in that white house and make waves. Come on people, this President
has suffered the slings and arrows of more racism and push back from our
elite congress than any before him. He 's had every reason to be sensitive and cautious in these surroundings - you don't have to be a shrink to know
that. I just thank god I lived to see an extraordinary Black man elected to the
presidency despite the odds, despite the bigotry that raves through this
land and despite his critics who seem so impervious to what he inherited
and to his very nature. An intelligent man , a man of peace.
President Obama had his moment of "Greatness" when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for nothing more than showing up. It has been downhill from there punctuated with excuses, mendacity and mediocrity.
Now, his capstone trade legislation is nothing more than the accelerated immolation of the American middle class permitting more good jobs to be Disneyfied and Edisoned on a grander scale.
Now, his capstone trade legislation is nothing more than the accelerated immolation of the American middle class permitting more good jobs to be Disneyfied and Edisoned on a grander scale.
10
Iraq was lost the day Viet Nam dodging cowards Bush and Cheney disastrously "led" The Charge of the Fools Brigade into Iraq.
It was lost already when they made torture USG policy. It was long lost when American's learned the name Abu Ghraib.
But 4,489 GI's would die for nothing, 15,000 GI's would be physically maimed for life, an unknowable number will have their lives severely circumscribed by PTSD. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians who were killed by American megalomania.
But in an always exceptional American twist, where else could a couple of war dodging cowards grow up to be war criminals?
It was lost already when they made torture USG policy. It was long lost when American's learned the name Abu Ghraib.
But 4,489 GI's would die for nothing, 15,000 GI's would be physically maimed for life, an unknowable number will have their lives severely circumscribed by PTSD. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians who were killed by American megalomania.
But in an always exceptional American twist, where else could a couple of war dodging cowards grow up to be war criminals?
57
"charm and knead and whip and hug and horse-trade .... to victories."
Niccolò Machiavelli (ridendo).
Niccolò Machiavelli (ridendo).
1
Maureen. It is sad that you have become nothing more than a cynic. I guess covering Washington all these years does that to a journalist. I prefer to think Obama is moving diligently on Iraq because he wants to spare the blood of our country and to instead train the Iraqis who have the most to gain by taking the fight to ISIS themselves. You see it as a way to extend this beyond his presidency. Wow.
25
Look, schmoozing this Congre$$ is a fool's errand. And Mo's reflexive dismissal of Obama's style is predictable. But those Republicans who swore to make Obama a one term president were the ones in favor of this. That should have been a huge tell, as they say in the poker world.
The Republicans and their scream machine on talk radio and Faux News complain bitterly that Obamacare was shoved down America's throats without legislators reading the bill. That looks like the Constitutional Convention and our founding fathers compared to this. So secret, members of Congre$$ can't read it, copy any part of it, bring an aide or smart phone to check things in it? Sorry, this smells so vile that I am thrilled to see Obama rebuked . Obama can get his succor from TPP supporters like Paul Ryan.
And General Martin Dempsey, without irony, brings up an Iraq version of military advisors and Vietnamization and wonders how it goes over like a lead balloon. Her gratuitous attack on his personality notwithstanding, Dowd has Obama pegged as the lamest duck, maybe in my lifetime.
The Republicans and their scream machine on talk radio and Faux News complain bitterly that Obamacare was shoved down America's throats without legislators reading the bill. That looks like the Constitutional Convention and our founding fathers compared to this. So secret, members of Congre$$ can't read it, copy any part of it, bring an aide or smart phone to check things in it? Sorry, this smells so vile that I am thrilled to see Obama rebuked . Obama can get his succor from TPP supporters like Paul Ryan.
And General Martin Dempsey, without irony, brings up an Iraq version of military advisors and Vietnamization and wonders how it goes over like a lead balloon. Her gratuitous attack on his personality notwithstanding, Dowd has Obama pegged as the lamest duck, maybe in my lifetime.
4
Hillary Clinton has undermined the Obama administration with money from Uranium mines read Clinton cash that helped Iran via Assad. She's as unethical as her lying husband Bill.
4
'Some were angry, as Representative Peter DeFazio told Politico, that Obama had “tried to guilt people and impugn their integrity."'
This has been the entire story of his presidency. We on the right have seen this all along. Nice you could join us, Maureen.
This has been the entire story of his presidency. We on the right have seen this all along. Nice you could join us, Maureen.
12
President Obama 'tried to guilt people and impugn their integrity'? Do I understand that we do not have a mind of our own, and that it takes a powerful person, a leader of a nation to the good or to the bad, to confiscate our brain cells?
'We on the right' have seen the light all along? It is one thing to know one's right from the left, and perhaps risky to be in the middle of the road, where one stands a chance of getting run over.
What has happened to Individual Freedom? This American has never wavered in belief, heart and spirit when it comes to President Obama; the finest one in a life time. The President is not a pretender and when he addresses the Nation, he has my full attention.
True, at times, I feel as if America is living a nightmare where we are casualties of body-snatchers from another planet. Looking at Americans hard-working and unemployed, while understanding first-hand the hardship of poverty, the self-defeating attitude of those who wish to blame the President for all their ills, sends chills up my spine.
Unemployed and past 60, it is watching the ongoing concern and action of the President for his Country, that reminds me that one can always do better. In listening to a successful person the other day explain that 'Life isn't always fair', it was enough to feel foolish.
The President has seen our lack of Character. He misjudged us. The rest is the dirty antics of political games where 'Stupid' plays a major role.
'We on the right' have seen the light all along? It is one thing to know one's right from the left, and perhaps risky to be in the middle of the road, where one stands a chance of getting run over.
What has happened to Individual Freedom? This American has never wavered in belief, heart and spirit when it comes to President Obama; the finest one in a life time. The President is not a pretender and when he addresses the Nation, he has my full attention.
True, at times, I feel as if America is living a nightmare where we are casualties of body-snatchers from another planet. Looking at Americans hard-working and unemployed, while understanding first-hand the hardship of poverty, the self-defeating attitude of those who wish to blame the President for all their ills, sends chills up my spine.
Unemployed and past 60, it is watching the ongoing concern and action of the President for his Country, that reminds me that one can always do better. In listening to a successful person the other day explain that 'Life isn't always fair', it was enough to feel foolish.
The President has seen our lack of Character. He misjudged us. The rest is the dirty antics of political games where 'Stupid' plays a major role.
It's not just that he's arrogant, Obama is also lazy. Too lazy to build personal relationships with Congressional leaders. Too lazy to sell his vision. Too lazy to get off the golf course and get down in the trenches. No one trust him on Capital Hill, due to his narcissistic nature. He's aways been a child of priviledge and it shows. The hard work begins when you get elected President, too bad Obama never learned this lesson.
13
True. Obama has no cronies in congress democrat or republican. . Doesn't have regular breakfasts, lunches, moments of getting together informally. I note that the republicans have their lunches. Obama is aloof. I wonder what he does all day if someone isn't visiting.
1
For me, like a lot of Americans, even Republicans, it started with support. I’d wished that McCain had won in 2008, but anyone not utterly bulletproof couldn’t help but be energized and positively emotional by the sight of a black American taking the inaugural on 20 Jan. 2009, after centuries of racial ugliness.
And it took a while for it to become evident that our president was basically a kibitzer who not only didn’t like to get too involved in sausage-making, but didn’t actually like or respect the people who did; and that he had absolutely no talent at the critically important task of a professional politician of getting into the trenches and LEADING people by cutting deals, creating legitimate debt to him, and moving us forward instead of merely talking about moving us forward.
It took about one year before the bloom was off the rose. It all became evident to me during the wrap-up to ObamaCare, which really should have been called PelosiCare for all the personal involvement Barack Obama invested. I began writing in this community then about my disillusionment with our president. It’s been a long road.
I intensely dislike Nancy Pelosi, but I respect her. I actually like Barack Obama, but I don’t respect him.
Maureen has gone into a few of the early and latest bad choices born of a basic misalignment between job requirements and actual skills and inherent abilities. There are MANY more examples.
America awaits a REAL president again, of WHATEVER complexion or gender.
And it took a while for it to become evident that our president was basically a kibitzer who not only didn’t like to get too involved in sausage-making, but didn’t actually like or respect the people who did; and that he had absolutely no talent at the critically important task of a professional politician of getting into the trenches and LEADING people by cutting deals, creating legitimate debt to him, and moving us forward instead of merely talking about moving us forward.
It took about one year before the bloom was off the rose. It all became evident to me during the wrap-up to ObamaCare, which really should have been called PelosiCare for all the personal involvement Barack Obama invested. I began writing in this community then about my disillusionment with our president. It’s been a long road.
I intensely dislike Nancy Pelosi, but I respect her. I actually like Barack Obama, but I don’t respect him.
Maureen has gone into a few of the early and latest bad choices born of a basic misalignment between job requirements and actual skills and inherent abilities. There are MANY more examples.
America awaits a REAL president again, of WHATEVER complexion or gender.
9
What flickering greatness? You have to have greatness before it can flicker. He's never had any. He is a lie, a puppet, a construct, an empty suit,... dust. His only legacy should be that he didn't leave fast enough.
8
Obama's legacy will be tainted with the black stain of ISIS. If there's a morality tale with this president, who began with so much support and hope, it's that sequestering yourself can be just as bad as choosing the wrong people to advise you.
7
With his desperate pitching of TPP to secure his legacy, Barack Obama's "charm" just hit its expiration date. At least in the minds of Democratic leaders like Pelosi, who, in a very public way, is admitting to seeing her president now as he really is. And always was.
9
Charm? This is reminiscent of where a friend and I used to debate the issue of whether our supervisor was charming, or charismatic. A powerful economist, one of many responsible for saving New York from bankruptcy in the mid-70s, it was his charisma that was striking. His relentless energy and conviction in getting things done, and that words alone were cheap if not followed by action.
He was to teach this person about the 'Two-Way Street' where he reminded me that he was here to help me, if I helped him without being preachy in the process.
Perhaps you are right. Perhaps the President is worried about his legacy. I believe he is too busy trying to push the Nation forward on solid ground because he knows that our next Generation is about to be left with a heavy burden. He is not Atlas trying to shrug. An ongoing struggle for him with nobility, while the rest of us quarrel like squadrons of angry birds and stinging cobras, watching Fox news on a diet of poisonous brain candy.
He was to teach this person about the 'Two-Way Street' where he reminded me that he was here to help me, if I helped him without being preachy in the process.
Perhaps you are right. Perhaps the President is worried about his legacy. I believe he is too busy trying to push the Nation forward on solid ground because he knows that our next Generation is about to be left with a heavy burden. He is not Atlas trying to shrug. An ongoing struggle for him with nobility, while the rest of us quarrel like squadrons of angry birds and stinging cobras, watching Fox news on a diet of poisonous brain candy.
"He’s on his way out. I may be on my way out, too, but I want to keep my friends.”
This isn't about anything that may or may not be in the TPP or protecting American workers (if it were, Dems would act to reduce the number if illegals in this country). Its about distancing themselves from this loser of a President they have supported for the past 7 years!
This isn't about anything that may or may not be in the TPP or protecting American workers (if it were, Dems would act to reduce the number if illegals in this country). Its about distancing themselves from this loser of a President they have supported for the past 7 years!
5
The Right knew this dude was going to get thrown off the horse the first few time he got on, but whoever told him he'd never even have to get on and ride did him no favors.
All the blarney that Ms. Jarrett tried to lay on us making him out to be the genius of all time only made people laugh - but, no, some of you people actually BOUGHT it, didn't you?
The worst thing about re-nominating him in 2012 was the sheer hubris of it. The liberal hair-on-fire crowd could not admit their mistake in running him in the first place, so they plowed ahead and ran him again.
It would have been FAR better for the party if wiser heads had gently found him a rocking chair somewhere so he could start his next couple of autobiographies.
All the blarney that Ms. Jarrett tried to lay on us making him out to be the genius of all time only made people laugh - but, no, some of you people actually BOUGHT it, didn't you?
The worst thing about re-nominating him in 2012 was the sheer hubris of it. The liberal hair-on-fire crowd could not admit their mistake in running him in the first place, so they plowed ahead and ran him again.
It would have been FAR better for the party if wiser heads had gently found him a rocking chair somewhere so he could start his next couple of autobiographies.
7
Be sure to let us know when you exceed President Obama's accomplishments.
Like getting admitted to Harvard Law, being Editor of the Law Review.
Like being elected a State Senator, a US Senator and President.
Twice.
Like getting admitted to Harvard Law, being Editor of the Law Review.
Like being elected a State Senator, a US Senator and President.
Twice.
And what does Hillary Clinton think about this deal? We'll find out after the dust has settled, the poll data is in and her advisers have told her what she is to believe in. All of the GOP candidates have already stated what their views are on this deal.
5
Greatness, where? What greatness? I'm sick of people saying this. He will go down in history as the worst President, Carter and Nixon can sleep at night now. Without the Liberal Media, he's NOTHING.
7
Oddly, as I read this, I am "watching" an episode of "The Rifleman". One thing about this time period in westerns - they almost always ended on a high note. It was illusion, but comforting. I guess, a lot like referencing Obama's " greatness" and how it is something that could diminuish. Fact is, Obama's greatness" was an illusion. He isn't an intellectual, his doesn't want what's best for our country, and he hasn't a clue about what he's doing. He's great at illusion. In the end, Lucas McCain was shooting blanks...just like Obama.
10
I don't think there was ever anything remotely close to greatness. How could there be from a man who really never had a job, was raised by a father with deep Socialist beliefs, and who never served in the military? He has no technical, foreign policy, economic, or military knowledge and therefore no basis from which to understand reality. It is time to face the fact that he was elected because he was black and people wanted a first black president. Unfortunately, the world doesn't operate on radical theories Obama was taught and the results show it. Better we just all acknowledge that we elected a black president and leave it at that.
7
I voted for Mr. Obama twice, because I wanted a black president? And beware of Socialists beliefs? I may be white with a capitalist glint in my eye, but this American sat up when I first heard what he had to tell us of the work needed from the majority of us to get our Nation to recover from one of the heaviest burdens inherited by a former presidency in contemporary American history.
It is not the first time that I have heard from someone who should know better that he really never had a '9 to 5'. Somewhat reminiscent of telling one that the Queen of England has been enjoying a life time holiday.
It is perhaps time for us to face facts that many of us are fat and flatulent in our thinking; that it doesn't matter whether the Leader of our Country is black, white or tan; pink with green spots. While the results may not be in for the President, they are coming in faster than the Triple Crown Winner, for the rest of us who are sleeping our lives away.
We are about to pay the piper's price in ways yet to be determined, and the President is watching with his intelligent bright eyes wide open; watching and walking ahead, taking a few of us along with him because the real battle is about to begin.
There will be no leaving it at that for this reader, but a reminder that we have a choice of which road to follow. It is not the one with two steps back and one forward; but one step back and three ahead, that is going to require hard work and no backward thinking on our part.
It is not the first time that I have heard from someone who should know better that he really never had a '9 to 5'. Somewhat reminiscent of telling one that the Queen of England has been enjoying a life time holiday.
It is perhaps time for us to face facts that many of us are fat and flatulent in our thinking; that it doesn't matter whether the Leader of our Country is black, white or tan; pink with green spots. While the results may not be in for the President, they are coming in faster than the Triple Crown Winner, for the rest of us who are sleeping our lives away.
We are about to pay the piper's price in ways yet to be determined, and the President is watching with his intelligent bright eyes wide open; watching and walking ahead, taking a few of us along with him because the real battle is about to begin.
There will be no leaving it at that for this reader, but a reminder that we have a choice of which road to follow. It is not the one with two steps back and one forward; but one step back and three ahead, that is going to require hard work and no backward thinking on our part.
I always felt Obama's biggest failure was his lack of wiliness to compromise for the greater good. So many good President knew that getting some of what they wanted was better then nothing. We have to many far left and right people and not enough reasoning kind of politicians who see things on a more even and objective view point. Obama has obviously been inspiring in his speeches and on his campaigns. But he has had little substance to go with that. I have never seen a more divided Country as I have these last 6 years. We have gone from being united in fighting terror since 9/11. To becoming polarized to such a point our Country is dysfunctional.
5
The breakdown of separation of church and state is wrecking the US. President Obama is helpless to reverse it.
There is no far left in the US.
Republicans in Congress learned a long time ago that there is no principled opposition to Obama's policies: there is only base politics with a soupcon of racism.
How's that shoe feel on the other foot, Rep. DeFazio of "impugned integrity?"
How's that shoe feel on the other foot, Rep. DeFazio of "impugned integrity?"
3
When Obama first stepped on the public sage, I was very curious why he had no friends in his life. There were no friends from his past. None. He did not have much in the way of enemies, either. Ms. Dowd seems to have framed the portrait of this man. This sad, alone, man.
8
Mike
We may be watching The Last President in our life time. A book has been written by a friend of his called 'Believer', which may give some of us some light as to what constitutes Greatness in this man who is in possession of a wonderful family and supportive friends, and I am laughing at the thought of 'this sad, alone, man' whom the Nation seemingly wants to frame, and another perplexing essay by this once great journalist, who appears to have fallen on her crown long ago
We may be watching The Last President in our life time. A book has been written by a friend of his called 'Believer', which may give some of us some light as to what constitutes Greatness in this man who is in possession of a wonderful family and supportive friends, and I am laughing at the thought of 'this sad, alone, man' whom the Nation seemingly wants to frame, and another perplexing essay by this once great journalist, who appears to have fallen on her crown long ago
The Obamas have friends, who aren't celebrities and stay out of the spotlight. Imagine that.
2
"Like Prufrock, Obama must wonder if the moment of his greatness is flickering."
His moment of greatness was an illusion foisted upon a sleepy electorate by a misleading media. From the start he was in way over his head.
His moment of greatness was an illusion foisted upon a sleepy electorate by a misleading media. From the start he was in way over his head.
13
Nothing sharper than Maureen's razor blades. Obama deserves it. He's a smug punk.
9
Doesn't this read like a please forgive those democratic politicians letter?
After all they didn't mean to help Barack H. Obama defraud every natural born citizen of our birthrights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They didn't mean to manipulate through contrivances so devious they resulted in the deaths and maiming of thousands of human beings, let alone Americans. They didn't mean to leave our borders open like gaping wounds to allow disease, pestilence and terror to lurk among us. They didn't mean to pillage our bank accounts and offshore our jobs. They didn't know those vaccinations were loaded with teratogens that disable our progeny, or that oil slicks that linger on our waters would destroy the ecology or that pesticides would destroy our mitochondrial DNA and leave us infertile. They hadn't the slightest idea that the phosphorous in Soda causes cancer, or that there was jet fuel in tobacco; or that fluoridated water causes learning disabilities.
Don't believe a word of it or forgive one iota of what they've done. They knew exactly what they were doing.
What they didn't know was that they will be held accountable.
Prosecute:
the remnants of the Reagan administrations, et al
George H.W. Bush and administrations, et al
George W. Bush and administrations, et al
William J. Clinton and administrations, et al
Barack H. Obama and administrations, et al
... please.
After all they didn't mean to help Barack H. Obama defraud every natural born citizen of our birthrights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They didn't mean to manipulate through contrivances so devious they resulted in the deaths and maiming of thousands of human beings, let alone Americans. They didn't mean to leave our borders open like gaping wounds to allow disease, pestilence and terror to lurk among us. They didn't mean to pillage our bank accounts and offshore our jobs. They didn't know those vaccinations were loaded with teratogens that disable our progeny, or that oil slicks that linger on our waters would destroy the ecology or that pesticides would destroy our mitochondrial DNA and leave us infertile. They hadn't the slightest idea that the phosphorous in Soda causes cancer, or that there was jet fuel in tobacco; or that fluoridated water causes learning disabilities.
Don't believe a word of it or forgive one iota of what they've done. They knew exactly what they were doing.
What they didn't know was that they will be held accountable.
Prosecute:
the remnants of the Reagan administrations, et al
George H.W. Bush and administrations, et al
George W. Bush and administrations, et al
William J. Clinton and administrations, et al
Barack H. Obama and administrations, et al
... please.
2
From a fellow fan of "The Rifleman," a great show with timeless themes and lessons in values like honesty, fair-mindedness and forgiveness.
1
Ms. Dowd's insight is spot on. To take it to another level, the president's arrogance will be his ultimate downfall. A great sports writer once advised athletes to never "believe their own ink" when things are going well. Obama should have followed this advice. Whenever he had a policy position, he expected others to bow to his omnipotent wisdom to implement it. Republicans and conservatives were labeled racists when they blocked his ideas. In most of those instances, it was the normal disagreements on policy. Obama never reached out to form diverse coalitions by persuading or compromising. It was his way or the highway. My opinion is that he believed that he was given a mandate to rule rather than govern. For the first time he has shown this rock hard recalcitrance to progressives. Maybe the country will finally see who we elected twice and how he blew an opportunity to unite rather than divide.
11
Obama's never had a greatness moment any more so than Mr. Bush did. Except in his own mind & that of the fanatics that are duped into supporting him. Someone so divisive & who signed legislation into law against the wishes of over half the country, isn't great, wasn't great & will not be great.
I think using the word narcissist would be repetitive, to say the least, at this point, even though it does indeed apply. So I'll just settle for self-centered in my description of him at this point. President stompy foot isn't getting his way with his collaborating Democrats (Liberals).
I think using the word narcissist would be repetitive, to say the least, at this point, even though it does indeed apply. So I'll just settle for self-centered in my description of him at this point. President stompy foot isn't getting his way with his collaborating Democrats (Liberals).
9
Obama was from the first a corporate puppet. The SECRET trade deal (what is this, a fascist country already!) proved it. It also proved that much of the Congress are also corporate puppets. It finally proved the truth that the late author of the "Polity of Beasts" was always making---that US government had become one of the most corrupt in the world.
9
Flickering Greatness? Flickering Greatness? Are you kidding me? It's none flickering, it's done extinguished, stomped out, cold water poured on, buried and chucked to the ash bin of history. This country paid dearly for 8 years of a guy singularly unqualified--and I think uninterested--in the actual "work" of the job. He clearly has an agenda that does not include the "common good" for ALL Americans.
14
This is an embarrassment to any Democrat with intellect. This anti-free trade frenzy is the left wing equivalent of climate change denialism. 95% of reputable economists will tell you this deal is good for the U.S. (and good for workers in other countries given the labor/human rights protections it includes), but a few ideologues have somehow been able to get otherwise smart people to turn their backs on this expertise. It's times like this that I'm ashamed to be a Democrat, but kudos to President Obama for doing the right thing despite the politics.
3
"good for the U.S. (and good for workers in other countries......)"
Interesting way of phrasing that. Would it also be good for "American workers?" You seem to have left them out. It would undoubtedly be good for American corporations, financiers and other rich Americans.
Interesting way of phrasing that. Would it also be good for "American workers?" You seem to have left them out. It would undoubtedly be good for American corporations, financiers and other rich Americans.
2
Let's be honest here ... the only legacy that Barack Obama can be assured of is that he is the first African-American president in the history of the United States. The rest of it will not be known for decades to come.
4
We will all be craving Obama after two years of either Clinton or Bush redux.
11
He is a politician who just wanted to get into power for the sole purpose of being an iconic symbol. No hope after Obama, and the change is stunningly bad, more crime, race riots, loss of the Middle East, cold war with Russia, bad relationship with China. Phony affordable care that will be history. Nothing to show for the billions and trillions he spent wantonly. A huge disaster.
11
Obama was never great, nor did he even get near the front door of greatness. He is a product of America's infatuation with communism during the 60's. Instituting socialist policies through executive action, while holding hands with wall street, does not make a great presidency.
7
Obama has always been a sad petulant man child and completely empty suit. He has gotten where he is now for reasons that are still a mystery to me, and now that his true colors are showing through leftists are wondering what happened and how history will remember this president. Nothing new here, Maureen, sorry it took the left so long to catch on.
6
Obama's moment of greatness? That would mean his greatness at lying or creating a world just as unsteady as it was during The Cold War, only worse when you factor in the rise of the Islamic State as per American tax dollars.A movement in which the world bears witness to the greatest holocaust in history since Nazi Germany and Hitler's death camps.Only this time, it is the mass extermination of Christians instead of the Jews.I'm not going to go on a good Republican/bad Democrat rant, because both said parties stink to holy Hell.I will end with this: I am unemployed now and cannot afford heath insurance.Yet, armed men from the government will come after me when I REFUSE to pay penalties to the I.R.S.
5
Who is this guy, what does he want and where did he come from? Those are things that the MSM should have tried to figure out in 2007. This is what happens when people do things because they think it "feels right", don't use their brains and don't ask hard questions. Good riddance and I hope they get it right next time. Unfortunately, they do hold a lot of power swaying the opinions of the low information voters. Let's do what's best for America, and not what just feels good.
10
"The president also showed his ineptness at vote counting, working the system and leveraging when he got only 54 votes in the Senate for gun curbs that 90 percent of Americans wanted." - I don't believe that statement for one minute. I have the book "How to Lie with Statistics". It opened my eyes years ago how many manipulate data in their favor, irregardless of the real facts. I can go to my local university law library, get online, and use the Lexus/Nexus search for free. It is liberating.
3
"The Obama White House has managed Congress poorly, with arrogance — or worse, neglect."
No Kidding. His disdain and hate for the Republicans caused his chickens to come home to roost. He has never missed a chance to brow beat the Republicans at every turn, every speech ,every chance.
He has divided our country like no other . He is no leader,far from it. Elect a community organizer, you get these results.
No Kidding. His disdain and hate for the Republicans caused his chickens to come home to roost. He has never missed a chance to brow beat the Republicans at every turn, every speech ,every chance.
He has divided our country like no other . He is no leader,far from it. Elect a community organizer, you get these results.
9
Will Dowd take it all back when the President gets his bill next week?
And perhaps this columnist didn't hear Congress's constant decision
NOT to work with the President, from day one...rather night one.
How about a little context? Not as much fun?
And perhaps this columnist didn't hear Congress's constant decision
NOT to work with the President, from day one...rather night one.
How about a little context? Not as much fun?
8
"A flustered Nancy Pelosi abruptly and stunningly deserted Obama..."
In one article after another, the NY Times has affixed this narrative frame of democrats deserting Obama when it's obvious to anyone with the slightest capacity for observation that when Obama aligns himself with a cluster of the most toxic establishment republicans in order to push a secretive, sinister package of corporate give-aways designed strategically to undermine if not outright nullify democratic principles and processes that it is he, Obama, who has deserted the democrats -- along with everyone who, believing what he professed on the campaign trail, voted for him to halt such Washington sell-outs, not expand them.
In one article after another, the NY Times has affixed this narrative frame of democrats deserting Obama when it's obvious to anyone with the slightest capacity for observation that when Obama aligns himself with a cluster of the most toxic establishment republicans in order to push a secretive, sinister package of corporate give-aways designed strategically to undermine if not outright nullify democratic principles and processes that it is he, Obama, who has deserted the democrats -- along with everyone who, believing what he professed on the campaign trail, voted for him to halt such Washington sell-outs, not expand them.
10
You have never given this president credit for anything and although you haven't devolved into the usual disrespect shown to President Obama, you ignore the history of lame ducks at this point in a second term.
President Obama's administration has been remarkably free of scandals and while President Clinton had plenty( although some, like the Lewinsky scandal, we're politically motivate) today Clinton remains the most admired politician in America. Despite being a lame duck, President Obama could be a top tier president for his accomplishments: saving the economy from fall off the cliff, health care guaranteed, saving the auto industry, recognizing climate change, supporting LGBT rights, a 5.5% unemployment rate! a recovering economy, etc.
President Obama's administration has been remarkably free of scandals and while President Clinton had plenty( although some, like the Lewinsky scandal, we're politically motivate) today Clinton remains the most admired politician in America. Despite being a lame duck, President Obama could be a top tier president for his accomplishments: saving the economy from fall off the cliff, health care guaranteed, saving the auto industry, recognizing climate change, supporting LGBT rights, a 5.5% unemployment rate! a recovering economy, etc.
22
There is no "flickering greatness". Because has never been any perceptible greatness at any point in this mans past or present. Stacking his credentials, qualifications, and accomplishments up against any mid-level government beaurocrat leaves Barack Obama wanting on any honest comparison. How he rose above any position beyond alderman or councilman is a mystery. History will no doubt record this period in time as a huge mistake on the part of Americans, as polls are already indicating.
7
Ms. Dowd, you have great taste in old westerns. I too enjoy them because the
moral lessons hold true to life. I also found the Saturday movie fare of my
childhood educative: Durango Kid, William Boyd, and so many others.
Apparently, the President never went to movies or has seen the old films
you and I find instructive and entertaining. A run of The Lone Ranger TV series has great lessons in morals and human rights long before the human rights brigade arrived on the scene to claim their crusade owned the territory.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto were there long before them and taught a number of generation about the necessity of morals and human rights.
Thanks for a good walk in memory land.
moral lessons hold true to life. I also found the Saturday movie fare of my
childhood educative: Durango Kid, William Boyd, and so many others.
Apparently, the President never went to movies or has seen the old films
you and I find instructive and entertaining. A run of The Lone Ranger TV series has great lessons in morals and human rights long before the human rights brigade arrived on the scene to claim their crusade owned the territory.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto were there long before them and taught a number of generation about the necessity of morals and human rights.
Thanks for a good walk in memory land.
1
I blame the media, especially the NY Times. You never vetted this guy. Instead, you fawned over him. He wasn't ready for the job, but the Left and the Times had their guy. So, there was no way you'd ever give credence to the critics who identitied his arrogance and the sophomoric way he handled issues early on.
Maybe it's time the Times quit supporting liberals in knee jerk fashion and returned to its primary mission of shining a bright light on the Govt. All Govt and not just the GOP.
Maybe it's time the Times quit supporting liberals in knee jerk fashion and returned to its primary mission of shining a bright light on the Govt. All Govt and not just the GOP.
8
What a simplistic, snarky column.
So, the failure in Iraq is that Obama didn't keep his foot on the throat of our Shiite puppets? Way to repeat the Republican talking point, Ms. Dowd. The failure in Iraq is that we invaded iraq in the first place. Cheney said it would take months if not weeks, Wolfowitz said t would pay for itself ($2 trillion later), Rumsfeld said the weapons of mass destruction were in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad, Bush said major combat operations were over under a "Mission Accomplished" sign in May 2003. Also, according to Iraqi exiles who met with Bush before the invasion, Bush didn't know that there were Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and didn't understand the difference between them.
This disaster should be laid squarely at the feet of Bush, Cheney and the rest of these neocons, including McCain and Graham, who were wrong about everything.
Instead, the media, including you, is doing their bidding and allowing them to get away with this garbage. They opened this Pandora's Box. I would like for you and other journalists to do a real analysis and come up with some real solutions to this mess.
Finally, I think it was a victory for American workers that the trade bill was defeated. American corporations have been outsourcing our jobs for decades now and have been hauling in cash at record rates. Every time I call Apple support I speak with "Joe" in India even though Apple is sitting on billions in cash. Why am I not speaking to Joe in Kansas?
So, the failure in Iraq is that Obama didn't keep his foot on the throat of our Shiite puppets? Way to repeat the Republican talking point, Ms. Dowd. The failure in Iraq is that we invaded iraq in the first place. Cheney said it would take months if not weeks, Wolfowitz said t would pay for itself ($2 trillion later), Rumsfeld said the weapons of mass destruction were in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad, Bush said major combat operations were over under a "Mission Accomplished" sign in May 2003. Also, according to Iraqi exiles who met with Bush before the invasion, Bush didn't know that there were Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq and didn't understand the difference between them.
This disaster should be laid squarely at the feet of Bush, Cheney and the rest of these neocons, including McCain and Graham, who were wrong about everything.
Instead, the media, including you, is doing their bidding and allowing them to get away with this garbage. They opened this Pandora's Box. I would like for you and other journalists to do a real analysis and come up with some real solutions to this mess.
Finally, I think it was a victory for American workers that the trade bill was defeated. American corporations have been outsourcing our jobs for decades now and have been hauling in cash at record rates. Every time I call Apple support I speak with "Joe" in India even though Apple is sitting on billions in cash. Why am I not speaking to Joe in Kansas?
37
Dowd nailed it with one word: Prufrock.
From Wikipedia: The poem, described as a "drama of literary anguish", is a dramatic interior monologue of an urban man, stricken with feelings of isolation and an incapability for decisive action that is said "to epitomize frustration and impotence of the modern individual" and "represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."[4] Prufrock laments his physical and intellectual inertia, the lost opportunities in his life and lack of spiritual progress, and he is haunted by reminders of unattained carnal love. With visceral feelings of weariness, regret, embarrassment, longing, emasculation, sexual frustration, a sense of decay, and an awareness of mortality, "Prufrock" has become one of the most recognised voices in modern literature.
The problem is Dowd is nailing all Liberal Elites to the same cross. It was the Dowd Gang who bum-rushed the Obumbler past Clowntoon and the public into the Oval Office. It is the Nut York Times and the Clutch of Comrades who gave us this unprepared poseur. Obama should be pitied as a child who was abused by the soulless leftist who were his parents and grandparents and 'role models'. Millions in this country and billions worldwide needlessly suffered because of the greed and stupidity of the Left. Unfortunately, there is enough time left to complete the dismantling of freedom and democracy worldwide and Obumbler is the man to lead it.
From Wikipedia: The poem, described as a "drama of literary anguish", is a dramatic interior monologue of an urban man, stricken with feelings of isolation and an incapability for decisive action that is said "to epitomize frustration and impotence of the modern individual" and "represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."[4] Prufrock laments his physical and intellectual inertia, the lost opportunities in his life and lack of spiritual progress, and he is haunted by reminders of unattained carnal love. With visceral feelings of weariness, regret, embarrassment, longing, emasculation, sexual frustration, a sense of decay, and an awareness of mortality, "Prufrock" has become one of the most recognised voices in modern literature.
The problem is Dowd is nailing all Liberal Elites to the same cross. It was the Dowd Gang who bum-rushed the Obumbler past Clowntoon and the public into the Oval Office. It is the Nut York Times and the Clutch of Comrades who gave us this unprepared poseur. Obama should be pitied as a child who was abused by the soulless leftist who were his parents and grandparents and 'role models'. Millions in this country and billions worldwide needlessly suffered because of the greed and stupidity of the Left. Unfortunately, there is enough time left to complete the dismantling of freedom and democracy worldwide and Obumbler is the man to lead it.
1
Vietnam: A U.S. President sends in military advisors, then thousands and thousands of U.S. military troops. President Johnson is claimed by some to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.
Today: A U.S. President sends in military advisors.
President Obama is claimed by some to have said, "If I've lost Dowd, I've lost elite east coast liberals".
Today: A U.S. President sends in military advisors.
President Obama is claimed by some to have said, "If I've lost Dowd, I've lost elite east coast liberals".
5
his light has been dimming since he won in 2012. his main base blacks do not like or trust him, his own party on the liberal side have turned the light off a long time ago. he is carter 78 riding out the months he has left till being replaced. a wasted 8 years with allot of damage left for others too clean up! he is carter redux just without the billy beer and i am sure no habitat for humanity building in his future, maybe wave riding with the shroom gang with ss men along for the ride!
4
I'm very pleased Obama received a defeat on the trade bill.Obama likes being president,but refuses to do the hard work of being president by working with congress.Obamacare was rammed through with zero Repub votes and hefty payoffs to Dem senators like Landrieu and Nelson who lost their seats in elections subsequent to Obamacare passage.As for Iraq and Afghanistan,every member of congress should be forced to read about the Vietnam fiasco before voting any support to continue any military assistance to either country.
5
obama never had a "true" moment of greatness. Elected only because he was black, there is no greatness in that. Before elected he ran on being the most honest and transparent admin in history, which is a lie. What was to be his biggest shining accomplishment, obamacare, turned out to be nothing but a bunch of broken promises, and lies, that is failing everywhere. He was looked upon to be the man that could bring the nation together as one. Since he took his oath of office, not once but twice, he has been able to take out nation and segment them out and put them all into neat little boxes, so he can use them when he feels it to be necessary. These separate boxes are like women, men, young, old, black, white, Hispanic, poor, affluent, straight, gay, transgender, bisexual, Muslim and Christian... and on and on it goes. Instead of uniting everyone, he pulls them from their boxes and faces them off like celebrity duels, then sits back and watches the fun, or just ignores everything and goes golfing or on vacation.
On race, he has torn this country apart. Pitting black vs white, American vs Muslim and Citizens vs illegals. His policies have cost American lives. Letting criminals from any country over our border to prey upon it's citizens. I could go on and on, but I think you can get my gist. First you have to have achieved greatness, for it to be able to flicker. obama has certainly not achieved anything, other than leaving a nation lying in ruins and tatters.
On race, he has torn this country apart. Pitting black vs white, American vs Muslim and Citizens vs illegals. His policies have cost American lives. Letting criminals from any country over our border to prey upon it's citizens. I could go on and on, but I think you can get my gist. First you have to have achieved greatness, for it to be able to flicker. obama has certainly not achieved anything, other than leaving a nation lying in ruins and tatters.
7
One of the greatest, if not the best, foreign policy predictions of the Middle East was written in the Book of Genesis..."for They shall be as a beast in the east". 3,500 -4000 years later, that predictive tenant firmly holds true. The policy wonks are failing, at best, to justify their own existence.
This column could have been written to emphasize the positive - namely, that Congress is looking out for us by opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership - instead of making another swipe at President Obama personally. The 113th and 114th Congress have been focused mostly on trying to repeal the ACA and pass the Keystone Pipeline. But here, our Representatives are actually representing our best interests against a deal which leaves American workers vulnerable, compromises Medicare and leaves room for pollution. It was a flicker of hope from our legislative body.
6
Our history will be written by the survivors...the story will not be about what happened but they will write about how we watched and did nothing. We lost it
all when we believed his weapon of propaganda, his brilliant oratory, which not only flickered but burned out long ago, kept alive only by the charges of racism against anyone who dared to speak out against his failed policies.
The war being waged in Washington today is a war for men's minds. At stake
is whether we will remain a land of freedom or do we follow the socialist path to failure. Liberty or tyranny. You choose.
all when we believed his weapon of propaganda, his brilliant oratory, which not only flickered but burned out long ago, kept alive only by the charges of racism against anyone who dared to speak out against his failed policies.
The war being waged in Washington today is a war for men's minds. At stake
is whether we will remain a land of freedom or do we follow the socialist path to failure. Liberty or tyranny. You choose.
2
Greatness? Yeah, right. Greatest number of people not working. Greatest number of people on welfare. Greatest national debt of all time. Greatest lack of transparency of any American President. Greatest use of government agencies to attack political opponents. Greatest influx of foreign illegals. Greatest snub of former allies. Greatest friend to communist dictators. Greatest negotiator...with terrorists. Greatest decline of Americannational security. Greatest decline in freedom of speech and religious liberty. Greatest blow to the health care system. greatest blow to ruged individual American spirit. ("you didnt build that"). Greatest number of communists and far left loons ever employed by any previous American president. The only greatness flickering, Maureen, is that of the American people for electing a fraudulent, incompetent, far left community hustler as president of this once great nation. Welcome to ObamaVille.
7
Please, "communists and far left loons..." I lived and worked in Germany where the system is way left of where Obama wants to take America. Very little crime, no murder, a free education system thru college, an incredible transportation system, a strong union movement, universal health care that costs one half of what we pay, no huge mansions, but no slums either, and what's more--instead of collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps, Germany actually manufactures products that you can touch. Maybe Obama did not have the heft to get it us there. But at least, he has been attempting to take America in the right direction. If the Republicans have their way, we will not only be living in an oligarchy, we will be living in a banana republic.
"Flickering Greatness? What's you talkin' 'bout girl? That fantasy only exists in his own messed up mind and that of camp followers like you.
Given his past performance, I wouldn't let him negotiated a rent controlled apartment lease for me.
Given his past performance, I wouldn't let him negotiated a rent controlled apartment lease for me.
6
This man has fallen from grace if any man ever has. His ambitions superseded his ability to effectuate the "Hope and Change" he eschewed in favor of total control of American lives through their healthcare and now a misguided trade agreement. America must come to terms with its mistake and prepare this wayward president for American justice as he stole the last election using OUR IRS.
16
Unfortunately, you're blaming Mr. Obama for the actions of the Cheney/Rumsfeld/Jeb Bush cabal in stealing an election (in Florida) in 2000, not to mention our present mess in the Middle East.
1
There never was any "greatness". So there is no "flickering".
7
Well, Maureen, I am glad you have admitted that Nancy Pelossi cheated (along with many others) to slip this Republican Obama past us. No one cheats to do good. Obama's entire tenure has made me cringe. One just has to believe that this trade deal was a payoff that will most likely line the pockets of Barack and Michelle. And having to get an immigration "reform" bill is next on agenda. I think this Trojan Horse is to swamp our safety net with million and millions of non-Americans. We will soon hear about being unable to provide our safety net. And in the meantime, the millions of extra workers will force down wages and make many desperate. Don't you love the story about Disney firing 250 animators who had to train their replacements (HB-1 visa holders who will be low cost immigrants). Boycot all things Disney! To me this tactic is being used to undo the New Dea in a very devious and evil way. God help us all. Hey Maureen, are you just seeing this now? Perhaps 7 years late.
7
If only the media had been so candid about this guy 6+ years ago... a little to late now to try and CYA on this one, you guys created him and you own him.
6
Ms. Dowd is so on target. Obama's arrogance is finally catching up with him. At least the Democrats are working for Americans.
4
He was never great, just privileged and black. And, he doesn't wonder about those things because in his own mind he is impeccable.
6
Democrats in Congress should have stood up to Obama's compromising when they had veto-proof majorities in both houses in 2009, pushing for universal health insurance instead of the weak tea of Obamacare. If my Democratic party doesn't start standing for some bold initiatives to rein in the 1% now, we are not giving average Americans enough reason to throw the Republican bums out in 2016. It is not enough to keep saying, "They're terrible and scary. Vote for us!"
4
The fault lies just as much with a sycophant media as it does with any incompetent pretender in the oval office. You prodded him on, claiming he was doing great things, when he has accomplished nothing. Not a single good thing has come from this man's time in the oval office. Obama care is a failure, costs are soaring and many people who had better coverage before have worse now and are paying higher premiums. His time at the top of the American military has been one dismal failure after another as he struggles to make a decision. His economy is in Shambles with higher unemployment/ under employment for a very long stretch. After the First quarter fell into recession territory the second half's revised numbers will go lower. Go ahead keep talking him up, soon no one, not even the most ardent leftists, will believe a word you print. He has failed and in doing so he has hurt America, the American people and the economy. He will be remembered as a very poor President, even worse than Carter.
7
Trade agreements should be approved or disapproved on the basis of their merits, not blind ideology, presidential arm-twisting ability or whether opponents or supporters are pushing harder. But especially these days, merits are almost irrelevant. The rejection should be a rejection of the trade agreement and/or of such trade agreements in general, based on evaluating the effects of past agreements. It should not be a bid for campaign contributions or a favor to be later rewarded.
Lack of reference to the merits of the issue, which is very common these days, reduces political reporting to play-by-play and assessment of strategies and the odds of success, as in sports. But in sports, we know that the opponents all want to win and are trying to win. In politics, this is true but not the central issue, which is whose win will be better for the country.
The damage Dubya did to stability in the Middle East is impossible to repair, and no one knows when a new stability will emerge or what it will look like. We can put a large army somewhere in the Middle East, and all the other players will steal from it, let it do the hard fighting, and plot to get it to act against their enemies. This would be punching the Tar Baby -- again. We cannot win here, and should be plotting to maneuver someone else into doing the fighting that needs to be done.
Lack of reference to the merits of the issue, which is very common these days, reduces political reporting to play-by-play and assessment of strategies and the odds of success, as in sports. But in sports, we know that the opponents all want to win and are trying to win. In politics, this is true but not the central issue, which is whose win will be better for the country.
The damage Dubya did to stability in the Middle East is impossible to repair, and no one knows when a new stability will emerge or what it will look like. We can put a large army somewhere in the Middle East, and all the other players will steal from it, let it do the hard fighting, and plot to get it to act against their enemies. This would be punching the Tar Baby -- again. We cannot win here, and should be plotting to maneuver someone else into doing the fighting that needs to be done.
9
Maureen Dowd - Translating the 'meow' of a cat is a talent set within the Soul that whispers the sigh, "My gosh, someone gets it!" Flickering Greatness and "why" exposes the shadows so many D's have been stuffing in a closet. The closet is brimming and full, and opening the door just sets a date the coming out party has been waiting for.
The Heart of the matter is indeed a better America, and from many perspectives D's are witnessing he who they stood up for has not returned the favor... Like a few of us who recognized it from the start.
Thank you for your expressions that warmed my heart and filled my eyes with the soft emotion that made my Soul go down deep in the reflection of my ocean.
Cody Robert Judy
www.codyjudy.blogspot.com
www.codyjudy.us
The Heart of the matter is indeed a better America, and from many perspectives D's are witnessing he who they stood up for has not returned the favor... Like a few of us who recognized it from the start.
Thank you for your expressions that warmed my heart and filled my eyes with the soft emotion that made my Soul go down deep in the reflection of my ocean.
Cody Robert Judy
www.codyjudy.blogspot.com
www.codyjudy.us
4
In 2011 after three years as president applying his own policies, Barack Obama said Iraq was a stable, sovereign, and at peace. That was why he decided to withdraw the military safety net and "bring the troops home." No mention then of supposedly truculent Iraqis. And funny how it's now Rumsfeld's fault, when he hasn't been near DC since long before 2011.
Liberalism-- the politics of denial.
Liberalism-- the politics of denial.
7
I'm so angry with Obama and the Republicans and Democrats who sided with them. How could they possibly expect us to be ok with these trade deals done in secret. Congressional members pushing for their passage even though they never read the bills. Its insane. Ross Perot warned us on NAFTA and what it did to American jobs....and he was right. I'm not anxious to see history repeat itself. I wish Obama was just already gone. He's such a horrible president/leader. He doesn't deserve that office and neither do any member of Congress going for these bills. They're trying to destroy us from within. WTH. It almost makes me want to cry. What have we, as a people, done to deserve this?
11
Collectively, we have not been paying attention!
Welcome to the party Mo. History will not be kind to this president. This is what you get when you elect someone with no experience in leading. For a leader to admit we don't have a plan to combat ISIS, or that ISIS is the JV squad shows such amateur skills in the art of leadership on the part of Obama that I cringe like the same way I do when I'm watching a comedian bomb on stage.
9
I dunno, Mo. Beating up on Bam again? Yawn. There was a juicy Times article, with an accompanying video, about female sex robots who talk back. Shouldn't this column have been about them, or at least mentioned them?
We've been over and over this territory so many times now. I know you are not a slow learner, so it must come down to you not liking "Barry". Oh, I just realized. You have improved. You didn't call Barack "Barry" in this piece. Okay, good. President Obama should be feeling pretty good about this by now. That is if he even reads your columns anymore, like so many of us faithful still do.
We got sold a bill of goods by Axelrod, Plouffe, Messina, and the rest of the gang in 2008, then we came back for a second helping in 2012, so it's nobody's fault but ours. Bam is a night-owl introvert, with a writer's temperament. He can put on a pretty good show out on the stump when he wants to, but he ain't about faking his personal feelings, and he loathes the game of politics. He's the anti-Bill-Clinton. But, hey, he passed a national healthcare bill. Did Bill do that? The Pacific trade bill? It was never going to happen. 80 Democrats opposed? Heck, even Lyndon Johnson couldn't have swung that vote. Iraq? The new Vietnam. Even Hillary won't fix Iraq. You might as well try to unscramble an egg and put it back in its shell.
I like Obama. He is one of the most decent men to ever occupy the Oval Office. I'll miss him.
169
The last sentence says it all
Well written and unexpected from the NYT
Well written and unexpected from the NYT
3
Obama legacy = the president who Jimmy Carter needs to send a "Thank You" to.
11
Equivalent to Jimmy Carter, that says it all.
He was elected during an hysterical time as our 'American Idol' affirmative action president. All style and no substance.
Describing the substance of this man, not his fabricated story, but the actual substance is not possible given all his history is under lock and key somewhere, and describing his muslim childhood is considered either racist or islamophobic.
As the fabulous Clint Eastwood told us, he is an empty chair. He is a disaster.
Describing the substance of this man, not his fabricated story, but the actual substance is not possible given all his history is under lock and key somewhere, and describing his muslim childhood is considered either racist or islamophobic.
As the fabulous Clint Eastwood told us, he is an empty chair. He is a disaster.
6
Greatness? Are you kidding? What greatness? Our foreign policy is incoherent with complete chaos and absolutely no plan or strategy in any theatre. Racial divides at home are at an all time high. Nothing in the federal bureaucracies works. All are corrupt and politicized. The economy is in "stall speed" with starts and stops with the slowest post recession GDP since WW II. And the "Liar-In-Chief" is a complete stranger to the truth. Always lying. Greatness? Where?
9
Democrats are learning about our Dear Leader's petulance and self-absorption, which the GOP has been talking about for seven years.
8
Just like many predicted in 2008. A man devoid of accomplishment, questionable man with questionable mentors, questionable views elected because they like the color of his skin. Sarah Palin warned about this in her
speech at the GOP convention. Just sad that on his way down, Obama took an entire country along with him
speech at the GOP convention. Just sad that on his way down, Obama took an entire country along with him
7
Working with Congress is not easy on the clearest and calmest of days so when difficult days pop up (and they always do), you've got to have good-will and political capital in your pocket. Yesterday, when President Obama was handed a dramatic and crushing defeat in the House - a parade of "no" headed by the grand marshal Nancy Pelosi. Obama thought dealing with his underling, co-equals in Congress was beneath him. That cost him dearly and may not just sink the trade deal, but may hurt the American economy in stunning ways.
3
For over six years I had to hear that Obama's only failings were caused by his enemies, the Republicans. Now I hear that both parties dislike him. This is the kind of twist that makes history so interesting.
7
There is a saying which describes Obama's failed attempt to rally democratic support for his trade bill:
"The dogs aren't eating the dog food."
"The dogs aren't eating the dog food."
13
You mean the king has no clothes? The Lame Duck President? Mr. Interception leader of the Choom gang? Where are his college transcripts? Mr. Transparency? He reads so well! Mr. You didn't build that. Fundamentally transform this country.
Not once has he ever spoken on how great this country is, not once has any of his speeches inspired but to ridicule and condemn and blame. Has threatened the supreme court.
8 years of Marxism. I thought this country had enough of Carter but we seem to forget our past and decided to take another change on "CHANGE".
We haven't even talked about the IRS scandal for which Nixon was impeached on far lesser infractions.
The Fast and Furious operation which blew up in their faces
Benghazi where and inept sec of state and an absent President allowed several Americans to be killed without even trying to send in some sort of support.
Flickering Greatness has only exposed his dim view on this politics and has shone a bright beacon of what America needs less of.
Not once has he ever spoken on how great this country is, not once has any of his speeches inspired but to ridicule and condemn and blame. Has threatened the supreme court.
8 years of Marxism. I thought this country had enough of Carter but we seem to forget our past and decided to take another change on "CHANGE".
We haven't even talked about the IRS scandal for which Nixon was impeached on far lesser infractions.
The Fast and Furious operation which blew up in their faces
Benghazi where and inept sec of state and an absent President allowed several Americans to be killed without even trying to send in some sort of support.
Flickering Greatness has only exposed his dim view on this politics and has shone a bright beacon of what America needs less of.
10
I'm no big fan of Obama's, but I think you just haven't been listening to his speeches. Suggesting he has never spoken of American greatness just makes you sound foolish. It's been a recurring theme in his speeches, and it's delivered much more thoughtfully and forcefully than the empty bluster of our previous president.
President Obama has demonstrated some serious flaws of leadership, but this notion that he doesn't like America is right alongside the "apology tour" myth that's been so thoroughly debunked by all honest media,
President Obama has demonstrated some serious flaws of leadership, but this notion that he doesn't like America is right alongside the "apology tour" myth that's been so thoroughly debunked by all honest media,
"Flickering"?
He self-extinguished in 2009.
Obama's legacy = Murder-by-drone Nobel Peace Prize awardee
He self-extinguished in 2009.
Obama's legacy = Murder-by-drone Nobel Peace Prize awardee
11
Yes Maureen, Obama can't duck being a lame duck.
Uh, for it to "flicker", the greatness must have been there - and apparent - to start with. And if there's one thing I feel almost as certain of as the fact the Sun will rise tomorrow, it is that the name of Barack Hussein Obama and the word "great" will never be seen together in the history books.
4
The President has never comprehended the idea that peace is not necessarily the temporary absence of war.
8
"But, once more, he learned the hard way..."
Obama's like Tallyrand's Bourbons, he's learned nothing, and forgotten nothing. A presidency with great promise has been scuttled by great ego, and minimal political skills....aided and abetted by a sycophantic media willing to tell him he's not the problem.
Obama's like Tallyrand's Bourbons, he's learned nothing, and forgotten nothing. A presidency with great promise has been scuttled by great ego, and minimal political skills....aided and abetted by a sycophantic media willing to tell him he's not the problem.
13
He is what we told you he was in 2008. You didn't want to listen. You were too busy comparing him to a god and weeping at his pretty talk.
You failed to investigate his background, failed to ask hard questions . . . Instead you swooned on his campaign jet.
You cut a corner there, you regret it here.
You failed to investigate his background, failed to ask hard questions . . . Instead you swooned on his campaign jet.
You cut a corner there, you regret it here.
11
"The Democrats....showed their allegience to themselves, their principles and their labor allies, and not to their aloof president."
How telling that the most important group, the one who truly hired them and it is their job to actually represent, is not mentioned: their constituents.
How telling that the most important group, the one who truly hired them and it is their job to actually represent, is not mentioned: their constituents.
12
"Obama has always resented the idea that it mattered for him to charm and knead and whip and hug and horse-trade his way to legislative victories, to lubricate the levers of government with personal loyalty."
Liberal, conservative, Republican or Democrat put forth a good policy and all the above wouldn't matter.
However, a good start might be letting people be able to see it, read it and debate it
Liberal, conservative, Republican or Democrat put forth a good policy and all the above wouldn't matter.
However, a good start might be letting people be able to see it, read it and debate it
18
Greatness is in the eye of the beholder. What has 0bama really accomplished other than have wild Messianic hopes put upon him. He's average at best.
4
Rest assured Ms. Dowd, Americans love their guns. Gun curbs are certainly not something over 93% of Americans wish for.
8
Mr. Obama is a well put together, polished community organizer that reads well. The surprise is that he has made it this long. History will not be kind to him.
8
Unfortunately, “retiring in place” describes the president of the United States. Barack Obama is going through the motions in the Oval Office, and nobody can stop him.
In the most important ways, Obama has quit being president. He doesn’t negotiate with Congress, doesn’t manage or lead his administration and rarely talks to the American people about anything except the next election. Fund-raising and golfing increasingly dominate his schedule.
Scandal after scandal erupts in Washington, and he’s always the last to know, claiming to learn the facts through press accounts. He professes outrage and promises action, then rarely mentions the subject again.
He doesn’t even pretend to be engaged in major world events. The global chaos, including the creation of an Islamist state, genocide in Syria and Russia’s gobbling up of Ukraine, bores him. He doesn’t want to deal with these things, so they are not his problem. He’s the leader of the free world only when it suits him.
In the most important ways, Obama has quit being president. He doesn’t negotiate with Congress, doesn’t manage or lead his administration and rarely talks to the American people about anything except the next election. Fund-raising and golfing increasingly dominate his schedule.
Scandal after scandal erupts in Washington, and he’s always the last to know, claiming to learn the facts through press accounts. He professes outrage and promises action, then rarely mentions the subject again.
He doesn’t even pretend to be engaged in major world events. The global chaos, including the creation of an Islamist state, genocide in Syria and Russia’s gobbling up of Ukraine, bores him. He doesn’t want to deal with these things, so they are not his problem. He’s the leader of the free world only when it suits him.
4
Proving once again that arrogance is not a trait of good leadership, and demagoguery is a self-limiting tactic. If Obamacare goes down, the debacle will be complete — who will return his phone calls then? The scary thing is, his minions have 20 months more to create havoc.
5
I think the House Democrats deserted the President on his trade policy because he's flat out wrong in his support of corporate "free trade," which has an unbroken track record of failure and job destruction. For reasons which may be revealed in the history books, the President decided to make an all out push for a trade policy which betrays the middle and working class Americans who should routinely be voting Democratic in every election and Democratic House members sided with their constituents for once. I really don't think it was personal. The people supporting corporate "free trade" are persistent, sneaky, relentless and remorseless in pursuing their goals. I'm still concerned that since they went ahead and voted on the fast track bill and passed it (with the help of 28 turncoat Democrats who, apparently, remained loyal to the President) even thought the TAA was blown out of the water, they're going to get enough representatives to change their votes on the TAA to get the infernal thing through, anyway. This would be a bitter, bitter defeat which would leave a very bad taste in many mouths. It would reinforce the generally held and not ridiculous idea that there's very little economic difference between the two parties and that both are owned by the 1%.
24
Apparently Ms Dowd has spent enough time (for now..) spanking the Clintons and the Bushes so she's taking a week "off" to scold Obama. God forbid that she look around at the new crop of ne'er-do-wells and entertain the idea of what this country would be like under a President Walker or a President Cruz. Insofar as the incumbent chief executive is concerned, some of her complaints are valid and some of them are ludicrous but mostly it's just a matter of how p.o.'d she is over the fact that this president hasn't sucked up sufficiently to those in his own party, to those in the other party and, most especially, to a press corps that includes...Maureen Dowd. Personally, I'd never vote for a politician who would consider having a beer with me. I'd much rather that he/she spend that time working on policy issues, analyzing problems and finding workable solutions. Ms. Dowd would rather have the beer.
392
stu,
It's not like President Obama never spends time with NYTimes columnists.
It's not like President Obama never spends time with NYTimes columnists.
7
Apparently not enough to suit Ms. Dowd. And why WASN'T she invited into the room to watch Seal Team Three take down bin-Laden?
29
"Personally, I'd never vote for a politician who would consider having a beer with me. I'd much rather that he/she spend that time working on policy issues..."
Yes, that would be nice but isn't how Washington works. Think back to LBJ. He cajoled and intimidated but he also out of necessity could be charming.
Yes, that would be nice but isn't how Washington works. Think back to LBJ. He cajoled and intimidated but he also out of necessity could be charming.
Some were angry, as Representative Peter DeFazio told Politico, that Obama had “tried to guilt people and impugn their integrity.”
I agree with the central issue that even given huge difficulties he has faced, at times the President's performance has been disappointing. However, for Mr DeFazio to pull the old impugn card is ridiculous. While Mr Obama may not have delivered up to expectations, it's hard to believe that many in the electorate believe that our elected "leaders" have any integrity left to impugn.
A greedy self-interested political class, coupled with a lazy media, determined to protect access, ensures that we the sheep, with a few baas and shuffles are led to the next futile, costly and purposeless war. While we seem unwilling to spend our resources to improve the lives of our own people at home. We seem inexorably determined to be led into wars for the benefit of our military industry and unable to escape the subsequent decades of human waste.
I agree with the central issue that even given huge difficulties he has faced, at times the President's performance has been disappointing. However, for Mr DeFazio to pull the old impugn card is ridiculous. While Mr Obama may not have delivered up to expectations, it's hard to believe that many in the electorate believe that our elected "leaders" have any integrity left to impugn.
A greedy self-interested political class, coupled with a lazy media, determined to protect access, ensures that we the sheep, with a few baas and shuffles are led to the next futile, costly and purposeless war. While we seem unwilling to spend our resources to improve the lives of our own people at home. We seem inexorably determined to be led into wars for the benefit of our military industry and unable to escape the subsequent decades of human waste.
88
Pretty tough on the prez there, Maureen, but I have to agree with you. I think it is even worse than you write here. I think President Obama may never have had any intention of doing anything remotely progressive after the first three months in office. I think maybe that is how long it took him to realize he wasn't in charge. From then on, he had to think of his two little girls and his wife's future. Big corporations run this country. Some say the banks do..either way, they are big corporations that are tied to other big corporations that are tied to still more. They are a big club. They are a shadow government imbedded in our democracy. They want a goverment that can be drowned in a bath tub. That is exactly what they have created..except for some unknown reason, the congress got up on their hind quarters and said no for once to them, thus the big raspberry. It's not that President Obama is arrogant. Where were the Democrats when he needed them in the beginning? He tried to implement some good stuff back then. Even his own party didn't back him up. They were owned too, I guess. Then he got a clue about how things were being run or was it all just for show? Then the old Bush crowd were invited into his administration to "help" run things. I was sickened. The American people are wising up. They love the populism of Bernie Sanders. Some are willing to write him in, if the Democrats don't nominate him. Social justice sentiments are growing, not a moment too soon.
181
There comes a time in the life of any leader when he looks over his shoulder hoping to see his followers and supporters following and supporting. Sadly, this president has been failed most egregiously by those for whom he would have done the most. In the face of all the special interests a clear and present following is prerequisite to accomplishments. It's difficult to lead when the supporters have deserted the ship. It's impossible to lead when the polis just refuses to care. Let us hope that somehow that the care can be restored short of a full blown national disaster.
1
On Iraq, Obama has been in an impossible position. While in hind sight he may have done more to keep Iraq from spinning out of control, nobody but Dick Cheney and a few of the neocons wanted anything to do with Iraq once we pulled our troops out and that wasn't soon enough for most people.
The rest of Maureen's piece is sadly accurate, although I still prefer his reticence to the more hawkish Hillary.
The rest of Maureen's piece is sadly accurate, although I still prefer his reticence to the more hawkish Hillary.
14
Maureen, who will YOU vote for?
50
M, what does it matter who Ms. Dowd votes for? She speaks the truth.
2
Would love an honest answer to that question.
1
On the other hand, a House-rejected trade deal could be exactly the clout this President needs to go back to our Pacific partners - or his (R) partners - and get changes he wanted all along.
That's at least as reasonable an explanation as yours... and far less shrill and filled with a strange, gloating arrogance.
That's at least as reasonable an explanation as yours... and far less shrill and filled with a strange, gloating arrogance.
138
There are two important inaccuracies in this column:
1. Democratic Congressmen's rejection of trade agreements like TARP had nothing to do with the President's failure to schmooze them. Trade agreements that reject environmental regulations and send manufacturing to the cheapest labor forces are bad for our workers and worse for our economy. Not to mention our global warming problem, set to be further exacerbated by giant tankers spewing diesel fuel bringing us our socks from Bangladesh.
2. Sunni rebellion was caused by W Bush marginalizing them, and openly siding with their ancient enemies, the Shiites. That's what spawned ISIS, not anything Obama did- though he made little effort to insist on Sunni integration with the corrupt Maliki government.
You can do better, Maureen. Chuck Connors is not relevant here. Studying the facts of the issues you describe would have resulted in a column worth reading.
1. Democratic Congressmen's rejection of trade agreements like TARP had nothing to do with the President's failure to schmooze them. Trade agreements that reject environmental regulations and send manufacturing to the cheapest labor forces are bad for our workers and worse for our economy. Not to mention our global warming problem, set to be further exacerbated by giant tankers spewing diesel fuel bringing us our socks from Bangladesh.
2. Sunni rebellion was caused by W Bush marginalizing them, and openly siding with their ancient enemies, the Shiites. That's what spawned ISIS, not anything Obama did- though he made little effort to insist on Sunni integration with the corrupt Maliki government.
You can do better, Maureen. Chuck Connors is not relevant here. Studying the facts of the issues you describe would have resulted in a column worth reading.
785
"Trade agreements that reject environmental regulations and send manufacturing to the cheapest labor forces are bad for our workers and worse for our economy."
These trade agreements are actually full of stipulations about fair labor practices and environmental safeguards. The US follows these stipulations to the letter, while everyone else who sign the treaties just do as they please, without any penalty.
These trade agreements are actually full of stipulations about fair labor practices and environmental safeguards. The US follows these stipulations to the letter, while everyone else who sign the treaties just do as they please, without any penalty.
32
No Trans Pacific Partnership should be agreed to until the Japanese stop slaughtering dolphins.
You're right. most Asian governments have no regard for rules of any kind. I know. I've been living here for almost 20 years.
2
Maureen, your hatred of all things Billary and Barry has blinded you to the significance of Friday's vote.
Instead of taunting the President you so love to hate, why not instead celebrate the activists who furiously wrote, phoned, and emailed their Congressional representatives, commanding them to not betray ordinary Americans in the name of dubious geopolitical strategy. The American worker is not expendable. There are other ways of frustrating and confronting brutal totalitarian regimes - like disinvestment, duh - and when our elites become serious about putting authentic American interests first, and their financial interests second, they can let us know.
Maureen, why make this story all about Obama - when the story is actually about Americans being heard, democracy working, and oligarchy being thwarted, if only for one brief moment.
Instead of taunting the President you so love to hate, why not instead celebrate the activists who furiously wrote, phoned, and emailed their Congressional representatives, commanding them to not betray ordinary Americans in the name of dubious geopolitical strategy. The American worker is not expendable. There are other ways of frustrating and confronting brutal totalitarian regimes - like disinvestment, duh - and when our elites become serious about putting authentic American interests first, and their financial interests second, they can let us know.
Maureen, why make this story all about Obama - when the story is actually about Americans being heard, democracy working, and oligarchy being thwarted, if only for one brief moment.
930
Disagreement or criticism is now hatred? Got it.
1
This is very true, accentuate the positive, ignore the negative. And the congress was ready to roll over. Without the many organizations all pushing one idea(1, that's one, uno) e.g. TPP is bad for the American worker this deal would have flown through. Kudos, as progressives we love them and of course all did some pitching ourselves. But how many papers will that sell?
4
I've been reading online comments on NYT op-eds for years, and this is the first of the most popular readers' picks that I have totally disagreed with.
The column was about President Obama. He has failed those who voted for him on virtually every major issue, starting with Obamacare, which handed health care over to private interests against the wishes of a solid majority of Americans.
Maurine Dowd is a liberal columnist, and her criticism of President Obama is an informed view of what many liberals now feel.
The column was about President Obama. He has failed those who voted for him on virtually every major issue, starting with Obamacare, which handed health care over to private interests against the wishes of a solid majority of Americans.
Maurine Dowd is a liberal columnist, and her criticism of President Obama is an informed view of what many liberals now feel.
4
We have reached the point in the Obama presidency in which, in response to the ever scornful Dowd, attacking Obama for not dealing with Congress and not having a clue what to do about Daesh other than avoid,
Many commnters who have ever wanted to support Obama and were on his side back at the start, are left with but but but, but he is not McCain, but he is not Romney, but he did not start the war on false pretenses but for which no Daesh, but Dowd shouldn't gloat...........
Aiiiieeeeee.yieyieeeeeeee ... 18 months and counting until this crew that has grown into the complacency of executive power so leaks about special operations are just ordinary propaganda central tools, is irrelevant.
Many commnters who have ever wanted to support Obama and were on his side back at the start, are left with but but but, but he is not McCain, but he is not Romney, but he did not start the war on false pretenses but for which no Daesh, but Dowd shouldn't gloat...........
Aiiiieeeeee.yieyieeeeeeee ... 18 months and counting until this crew that has grown into the complacency of executive power so leaks about special operations are just ordinary propaganda central tools, is irrelevant.
12
It is what it is.
2
you must be looking forward to Hillary.
1
This "crew" cleaned up Bush's disasters. You should be thanking them.
7
President Obama and his team are not without shortcoming but probably one can sum up his real problem with Ms Dowd's comment "The Democrats... showed their allegience to themselves," without the need of saying more.
By now, people should put to bed that NAFTA is the cause of the demise of American manufacturing. China is not part of NAFTA.
Thinking from former AG Coakley's failure in her senatorial race is Obama's fault is just mind boggling. Being from Massachusetts, I saw the whole thing unfold. It wasn't pretty. Even before getting the seat, Ms Coakley boldly said she would not support ACA without getting her cut, like former Sen Bill Nelson. Really, did former Speaker Pelosi deliver anything for Mr. Obama? Seriously? So saying Ms Pelosi bailing out Mr Obama on health care is definitely a new way to interpret reality
Sen Warren would not have become such a progressive hero had Mr Obama not named her to design CFPB. Did she return anything in return? We are not talking about quid pro quo, just a bit decorum would go a long way.
Middle East policy is a can of worms. Let's hear it if anyone has a solution. Do you want the neocons to have a free reign? Or do you want ISIL to rampage across Syria and Iraq, killing Christians and other Muslims? So yes, do provide a solution - please!
By now, people should put to bed that NAFTA is the cause of the demise of American manufacturing. China is not part of NAFTA.
Thinking from former AG Coakley's failure in her senatorial race is Obama's fault is just mind boggling. Being from Massachusetts, I saw the whole thing unfold. It wasn't pretty. Even before getting the seat, Ms Coakley boldly said she would not support ACA without getting her cut, like former Sen Bill Nelson. Really, did former Speaker Pelosi deliver anything for Mr. Obama? Seriously? So saying Ms Pelosi bailing out Mr Obama on health care is definitely a new way to interpret reality
Sen Warren would not have become such a progressive hero had Mr Obama not named her to design CFPB. Did she return anything in return? We are not talking about quid pro quo, just a bit decorum would go a long way.
Middle East policy is a can of worms. Let's hear it if anyone has a solution. Do you want the neocons to have a free reign? Or do you want ISIL to rampage across Syria and Iraq, killing Christians and other Muslims? So yes, do provide a solution - please!
121
Well, Ramadan begins this coming week. Maybe we can support our Muslim neighbors, while they themselves come to a solution. I pray for victory through peace and not peace through victory. This holds their religious neighbors, which I am one of, to a standard.
2
NAFTA and China joining the WTO were the causes. And who pushed for both: Bill Clinton. HE is the one who destroyed the manufacturing base of the U.S. and he'll probably never be held accountable for it. One has to ask why he lobbied so hard for China's acceptance into the WTO.
3
Nice to read a rational comment--don't expect many recommends.
1
"So Obama failed to keep his foot on the throat of our Shiite puppets"
He failed to undo what Bush had signed and agreed. He failed to be more Bush than Bush was able to be. That is this complaint. Nonsense.
He failed to undo what Bush had signed and agreed. He failed to be more Bush than Bush was able to be. That is this complaint. Nonsense.
542
Your point clearly please.
Without a reference to a former President if you can....
Without a reference to a former President if you can....
1
Yes, Obama is a disappointment; yes, Obama is a closet centrist Republican.
I often wonder, though, that if McCain won in 2008, if we would be looking at a potential Palin presidency in 2016?
Suddenly, warts and all, Barack doesn't look so bad, after all.
I often wonder, though, that if McCain won in 2008, if we would be looking at a potential Palin presidency in 2016?
Suddenly, warts and all, Barack doesn't look so bad, after all.
254
What would things really be like after 8 years of McCain? Should we think he would have done the things he said he wanted to do during these years?
We'd be in more wars. We'd be losing them. Casualties would be high. Morale and recruiting would be low. The bills would be astronomical. We couldn't pay them.
The economy would be broken. Remember how he suspended his campaign to rush back to talk about the economy, then had no ideas? We'd be 8 years down from where Bush left us.
In his desperation, by now he'd too likely have left some enemy's territory radioactive. That is always the right wing fallback solution to military disaster.
It would have been a very high price to pay finally to be rid of the Republicans, but that is the final thing he'd have accomplished.
We'd be in more wars. We'd be losing them. Casualties would be high. Morale and recruiting would be low. The bills would be astronomical. We couldn't pay them.
The economy would be broken. Remember how he suspended his campaign to rush back to talk about the economy, then had no ideas? We'd be 8 years down from where Bush left us.
In his desperation, by now he'd too likely have left some enemy's territory radioactive. That is always the right wing fallback solution to military disaster.
It would have been a very high price to pay finally to be rid of the Republicans, but that is the final thing he'd have accomplished.
306
Apparently your musing of what would have been 8 years ago make you feel better about the reality of today's world? So the President who continues to learn on the job leaves us with Hillary and maybe Joe Biden??? Sad legacy too.
1
Havre we really progressed that much in 8 years??? Let's start with race relations...
President Obama does exactly what the "Powers that Be" want.
He saved the economy by bailing out the financiers, while pushing costs on homeowners who faced foreclosure. Socialize the losses privatize the profits. No financial executive faced prosecution, most continuing to prosper. Too big to fail banks are bigger than ever. The Dow goes up & up.
Obama created bi-partisan support for the national security/defense state, wasting a trillion dollars a year, while we continue falling apart. Unlawful spying, targeted killing, endless war, once opposed under Bush, receives Democratic support. We don't even debate the issues anymore.
Bush and company are an evil group. But Obama refused to hold them accountable for lying us into war, torture, unlawful spying. Silence is complicity.
Obama bolstered the private healthcare system by advocating a plan hatched by the conservative Heritage Foundation, put into place by Republican Mitt Romney. Republicans express outrage, while secretly thanking him for keeping single payer off the table.
Income/wealth inequality has grown faster than anytime since the Great Depression.
Now Obama throws all of his muscle behind the TPP--even though his party opposes it. The Republicans made him do it?
Obama has done precisely what the powerful wanted him to do--preserve and advance the status quo. He will be handsomely rewarded on the post-Presdency speaking tour. Clinton may be jealous.
He saved the economy by bailing out the financiers, while pushing costs on homeowners who faced foreclosure. Socialize the losses privatize the profits. No financial executive faced prosecution, most continuing to prosper. Too big to fail banks are bigger than ever. The Dow goes up & up.
Obama created bi-partisan support for the national security/defense state, wasting a trillion dollars a year, while we continue falling apart. Unlawful spying, targeted killing, endless war, once opposed under Bush, receives Democratic support. We don't even debate the issues anymore.
Bush and company are an evil group. But Obama refused to hold them accountable for lying us into war, torture, unlawful spying. Silence is complicity.
Obama bolstered the private healthcare system by advocating a plan hatched by the conservative Heritage Foundation, put into place by Republican Mitt Romney. Republicans express outrage, while secretly thanking him for keeping single payer off the table.
Income/wealth inequality has grown faster than anytime since the Great Depression.
Now Obama throws all of his muscle behind the TPP--even though his party opposes it. The Republicans made him do it?
Obama has done precisely what the powerful wanted him to do--preserve and advance the status quo. He will be handsomely rewarded on the post-Presdency speaking tour. Clinton may be jealous.
362
Yes. Obama has been a sell-out and a massive disappointment.
Not actively evil like Bush W. and Cheney.
But spineless, supine, and useless.
Not actively evil like Bush W. and Cheney.
But spineless, supine, and useless.
2
Why would Clinton be jealous?
H%lls bells, she's been paid handsomely.
H%lls bells, she's been paid handsomely.
1
He totally lost me with fast track and tpp, stick a fork in it.
6
The schadenfreude of Ms D
Is no revelation to me,
Her utter delight
At Obama's plight
Borders, it seems, on ecstasy!
This POTUS has strength and weakness
And does deserve, respect, no less,
But unseemly pleasure
To relish at leisure?
My thoughts are "Shame, Shame", I confess.
Is no revelation to me,
Her utter delight
At Obama's plight
Borders, it seems, on ecstasy!
This POTUS has strength and weakness
And does deserve, respect, no less,
But unseemly pleasure
To relish at leisure?
My thoughts are "Shame, Shame", I confess.
314
Genius! Poetic revenge.
4
The Kenyan clown gets as much respect from me as the Leftists gave to Bush!
2
One of the enduring Obama myths is that because he is the anti-schmoozer-in-chief, it automatically follows that he can't break through the "gridlock" (another myth) and get stuff done. This narrative has been spewed ad infinitum by a lazy press corps more invested in accessing the powerful than in afflicting them.
Obama is actually a highly skilled politician. He's been enormously successful in protecting the same corrupt financiers who wrecked our economy by filling his administration with them and theirs. He has enriched the military-surveillance complex beyond their wildest dreams by escalating the old wars and starting some new ones. The TPP he is striving so mightily to jam down our throats is, among other awfulness, an act of aggression against China. He's even sending weapons to Eastern Europe, bringing us dangerously close to war with a nuclear Russia. He's prosecuted more whistle-blowers than any other president. He has his own kill List of drone victims.
Cold antisocial types can absolutely get stuff done. And yet the press corps portrays him either as a loser or as a martyr-hero who just can't catch a break from either the GOP or those nasty backstabbing Dems who took away his TPP toy (probably only temporarily.)
Clintonland-on-Steroids now beckons Obama.
So may our long-lost democracy make a swift comeback. Anti-oligarch Bernie Sanders is looking more appealing by the day.
http://kmgarcia2000.blogspot.com/
http://kmgarcia2000.blogspot.com/
Obama is actually a highly skilled politician. He's been enormously successful in protecting the same corrupt financiers who wrecked our economy by filling his administration with them and theirs. He has enriched the military-surveillance complex beyond their wildest dreams by escalating the old wars and starting some new ones. The TPP he is striving so mightily to jam down our throats is, among other awfulness, an act of aggression against China. He's even sending weapons to Eastern Europe, bringing us dangerously close to war with a nuclear Russia. He's prosecuted more whistle-blowers than any other president. He has his own kill List of drone victims.
Cold antisocial types can absolutely get stuff done. And yet the press corps portrays him either as a loser or as a martyr-hero who just can't catch a break from either the GOP or those nasty backstabbing Dems who took away his TPP toy (probably only temporarily.)
Clintonland-on-Steroids now beckons Obama.
So may our long-lost democracy make a swift comeback. Anti-oligarch Bernie Sanders is looking more appealing by the day.
http://kmgarcia2000.blogspot.com/
http://kmgarcia2000.blogspot.com/
368
The fantasy of Bernie Sanders persists among some on the left.
Bernie will never criticize the M.I.C. nor Israel.
Bernie will never criticize the M.I.C. nor Israel.
9
That is untrue, Kevin. He has criticized Israel. What he won't do is demonize it as many on the left are doing. The blatant racism against Obama has given many license to apply it to Israel, to the point where anti-Zionism, ergo, the third temple and the removal of Jews from Israel, has now become a valid talking point. New York Times coverage of Israel and editorials over decades have had no small part in that.
But Bernie, wisely, has stuck with those themes that matter to all Americans while remaining neutral on Israel. He will be, if elected, an American president of the people of America, rather than America's corporations. There is everything right with that.
See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-faith_n_7174514....
But Bernie, wisely, has stuck with those themes that matter to all Americans while remaining neutral on Israel. He will be, if elected, an American president of the people of America, rather than America's corporations. There is everything right with that.
See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/bernie-sanders-faith_n_7174514....
53
@Rima: I would vote for Bernie in a heartbeat. No candidate is perfect.
109
From all that is currently known about the super-secret TPP, it's a bad deal, which Democrats could in no way enable with Friday's vote on cynical GOP'er backed legislation, which would suck $700 Million$ out of Medicare in order to provide job assistance to workers losing jobs due to TPP - it does not take a brilliant political strategist to imagine the 2016 GOP'er ads (probably already filmed) blasting Dems for voting to gut Medicare.
Of course, this is in addition to all the other various unsavory things leaked about TPP, which Senators can only learn about by going to a secret room, alone, with no aides, no phones, taking no notes, and promising to not discuss what they've seen:
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/guest-the-trans-pacific-partnership-...
even though it's been written by over 600 corporate lobbyists, and foreign embassies in D.C. are holding info symposiums, according to Friday's Diane Rehm show on NPR.
The TPP is not a trade treaty at all - it's a corporate wish list of A.L.E.C.-type agenda items that are so odious, lobbyists couldn't even get their bought-and-paid-for politicians to propose them in broad daylight in front of the American people on the floor of the Senate, much less pass them.
And why isn't there more discussion of Disney's laying off 250 high tech workers, replacing them with H-1B foreign workers, bearing in mind that Disney's CEO is making 2238 times (223,800 %) more than Disney's median worker ?
Of course, this is in addition to all the other various unsavory things leaked about TPP, which Senators can only learn about by going to a secret room, alone, with no aides, no phones, taking no notes, and promising to not discuss what they've seen:
http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/guest-the-trans-pacific-partnership-...
even though it's been written by over 600 corporate lobbyists, and foreign embassies in D.C. are holding info symposiums, according to Friday's Diane Rehm show on NPR.
The TPP is not a trade treaty at all - it's a corporate wish list of A.L.E.C.-type agenda items that are so odious, lobbyists couldn't even get their bought-and-paid-for politicians to propose them in broad daylight in front of the American people on the floor of the Senate, much less pass them.
And why isn't there more discussion of Disney's laying off 250 high tech workers, replacing them with H-1B foreign workers, bearing in mind that Disney's CEO is making 2238 times (223,800 %) more than Disney's median worker ?
659
"And why isn't there more discussion of Disney's laying off 250 high tech workers, replacing them with H-1B foreign workers, bearing in mind that Disney's CEO is making 2238 times (223,800 %) more than Disney's median worker ?"
Again, another monumental failure of congressional Democrats when they had control of Congress. Neoliberalism is what ails us, first and foremost.
Again, another monumental failure of congressional Democrats when they had control of Congress. Neoliberalism is what ails us, first and foremost.
247
Hi, Rima - wondering if it may actually be much worse, evidencing affinity fraud that blinds DOJ because it is too close to the perpetrators; the law is clear that H-1B workers cannot take jobs of Americans, yet no prosecutions occur.
Keep up your good work :)
Keep up your good work :)
85
Sitting in a hotel in Irvine, California, that is half full with young men from India who are here for several weeks on business.
What do you think?
What do you think?
20
"A flustered Nancy Pelosi abruptly and stunningly deserted Obama in a floor speech, saying, “We want a better deal for America’s workers.”
It may be what she said, but she was likely thinking "as much as we'd love to be publicly in favor, we had better cool it right before a big election."
Trade unions and environmental groups weren't able to hold sway enough in 2014 to get progressives onto ballots. But the one thing they can take at least some credit for, is that by not supporting the same candidates Hillary and Bill campaigned for, we didn't get an majority of neoliberals among Democrats in Congress.
Nancy Pelosi and company are no progressives. In different electoral circumstances, they probably would have given the president what he wants.
Hillary has yet to weigh in definitively on the trade deal she negotiated for several years. I guess the NAFTA in her is what prevents her from out and out repudiating the TPP. The Clintons are great are making compromises. It's one thing to regret putting all those cops on the streets and creating our prison-industrial complex, but to repudiate the new NAFTA on steroids? No way! Even Bernie has come out and said that Hillary's stance on the TPP is a cop-out. He's right.
Congressional Democrats were derelict all along. Instead of defending when needed, and keeping President Obama in the middle or pushing him left, as needed, they've mainly left him alone. Those are the chickens Pelosi is afraid will come to roost; and they will!
It may be what she said, but she was likely thinking "as much as we'd love to be publicly in favor, we had better cool it right before a big election."
Trade unions and environmental groups weren't able to hold sway enough in 2014 to get progressives onto ballots. But the one thing they can take at least some credit for, is that by not supporting the same candidates Hillary and Bill campaigned for, we didn't get an majority of neoliberals among Democrats in Congress.
Nancy Pelosi and company are no progressives. In different electoral circumstances, they probably would have given the president what he wants.
Hillary has yet to weigh in definitively on the trade deal she negotiated for several years. I guess the NAFTA in her is what prevents her from out and out repudiating the TPP. The Clintons are great are making compromises. It's one thing to regret putting all those cops on the streets and creating our prison-industrial complex, but to repudiate the new NAFTA on steroids? No way! Even Bernie has come out and said that Hillary's stance on the TPP is a cop-out. He's right.
Congressional Democrats were derelict all along. Instead of defending when needed, and keeping President Obama in the middle or pushing him left, as needed, they've mainly left him alone. Those are the chickens Pelosi is afraid will come to roost; and they will!
158
The trade deal is a trade off of intellectual property protection in return for easier visas for high tech workers. The problem is that American workers are the high price spread, expensive and less compliant than non US workers. Businesses are always looking for cheap labor, slavery to dormitories in China.
31
The single fact that this such a secret is enough to vote NO for!
6
" prison industrial complex ?" Oh, please....this sounds so much like the old radical 60s rhetoric. Those radical chickens have certainly come back to roost with the Obama , so-called , progressives .
3