 |
| "So you're saying I can just kick ass, and not bother to take names?" |
Obama’s turnaround in recent weeks – he’s seized the offensive with a series of controversial executive actions and challenges to leaders in his own party on the budget — can be attributed to a fundamental change in his political mindset, according to current and former aides. He’s gone from thinking of himself as a sitting (lame) duck, they tell me, to a president diving headlong into what amounts to a final campaign – this one to preserve his legacy, add policy points to the scoreboard, and – last but definitely not least – to inflict the same kind of punishment on his newly empowered Republican enemies, who delighted in tormenting him when he was on top.
“'Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose' — Barack and Bobby McGee,” says former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry. “President Obama is free to take the risks and use executive authority that will either make him a much more popular president with rising approval rates or get him impeached by a Republican Congress that won’t be able to control itself. We can contemplate the possibility of each result while smoking a Cuban cigar.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says Obama’s newly aggressive stance – exemplified by his unilateral moves on immigration and Cuba – poses an early challenge to new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and to House Speaker John Boehner, who are trying to re-shape the GOP into a party that can actually run a government. “Mitch and Boehner have to deal with the fact that Obama is becoming bolder and more radical,” Gingrich told me a few days before Obama announced his move to normalize relations with Cuba.
I don't know about everybody else but I REALLY like the change in our President and I hope he only gets more confident and aggressive as the last of his final term plays itself out.
Hell he may actually finally achieve that fundamental change in American that Sarah Palin is always warning us about. And it will most likely be a good fundamental change that history will forever attribute to the hard work and tenacity of the 44th President.
Jeb Bush already announces while Sarah is working on season 2 of a failed reality show.
ReplyDeleteShe's irrelevant.
All this while stemming the tide by means of which China was about to roll us under.
ReplyDeleteOh yes he is coming out swinging and these next two years are going to be thrilling!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you, Gryph, THIS is the president I voted for twice. Too bad I can't a third time.
ReplyDeleteI sing in a community choir and our director often reminds us that the audience never remembers the beginning of a song, but never forgets the ending.
ReplyDeleteWhile I still wish that the Democrats had retained control of the Senate, I'm beginning to think that November's defeat may have a significant upside we didn't anticipate. I suspect that President Obama would not be quite this aggressive if the Senate was still in Democratic hands.
I hope he continues on this path and is able to accomplish even more of his agenda in his last 2 years, while the GOP is flailing about ineffectually and throwing tantrums on the floor of Congress. It will make the tidal wave of change in 2016 all the more sweeping - and sweeter.
YES!
DeleteI for one am more than happy that he finally is standing up to those bullies.
ReplyDeleteJust wish, he had found his cojones a few years ago...
The Party of NO will try to do their darndest to thwart him on any turn he does, but they have doone this even when he was trying to comply with him. Now - hopefully - they will see what they could have been claiming for their own success.
The president has never been lacking in "cojones". He plays the game.
DeleteIt's like watching the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote. Every time. Love the man.
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one watching and enjoying our President's new fighting spirit. He was the first President that I was old enough to vote for.
ReplyDeleteHe's not perfect, but I think that he has had to put up with more sh*t and disrespect than anyone before him. He's done a good job with the situation he had. He damn well deserves to fight back, have a little fun, and make some trouble for those who have troubled him before he leaves office.
Although I liked the article you linked to for the most part, it was also very critical of Pres. Obama and seemed to blame him for things, the reporter's opinion not necessarily true.
ReplyDeleteObama ROCKS!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/19/obamas-muscular-approach-boost-democrats-painting-republicans-corner.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/20/payback-time-obama-plans-punishing-republicans-obstructed.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/19/obama-isthe-president-history-questions-women-press-conference.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/17/president-obama-outplayed-republicans-stop-complaining.html
I don't think he is changing and becoming more confident and aggressive. I believe he has always had a good sense of what he could and could not accomplish and when.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, Cuba. He did not change, becoming confident that if he were more aggressive he could bring about the change in our relations with Cuba.
He has been working on this for over a year!
He told the republicans and the American people long ago that he has a pen and a phone and would use them if the republicans did not choose to do their job and govern. He has been working out the details as to exactly what he could constitutionally do ever since.
I think even his supporters often under-estimate him. You don't get to be the first African-American President and survive six years (including a re-election) under the total scorched-earth seditious warfare from the opposition that he has had to deal with for the past two thousand one hundred and sixty days, if you are lacking confidence, "cojones", and determination.
>>I think even his supporters often under-estimate him. You don't get to be the first African-American President and survive six years (including a re-election) under the total scorched-earth seditious warfare from the opposition that he has had to deal with for the past two thousand one hundred and sixty days, if you are lacking confidence, "cojones", and determination.
DeleteYou are absolutely correct! My opinion is that he has been underestimated repeatedly, especially to the glee of the beltway press, but in reality, he is a slow and steady, eye on the ball, quietly determined leader who lives in reality. Unlike the narrative that is pushed in the press, he is a deeply committed man, focused on the well being of the many. I will be forever grateful that this amazing man was my president and this country will feel the benefits of his leadership for decades to come.
I so agree with you Nefer. You said it so well!!
DeleteHappy Holidays everyone.
Gryphen, Thanks for all you do.
Wow, Nefer, so spot on! It's going to be interesting when the new Congress takes hold next month. If there's anything he does NOT do, it's back down.
DeleteYes, well said! I have had faith in him all along and I hate when the Democrats and/or supporters start criticizing him. He's doing a great job - has been and will continue to do so.
DeleteThe President has always been focused on the long game rather than short term goals. Because of his intelligence and his ability to analyze situations and predict outcomes, he has been able to work steadily towards specific objectives.
DeleteThe GOP, on the other hand, always seems to be in crisis mode and governing by hysteria. As a result, they are continually being taken by surprise when the President accomplishes yet another goal while they were running around in circles, frantically warning that the sky was about to fall.
When we all look back on this presidency years from now, Barack Obama will be considered one of the best we've ever had.
Agree with ALL of you. This man is a brilliant leader.
DeleteToo bad President Obama didn't start acting like this on January 21, 2009. Instead from that date onward, he (and his corporatist chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel) never missed an opportunity to bash liberals and progressives (i.e. the people who busted their asses to get him elected), and bend over backwards to make nice with Republicans (i.e. the people who didn't vote for him and from day one were looking for any excuse to impeach him).
ReplyDeleteRemember the Simpson-Bowles Commission? AKA the catfood commission, recommending cutting the social safety net? And looking forward, not back, when it came to the criminal Bush administration use of torture? Then there were all the numerous Wall Street and corporate lobbyist appointments/nominations to head government agencies and commissions. Those are just some examples of how President Obama screwed his base from the start by acting just like a Republican they DIDN'T vote for and that he DIDN'T campaign as.
So, now that Dems have lost the majority in both houses, thanks in no small part to disillusioned Dem voters (knowing that Obama didn't just not have their backs, he didn't have DEMS' backs -- no, he had Republicans' backs!) -- NOW -- Obama starts acting like a real Democrat?
Too little. And way, way too fucking late.
Yeah, it is too fucking bad he didn't start just flipping republicans off the day they got together and decided they weren't going to do a damned thing he tried to do.
DeleteIts also too bad his party stood there and didn't support him-----they just fucking whined when they didn't get what they wanted the moment they wanted it. I mean they had stooped and voted for him--right?
And for some insane blind assed reason they seemed not to get the man was always a centrist. Still is. Republicans are just so rightwing it can't be measured.
And democrats as a whole (I am one) can be the worst fucking whiners there is.
Its also too bad that some liberals and progressives didn't get that bag full of fucking angel hair and unicorn
dust they wanted. I know I went to bed pissed when my cousin came home from Iraq on her feet and not in a body bag, my uncle got to keep his job at GM and I don't have to pay half of my damned salary out on healthcare. Yeah----the President didn't do a fucking thing for anyone. Right?
Thanks, angela!
DeleteAre you drunk again?
DeleteOT Since Gryphen had a post about Bristol-and-Nancy's blog about racism (it's worse because of Obama), please check out Bristol-and-Nancy's latest post. They found an African American football player who claims that racism is not a matter of skin but sin. Since that's a religious blog, you guessed it. The answer is Jesus Christ. I'm not kidding. This post is even worse than the one based on a two week old Bloomberg News poll.
ReplyDeleteI understand how the sheer ridiculousness of the subject matter raises the blog to pure camp -
Deletebut I honestly could not give less of a sh!t what those morons put out into the world.
I don't care about the people who care about them.
Game on I say!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment by Nefer, and what you've said numerous times Gryphen--President Obama is playing chess while the children are playing checkers.
Can't wait to watch the next two years unfold.
I voted for President Obama both times and am, and have always been, proud of the job he has done IN SPITE OF the constant Republican obstruction!
ReplyDeleteThe Republican party is going to lose in 2016 due to their actions. They have a horrible reputation now of doing zero to represent the Americans that put them in office.
Thank you, President Obama, for the grand job you are doing. You will go down in history as one of our best POTUS! Just watch!
And not only that, but I am willing to bet that the Obama Presidential Library will have more visitors than the two Bush libraries combined.
DeleteThe GOP and their surrogates in the media can just stop redefining 'lame duck' and wishful thinking that our president will act like one.
ReplyDeleteJust because Sarah Palin said, on July 3, 2009, that she was a 'lame duck' because she'd decided not to seek a 2nd term or this Politico author uses the phrase doesn't make it so. Outgoing Rep. Michelle Bachman and Sen. Mark Begich [:-(] are examples of 'lame ducks'. Pres. Obama is not.
Our president's 'lame duck' phase will begin when his successor is elected in Nov. 2016. Even then, he'll hold all the powers of the presidency until Jan. 20, 2017.
Bold actions on immigration, Cuba, and, hopefully, a veto on Keystone XL are likely more from not having to walk on tip toes to appease vulnerable Democratic legislators than from having two years remaining in his term with an incoming GOP-controlled Congress.
And I can't wait to buy some imported Cuban rum.
I know. Two years left in a term does not a "lame duck" make. It's the period after the election, when the incumbent cannot run again. I expect that President Obama may do great things even during his real "lame duck" period.
DeleteBeaglemom
WHEN A GENIUS APPEARS IN THE WORLD, YOU WILL KNOW HIM BY THIS SIGN: THAT ALL THE DUNCES ARE IN A CONFEDERACY AGAINST HIM.-----JONATHAN SWIFT
ReplyDeleteThe best defense is a good offense. President Obama is using his last two years in office to leave his mark and legacy. Sarah Palin looked at her last two years in office and quit.
ReplyDeleteExactly. She as much as said in her idiotic resignation speech that if you were a lame duck (which she was not at the time), you might as well not do a damn thing but sit on your rear.
DeleteSo many people and organizations, on the other hand, look at their remaining months in office as an opportunity to work diligently, without having to be concerned about re-election or popularity, to leave their mark and make their term in office mean something, for good or ill. Not Princess Lazy Ass, though.
ReplyDeleteGQ Releases ’20 Craziest Politicians’ List; All but 3 Are Republicans
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201501/craziest-politicians
Despite all the crap that was thrown his way, President Obama hasn't failed once in my estimation of him as a person, father and Commander in Chief. I had no idea how he would perform in office when I voted for him, then I read his books and they showed me this is a man with backbone and both times I voted for him gave me no regrets whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine one Republican who'd be able to carry out the duties of the President half as well as President Obama. My only regret is I can't vote him in as president another two terms.
Well it's about fucking time.
ReplyDeleteSomething President Obama should consider
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/pharris830/status/546851732668837888/photo/1