Conservative Says That Compared To Trump , Obama's Presidency Was A Golden Age
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
This conservative would take Obama back in a nanosecond
Max Boot
How I miss Barack Obama.
And I say that as someone who worked to defeat him: I was a foreign policy adviser to John McCain in 2008 and to Mitt Romney in 2012. I criticized Obama’s “lead from behind” foreign policy that resulted in a premature pullout from Iraq and a failure to stop the slaughter in Syria. I thought he was too weak on Iran and too tough on Israel. I feared that Obamacare would be too costly. I fumed that he was too professorial and too indecisive. I was left cold by his arrogance and his cult of personality.
Now I would take Obama back in a nanosecond. His presidency appears to be a lost golden age when reason and morality reigned. All of his faults, real as they were, fade into insignificance compared with the crippling defects of his successor. And his strengths — seriousness, dignity, intellect, probity, dedication to ideals larger than self — shine all the more clearly in retrospect.
Those thoughts are prompted by watching Obama’s speech in South Africa on the 100thanniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. I was moved nearly to tears by his eloquent defense of a liberal world order that President Trump appears bent on destroying.
The first thing that struck me was what was missing: There was no self-praise and no name-calling. Obama has a far better claim than Trump to being a “very stable genius,” but he didn’t call himself one. The sentences were complete and sonorous — and probably written by the speaker himself. (Imagine Trump writing anything longer than a tweet — and even those are full of mistakes.) The tone was sober and high-minded, even if listeners could read between the lines a withering critique of Trump’s policies.
Obama denounced the “politics of fear and resentment,” the spread of “hatred and paranoia and propaganda and conspiracy theories,” and “immigration policies based on race, or ethnicity, or religion.” Gee, wonder who he had in mind? He rightly noted that “we now stand at a crossroads — a moment in time at which two very different visions of humanity’s future compete for the hearts and minds of citizens around the world.” He then rejected the dark vision propagated by Trump and the dictators he so admires.
“I believe in Nelson Mandela’s vision,” Obama said. “I believe in a vision shared by Gandhi and King and Abraham Lincoln. I believe in a vision of equality and justice and freedom and multiracial democracy, built on the premise that all people are created equal, and they’re endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. And I believe that a world governed by such principles is possible and that it can achieve more peace and more cooperation in pursuit of a common good.” Even though I was thousands of miles away, I felt like cheering those stirring words.
No, I haven’t forgotten the shortcomings of Obama’s administration, but I’ve gained a new perspective on them.
Can you believe that an Obama-era scandal was that the president wore a tan suit or put his feet up on the desk? (Actual Washington Times headline from Sept. 4, 2013: “Obama’s foot on Oval Office desk sends shockwaves around the world.”) Oh, to have those days back again — before we had a president who was involved in indecent relationships with a Russian despot and (allegedly) a porn star.
What was supposedly the worst abuse of power committed by the Obama administration — the IRS investigations of conservative organizations — has been revealed as “fake news”: It turns out that the IRS was also investigating liberal organizations. By contrast, evidence continues to accumulate about Trump scandals, from alleged campaign collusion with Russia to violations of the emoluments clause . Obama may have told a few fibs, like any politician, but he was not a pathological liar .
Conservatives accused Obama of hating America and going on an “apology tour.” Obama never claimed, however, that poor relations with Russia were the fault of “ U.S. foolishness and stupidity ” rather than Russian wrongdoing. Obama may have been naive in trying to “reset” relations with Moscow, but he did not say that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “ fine ” person — and he did not endorse the Russian’s lies over the truths unearthed by the U.S. intelligence community. The Iran nuclear deal was flawed, but it was infinitely stronger than the non-agreement Trump reached with North Korea. Obama even looks like a fiscal conservative compared with Trump, who is ushering in trillion-dollar deficits .
It can be depressing to think about our current predicament under a president whose loyalty to America is suspect but whose racism and xenophobia are undoubted. However, Obama’s speech gave me a glimmer of optimism — and not only because he cited Mandela’s “example of persistence and of hope.” He reminds me that just 18 months ago — can you believe it was so recently? — we had a president with whom I could disagree without ever doubting his fitness to lead. We can have one again.
Tags
Who is online
120 visitors
I remember when most of the left wet there pants because Kelly Ann Conway put her feet on the couch.
I think part of them peoples problem is they are still wearing the same piss pants from Hillarious Hillary losing and they are all rashed up.
Having witnessed a year and a half of Trump in office, the writer's claims are self-evident.
Does not matter. The GOP is dead. The electoral map as it stands, guarantees 'rule by minority.'
Many republicans are leaving the party, some even changing affiliation. But, the new TGOP is glad to be rid of them. Gerrymandering and voter suppression by state legislatures are the TGOP's ace in the hole.
One more thing. There are at least six 'red states' whose populations are less than NYC. New York has two senators, the 'red states have twelve. Think about that.
Look at the comments, even on this seed. They are not "we are good". "Our leader is good". They can't say that. They say "we won".
They believe that there is honor or glory in a worthless pos because he "won".
It is a temporary "victory" at best.
I know. Adolf Hitler praised his victory as The Wehrmacht's 6th Army stood at the gates of Stalingrad. Little did he know that his 'victory' had sown the seeds of his utter defeat.
bbl-1, there are seven schools in this county. There are over 2500 students in the seven schools. All the schools teach the same courses. There are 200 students in each of the schools except for one. The seventh school has more students than all of the other schools put together.
There are some important issues these schools will be voting on very shortly that will affect all of them equally. Do you think each school should have a vote on these forthcoming issues regardless of the number of students or do you think the school with the most students should have more votes?
Oh, by the way this Max Boot has lost his mind.
Interesting. So, everyone that does not trust, believe or have faith in 'the Trump' has lost their mind? Very interesting.
Well, first they came for Donald Trump, who was only trying to make America great and the world a safer place to live and I did nothing.
Then they came for the Christians would just wanted to live their lives in peace and I did nothing.
Then they came for the Electoral College which helped prevent this country from becoming a Totalitarian state and I did nothing.
Then they came for me and there were not enough sane people left to stand up against them.
Then they started eliminating the useful idiots since they had no more use for them.
the man is the most disgusting human being to ever hold the office and you are trying to provoke sympathy for him.
this is why trumpism is a plague that must be soundly defeated
Well, first they came for Donald Trump, who was only trying to make America great and the world a safer place to live and I did nothing.
R U Frkn kiddin Us ?
that is exactly what trump was elected to do... and more to come.
over 60 yrs of globalist effort trashed in a few short yrs. it is a beautiful thing.
Cheers
To put it mildly, Trump is a constantly dishonest self absorbed ignoramus.
He isn't leading anyone anywhere except towards disaster.
Has Donald Trump ever written anything? If you think he has please give us a link. Don't mention his business books, they are all ghostwritten.
ending the tpp and paris agreement, lower taxes, more jobs, better trade deals, fewer regulations, secure borders, rocket man has calmed down, ukraine armed against russia, black employment is at the highest level in the history of our country, hispanic employment is at the highest level in the history of our country, more jobs than job takers making employers pay more for peoples labor...
yepp. im not sure we can take much more of that... LOL
seriously, let me help you out here. we did not vote for that "liberal world order"
we did not agree to move our manufacturing overseas. and we did not create the tax/regulatory environment that pushed our jobs overseas either/ our country was being sold out to build that world order without our permission as the elected traitors lied and said that was the best they could do. quote: "things have changed, "those jobs are just not coming back.
GAME OVER
for 40yrs I have been watching our country get sold out, bit by bit, by two-faced politicians from both sides of the aisle.
watching all that blow up in their faces? so quickly??
priceless
if by that you mean some kind of actual war? our country is worth fighting for. fuk the liberal world order. if they want the USA? they are going to have to put boots on the ground and take it out from under us.
personally... I do not share your hysteria, I do not see a disaster ahead, there will be no war because trump. all I see in the future is prosperity and lots of liberal world order tears.... your complaints are like music to my ears
Donald Trump is a piece of shit human being. How could he ever lead anyone in the right direction? You are the victim of brainwashing.
unlike the shit presidents of the past? trump is doing exactly what we voted for him to do.
brainwashing? looks like politicians saying they are doing their best while selling out our country for the last 60yrs+
the liberal world order is a disease and trump is the cure.
bitch, screech all ya like. matters not.
there will be no comeback for the left, only slow and painful reckoning
cheers
just pure ignorance. Trumpism must be put on the trash heap of history,and it will be
hate to break the news but, losers do not write history.
and the liberal world order is being "trashed" as we speak. the greatest show on earth
cheers
What you call "the people" is a minority. Stop claiming a moral authority you do not have.
LOL. Excellent.
Oh, the horrors /s...
screw the majority. this is not a democracy.
as for moral authority?
what is the point of having morals if you are not willing to force those morals on the majority of idiots? the answer? is none. there is no point in having morals if one just stands around and lets the country be sold out because "majority"
we took our country back, we did not ask permission.
but I'm sure I said we were going to do just that... and they laughed.
are you laughing now?
at u
did u due too many Magic 8 ballz n the day ...
I see the pattern. the left is full of bs
just off the top of my head,
the kkk and jim crow? democrats
Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks.
the most resistance to women getting the right to vote? democrats.
Paul argued that because the Democrats would not act to enfranchize women even though they controlled the presidency and both houses of Congress, the suffrage movement should work for the defeat of all Democratic candidates
obamacare? dead as a doornail. is that liberals winning? too funny.
I suspect your meme contains more so-called heroic actions by the democrats --- but I do not care enough to continue.
cheers
By todays standards, Lincoln would be a far left wing liberal. Nice try though.. Lol
Trumpism will be seen as a shameful period of American history. Hopefully the lowest of low points...
putting our country first, lower taxes, more jobs with the highest black employment rate ever in the history of our country is truly shameful? or wait.. is that racist? I get easily confused... LOL
seriously... do you not see the irony here?
funny thing...
over 20 yrs ago, even as recent as 4yrs ago, when I was complaining about the "liberal world order" everyone on the left and even most on the right just laughed and said it did not exist. still laughing? I am.
guess what?
this is what "taking our country back" from that new world order looks like.
and by the way... we will be keeping it
the death of that liberal world order is exactly what we voted for.
to be a prophet one must only study history. nothing new here.
skip to the end and just watch how every attempt by the left to fundamentally change this country fails (every time)
or watch the whole show and relive the past 60+ yrs of history.