Mr. President, none of what you do after today would have been half as relevant had you not started with everything being so broken… so take solace in the knowledge that your talents and hard wok will not have been wasted on an easy presidency.
That you are the right man for the right job at the right time is what most of us are betting on, and political, religious and philosophical views aside, my money is on you. Quite literally.
Truth is, this isn’t going to be easy. It isn’t even going to be all that enjoyable for you. The next four years will be the most trying of your entire life… But know that rain or shine, many of us – most of us, in fact – will be beside you every step of the way. When the burden gets too heavy for you to carry, don’t think twice about leaning on us. We’ll be here for you.
Now get out there and make us proud. We expect nothing less and nothing more. 
You lost a reader on this one. I for one do not wish to see B Obama succeed. By succeeding he will take our country from a republic to a socialized nation (at best). By succeeding he will push our republic deeper into debt and further from a recovery. By succeeding he will create a even more over bloated government with more beaurocrats suckling at the breat of the taxpayer. By succeeding he will increase taxes on those who actually pay taxes and “spread the wealth.”
I wish him a great presidency, however I hope he does not succeed. To those who believe my comments to be racially motivated.. get a life. Black ,white blue or green a Marxist is a Marxist. No matter what color he is.
or she.
Dear “Patriot” — Curious, what are YOUR accomplishments?
I’m with Olivier, and the rest of America.
Patriot, I think you (and a lot of liberals as well) are going to be surprised by how conservative Obama is going to be. He’s pretty far from a Marxist.
A sad response, because if Obama does not succeed then what state will the economy / country / world be in. He’s the right person for the job at at time when there is many tough decisions and changing of the old ways to be done.
Regards
Scott Kilmartin
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Designer / MD
haul
http://www.haul.com.au
http://www.riveting.com.au
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Patriot, I wish you’d stick around, but if you want to leave, that is 100% your call. I find it unfortunate that something as trivial as this post would make you turn away from the conversations we have here… but again, that is your choice. I hope that you will reconsider and come back. You will always be welcome here, not in spite of your views, but BECAUSE of your views. If all of my readers agreed on everything, this blog wouldn’t be very interesting.
That said, I would urge you to look up not only the definition of a Marxist, but also read up on historical, practical examples of Marxist leaders. You will quickly discover that President Obama is absolutely not a Marxist… or a Socialist, even. I know this because I have seen Socialist governments in action firsthand, and trust me Sir, even on his worst “big government” day, President Obama will not be anywhere close to being a Socialist. So relax: You have nothing to worry about on that front.
In the hopes of appeasing your fears, understand that even if President Obama were to start acting like a Socialist, our system of checks and balances would stand in the way of any unconstitutional shenanigans. So seriously, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay. And he is going to make a great President.
As far as wishing to see him fail… His failure will be our failure. His success will be our success. Regardless of whom the President may be, I prfer to be on the side of success. We really don’t need another 8 years of failure, especially not to make a point. The American people have suffered enough recently. Let’s give the guy a chance and see what’s what. Our duty now as patriots (something that your screen name implies you know something about) is to stand behind President Obama and help him lead us out of this compounded mess. Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, we are all in this together and he is the President of the United States. Let’s support him and do our part to help one another.
I hope you will reconsider. That’s all I can say.
And who said anything about color anyway?
A marxist? Do you even know what that is? Maybe you should read this first before you write such nonsense: http://tinyurl.com/772nxh.
You can criticize Obama as much as you like, but saying he is marxist is ridiculous!
Well said Olivier! I have lived overseas and have seen many types of governments. I hope the best for our country and its citizens, but we need to pull together to get out of this mess. It will take some time, but I think we will pull through it.
cheers,
susan aka creativechick
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Especially Patriot! Let’s hope he comes back. Everyone be nice now.
“…our system of checks and balances would stand in the way of any unconstitutional shenanigans.”
Didn’t seem to stand in the Bush administration’s way: Guantanamo prison, suspension of habeas corpus, military tribunals, sanctioning of torture, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the US PATRIOT Act, Faith-based initiatives, and the list goes on. It’s astounding that the architects of these policies aren’t already standing trial or at least the subject of a formal inquest (which Obama does not support).
The fact of the matter is, the previous administration has done more to move America toward fascism than our country has seen in many generations (at least since WWII or the Civil War). Remember that fascism is characterized by intense nationalism and an a marriage between the government and the corporations.
If we melted down all the “support our troops” magnets with the heat created from burning all the Dixie Chicks CD’s, I think it would render about 125 million tons of pure nationalism. And look no further than the tax codes, Blackwater, Haliburton, lobbying expenses, and the record profits within the rest of the military industrial complex for proof that many large corporate entities have an umbilical connection to the government… And isn’t this really just a shadowy end-around way of funneling massive amounts of public tax dollars into the private sector… oh, what’s that called again?
So, Patriot, if that’s the version of America that makes your heart swell with patriotism. And if you actually hope our new executive leadership fails, I’m kinda glad to see you leave this neck of the blogosphere. Stick to the talk radio. Sorry.
Ugh – great response Evan, but it is so crazy that it is even needed. Patriot, I have no idea, but I’ll bet you’re over 35 yrs old. Why must you with a straight face throw out socialism being the result of success? Given what FDR did (and I admit, some of what was done has led to larger problems, but lacking perfection, at the time it was needed), I feel you would have whined when Hoover left office.
Your reaction smacks of not knowing our country’s history. But I know you do – you just don’t have who you want in office. Or, any acknowledgment that Barack is working with both parties right now. Or that both sides of the aisle are already surprised at how centrist Barack’s opening moves have been. Is it any wonder that, due to the severe economic crisis, Obama has moved closer to the center?
In the way of full disclosure, I’m a pretty central Dem., and I didn’t like most of what Bush did. That said, I supported him 100% after 9/11. And I got news for you, this crisis could end up crushing more families, innocent people, and costing more lives in the end than the two towers coming down did. And I use the towers only for perspective, not in any way to take away the permanent scar that day has left on us.
Putting in the rear-view mirror why this happened — because at this point it’s spitballing, no matter what anyone says (other than to correct wrong-headed policies), it’s time to look at the road to recovery.
If Barack succeeds, guess what we succeed. You, Patriot succeed, whether you care to admit it or not. And, I’d fight for your right to say so. If some of the programs and guidelines that help us succeed come from the left side of U.S. politics, so be it. Don’t worry, because if the last 222 years of this country are any indication – and I know they are – the story of this country is that we lean back and forth, hovering around the center. From Reagan to Bush to Bush, right conservatism had its hay-day for awhile. And it will again.
I don’t want socialism any more than you do, and I’d never vote for that — and I never have. But, within my thoughtline, if the founding fathers weren’t liberal and towed the conservative line, we’d be flying the union jack as we discuss the latest tea tax. am I right? who knows… but that’s not the point. that’s what I believe and you’re in another place. Truth is, I’d prefer your government to true socialism… most in the U.S. would. But, I’m encouraged by what we have now — because this is the founding principle upon which I think our democracy works best.
Maybe you’ll learn that. Maybe you won’t. (Maybe you’ve exited forever and this is falling on deaf cyber-space.) But, just know it’s an age-old debate that will never be won — it just balances the country. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson battled over federalism and states rights ~ we’ve received the good and bad of both. Try to help us fight for the good this time around, without worrying about the label — because this country will never be socialist and you wanna know who will make sure of that? sure, the Republican Party… but the Democratic Party too.
Nice. I just started reading this blog for its top-notch insight into social media and marketing.
Now I discover its just another mediocre political blog.
Patriot and Cab: I find it really interesting that folks who post negative comments here choose to hide their identity behind bogus screen names.
Normally, that sort of thing would earn you an automatic delete, but I’ll make an exception for you just to make a point.
Please have the courage of your convictions and let us know who you are. It would be the polite thing to do.
George Washington warned of the perils of the two party system – that some day it would divide rather than unite our country. Someone wanting our president, whatever party he represents, to fail is unfortunately a real example of the potential for that fear to fully manifest in reality.
Oliver, I really appreciate your gracious and thoughtful response. As you said, if all your readers agreed it wouldn’t be very interesting. And I’ll add we probably won’t learn very much either. You may lose a few readers, but you just gained one new one.
Patriot, are you interested in the kind of intense debate that results in all of us learning something from each other or would you rather just be right? Guess we’ll find out. I am hoping for the former.
Evan, I too question how well our system is really working.
Cab, before you label this as a mediocre political blog you might want to read a few more of Oliver’s posts.
Thank you so much for the wonderful comments.
Evan, you should write for Letterman. Maybe even the Daily Show. Seriously. I’m in awe.
Susan, thank you so much for your kind, wise words.
I am sorry but the messiah complex is getting to me. Do you honestly believe that everything was broken in America for the last 8 years and now all of a sudden everything will be fixed.
I remember a president with a very similar ideology (far from a marxist whom Obama clearly is not).
All the best intentions in the world but lacked the resolve to make the difficult decisions.
Anybody remember Jimmy Carter.
Higher inflation than now. Higher unemployment than now and left U.S. citizens fending for themselves for over a year in Iran.
I certainly hope Obama succeeds and I hope that he quits using the word “Hope”. It has absolutely nothing to do with reality.
Yeah I hope that Hugo Chavez plays nice and I hope there was never such thing as war.
What I hope is that he doesn’t let you all down.
You have him set so high that you think your/our problems will just go away.
America has been living vicariously through Obama.
You want him to be something that you can’t even come close to being.
Bush was not perfect but he had resolve. It will just take a decade for you all to figure it out.
Took Reagan awhile as well didn’t it.
Anyhow God Bless Obama.
He seems to be a great person.
Let’s just see if he turns out to be a great leader.
Hundreds of millions proposed for contraceptives in the “”"Stimulus Plan”"”" and 4% for shovel ready projects to start in the next 18 months is not what I would call a great start.