Reality check
by andrea on Aug.21, 2009, under Week 9
We — well, most of America — thought Obama would unite the left and right. However, in The Daily Beast, Lee Siegel argues the president has polarized the country more quickly than the Bush-Cheney regime. Is this something Obama brought upon himself or are Americans to blame for the hype? Plus, don’t we always set almost unrealistic expectations for our leaders? How can he get back on track?
August 22nd, 2009 on 9:37 am
The GOP and George W. Bush united America. They saw to it that the entire country stampeded away from the GOP and the lunatics running the asylum. All Obama had to do was reap the benefits. Now all he needs to do is get the health care bill passed any way he can. Then next election cycle he can say “You have guaranteed health care. They insurance companies can’t kill you by kicking you off. They can’t bankrupt you by raising your co-pays and deductibles. The Democrats did that for you AND NOT A SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTED FOR IT.” Then the country will be nicely united once more.
August 22nd, 2009 on 5:37 pm
Yeah…real united….united in bankruptcy, but hey, why not go out with a bang, like someone who knows they can’t pay off their credit cards, but have room left on them, so they go on a shopping spree before filing bankruptcy…brilliant strategy. sarcasm/off.
August 23rd, 2009 on 8:29 pm
People become divided when their leader lies and the people who believe the lies can’t find any common ground with the people who see through and don’t believe the lies. The only leader who can truly unite us is an honest one. I’m not holding my breath.
August 25th, 2009 on 1:30 pm
I love the irony of the GOP’s horror of bankruptcy and big government debt. Prior to Jan. 20, 2009 only commie pinko crypto fascists complained about the debt and out of control spending. If you don’t like crushing government deficits, I suggest you send George W. Bush and email.
August 25th, 2009 on 4:02 pm
Imagine that…Susan Coogan hasn’t really been listening. Some of us have complained about debt for a long, long time. And apparently, Dems weren’t running both houses of congress since ‘06…but I know, that doesn’t count. Bush pulled some lame crap when it came to spending, no doubt. But Dem lead programs, coupled with a govt incapable of living within their mean, especially when there’s “free money” (excess funds in SS/Medicare, a printing press on call at all times) available to buy votes with, have lead to the vast majority of the debt that will bankrupt us. And your party’s “solution”…hey, let’s just start a couple new ponzi schemes with cap & tax/healthcare and act like we’ve fixed it….if we’re lucky, it’ll last long enough for us to get out of office so we can blame it on the next party. You whine about Iraq/Afgh..yet leave out that we never paid off WWI, WWII, Korea or Viet Nam..all Dem Pres wars. Wilson started the income tax under the guise of paying for WWI, and with the promise that rates would never exceed 10%…yeah, that lasted about 3 yrs. FDR started SS with the “lockbox” theory called a “trust fund”, which of course is filled with worthless IOUs from the Treasury. Was Bush a crappy President..sure he was, but the intellectual pool you’re drawing from that all of our financial ailments were derived from his Admin is about an inch deep and an inch wide.