Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think most unbiased people would agree that the GW Bush and Obama administrations have been failures. But what do you think the reasons for this are?
1. Have we just been unlucky?
2. Did we have too high of expectations?
3. Is there something about how our system is structured that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to succeed as president?
4. Would we able to have a president in the future that could succeed?
Personally, I think our expectations were way too high with Obama. Enough people bought into "Hope and Change" without really thinking about how it would be accomplished.
I also think that it's very difficult in today's society to have a successful president. A significant percentage of the population is rooting for you to fail and will do anything to accomplish this goal.
Because 45% of the electorate will defend the incompetence of their guy no matter how putrid it is.
Exactly right. The 2 parties are the same beast. Only the rhetoric changes. Your party hardliners would vote for a snake as long as it was their party.
1) Partisan idiocy: Just look around this forum and note the fake outrage over "Obama" and how no matter what he does, it's "bad" when he does, but "okay" when a Republican does the same thing. Or, they'll pretend that the same events didn't happen under Bush... or, heck, sometimes they'll even just make up total nonsense to froth about.
2) Money in politics: Our elected leaders are mostly stooges for big business and other moneyed interests. In short, they make certain no honest or skilled people get past the primaries, leaving us with a choice of idiot to elect.
3) Ignorant voters: The average voter is... how shall I put it... not too swift. And American, quite frankly, aren't getting any brighter on average. They can tell you all about American Idol, but they can't tell you why Obama doesn't run the VA. Of course, those in power have a vested interest in keeping the public docile and dim-witted.
4) Two-party system: This allows for the two parties to make a circus show about wedge issues - "Their gonna take all mah guns!" - while effectively not doing anything different when it comes to key issues. So, good little tools will go out and vote horrible people in power based upon wedge issues and lies, which is exactly how the plan goes.
It's a miserable situation, and I don't see any clear solution to it.
2) Money in politics: Our elected leaders are mostly stooges for big business and other moneyed interests. In short, they make certain no honest or skilled people get past the primaries, leaving us with a choice of idiot to elect.
And the people who want the job the most only want it because as POTUS they'll be able to use the power of the office to help their friends, they aren't looking out for all citizens in the country.
To me, Bush wanted to do well for all people but instead made compounding bad decisions... Obama is like Affirmative Action... A substandard politician put into office that was beyond his abilities, made many idiotic choices and tried to cover them up repeatedly... I guess the bottom line is if you mess up, don't make it worse which is what Obama and Bush did...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
