Obama – His Tenure and Legacy

[Y_Participant 4591]

Obama – His Tenure and Legacy

A summary of the article from Mile Bowie (nilebowie@gmail.com) in RT (https://www.rt.com/op-edge/374083-obamas-achievement-permanent-warfare/)

Obama will soon leave office as the only president in American history to serve two complete terms at war.

Contrary to his predecessor, Obama had a firmer grasp on the political risks inherent in the large-scale deployment of US troops in sustained military campaigns, but his strategic objectives differed little, and his belief in American exceptionalism was total.

This perception of Obama that has been propagated from the top, the view that he is essentially a benevolent figure with deep integrity or the personification of a modern liberal-statesmen, had been in stunning contrast to the stark and utterly scandalous policies pursued by his administration.

His talent as a persuasive public communicator and the strength of his personal brand, bolstered by years of apple-shining from liberal magazines and newspapers, has been Obama’s most valuable asset.

To hear Obama wax poetic about ‘the politics of hope’ and ‘how ordinary Americans can steer change’ feels deeply perverse coming from a figure that has institutionalized a vast, unaccountable permanent warfare state.

In the face of Obama’s global covert assassination program, his numerous secret wars without congressional approval, a mass electronic surveillance capability unprecedented in history, the speeches reveal themselves as little more than banal platitudes and vapid sloganeering.

Rather than ‘shock and awe,’ Obama proffered ‘leading from behind,’ culminating in NATO support and air power for insurgents that toppled the Libyan government on the pretext of defending human rights, turning the country into a cauldron of rival fiefdoms and lawlessness.

The Obama administration and the CIA fueled a proxy war in Syria with arms and training for insurgents, many of whom took up arms with ISIS or Al-Qaeda affiliated groups. The US military’s presence in Syria and support for non-state actors abjectly violates international law, and John Kerry’s leaked comments make clear how the administration cynically leveraged the threat of ISIS against the Syrian government.

Not only did Obama fail in his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay torture facility, he effectively replaced enhanced interrogation with an unaccountable covert assassination complex, endowing himself with the roles of judge, jury, and executioner.

By virtue of his suave public persona, top-tier entertainers and figures of the liberal intelligentsia were largely willing to acquiesce to the precedent set by Obama’s unrestrained executive powers, exercised in near-complete secrecy.

Liberal figures didn’t protest against the president’s ability to spy on countless Americans suspected of no crime, nor did they organize against the president’s extrajudicial sentencing of American citizens and non-Americans to prison or assassination – without trial or due process.

Liberals hardly spoke out against the thousands of civilians killed by Obama’s drone bombings. Oddly enough, many seemed more outraged at Trump’s campaign rhetoric against Muslims and Mexicans than the reality of President Obama engaging in military hostilities against seven Muslim countries and deporting more people than any president in history

Despite his tense relationship with the Israeli prime minister and token opposition to the expansion of settlements, Obama signed the single largest pledge of bilateral military assistance to Israel in history and therefore tacit approval for further occupation of Palestine.

As the Saudi military ceaselessly bombarded towns and cities across impoverished Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, in a botched attempt to reinstall an ousted proxy government, the Obama administration offered muted criticism and a $115 billion arms deal.

Obama’s administration has in fact brokered more arms sales than any other since the second world war. Despite campaigning on the building of ‘the most transparent administration in history,’ he has waged war against whistleblowers and official leakers, invoking the 1917 Espionage Act more than all previous presidents combined.

One of the most consequential international developments to occur under Obama’s watch was the deterioration of US-Russia relations and the revival of Cold War antagonisms, marked by the covert American role in the 2014 coup in Ukraine that brought to power a crude, corrupt and pervasively anti-Russian regime.

The largest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the second world war has unfolded under Obama’s watch, and the White House has moved in lock-step with the US intelligence community to propagate the anti-Russian line that has now captured American politics.

His administration’s pivot to Asia policy aimed to transfer 60 percent of the US naval presence to the Asia Pacific region by 2020, while the now-botched Trans-Pacific Partnership sought to – in the words of Senator Charles E. Schumer – “lure” other countries “away from China.”

On the domestic front, there have hardly been any clear-cut achievements for President Obama. He has overseen an obscene transfer of wealth from the middle class to the billionaire class, becoming the first two-term presidency that has failed to post a three percent GDP growth on an annualized basis over two terms

Wall Street banks hoarded funds fueled by the quantitative easing policies of the Federal Reserve to triple the size of stock values. Corporate profits reached an 85-year peak under Obama while the total compensation of employees’ wages and salaries slipped to levels last recorded in 1929.

The wealth of the richest 400 Americans increased from $1.57 trillion in 2008 to $2.4 trillion in 2016 – at the expense of every other American.

The market-driven Affordable Care Act, Obama’s primary domestic initiative, did extend medical coverage to segments of American society, while millions of others were forced to pay higher premiums for substandard care. This shifted health care costs from employers and the state to working individuals in a move that effectively amounts to a bailout for private insurers.

Obama’s inept administration will probably be the best remembered in history – for all the wrong reasons. Kerry, Clinton, Biden, Panetta – were able to provide more entertainment than Hollywood. The number of gaffes, flip-flops and utter confusion that bamboozled even the Kremlin were a stark reminder of the ineptitude of a leader that never looked anything but in the last few months of his term.

And finally, there is the obscene proliferation of police brutality that has unfolded under Obama’s watch, with offending officers rarely held to account for their actions. African-American males were found to be nine times more likely to be killed by police officers in 2015 than white men of the same age.

Obama’s key achievement has proven to be his skillful usurpation of progressive rhetoric in the interest of an extremely militaristic and pro-corporate political agenda.

Ironically and possibly to his regret – Obama has set a precedent for the extreme executive authority that President Trump will soon enjoy.

[CataphractParticipant 2656]

And for added irony, despite calling himself a feminist, the gender “wage-gap” increased during his tenure.

Marriage: About as appealing as wood-chipper diving.

[Anonymous 25]

Flush that turd:

[CataphractParticipant 2656]

Anonymous wrote:

Flush that turd:

Gonna need to break up that turd and flush it several times before you will be able to get rid of it.

Marriage: About as appealing as wood-chipper diving.

[PistolPeteParticipant 27143]

I say goodbye and good riddance. He was a carbuncle on the ass of humanity.

[FrostByteParticipant 19005]

Wow Yumbo you should be blogging to larger audience. Your skill at disseminating complex ideas and presenting them in an articulate and eloquent format is something I really appreciate.

If you rescue a damsel in distress, all you will get is a distressed damsel.

[CataphractParticipant 2656]

Trumpwillu unf~~~ all this commie did.

Hopefully he will but a hostile MSM sure doesn’t help matters.

Marriage: About as appealing as wood-chipper diving.

[Anonymous 11]

Excellent Yumbo!!

I’ll summarize his legacy.

EPIC FAILURE! The blood of millions lies upon his hands.

[Jan SobieskiParticipant 28791]

carbuncle?

+100 for knowing a 5 dollar word.

Love is just alimony waiting to happen. Visit mgtow.com.

[FrankOneParticipant 1417]

Great link. First time visit to Russia Today for me — an interesting perspective, I’d been meaning to check out their site. YES. Shrub (George Bush Jr.) started the Iraq war on false pretenses (Where’s the WMD’s)?, and grew government with entire new departments (Dept. Homeland Security), outrageous executive power and deficit spending, the unconstitutional ‘Patriot’ Act, etc. And Obama continued the warfare ‘Legacy’. Not much ‘Hope’ or ‘Change’ there!

I knew Obama would grow government, and I didn’t vote for him. But, I actually DID believe he’d get us the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan PROMPTLY and stay the hell out of the Middle East — boy was I wrong! He did get us out of Iraq, but on the same timetable as the Shrub established. And he continued and increased, drone attacks and mid-east (and other) meddling, and massive military spending.

I disagreed with some of the RT story, such as blaming Obama for police brutality, which I don’t see as a SEVERE issue and CERTAINLY not a Federal government issue. And police brutality in Russia, is a much more severe problem than it is here. It would have been good to see the President speak against ALL brutality instead of couching everything in the ‘racism’ bulls~~~ narrative/paradigm. But, to his credit, after the Dallas shooting, Obama said “When people say black lives matter, it doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter”. But, better to say ‘All lives matter’, and justice should be blind to race/creed/color. Cops can murder too, and they used to get away with it — not so much in recent decades. Both cops and citizens should be subject to the SAME laws.

But, my favorite was when the War President was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama himself admitted the honor was ‘aspirational’, haha http://reason.com/archives/2017/01/15/the-peace-prize-winner-who-wag. War truly IS peace. 1984, Gentlemen.

I call the election of the new President the end of one ‘Error’ and the beginning of another ‘Error’. But then, I’m a skeptic. He may surprise me, and I like two or three of his cabinet selections, but so far, crony capitalism deals like Carrier, and bellicose rhetoric and military spending expansion, along with unquestioning support of Israel, suggest another War president.

[PistolPeteParticipant 27143]

FrostByte wrote:

Wow Yumbo you should be blogging to larger audience. Your skill at disseminating complex ideas and presenting them in an articulate and eloquent format is something I really appreciate.

I’ve been telling him the same thing for weeks. Every post has been gold! He should have a much wider audience…I would love to see a Yumbo Blog. (And I usually don’t do blogs but I would in this case!)

[Y_Participant 4591]

PistolPete wrote:

I’ve been telling him the same thing for weeks. Every post has been gold! He should have a much wider audience…I would love to see a Yumbo Blog. (And I usually don’t do blogs but I would in this case!)

You guys are who I post for. I’m happy with that. Thank you again PP for the kind words.

I am not a blogger and I have my work cut out for me so I don’t do blogs.

This site is the best one around plus it’s all men – what more can I want?

[Y_Participant 4591]

FrankOne wrote:

I disagreed with some of the RT story, such as blaming Obama for police brutality, which I don’t see as a SEVERE issue and CERTAINLY not a Federal government issue. And police brutality in Russia, is a much more severe problem than it is here. It would have been good to see the President speak against ALL brutality instead of couching everything in the ‘racism’ bulls~~~ narrative/paradigm

I would be very interested to read a post from you on this and what Americans believe he has / has not done domestically.

[Anonymous 24]

Good assessment, but I doubt much changes on the Israeli war front under Trump, the puppetmasters own both sides.

[FrankOneParticipant 1417]

THX 1138 writes:Good assessment, but I doubt much changes on the Israeli war front under Trump, the puppetmasters own both sides.

Agreed little will change, I don’t regard Jewry as a ‘puppetmaster’ or buy into ‘ZOG’ conspiracies, but given his daughter is married to a Jew and converted to Orthodox Judaism, and his past strong support for the Israeli cause, and his statements against abstaining from the recent UN vote relating to settlements, it’s safe to say we’ll be welcoming in the next War president on 20-Jan. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/11/20/trump-is-headed-to-white-house-did-just-elect-our-first-jewish-president.html is an amusing commentary. I guess I’d rather see the Prez say, ‘Hell yeah, I’ll abstain from that vote AND all the future UN votes, when the US stops paying UN dues and meddling in other country’s affairs!’ But the Republicans and sheeple would never go for that.

I would be very interested to read a post from you on this and what Americans believe he has / has not done domestically.

I would say a large percentage of Americans credit him with insuring 20 million citizens. But did those people WANT insurance? Not everyone WANTS to be required by law to pay into a system. I was against Obamacare, but I am also equally against Republican Big Government health care schemes, such as Republican expansion of medicare, CHIP, etc. The Republicans sure as hell won’t be replacing these programs, or social security, on the first day of the new assministration. That’s because Depublicans aren’t actually CONSERVATIVES. They believe in Big Government. Just like Pell grants and other subsidies caused tuition to soar well above rates of inflation, so too, have government schemes raised the cost of healthcare in the US.

I don’t think Obamination achieved much at all domestically, largely because he was c~~~ blocked by the Republican Congress. I regard that as a POSITIVE, though — he wasn’t able to pass even more progressive legislation that would further reduce our economic growth. Economic growth has been in the s~~~ter since 2000. Obama AND Bush set dangerous precedents for Executive power, issuing executive orders to bypass Congress, which will give future presidents dangerous power. As more and more rules are passed — Sarbanes Oxley, EPA dictates, etc — business is less competitive. TARP, Stimulus bills, etc amount to crony capitalism and divert resources from the most deserving investment, to the most politically connected individuals/companies.

If I took one issue where Obama could have employed MORE freedom to reduce a problem, it would be the whole black lives matter. First, that’s a smokescreen; racist killings are negligible. BUT we do have serious problems in our inner cities, half of young black men ARE in the slammer, and our inner cities have serious gang problems. I would have at least liked to see Obama scale WAY back on the DEA, and re-schedule Marijuana and make a case for drug legalization to starve the gangs of revenue and stem the violence (by violence, I mean, gangbangers killing each other and citizens — I don’t regard there being a serious police brutality issue, though stemming ALL violence would reduce tensions with police caused by incarcerating a large fraction of a minority population).

The new president’s Education secretary, at least DOES favor charter schools and better opportunities and free market solutions in education. You’ll know which of Trump’s appointments are best by how strongly they are opposed in CongrASSional hearings.

[Jim01Participant 6678]

if you watched the British media like the BBC or Sky News over the last few days you would think he was some sort of saint….

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