I am staking out that claim here on this blog so that in 50 years everyone will know just how right I was. Of course, I'm not the only one:
The Incomplete Greatness of Barack Obama
He’s gotten more done in three years than any president in decades. Too bad the American public still thinks he hasn’t accomplished anything.
Paul Glastris follows that claim up with seven pages of accomplishments, just two of which - ACA and DADT - I have already argued will seal Obama's place in history.
But to be fair, it's not just Republicans who don't realize how much Obama has accomplished; plenty of Democrats are equally unimpressed. But then, majorities of Americans believe in angels, demons, miracles, signs, and wonders. And not evolution.
Meanwhile, Arizona is being so depressing I can't even bring myself to link to the news. Suffice to say I am doubly glad to have rescued my wife and daughter from that place.
What do I get if you are wrong? An apology maybe or perhaps since you don't like the USA a promoise never to return?
ReplyDeleteIt's not *all* of the American public. Some of us really like him, we're just not raving lunatics whose crazy ideas get all the press. We'll see who likes Obama this November; all I can hope is there are more of us quiet ones then the media would have us believe.
ReplyDeleteDucky,
ReplyDeleteIt's not that I don't like the USA; it's that I'm tired of constantly apologizing for its Neanderthal qualities now that I live in a country where believing in fairy tales is not a requirement for public office.
What you get if I am wrong is the end of democracy all over the world, as I've argued in previous posts. Also, as I've stated in previous posts, I expect to be buried here.
But that doesn't mean I don't still love America; it doesn't mean I stop getting teary-eyed every time I read the Constitution; and it doesn't mean I have overlooked the fact that, despite all the ways Australia and Europe are socially ahead of America these days, none of them would have elected Barack Obama to the highest office of the land.
Obama's going to win and go down in history and the American experiment will continue to inspire and lead the world.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteIt's not about how many quiet ones there are, it's about how many show up at the polls. These current Republican lunatics really only represent 2% of the country - but it's the 2% that are plugged in enough to vote in primaries.
The greatest irony about American democracy is how little the average American participates in it.
I understand that, prior to his second Inaugeration, Obama is going to delight the crowd by strolling across the Washington Mall reflecting pool...
ReplyDeleteEMC
Barack Obama only has two groups of enemies; a) Conservatives, who think he is Satan, and b) Liberals, who think he is God. He is destined to disappoint both of them, and thus provoke childish tantrums.
ReplyDeleteObama the man, however, is a pretty decent human being doing a pretty good job under very trying circumstances. Which is a recipe for top-ten lists everywhere; it just so happens that Obama's job puts him on the top-ten Presidents list.