Instead of just pointing to other articles, this is an original opinion piece I wrote about Obama’s leadership… something I think a lot of people will agree with. We’ll see.
There’s a difference between getting elected and assuming leadership and I’m still waiting for President Obama to assume leadership. Obama’s management style seems to be that he’s just another member of a team rather than the team captain. America is in a crisis and both the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress are acting like a class full of unruly 10 year olds with a weak substitute teacher.
I am asking you Mr. President today to take charge. I am asking you to be a leader. I am asking you to assume your role as the decider. You are the chief executive and you are in charge. You are the leader but you have yet to assume leadership. A year ago we made you the most powerful man on the planet. We gave you the power and we expect you to use it. Instead you’re like a Jedi Knight who won’t use The Force. You’re like Superman in his role as Clark Kent. You’re like Charlie Brown who just tries to keep kicking the football just to have it jerked away by Congress at the last minute.
It is time, Mr. President, for you to take charge. It’s time to open up a can of whoop-ass and set Congress straight. It’s OK to be reasonable and rational in the way you make decisions but please, if you are passionate about something you can at least raise your voice and show it. Here in real America things are so bad that we are waking up in the middle of the night screaming. We want to hear you scream too. The role of President was given to you. We are still waiting for you to claim it. Be the leader!
Hope, Change, Hope, Change, Hope, Change. HA HA HA HA HA HA. Your wind-up boy is clanging the cymbals, but nothing is happening.
#16 Loose Stool – I don’t see healthcare reform in this country happening neither nor do I see it happening anytime soon. If that’s what you wanted, congratulations.
It’s tragic the health insurance and drug industry is now even more emboldened. Worse, now that that the Supreme Court enables corporations to pour unlimited money into Congress, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion as to who’s the dog and who’s the tail.
#3 Bobbo
I did not bring up whoopass, Mr. Perkel did when he wrote “It is time, Mr. President, for you to take charge. It’s time to open up a can of whoopass and set Congress straight.”
My point was beating up on the people who control the money may not be a good idea. I thought I was defending President Obama.
Mr. Perkel also wrote “Here in real America things are so bad that we are waking up in the middle of the night screaming. We want to hear you scream too.”
No we don’t. Ask Howard Dean.
Obama wasted an entire year trying to bully Congress into ramming a grossly unpopular health insurance “reform” package through when he should have been concentrating on the economy and jobs. He totally wasted 25% of his time in office. It’s only after the Massachusetts Senate election that he backed down, realizing (finally!) that he can no longer act like a dictator.
If he truly wants to lead, he’ll have to learn to play with Repuglicans as well as Dumbocrats, and quickly. Otherwise we’ll have another Jimmy Carter on our hands.
#23–Wm==I apologize. I missed that line in Perkel’s missive. From that context, what you say is not partisan but rather the invitation to a good discussion. I agree with you. “Leadership” does not succeed in using whoopass except very rarely. The threat of whoopass is even dangerous.
No, leadership is convincing the other guy “it was his idea to begin with.”
No one knows what goes on behind the scene. Publicly, Obama does appear a bit timid and more a “manager” than a leader. He does need to open another can of “competency” at a minimum.
Thanks for your clarification.
I guess I’ll just be repeating myself over and over on these blogs. Obama doesn’t represent America. He represents the special interests who put him into power. Do you really think your vote out of what, 100 million or so votes, counts? That’s hilarious. One person cannot represent the interests of 300 million people. Heck, he can’t represent the interests of 2 people. Don’t believe me, get 10 of your friends and vote for what movie you all want to go to a cinema and watch.
Obama’s one and only concern is to remain in power. That means keeping democrats in power, and that means there are certain lobbyists he has to pander to. Unions. Big Pharma. etc etc. Everything else is a distraction to make you feel better so next time you’re at the polls you’ll vote for Obama as opposed to Palin, or whoever.
Perhaps you’d like him to do everything by executive order? Maybe some signing statements?
Assassinate US citizens by fiat, maybe, oh wait he is doing that.
Perhaps you want him to treat the Constitution as a goddamn piece of paper?
#22 – You are correct. I would like to see health insurance reform, but what Obama was talking about is NOT what I want to see. Doing nothing would be better than what he was speechifying about.
PS – Don’t forget the cheese. Loose stool is not so good, but with cheese – Mmmmmm: suitable for Iron Chef!
Oh yeah, as far as the SCOTUS decision: all that does is put real Americans on an even footing with the unions.
I thought the history of congress and reps, IN-OFFICE was cool.
And todays versions are TAME.
remember the vids from other countries, with people THROWING STUFF, yelling and screaming..
THATS HOW it used to be..
NOW you just flash money and most follow you to the bank.
The problem is not the Whitehouse or the House, it’s the Senate. Obstructionists conservatives (EVERY Republican + a handful of conservatives Democrats.)
The only way for the Senate Democrats to get bills passed is to do it with rules tricks.
This is the way the Republicans did it, but they will howl about it, anyway.
#30 – they’re only obstructing horrifying, anti-American bullshit.
Great article.
I was not thrilled about the stimulus or health care bills because Obama left it to the House and Senate to write up just whatever they wanted.
Having 60 senators was an opening to get some real work done in a strongly directed manner. Not much happened and it was the equivalent of “Congress goes wild!”
Try to remember Obama was elected because it is about time, not to mention just so cool, to elect a blackish president. That’s it.
RBG
#33 Uh, RBG, you shouldn’t really put your racism out there so bluntly. You should take lessons from your fellow wingnuts who are more subtle about it.
So you believe millions of Americans voted for him just for the color of his skin. Had nothing to do with the previous Republican president who was a horrific disaster. Nothing to do with a senile doddering Republican candidate and his scary-ignorant Caribou Barbie running mate.
Nope, just about the skin color, eh?
Dang. Well, at least you’re honest about your racism. Can’t say the same about your fellow wingnuts who pretend not to be racists.
This is the kind of shit Obama has to deal with:
http://nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/coa_20100205_3373.php
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has placed a blanket hold on all executive nominations on the Senate calendar in an effort to win concessions from the Obama administration and Pentagon on a variety of fronts affecting his home state, according to aides to Senate Majority Leader Reid.
Reid spokeswoman Regan Lachapelle said Shelby is blocking more than 70 pending nominations. Reid can force a vote on any nomination by filing cloture.
One Republican senator is blocking over 70 nominations because he’s not getting enough pork in his state.
And here we have a demonstration of how gutless the Democrats are:
Reid, who kept the Senate in pro forma session over recent holidays to prevent former President George W. Bush from making recess appointments, said he has grown so frustrated he might advocate such appointments, which the president can make when the Senate is out of session.
“What alternatives do we have?” Reid said on the floor Thursday. “What alternative do we have?”
Whine, whine, whine. Here’s what you can do: grow some balls. Threaten Shelby that his state will be cut out of ALL federal pork for the duration of the Obama administration and all future Democratic administrations in the foreseeable future. Then make good on the threat. Make an example of him, strike fear in the hearts of anyone who might try the same shit.
The R’s got lots of stuff pushed thru the Senate with 50 votes plus the Vice President. The D’s couldn’t get anything done with a filibuster-proof majority.
There hasn’t been a Democratic president with balls since Lyndon Johnson.
I have said on multiple occasions that it takes a while (usually a year at least) for Senators to “get” being President. One of the significant differences is that Senators are all about compromise. Being chummy. Being President is different. The President’s real power is his ability to rally opinion. It requires initiative, leadership, vision and a capacity to convince people to follow. Obama may have those skills but he hasn’t shown them yet. Obama’s real mistake was trying to do something as controversial as healthcare in his first year.
The posts were much better than the article. So many different views.
If Al Franken said something similar then it comes under “great minds think alike”. It’s a relief that I’m not the only one who sees this.
“It is time, Mr. President, for you to take charge. It’s time to open up a can of whoop-ass and set Congress straight.”
Obama is owned by the very same special interests that own Congress. So methinks that hell will indeed freeze over before what you want actually happens.
Get a freaking clue, people. The system is OWNED, but not by you. “Representative democracy” in the US = how much money do you have to “contribute.”
It seems you’re painfully ignorant of the Constitutional role of the president, which has been wrongly transformed into the “national leader” role you seem to want him to more powerfully assert.
I suggest you read a book by Gene Healy called “The Cult of the Presidency”. Your demands may indeed change.