Usa Thread

[Steve]

I'll beat Flash and HH to this...lol...Harvard Prof, Cornell West, very well known in black inteligentsia circles, bashing Obama (as well as Romney to be fair but that's expected). As I've said, the black power elite in politics especially and other areas have never liked Obama and much preferred Hillary. Actually, I think its a good thing Obama doesn't feel obligated to them or any group. He got the nomination in spite of not because of the black power elite. The black masses like him but the power structure doesn't. Again, not a bad thing in my book.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/cornel-west-obama-obsesse_n_1529979.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

[Flashermac]

Interesting that liberal papers and websites are laying into Obama. Still, I think it probable that Obie will get back in for another 4 years. I just hope he doesn't think that is a mandate to do whatever he wants, though he probably will. That is the only thing that worries me. With no reelection worries, 2nd term presidents tend to think they are omnipotent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Steve]

440 electoral votes would be deemed a mandate by any winner I'd imagine when you throw in that Congress also brought in more. Obama will probably have 100 electoral votes less as well as lose seats in Congress. I have my doubts he'd see that as a mandate. My guess (and hope) is that he does what many Presidents do and try and get into the history books for the right reasons. As I've written before on these forums that its been said Presidents spend the first 4 years trying to get re-elected and the last 4 trying to get into the history books.

 

My guess is we'll see a better Obama. Just my guess. I also think the fact that many liberals aren't happy with him is further proof he is no where as liberal/socialist/etc. as conservatives claim. The left is not happy with him for not being left enough. He's too much of a centrist and sometimes right of center on a few things. His keeping so many Bush holdovers was the early evidence as well as his choices for top posts like Fed Chief.

 

I also think Romney is a moderate Republican. The problem with him is he feels he has to court the far right and if he won would govern as such. Its not Romney I don't trust so much as the ones pulling the strings behind him.

[Steve]

I've notice a lot of negative press on Facebook building up to the IPO as well as after. Negative press about the company and Zuckerberg himself. A bit petty and over the top I thought. Now, I'm no fan of Facebook and the power they weild. The only thing I got on Zuckerberg for is that he got married. Dumb ass move!

 

Anyway, he's been wearing hoodies for years and now its a problem. So the f*ck what? He built the business wearing hoodies to meetings. Young CEOs and leaders of certain types of companies have always been given a certain amount of license to be different. Tech companies are known for that. Jobs wasn't exactly the braces and french cuff type. Entertainment company leaders the same.

 

Also, the stock was seen as possibly not a good investment. Wall Street has been urging him to go public for several years so they can get a piece of the pie. The stock dropped a little. So what? Stocks go up and down. The upside potential is huge. Anyone can see that. They act as if Facebook will go bankrupt tomorrow.

 

Again, not sure what the negativity is about but the cynical, conspiracy theorists in me smells something fishy. Am I being the over-the-top CS that I usually am?

[Steve]

http://leanforward.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/21/11799258-booker-to-maddow-im-very-upset-that-im-being-used-by-the-gop?lite

 

Booker to Maddow: 'I'm very upset that I'm being used by the GOP'

Even by the very low standards, this is pretty bad from the GOP main website.

[kamui]

I've notice a lot of negative press on Facebook building up to the IPO as well as after. Negative press about the company and Zuckerberg himself. A bit petty and over the top I thought. Now, I'm no fan of Facebook and the power they weild. The only thing I got on Zuckerberg for is that he got married. Dumb ass move!

 

Anyway, he's been wearing hoodies for years and now its a problem. So the f*ck what? He built the business wearing hoodies to meetings. Young CEOs and leaders of certain types of companies have always been given a certain amount of license to be different. Tech companies are known for that. Jobs wasn't exactly the braces and french cuff type. Entertainment company leaders the same.

 

Also, the stock was seen as possibly not a good investment. Wall Street has been urging him to go public for several years so they can get a piece of the pie. The stock dropped a little. So what? Stocks go up and down. The upside potential is huge. Anyone can see that. They act as if Facebook will go bankrupt tomorrow.

 

Again, not sure what the negativity is about but the cynical, conspiracy theorists in me smells something fishy. Am I being the over-the-top CS that I usually am?

 

Just before the sale, the FB increase the number of share as well as the price - while at the same time GM was pulling ads from FB worth 10 mio USD.

 

It seems that FB and the supporting banks aimed too high and lost.. Which means that they did a bad job. A few billion USD were burned within a very short time.

 

Since this sale had been hyped in the media for months, this is very bad PR for the stock market, which has already lost a large chunk of investors who don't trust the stock market anymore.

[dean]

Flash, who was the last 2 term President that did anything monumental during their second term?

[kamui]

Flash, who was the last 2 term President that did anything monumental during their second term?

 

Reagan: End of the Cold War

[dean]

Most of the foundation of outspending the Soviets and driving the Soviets to end the Cold War was done in Regan's first 4 term, except for the U.S.-Soviet summits, where he made it clear that he would not negotiate away his "starwars" defense system. His second term, at least remembered by Americans, was known primarily for Iran-Contra. Of the last 4 Presidents that served 2 terms, Nixon was consumed by Watergate, Regan had a minor scandal but I'll give him partial credit on keeping the heat on the Soviet Union during that time. Clinton had the Lewinsky scandal and GWB had his idea to take SS mostly private shot down and will be known for the culmination of the financial bubble which led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. You have to go back to FDR to find a President who did monumental things in his 2nd (and 3rd) terms, but he had to deal with two cataclysmic events; the Great Depression and WWII. I can't see Obama breaking this trend.

[Steve]

Truman: Integrated the military in 1948 at great political costs. precursor to the civil rights movement.

Johnson: Civill Rights Act, changed American society significantly and irrechangeably.

Nixon: Did the most for the environment and animals since Teddy Roosevelt. Envirmental Protection Act, OSHA, etc. Also recognized China and his visit there was massive on a geopolitical scale

Carter: Negotiate the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Significant on a regional and geopolitical level.

GWB: Probably did more or AIDS than any government or person in history with his funding to fight AIDS/HIV in Africa.

 

As for Reagan, I would not give him credit for the fall of the USSR. I've written of this before. First of all, the USSR were experiencing famines since WWII, they had bread lines in Moscow and every city in the '70s and the rural areas suffered much worse. The USSR faced immense military spending pressure from EVERY president since WWII. The nail in the coffin wasn't Reagan. It was the war in Afghanistan. Russia had been fighting proxy wars since WWII (Korea, Vietnam). Their invasion of Afghanistan in '79 was their first full scale war since WWII. They were in Afghanistan for 10 years befor they decided to call it quits. They had to house, feed and fund 200k troops at its height in a losing war. It wasn't even Reagan that funded America's money to the opposition. It was a Congressman.

 

Obama has some chance to make history. Perhaps gay marriage, which would of course be a significant social changing event. The wars in the ME could be ended but I wouldn't deem that as significant in terms of accomplisment. I also doubt we'd be totally out. It remains to be seen.