Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dmbfan]

[mises]

Ok. Define it, with relevance to the topic at hand.

[dmbfan]

[ubermenzch]

[Kuros]

Foreign Relations is 2 credits.
Security is 3 credits.
Economic Policy is 4 credits.
Civil Rights is 2 credits.
Domestic Policy is 4 credits.

On Foreign Relations Obama gets an A-. There was some weakness at the G-20, and he failed to get Germany to pass a stimulus of comparable size to our own, meaning they get a free ride. However, he didn't harangue Europe, and decided to make a central message his commitment to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. He dealt with Latin America well, sending feelers out to Cuba and ignoring Ortega's anti-Americanism. He's taking Iran slow, and having Clinton focus on Asia while Holbrooke becomes a kind of Middle East Czar.

On Security Obama gets a B. Obviously, no catastrophes or any of that sort, and that is why he gets a good grade. But North Korea just launched missiles and Pakistan appears to be further unravelling. This area is very hard to get an A in, since there's always some instability somewhere, but also hard to fail in, since there's always some safe area of the United States.

On Economic Policy Obama gets an F. Obama bailed out the bankers before writing in regulatory reforms, and allowed them to paper over toxic assets with borrowed money and Federal Reserve funds instead of attempting to price the assets and operate with transparency. The Stimulus package was a horrible aberration of pork projects and tax cuts, and Obama railroaded it, saying, "The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good . . . we need to get it passed soon," even though most of the Stimulus funds will not come into play for another few months. Obama is trying to fight a recession by resisting the correction, and the correction is very much needed so that the generation that voted for him can actually afford housing. And while he vastly inflates the monetary supply, he reminds us that its not his problem he inherited a big debt, because that was his predecessor's fault (true, but you're the President and you have to deal with that). Bad rhetoric, bad action, and countless waste on enormous amounts of spending, and he promises us he will cut $100 million in spending from a $1.8 trillion deficit. Absolute madness.

On Civil Rights Obama gets a B-. He released the torture memos but has said the DoJ will defend CIA officers, but has been unclear about whether the previous administration's criminals will be tried, saying that 'its time to look forward.' Gitmo is being cleaned up, but the detainees are simply being moved to places like Bagram in Iraq and Afghanistan. Great optics, but a dubious conviction to really address US policy changes.

On Domestic Policy, we cannot grade Obama. He's been too busy with everything else to worry about the environment, health care, or education. Its only the first 100 days after all. Obama has not done any work towards this credit, and thus does not receive a grade.

Obama's total GPA is a C-.

[Manner of Speaking]

Obama's grade is an A.

Nobody, even the people who like him and approve of what he is doing, wants to give him top marks because he is an elected politician. In the mindset of the voter, elected officials exist to serve the voter. As a result, there is a natural and understandable reluctance to give a President perfect grades, because subconsciously, no voter wants to admit that they "need" and are dependent on a politician. Even when he is doing a good job.

It's the same as if you are working in an office with a boss...even if the boss is doing a GREAT job, nobody wants to give him/her perfect marks, because that places the employee in an even more subordinate power relationship vis-a-vis their boss, psychologically speaking. That's why even Democrats are unwilling to give The President a perfect A, even if they think he's doing a good job.

The simple fact is, however, is that we are all lucky to have him. He's secure enough in his own self-esteem that he doesn't need to go invading other countries to feel good about himself, he listens to everyone left or right...and if you look around at the suite of alternatives available, it is unlikely that McCain, (Hillary) Clinton, or any other professional politician could have done just as good a job, given the same conditions and challenges, in the same period of time.

He's doing fine. Straight A's all across the board.

And you ARE lucky to have him, whether you're secure enough to admit it to yourself or not.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I've already said on other threads what I think of Obama's performance. On this, I'm with MoS--we're lucky to have the guy. He's shown remarkable leadership skills in an awful time. People like to mention that his ratings are about the same as other recent presidents at this point in the term, however, none of them had such wretched conditions to work in. His calm, steady hand is showing results in the most important area, the mood of the public. When it feels like the country is in good hands, specific details on one policy or another do not matter that much. As Doris Kearns Goodwin said the other night, during the Great Depression some guy wrote to FDR: I just lost my job, my roof is leaking, the wife is mad at me and I lost my dog, but I feel better knowing you are in the White House.

Listen to the People.
Grade: A

[Manner of Speaking]

There ARE a few things that Obama is doing that I disagree with...these new offices "for women and children" are worrisome, and I wouldn't want to be a man living in the US in the next few years. It's a bit ironic that Clinton and all the feminists who were ranting that "its our turn" during the primaries - and who owes her job to a man - are now working so feverishly behind the scenes to implement an ideological agenda that is bound to result in many miscarriages of justice in the next few years.

The Innocence Project has exonerated 205 people in the last 10 years and demonstrated that they were wrongly convicted. 204 of them were men who were falsely convicted of rape.

Nevertheless, overall Obama is the best possible choice to "run" the US government for the forseeable future. I honestly think he's going to do a better job than Bill Clinton. I'm not an Obama cult-of-personality worshipper by any means, and I couldn't care less what kind of dog he has. But he is doing a great job.

[RJjr]

Overall:
Bush F-
Obama F+

Economy:
Bush F-
Obama F-

Obama has picked up where Bush left off in crashing our economy.

Afghanistan:
Bush F-
Obama F+

The Soviets took the city of Berlin with over 2,500,000 soldiers. The USA took the small island of Iwo Jima with over 100,000 soldiers. Neither the USA nor the USSR fucked around during WWII and that's why we both won. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan with around 115,000 soldiers and lost. Bush invaded Afghanistan with around 26,500 soldiers. WTF??? He never increased it to a serious level, but rather chose to do the same thing year after year expecting a different result. WTF??? Obama sending in another 17,000 is a small step in the right direction if we're serious about winning, but we need to send in a lot more soldiers than the Soviets sent in. 500,000 more troops would be a good start if we're really serious about this thing.

Class & Decorum:
Bush F-
Obama A

This is where Obama really distinguishes himself. Obama isn't a good president, but to his credit he doesn't embarrass the shit out of us the way Bush the Oaf always did. After eight years of the Oaf representing my country, I'm proud of Obama despite his policy flaws.

[Manner of Speaking]

Do you know what the biggest reason is for Obama being such a godsend to the Democratic Party? He kept Hillary Clinton from winning the nomination. Obama did what Bill Clinton did 16 years earlier, except he did it in reverse. Bill Clinton convinced the majority of blacks that he was the person to vote for, because B. Clinton convinced black voters that their race didn't matter to him. He was going to be President for everyone, regardless of whether they were black or white. It's why so many people called Clinton "the first black president", because he was so good at taking the interests of black voters to heart and making them comfortable with voting for him.

Obama did the same thing, except that he did it in reverse. First, he convinced his Senate constituents, 98% of whom were white to vote for him. How did he do this? His constituents didn't vote for him because he was black. They voted for him because he convinced his constituents that their being white didn't matter to him. He was going to be their Senator, regardless of who they were or where they were coming from, and the majority of his (white) constituents sensed that. Obama did the same thing 10 years later when he ran for the Democratic nomination and the Presidency. The majority of white voters in the US didn't vote for him because he was black. They voted for him because they were comfortable that he would do a good job and look after their interests...the interests of ALL voters. He practiced the politics of inclusivity, and won the big prize.

Contrast this message with H.Clinton's message...vote for me because I'm a woman. If you are a woman you have to vote for me; if you are a man, you have to vote for me because "it's our turn". What a great way to attract male voters: "When I become President, I'm going to look after the members of my own gender first, and your gender second. So that's why you should vote for me."

Since the election, people have called H.Clinton a great role model for women...I remember when she was here in Korea back in February. Some role model. An electoral candidate that deliberately made gender an issue in the campaign and went out of her way to set aside the interests of a large number of voters. H. Clinton is only a role model if you never want a woman to become President.

And that's another reason why the Democrats are so lucky to have Obama. If she had won the Democratic nomination - which she assumed from the beginning she was entitled to by birth and by gender - male voters would have stayed away in droves. They might have publically said "yes, I would vote for a female President" to their wives and girlfriends...but on election morning the Democrats would have woken up to a rude shock; the secret ballot allowing voters to say one thing publically, but cast their votes any way they want in the voting booth.

H. Clinton as the Democratic candidate would have handed McCain the Presidency. Nobody really realizes it, but thanks to Obama, the US and the world dodged the Hillary Bullet.

[mises]

I have no real base to speak of regarding foreign policy, domestic politics etc. (nutty libertarians typically sit on the margins on these issues) But on the economy, Obama deserves a solid, bold and bright red F.

I admire the guy and I do believe that he is realizing that Summers/Timmay etc are feeding him nonsense (see his comments about Hedge Funds and the Chrysler fiasco). He's 100 days in, and I sincerely hope that by 200, he's has done a 180 and pull back fiscal policy/regulation etc from the banksters. If he doesn't his one term will be remembered as this:

http://tinyurl.com/db682f

[bacasper]

[Kuros]

[mises]

[bucheon bum]