Obama/ Love Him or Hate Him, We've Got Him

@Foxfyre,

Foxfyre wrote:

What results does he have to show for his community organizer days?

A brief look at Wikipedia reveals:

Quote:

Obama directed Illinois' Project Vote from April to October 1992, a voter registration drive with a staff of ten and seven hundred volunteers; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state

Not bad.

And:

Quote:

During his three years as the DCP's director [DCP = "the Developing Communities Project, a church-based community organization"- nimh], its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens. Obama was modest about the accomplishment of these years. "[F]or the most part I would say I wasn’t wildly successful," Obama said in a 2007 interview. "The victories that we achieved were extraordinarily modest: you know, getting a job-training site set up or getting an after-school program for young people put in place."

Typical community worker's work, then, executed competently. Not exactly the career you'd intuitively choose if your goal was merely to work among the high and mighty, though.

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@nimh,

Yes, but then the diehard haters say that he did all his organizing and community - beneficial things in anticipation that it would look good on his resume when he sought to be a bigwig.

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@snood,

Snood- I see no problem with that. There are people who just drift through life. There are others who make purposeful plans in order to achieve an ultimate goal. IMO Obama is a very intelligent person, who thought ahead.

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@JPB,

JPB wrote:

...could probably write his own ticket into any law firm in the country, you think he became a community organizer on the south side of Chicago for adulation over convictiion

If Obama accomplished so much on the SouthSide of Chicago, why do you suppose so much of that area is a giant, septic slum?

But, I hope you realize that neither Obama nor his wife lived in the "Gardens"...

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@JPB,

JPB wrote:

... he graduated with impeccable credentials from Harvard Law ...

Isn't Harvard Law a pass/fail institution?

Didn't Obama gain entrance to Harvard via affirmative action?

As far as major law firms goes, no major law firm will hire a lawyer, who's a dreamer and Obama is a dreamer. He's a black Stevenson. Only difference is Stevenson married big dough, while Obama married a woman from the lower middle class slums of the SouthSide of Chicago.

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@Miller,

Miller wrote:

JPB wrote:

... he graduated with impeccable credentials from Harvard Law ...

Isn't Harvard Law a pass/fail institution?

Didn't Obama gain entrance to Harvard via affirmative action?

As far as major law firms goes, no major law firm will hire a lawyer, who's a dreamer and Obama is a dreamer. He's a black Stevenson. Only difference is Stevenson married big dough, while Obama married a woman from the lower middle class slums of the SouthSide of Chicago.

Whoa. Seriously. That is pathetic Miller.

1) You make Harvard sound like a "cake walk" (<-- does anyone get how ironically perfect this statement is?)
2) AA is for public institutions, not private ones. Harvard choose to accept him for their own reasons.

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@nimh,

nimh wrote:

Foxfyre wrote:

JPB wrote:
Interesting... So when he graduated with impeccable credentials from Harvard Law and could probably write his own ticket into any law firm in the country, you think he became a community organizer on the south side of Chicago for adulation over conviction?

I'm just going on what I have observed. If one has his sights set on fame, power, and glory, going into a big law firm is probably not the most effective way to do that.

Why not? Bill Clinton worked for a law firm.

During and immediately after college, Clinton was fully entrenched in politics having worked with the McGovern campaign and was befriended by Ann Richards of Texas and other Democratic bigwigs. He taught at the University of Arkansas but ran for office the entire time--unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1974 and successfully for attorney general in 1976 and then successfully for governor in 1978. (College credentials seem to be less entangling for aspiring politicians than having a private sector job.)

He was voted down for his gubernatorial re-election in 1980 and THAT is when he joined Bruce Lindsay's law firm where he spent most of his time working on his (successful) re-election bid for Governor of Arkansas two years later. (Lindsay helped spearhead the campaign and profited handsomely from his association with Clinton both in Arkansas and the Clinton Presidential Administration--currently heads the Clinton Foundation I believe.)

Clinton's entire career from highschool/college on was in the pursuit of high office. And I've seen nothing in Obama's background to make me think his ambitions have been any different. There is nothing in his autobiographies to suggest he saw his law degree as a gateway to becoming a great prosecutor or defense attorney or to be used in family or corporate law. I think he had his sites set for high office early on and, to his credit, he achieved his goal.

I disagree with some here as I do feel it is our patriotic duty to support the President in every way that he deserves to be respected and supported. But that does not need to include the religious adulation that some heap on the President-elect. It does mean that we should not expect the worst from him before he is even sworn in.

Obama has been on every side of almost every issue during the campaign and I, for one, am hoping that we get the Obama that is on the best side of those issues and we should fully support him when he is. If we get the Obama who was on the wrong side, then I will oppose wrong headed or destructive policies when they are offered up.

But we don't have to act like....well....certain liberals.....in hate speech and name calling and be disrespectful to the man or the office.

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@Phoenix32890,

"Thought ahead", by scheming to capitalize on seeming like he cared? That's a serious backhanded compliment. It might also be the case that he did community organizing because he felt it was how he could be of most service at that time. It might be the case that he is not already totally corrupt and self-aggrandizing. Just so we acknowledge all the possibilities.

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@snood,

Snood- No, what I said about Obama was a straightforward compliment. I never said that he was a community organizer because he was:

Quote:

scheming to capitalize on seeming like he cared

Oh, I think that he cared, but he, unlike many other people, had a thoughtful long term plan. This is a part of his brilliance. As I have said before, most people drift through life. I think that because he is so bright, he can think ahead (which many people regretfully don't do) and extrapolate the possibilities.

Snood- I think that it is erroneous to look for hostility where it does not exist.

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@snood,

Nah snood. I don't think it was backhanded. There's nothing wrong with Obama being someone looking to the future. Perhaps he always thought big. Any number of paths could have been taken. I bet in his days as a community organizer, he knew he'd do bigger things. He probably didn't think then it would be President. I bet he was just excited back then to be running for the state legislature.

I don't think Phoenix was implying that his work was insincere and a part of a larger agenda to gain power or anything.

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@Diest TKO,

Will the Obama kids be attending DC public schools?

Was there a reason why the Obama kids didn't attend public school on the beautiful SouthSide of Chicago? Rolling Eyes

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@Miller,

Miller wrote:

Will the Obama kids be attending DC public schools?

Was there a reason why the Obama kids didn't attend public school on the beautiful SouthSide of Chicago?

Have some class Miller. This is ridiculous.

You think that Obama's work in Chicago means less because he didn't live there. I get it. I disagree. I think the people he helped were probably grateful and were probably happy that he could live well and that his children could attend a good school.

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@Diest TKO,

Quote:

I don't think Phoenix was implying that his work was insincere and a part of a larger agenda to gain power or anything.

I certainly was not. I meant it as a compliment. I like to give credit where credit is due.

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Whatever, Phoenix. I stand by my statement - mention hadn't been made that he may be someone for whom the best opportunity to be of service to others is a large factor in what he does. I wanted that considered, since his far-reaching ambition was being acknowledged.

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@Phoenix32890,

Phoenix32890 wrote:

Well, the election is over. There are those who are overjoyed, and those who are downright miserable. As for me, I am ambivalent. There are things about Obama that I like very much, and others that I detest. There are issues around Obama that cause me great anxiety.

The thing that I find most distressing is some of the stuff that I am seeing on A2K today. The anger, the vitriol that I am observing, IMO, is more than repugnant.

For Pete's sake, the guy hasn't even taken office yet. Let's give him a chance. I have enough confidence in the USA to believe that the checks and balances will prevent anything wildly dastardly from happening.

Even if one hates the idea of Obama winning, bottom line, the citizens elected him.

What do you think?

Why lie? I have very little confidence in him. And I think nearly half of the voters didn't either. Alot of people are nervous. The economy certainly is not responding to his election the greatest. And from all the Clinton retreads, it looks like 4 more years of Clintonoid misery imposed upon the country, plus an exponent of great uncertainty about who Obama is and what he will do. Sure, I will give him a chance, but I had more confidence riding in the car when my teenagers learned to drive.

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@okie,

okie- Sure, I am nervous too. But there isn't much that I can do about it. I want to give him a chance. I don't think that looking at everything that he does under a microscope is very productive.

Hey, I want him to be a great president. If he is, that will be good for me.

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@Phoenix32890,

Phoenix32890 wrote:

okie- Sure, I am nervous too. But there isn't much that I can do about it. I want to give him a chance. I don't think that looking at everything that he does under a microscope is very productive.

Hey, I want him to be a great president. If he is, that will be good for me.

If he does good things, I will say so. So far, I am not thrilled with his projected cabinet picks, alot of Clinton retreads, many of them corrupt.

And just take one issue, his promise to close Gitmo as one of his first promises, is I think just stupid. What are we going to do with them, send them home to plot more killing, or imprison them here in the states, which immediately the lawyers will line up to bog down domestic courts with terrorist suspects, which I think is ridiculous. Has Obama even visited Gitmo? I don't think so, so I think such a decision based upon ignorance of what goes on there and who is there, is really amateur, but what can we expect when the press has been putting out false and slanted information about it in their 8 year program to spin Bush as a failure. I am more than ticked off at the press and the Democrats for that 8 years of lying and spinning. This first issue is just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of what will be coming down the pike.

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@okie,

The problems with Gitmo, are less about those who need a trial, more about those who don't need a trial but are being held... indefinitely. What about the Chinese Uighurs? They are not even listed as enemies, but because we took them in, we can't send back to China because we fear they will do horrible things.

Criticizing Obama on the basis that his views are without ever being to Gitmo is a pretty lame claim. Have you been there?

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@okie,

Blaming the press is weak, Okie. People don't like Gitmo b.c it's an extralegal, offshore prison what we run. It's not the sort of thing that US citizens like to be involved with.

Yes, close gitmo, bring them to America, set up rules for their trials, try them, be done with it. Make an effort to make it happen pronto. For those who we are not going to try, let them go. They may cause problems later, but we can't hold people indefinitely just b/c they might break the law in the future. It's not right to do so.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

Cyclops and Diest, this all hinges upon the problem of dealing with this as a criminal problem, not a military problem or act of war. Clinton made the very same mistake and gave us 9/11. You guys just watch, I will hate to tell you when the nonsense starts as soon as this problem is once again treated as a criminal problem. And Diest, I am not president making policy, if I was, I would at least visit Gitmo. It strikes me as silly and amateurish to close Gitmo without even having visited the facility.

Another issue, bailout of automakers, does Obama have a clue? Will he throw more money at a symptom without even addressing the problem? The Democrats gave us Freddie and Fannie, and do we have any hope whatsoever to fix this multi-trillion dollar disaster? I doubt it.

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Obama/ Love Him or Hate Him, We've Got Him

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