My Hopes Regarding President Obama

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
My Hopes Regarding President Obama
348
Wed, 11-05-2008 - 7:56am

Last night I was pretty depressed. I cried when John McCain conceded. I prayed for our newly elected President Obama, and for our country.

I started thinking about this man with the paper thin record, and thinking of his words, "I'm a pragmatist", and I started to feel a glimmer of hope. Is it possible that he won't push an ultra liberal socialist agenda? Food for thought, maybe his "present" votes were votes cast so that he wouldn't "tip his hand"? Maybe in good conscious he couldn't vote to the extreme left but knew that if he didn't he could never make it as far as he needed to in the extreme environment where he was traveling up the ladder to the white house?

We really know nothing about this man aside from his thin record. Maybe he won't be the Socialist leader that we expect. Maybe, now that he is in a position of power, he will seek good council and steer our country in the right direction rather than the wrong one.
I'm praying for that, because I don't want to see the country brought to her knees with another great depression and oppressive laws that limit our success and our freedoms.

I think we conservatives should put our money where our mouths are and start praying that this man will see the light, and lead our country well. I much prefer this scenario than the Jimmy Carter scenario on steroids which messes up the country so badly that he will not serve a second term and set the African American cause back for another generation.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:30am

What happened in Mogadishu happened in Fallujah. Do you remember? The contractors?

And casualties in Iraq have been hundreds of thousands more than that of Somalia--if you think the numbers of Iraqis who have died has some bearing on the toll of a full scale invasive war.

Yeah, Bill could have sent in more troops, had more casualties, and blown what was a nasty episode into a full scale regional war. But he didn't. And that's a bad thing?! BTW, if you think that Iraq has enhanced our international reputation for either integrity or strength, guess again.

It's much easier to characterize the difficult experiences of others as "rants". Manages to both belittle and dismiss in one fell swoop but fails utterly to recognize that years of BushCo have been disastrous for the country and many of its citizens.

edited to correct the spelling of a place name.

Gettingahandle


Ignorance is Nature's most abundant fuel for decision making.


Facts stifle the will, hobble conviction.

Gettingahandle

Ignorance is Nature's most abundant fuel for decision making.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-15-2007
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:30am

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HA! I can take a joke. The market has been on a roller coaster for a bit now and will continue. So place the blame where you want it, but a simple look at the past few weeks and a calendar will show you that it happened before there was a President -Elect Obama.


Oh, and true let it out...but the 'tongue' is something and it canl affect you mentally, emtionally

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2003
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:30am

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Regardless of who becomes president in January, the economy is already in the tank and not by Obama's doing so it's possible that you, as small business owners will definately be feeling the pinch.....HOWEVER, to shut down a business, laying of employees who are like family in ANTICIPATION of what you fear Obama MIGHT do (which I think is groundless)....is NOT Obama doing you any harm....It would be YOU doing it to yourself. Early retirement in this economic climate would be a VERY unwise choice IMO and entirely your decision....The results of which you won't be able to blame on anyone but yourselves.

Avatar for jujubee8411
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:32am

Here is what I am referring to:

>>> Overuse of understaffed military forces

A necessity due because of Dem cuts to the military.

**Why didn't the Republicans restore the cuts to the military when they gained control of Congress in 1994?

>>> Non-funded mandates

Typical Dem practice.

**So your argument is that because Democrats make bad policy, it doesn't matter when Republicans (who were in control of both the Executive and Legislative branches) do it? Aren't Republicans better than that?

>>> Horrific treatment of our Iraq vets

Dealing with a depleated system left by the Dems.

**Why wasn't it fixed during the 12 years Republicans held control of Congress and the military budget?

>>> An $8.2 trillion debt

Much spend on national security. Much of the rest was spent by the Dems.

**1. Just because it was spent on National Security doesn't mean that we don't have to find a way to pay for it.

2. How was it spent by Dems when Republicans controlled the Appropriations process? Did the Dems hoodwink those poor Republicans again?

A 2002 article from Citizens Against Public Waste states: "Since taking Congress in 1994, Republicans have substantially increased pork-barrel projects, both in cost and number. For fiscal 1994, under a Democrat-controlled Congress, the total of 1,318 pork projects cost taxpayers $7.7 billion. In the last three years, the mostly Republican-led appropriators have added 4,326, 6,333, and 8,341 such projects, costing $17.7 billion, $18.5 billion, and $20.1 billion respectively. To be fair, pork has always been a bipartisan affair, and is likely to remain so in the new Congress."

CAGW has nothing nice to say about Democrats' spending, but they acknowledge that Republicans are every bit as guilty.

>>> Alienation of much of the rest of the world

"New Europe" ran on pro-US tickets. As for the rest, who cares?

***Who cares? What an ignorant statement. We all should care, considering the threats we face from around the globe. Look at the bluster we are hearing from Medvedev in Russia right now.

>>> A nearly $1 trillion trade deficit

Dems are liars and hypocrites...nothing new.

***Great answer. But what did the Republicans do to curb the trade deficit when they were in full power?

I still fail to understand how Democrats have caused all the problems in the US while the Republicans were in power in both the White House and Congress. How does that work?

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:35am

Nobody in Fallujah was dragged naked through the streets on National Television. America did not cut and run after Fallujah.

I asked how you would have felt if you were the mother of one of those soldiers who were murdered and dragged naked through the streets on national television. After which the United States ran away. This is what happens when you only do something half way, and then try to negotiate with warlords.




Edited 11/6/2008 10:45 am ET by chillychillychilly
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:40am

Medvedev knows that President elect Obama stated his intention of dismantling the United States missile defense system. He also has commented publicly that he will cut our defense by 25%. Russia is flexing her muscles. How can President Bush prevent this now?

Avatar for jujubee8411
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 10:58am

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My goodness, as if any candidate or person would be stupid enough to say or do that!

This is Obama's exact quote:

"I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems."

Quite different from saying that he will "dismantle" our entire missile defense system.

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No. Here's how he responded to that accusation:

"Barack Obama disputed Friday a claim by the John McCain campaign that Obama would cut defense spending 25 percent – an attack that could cost Obama votes in Hampton Roads, with its concentration of military forces and defense contractors.

In a news release, Obama’s campaign called the Republican TV and radio ads “desperate and dishonest.”

The Democrat began airing his own TV ad in the Norfolk market in response. It quotes Robert Kagan, a military adviser to McCain, saying that “Obama wants to increase defense spending. He wants to add 65,000 troops to the Army and recruit 27,000 more Marines … to fight terrorism.”

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I don't know. Bush is still President, what IS he doing to prevent it?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 11:14am

"Baghdad -- For the occupants of the two gleaming sport utility vehicles cruising down the debris-strewn dual highway that passes for Fallujah's main drag, it would have seemed like just another trip through bandit country.
Like any foreign contractors working in Iraq's trouble spots, they would adhere to the usual rules: keep your bulletproof vest on tight, the machine guns and side-arms ready, and think very carefully before pulling over -- even if you've just knocked a child off his bike.
Exactly how the convoy from Blackwater Security Consulting was stopped probably will never be clear. Some reports suggested it had made the fatal mistake of hitting the brakes when armed men blocked the path, rather than flooring the accelerator in the hope of barging through. Others suggested the occupants already had been dead from gunshots before their cars even ground to a halt.
Given what happened next, their grieving families probably hope profoundly that it was the latter. In an act of savagery shocking even by the blood-soaked standards of Iraq's worst trouble spot, the bodies of the three men and one woman inside the vehicles were beaten, burned, hacked at and then dragged through the streets of Fallujah.
In what turned into a macabre and murderous town fete, locals cheered as one corpse was attached to a car tow rope and pulled triumphantly up and down the main road, in full view of a camera crew.
But there was worse to come: as a crowning glory for the insurgent gunmen, the remains of two charred and mangled corpses were hung from a green iron bridge across the Euphrates River.
"The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," resident Abdul Aziz Mohammed said gleefully.
As if to underline the lack of a dignified final resting place, a man standing near the corpses held up a printed sign with a skull and crossbones. "Fallujah is the cemetery for Americans," it read.
In terms of its sheer bestial violence, the attack on the Blackwater operatives was unprecedented, even for Fallujah, and it reinforced the town's hard-won reputation as a place with an unquenchable hatred for U.S. forces and those who work for them."
http://www.sandline.com/hotlinks/San_Fran_Chron-Blackwater.html

I've lived in or near the military for much of my life as a DoD dependent, ROTC cadet, Army wife, Army mom, and now Army National Guard mom. Having others die will NOT bring back the dead. Would I be willing to send others to die just to avenge my son? NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I would probably hate those who perpetrated such atrocious acts until the day of my death--just as I loathe Bush for his contemptible arrogance and ineptitude, and the blood dripping from his godless hands. Words darn near fail me at the colossal waste which Iraq has been in terms of human lives and treasure.

It's usually those who have sacrificed nothing who yammer loudest about "doing things halfway", or "cutting and running". Military families are generally more pragmatic about the true costs of conflict and don't see any logic or honor in expending more lives in a bad cause.

And we also know that the oath troops take upon commissioning or enlistment is not to avenge, not to follow the bidding of the president, not to advance empire building, and not to procure access to cheap fossil fuel. It IS to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" PERIOD.

Gettingahandle


Ignorance is Nature's most abundant fuel for decision making.


Facts stifle the will, hobble conviction.

Gettingahandle

Ignorance is Nature's most abundant fuel for decision making.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 11:24am
We should not have been nation building under the U.N. in the first place, but if the president decides to do it, he should do it right - not HALF WAY. And when we cut and run, it only emboldens our enemies and more lives are lost.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 11:38am

Obviously you don't understand what he said. Here it is on Youtube. Clearly the missile defense system is not "unproven".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQfmY77fSIY

And it was the Democrat Leadership that proposed 25% defense cuts at a time of war. These are the people who write the laws that the president either signs or vetoes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRcAz7sEE4U

What do you think that President Bush can do with only three months left in office? Russia has made threats, but hasn't actually done anything yet. He can't do anything - unless you would like for him to start a war with Russia? What would you suggest?

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