# Bill Maher on Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822 "2009-06-15T12:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/61 "2009-06-19T02:55:16Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Ptooey. He’s an acolyte of the Alinsky cult. You misspelled Milton Friedman. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/62 "2009-06-19T03:35:38Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Obama is as qualified as any other President to hold the job. Besides maybe George HW Bush. 😉 Hey, T. Roosevelt was a former mayor & had led troops in battle! And then there were Madison & Monroe… But I’ll grant Obama’s up there for a modern Prez. Granted Jack Kennedy & W Bush bring the curve down… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/63 "2009-06-19T03:41:03Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Those who are saying “it takes time” and “Obame can’t fix everything is six months” are missing the point. The problem is not that Obama hasn’t done enough things in his first six months as President. The problem is that he has done the wrong things. Specifically, he has: > > - Allowed all the criminals of the Bush administration to escape without prosecuting a single one of them. > > - Taken a stance on federal spying and wiretapping even worse than that of Bush. > > - Refused to clearly make all torture illegal. > > - Increased military spending. > > - Sent more troops to Afghanistan. > > - Handed out tens of billions of dollars to many of the corporations responsible for the current economic problems. > The only major legislation that he fought for against the wishes of the Republicans was the stimulus package. Obama is not an empty suit. He’s a suit filled with a Republican, for the most part. Quoted for truth. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/64 "2009-06-19T19:32:46Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Moderates, whose rank and file are hard to pin down because they change from year to year, would have no problem with this. To Republicans, you make a lot of sense because they got annihilated in the past two election cycles. To Democrats, you sound like something they’d like to have done for couple of cycles before that when they were in the minority. > \ If Democrats want to go down the same well-worn road that Bush then I believe they’ll end up with an ineffective 4-8 years in office, just like Bush. Leaving aside any philosophic questions about ignoring half your constituency, there is a practical matter of governance. Roughly 50% of the population vehemently opposes some of Obama’s proposals. Forcing these proposals over their objections will lead to intransigence or outright disobedience from a large segment of citizens. This is a recipe for failure no matter how virtuous the Democrats believe the policy to be. This wisdom utterly escaped the Bush administration. After 9/11 the U.S. had a large amount of political good-will that could have been used to help stamp out terrorism. Instead if was frittered away in dubious explanations, challenges to “bring it on”, and criticisms of “old Europe”. Bush decided that his actions were morally justified and that justification was enough to make it work. There are plenty of other examples during the previous eight years. (Which is shocking given that his father seemed to understand that importance of coalition-building.) At the risk of using iconic figures, the political genius of presidents like Washington and Lincoln was the ability to bring together opposing parties and plot a course that most could promote (sometimes grudgingly). So will Obama make the same mistake as Bush? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/65 "2009-06-20T15:24:22Z")
You are assuming the repubs are bringing something to the table for discussion. Just fighting against Obama at every turn is not showing leadership nor is it a recipe for projecting the party into the future. Bush was given viable options and arrogantly rejected them. His you are with us or against us attitude put a huge premium on pulling it off. When he failed miserably, he took the party down. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/66 "2009-06-20T15:54:04Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You are assuming the repubs are bringing something to the table for discussion. Just fighting against Obama at every turn is not showing leadership nor is it a recipe for projecting the party into the future. Bush was given viable options and arrogantly rejected them. His you are with us or against us attitude put a huge premium on pulling it off. When he failed miserably, he took the party down. As \*\*foolsguinea \*\*so pithily stated, “Quoted for truth”. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/67 "2009-06-22T20:57:43Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You are assuming the repubs are bringing something to the table for discussion. That would be the same response the Bush administration had for liberals. If you think that none of the people who voted for McCain have nothing to add then you’re definitely making the same mistake as Bush. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/68 "2009-06-22T22:06:32Z")
During election season I repetitively stated that I was looking forward to complaining about President Obama. I regret to have to say that so far I have found very little to complain about. He has been making very reasonable and pragmatic decisions staying true to the vision that he articulated during the campaign, neither caving to forces from the Right or the Left. It is not his fault that the Left bought the Right’s line that Obama was oh so liberal. Certainly Obama never promised he would be. He ahead of time stated that he had no interest in wasting time going after the alleged crimes of the Bush years. He stated clearly that he wanted to increase our presence in Afganistan. He had during the election season supported TARP. Were y’all just asleep during the election season? Not paying any attention at all? Me, I’ll keep waiting. I am sure my chance to complain will arise. He’ll disappoint eventually … maybe. Just not yet. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/69 "2009-06-23T06:19:23Z")
It really annoys me that when Republicans get elected they don’t seem to feel any need to “rule from the center”. They’re happy to make the most of their opportunities to impose as much of their ideology as they can on the rest of us. Democrats, though, get into office and spend their entire term(s) trying to appeal to the people who would never have dreamed of voting for them in the first place. It doesn’t surprise me a bit that Obama’s doing this, in fact it’s no less than what I expected of him, but it still annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/70 "2009-06-23T16:12:48Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > During election season I repetitively stated that I was looking forward to complaining about President Obama. I regret to have to say that so far I have found very little to complain about. He has been making very reasonable and pragmatic decisions staying true to the vision that he articulated during the campaign, neither caving to forces from the Right or the Left. > > It is not his fault that the Left bought the Right’s line that Obama was oh so liberal. Certainly Obama never promised he would be. > > He ahead of time stated that he had no interest in wasting time going after the alleged crimes of the Bush years. > > He stated clearly that he wanted to increase our presence in Afganistan. > > He had during the election season supported TARP. > > Were y’all just asleep during the election season? Not paying any attention at all? > > Me, I’ll keep waiting. I am sure my chance to complain will arise. He’ll disappoint eventually … maybe. Just not yet. I agree with you. I voted for the man as he campaigned, and he hasn’t seriously disappointed me yet. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822/71 "2009-06-24T13:15:43Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > That would be the same response the Bush administration had for liberals. If you think that none of the people who voted for McCain have nothing to add then you’re definitely making the same mistake as Bush. Nothing to add? They are espousing the very same objectives that caused all the mess. They have to come up with solutions, not a return to Bush and unfettered capitalism. It does not work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-on-obama/499822.md?page=3)