# President Barack Obama is a shameful hypocrite. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 18, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485 "2012-06-18T04:45:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/181 "2012-06-20T16:08:18Z")
[This guy](http://insideoregon.uoregon.edu/content/chomsky-lecture-overflow-crowd-can-now-see-event-online) seems to be doing alright. He’s not pulling a crowd like Kanye, but that’s still a crowd, right? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/182 "2012-06-20T17:20:05Z")
Well the choice seems to be, this guy, OBama, or the back into the sinking ship of the Republican party. You remember them right? Bunch of white rich guys, deregulated Wall Street till the world economy teetered on the brink of collapse? Lied the American people into war. Suspended habeus corpus and endorsed torture. The party of ‘no compromise’, which is, of course, code for gridlock of the democracy. Yeah, I’m going with the Democrat, thanks for your concern though! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/183 "2012-06-20T18:22:44Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So, your evidence that Obama killed progressiveism is that there are no crowd-pleasing progressive activists? And what has **Obama** to do with that anyway? > [@Lemur866](#): > > Were there lots of them out there before Obama was elected? I can’t think of a single one. In order for Obama to kill the progressive movement, first you have to have a living progressive movement for him to kill. There’s the [Working Families Party,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Families_Party) and the [Green Party.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_of_the_United_States) I know the latter draws crowds. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/184 "2012-06-20T21:01:04Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > So, your evidence that Obama killed progressiveism is that there are no crowd-pleasing progressive activists? > > Were there lots of them out there before Obama was elected? I can’t think of a single one. In order for Obama to kill the progressive movement, first you have to have a living progressive movement for him to kill. I THINK he’s suggesting that the actual progressives on the American political scene compromised their principles by voting to put Obama in the White House, rather than let the Republican Party keep control, or something. So. . . by making himself look so good to the progressive movement, Barack Obama undercut the actual progressives who could have. . . run for the White House themselves (and gotten their asses kicked by McCain. . ? Yes, I’ve been drinking this morning. I find that it helps me to better comprehend the OP’s, uhhhh, line of thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/185 "2012-06-20T21:13:23Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Well the choice seems to be, this guy, OBama, or the back into the sinking ship of the Republican party. > > You remember them right? Bunch of white rich guys, deregulated Wall Street till the world economy teetered on the brink of collapse? Lied the American people into war. Suspended habeus corpus and endorsed torture. The party of ‘no compromise’, which is, of course, code for gridlock of the democracy. > > Yeah, I’m going with the Democrat, thanks for your concern though! Oh, that stuff never happened. And if it did happen, well, it was to preserve America and the American way. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/186 "2012-06-20T22:11:49Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Usually right into a camera, too. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/187 "2012-06-20T23:41:09Z")
Just checking back in on this thread and still nobody is willing to defend Obama’s actions. They’re good at comparing him to other people, and for that they get a smiley face sticker, but nobody is willing to defend his hypocrisy. Am I to assume that you all agree that he is a shameful hypocrite? Do you think deception of this level should go unpunished? One of the major failures of President Obama’s administration is his failure to prosecute wrongdoers from the previous administration. Do you think this is a good precedent to set? if so what recourse do I have as a concerned citizen against lies and lying liars in the executive branch? I have been referred to as “unpatriotic” and a “conspiracy theorist” in this thread for advocating the removal of a shameful individual from office. Is that not the only defense a citizen has against elected officials? Assume I can’t take my tax money elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/188 "2012-06-20T23:43:58Z")
Oh, shut the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/189 "2012-06-20T23:57:29Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Am I to assume that you all agree that he is a shameful hypocrite? I do not agree. > [@](#): > > Do you think deception of this level should go unpunished? No. If it ever occurs, I will know who to call, and we will have ourselves a movement. > [@](#): > > Do you think this is a good precedent to set? Since I don’t agree that it occured, there is no precedent. > [@](#): > > if so what recourse do I have as a concerned citizen against lies and lying liars in the executive branch? The same recourse we all have; don’t vote for him. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/190 "2012-06-21T00:11:25Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Even if you think Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt were great men. How can you endorse this man for office? While in previous lives I voted for Lincoln and FDR, in 1912 I was a Debs man all the way. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/191 "2012-06-21T00:31:31Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Just checking back in on this thread and still nobody is willing to defend Obama’s actions. They’re good at comparing him to other people, and for that they get a smiley face sticker, but nobody is willing to defend his hypocrisy. Am I to assume that you all agree that he is a shameful hypocrite? He’s a politician; pretty much scum by definition. I’m not going to bother defending him because I’ve never liked or respected him, nor did I ever expect to. > [@WillFarnaby](#): > > One of the major failures of President Obama’s administration is his failure to prosecute wrongdoers from the previous administration. Do you think this is a good precedent to set? The precedent was set with Nixon; Republican Presidents can commit any crime they like without fear of prosecution. Bush was a Republican President, so he was above the law. I fully expected Obama and the Democrats to cover for him, and that’s what they did. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/192 "2012-06-21T11:04:23Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh, shut the fuck up. I think we’ve found a running mate for **Inigo Montoya**. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/193 "2012-06-21T11:42:42Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Just checking back in on this thread and still nobody is willing to defend Obama’s actions. They’re good at comparing him to other people, and for that they get a smiley face sticker, but nobody is willing to defend his hypocrisy. Am I to assume that you all agree that he is a shameful hypocrite? > > Do you think deception of this level should go unpunished? One of the major failures of President Obama’s administration is his failure to prosecute wrongdoers from the previous administration. Do you think this is a good precedent to set? if so what recourse do I have as a concerned citizen against lies and lying liars in the executive branch? I have been referred to as “unpatriotic” and a “conspiracy theorist” in this thread for advocating the removal of a shameful individual from office. Is that not the only defense a citizen has against elected officials? Assume I can’t take my tax money elsewhere. Sorry, I don’t do loaded questions. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/194 "2012-06-21T11:52:23Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Just checking back in on this thread and still nobody is willing to defend Obama’s actions. They’re good at comparing him to other people, and for that they get a smiley face sticker, but nobody is willing to defend his hypocrisy. Am I to assume that you all agree that he is a shameful hypocrite? You haven’t answered any of the questions people have asked you; why should we answer yours? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/195 "2012-06-21T12:58:15Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The best source on this is [_What Lincoln Believed: The Values and Convictions of America’s Greatest President,_](http://www.amazon.com/What-Lincoln-Believed-Convictions-President/dp/0385507399) by Michael Lind. Like most white Americans of his time – in fact, like most white **abolitionists** of his time – Lincoln believed blacks were too inferior, or at any rate too different, to live as free people in the same republic as whites; however, he did believe they were capable of forming and running democratic governments of their own. Therefore, Lincoln was a “colonizationist” – he believed the blacks should be freed, and then all of them should be deported, to a new homeland in Africa (like Liberia) or Latin America or the Caribbean. He changed his mind about this near the end of his life, after General McClellan studied the problem and reported that drafting all American naval and merchant ships for the purpose still would not get the blacks overseas “half so fast as Negro children will be born here.” (In the same book, you can also read about Lincoln’s atheism – in fact, in his youth, he wrote a book debunking Christianity – and then burned the manuscript when friends pointed out that publishing it would doom his political ambitions.) Thanks! That book looks interesting. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/196 "2012-06-21T13:47:01Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I think we’ve found a running mate for **Inigo Montoya**. Nah, Instead of STFU he would have said Have fun stormin’ the White House ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/197 "2012-06-21T14:07:37Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Just checking back in on this thread and still nobody is willing to defend Obama’s actions. Obama may have outed secret information for political gain? He wasn’t the first President to do so. The very nature of secrets makes it hard for ordinary citizens to form a sound opinion on specifics, but I’ll say this: I disapprove of such politics on principle but might accept it if it serves the greater good of keeping the White House in rationalist hands. Replying to such a question with another question is normal: One judges our leaders via comparisons. Thus, I ask you: _What do you think of the outing of Valerie Plame by the Bush Administration?_ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/198 "2012-06-21T16:23:23Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Ravenman](#): > > > > Oh, shut the fuck up. > > I think we’ve found a running mate for **Inigo Montoya**. Hm. Impatient with sophistry & strawmen, blunt, plain-speaking…works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/199 "2012-06-21T16:34:44Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Hm. Impatient with sophistry & strawmen, blunt, plain-speaking…works for me. If we’re gonna be partners here, I got some big ideas of my own. And I’ll tell you right now: you aren’t going to like them. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485/200 "2012-06-21T16:51:04Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh, shut the fuck up. > [@Gyrate](#): > > I think we’ve found a running mate for **Inigo Montoya**. > [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Hm. Impatient with sophistry & strawmen, blunt, plain-speaking…works for me. No, wait. I wanna be your Veep! Here; I even wrote your campaign song for you: > [@Inigo Montoya's campaign songwriter](#): > > Oompa Loompa doompity doo > I have got a puzzle for you > Oompa Loompa doompity dee > If you are wise you’ll listen to me. > > What do you do when the Prez has been hit > With charges that he is a big hypocrite? > Pubbies and Dems are all in the same boat > I’m **Inigo** , prepare to vote > > _Fo-or me for President_ > > Oompa Loompa doompity dah > If you are wise you’ll choose **Mon-to-ya** > We can fix it, me and my crew > Of the Oompa Loompa doompity doos! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-barack-obama-is-a-shameful-hypocrite/625485.md?page=11)