Der Spiegel: Dashed Hopes: How Obama disappointed the world

[Nostalgic]

08/09/2011

Dashed Hopes
How Obama Disappointed the World

By Marc Hujer

As America's first black president, Barack Obama electrified an entire nation. But now that the nation is in crisis, he seems unable to connect with the people. He wanted to change America and restore its reputation in the world. But now his opponents are dictating the country's political course.
Info

He was constrained by a number: 140, the maximum characters a Twitter message can contain. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, it was US President Barack Obama's own, self-imposed limit. Obama was hosting a "Twitter Town Hall Meeting" in the East Room of the White House, where he hoped to explain his policies through the new medium.

It's a challenge for a politician to restrict his comments to 140 characters, especially during a budget crisis in which anger and shouting seemed to prevail over actual arguments.

"I'm going to make history here as the first president to live tweet," Obama said with an amused smile, as he walked up to a laptop adorned with the presidential seal. These were big words for a particularly insignificant event.

Read the rest here.

[flamingdem]

1. From the folks who brought us the Third Reich nt

[Newsjock]

2. Which means we should pay even closer attention

They know what can happen. We apparently have forgotten.

K&R.

[Hawkowl]

4. Snap!

Truer words were never written.

[flamingdem]

5. So who do you think would be better than Obama, now that Kerry is under the bus?

Bernie is a socialist, Dennis - yea, right.

Just who?

[libmom74]

14. I'll go with the socialist.

At least socialists put the poor, middle and working class before the wealthy elite and the military industrial complex, unlike Obama.

[jwirr]

6. Exactly.

[bhikkhu]

12. ...and keeping that in mind, I prefer disappointment to other alternatives

One of the disappointments was that, in keeping with campaign promises, Obama beefed up our forces in Afghanistan. "Disappointingly", that failed to deliver any meaningful progress. Now what would the "H" guy do at this point - settle for reality and cut losses with a draw-down, or become the puffed-up and inspiring leader so many have asked for, and go in deeper, no holds barred? I'm ok with Obama's approach.

...similar things could be said about many other positions. There are limits to the power of the president, and the other side has kept him pretty hemmed in; yet he has made reasonable choices, compromised where absolutely necessary, and governed well enough that things have remained on an even keel. In spite of half of congress being ready to sink the ship rather than see him at the helm. I think he has done very well, given difficult circumstances, and have no patience for calls for some powerful leader who will move and shake and inspire awe, rather than someone who will govern within our (admittedly flawed) system.

[villager]

3. "He has only listened to the voices that shout the loudest, and it's all those reckless right-wing

...forces," (former supporter) Belafonte told CNN. "It's almost criminal."

Sadly telling quote.

[xchrom]

7. recommend

[RandomKoolzip]

8. How much longer can the Obama defenders remain in denial about this?

Obama HAS disappointed the world, and pretty soon the only people who refuse to admit it will be all alone on an island somewhere shouting to the rest of us that we're out of touch. And by that point it'll be too late to do anything about it.

[Kurmudgeon]

10. As long as the GOP control the House, he could be freaking FDR and it wouldn't matter.

[bhikkhu]

13. The president's job is not to please and inspire awe throughout world.

...its hard to answer more simply than that an article with a boneheaded premise.

[JNinWB]

15. As soon as the TeaParty President is sworn in

The "world" will be much happier. I am so sorry the "world" has been disappointed.

Poor "world".

[Number23]

16. How much longer can Obama detractors make shit up?

2009: 'Poll: Obama's Popularity Lifts U.S. Global Image' http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8155223&page=1

2010: "Obama Gets High Marks Abroad, Survey Finds" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/world/18pewpoll.html

2011: "Gallup found that Obama has managed to turn the US from the power that trailed Japan, Germany, France, Russia, and even China from 2007-2008 into the most popular of the world’s global powers." http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-world-popular

And speaking from my own little corner of Australia, he is still very much respected and admired.

[yurbud]

9. k & r

[Citizen Worker]

11. Once in office Obama let the opposition define him. Biggest mistake of his presidency and it could

lead to his defeat in '12.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. I don't know how to feel...

about the presidential live tweet- Twitter, one of the many engines driving American stupidity.