Barack Obama was NOT of the left

So sick and tired of hearing this, I am a democratic socialist and voted AGAINST Obama in 2012 due to his affinity for bankers, wall street, and the Hollywood elites. He snubbed the left at every turn, and the people he chose to surround himself (Emanual, Perez, etc.) despised the actual left. He supported Hillary Clinton and even asked her to be a part of his administration.

Obama's "lefty" record.....

1. Expand drone wars
2. Expand America's military overreach into 7 active wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.
3. Accepted Islamic fascism and refused to call out conservative Islamic religious teaching
4. VETOED the rights of American's to view the details on our enemy Saudi Arabia, and their hand in the 9/11 attacks.
5. Expanded (before he stopped) oil drilling in the arctic
6. Pushed hydrolic fracking around the US and the world even though we KNOW this practice causes earthquakes and gas leaks
7. Did NOTHING for the unions fighting Scott Walker in WI, and never put on "those uncomfortable shoes" to march in solidarity.
8. FAILED to take marijuana off of Schedule 1 (Executive has the power to change drug scheduling without Congress)
9. Bailed out big for profit banks after their criminal behavior wrecked our economy and caused a housing crisis
10. Stood silent while DEMOCRAT mayors brutally suppressed the Occupy movement
11. Increased detention centers for undocumented migrants, mainly holding women and children
12. Recycled an old Nixon/Heritage foundation for profit health plan (ACA or Obamacare) INSTEAD of pushing for single payer, Medicare for all solutions. Would not even consider single payer.

Now...I am sure I can think of a few more things. Barack Obama, love him, hate him, or don't care....was NOT a leftist, a radical, or even a real "progressive".

If you want to talk to a real socialist/lefty, talk to me.

/rant

 

I was first impressed by Obama when he appeared on Meet the Press, in 2006, before anyone knew he was running. He was clearly one of the most intelligent and articulate, and inspired politicians I had ever seen. I remember thinking that I want THIS guy to be President. But dismissed the notion because I didn't think a black man could get elected. In fact, I almost didn't support Obama for that reason alone. No sense in supporting someone who can't get elected, right? But in the end I couldn't deny that he was by far the best candidate. He is a born leader.

But I didn't support him because he's a liberal. I supported him because he's a pragmatist who still has the capacity to be inspirational. People kept accusing him of being a socialist and leftist but as a former Republican, I didn't see that at all. And I said so all along. While the right wing went right over a philosophical cliff, Obama was a Democrat who occupied the middle. Your post shows that. Good job!

Most notably I think, Obama pulled us back from the brink of economic collapse and a 25 year depression. He also got Bin Laden and has wiped out 2/3 of ISIS with almost no boots on the ground. People complain about drone strikes. I see them as the best option to yet more military fiascoes like the invasion of Iraq.

Obama never was a lefty. It only seemed that way to people who have completely lost perspective. Many have fallen victim to brainwashing by the right wing media. This is why we now have "alternate facts" [AKA lies and deceptions] coming from the White House itself!

The gun industry sure did make a bunch of fools of gun advocates, who rushed to buy guns and ammo and spent a fortune, because of the scary black guy. What better way to dupe people into spending - Obama's gonna come and take your guns!!!

Suckers!

 

I was inspired by him as well until he turned his back on his grassroots supporters and the left in general. I could go far more into detail about why/what he did wrong, etc.

This thread is specifically for the people who to this day believe he was some kind of socialist radical, I wish he had been.

 

Yep, hard lefties were disappointed and righties hated him - proof that he was a balanced leader.

That's how a judge once said he knows he made a good decision - when nobody's happy.

 

The point is Obama was NOT a lefty on most important issues. Right wingers love calling him a socialist when an actual socialist (me) is telling them and showing them proof of the opposite. I just want them to acknowledge he was a corporatist.

 

Interesting perspective. He was still a proponent of big government and socialist policies, though, and has little if anything in common with conservatives.

 

He's definitely not a conservative, he is a neoliberal, as was Reagan, Bush and Clinton economically speaking. Free trade expansion, no push for a living wage standard, no union drives as FDR had done, nothing for the working person. How is that socialist?

 

Man ... where were you when Obama demanded passage of his First Major bill.
The Stimulus Bill.Started out at $ 787 Billion and was expanded quickly to $ 862 Billion.
Obama repeatedly using the word " Urgent ".
It was an FDR esque example of a Works Projects bill.
So right off you bat you are totally wrong.
Obama tried to be just like F.D.R.
Plus THE Most visited Non-pols to visit the Obama White House
were TWO Union guys.Richard Trumka of AFL-CIO and Andy Stern the
President of SEIU ,a Teachers Union.
So again ... You err in huge measure.
Obama,like a true Socialist pushed for expanded hiring of Federal workers.
Also promotions and Bonuses for Government workers.
That is as Socialist as it gets.That is Big Brother.
What in the world are you talking about.?

 

Stimulus WAS urgent, and we needed MORE. It was a half measure to please corporate elites. FDR spent a LOT more than that in his dollars. This is an All American thing to do in times of no work, when capitalism fails. Meeting with union leaders makes you a socialist? I don't think so....the problem is you hear "socialist" and just assume the word government. Hiring federal workers is NOT socialism. There is no central planning of the economy by PEOPLE or Government, so please stop saying something so verifiably false.

 

Yeah Righto Ringo.So then Socialism incorporates the Private Sector.?
I don't think so Pally.You need to go back to grade school and learnt
yer forms of Government.
Having a Social order which controls the means of production is not the
same as the Private sector.
Socialism or Democratic Socialism is NOT Capitalism.
Capitalism entails the production of surplus value.
There is No " value-added " or " surplus value " when utilizing Socialism.
Meaning there exists no profit motive.
Which dramatically explains why in every country tried ...
Socialism Fails ... :
Big Time

 

Wasn't that a lot of Islams countries a la terrorists ?

With Trump we will go out from NATO not Clintons America this.

 

And he was attacked by the left wing OCCUPY WALL STREET.

 

If "socialism" or government action as you refer to ALL of this fails, explain to me how Scandinavian countries are the wealthiest, healthiest, and most equal nations in Europe? Germany has free healthcare, free college tuition, maternity leave, all that "socialist" stuff you think ruins things, and their the most powerful nation in Europe.

Good "socialism"? Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Finland, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand

Bad "socialism"? Venezuela, Cuba, Greece, Italy, Colombia, China, Russia, etc.

Understand?

- - - Updated - - -

Of course he was, because Obama bailed out wall street and chastised main street.

 

You forgot to include Israel among the "good" socialism countries. Its universal health care continues to be financed by American tax dollars and it was greatly praised by Republican Mitt Romney.

 

The OP is a LIE.- Occupy Wall Street - was open for business in most
ANY Big Liberal city run by Big Democrats.Meaning in those cities there was
Occupy Riffraff squatting and taking over public parks.Those Liberal mayors
did little to quash the most outlandish of behavior like squatting,public urination
and drug use.Many Rapes were reported.Obama could have easily issued an
Executive order or memodanda to put a stop to any and all remnants of an
- Occupy Wall Street - takeover.
Like the way President Reagan stopped the Air Traffic Controller strike,in like
24 hrs. time.

 

You don't have a clue! The stimulus bill was nothing at all like what FDR did regarding "socialist-type" policies.

Trump held a conference with steelworkers yesterday. I suppose he a "socialist" now.

See? Clueless. If it's "socialism" to push for hiring, then every president has been "socialist" without exception. Clueless.

 

Socialist are an Nazi specie.

 

The best leaders don't take sides. If you look at the record for Reagan and Clinton, both could be better described as "none of the above." Not saying Obama was as good a president as those two, but he was a much better one than I expected based on his first campaign. Largely because he was smart enough to recognize his failings and try to improve. Many of his positions evolved along with the nation and by the end we had a very good statesman who seemed try to serve the nation as a whole.

I've been harsh on the man, but I think history will judge him well.

(I still think Obamacare was a mess)




​

 

Israel has a Parlimentary Democracy and as such is The Only secular
country,along with Turkey in the Middle East.Israel is also THE only
country in the Middle East that affords Equal Civil Rights to All Citizens.

 

Yes, Obama was both a Leftist and a radical. There's nothing conservative or moderate about his nihilistic pledge to fundamentally transform the United States of America.

You claim that Obama was not a Lefty on most important issues and that is false. For starters, he did what Harry Reid confessed in an unusual fit of candor, which was take the Left one step closer to obtaining the Leftist Holy Grail of government-run healthcare, and if he had had the votes in Congress to pull that off he would have. Furthermore, in classic "progressive" form, he trampled on Americans' individual freedom with things like the individual mandate to reach that goal.

Another thing that distinguished Obama as a Leftist was his fixation on income inequality and his fondness for wealth redistribution, which is one of the core ideological features of the Left, and Obama acted on this by expanding government programs and raising taxes.

True to his ANSWERnik ideology and agenda, Obama pursued the radical Left's tendencies and goals by refusing to confront Islamism, befriending the likes of the "Death to America!" crowd in Tehran and establishing relations with his ideological co-travelers in Cuba.

I could go on and on, but to make a long story short, it's laughable to claim Obama was not a Leftist. Furthermore, some of the items in your list don't hold water, such as the non-existent "brutal suppression" of the anti-capitalist OccuTard movement that was allowed to break the law by Democrat mayors.

I know what a "progressive" is - I used to be one - and Obama is a "progressive". The only thing that separated him from socialists like Bernie Sanders is that Obama hid behind the "progressive" facade while Sanders and his ilk were open and honest about who and what they are. People claim he was "pragmatic" but he was nothing of the sort ideologically - he was merely constrained by the limitations imposed on him by the majority of Americans who do not embrace socialism/communism.

 

wow. You really are clueless. Your sloppy language reveals your ignorance of the subject. You use the word "incorporates" how? Next is a personal attack, proving your weak position.

LOL!!! SO DOES SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM!!!!
As I said: clueless.

LOL!!!!!! GET. A. CLUE!

No, it doesn't prove any such things since none of that is true.

 

Valid opinion, my main post was targeting conservatives who STILL think he was some kind of communist, leftist.

 

Many righties voted for him because he was bush 2.0

 

Many of its Sefardic and Palestinian citizens do not agree.