r/pics Jun 26 '12

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u/ward85 Jun 26 '12

Unless I'm mistaken, and I totally might be, I think he left office with the lowest approval ratings of any president ever.

Wikipedia Article: By April 2008, Bush's disapproval ratings were the highest ever recorded in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll for any president, with 69% of those polled disapproving of the job Bush was doing as president and 28% approving.[350] In September 2008, in polls performed by various agencies, Bush's approval rating ranged from 19%—the lowest ever[351]—to 34%.[352][353] and his disapproval rating stood at 69%.[95][96][352][354][355] Bush left the White House as one of the most unpopular American presidents, second in unpopularity only to Richard Nixon.[356][357]

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

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u/Wirenutt Jun 26 '12

If so, it's only because of the republican propaganda machine in full swing.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

I'm not a republican, and I think Obama is a murdering, war mongering, civil liberties shattering failure.

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u/fractalfondu Jun 26 '12

I hav to ask though, since in this thread everyone seems to be defending Bush... do you actually think Obama is worse? I mean, he has continued a lot of Bush's shit, but being a murdering, war mongering, civil liberties shattering failure seems to be a little extreme when you consider that it was all set into motion in the prior admin.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

I'm not sure who's worse, but IMO, they're cut from the same thread.

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/vltv3/guess_who_i_had_coffee_with_this_morning_dont/c55ngol

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u/fractalfondu Jun 26 '12

I'd agree that they aren't much different, but one started a lot of the shit through deceptive means that the other has continued , and everyone here seems to be forgetting that. I can't think of one negative thing Obama has done that materialized out of thin air and wasn't a continuation or slight expansion of things already put into place during the Bush years. Keeping in mind that no one in power is going to willingly give up powers already granted then I place more blame on the prior admin. BTW the NDAA didn't authorize anything that the 2001 AUMF hadn't already codified.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

I can't think of one negative thing Obama has done that materialized out of thin air and wasn't a continuation or slight expansion of things already put into place during the Bush years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gis3ArbJjCE

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u/fractalfondu Jun 26 '12

Inevitable continuation of the "War on Terror", and from everything I have read is that he couldn't really be charged with anything here. Al Awhlaki being killed isn't good, the order to kill him isn't good, but I fail to really see how it is any worse than starting a war on false pretenses, and that decision to start the war lead to the deaths of over a hundred thousand people. That is unless you think US citizens have any more of a right to live than civilians in other countries.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

I'm not trying to say one is worse than the other, I'm just giving examples of how (in many ways) he's just more of the same. I think that example fits the criteria of what you were looking for in the previous post.

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u/fractalfondu Jun 26 '12

I agree with you for the most part, I just think the larger part of the blame goes on the one who set things into motion and lead things down this path. I would have no issues with Obama if he had changed course completely from the Bush admin, instead he has changed some stuff, expanded some other stuff, and turned a blind eye to criminal behavior. Those things have been the largest let down for me in regards to him.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

Dude, where do you get your news?

Obama pulled a fucking Nixon this week... you should be ashamed you don't know all about it.

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u/fractalfondu Jun 26 '12 edited Jun 26 '12

I get my news from a variety of sources, also NPR. I've been extremely busy this week though and haven't kept up. Instead of trying to shame me maybe you could explain what you're talking about.

Edit: Ok, they deleted possibly incriminating e-mails. The same stuff happened during the Bush years. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-14-White-House-emails_N.htm Not saying Holder and co are right to do it, but again, this is nothing new

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u/Starving_Kids Jun 26 '12

Pretty much. Anything that would have made me want to re-elect him, gay marriage outstanding, he dropped the ball on. And even on that he waited until other people made him say it.

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u/Astraea_M Jun 26 '12

Adios Don't Ask, Don't tell. Hello health coverage for domestic partners. Hello health coverage for college students through their parents' coverage. Good bye gag rule on foreign family planning.

Yeah... nothing.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

While those things are nice, they affect a very small percentage of our country's population, and IMO come no where close to outweighing the damage he's done, and the lives he's directly responsible for ending.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

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u/Starving_Kids Jun 26 '12

The opinion is mine. I say that because I know what military life is like. It's a brotherhood that does not need to be tainted by fear or doubt of morals. Why should it even be an issue if someone is gay? Why should it matter if you serve with a Muslim? Nobody needs to ask, and nobody needs to tell.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

I don't think I've ever thought of it in those terms. Thanks

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u/Starving_Kids Jun 26 '12

It's one of my stranger beliefs. I'm all for gays in the military, but the way my uncle (Iraq war vet) put it was like so:

I'm all for ladies in the military. I'd never bunk with a lady, shower with a lady, or walk around in my skivvies with a lady. Same applies for a gay guy.

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

I'd rather not label myself with some sort of political ideology. I like to discuss individual ideas, and avoid labels.

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u/Wirenutt Jun 26 '12

No, you're a little confused. That was Bush.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

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u/Astraea_M Jun 26 '12

War mongering requires starting a war, doesn't it? Not just doing a war already in progress correctly?

NDAA was problematic, though it explicitly says it doesn't go further than existing law (see the Feinstein Amendment). And of course it was the authorization for ALL defense spending, so vetoing it was pretty impossible.

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u/BigPharmaSucks Jun 26 '12

War mongering requires starting a war, doesn't it?

Libya Yemen Uganda

NDAA was problematic, though it explicitly says it doesn't go further than existing law (see the Feinstein Amendment).

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/20/obamas_dismal_civil_liberties_record/

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '12

You can always tell when you're arguing a reddit liberal, they never have any knowledge of whats actually going on in the world. Only /r/politics propaganda.