Obama's Unusual Transition: Already a Co-President

Obama?s unusual transition:
Already a co-president
November 25, 2008

America has never seen anything quite like this: The president and president-elect acting like co-presidents, consulting and cooperating on the day?s biggest crises.

?It?s pretty unusual,? said George Edwards, a presidential expert at Texas A&M University, in College Station.

What Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer calls ?the split-screen presidency? is the result of several historic forces converging this fall:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/56399.html

Unusual and I think a good thing. The man wants to hit the ground running sounds good to me.

Cooperating like grown men is a good thing.

But I just want to get a jab in and say:

Only a pussy would let the new guy push him around!

I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. The press conferences I’ve seen display a Barack Obama who is in so far over his head he’d need to swim up 50 fathoms just to see sunlight.

Believe it or not I have actually gained a grain of respect for him in seeing this as it does show that he has a conscience and does at least somewhat grasp the enormous gravity of the office to which he’s been elected.

I prefer this to the cocky sloganeering freshman of the campaign.

In that light I don’t see it as diminishing either the President or the President elect for them to work together

I am going to go way out on a limb and say that I am beginning to allow for the possibility that President Obama may grow quite a bit in office.

I’m being serious.

I am far far from any conclusions and I can’t believe he could ever transform into somebody I could vote for, but I am beginning to see a hint of adult responsibility from this guy that was nowhere to be found during the campaign.

If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies, than he has thus far in his life espoused and wind up actually governing from the center I would gain considerable respect for a man who put his country before ideology at least to that degree.

All of this remains to be seen and a best case scenario would not make him what I want in a president. However, it would indicate that when push came to shove he was willing to be pragmatic.

We’ll see.

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
I am going to go way out on a limb and say that I am beginning to allow for the possibility that President Obama may grow quite a bit in office.

I’m being serious.

I am far far from any conclusions and I can’t believe he could ever transform into somebody I could vote for, but I am beginning to see a hint of adult responsibility from this guy that was nowhere to be found during the campaign.

If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies, than he has thus far in his life espoused and wind up actually governing from the center I would gain considerable respect for a man who put his country before ideology at least to that degree.

All of this remains to be seen and a best case scenario would not make him what I want in a president. However, it would indicate that when push came to shove he was willing to be pragmatic.

We’ll see.

[/quote]
The problem with that is Barack is going to do what Barack thinks is best for the USA, that is according to his own values and ideology. He probably isn’t going to do things that he thinks are wrong for the country, regardless if they are or not. He may, however, do things so that he can get four more years in next election. He may see some of these things as wrong, but would try to alter or correct them next term if he is elected. Unless he is just out to help Barack get ahead. Prestige, power etc.

The problem with utopian idealists is that they think they are right, and it is the most pragmatic, best, {whatever synony} way. If someone thinks a communist “utopia” or what have you is doomed to failure, but still suports it and wants to have one, then they have to be either insane, retarded(literally in a literal sense) or just want to fuck everything up.

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Unusual and I think a good thing. The man wants to hit the ground running sounds good to me. [/quote]

I agree. It sure would not be productive to act like a foe, especially with so much on the line. He gets a bird’s eye view of the presidency with out having to take the seat.
I don’t see him as a co-president though. It’s a media paradigm…They still have the post-coital glow from the election so he is getting a lot of favorable attention.
Let’s face it, people are just more interested in Obama than Bush and plain damn curious as to what he will actually do vs. what he said he would do.

[quote]Scrotus wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
I am going to go way out on a limb and say that I am beginning to allow for the possibility that President Obama may grow quite a bit in office.

I’m being serious.

I am far far from any conclusions and I can’t believe he could ever transform into somebody I could vote for, but I am beginning to see a hint of adult responsibility from this guy that was nowhere to be found during the campaign.

If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies, than he has thus far in his life espoused and wind up actually governing from the center I would gain considerable respect for a man who put his country before ideology at least to that degree.

All of this remains to be seen and a best case scenario would not make him what I want in a president. However, it would indicate that when push came to shove he was willing to be pragmatic.

We’ll see.

The problem with that is Barack is going to do what Barack thinks is best for the USA, that is according to his own values and ideology. He probably isn’t going to do things that he thinks are wrong for the country, regardless if they are or not. He may, however, do things so that he can get four more years in next election. He may see some of these things as wrong, but would try to alter or correct them next term if he is elected. Unless he is just out to help Barack get ahead. Prestige, power etc.

The problem with utopian idealists is that they think they are right, and it is the most pragmatic, best, {whatever synony} way. If someone thinks a communist “utopia” or what have you is doomed to failure, but still suports it and wants to have one, then they have to be either insane, retarded(literally in a literal sense) or just want to fuck everything up. [/quote]

I do believe most communist utopians, of which Obama has definitely been one, are convinced that their ideology is the key to a better world. I further believe that they explain it’s universal failure in terms of them not being the ones in charge at the time. This is the mindset that Obama carried through the campaign to anybody with an ounce of discernment.

The point of my post is that I sense their may be cracks forming in that communist armor. Call it a hunch and nothing more. Something I may be completely in error about. I am imagining these meetings with some of his somewhat centrist new friends, telling him that if he goes forward with what he talked about in the campaign that essentially the catastrophe that conservatives were warning about is a real possibility.

I see a marked difference in his demeanor and rhetoric since the election. The [quote]“I have the world by the nads”[/quote] Obama, is now the [quote]“WTF have I gotten myself into”[/quote] Obama. He is now privy to information as President elect that he was not before.

The cabinet he is assembling, while far far more liberal than I would like, do not necessarily represent his blatantly anti American off the charts leftist past.

In an attempt to be positive I’m hoping as he looks himself in the mirror better judgment is seeping through and he is recognizing that the starry eyed marxist bullshit he has embraced his whole life may not be the answer after all.

I foresee a merciless tug o war with congress on one arm and his cabinet on the other with the country scowling in his face, arms crossed, just wanting the economy to improve and not having to worry about being blown up.

If he veers to the right for the good of the country, or even his own future, which for now is the same thing, I will have gained some respect for him as a man. If not then he’ll be every bit the abominable disaster I thought he would. Of course potential court appointments are still the greatest concern.

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. The press conferences I’ve seen display a Barack Obama who is in so far over his head he’d need to swim up 50 fathoms just to see sunlight.

Believe it or not I have actually gained a grain of respect for him in seeing this as it does show that he has a conscience and does at least somewhat grasp the enormous gravity of the office to which he’s been elected.

I prefer this to the cocky sloganeering freshman of the campaign.

In that light I don’t see it as diminishing either the President or the President elect for them to work together[/quote]

Has a conscience? If he had a conscience, he would have not funneled tax money to slum lords, to build slums that are now completely uninhabitable except by rats.

That’s one of many. The guy said all sorts of crap to get elected in Illinois, then different crap to get the Left wing of the Dem party to nominate him, then said different crap to get elected, and now hires center-right Clintonistas (which has the Left furious).

Conscience and obama…somehow an oxymoron?

I find it very interesting he picked Clinton as Secretary of State after the huge battle those two went through for the Presidential nomination.

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
I find it very interesting he picked Clinton as Secretary of State after the huge battle those two went through for the Presidential nomination. [/quote]

Keep your friends close,your enemies closer.

[quote]Neuromancer wrote:
usmccds423 wrote:
I find it very interesting he picked Clinton as Secretary of State after the huge battle those two went through for the Presidential nomination.

Keep your friends close,your enemies closer.[/quote]

That is true and a good possibility, but I am thinking more on the lines of Clinton 2016. She’ll actually have some experience other then tea parties with international politicians. Just grooming her for the future.

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Neuromancer wrote:
usmccds423 wrote:
I find it very interesting he picked Clinton as Secretary of State after the huge battle those two went through for the Presidential nomination.

Keep your friends close,your enemies closer.

That is true and a good possibility, but I am thinking more on the lines of Clinton 2016. She’ll actually have some experience other then tea parties with international politicians. Just grooming her for the future. [/quote]

I agree with that as well,it’s a combination of both most probably.He has taken her(and her followers) out of play as a potential critic and divisive force,while at the same time throwing her the not inconsiderable bone of being further able to groom herself and her resume on the international stage,prior to a run later down the line.

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. The press conferences I’ve seen display a Barack Obama who is in so far over his head he’d need to swim up 50 fathoms just to see sunlight.

Believe it or not I have actually gained a grain of respect for him in seeing this as it does show that he has a conscience and does at least somewhat grasp the enormous gravity of the office to which he’s been elected.

I prefer this to the cocky sloganeering freshman of the campaign.

In that light I don’t see it as diminishing either the President or the President elect for them to work together

Has a conscience? If he had a conscience, he would have not funneled tax money to slum lords, to build slums that are now completely uninhabitable except by rats.

That’s one of many. The guy said all sorts of crap to get elected in Illinois, then different crap to get the Left wing of the Dem party to nominate him, then said different crap to get elected, and now hires center-right Clintonistas (which has the Left furious).

Conscience and obama…somehow an oxymoron?

[/quote]

I’m probably thinking wishfully and conscience may have been a sub optimal choice of terms. I am seeing him come to the realization that being POTUS is much more than he expected and he isn’t even in office yet.

Don’t mistake what I’m saying as some sort of softening of any positions in any way. I’m just saying he appears to be more sober now than during the campaign and certainly more so than his political past.

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies[/quote]

Seriously dude, conservative doesn’t always mean sane.

[quote]Makavali wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies

Seriously dude, conservative doesn’t always mean sane.[/quote]

True, but when someone is swung so far to one side with their political ideology, it’s a good idea to step back and think about the positives the other side has to offer.

[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
Makavali wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies

Seriously dude, conservative doesn’t always mean sane.

True, but when someone is swung so far to one side with their political ideology, it’s a good idea to step back and think about the positives the other side has to offer. [/quote]

Point.

Besides reviving the Clinton’s, instead of putting a stake through their evil hearts, he bought this election with fat cat donations. George Soros, anyone?

"Obama sold America on the idea that his campaign was animated by hordes of small donors who we?re attracted online. It now appears that this line was nothing more than a convenient smoke screen to mask his dependence on the traditional forces that have always funded presidential campaigns. And it puts into a new perspective the massive amount Obama raised and his brazen reversal of his public pledge to accept the limits imposed by public financing of campaigns.

Now that we know that Obama funded his campaign the old way ? from rich people and special interests ? it is reprehensible that he did so to the tune of over $600 million. When it looked like he was using the money of small donors to buy the election, it was excusable. But now that it becomes clear that he was getting money the same way other politicians always have done so, his vast outspending of McCain, all based on his chicanery in not taking public financing, puts his victory into a sharply more negative light."

http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2008/12/01/obama’s-myths-young-voters-and-small-donors/#more-503

This is a great thing. With leadership from the actual president nowhere to be found, it’s nice to see the new one will hit the ground running. It’s not like the lame duck session is usually especially productive. I don’t think this interferes in any way with what Pres. Bush has to do and Pres-elect Obama has a huge task ahead of him.

[quote]Makavali wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
Makavali wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
If he were to adopt sane policies, which means more conservative policies

Seriously dude, conservative doesn’t always mean sane.

True, but when someone is swung so far to one side with their political ideology, it’s a good idea to step back and think about the positives the other side has to offer.

Point.[/quote]

Liberalism, defined as it is now, has never had one single thing to offer I’m interested in that I can think of off the top of my head. Politicians are as good or bad as they are more or less authentically conservative.

I am entirely unimpressed with the results of all this open minded, pluralistic post modern tolerance.