obama, four more years or not

Fire them all!

Although it really doesn't matter. I say this because the next one will be on the Corporations and Federal Reserves puppet strings as well.

YES, living, breathing dummies with the elites hand up their ass, moving their mouths and making them talk! less

No president will ever be perfect. They're human. Even worse than human, actually. They're politicians. And to make it EVEN worse, by definition the president will be answering to many other politicians, businesses, lobbyists, and even other countries. And presidents are not all-powerful. So it's their intention, personality, and degree of honesty that matters most when it comes to who we vote for.

That being said, my personal opinion is that after Bush, Obama did amazing. The world hates us SO much less, DADT is gone, he's calling out the immature politicians when he sees it, and he communicates so well with us and represents us in a positive light. I could sure go for 4 more years of him rather than some of those Republican candidates. Or even worse, a tea party candidate... less

I hope he gets another 4.

I lean towards the Democratic side, but wish there were more than two "legit" parties. I also like the idea of politicians wearing logos for the companies that fund them, like Nascar.

I think it'd be great if he had something along the lines of Germany...and elect Pirates in.

I think the Republicans have been extremely narrow minded and unhelpful to anyone but their own sponsors. less

U.S. Staff Sergeant Kendrick Manuel swung his rifle over his shoulder and grumbled about being viewed as a "non-combat" soldier in Iraq.

"When NBC talked about the last combat troops are gone, they made it sound like everything is basically over," he said, after escorting a 19-truck convoy through a part of northern Iraq where roadside bombs and mortar attacks are still a danger.

"To us it was like a slap in the face, because we are still here ... we are still going in harm's way every time we leave out of the gate," Manuel said at a U.S. military base, Camp Speicher, near Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.

On August 31, the U.S. military formally declared an end to its combat mission in Iraq, 7-1/2 years after the invasion that removed Saddam and led to sectarian warfare and a fierce insurgency in which tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed. More than 4,400 U.S. soldiers have been killed since 2003.

U.S. networks such as NBC showed what the U.S. military labeled the last combat brigade rumbling into Kuwait. Soldiers whooped and shouted on camera that the war was over.

Yet, there are still six brigades made up of 50,000 troops in Iraq, ahead of a full withdrawal at the end of 2011. Their focus is to assist and advise their Iraqi counterparts, not lead the fight against insurgents, but they remain heavily armed and face frequent threats.

On September 7, two U.S. soldiers were killed and nine wounded when an Iraqi soldier opened fire on them at an Iraqi commando base.

The hype around the change of mission, which allowed President Barack Obama to say he was fulfilling a pledge to start ending the unpopular war, set off complaints among some soldiers left behind who were no longer viewed as combat troops.

U.S. military convoys are still shot at and bombed, and bases are mortared, despite a change in the name of the U.S. mission from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn.

"That doesn't really change a thing, it is still dangerous," said 22-year-old Specialist Byron Reed, on his second deployment in Iraq, as he prepared to escort a convoy to Camp Speicher from Balad air base in Salahuddin province.

Manuel said changing the mission's name meant little if any of his soldiers were to be killed by a roadside bomb. less

No president will ever be perfect. They're human. Even worse than human, actually. They're politicians. And to make it EVEN worse, by definition the president will be answering to many other politicians, businesses, lobbyists, and even other countries. And presidents are not all-powerful. So it's their intention, personality, and degree of honesty that matters most when it comes to who we vote for.

That being said, my personal opinion is that after Bush, Obama did amazing. The world hates us SO much less, DADT is gone, he's calling out the immature politicians when he sees it, and he communicates so well with us and represents us in a positive light. I could sure go for 4 more years of him rather than some of those Republican candidates. Or even worse, a tea party candidate... less

That's interesting, not enough people know who Ron Paul is get him elected dog catcher (nationally). He gets about 6-10% of votes in a Republican only poll. No doubt he's an interesting guy, and if you're a gold bug he's your man.

Why make gold the standard? It's just a commodity like grain or pork bellies. At least you can eat and recreate grain. By setting a gold standard you just make South Africa and Russia the wealthiest nations in the world - just because of an accident of geology. Interesting plan - but in my view very flawed. A countries 'value' should not be determined by geology - but by the productivity of it's people.


About Obama - I'm in the middle. I didn't vote for him, but he was given a very tough hand. The problem is he volunteered to 'bring hope' - by that self-directed measure he has failed. Hope now is as low as I can remember in my 57 years here in the US.

He has time to change things, but the second recession - which I believe has already started - will greatly diminish his chances of winning. less

Thank you for your insight. I didn't really understand the whole "gold standard" thing until now. It makes perfect sense. I also have other reasons not to ever vote for Ron Paul, but the Gold Standard thing is fascinating. Thank you also for understanding that Obama was handed what was probably the shittiest political hand in American history. He hasn't been aggressive enough to make enough changes. He's made some, and they have mostly been good ones. But, he has to stop worrying about people "liking him" and get down to business and play Tough Love with Congress. less

I agree either way it is going to suck. But I dont blame Obama for it. People act like he could snap his fingers and things would get better. It is gonna take years for our country to get better no matter who is in charge because we were left in such a shit hole.

Thanks to Obama I have insurance again when I needed it most. Other things hes done that arent so bad; expanded hate crimes to cover sexual orientation, moved most of the war out of Iraq where it didnt belong, and improved relations with a lot of countries. And a lot more.

Im not one of those big pro Obama people but I dont think he is THAT bad. I just dont see how anyone couldve fixed things regardless. less

He will not be getting my vote, I did not give it to him the first time around. I am not a democrat. I am not sure why anyone blames any president, really it comes down to all of them combined. So they all need fired! And if you are talking about your local area, that comes down to the ones in your area. Where I live there has been a lot of scandal, with these guys stealing money and fraud. It is no wonder that Cleveland is no longer a great area to live in. less