5 thoughts on “1st Black President”

1. 1. What grade would you give Obama and Why?

   I would give President Obama a B +. He has tried mightily to get everything back in order despite having no help from Republicans, not enough help from his own party, and disaster upon disaster popping up. Although I feel that the majority of his accomplishments in his first term have been secondary priorities, mostly due to the factors from the above statement, I believe that he has somewhat restored America’s reputation around the world, fought effectively against enemies of the country such as Al Qaida (death of Bin Laden), passed the health care bill (which could use some tweaking like all bills), and ended the most shameful war in American history (Iraq II). However, there were some things that he could have handled better and some things that I would have liked to see him take on like the issues of immigration, the environmental reforms, and especially the combative nature of the Republican Party. Overall, I feel he had a solid first term in spite of all the chaos of the last four years both domestically and internationally.

   2. Do you feel that he has been treated as fair as any other President?

   No! This is the closest that I have ever followed politics, not that I didn’t before, but I wasn’t a 24 hour news channel type of guy before his election as I suspect a lot of people weren’t. However, I remember enough to know that since I’ve been living I have never seen this amount of disrespect shown towards the President of the United States by his own country, and more so Congress. I’m sure that Presidents get ribbed here and there for a policy, or statement, or behavior, however for someone to yell out “You Lie” during a speech, is unimaginable. For people to be protesting in the streets now (after we fought a war that we shouldn’t have fought, the deregulation of the stock market dating back as far as the Reagan Administration that lead to the current recession, the worst response to a natural disaster in American history) and all of a sudden want to “Take Their Country Back” is ridiculous. To continually claim that the President of the United States is a Muslim, when he was involved in a “scandal” over his attendance to Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s CHURCH for at least a decade and that he is going to set up Sharia law in the US is preposterous. To constantly question whether he’s a US citizen (even though Mitt Romney was born in Mexico, but I doubt anyone will hear anything about that) when would be Presidents are the most scrutinized people on the planet is absurd. When I keep hearing him referred to as Mr. Obama and others as former President Clinton in news reports on every news channel… HELL NO HE ISN’T TREATED FAIR!!!

   3. Do you feel that President Obama is obligated to do more for Black People?

   I understand that he is the first Black President of the United States of America, but I honestly don’t expect him to do anymore for Black people than any other President because he is the President of the UNITED STATES not of Black America. The truth is that We, have always had a tendency to focus on the aspect of getting our government to work for US, like it should, and assure Us equal and fair treatment without trying to just do it Ourselves. Not since the Black Panther Party have We concentrated on coming together with solution to Our own problems without looking to someone else to help Us fix the problem. We can do this! This is not to give a pass to Obama because he has a responsibility to uplift all people especially the disenfranchised and poorest among us, who unfortunately heavily include Us. But the responsibility to help the Black Community is Our own. I applaud this group and its website for their efforts to do so.

2. 1. I give President Obama a B-. He inherited a situation that had to get worse before it could start to improve and it seems like people do not realize that. My biggest complaint about President Obama is that he tries to reach across the aisle and get Republicans on board with his ideas. The majority of republicans would rather see the country fail than to see an African American President get our country back on track. I’d much rather see him force his ideas through like Bush did instead of compromising on his campaign promises just to make republicans happy.

   2. I have never seen a President get disrespected the way President Obama does. President Bush was always called “President” Bush, but President Obama is often referred to as just Obama or Mr. Obama. Some may say I’m being petty, but to me it is a sign of disrespect.

   3. I am so sick of so called black leaders like Dr. West and Tavis Smiley saying President Obama needs to do more for the black community. He is not the President for just black people, but for all of the United States. To ask him to single out one community over the others is absurd. That is exactly what Republicans warned about…that he would only look out for black people. And if you really look at the numbers, many of the measures/laws he has enacted and programs he kept open/running are overwhelmingly used by minorities (which include black people).

3. 1. What grade would you give Obama and Why?

   I would give him a B. I don’t agree with everything he’s done but I do think some people unfairly credit him for all our nation’s financial problems. I have mixed feelings on his healthcare but at least it seems to be a more workable package than what the Clintons put forth. Time will tell whether and how well it truly works. I like that he appears to be more proactive on environmentalism than most of his predecessors, but don’t agree with what I perceive to be his strategies. For example, subsidies for green energy initiatives, incentives, and research are good but I don’t think the government should be in the business of picking and choosing which companies get all the money. I also think dramatic restrictions on off-shore oil-drilling are a bit of over-correcting the problems with that issue. I’m not sure how much effect all these moves have had on the current gas price problem although I’ve read that his Energy Secretary favors pushing up prices to force a greener mentality on the public which I don’t think is the appropriate answer.

   I supported his actions in Libya when many on both the right and left screamed that he should’ve gone to Congress first. He’s taken positive steps to help improve mental and physical healthcare and education benefits for veterans. And as a veteran I must give him brownie points for aiming to reduce deployments and increase between-deployment dwell times.

   He seems to have shifted center a bit since his campaign but that tends to happen with presidents of both sides. The plus side of that is that it gives the impression of having a fair degree of requisite compromising spirit, without giving up on subjects most important to him.

   2. Do you feel that he has been treated as fair as any other President?

   I haven’t actually noticed that the press says Mr. instead of President but that could just be me. I will say that he probably does have to work harder to prove himself, not just as a minority but also because of his other attachments that the press and opponents have latched onto in the past, such as his Arabic-sounding name and his connection to Reverend Wright. To be fair every president has numerous opponents who will criticize him to no end. At the least he shouldn’t be spared the same levels of pressure and criticism as any other president or politician, and should be judged by his ability to handle critics and navigate opposition.

   3. Do you feel that President Obama is obligated to do more for Black People?

   I agree that Obama’s responsibility is to all of the people of the United States. I think having been elected to the nation’s top office in the first place is a historic and symbolic event that does volumes by itself.

4. 1. What grade would you give Obama and Why?

   Obama gets an F. I disagree with many of his policies, but for the purpose of keeping this post relatively short, I will boil it down to two – his fiscal/monetary policy/philosophy and his expansion of Bush’s police state through the Dept of Homeland Security.

   Monetary Policy – Having aligned himself with Wall St by staffing his entire administration with former Goldman Sachs executives (who, by the way, spearheaded the unregulated use of derivative instruments that caused the current crisis) and having received more funding from Goldman Sachs than any other source, Obama’s monetary policies have resulted in a further de-valued dollar (inflation) which is squeezing the hell out of most average people’s finances while providing no benefit to the economy and no additional jobs. Obama continues to launch illegal, unprovoked wars that are bleeding the budget and worsening the deficit. His only other solution (besides debasing the currency) of raising taxes on the “rich” is inadequate and does not even begin to address the fundamental problems within the monetary and banking system. I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is that Inflating the currency = economic enslavement for most average people – it’s not a solution for the common man and it’s unsustainable, in general. If you don’t understand this, you need to get educated on markets, finance, Keynesian economics and monetary policy – this is affecting your life probably more than anything else, whether you realize it or not.

   Expansion of Bush’s Police State – Obama has taken Bush’s police state to frightening new levels and, with the implementation of the airport naked body scanners (which are basically virtual strip searches), the grope-downs, TSA checkpoints on the highways, bag searches at the Metro, etc, Obama has completely destroyed the 4th Amendment (protection of your right to unreasonable search and seizure). If you don’t travel frequently, then you probably haven’t noticed. But you will most certainly notice when the highway/roadway checkpoints expand, as Obama has planned. This is how Nazi Germany started. It was a slow, incremental revoking of people’s rights that devolved into a total tyranny. Think about it… In addition to the tyranny at the airport, Obama has established countless Executive Orders that have basically turned the office of the President into a dictatorship. The mainstream news media is not covering this, but I suggest you look into it.. Because even if you support Obama and you think he would never use his new powers tyrannically, the next president could. Remember that.

   2. Do you feel that he has been treated as fair as any other President?

   What exactly does “fair treatment” mean in this context? People have the RIGHT to protest the president, wars, policies, etc because we live in a (relatively) free country. Bush was highly protested and even had shoes thrown at him and I don’t remember anyone crying about that. I think Black people have been hyper-sensitive when it comes to Obama. People have the right to disagree with him and folks shouldn’t always take it personally. There’s actually a lot to disagree with and it’s not all racism. Most of it, I think, is legitimate.

   3. Do you feel that President Obama is obligated to do more for Black People?

   No. What is there to obligate him? For the most part, Black people will support Obama UNCONDITIONALLY. So even if he was in a position to do more, why would he? He doesn’t need to – he has our support regardless. This illustrates the danger in supporting him simply because he looks like you. He needs to know that we hold him accountable – otherwise he doesn’t have to make an effort to appeal to us.

5. 1. What grade would you give Obama and Why?

   I give him a B-.
   I think that he was very naive when he accepted his party’s nomination as President.
   The Democratic Party had no one else who would motivate the masses.

   Obama was hired to make a difference not continue to blame his predecessor for his failures. When my boss hired me to replace the previous guy he didn’t want to hear any excuses. Put up or shut up.

   2. Do you feel that he has been treated as fair as any other President?
   (I think that they treated Lincoln worst than any other president)

   But what did you expect he is not a white male!!!
   The same scrutiny will happen to the first non-male president.
   I think that President Obama is a very intelligent and competent man and as such
   He should be able to handle any situation that may come his way as president.

   I think the best way to quiet your critics on our jobs to perform our job with extreme excellence.

   We should not accept “kid’s gloves” treatment just because of our color. After all, we are not an inferior race of people. Right?

   3. Do you feel that President Obama is obligated to do more for Black People?

   The problem with Mr. Obama is that he is a mixed man. He is a very intelligent black man and a very liberal white man.

   It appears that the liberal white man has over shadowed the intelligent black man.

   If President Obama could do so much for his liberal special interest friends, he could at least have thrown us a bone or two. Maybe an inter city federal jobs program. Instead we got health care.

   Speaking of liberal whites; Black folks think that white liberals actually like them. But they have a hidden agenda, and we are just a vehicle to use on the way to their goals.

   I would even go as far as to compare the pro-slavery whites in the antebellum south to liberals. Check this out:
   Slavery in the antebellum south
   1. Immoral – in presume of happiness. It pleases me to own slaves.
   2. ProChoice – Don’t have to own a slave if you don’t want to.

   Today
   1. Immoral – Homosexual rights in presume of happiness. It pleases me to live my lifestyle.
   2. ProChoice – Abortion, Don’t have to have one if you don’t want to.

   The liberals/communist has always talked about racial equality. Remember Digger in Native Son. Both Paul Robeson and WEB Dubois both left the US for the Soviet Union. They both were only to be disillusioned.

   The problem with extreme socialist liberals is that it leads to a less moral and Godless society. Any kind of free thought or speech is met with extreme violence. Millions have died in the communist revolutions of Asia. Even in Cuba where Castro promised a color blind society, many would say that it’s the same game different master. I don’t think our rappers would do well in that type of society.

   How about abortion and stem cell research? Conservatives have always voted against abortion. Liberals have always wanted more fetal stem cells for research. So, why do you think that most abortion clinics are placed in poor neighborhoods? Does anyone ask what is done with the bodies of those unwanted children?

   Mr Obama sided with the Liberals on the subject of homosexual rights. There is no way that you can compare the civil rights struggles during the 1960’s with the gay movement. Unless, you can assume that black people are immoral and the mere fact of us breathing is an abomination act against God.

   So, I think that he could and should have done more for Black people.