Russia's Uncontested Arrival

[Fau Teixeira]

As a solid independent .. i'm of the opinion that while the democrats have a bunch of crazy .. the republicans and the american taliban (tea party) is just way out there .. it's like they don't inhabit the same reality we exist in.

[Tenshot13]

Obama 38% approval rating.  Lowest of all time.  Just sayin'...

[Sunstroke]

You are part of the problem. Your extremist views and non-tolerant attitudes are no different than the extremes to the right. Pretending Fox extremists are any different than MSNBC extremists shows ignorance. Both parties do X and then point out X when the other guys do it. It laughable that your argument is "well the extremist right are crazy so no matter what my guy does it isn't wrong." Ok. Whatever. And drugs and alcohol don't cause any harm. Party on Garth!   

Being called non-tolerant by a religious zealot is high comedy...

A couple of things for the record, since you are automatically applying all of your closet list of ills to me, based on a couple of symptoms:

1) I don't think the far left is much better than the far right. If I had my way, we'd all meet in the middle for a group hug.

2) My first three elections, I voted Republican. I have never in my life voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.

3) I have taken an active part in only one presidential campaign, for H. Ross Perot in 1992, and that was solely because of his fiscally conservative deficit reduction plans.

As a solid independent .. i'm of the opinion that while the democrats have a bunch of crazy .. the republicans and the american taliban (tea party) is just way out there .. it's like they don't inhabit the same reality we exist in.

Amen (or the non-religious equivalent) to that...

[Spider-Dan]

There an issue in the Ukraine and again, democrats [outside] of this forum get it.

The issue is certainly not the toughness of Obama's speeches.

Pretending the GOP is evil because they do the same things liberals do (pointing out flaws they  themselves also do) is stupid.

You're not even reading, because I didn't accuse the GOP of being hypocrites (that would be an unspectacular accusation of a politician).

I criticized conservatives for attacking Obama from BOTH sides of the issue.  In your own posts, you cite Mike Huckabee, who criticizes Obama for talking too tough (making threats that are not followed on) while simultaneously criticizing Obama for not talking tough enough (using phrasing that is insufficiently aggressive).

Sorry Charlie but even many of the most supportive democrats out there aren't happy with where his presidency has gone in this term.

Much like the oft-cited "a majority of Americans are unhappy with the ACA" statistic, if you think Democrats are unhappy with Obama's presidency for the same reasons you are, you're sadly mistaken... and addressing your complaints would only make them MORE unhappy.

Unless he gets a handle on foreign affairs he will continue to burn out and the next guy/gal with walk into a disaster.

Ended the Iraq War.
Eliminated Bin Laden.
Didn't get thousands more troops killed "spreading democracy" in the Middle East, instead (mostly) choosing to let countries handle their own affairs.

If he ends the war in Afghanistan before his term is up, he will have undone nearly all the foreign policy blunders of his predecessor.  Not a bad haul in my eyes.

And why are people still bringing up an in "invasion without cause" by Bush. We've already proven that the war in Iraq was voted on by not only republicans, but also almost all of the top democrats. You people imply that only the republicans wanted to go to Iraq.

No, I imply that the Bush Administration invented the rationale for the Iraq War and Congress went along with it, because they were unaware that the administration was incompetent and/or lying.

[Spider-Dan]

Obama 38% approval rating.  Lowest of all time.  Just sayin'...

Do you mean his "lowest of all time"?  Because GWB's second-term average (not his lowest point, his average) was 37%.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx

[Tenshot13]

Do you mean his "lowest of all time"?  Because GWB's second-term average (not his lowest point, his average) was 37%.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx

Sorry, forgot a word.  Yes, his lowest of all time.  Hey, George sucked too, and he has company.  Arguing against is like the Browns saying, "At least we're not the Jags!"  Both suck.

[Spider-Dan]

Bill Clinton's low was 37%, even lower than Obama's now.
GHWB's was 29%.
Reagan's was 35%.
Carter's was 28%.
etc.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx

If 38% is the lowest Obama ever hits, I'd say that's a pretty good job.

[Tenshot13]

Bill Clinton's low was 37%, even lower than Obama's now.
GHWB's was 29%.
Reagan's was 35%.
Carter's was 28%.
etc.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx

If 38% is the lowest Obama ever hits, I'd say that's a pretty good job.

Spin it any way you want, he has about the same approval rating as Bush in 5 years...like I said, they both suck.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/166964/obama-averages-job-approval-year-five.aspx

[BigDaddyFin]

Probably the most truthful thing I heard about this all day came from Don Imus's radio show.

Obama probably got out maneuvered by Putin again in the grand scheme of things, but by the same token, there isn't a whole hell of a lot Obama or anyone else for that matter can do about it. 

Also I'd like to take this opportunity to cyber-slap the living shit out of John McCain for that speech he made on the Senate floor the other day.  The last thing I want is to see the US military getting involved in this particular conflict.

The statement he released yesterday can be read here http://www.politicususa.com/2014/03/01/john-mccain-push-united-states-full-scale-war-russia.html (The article is an editorial and the writer's bias is a bit obvious). 

I'm one of the first people to jump on Obama's back when he screws up.  So when he does something right or is in a situation where his hands are pretty much tied, like when he whacked Bin Laden or like now, I have an obligation to point that out too.

[Spider-Dan]

Spin it any way you want, he has about the same approval rating as Bush in 5 years...like I said, they both suck.

Given that year 5 was a relative high-point in GWB's second-term, I guess we'll just have to disagree.

Maybe if Obama craters the economy in year 8, we can talk.

[masterfins]

Russia and North Korea are not countries anyone can threaten.  Their leaders are bat shit crazy.  The financial markets were punishing Russia a bit the other day, that's probably the best way to deter Putin.

[bsmooth]

You guys can be fruitcakes. No one wants Putin to succeed. And I haven't heard anyone saying Bush handled the situation correctly. The difference is Obama made threats and hasn't followed through several times. Bush said lets talk it out and mediate.

In either case Obama should learn from his mistakes and he doesn't seem to be doing so. I knwo several people who talk about kicking someone ass. They are the ones anyone should fear. That's what Obama seems like to me.

You wouldn't know it from this forum but many Democrats are very concerned with Obama right now. Republicans and Democrats realize the importance to having to deal with this. LEt's not forget who labeled Putin "Hitler". 

Thanks Dave for being able to carry on a discussion.

Actually almost every conservative pundit and meme on the internet is bashing Obama for letting Putin do this and not stopping him. SO again the question is, what did Bush do? He did not stop Putin, and he certainly did nothing that made Putin fear this kind of action in the future.
I have seen numerous meme's by my friends who are very conservative, and the meme's show Obama asking Bush what to do, and they talk like you and pondwater about how weak Obama is. So my question to you is this.
What did Bush do any differently to Putin, than Obama is? I am asking you because Pondwater is a troll who has ignored my posting of the fact Bush allowed Putin to invade Georgia and annex territory.

[Spider-Dan]

I think I can answer that one:

The difference is Obama made threats and hasn't followed through several times. Bush said lets talk it out and mediate.

So it seems to me that conservatives are saying one of the following:

a) Obama should have made more efforts to talk this out, like Bush did
or
b) Obama should have done something different from what he did; what particular thing he should have done is anyone's guess, but it should have been something other than what he did

[pondwater]

Actually almost every conservative pundit and meme on the internet is bashing Obama for letting Putin do this and not stopping him. SO again the question is, what did Bush do? He did not stop Putin, and he certainly did nothing that made Putin fear this kind of action in the future.
I have seen numerous meme's by my friends who are very conservative, and the meme's show Obama asking Bush what to do, and they talk like you and pondwater about how weak Obama is. So my question to you is this.
What did Bush do any differently to Putin, than Obama is? I am asking you because Pondwater is a troll who has ignored my posting of the fact Bush allowed Putin to invade Georgia and annex territory.

First of all, if you want to call each other names, we can do that. Although I don't think that Dave would appreciate me putting you in your place. So act accordingly like an adult or kindly STFU.

Now that that's out of the way. No one has ignored your silly comparison. The fact of the matter is that Bush didn't handle the situation correctly and was also just as weak with Russia, maybe even weaker. However, you seem to think shit that happened 5-6 years ago has damn thing to do with what is happening NOW. It doesn't. A lot of things Bush did were fucked up. Does that mean that it's OK for Obama to so that same things? Fuck no it doesn't. If Joe robs a bank, is it OK for me to rob a bank? Fuck no. Since Andy killed his wife, is it OK for you to kill your wife? Of course not. See, that's what's wrong with you people. You're so caught up with justifying EVERYTHING the idiot does. When Obama fails, fucks up, or makes a mistake. All you have is to say it's Bush's fault. Or, Bush did it, so why can't Obama do it? We're supposed to be making progress. Or don't you remember those bullshit campaign slogans - hope, change, and forward. If you can't realize that Bush and Obama are two fucktards that are more suited to managing an Office Depot than running this country, then you sir are a blind homer of the highest order.

So no, no one is ignoring your irrelevant posts about Bush. The fact is that Bush is an idiot and has NOTHING to do with this discussion. He makes no decisions and hasn't for 5 years. Too bad that just because the current POTUS is a black, he can do no wrong and doesn't have to answer for anything because it would be racist. Yeah right, GTFOH with that shit, give me a fucking break.

[Spider-Dan]

pondwater, I have a question:  Since Bush's actions were clearly wrong (as you say), why did conservatives not say so at the time?

Because this seems like more of the standard "we don't like whatever Obama does, even if it's the same thing we praised our guy for doing" (see: Obamneycare).