What is Obama supposed to do?

I understand that Obama is now our president and he can't keep blaming the previous administration but the war in Afghanistan and Iraq are not his fault. He was put in a position where he couldn't please anyone, especially the right, no matter what he did. And here we are, sticking it out in Afghanistan, sending 30,000 troops and now the comparisons to Vietnam are flying everywhere.

But let me be the first one (and I'm sure I'm the first one to do this) to agree with Obama's move. By reinforcing troops in Afghanistan, he's hoping to stop the decline of conditions in that country. However, this "winning" and "losing" concept by most Americans is completely ridiculous and unrealistic. In occupation wars such as the war on terror, troops are on the ground but there's no clearly defined battle lines or signs of progress except for the stability of the country itself. If Obama were to leave the same number of troops or pull out immediately, the destabilizing effects it would have in the region would be disastrous. So those that say "why are we wasting more American lives? Why are we risking more troops!?" are off base since a complete withdrawal would have basically been nixing the sacrifices that the military has made since the initial invasion of the country.

And it's funny how fundamental and value-based the Republicans are, and then they flip-flop, now questioning a war that they basically started. Saying it was a war we can not win. Calling it hopeless and a waste of American troops. Saying that it's just Obama pushing an agenda.

Sound familair? It's what the left said about Iraq a few years ago. Funny how things have changed.

And funny how things have changed in Iraq, where violence is down and US forces are slowly reducing their numbers. But you won't hear anything positive about that, definitely not from the right. Apparently staying the course is fine when Bush is in office, but not when Obama is. Nevermind that the troop increase in Afghanistan may create the same result in Iraq. Yeah, there's no possibility that it's going to happen.

What is he supposed to do?

Full withdrawal may be years away, it may not be an option at all. I know Obama has set a time table but doesn't everyone realize that it could change regarding conditions. If things improve I'd imagine that troops coming home would happen. If they don't... we'll probably stick it out.

You know, that thing Bush did in Iraq, regardless of public opinion. And now look what is finally happening there.

Funny. Same philosophy. Different faces. Same criticism.

Obama doesn't have very many friends

At this point, I think soap scum is more popular than Barack Obama. Oh to be a President during the worst recession since the Great Depression. Wonderful.

President Obama's approval ratings hit their lowest ranking yet in the Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll out Tuesday, with 27 percent strongly approving of the president's job performance and 42 percent strongly disapproving, an index rating of -15.

The president's total approval is 45 percent in the latest poll, which matches his lowest approval rating overall, compared to 54 percent disapproval.

Approval is strongly divided by party with 52 percent of Democrats strongly approving and 68 percent of Republicans strongly disapproving. However, Obama appears to be losing the critical independent vote with 16 percent of unaffiliated voters strongly approving and 33 percent of independent voters approving overall. Fifty-one percent of independents strongly disapprove.

Among the concerns for Americans are the war in Afghanistan, financial management and health care reform. Forty-five percent want the U.S. out of Afghanistan in a year, while 43 percent don't want a timetable.

Fifty-three percent of likely voters polled said they are worried the federal government is overmanaging the economy.

What I think are some hampering factors in Obama's administration includes the indecision during two unpopular wars, although the media has failed to report how things have seemingly improved in Iraq. Obama needs to take a stance on either leaving Afghanistan or digging in, not just standing pat. However, once he makes a decision on that, what does the United States do about Iraq? See the quagmire we're facing at the moment?

As far as the economy goes, that's somewhat out of Obama's control as most of the damage was not done on his clock. I don't know why so many Americans are quick to point a finger at him since (1) the president doesn't have a sweeping impact on the economy, he can pass legislation and use stimulus packages but in the end the market has to fix itself and (2) that stimulus package is actually popping up in everyone's life, I can't tell you how many times I've come across something that was funded by stimulus money. Certainly better than sending everyone a $300 check in the mail right?

My main gripe is the healthcare reform, as it hasn't been handled well and the Dems have seemingly taken the approach that "we need to do this, this is the best thing, the American people don't know what they're talking about, lets push this through." This sort of bull-rush that Obama and the Dems have been doing don't look good at all in the public eye.

Overall though, every president's approval ratings drop, so this is just business as usual.

Stimulus creating jobs in districts that don't exist

I'm sure this is an honest mistake, but damn, this is embarassing.

Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.

And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.

Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.

Just a lesson to all you out there that believe the government is the answer to everything. The government screws up just as much as big business, so giving them complete control of certain sectors in life doesn't mean things will be flowers and babies.

Obama bows and freaks out America

Apparently by bowing to the Japanese emperor, Obama is apparently signifying some sort of disrespect towards capitalism and the free world. Nevermind being emperor is more symbolic than anything and Obama is following a Japanese custom. Apparently in order to be a true American he should have came in spouting John Wayne lines and offending Japanese people left and right. Either way, the media has blown this waaaay out of proportion.

This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention to the royal family living in iRepublican vice president Dick Cheney is received by Emperor Akihito in 2007ts downtown castle. Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference to a superior.

To some in the United States, however, an upright handshake might have looked better. (See Cheney-Akihito photo, right).

Remember Michelle Obama casually patting Britain's Queen Elizabeth on the back during their Buckingham Palace visit? America's royalty tends to make movies and get bad reviews and lots of money as a sign of respect.

Obama could receive some frowns back home as he did for his not-quite-this-low-or-maybe-about-the-same-bow to the Saudi king not so long ago. (See photo here)

How times change under Democratic presidents.

Back in 1994 when President Bill Clinton appeared to maybe perhaps almost start to bow to Akihito at a White House encounter, U.S. officials rushed to deny it was any such a thing.

God forbid we're liked in other countries, that would just be preposterous!

Obama: One year later?

Last November, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States? How much have things changed since he's been in office? That's hard to say because he had to focus his attention on the economic crisis and a year is not that long for a president to make an impact.

However statements like "Obama hasn't done anything" is ridiculous ... it's been shown that his stimulus bill jumped the economy, he's changed America's reputation in the world (Bush made it very unpopular) and he's still pushing health reform. No he hasn't brought the troops home but name me an instance in American history where thats been done quickly and suddenly. You just can't pull out of those countries.

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday's Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America's first black president.

He instead traveled to Wisconsin to appear before a friendly audience in a school gymnasium and promote education as a pillar of his economic recovery efforts.

Obama was elected on a promise of sweeping change after eight years under Bush, but many Americans are increasingly expressing impatience that his pledge has yet to bear fruit.

You can't make a judgement now, but in three more year, the jury will be out.

Barack Obama doesn't care about elections

Does anyone really care about the specific electoral races going on now? I'm sure it's important to the people of their respective states but it seems that the cable and internet media outlets are blowing these up to be the elections of the century. And Gasp! Obama is not worried! How could he!

You know how a lot of right-winged people complained about the raw deal Bush got in the media (and rightly so, there were some ridiculous things brought against him), well the same thing is happening to Obama now.

Hours after urging reporters not to draw sweeping conclusions from Tuesday's gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told POLITICO President Barack Obama wasn't even keeping an eye on the results.

"He's not watching returns," Gibbs said.

The Obama administration and other top Democrats have consistently tried to play down the import of this week's contests, which Republicans have sought to portray as a referendum on the Democratic-led government in Washington.

In Tuesday's White House press briefing, Gibbs dismissed suggestions that the two governor's races and a special election in upstate New York could be a preview of the 2010 congressional midterms.

"I don't think, looking at the two gubernatorial races, you can draw with any great insight what's going to happen a year from now," he said.

And why should he? Re-election isn't until a ways off and there are going to be more elections on the lower levels before then. While some people are complaining about the current economic conditions, the right better understand that this downfall happen under their watch. That's still going to stick with them in the coming elections.

Apparently Barack Obama is too skinny

The media jumps on our presidents for eating too much McDonalds, but our last two presidents have actually been pretty fit. George W. Bush was known as a big runner, and now Drudge Report has released these photos of Barak Obama that show that he's probably lost weight since becoming president.

Way to make Bill Clinton look bad guys.

More losses in Afghanistan

President Obama has a hot potato he's going to have to address now as things aren't going well in Aghanistan war for US forces.

KABUL – Roadside bombs — the biggest killer of U.S. soldiers — claimed eight more American lives Tuesday, driving the U.S. death toll to a record level for the third time in four months as President Barack Obama nears a decision on a new strategy for the troubled war.

The homemade bombs, also called improvised explosive devices or IEDs, are responsible for between 70 percent and 80 percent of the casualties among U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and have become a weapon of "strategic influence," said Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz in Washington.

The attacks Tuesday followed one of the deadliest days for the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan — grim milestones likely to fuel the debate in the United States over whether the conflict is worth the sacrifice.

Obama has nearly finished gathering information on whether to send tens of thousands more American forces to quell the deepening insurgency, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. A meeting Friday with the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be among the last events in the decision-making process, Gibbs said.

Do you pull out the troops? Reinforce them? One thing Obama is going to have to do is SOMETHING, becuase right now it looks like he's just sitting and waiting while people lose their lives. His thinking is probably more along the lines of waiting to make an informed decision, rather than the knee jerk reaction that got America in that country in the first place - but people aren't going to be very patient with his apparent indecisiveness.

Decision time.

Obama's approval rating in the tank

I think the Detroit Lions are having a better season than Obama at the moment. At least they've won a game.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13. That’s just a point above the lowest level ever recorded for this President.

Not good news for a president that is trying to push his agenda through for health care and surplus bills. It seems that the goodwill built up at the time election has faded and we've now got some serious problems facing the Obama Administration. 

Your Nobel Peace Prize Winner!

It's a great day in America when their President wins the Nobel Peace Prize and everybody collectively goes "what the heck?"

However, what takes the cake here is the Reuters story actually quoting a spokesman for the Taliban. This is borderline Saturday Night Live territory. 

"The Nobel prize for peace? Obama should have won the 'Nobel Prize for escalating violence and killing civilians'," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Says a member of an organization that escalates violence and kills civilians. Wonderful. While I wouldn't say Obama is a killer of innocent women of children (keep in mind he inherited two wars in his presidency and is slowly pulling troops out of Iraq), the reason for him winning the Peace Prize seems to be more related to his celebrity as opposed to his actual accomplishments. However, you can't deny his preaching for peace and in his position as president, the possibility of things getting done during his president are quite encouraging to some people.

So when are the Oscars?