It seems like this coming election is not so much a decision as to who will be in office as who's ideas will take over. I have read for weeks that the president's approval rating is going down, and tea party activists are protesting against big government and enormous spending. In an article that I read recently, the author explained that one of the things that makes president Obama a president that people think of as an outsider is his presidential mentality. Instead of the historical, "We are America and we are the best" mentality, Mr. Obama has come to the plate with the attitude that America is evil and needs to be fixed.This idea came about in the 60s, when we realized that we were harming the environment, that racial discrimination was wrong, and that the Vietnam war was making America look bad. Obama campaigned and won by convincing people and playing off the sentiment that what America and the Bush administration was doing was wrong, and that he would change it. However, as the article describes, this does not make a good leader. It makes a critic and pessimist, not a positive leader who can galvinize the country out of its recession and other problems. He focuses on the problems more than solutions, and that is part of the problem!
After this election we will surely see some changes in policy and mentality, no matter what the outcome.
In class we were talking about civil liberties, and what the first amendment covers. During this campaign season, a lot of opinions have been thrown around, including this one. It is wonderful that in this country we can discuss the problems that we see in the government freely without fear of persecution. This free expression of ideas makes our country better than others, because we collaborate! 300 million minds are a whole lot better than just 100. Without all the discussions about opinions, America would not be the same.
David-
ReplyDeleteI tend to disagree with the points that you make. You say that Obama is a "critic and pessimist, not a positive leader who can galvinize the country out of its recession and other problems". Obama, I think, is by no means being a pessimist. I feel that he is rather acknowledging the truth. I also feel that the blame should not fall on his shoulders. Obama has attempted at solving many problems, many of which came about during the Bush administration. He has also produced some solutions, only to be denied by filibustering. I am in no means saying that Obama is off the hook- I feel he could be doing a much better job. But nonetheless, I feel that your blog shows Obama in more of a negative light than he deserves.
I was thinking the same thing as Reed. Obama would not have gotten to the position he is in today if he was only pessimistic, since his campaign was a very positive message about changing America for the better. I agree that he has not done as good of a job as I had hoped for, but that is a result of the difficult time during which he is President, as well as a result of the ideas of many people he works with.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when you say that "after this election we will surely see some changes in policy and mentality, no matter what the outcome", what kinds of changes do you expect to see? What changes do you hope for?