Originally Posted by Bucco

I certainly wish President-elct Obama Godspeed. I started a thread hoping God will give wisdom to our new President. I will support him but also maintian my viligence that he remembers this quote from Abraham Lincoln,,,,

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. "

These truths are self evident regardless of who said them. Sounds very much like Milton Friedman also.

Originally Posted by rekop

Perhaps I should have been more explicit. I was responding to dklassen among others who were spouting off misinformation about Obama's plans. And notice I said "maybe" they are wrong. They seem so ready to say Obama's going to fail before he's even begun. My suggestion is that a majority of Americans thought Obama had "something" worth trying. Let's give him a chance. I like to see the glass half full.

He is getting his chance, and so far his selection of White House Chief of Staff runs 180-degrees opposite the campaign rhetoric of "let's all come together," unless bipartisanship is now defined as "my way or the highway."

Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Reid spoke of civility and bipartisanship on the day they acquired their leadership positions, and we saw how long that lasted. It would be tragic if Pres-elect Obama follows the same path of bitterness and nastiness taken by his party's Congressional leadership.

Don't forget that the Democrats will probably strip Joe Lieberman of his committee leadership position for supporting JM.

So much for bipartisanship.

If anyone thinks that BO is going to be bipartition you are dreaming. His pick for Chief of Staff is known for being particularly ruthless in ripping apart anyone who doesn't fall in line with their positions.

Lots of sour grapes going on here today.

Really. Grow up you guys.

Hum... this is a political board and I don't really see how discussing the day's topics are sour grapes but that's just me.

It's been widely discussed in the media today about Joe Lieberman and Rahm Emanuel. In fact one of the quotes reported today from Rahm was "F the Republications."

It's been on the news, I didn't make it up.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-enforcer.html

Some context.....the quote from Rahm Emmanuel dates back at least 2 years. If he said that today, it would indeed be troubling. But, he is now in a new position with a new boss....I sincerely hope that his tone will not be so partisan in the future. Let's give them a fair chance to get their staff, government leaders, and programs in place.

Here's what 5 minutes of web research turns up:

Emanuel Told His Staff That Republicans Could "Go F--- Themselves!" "'I'll tell you this,' Emanuel shouted out to his staff. 'The Republicans may have the 72-hour program. But they have not seen the 22-month program! ... Since my kids are gone, I can say it: They can go ---- themselves!'" (Naftali Bendavid, "The House That Rahm Built," Chicago Tribune, 11/12/06)

Originally Posted by chelsea24

Lots of sour grapes going on here today.

Originally Posted by rekop

Really. Grow up you guys.

What is really surprising is that even now people still see Pres-elect Obama as some kind of saint and not a politician.

Pres. Bush has a lot of faults, and his administration has made a ton of mistakes, and every person who leans right-of-center has recognized that, especially during the last 3 years.

Sen. McCain also has human failings, and those who did vote for him knew of him as a flesh-and-blood human complete with faults. He lost the conservative vote because he wasn't conservative at all, and started to look and sound more like Bill Clinton than Ronald Reagan.

Pres-elect Obama is starting to sound and act like every other politician who has won the WH before him and has already started hedging on promises and commencing actions which are counter to the campaign speeches. That's an objective fact. Ignoring it doesn't change the fact.

The "grow up" part of all of this is to see the world, the politics, the campaign promises and all of the hoop-la for what it is. The polly-anna view is that the world is such a sunny and wonderful place, with birds singing and butterflies flittering everywhere because a particular candidate now has a 4-year government job.

If Sen. McCain had won the election, there would not have been much if any difference. That's the nature of politicians - reward the close faithful, shaft those who may be a downstream danger, and be thankful that P. T. Barnum was right! If the adorationists of the Pres-elect don't realize that their hero is a grizzled politician who first owes a lot of other politicians and must deliver to them NOW, and then if anything is left, the crumbs go to the rest of us, then the stock in companies which make rose-colored glasses is the only safe investment these days.l

I wish the Pres-elect well, and hope he will be nowhere near as harmful as many believe he can be. Time will be the ultimate test, but actions - especially during the patronage period of filling the Plum Book - will speak volumes.

However, he is no saint, he is no champion of freedom, he is no great healer, and he is no fool. He's a sharp politician who said the right things to get elected. He has the opportunity to succeed.

The question will be is if we will just sit back, with blinders on, and find ourselves having to sell ourselves explanations why what was said in the summer and autumn of 2008 doesn't match what actually is occuring in the summer and autumn of 2009 - or will our memories be intentionally faulty?

I have read many a comment on this board about how patriotic many were when they were slamming the current administration and making insulting remarks about Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin. It was "the thing to do" in the name of wanting a "changed" America, regardless of what those changes may bring. All of these folk "were watching" George Bush closely, scrutinizing every word, statement, action and inaction as their American duty and responsibility.

Guess what, folks - the same holds true with the new guy, except I don't expect that the personal slams and insults will happen. It would be a shame if that uncivilized behavior repeats itself.

Criticism of a President's performance can, shall, and will occur. When he does good, he gets the credit. When he BS's folk, or reneges on the sales pitch, or screws up, he will be taken to task. Anything less from the citizenry is just the type of subservient behavior one sees in dictatorships and inbred monarchies.

It there a problem with that?

BTW - now that the election is over, it's great to be back!

He does have a history.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-enforcer.html

Loved this article about Rahm Emanuel. Straight out of my hometown. He gets things done. Now, maybe we can sweep away the hayseed and and the laid back "wanna have a beer" good ole' boys and get this country going again!

So much for bipartisanship.

Originally Posted by chelsea24

Loved this article about Rahm Emanuel. Straight out of my hometown. He gets things done. Now, maybe we can sweep away the hayseed and and the laid back "wanna have a beer" good ole' boys and get this country going again!

I see we are back to name-calling, insults and ridicule of others as sport.

It's nice to know that those of us "hayseeds" and "good ole boys," will be made better off by those who made Chicago Politics a shining beacon of ethical behavior and corruption-free public service.

Urban snobbery must be one of those new-wave methods of consensus-development employed by "community organizers" that us "hayseeds" and "good ole boys" don't understand......

Hey.. Sorry your candidate did not win...

What I see is a very smart man sorrounding himself with very smart people.... Hopefully we can get the country out of the ditch..and move forward.

GOD BLESS AMERICA and the right to vote.

Originally Posted by GrayGoose

....
GOD BLESS AMERICA and the right to vote.

Amen! We may agree to disagree on many things, but never this....

we'll soon find out how long his antics last in the shadow of a Presidency.
He may do well until such time as his methodology generates a negative backlash. He will soon find he is on a different caliber stage.

Maybe we can hope he will be assigned to get something done with the single digit approval rating, do nothing Congress (right!).

In my experience with bullies/intimidators is they are easy to manage...don't back up when they get in your face....treat them with equal portions of disrespect.

BTK