Dealing with buyer’s remorse
I had a conversation yesterday with an old friend with whom I hadn’t spoke for years. After the niceties, she began bashing Obama for doing nothing successfully. I said, “Wait! I bet you voted for him didn’t you?” She said that she pleads the fifth amendment, but then that she had “believed in him”. I asked “believed in what?” She couldn’t tell me what, except that she had thought that Obama “cared”.
Then she went on to tell me how she’d watched the interview with George W. Bush that was on National Geographic last week and that it had completely changed her opinion of him. Before the interview she had thought he was an arrogant, smarmy, cold person, but that interview made her think he was a warm and caring person. I told he that was because she got to watch him without the context of his words filtered through the media prism.
Now, I understand that one conversation with one person doesn’t represent a monumental shift in the politics of the country, but knowing this person like I do, she’s greatly influenced by the media. When the media didn’t bother to criticize Obama’s lack of experience and leadership, but focused on his vacuous “hope and change” message, they abrogated their responsibility to the American voting public, but that’s not news to most of the readers here.
This economic morass in which we find ourselves today should, but won’t teach the media a lesson. I know my friend will vote for the next shiny object that runs for office, it’s just part of her nature, but the media needs to review it’s standards, such as they are, and adhere to their constitutionally guaranteed contract with the American voter.
I’m not sure John McCain would be doing much better than Obama, but, I have to think he couldn’t be doing worse. AT least he wouldn’t have wasted a year on getting health care reform passed, he wouldn’t have wasted a summer-plus putting off the extension of the Bush tax cuts, he wouldn’t have been spinning his wheels on Guantanamo, he wouldn’t have been holding “beer summits” to smooth over hurt feelings.
Added: The Washington Times says “Obama’s a flop in states he flipped in 2008“
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, John McCain/Sarah Palin, Media
McCain certainly wouldn’t have done any worse by now….better is always debatable.
I think this is a common event, one instance of seeing someone in a different context can start an evolution in how you perceived them and their actions.
My opinions of Christie and Palin both went in different directions starting with an in-depth interview.
The choice between OWEbama and MCLie was simply a choice between two turds, one all squishy and dark, and the other all dried up and white.
Anyone that voted for bobo was just plain stupid. Sorry I can’t sugar coat it, but the truth sometimes is that way. There were so many flags waving about this guy that Stevie Wonder could have seen them.
The common theme I hear from these Obama voters is that they were motivated primarily by emotion. Whether it was the promise of “hope and change” or the fulfillment of our first “post-racial” president, never at any point did these people stop for a moment and consider the man they were casting their vote for; His questionable associations with known radicals, his troublesome opinions on the very Constitution he would go on to swear to protect, even his dysfunctional childhood and bizarre family dynamic were never a part of the equation. To these people who have suddenly decided that perhaps a more experienced person should have been elected president, I say to you with all sincerity; fuck off.
‘This economic morass in which we find ourselves today should, but won’t teach the media a lesson.’
I’m not sure I agree with that. Most of the media are well paid elites, and don’t suffer much financially in a recession. Conversely, stories about how tough things are do drive up ratings.
I cannot help but think that if the economy had turned around, Obama would be sitting pretty right now. And that thought sickens me. We know little more about the creampuff now than we did 3 or 4 years ago. All of the warnings sounded by the conservatives and the few sound thinkers in the media were dismissed as pretexts for racism. The Volvo and Prius-driving, guilt-driven, middle and upper class whites wanted to be part of the historical election of a black president. They were. Congratulations. Now they are consoling themselves with, “Hey, we meant well” as they scrape the OBAMA stickers from their bumpers. Black voters went for the imam in record numbers. Congratulations to them too. The pendulum is swinging hard the other way now and I am looking forward to seeing some people get whacked hard by it. The make-believe conservatives in Congress (House Majority Leader Boner, for instance) can still screw up the bloodless revolution just begun. All he has to do is keep talking about conciliation, bipartisanship, common ground, and all of the other code words for capitulation he and they know so well.
As seen on Drudge
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/clinton-popularity-prompts-some-remorse-poll.html
#4. Bravo, well said! I don’t know who said this first (it wasn’t me) “I elected a president, what I got was a community organizer”. I took the time to examine Obama’s meager record and what I saw terrified me. Not that he was a democrat, or even a tax and spend democrat, but a socialist democrat. He needs to be a one term president.
Would have to completely disagree with the sentiment that he has been “doing nothing successfully.” If only!
He has set back race relations in this country at least a hundred years. He has decimated (or worse) every institution which sustains this country. He has created a debt (with the willing cooperaton of the Congress) from which we may never recover. And he has made a mockery of our judicial system.
By threatening the livelihood and way of life of every American, he has set us up for a civil war that will make the last one look like a walk in the park. At least last time we were not vulnerable to a foreign takeover when it happened.
#4, I agree. I have a few friends left who are dems, one told me he voted for O because “he’s a nice guy”, another said he voted for “change”. Both have buyer’s remorse, big time.
But, if someone from La Raza shows up next cycle promising “Change” and blaming the problems on conservatives, they’ll be on board in a second.
Because, to them, it’s not about the messenger, it’s the message. Socialism works, it’s just not the right people trying to do it.
Jonn,
Sadly, this is not uncommon. I have friends who are easily influenced by the media and their emotions. I am usually called crazy and angry when I politely point out that The Pied Piper has done nothing that he said he would. There are now O-2012 bumper stickers popping up and it makes me want to vomit.
I no longer care if I lose friends because I give a shit about where the Republic is headed and they have their heads in the sand. I said it from the get-go…he is a one termer and God help us if he does get re-elected.
I can be as PollyAnna as I like and find the upside. And on that, there is none.
My sister is a liberal and idealist. There isn’t a nicer lady walking, and her heart is the size of the Grand Canyon, but she never met a warm fuzzy she didn’t like. She follows her heart before her head, every time. And she always will.
I cannot help but think that if the economy had turned around, Obama would be sitting pretty right now. And that thought sickens me.
You can take solace in the fact that Obama and the ideologues that surround him had no chance of revitalizing the economy based 100% on their stated goals and positions. The private sector is not going to respond positively to the incessant tinkering this administration has committed itself to in regard to regulation, taxation and the furthering of their collectivist agenda. So don’t feel guilty for thinking that a recovering America equates into a second term for Obama since there was never a chance at a recovery to begin with.
I know it’s going to draw a shit storm upon myself but I admit that I was duped by the Obama media bandwagon. I voted for him and I regret it. Having said that if you can tell me who said “If you’re not a Democrat when you’re young and a Republican when you’re old, then you are a fool” you will receive 100 internet dollars.
Now I’m trying to look into the Republican candidates as much as possible to make sure I that I know who I’m voting for next year.
Winston Churchill
Except that Churchill said “Liberal” when young and “Conservative” when old.
#16 My mistake, I heard it long ago.
Not sure I’d call that a mistake if you understand the concept. 😉
Why change the standard? Just pull the lever, complete the arrow, or put an electronic check next to the guy with no experience running anything; the guy whose very birth origins are in question; the guy whose college records are sealed by his order; the guy who sits in an America-hating church, mosque, or synogogue for 20 years; the guy who promises to fundamentally change the USA and, at the same time, claim to love it; the guy who more likely than not will appoint czars and czarinas who are not answerable to Congress; the guy whose idea of rallying the troops is to march on city hall with disgruntled welfare recipients and malcontents; the guy whose friends are subversive, violent, anti-capitalist, anti-Red, White and Blue, unrepentent radicals; the guy who is said to be brilliant until he wings it or the teleprompter goes on the blink (If you love me, help me pass this bill); the guy who says more money and more money and more money will solve a problem; the guy calls his grandmother (or other close relative) a typical white woman; the guy who freely admits in writing that he did serious drugs such as cocaine; the guy who disparges much of the citizenry by referring to them as bitter, Bible clingers; the guy who has the catchiest slogan and has the biggest, whiteist teeth…that guy. Sounds like a plan.
#19 Err, because I want to.
There you go. That’s a perfectly good explanation but it explains the depth of consideration one gives for choosing a shirt, not a president. But, then, it’s a somewhat free country and rationality isn’t a prerequiiste to voting.
PN in #12; most all leftists (I don’t like to use the word liberal, because it has been bastardized in meaning from the original) react/think emotionally, not logically. I’m sure many will disagree, however, I have witnessed it for many years. They try and twist everything in order to make it appear they are being logical, when in fact, they are being relativists. Show a baby seal face while bitching about global warming and all the lefties start bawling. Tell me I’m wrong. Show beautiful pictures of scenic mountains and furry creatures in ANWR (the lower part, not the desolate part on the North Shore where the drilling will actually occur) and claim that big oil wants to drill right there; and the lefties and enviro-nuts lose their fricken minds and start bawling.
They are driven by emotion and that’s how they vote, also; by emotion.
Seriously, what did you expect from a country that puts more thought into who to vote off American Idol than who to cast a ballot for President?
That’s a perfectly good explanation but it explains the depth of consideration one gives for choosing a shirt, not a president.
I like to present it in the following manner: your child needs a life preserving surgery….who do you want to perform it, the 65 year old surgeon who has been behind the scalpel for 30+ years or George Clooney who played a surgeon on tv?
2-17AirCav, if you think I didn’t give my vote any consideration then you are wrong. I watched the debates where McCain backpedaled and was reactionary towards anything Obama said. McCain didn’t have an original idea in his campaign and was pretty weak for a potential president of this country. Then there was Palin, who I wasn’t and still am still not a fan of. Fire and brimstone don’t play well in my boom and I cringed (and still do) whenever she is in front of the camera. Today I can honestly say that if I knew back then what I do today, I wouldn’t have voted for Obama, but I didn’t. I can also tell you this though, if Palin does decide to take a crack at republican nomination and actually gets it, the republican party will have handed Obama another 4 years.
2-17AirCav, I understand that you are trying to goad me into some sort of outburst, but it’s not going to happen. I was wrong, plain and simple and I wont make that mistake again.
I was wrong, plain and simple and I wont make that mistake again.
Here’s the thing, I have no problem with people who took a look at both McCain and Obama’s positions and made a ideological decision to vote for Teleprompter Jebus. The big “fuck you” I reserve for people who bought the soaring speeches, joined the swooning throngs of supporters, ignored the absentia media vetting, embraced the empty ‘hope’ and ‘change’ tropes, discounted the endless parade of genuine radicals associated with Candidate Zero and swore that 99% of opposition to this empty suit was all racial bias…all the while, patting themselves on the back for being on the “correct side of history” on this election. If you’re in the former pack, all I fault you for is being ideologically blind, if you’re in the latter…well.
#25 John C: From your post above, I’d say you are a very reasonable man, and it took some fortitude to come on here and admit you voted for Obama, and owning up to a mistake. I tend to vote person, not party, so my voting record is a mixed bag. I voted for McCain, and had serious misgivings about doing that, but I knew that I didn’t trust Obama…so there I was, doing what I hate: voting for the lesser of two evils. And so it goes.
@NHSparky – “Seriously, what did you expect from a country that puts more thought into who to vote off American Idol than who to cast a ballot for President?”
Amen.
Anyone who didn’t think that a vote for Obama was a vote for increasing the size and scope of government and encouraging the cycle of dependency, is a fool. Unfortunately, it’s a gamble as to the same not happening with another GOP administration.
Obama started with enough substantive negatives, where emotional and subjective arguments weren’t even necessary. But although I’m not in the voting booth or the minds of individual voters, charges of citizenship, religion, patriotism or what this opponents Pastor said [while discarding what the other candidates Pastor said] is all unpersuasive background noise.
No, John, I wasn’t trying to goad you into anything. Like that good elephant, I meant what I said and I said what I meant and that’s about all there was to it. Like most every thinking person in this country, I’ve had my fill of the imam. That he is the Commander in Chief makes me wretch. To the extent that I am given the opportunity to vent my spleen about that disgrace, I do it. Your comment happened to be one of those opportunities. I am glad that will be considering other candidates and that, perhaps, you learned a thing or two. Sometimes, this shit is for real.
Speaking of ‘for real’, what ‘Imam’ all about?
I have every confidence that you will figure it out. Want to engage? Go for it. I’m in the mood.
Oh please…..walk me down the logic trail on this one, since Obama’s neither a Muslim nor a religious leader.
Just another tepidly humorous cutesy name like ‘the One’?
I take that for a no.
I suppose you’ll take that however you’re capable of. I asked for a simple explanation and received none.
“Just another tepidly humorous cutesy name like ‘the One’?”
This
CI in #28: The clearest indicator of his forthcoming incompetence as a leader was shown when Russia invaded Georgia. McCain came out and made a statement immediately and appeared very much the Presidential candidate while Obama took 3 days and consulting with many advisors before making a statement that seemed rather milquetoast in delivery and meaning. Of course, anyone that had paid attention to his background would have seen that coming since he voted “present” 143 times in the Illinois senate. The guy couldn’t lead a horse to water.
@ Old Trooper – I’m not defending Obama’s excuse for leadership in the least. I wouldn’t make him Den Mother for Cub Scouts.
I likewise have no issue with McCain’s statement on Georgia. But McCain also had the luxury of making statements he didn’t have to account for by way of policy.
ALLEN WEST/CHRIS CHRISTIE IN 2012!!
Someone said, if you voted for Obama because you wanted the first black president, I can respect that. If you voted for him because you didn’t like Bush or McCain, I can also respect that, but if you voted for him because of “Hope and Change” you got exactly what you you wanted. You have no right to complain. Times have “changed”, they are now at least three times as worse as they were under Bush.
Most of his policies both domestic and foreign have or are failures. The one stellar success, the death of Bin Laden, will always be partly tainted for him politically, because it was predicated on procedures he opposed. Whenever he leaves office he will be one of the few presidents who may have to admit, that things are worse now then when he came in. In large part a direct result of the policies he enacted.
Someone above mentioned if his policies had succeeded, the press who have lionised him as the liberal Reagan. There was absolutely no chance of that remotely happening. Image, showmanship, charisma, have to be enforced or upheld with substance and this Reagan had with spades. Somethings are concrete and can’t be spun. Anyone who had his head out of the “Great Awakening” of the 2008 campaign, for just a moment, could see this. Only the press/intelligency couldn’t, because their objectivity was compromised.
Would have to disagree with the jumping off point for the argument that his policies have been a failure!
Consider that he was trained from birth to believe every iota of the leftist crap about America. And that he managed to accomplish more in a few months than the lefties had in the previous 40 years. (Granted, they had set things up beautifully for it all.)
We call his policies failures because we see them as destructive to our Constitution and everything we believe about this country. However, since he has accomplished so many of the goals of the international socialist/communist/Marxist elite, I must consider him to be highly successful.
It’s only Buyer’s Remorse when the buyer buys something else the next time the opportunity comes up.
What bothers me is that so many of the GOP stay strictly on message about Obama:
When Obama’s membership in The New Party (an offshoot of the Communist Party USA) – GOPers were quick to say that’s just conspiracy talk.
Obama’s eloquence as an extemporaneous speaker: with so many transition words and pauses, he couldn’t have passed HS Speech – but GOPers call that racist.
When Obama’s record of handling the finances of the Annenburg Foundation in Chicago came to light (he wrote million dollar cheques to his friends, including communists and avowed terrorists, instead of using the cash to make a positive impact in education) – GOPers whimpered and whine like a whipped dog, running away rhetorically as fast as their keyboards could carry them.
When Obama’s presence in Reverend Wright’s church of hatred came to light, GOPers refused to examine the excuse that Obama just sat there – and absorbed absolutely nothing. This may actually be true: with all the feedback he’s received since his inauguration, he hasn’t changed once. Which means beyond his ideology, he isn’t in the slightest bit intellectually curious.
All of this information was available before the election. He was a communist, enriched his friends with other people’s money (and nothing to show for it), and has the smoothest brain in the bunch.