2.5 weeks and I'm seeing people all over the place (not necessarily just DKos) saying President Obama has failed. Really? Let's put this into perspective. In two weeks President Obama has (all info from Whitehouse.gov unless otherwise stated):
* [Called] for the closure of the Guantanamo detention center within one year
* [Created] a Special Task Force to review detainee policy going forward
* [Ensured] lawful interrogations by requiring that all interrogations of detainees in armed conflict follow the Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines
* Signed executive orders regarding Presidential Records
* Signed ethics reform for the executive branch
* Signed the
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law
* Signed
CHIP legislation into law
* Created a
Middle Class Task Force
*
Signed a memorandum instructing U.S. Aid to be sent to Gaza
* Laid out
new rules for companies receiving federal aid
* Set out new
efficiency standards to get us headed towards energy independence
* Got the ball rolling on the
White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (which DOESN'T discriminate against ANY religion or lack thereof)
* Created an
Economic Advisory Board
His cabinet is pretty much complete, and it's been a smooth and quick process minus a few bumps from earlier in this week.
He found time to go visit a charter school and spend some time talking about education (which is often ignored more than I'd like)
He even had a freakin' bipartisan SuperBowl Party
President Obama has been running FULL STEAM AHEAD since he was inaugurated. He's been to Capitol Hill to live up to his pledge of working with Republicans. Hell, I think I've heard of him meeting with Republicans more than I've heard of him meeting with Democrats.
One more thing he did that Bush didn't do in 8 YEARS was admit when he MADE A MISTAKE. He took accountability for what many deemed poor judgment with respect to a couple of appointments.
So when I turn on the TV between playing Wii, playing around on DKos and doing law school stuff, I can't help but be shocked, amazed, and offended when I hear people like Chris Matthews, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Joe Scarborough, etc. saying that he's going to be a failure if the Jobs Recovery Act doesn't get through today or this weekend. To borrow a phrase from the Clintons: GIVE ME A [FUCKING] BREAK! President Obama is NOT a Senator any longer. He shouldn't have to do anything other than make the request! Congress is supposedly full of adults who should know how to get shit done by now. Even with all of the stuff that we KNOW President Obama has to do, and all of the stuff we DON'T know he has to do, he's still found the time to hold the hands of Congress on both sides to try to get something done to rehabilitate what's left of our economy. How would that be President Obama's failure? He can't write the damn thing himself, there's a little thing called checks and balances.
I think it's great that there is debate on something this big, but the coverage has been lopsided. And don't give me that crap about Republicans being better at taking over a message, there have been a couple of Dems who have done a damn good job when they are actually given a chance.
From what I see, President Obama has done FAR more in less than three weeks than Former President Bush did in 8 years! Well, far more GOOD anyway.
I think President Obama has been very gracious and shown the patience of a Saint to have not cussed out everyone in Congress at this point.
So I'm proud of all that he's gotten done to this point (and I'm sure I missed some stuff in this diary), and I'm looking forward to 4-8 more years of it. He did what he said he was going to do. He listened to all sides, he implemented the rational Republicans ideas and scrapped some of the Democratic ideas that didn't seem to be all that hot.
Like President Obama said, he inherited this mess, lets give him more than a month to clean it all up!
Thanks for reading :o)
UPDATE: I said I'd miss some stuff. LOL, from the comments:
From soms:
what about limiting nuclear arms and stopping DEA raids on medical marijuana and reversing most of all Bush EPA rules and adding wolves to endangered species list and canceling Bush drilling licenses and removing the freeze on stem cell research??
From jj32:
And two more good things today pro-labor executive order, and reversing a Bush decision on mercury pollution.
From Pluto:
Obama called for an international ban against weapons in space and intends to pursue this through the UN.
From tommurphy:
He updated the Freedom of Information Act
If you guys have more stuff that I missed, just reply to the tip jar and leave it as a comment, provide a link if you can :o)
Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, he ALSO finds time to spend time with his daughters and tuck them in at night. :o)