The Real Problem With Americans and Their Disrespect for Obama According to a Canadian

I don't remember the edict that stated I had to like or respect anyone.

President or barista at the local Star-freakin-bucks!

It doesn't matter and is none of anyone's business who I like/dislike, respect or disrespect.

My feelings and reasons are my own and I owe no-one a bloody explanation as to why I express myself in any way or fashion!

Having respect for the leader of your country does not mean you have to agree with everything he's said or done. What bothers me is all the low-blow name calling that goes on, towards ANY President. Calling him Obummer or Obola -- calling Michelle "Manchelle" - referring to her as a gorilla -- that's just uncalled for.

I totally disagreed with the way Bush ran our country, but I never stooped so low as to join in on the mean-spirited and disrespectful name calling.

Disagree with the politics/policies. Protest what you don't like. But the nasty name calling is so.... middle school. I hate it.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: macman
No...Most despise him because of his policies.

Maybe I'm using the wrong word and I actually mean policies. Can you list a few policies you hate in relation to him?

Continuation of Fast and Furious. Push for infringement of 2nd. 0bamacare. Govt take over of College loans.

The list can go on and on.

Exactly.Respect should be earned,and true respect and even reverence Can only ever Be Earned,anything else would be like shallow mindless celebrity worship.The Canadian woman should speak for herself,she obviously does'nt have a clue what she's talking about,if she really is convinced that the rest of the world envies America for having Obama as president.

I know for a fact many South Africans see him as a joke-and I know for a fact that many South Africans would be insulted to see him compared to Mandela.In my own mind,as a South African,I feel the exact opposite of envy for Americans,not just for having Obama as president,but the Bushes too.Clinton was'nt exactly respectworthy either,imo.Seeing this woman is focusing on Obama,I shall focus my comment on him-and the best I personally can say about him,is that I find hom handsome.The rest of my feelings and perceptions of and about the man is very negative indeed,so I can just conclude that the Canadian woman is projecting her own feelings onto the rest of the world.Although many may agree with her,I'd bet the farm that most don't.
a reply to: seeker1963

a reply to: lostbook

Regardless of whether a President is like, loved or hated I believe the congress and House should show respect to the office. With this president I noticed from the beginning of his term, they were not saying Mr. president they simply said Obama, I had never seen this before constantly from other politicians and the newscasters.

This is simply a fact I noted it from day one and I have no ball in this court!

originally posted by: seeker1963
a reply to: lostbook

Just because someone is the head of a country doesn't mean they deserve respect!

Respect is something that is earned by actions not a title....

The Office of President needs to be shown respect if we wish to retain respect toward our country.

a reply to: lostbook

Well now... this statement seems rather... ill advised, or worse ill informed. No doubt, Obama took on a total horrorshow when he took office, and one might say that his presidency has been negatively affected by the state of things that he found when he first arrived in the White House.

One might also say that the only person in the United States of America who has no right to make excuses, is the President of the country, and I would happen to agree with that statement. God knows that Romney was a toxic son of twelve bastards, and I do not think that anyone in their right mind would have said he was the better choice, but the fact of the matter is, that Obama has allowed things to happen on his watch, which should not be happening at all.

PRISM, should not exist, the IRS should not be able to "loose" emails, the NSA should not be able to "loose" un-redacted UFO documents, and the police in the United States sure as hell ought not be able to get away with nearly as much total corruption and wrong doing as they do. Further to that, his policies on medical matters, while well intentioned, were butchered by congress, and as such he should have taken them off the table, rather than allow the adulterated, and frankly broken version of them, to be passed.

I believe that the Presidency is an institution which deserves respect, but I think that individuals who attain that position ought to earn respect by acheivement, and although I would be the first person to welcome a left leaning leader of a nation, any nation, over a right leaning one, Obama has not done nearly enough to re-balance the gap between rich and poor, he has not done enough to provide security AND liberty to the citizenry, or for that matter dealt with the corporations with a firm enough hand to be worthy of respect for himself, or the institution of the Presidency of the United States of America.

Now, before people get all bent out of shape about that statement, I want to clarify what I mean. He is by no means the worlds worst leader, and there are many nations which have worse ones. I would say that my own country is run by much worse specimens than Obama. Frankly I would not urinate on my Prime Minister, in order to extinguish him in the "unfortunate" event of his suddenly being on fire. However, the topic of this thread is Mr Obama, and saying that he is better than this leader, or worse than that leader, is not a sensible way to look at the matter.

The only way to look at matters like these, which makes any sense to me, is to objectively observe the realities of what has happened during the term of a President, or any other world leader for that matter, to see how things are progressing. With respect to the Canadian who issued the statement which lead to the creation of this thread, one cannot, even from a socialist point of veiw, observe the activities of Mr Obama, and the progress of the United States of America since he took office, and be anything other than sorely dismayed at the lack of proper initiative.

So, in short, leaders must earn respect from their people, and despite the protestations of various commentators including this Canadian woman, Obama really has not earned respect commensurate with his position. He could have, if he had curtailed the power of the NSA, beaten the living hell out of the congress for being such a bunch of feckless, reckless and utterly useless wastes of genetic material, and actually championed the issues which the people were interested in dealing with, but he did not, and he was the only one who had any power to do so. That is why people bad mouth him. Living, as I do, in a nation which also sports a totally ineffective and downright dastardly bunch of bastards in its leadership cadre, I empathise entirely with those who speak ill of Mr Obama, or at least, those who speak ill of him, despite having views which echo those he claimed to hold before becoming president, and proved he had no time for during his presidency.

I'm gonna have to say that the Obama hate is definitely rooted in racism. I remember when he was first elected and hadn't even entered office yet and people would say things like "I can't believe people voted for that "ni**er".

Before people flip out with saying how they're not racist and he's done bad things in office let me remind you that racism is not just hating a particular race KKK or Hitler style. I've watched people hang out and be really nice to a minority and then # talk when they leave. My own sister clutches her purse tighter when a black guy is nearby and she's definitely not hateful.

The fact that so many people forget he's half white and call him a Muslim because of his name is a pretty solid indicator of the racism. I just wish Americans would stop pretending we are so progressive. Putting black people in jail for life for pot is an improvement over lynch mobs but racism is far from dead here.

The OP speaks of Mandela. I really wish America would have a truth and reconciliation. We need it badly.

I can understand how some countries would see our president as an angel with a halo, and others can see him as a demon fool.

As for Americans, they should always be able to feel however they want to about the president.

As for Canada, Americans don't need to advice from monarchists. We are fine. Besides, they vote for people who are true junkies. The Ford brothers ... oh boy.

Thanks for your response.

originally posted by: macman
Continuation of Fast and Furious.

Interesting that we never heard anything about Fast and Furious during the Bush years... To be fair, I don't really understand Fast and Furious, but I do know that it started before Obama, yet he's the only one who receives flak about it.

Push for infringement of 2nd.

IF that were true, it's a Dem policy thing. Truth is, before he was president, he pushed for gun restrictions, but since his presidency began, he has pushed no legislation proposals to infringe on 2nd Amendment rights. In fact, he has actually expanded gun rights during his presidency, like carrying firearms in National Parks and on Amtrak trains. Hate him for that or not, but he hasn't pushed to infringe on the 2nd amendment. He's smarter than that.

0bamacare.

I don't like Obamacare either, but probably for different reasons. Still, just because I disagree with the man doesn't mean I despise him...

Govt take over of College loans.

I think that's a good thing. It's going to save money. I don't see it as a reason to hate someone... To each his own.

Obama worked hard to deserve that disrespect. Don't be taking the thunder away.

Just don't say the name "Sarah Palin".

lolz

a reply to: Krazysh0t

He got the nobel peace prize for being elected (that's it). He acts like a child when he doesn't get his way, and he has stirred up more racial tensions than we've had in 30 or 40 years. Obama can go suck a lemon.

I disagree on both points.

1. It's not a secret that the night of Obama's inauguration, there was a private dinner where more than a dozen GOP congressmen and policy makers including Cantor, Sessions, DeMint, Frank Luntz and Newt Gingrich devised a flat out obstructionist strategy. They didn't win the election so they decided to unilaterally oppose everything? Yet there's this meme that Obama "acts like a child when he doesn't get his way?" What would you call the GOP strategy of running the legislative process into the ground to the detriment of the US and her citizens in what has ultimately been a successful attempt to gain control of both houses of Congress?

I'm not saying that Obama is anything special or that he hasn't had overreaches but I'm also not going to pretend to be oblivious to the fact that no President has started off with the deck so completely stacked against him as this one either.

2. The racial tension that you're ascribing to Obama doesn't stem from his own actions and it started even before he was elected. Would you say that last year's Miss America stirred up racial tensions? All she did was have the nerve to be of Indian descent.

As early as 2007, Obama was being accused of being BOTH a black power radical of the Christian variety (Rev. Wright) and a Kenyan Muslim Manchurian candidate (birthers, etc). Remember the rioting at Ole Miss after the 2012 election? Did Obama make a bunch of racist tweets after being reelected?

He's often called a "Chicago thug" right? You don't think that people associate Chicago with black on black crime and how long has it been since the term "thug" was popularly used for anyone other than black criminals? Even the "community organizer" dig has been cultivated because it strikes an emotional chord among people who sincerely believe that one of the biggest impediments to "American exceptionalism" are lazy blacks on welfare. You know, those people that got Obama elected because he gives them things like the infamous Obama phone (even though the actual program predates Obama by 10 years).

I really hate looking like I'm defending Obama. In my opinion, he's just another neoliberal front man for the oligarchy and not even a fraction of the left-winger that he's made out to be. That doesn't mean that the right hasn't completely lost its s# either. On the topic of memes, there's one that in my opinion illustrates more than others exactly how ridiculous the scapegoating of Obama has gotten: Thanks Obama! The right blaming Obama for everything is so commonplace that it's become a joke.

Well at least he hasn't been bowing to anyone lately . Remember when he was first elected, I think he bowed to just about every world leader he meet .

originally posted by: JohnnyCanuck

originally posted by: network dude
He is a Chicago thug with a pretty speaking voice, who just happened to be shoved down our throats as president.

Gee...and I thought he was elected by your fellow Americans.
Quick edit to add the word twice.

They sure fooled you. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, were all picked years ago. It is nice that "they" provide polling stations to make you feel better about the whole thing.

Coming soon to a country near you. Clinton in the white house again. 1st woman president! Just after the 1st black president. America sure is amazing!

I have nothing at all to back up anything I have said. It's all opinion.
But do look for Clinton then Jeb Bush.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
LOL. There has never been more disrespect for a President than for Bush Jr. Obama gets a free pass on just about everything from the media and Democrats.

Obama has gotten more death threats than any other President. If you think Obama gets a free pass on everything you really need to start paying more attention to what is really going on.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

ATF gunwalking started in 2006 with Operation Wide Receiver. There's been no new restriction on gun ownership under Obama. The ACA is basically a Republican plan to subsidize insurance companies and not only does it differ little from "RomneyCare" but in fact, Paul Ryan's plan in 2012 bore some striking resemblances.

When you slice through the rhetoric, the differences are a lot smaller than people are led to believe. US politics doesn't have a left-wing party so a lot of effort is put into exaggerating the differences to make the less conservative party seem like it is one.

originally posted by: MX61000
One minute people say Obama and every president is controlled by a secret group, the next minute people blame everything on him. It can't be both. So I guess presidents are fall guys.

Well said, the voice of reason. I think it's fair to say that Obama just didn't have the people in bed with him that are needed to run government..that includes congress who behaved like children, (apologies to all the kids) and the government closed down.
Of course Obama turned out quite ruthless too, didn't he give the order to seek out, and bump off OBL...DIDN'T HE?
I found that episode very revealing, it should have had all Americans, Democrats and Republicans kissing and hugging one another, but it didn't really happen like that. I guess it was the wrong President that ended OBL's days, WASN'T IT?

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

Interesting that we never heard anything about Fast and Furious during the Bush years... To be fair, I don't really understand Fast and Furious, but I do know that it started before Obama, yet he's the only one who receives flak about it.

When Bush ran it the name wasn't fast and furious the name was operation wide receiver.
Earlier ATF gun operation ‘Wide Receiver’ used same tactics as ‘Fast and Furious’
Obama got more flack for it because FOX wouldn't dare to show a Republican President in a bad light but Obama is a Democrat so he was fair game.

Truth is, before he was president, he pushed for gun restrictions, but since his presidency began, he has pushed no legislation proposals to infringe on 2nd Amendment rights. In fact, he has actually expanded gun rights during his presidency, like carrying firearms in National Parks and on Amtrak trains. Hate him for that or not, but he hasn't pushed to infringe on the 2nd amendment. He's smarter than that.

You won't be able to get the FOX and Rush followers to believe this they say he is against guns so he's against guns. Obama received an F from the Brady foundation this translates into him being one of the best things to happen to gun owners.

a reply to: caterpillage

Lol,I would take a coma patient in trade for obama.