Barrack Obama (Betas Only)

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

I guess he's a 6. I agree with almost everything he says in fact, it seems like he repeats a lot of what I think. So I just think he's sort of a person with above average intellect and not much else. I think he's just a person who is as smart as everyone of us here.

I guess what pisses me off is that, with all the political heads ranting and raving and going on and on about shit and the latest drama scare tactics of the week, the actual core world has actually changed very little. If I go out in society and just....live life, America is still the same Te-valuing, enneagram 3-valuing, extroverted-valuing, career-orientated, cover-up-your-feelings-for-the-sake-of-productivity nation that is always was. OMG HE ACTUALLY HAS A UNIQUE EMOTION, GIVE HIM A PROZAC SO HE CAN BE OUR SLAVE!

So 'Change We Can Believe In' is more like Change We Can Stick Up Our Asses. Because in all truth things change very, very slowly- so slowly you don't realize them, despite all the ranting and raving. All the political BS talk is like just some mind control trick to keep people in place and stuck so they can control you better. The more you meditate and calm the shit down and go through life without any attachments, the more the illusions sort of all melt away and you can see more of how reality really is.

The economy isn't even really that much different. It's all sort of a ruse. I mean seriously, it's the exact same society as it was years ago. And Obama's empty threats at 'taking down the big shots at Wall Street' is very pathetic, just an obvious ploy to keep the sheeple in line.

All these naive middle class people talking about the economy are not knowing what they're talking about and watching stocks and just, going on about things when they don't know what they're talking about, it's just so sad. They're only being their own worst enemies and they don't even care, because they're attracted to the drama of it all. It's just BORING to me though. I never want to hear the word 'economy' again.

[Ezra]

I think he's a better man than he is a president, probably through no fault of his own. He's an EIE, and they're good orators, good at getting people to follow them into battle etc., but at the heart of it, they have way more idealism than practicality. I really do think getting LIEs to run countries is a good idea. Preferably with morally rigorous ESI wives.

[Gilly]

He is not a fucking EIE. Go to hell.

[crazedrat]

The economy is the same - and that is a miracle. If you knew anything about the economic crisis you would realize that. 2 years ago, by all expert opinions, the dollar should have been completely worthless by now.

[silverchris9]

The economy is the same - and that is a miracle. If you knew anything about the economic crisis you would realize that. 2 years ago, by all expert opinions, the dollar should have been completely worthless by now.

But not really the president's miracle, I don't think. The path was dictated, essentially, by the Bush administration (once you start stimulus packages, you're not going to stop), and then... I mean, Obama made the car czar thing happen. I guess he didn't make any major missteps in the immediate handling of the crisis, unless you believe doing the stimulus at all was a mistake, and if it was a mistake, it certainly wasn't a mistake that was going to be corrected when a rather far right Republican left office for a rather far left Democrat who somehow seems like a centrist. And as for the long term consequences of the regulatory bill, well, I'll leave that for historians or myself-in-ten-to-twenty-years to determine.

[Creepy-Pied Piper]

Removed at User Request

[discojoe]

He is one of the worst, most out-of-touch presidents we have ever had, and his presidency seem like it has merely galvanized the conservative ideology against liberalism and will possibly result in conservative domination of Washington for the next couple of decades.

[Gilly]

He is one of the worst, most out-of-touch presidents we have ever had, and his presidency seem like it has merely galvanized the conservative ideology against liberalism and will possibly result in conservative domination of Washington for the next couple of decades.

This is probably too extreme...I think he is enough of a populist that he will most likely be forced into doing at least a few redeeming things during his presidency, maybe pull a Jimmy Carter and end the Iraq War in the last 24 hours of his term or some shit.

[discojoe]

Decent person, heart seems to be in the right place, a visionary, amazing charisma, inflated ego, seems emotionally driven from his past. Not an ideal leader, imo.

He is emotionally vacant to the point that it's disturbing to listen to him talk. I don't see how you can make any determination about his heart other than that he has none, but is rather a soulless automaton.

[UDP]

Decent person, heart seems to be in the right place, a visionary, amazing charisma, inflated ego, seems emotionally driven from his past. Not an ideal leader, imo.

I wonder if one must be in touch with his past and use it somehow in order to really pursue goals with any fervor.

FWIW the pursuit of goals obviously has more impact on their realization than the "legitimacy" or "goodness" of them.

[silverchris9]

I don't really have a sense of what he's doing as a policymaker, if anything (but I certainly don't think he has any less influence on policy than George Bush Jr. did). But as a politician, as a public figure, I rate hm at least a 7. He's charismatic and obviously intelligent. That said, I really cannot tell what actual influence he has on policy except as someone who a) has some control over his own staff (he seems like a fairly effective leader in that regard), and b) can stand on a platform and say, "The American People(tm) want THIS!" And I think that is an important and useful role.

Speaking of the role of the President historically, that's been kind of a funny path. Because we've spent 200 years giving the President more power every year, practically, and it's as if by giving the President all the powers, we've given him no powers, because it's impossible for one human being to possibly to do everything that the Office of the President is theoretically supposed to do. But he has to look like he does everything. And the only way to look like you do everything is to actually do nothing, or at least, comparatively little. But don't I think he's absolutely a puppet... like I said, no more than Bush, and not much more than Bill Clinton.

As a person, I bet Obama's a really smart guy. I don't know if we'd be bffs for ever and ever and ever, but I bet he'd be good to have a conversation with.