Dem Pollster Pat Caddell: "I have lived this nightmare"

[President von Cat]

Hello, all. I'm a lurker, but the relentless jet stream of bullsh**t emanating from Ohio has compelled me to register.

Name one accomplishment? I'll give you ten, good sir.

1. Passed comprehensive health reform
2. Saved the American automobile industry, and with it the entire Midwest.
3. Successfully/responsibly scaled down and then ended the War in Iraq, as promised
4. Passed major financial reform
5. Stopped the US economy from falling off a cliff in early 2009, leading to net job creation by mid-2009
6. Turned around the war in Afghanistan
7. Killed Osama Bin laden
8. Prevented mass murder/genocide/human rights catastrophe in Libya
9. Successfully isolated Iran diplomatically, gaining assistance from Russia and China
10. Restored America's image around the world

Anyway, there's no need for liberals to panic about Obama's re-election prospects. Its going to be a tough fight, and he's going to lose some states that he won in 2008. But I'm still optimistic that he's going to get across the finish line. The last thing the left should do is start panicking.

[President von Cat]

1. Passed comprehensive health reform
2. Saved the American automobile industry, and with it the entire Midwest.
3. Successfully/responsibly scaled down and then ended the War in Iraq, as promised
4. Passed major financial reform
5. Stopped the US economy from falling off a cliff in early 2009, leading to net job creation by mid-2009
6. Turned around the war in Afghanistan
7. Killed Osama Bin laden
8. Prevented mass murder/genocide/human rights catastrophe in Libya
9. Successfully isolated Iran diplomatically, gaining assistance from Russia and China
10. Restored America's image around the world

Your average joe doesn't believe half of those to be accomplishments,  namely, 5, 6, 9, and 10.. The koolaid drinkers might, but he has that vote wrapped up.

Yes well, the Republicans wouldn't know a nuanced foreign policy if it bit them in the ass. Based on what I saw the Republican debates, foreign policy is best summed us "HULK ANGRY! HULK SMASH!!".  Might never equals right, as we saw well enough during Mr. 43's first term.

And yes, I had DADT repeal on there, but then editing the list I erased it and forgot to add it back. A huge mistake on my part. What made the DADT repeal even more significant is that the President managed to get the military establishment to back it before it went up for a vote. That is impressive leadership. That, plus START, are twelve accomplishments the president can run on.

And yeah, all of them are "debatable". Half of the accomplishments that Reaganfan wrote for Bush '04 are debatable too. But the fact is, we were losing 700,000 jobs when Obama took office, and we added 100,000 last month. Its not nearly fast enough, but to call that failure is just an intentional demonstration of short-term memory loss.

[President von Cat]

Welcome to the forum! Without further ado:

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Which strengthened and monopolized entrenched corporate interests even more than the current system.

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At the cost of the rest of the US and, if you look far ahead enough, the rest of the world.

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It isn't ended, it just isn't reported on and is on a smaller scale. For all the down scaling in Iraq there have been surges in Afghanistan.

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Which is going to do absolutely nothing to stop the impending crisis from occurring. If anything, the reforms that have been implemented will only serve to make things worse, seeing as how they deal with the effect (Large banks and insurance companies playing fast and loose with other people's money regardless of risk) rather than the cause (A mess of regulations and incentives, heavy interventions by the Federal Reserve, removal of moral hazard).

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At the cost of the US economy of the future (Read: the present day) being in far worse shape than in 2009 and getting worse. The previous recession was occurring with most economies being in fairly good shape; the current one is occurring with the US riding a line between stagflation, depression and hyperinflation, the Eurozone beginning to crumble from the mess that is the European banking system, China's growth falling noticeably alongside steep inflation increases, and Japan being in a state of renewed decline alongside failure to out-print Ben Bernanke. Yeah, I think we should have allowed the correction to occur in 2009, back when the US was still on top.

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The only difference I have noticed is that it is now the focus of the "War on Terror" as opposed to Iraq.

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The first thing that can even be considered an accomplishment, and considering the cost of doing so (America's reputation, economic strength, expenditure of resources), it wasn't really worth it.

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No, he just made it so the US approved guys were the ones committing the genocide and murder. If the Libyan rebels were noble and looking to implement real democracy like in Egypt at first, they certainly aren't anymore. The war in Libya is less and less resembling a war of liberation and more and more resembling old fashioned regime change to ensure the safety of the oil supply.

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Is this a good thing? A desperate man is far more likely to go postal than a man with options.

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I suppose it is better than it was with Bush, but that isn't that much of an achievement. He certainly hasn't made the US popular at all.

Sheesh! With Democrats like you, who needs Republicans?

How exactly did saving the automobile industry cost the rest of the world its future?

A draw-down in Iraq was promised, many times, a surge in Afghanistan was also promised, many times. What were you expecting?

As far as your "correction" is concerned, well, I'm sorry, but I'll never accept that it was better for the US to enter a 10+ year depression rather than  get it over the worst of it in less than six months but then have to endure a 5 year, painfully slow recovery. The stimulus bill essentially pressed the "fast-forward" button for the worst parts of an economic depression.

Also, what the heck is the "line" between stagflation, hyperinflation and depression? Does this make sense to anyone else at all?

By stagflation, I'm assuming you mean "stagnation" + "inflation", which makes your "hyperinflation" term a little redundant. Honestly though, whether you meant stagflation or hyperinflation is beside the point because both are completely off the mark with regards to what our economy is suffering from, which is a lack of demand and a deflationary spiral.

[President von Cat]

I have thought up another accomplishment for Obama to add to his list:

Helped secure compensation for economic damages and losses after an avaricious oil company polluted the Gulf of Mexico.