No.

km

Well, he's President, not dictator. He tried to move the Guantanamo detainees to the US and have them tried in civilian courts but was pretty resoundingly shot-down by Congress, which does, after all, have a say in such things. So his policy was one thing, he wasn't able to implement it, so now it's another policy adapted to that reality =)


I'm unaware of a policy endorsing Israeli occupation or settlements thereon, although I will agree there's still way too much of a geopolitical "Israel can do no wrong" mindset as far as things like US vetoes in the UN go. Regardless, I imagine Obama's inability to dictate Israeli policy largely stems from the fact he's not in charge of their government ;-)


If you're looking for confusing Obama policy, I'd suggest one of the more disappointing to me: his refusal to even consult Congress much less get its Constitutionally-mandated approval before committing the US to conflict in Lybia. That assumes Executive power beyond even Bush-era levels, which is saying something.

Neither am I a big fan of Obama's failure to even investigate, much less prosecute, possible war crimes in the form of torture sanctioned by members of the previous administration -- which to me sends a terrible message that, yes, some people are above the law even when they appear to violate it in front of the world.

I have a longer list, but don't get me wrong, I still support Obama because despite these disagreements I have with him, he's done a lot of good which in my mind outweighs the bad -- and he's still far and away the best choice of the options we appear to have at this point ...

The United States is not Isreal so, that needs to be taken up with Isreal's leaders, not us. There are 3 things that could make Obama the greatest president ever.

1) End the wars.
2) Get our economy strong again.
3) Get unemployment back to 5% or less.

I have a tea party friend of mine on Facebook named William Thomas Healy. I have argued a lot with him on facebook. He says that our current unemployment numbers don't factor in the people who have given up looking for a job. I'm sure he gets that info from a website somewhere. I say the numbers are what they are because that's what has been used forever in unemployment figures. I mention this guy's name because he thinks Obama hates our country and spews all kind of crap. Along with some decent ideas from time to time if you want to look him up and argue with him on facebook.

Just yesterday he posted that he just got an email from Obama that he's running for president again. He said he can't wait to vote him out. Not even knowing who will be running against him.

Why? What does it matter what my opinion of a Republic is?

From Wiki/United States/.... the very first line.

United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district.

Disclaimer: I am a registered Dem.

Indeed those policies also seem confusing ... so are you saying that Obama was constrained by Congress in vetoing our decision to condemn the settlements? There we were all thinking he had joined the Likud party and scratching our heads trying to work out how he could believe his endorsement of such flagrant contraventions of international law to be in US interests.

km

Nope -- fortunately Congress isn't Constitutionally empowered to conduct foreign policy. You can thank the absurdly influential pro-Israel lobbies in this country and the US' historical blind support of that country for the shameless vetoes the US keeps finding itself making on Israel's behalf ...

I agree with much of what you said.

his refusal to even consult Congress much less get its Constitutionally-mandated approval before committing the US to conflict in Lybia. That assumes Executive power beyond even Bush-era levels, which is saying something.

My understanding is that it is an executive order - no need for congress at all. Also it is called a Humanitarian Mission mandated by the UN - > its not a conflict.

A talking head brought up a good point on this matter - Only WWII had congress vote to go to war.

Vietnam, Korea, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Panama all were executive order. Congress was only needed to vote on the funding.

It was... but in the great big whole wide world he's on his own with no apparent benefit.

km

I have argued a lot with him on facebook. He says that our current unemployment numbers don't factor in the people who have given up looking for a job. I'm sure he gets that info from a website somewhere.

Your friend is 100% correct - Also the UI figures only count (first time filers) I been on UI twice, this means I was only counted once. The UI figures don't take into account for new jobs that are supposed to be created each month somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 - Also the UI figures does not count (first time job seekers) such as the hundreds of thousands of college students who graduate and cannot find jobs, this goes the same for people who graduated from high school and are to looking for work.

Simply Those UI figure are only from people who had a job and filed for benefits the first time <-- Thats it. So really the true number is really much much higher.