Why do some Americans hate Obama (educate the Canadian here)

Because the politics in our country is driven by extremely vitriolic and extremely opposing media “news” coverage from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, MSNBC, Huffington Report, etc…. These companies have made their fortunes on turning “news” into excitement and fooling millions into believing the ridiculously exaggerated stories they put forth in order to up their ratings.

It’s the same concept of how a local news broadcast might bait you into watching the next segment before it goes to break “It’s in your house right now, and it could kill you!!” ..... Except it’s “What has the president done now!? Tune in at 6 to see how he could be killing millions of jobs!!” Using this mentality they have corrupted millions of people into thinking they’re watching news. When in fact all they’re watching is bullsh*t.

You see this same crap regardless of who’s president, at the moment though it’s just the conservatives, who have been even more stupid than usual lately.

For the same reason so many people hate Bush, just the other side of the coin.

Mostly they hate him because he is a Democrat and leans liberal.

He’s a democrat, and he’s the president during a bad time in America, so logically, it’s all his fault. There are also peple that loved him, but hate him now because he didn’t bring us a post WW2 economy.

Because he’s done nothing for our country. He likes to sit back and accuse previous presidents of “harming” the country instead of “helping” us then he promises to change our country for the good. He came out with a new health plan that was supposed to help the middle class get better medical coverage and it’s not helping at all, in fact it’s worse. I’m not saying that he’s the only politician that’s ever done this but he makes promises that he either can’t or won’t keep. He’s an illusionist. He likes to make us think he’s doing something to make our country a better place when in reality he’s just helping destroy it.

@likipie I’ve never seen a more disingenuous answer, and I debate with a lot of religious people.

@likipie I agree with @Blackberry .. Your answer is ridiculous. The only example you cited was the healthcare bill, claiming it has actually made healthcare affordability worse… the healthcare bill won’t be into effect until 2014. The few measures that are enacted thus far (elimination of pre-existing conditions for children and allowing children to stay on parents coverage til 26) have given upwards of hundreds of thousands of people coverage. And it’s pretty easy to sit back and blame the last president, when the last president helped remove regulation that allowed the banking/mortgage crisis that cost this nation some 6–8 million jobs and sent the entire planet into the biggest recession since the Depression.

I could sit here and write out paragraphs of things he’s done that have made this nation better, safer, and stronger. But I have a feeling they’d bounce off your head like a basketball hitting a brick wall.

I don’t hate him. I rather like the man. I’m disappointed he couldn’t accomplish everything he promised, but he was clearly overshooting and underestimated his republican oponents. No sir, we cannot all get along apparently.

According to my SO (an American): Republicans get on tv and try to say his health care plan is about national health care (i.e., like Canada) when there is no government or national health care at all in the plan. We already have national health care for people over 65. It’s called medicare.

Oh, people hate him for all kinds of different reasons. Some more valid than others.

I am a strong supporter of Obama so I do not fall into that category. But he has done some things that I really, really did not like, for instance signing into law a bill to allow indefinite detention of pretty much anyone, failing to close Guantanamo Bay, and breaking a number of campaign promises.

@Jude During the debate about the healthcare bill Republicans vehemently tried to say it was a government takeover of the industry. The problems with that…

1) This plan actually subsidizes the poor by giving them money/vouchers that they can use to purchase privately owned insurance products from agencies of their choice (the money comes from money the US government saves on unpaid ER bills, which they currently pay).....

2) The “takeover” model would be the public option, where the government would offer an insurance plan to everyone who is a citizen. It’s similar to what the UK and Canada use. Privately run companies would not be outlawed or anything (they exist in the UK in fact), but many would likely go under because it’s doubtful they could compete with the low prices the public option would provide.

3) I’ve yet to see a good argument as to why a government take over of the health insurance industry would be a bad thing. Prices would be cheaper, doctors would have less paperwork to deal with than they do now thanks to largely only having to deal with one company rather than the hoops that all the private ones make them jump through… They complain about line ups at the hospital and huge waiting lists, and “death panels” ... the line ups at the hospital would be predicted to go down.. there’d be longer wait lists for organ transplants and such, but that would just be because more people who need them would now have access to them.. rather than just being allowed to die. I guess most importantly… I fail to see why Republicans think it’s a good idea to leave the healthcare industry under the control of for profit companies. Their primary goal will never be to make sure you get the care you need… their primary goal is to make money.

Let’s not forget the obvious one, even though there are a lot of people who would love to deny it.

Obama is black.

I live in the Deep South, and there are still a lot of folk down here who do not think that a black – even an educated black – should be anything but dogcatcher or trashman.

Of course, it is not politically correct in polite company to say that. But it is the truth.

@tedd and @Blackberry . After all, it IS an opinionated question, is it not? I’m entitled to think what I want of our president and I’m certainly entitled to share my opinion. If you think otherwise, then you have zero understanding of our country of which Mr. Obama leads. I’m okay with the fact that you disagree with me, but your opinion has not changed mine. But thank you for trying!

@tedd From my SO: Republicans want to keep things the way they are because that’s what the people who support them (the health care and insurance industries) want. Hospitals and doctors actually charge a higher price if they know they are billing an insurance agency. That higher price get’s turned into higher insurance premiums for people and companies which turns into lower wages and fewer jobs for everyone else.

I read most of the answers and am surprised. Maybe its a self selected group but there seem to be a great many people here that don’t like Obama simply because he’s not white and has a strange name.

I believe that the president has done incredibly well considering the blood thirsty opposition that want him defeated regardless of the harm they are doing to our country. Mr. Obama came into office with after a thirty year Reagen economic decay. Wealth does indeed trickle, it trickles up. The richest among us pay the lowest tax rates, have incredible support and protection from the political class. They now have almost complete control of the electoral process and any organizations like unions that help spread democracy are vilified not only by the right but by some claiming to be liberal.

The health care system has continued to deteriorate despite the minor health plan improvement lead by Obama.

The tables are so tilted and the voting machines and process is so compromised that it is almost impossible for the president to gain a second term. Newt has proven that you need no moral character to gain the religious conservative vote, Romney not only represents the vulture capitalists, he praises them and believes that corporations are equal to people, and Santorum is just plain nuts and relegates women to mere breeders and would probably support an amendment to end women’s suffrage.

The results of the next election will be determined by racist politics and a compromised voting system. We are witnessing the end of American democracy.

Those of you who have a problem with Obama, I’d like to hear from you.

Issued promise of removing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, only withdrew troops (not mercenaries… I mean security contractors mind you) from Iraq. And still about 15,000 troops are in Kuwait.

Promised to shut down Guantanamo Bay, the prison is still alive and well persay.

In 2010 (was it 2010?) the number of Americans that fell into the impoverished/poor category swelled to around 49 million which is roughly… 16(?) percent of the population.

Still keeping up the blockade against Cuba (I love those cigars… which may be the only reason I “hate” Obama lol).

He recieved a Nobel Peace Prize why? For “his diplomatic efforts in nuclear disarmament, to obtain a peace process in the Middle East and promoting the fight against climate change.” Is that why we’re helping with the construction of the European Missile Shield, not recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state, and brushing off the Kyoto Protocol?

When it comes to most domestic issues however (such as the one stated above), I can’t really blame him because he did get the job with a faltering economy already. But I do agree that he could have done something like the whole tax cut debacle. Why are Bush’s tax cuts still in effect? And don’t say it’s because the Republican control the house, they didn’t for the first 2 years of his presidency when Congress as a whole was solidly Democrats.

@elbanditoroso Hit it right on the head.
Of course, he’s not doing a perfect job, but he’s doing the best he can. People may have valid reasons for not liking the Presidnet. Yet some people hate him simply because he is black. A portion of the public will criticize every little thing the man does or tries to do.
My mother once made the observation that he could probably find a way to cure cancer, and people would still find something bad to say about that. Generalization, I know, but I think it holds some truth.

@Jude I do have some problems with Obama, but I would classify it as more of a problem with American politicians. Not many are really liberal, just center-right. We call them liberal or left wing because we’re used to comparing them to what republicans are now, which has to be much further along the right scale.

For starters, at any given moment, about half of Americans hate whomever has the job of president at that time.
What I gather, is that people who don’t like him think he more to the left than they can be comfortable with.
Actually, I think it is healthy to dislike sny president. It keeps them from imagining they are the king.
Do you like PM Harper?

I have no personal dislike (let alone hatred) of the president. It is his policies and the direction that he is taking the country that I can’t forgive. There are and always will be, disagreements bewteen the political parties. Obama tends to exascerbate those disagreements. We are in a perpetual war between Democrats and Republicans, Wealthy and Poor, States and Federal government, Business and labor, etc. The states are suing the Federal Govewrnment and the feds are suing the states, for everything from immigration to voting laws, health care to gun control. We are more divided than I have ever seen us. And I think Obama is doing it intentionally. As long as we can’t find common ground, he is free to explode government power into every conceivable area. He is free to consolidate power in the Whitehouse.

@saint

I only wish Obama didn’t think of himself as King, I suspect he does.

@Jaxk Oh nos, I hear black helicopters outside!! :O

Scumbag Obama: Openly criticises SOPA, but signs ACTA in secret. :/

@tedd

It’s OK, I’m wearing my flak jacket.

@Jaxk Tinfoil hat too? That’s the vital part.

@Blackberry The ACTA treaty imposes no new laws in the US. Everything in it has been standard law in the US for the last decade. All it does is set a standard that the signees (namely countries not named the United States) will have to follow.. mainly it being an attempt to get foreign countries to shut down websites on their soil that we can’t shut down because they’re not in the US.

Well there goes a ton of parodies I enjoyed on YouTube…

@tedd After further investigation, I concur. That’s what I get for jumping ahead lol.

Because Europeans like him. And to right-wing anti-European zealots this is enough.

@mattbrowne I know a lot of those right wing “zealots,” my Dad and his friends for starters, and not one hates Obama or even dislikes Obama for being liked by Europeans. And frankly, I find generalizations of that nature are a bit unbecoming to say the least.

@King_Pariah Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear some Republican politician try to call Obama a European socialist (Mitt Romney did it just last night), and in debates with my conservative friends/coworkers they have brought up the argument before that his agenda is that of a socialist (which is just categorically wrong).... So while your father and his friends may not fall into that category, I would be cautious to suggest that all conservatives don’t.

@saint I wish that David Suzuki would get into politics and run for office. I’d vote for him.

I didn’t say all don’t, I said making generalizations is unbecoming.

@King_Pariah I’ll generalize who I wanna be!!!

shrugs okay

@King_Pariah – I was talking about right-wing zealots, a small group within in the conservative spectrum of people. I know many conservative people and they are great even if I don’t share all of their views. A very normal thing in every democracy. But I also met my share of extreme Americans who think American culture is the greatest in the world without knowing any other, who are very suspicious of institutions like the UN, who think that Europe is mostly socialist and therefore dangerous, who think Obama is a Muslim, and who think terms like freedom fries are a great idea. Anti-European sentiments are a fact. Newt Gingrich’s anti-French ads try to capitalize on these sentiments. Anti-American sentiments in Europe are a fact too, but again we are talking about a minority of people. Both types of sentiments are wrong.

Every time we get into a military situation with the French, Americans die. The one time the French told us to back off was Iraq. Of course Bush went and destroyed the country anyway and considered the French as traitors.

I made sure to buy as much from France as I could and never called French fries anything other that that.

Obama go a Peace prise mostly because he unseated the most degrading president we have ever had. Sure he hasn’t fulfilled a number of his campaign promises but he is the first president that has had to contend with a congress that denied compromise and whose sole goal is to st that Obama is a one term president. That opposition cares nothing for the country, for the middle class or the poor. They run on hate a deep desire for unlimited power. They are more akin to Hitler’s brown shirted gang than American revolutionaries dressed as Indians.

I don’t hate anyone forever, just when I knee jerk. Then I must apply my brain some to calm my emotions enough to exercise rationality.

But if your not mad, your not doing your homework.

Anyone with a computer can do enough research on this man to discover his familial relation to the Bushes.
OMG, research that, and please use several sources for your research (lots of shit out there as you know), and find out the track record of that family, it will probably turn your stomach as it does mine.

Taming lots of overblown Conspiracy Theories, while keeping an open mind, will reveal he is as immersed in Illuminati, Bilderberg, Cross & Bones, Freemasonary etc. that US government and others are steeped in for World Power and Dominance.

As is with all figureheads, they are the tip of much larger whole of greed, not only here in the US, but all major ruling nations.

I use the Kabbalistic “Tree of Life” (and many other tools as well) as a self evolution tool of visualization and correspondences that answer my questions of self, purpose, explanation of why and how we got here and how to discover and live true to the core of who I am, not by following an ego formed of others opinions and predjudices, but of the latent wisdom and love inside all of us. It’s a growing tool.

As with anything, there’s a flip side.
The powers that be use the same information for control of the physical world.
The Aristocracy of the US power is linked with many other countries, also Aristocracies, entrenched with the same teachings, can use it for mass control and the dumming down of the people, so they can live rich, extraordinary lives on the backs of the mundane, or uninitiated.

He is just another puppet on the pulpit, giving people what they need to hear while in the background, they are stripping us of our freedoms, privacy, individuality, vitality. Filling us with distractions to keep the attention off them and what they are doing.

All this is being done with an blatent attitude of smug disdain for the lower class worker bees.

We all see the “Elephant in the living room” and it has been ignored so long, I feel we are in for the surprises of our life and the most incredible slaps in the face we have ever experienced by government since we first established them.

Because of the bullshit, violations, lies of those in power, and the seriousness of the situation, I have been shaken from my self absorption, apathy, ignorance (ignorance is not a lack of education or mental facility, it is voluntarily ignoring what we know about ourselves, and outside of ourselves), lack of mindfulness for our planet and our freedom.

I rant forever, so I’ll leave it at that.
My personal life has taken an accelerated growth process, utilizing the free information from the net, and interacting with people like you all here, I am growing exponentially with the efforts of those whose best interest is served to sever the opportunities we all have for growth through government control, fear tactics and censorship.

Perhaps, if I’d grown in a family that is in such power over the world like Obama, Bush and the rest of those people, I’d be jaded for power and dominance also.
Eeeek!

No, I don’t hate em. I fear what he is the Press Agent for.
If not him, anyone else would be put there, they will get their job done.

I don’t focus on that shit as much as my mind would have me.
It is time for personal growth and responsibility to educate myself, evolve and Love.
This takes most of my time. There are others waking up, getting pro-active in the world to help balance this.

And time is running out for the internet to be a free place to get my information. Any thinking computer user on the net understands that.

Long ago, I threw my T.V. out the window (yes, I made sure no one was underneath) It is so contrived what is put on it to create a general mass mind. Another dumb down tool.

My computer will take the same road (sans the “out the window” method, I’ve mellowed a bit since then) when it becomes so controlled by those in power, we are so censured, and filled with lies on it that it will become useless to those who think, and steady food for the ignorant.

Just as my fridge has all manner of good food & drink, so also is my library.

But in reference to world politics, it is the Kabbalah, Cabbala, Qabala (many spellings) that is a foundation of their philosophy and strategy, but for dominance, so I will list only 4 books I own, which have been excellent tools of blending many esoteric teachings including eastern, into a form for growth, my western mind can comprehend and I can implement in a most productive and extraordinary way.

“The Middle Pillar” by Israel Regardie LLewellyn Publications 1970

“The Qabalistic Tarot” by Robert Wang Samuel Weiser, Inc. Publisher

(The word Magick as I use it is “The Art & Science, of causing change in conformity with Will”)

“Imagick” Qabalistic Pathworking for Imaginative Magicians” by Ted Andrews LLewellyn Publications 1993

And for the flip side, how the “Tree of Life” is used not for internal growth, but external control and deception

“The Tree of Evil” William G. Gray Weiser Publishing 1974
(I like this one a lot. The title scared me years ago when I first saw it, but upon further examination I found it not only revelatory of our governments underbelly, but also an insight to my own thoughts and behaviors blocking my own progression up the tree)

I am not Jewish and this has nothing to do with religion.
There is Jewish dogma, religion, that is another thing alltogether.
The Kabbalah is a revelation of information for self transformation.

Whew, that was pretty heavy!
And I thought I was just dropping in again to Fluther after a long absence to see what’s up!
I was heading to play some Star Trek Online!

Hee, hee, I’m gonna get back to reading you guys in Fluther and lighten up!

I like you peeps and this site!

Thanx for your patience…

Peace…