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The Spectacle Blog
It is interesting to see all the coverage today of the 50th annniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration.
While it is certainly noteworthy occasion it does seem to obscure the fact exactly two years have passed since Barack Obama was sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts. We have arrived at the mid-way point of Obama’s presidency and his promises of hope and change have made some nostalgic for JFK’s high hopes.
Perhaps the most memorable part of Obama’s inauguration speech was his proclamation of a “new era of responsibility.” Well, President Obama has spent a good portion of his first two years in office holding others responsible for his actions, most notably President Bush. Combine this with his efforts to transform American society beyond recognition the American electorate responded by electing a Republican Congress.
Despite the Democrats recent electoral setback, President Obama’s numbers have rebounded. A Gallup Poll from earlier this week had his job approval at 49% while his job disapproval was at 43%. While that is long way from approval ratings of near 70% he enjoyed in May 2009 when the Tea Party was in its nascency. However, it might be all he needs. If Obama is not faced with a Democratic primary challenger it will be nearly impossible for any Republican to dislodge him from the White House next year.
On the other hand, a week in politics is a lifetime. If the economy does not improve, if Obamacare is still an issue and if there is a major terrorist attack on U.S. soil, heaven forbid, it could mean someone other than Barack Obama will be taking the oath of office two years from today.
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More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/20/obama-two-years-later
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Ken (Old Texican)| 1.20.11 @ 3:37PM
Aaron,
Zip your lips!
That is the bleakest barf I have read.
Quit barfing in the punch-bowl, and man up!
Alan Brooks| 1.20.11 @ 5:31PM
"Well, President Obama has spent a good portion of his first two years in office holding others responsible for his actions, most notably President Bush"
Bush signed on to the bailouts, all of it. But it doesn't concern me anymore; my question is: who misses Bush? who of all those you know is nostalgic for when Bush was president?
You mention nostalgia for JFK, and there exists nostalgia for Reagan and Clinton-- but not Bush.
It might be that Bush is being scapegoated for the last decade, but though he wasn't C in C of the economy, Bush was C in C of the armed forces, and if he and Rumsfield screwed up, they should and will be held culpable when the bona fide history comes trickling in after passions have cooled.
Alan Brooks| 1.20.11 @ 5:38PM
PS,
Someone once asked me about the bailouts, but I didn't know anything about them; one would have to be a CPA to crunch the numbers.
MarkJ| 1.20.11 @ 3:57PM
Memos for Aaron Goldstein:
#1: Obama is likely assuming he'll run against one of the the usual GOP suspects.
#2: My prediction: the GOP nominee will be something of a surprise. He (or she) will have all the positives of, say, Palin and none of her negatives.
#3: If so, then Obama will be in T.R.O.U.B.L.E.
#4: Everybody is focused on Palin running for Prez and I think that's exactly what she wants folks to think. I think Palin has a bigger goal in mind: Secretary of Energy in a GOP administration.
Wayne | 1.20.11 @ 4:05PM
In college I had a black roommate mercilessly picked on by our other 4 roommates. Nothing he could do or say would affect the situation. He finally had to leave (and later became a jumper in the olympics). I would defend him, and of course they just shifted their nastiness to me. I see Palin and Bachmann in similar positions. The Left have treated them like crap. I don't see how either could emerge a viable candidate, through absolutely no fought of their own. Meanwhile I see a Joy Behar praise Huckelby as the one Republican she likes to talk with. So what do we do? Do we let the Joy Behars pick our Presidential candidates? I know ACORN was told that they must get McCain nominated. Who does the Left want next election?
I think anyone else will get the Palin treatment.
And the right is just too nice, and we have seen with the recent praise of Obama resulting in his poll number increasing.
Alan Brooks| 1.20.11 @ 5:34PM
"#2: My prediction: the GOP nominee will be something of a surprise. He (or she) will have all the positives of, say, Palin and none of her negatives."
OHHHH, so you admit Palin has negatives substantial enough to be of serious concern.
An honest man, you.
Occam's Tool| 1.20.11 @ 6:21PM
Her major drawback is that she causes Democrats to become rabid. Kind of like the reaction the word "Israel" causes Clint/Tim*.
I'm pro-Israel despite StormfrontTim's rantings, and I think Palin might be able to take Obama.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 6:38PM
I know one thing for sure, Republican RINOs, Inc. won't be able to beat the Bamster.
The Community Organizer in Chief, his Soros' monied cabal, Labor Union thugs and ACORN minions will chew them up and spit them out.
What a joke to think Myth or Huckleberry could beat Obama.
C Bowen| 1.20.11 @ 6:56PM
Of course, Palin has a Soros guy in her circle, so I guess all the bases are covered?
Take the blinders off already, people.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 7:28PM
Care to name names? Sorry, your word's not enough.
C Bowen| 1.20.11 @ 7:50PM
Randy Scheunemann
Seriously, do a little more research before posting.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 9:07PM
Be a little less self-righteously smug and I might take the tripe you post a little more seriously. Is it true that ACORN is working on behalf of Palin, too?
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 9:19PM
So, Scheunemann's firm does PR work for Palin and Soros, and you claim she's under Soros' influence? Kind of a stretch there, old man. Your silly, disingenuous post makes you look like a fool.
Myth and Huckleberry aren't electable; sorry if that hurts your feelings but it's the truth.
C Bowen| 1.21.11 @ 7:17AM
Two posts and you are already apologizing for Soros?...take the blinders off. I wrote that Palin has Soros people in her circle--she is either hopelessly naive, or phony opposition.. And no, I wouldn't support Mitt or Huckabee under any conditions--where did you get that from?
Patriot| 1.21.11 @ 3:22PM
Actually, you wrote Palin had a Soros 'guy' in her circle. Now it's Soros people. Next you'll be saying Palin is a Soros' plant/robot.
You look like crank.
Are Hucklebee and Myth compromised, too? Do you know of a Republican candidate who isn't in cahoots with Soros, or are we all doomed, doomed I tell 'ya?! Who do YOU want to see nominated?
I think your tinfoil hat is a little too tight.
C Bowen| 1.22.11 @ 4:39PM
Mitt Romney? The pro-choice Governor who spearheaded Obamacare Version 1? Huckabee, a big government Republican who took it easy on murderers when it came time for clemency?
The issue here is a guy posting as "patriot" starts taking about Soros and doesn't know he is being a fool. Maybe change your handle to Republican Sheep?
Patriot| 1.22.11 @ 9:48PM
You still haven't named a candidate you'd like to see nominated. Why is that? You spinelessly whine and complain yet offer nothing constructive to the debate.
The real issue is there are too many like you on the Right; you don't want to be part of the solution, so you're part of the problem. We don't need more dead wood like you to haul around.
Cranks like you are a dime a dozen and not worth my time.
Alan Brooks| 1.20.11 @ 8:30PM
"I'm pro-Israel despite StormfrontTim's rantings"
I'm pro-Israel BECAUSE of those such as Tim (if by Tim you mean Tim*). If they don't like Israel, then there must be something good about Israel.
Mike Rogers| 1.20.11 @ 11:18PM
I can spell T.R.O.U.B.L.E for you:
Herman Cain - Really Black, Really American, Real Executive, Great (unscripted) speaker, Real Conservative.....
Understands Business because he's been a CEO.
Understands government finance because he's been a member of a Fed board.
Knows how to educate, entertain, and stir into action his audience, because he's a great talk show host.
Make a point of being at a Herman Cain speech or Rally - you won't be disappointed!
Palin would be a great Sec of Energy, too - Drill, Baby, Drill - all the while dismantling the agency and it's regulations - Brilliant! (And then run for President!)
wodiej| 1.21.11 @ 7:05AM
Whatever would the left do without the race card in this situation? I guess they'd start using the "Uncle Tom" card then.
martin j smith| 1.20.11 @ 4:01PM
Aaron: who paid you off? Its just barely 2011 and you have Obama winning. I do not trust you or your ilk So this is the last time I will bother with your garbage.
Alan Brooks| 1.20.11 @ 8:41PM
Frankly if he wasn't black, Martin, then it wouldn't be guaranteed he would be re-elected. In fact, your underestimating Obama as a friend-of-Alinsky-community-organizer is all to the good for Obama-- in the same way underestimating Clinton as the governor from Arkansas helped him maneuver.
The Godfather pegged it just so: "let your friends underestimate your virtues, and your enemies overestimate your vices."
You think wizards such as Obama and Clinton aren't aware of that? that they are gullible concerning the dirty game of politics? Was Reagan naive? Hell no. Like, in football you play to win, doesn't matter how many broken legs. Obama WILL be re-elected.
When you arrive in heaven, Martin, then you can know a decent politics-- the politics of the lord. until then? it is too disheartening to dwell upon.
Alan Brooks| 1.20.11 @ 8:52PM
BTW,
I happen to like Obama, but it isn't because I think he is a black Jesus Christ, anymore than George Washington was God in Heaven. Obama might be the last black guy as president, because the electorate might want a Latino (or Latina) next time around; or a conservative woman (Palin, obviously). You think I don't know what politics is about, that anyone at AS who is over the age of 35 doesn't know?
Martin, anybody in the year of our Lord 2011 who thinks politics is from piety or anything relatable to decency, is living in the age of Ike-- if only we might travel in the Wayback Machine to the times we remember most fondly!
Clint| 1.20.11 @ 4:16PM
American Voters will vote their wallets again.
"Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 29% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-six percent (36%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -7
Start Vetting 2012 Primaries Candidates Now.
The Tea Party Rebellion Change The Dynamics Now & in 2012.
Rise Up In Rebellion.
Carpe Diem.
DRed| 1.20.11 @ 4:25PM
Those numbers reflect the best ratings for the president since early April 2010, nine months ago.
Fair and balanced, Clinty.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 4:30PM
If unemployment stays at 10%, Obama doesn't have a chance in 2012. There is only so much he can do with phony hiring numbers.
Clint| 1.20.11 @ 6:52PM
Aaaand only "Twenty-seven percent (27%) say the country is generally heading in the right direction. "
Fair and balanced Red Ass.
Pete| 1.20.11 @ 5:00PM
Unfortunately, there is a lot he can do with the media he controls. The fact that he can get away with saying Osamacare reduces the deficit and his $1T waste of taxpayer money "saved or created" anything tells you all you need to know.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 6:41PM
There's got to be some real proof of job creation if Obama tries to claim unemployment is 6 or 7%.
Pie in the sky statistics won't be enough.
Pete| 1.20.11 @ 6:52PM
The natural, cyclical recovery that is long overdue will likely take care of that over the next 2 years. And of course, he will claim credit for it, when he should have already been run out of town for having delayed it by at least 3x historical average. My point is that if his blatant lies aren't refuted now, there is no chance they will be over the next two years and he stands a good chance of winning another term.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 7:40PM
Ordinarily I'd agree with you, but there's nothing natural about the last two years of Obama's rule.
Small businesses, which produce 75% of new jobs, have really taken a hit during his tenure, and I'm not sure how much they can recover in less than two years.
Besides, if we win a majority in the Senate in 2012 and a greater majority in the House, there's only so much damage Obama's Executive Orders and czars can do.
I believe we could beat candidate Obama himself, I just don't know if we can beat Obama, the Leftist MSM liars, George Soros and ACORN/Union thug election theft efforts, too.
Pete| 1.20.11 @ 7:56PM
Fair enough, I don't think we're that far apart here. What I am seeing is that despite Obama's best efforts, be it his profligate spending, his anti-business rhetoric or his weakening of our world position, the economy's plunge is leveling off. He will gobble up credit for anything positive that happens in the next two years, and there is so much money sitting on the sidelines that something positive is at least possible. Remember, it only needs to be close for the vast Dem voter fraud infrastructure to close the rest of the gap and the courts to get involved to steal the race. In a perfect world, the economy recovers strongly due to a lowering of corporate rax rates sponsored by house Rs, everyone sees through Osama's propaganda, and he get sent packing in 2 years having cemented his rightful place as the worst president in US history.
Patriot| 1.20.11 @ 9:10PM
At what level of unemployment can Obama still be elected? 6%--7%? How many millions of new jobs would it take to drop that far? In 1 1/2 years? I don't know.
Warrior | 1.21.11 @ 10:58AM
It remains to be seen just how stupid the American voter truly is. They voted the mocha messiah in once and quite honestly can do it again. Remember, our MSM went out their way to keep telling all that deficits of $300 billion and unemployemt under 5% were horrible things just about 5 short years ago. Now they keep wanting everyone to appreciate that keeping the unemployment rate under 10% was a nothing short of miraculous leadership of the chosen one and the $1.4 trillion deficits are not to be worried about but a necessity to keep us from sinking farther.
Patriot| 1.21.11 @ 4:28PM
"People get the government they deserve." Thomas Jefferson
Unfortunately.
John - TMF| 1.20.11 @ 5:02PM
Be prepared we are about to get Kennedy'ed (smilar to sandbagged, but less pleasant)
This is all part of the DNC/Propaganda Mill (MSM) method for rescuing a Chief Executive on the rocks...
When all else fails... trot out Camelot... be prepared for an onslaught of Kennedy 50's for the next two years. Turner will run "PT109" someone will find "Executive Action", Oliver Stone will get a call.
The One's speeches, now all campaign events, will have "that tone". The media will drool and fawn. The elite Liberal GOP will get all wobbly in the knees and go David Brooks on him. Peggy will get misty for the sophistication of it all.
They may even trot out the movie musical "Camelot" just to jazz it up a bit.
Just a note of Conservative reality to ground everyone, please use this when your Kennedy worshipping friends start getting all wistful for Jack.
"Mort d'Arthur" was a dark tragedy. Aurthur was betrayed by his wife with his best friend. He was cursed by his sister whom he was tricked into impregnating. His knights of the round table were burned up in a futile effort to find the "Holy Grail". If only to add insult to injury, he was finally killed by that son/nephew, who was evil beyond redemption.
Camelot crumbled to dust and faded into the nothingness of which it was fabricated.
Libs do so worship their fantasies....
R/The Mighty Fahvaag
general summerall| 1.20.11 @ 5:27PM
I hope the Jack fans this year do not forget that '11 will also be the 50th of the Bay of Pigs, and the Berlin Wall and whatever other foreign affairs bummers we can try to remember from Jack's first year. Oh yes, the meeting in Vienna with Nikita K when Jack was drugged up by his Dr. Feelgood. And King Arthur of Camelot was played by Richard Burton, who went on to be a star in that Camelot era icon Cleopatra, which should be the name for the whole thousand days--much news coverage, much money spent, much spectacle, but bad boxoffice and bad reviews.
general summerall| 1.20.11 @ 5:27PM
I hope the Jack fans this year do not forget that '11 will also be the 50th of the Bay of Pigs, and the Berlin Wall and whatever other foreign affairs bummers we can try to remember from Jack's first year. Oh yes, the meeting in Vienna with Nikita K when Jack was drugged up by his Dr. Feelgood. And King Arthur of Camelot was played by Richard Burton, who went on to be a star in that Camelot era icon Cleopatra, which should be the name for the whole thousand days--much news coverage, much money spent, much spectacle, but bad boxoffice and bad reviews.
Yosemeti Sam| 1.20.11 @ 11:52PM
" ... If Obama is not faced with a Democratic primary challenger it will be nearly impossible for any Republican to dislodge him from the White House next year...."
Hmmm.
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida.
GOP governors in each.
Yo, say again - BHO will carry those states?
It's all in the electoral votes.
Game, set, match to - a REPUBLICAN.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 1.21.11 @ 6:48AM
The public has learned a lot in the first two years of Obama and many are revolted by what they observe.
All the Republicans need is someone with a little backbone and Obama is going down.
wodiej| 1.21.11 @ 7:12AM
People vote their pocketbooks and that's a fact. Opinions are like....well you know what, everybody has one.
Casey Abell| 1.21.11 @ 10:36AM
Obama depends on the economy and nobody knows jack about that. At the same point in Bush's second term the economy looked just fine. Things had changed by November, 2008.
One thing doesn't depend on the economy: control of the Senate. It really will take a miracle for the Dems to defend enough of their 23 seats in next year's vote to maintain control.