He's not like Bush.

[WilliamPitt]

Every time I read the "Obama is like Bush" comparison here, it makes me wince...and it makes me think people may have forgotten what those eight years were really like.

He's not like Bush.

[muntrv]

1. Obama speaks the English language better than Shrub. We don't

have to hear "NOO-KU-LUHR."

[ixion]

2. in your opinion. n/t

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[spanone]

3. it makes me sick

[dennis4868]

4. why in the world would anyone think he is like Bush?

[whatchamacallit]

28. Why indeed?

:eyes:

[bigmonkey]

110. Because their rhetorical method requires it.

It's a stance they take.

[texshelters]

122. Tell me how

Obama's war policy is different from Bush's. You all are in denial.

The two wars Bush started are still happening. Where's the change?

DADT is the one of the only changes, and that was Congress who cut out that nonsense.

Obama also hired Wall Street insiders to run his economic policy like Bush did. Go ahead, deny the similarities here.

Yes, and with our pressure, he hired Warren to oversea a consumer protection bureau that Bush would never have entertained.

Just because Obama is different from Bush in some ways doesn't mean there is NO similarity as the Obama reality deniers would like everyone to believe. Time to face reality and not be party deniers like the Rethugs.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[bigmonkey]

131. Well, your reply shows it.

Your "reality" requires minimizing the value of any positive change and destroying all nuance. It's a method. (It's my contention that it's a method that is, at best, self-defeating.) By saying that your opinion is "reality" you're trying to trump all disagreement. You avoid arguing a position that allows for any disagreement. How is this helpful? It's just divisive.

[texshelters]

134. Interesting and misleading interpretation

I looked at the good and the bad of Obama's policies. Some of the bad is a continuation of Bush's policies. You want to deny that by making it about me.

Nice try, but in some ways that I listed, Obama is like Bush. In other ways I listed, he is not. You don't like my list, but you fail to list Obama's accomplishments. Is that because they are too few to support a defense of him?

You are the one that ranked the good and the bad. I didn't. My reality requires seeing the good and the bad. Showing the bad only minimizes the good for Obama apologists who can't stand seeing the policies of Bush continue in Obama. Deny it all you wish. They are continuing, as I listed above.

If you are unable to disagree and support your point, it's not my fault. I did create an argument, but you didn't like it, so you call it "divisive". You say I don't make an argument and can't even defend your position. That's sad.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[texshelters]

135. You failed to answer my main question

"How are Obama's war policies different from the Bush war policies" and instead rambled philisophical. So, how is Obama sooo different?

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[bigmonkey]

136. My point is about rhetorical style, and how it fogs thinking.

I thought that was clear. You seem to think that if I have a criticism of how you're saying what you're saying, that I must disagree with you. Then, "since I disagree with you" (which I think is a misdirection), the fact that I don't try to support the position that you're attacking means that you "win". This is a foggy conclusion.

[Lorien]

112. Policy actions, perhaps?

[Bluerthanblue]

5. he sure as hell isn't- I'll never forget the 8 yrs of Bush/Cheney

It will take a long time to recover from that.

Thank you for voicing this.

[babylonsister]

6. Not even. Sad that liberals forget so soon how fortunate we are

with this man v. idiot son, who gave us 8 years of ignorance.

[highplainsdem]

7. I agree. K&R

[Skidmore]

8. Will, today I have rug burn on my knees from slipping so

many times on the new astroturf. I've gotten to where I totally ignore so much of the false equivalency BS that festoons the hall.

[WilliamPitt]

9. +1

[Pirate Smile]

46. It is just rampant here. Disgusting and pathetic.

[Bobbie Jo]

70. +1

[Arkana]

10. He's not, and not just because he can speak in complete sentences.

It has never been more apparent than in this current situation with Libya.

We'd have troops on the ground and we'd be getting "SMOKE 'EM OUTTA DERE HOLES" and "DEAD 'R' ALIVE" speeches nonstop. Republicans would be demonizing Democrats who argued against full-on regime change in Libya as "anti-American" and "sympathetic to the terrorists".

There is a difference in leadership at the top--a cautiousness, a deliberateness that we did not see for eight years of Cowboy Dipshit. And you know what? I find it really, really refreshing that the President no longer spends more time deciding what kind of jam he wants on his PB&J than on whether to exercise American military might overseas.

[Thunderstruck]

11. Someone just now did that to me in my thread.

[mistertrickster]

12. True enough . . . however, voting for the Bush tax cuts when he said he wouldn't,

keeping Gitmo open when he said he wouldn't,

voting for health insurance reform without a public option when he said he wouldn't,

keeping 50K troops in Iraq when he said he wouldn't

not pushing the Employee Fair Choice Act when he said he would

not marching with the Unions when their collective bargaining rights are stolen when he said he would . . .

He's not Bush, but he's a lot more like him than any of us could have imagined when we worked our asses off to elect him.

[Raine]

22. +1 nt

[Dawgs]

99. +1.

[Poll_Blind]

24. +1

[FLAprogressive]

30. +1

[Upton]

31. +1

[tblue]

36. He's no FDR either

nor LBJ nor JFK nor DDE. So? Being 'not like Bush' but continuing many awful Bush policies, sorry, not dissimilar enough.

[mod mom]

60. + 1...and I was so hoping. FDR also had the banking/corporate elites

breathing down at him but he had the cojones to stand up to them!

[Ikonoklast]

137. And concentration camps full of American citizens!

Don't forget that one!

[mistertrickster]

74. He's like Clinton . . . we wanted FDR and we got Clinton. Shit. nt

[Wednesdays]

91. Bill, or Hillary?

:shrug:

[mistertrickster]

102. Bill, heh. Hillary may be the real liberal in the bunch. Who knows? nt.

[texshelters]

124. Pretty accurate assessment here

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[fascisthunter]

41. +1

[MichiganVote]

43. And no price tag for the latest US brings freedom to the ME

[leftstreet]

57. +1

[KittyWampus]

65. "voting for the Bush tax cuts". You don't even know how our Govt. works.

[mistertrickster]

77. He could have vetoed the tax cuts. Instead he negotiated for them.

Pardon me for streamlining the point on a text-based blog, but your niggling quibble in no way invalidates the argument.

[groundloop]

72. VOTING for tax cuts... VOTING for health insurance reform..... ????

President of the United States doesn't vote on anything, that's the job of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It seems a lot of people imagine Presidential authority being more like a king.

[mistertrickster]

73. Right, that's why Bush couldn't invade Iraq even though he wanted to . . . .hey, wait a minute nt

[texshelters]

125. Blah blah blah

insert the word "supporting" or "promoting" instead of "voting" and get rid of the "for" and that is exactly what Obama did. An error in verbs does not make the underlying meaning untrue.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[sarcasmo]

84. +1

[salinen]

93. +1

this thread wouldn't been possible a year ago.

[DainBramaged]

109. There's more

not prosecuting Bush and Cheney for war crimes

not fighting for net neutrality

not making Social Security untouchable

not preventing more damaging trade agreements

not hiring Wall Street hacks to work in his Administration

not hiring lobbyists to work in his Administration


there's more, but taken together, he isn't Bush at all, he's Obama, and he is disappointing many of us.

[texshelters]

Exactly

thanks for the reality check trickster.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[sendero]

132. He's broken almost every important..

... campaign promise he made.

[Canuckistanian]

133. +1

It's easier to keep track of the the promises he KEPT.

[blondeatlast]

13. +1. nt

[FLPanhandle]

14. He's much better than Bush

However, some folks are impatient and emotional, so rational thought is forgotten.

[texshelters]

126. Impatient? Damn right

to end the wars and support families facing foreclosures over the banks. You want us to be patient while the wars rage and unemployment is not addressed? What, are you on Obama's economics team trying to sell his reelection?

Give me a break and face reality. Obama could have done more, and yes, he's better than Bush by far. Perhaps Obama can run on that slogan, "Not as bad as Bush".

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[bahrbearian]

15. Please explain how they are different.

[KurtNYC]

27. Bush sold the war BEFORE he went in and Obama goes in before selling

That IS different.

[Old and In the Way]

It's great to have an articulate POTUS who isn't using military action

to serve a hidden agenda.

[Goblinmonger]

68. So using military action for some bizarre purpose is better?

Because a three-front war is smart military tactics?

We didn't need to go in there like this. We should have taken troops out of at least one other country before we did this. What happens when Syria gets bad? Do we go to four fronts?

[Exilednight]

71. You're going to be in for a real shocker this summer when he announces a

40,000 troop surge into Afghanistan. The plans are already being drawn up - mark my words.

[sad sally]

113. Yeah, some of those "career" military men and women have

only served one or two tours in either Iraq or Afghanistan - the US needs to make sure they get their money's worth out of the training they put into them. Let's see if we can raise the returning rate of soldiers with blown off limbs or PTSD up to 50% by 2014, or 2018 or let's never stop these profitable wars.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lucinda]

17. He's taller.

[tblue]

39. He has read a book.

[Lucinda]

52. That too!

And I was told he read the Constitution too. Doubt junior ever did.
:hi:

[joeunderdog]

97. And he sure does give great speeches.

But he's got just a few little things in common with the Chimp...like:
He's not much of a Uniter and he likes the military.
He takes good care of his Wall St. buddies and doesn't particularly like regulation or punishment for abusers perpetrators of financial crimes.
He's a Constitutional lawyer but he doesn't let that get in the way of domestic spying and that torture thing in Gitmo.
Loves the Patriot Act.
He can wear comfortable shirts, but he can't find his comfortable shoes when American Labor is under siege.
He has a hard time reforming insurance if it takes a dent out of his friends' profits in the Insurance Industry.
Tax Breaks for Billionaires seem like a good idea.
Oil and Nukuler are where it's at.

I could go on, but he really does give better speeches than Bush, so I have to give him that.

[deaniac21]

18. He is more like Budweiser.

[bigwillq]

19. "...and it makes me think people may have forgotten what those eight years were really like"

Well said. :thumbsup:

[whatchamacallit]

20. I can't forget the Bush Cheney years because we're still living them

Whoever he is or isn't like, I no longer want him as president.

[tblue]

45. +1 and it gives me no pleasure to have to agree.

[texshelters]

128. I wish I could jump up and down and defend Obama

but I can't.

However, I can send him letters in hope that he listens. I just sent hate mail to Bush.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[pacalo]

21. Torture, continuation of two wars begun by Bush, hiring BFEE- & corporate-friendly idealogues,

awarding Poppy Bush with the American Freedom Award, continuation of NSA domestic policies, continuation of the Patriot Act, & on & on.

But I have to say, I'd much rather have a Democrat in the White House than a Republican. There are certain lines that not even a Democrat will cross (knock on wood).

[KoKo]

23. No...he's not Bush...Obama is truly Unique... n/t

[LibinMo]

25. I will never forget

When I look back I feel as if those eight years were stolen from my life...

[Duende azul]

26. Could you show where someone made that claim?

[dionysus]

85. are you serious? it happens every day...

[Duende azul]

139. Where?

[greytdemocrat]

29. You're Damn Right Will

President Obama is no Bu$h. Period.

[pinboy3niner]

32. He rejected neocons' calls for ground troops to get regime change

Said, "We went down that road in Iraq. Regime change there took 8 years." Cost "thousands of American and Iraqi lives." And more than a trillion dollars...

K&R

[MadHound]

33. No, he isn't.

That still doesn't make what Obama is doing any less of an outrage.

[TNLib]

34. He's more articulate than Bush

But on Policy I'm just not seeing that much difference.

He's a new Dem (DLC) and Bush was a neocon there just not much different between the two political philosophies.

[ReggieVeggie]

35. I remember those eight years very well

which is why the last 2 have been so disappointing

[Zax2me]

37. Boy, if that is the benchmark then expectations

- have bottomed out.
How sad.
And pathetic.

[Karmadillo]

38. True. He's a bad president in his own unique way.

nt

[Blue-Jay]

40. Ooooh SNAP!

hurr hurr hurr...

[uppityperson]

47. Each and every president is. nt

[fascisthunter]

42. No He's Not... that's a fact

he's also not a good president.

[warrior1]

44. give the brother a

amen.

[freshwest]

48. K & R, thanks.

[ProgressIn2008]

49. The point loses its sting, since Obama doesn't think Bush was all that bad

Clearly. Or he does, but is conspiring to cover up Bush crimes and all the hellish things that happened under the Bush admin during those eight years. Or something. So that may be "not like Bush," but on the other hand, what *is* it?

Personally, that thought makes me wince.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Obamanaut]

53. You're right. He's responsible for only ONE war. So far. n/t

[Bluebear]

54. I didn't vote for Bush, so I had no expectations of him. nt

[PurityOfEssence]

55. Lowering the bar is one thing; setting it on the ground is another

At least Junior could comply with the War Powers Act.

Twice, even.

Damned by faint praise.

[LooseWilly]

56. He's no space-alien either... or friend of labor... or any of a number of other things...

Did you have a real point?... or is this supposed to be a high-school pep-rally-esque moment?

(By the by... I'd say he's a lot more like Bush than he is like a space alien... or like a friend of labor...)

[bettyellen]

59. I'm just guessing this is a reaction to hearing this sentiment expressed here so frequently.... you

haven't heard him likened to an alien here often, have you?

[Rhiannon12866]

58. K&R. Somebody had to say it, so thanks for the reminder.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[Township75]

61. I agree he is not the same as Bush, but he ran on Change and Hope, and when...

comparing what he promsied to what he has done, he is much closer to Bush than he is to candidate Obama.

Same bank bailouts, tax cuts, Cuban "resorts", etc.

There are places I wish he was Bush. For example, if Bush had the kind of majority in congress that Obama had in 08-10, Bush would have gotten everything through he wanted. He would have slapped his party into line and into getting things done. Obama just sat back and said you do it...odd for someone who ran on so much.

I can sadly think of the way the two are not alike. Bush ran for a reason other than being a president. He had an ideaology he wanted to push forward into legislation. I can't say the same for Obama. He seems to have only run to become president. Now that he is president, he doesn't really know what to do because he didn't run to push an agenda.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[undeterred]

63. He's not like Senator Obama either.

[Gnommie]

64. When the dictators in Saudi Arabia and Egypt say jump.....

I honestly think Libya is one of the most justified invasions the US has ever had. It goes without saying that we don't always do everything right and civilians will probably die, but out of all the places we've wrongfully invaded, Libya makes the most sense, and we're not even the ones leading the fight this time around. There's no ground troops and we're pretty much just providing air support.

This wasn't part of some long-winded conspiracy like what Bush-Cheney had going on (the idea to invade Iraq was in the works years before the Iraq War). This is a situation which arose in the middle east that the US and its allies decided to act on. It's a very justified invasion and although congress didn't officially declare war (and they haven't since WW2) that doesn't mean what we're doing is wrong.

it's also fallacious to assume that since we intervene somewhere there's bad things happening to good people we should intervene in every such place - that would just be impossible.

George
http://www.gnommie.com

[Tatiana]

66. He ran on hope and change. We got disappointment and more of the same.

Is he like Bush? No. He's intelligent. He's capable of rational thought. He sees not only black and white, but gray areas as well.

But certain traits are strikingly similar... like the stubbornness, like the arrogance, and (watching his Libya speech) the "I'm the decider" attitude.

He wasn't the strong President we needed. I thought he was. I thought he could stand up to those powerful interests, but instead he has simply succumbed to them. Unbelievably, I am worse off than I was just three years ago. I pay almost $600 more per month to cover my family on health insurance (a result of rising rates and the insurance companies canceling the option for parents to take out moderately affordable individual policies on their children). The property value in my neighborhood has tanked (I would have gladly supported a bailout of homeowners, like cramdown, to keep these people in their homes and out of foreclosure). With rising food and fuel costs, my take home pay is less (virtually no raise) and my living expenses are a lot more. Not to mention I have to take what little I have to help my grandmother who received no social security COLA, but has to contend with higher heating and food costs.

This reminds me, quite frankly of the 80s, I time of trickle-down misery, where the wealthy did even better than ever and the working class barely subsisted. This is happening on Obama's watch. I think it's time to stop making excuses for him and place some of the blame for the result of the policies Obama has advocated squarely on his shoulders.

[mistertrickster]

78. Oh, we got CHANGE alright. Look at how Candidate Obama changed when he became President. nt

[Arkana]

95. No we didn't, and that's a gross oversimplification of what has taken place

over the last two and a half years.

Also, I really, REALLY wanna know where you get "stubbornness and arrogance" from Obama's demeanor. Really.

[deacon]

67. K + R

[OwnedByFerrets]

69. No, with Monkeyboy, we knew we were gonna get fucked.

I'm angry at myself for being so naive that I thought things would be different and better. What a fucking dupe I was/am.

[robcon]

75. Then try to distinguish his speech from one from Bush:

" For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world’s many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That is what happened in Libya over the course of these last six weeks. . . .

Confronted by this brutal repression and a looming humanitarian crisis, I ordered warships into the Mediterranean. European allies declared their willingness to commit resources to stop the killing. The Libyan opposition, and the Arab League, appealed to the world to save lives in Libya. At my direction, America led an effort with our allies at the United Nations Security Council to pass an historic Resolution that authorized a No Fly Zone to stop the regime’s attacks from the air, and further authorized all necessary measures to protect the Libyan people. . . .

At this point, the United States and the world faced a choice. Gaddafi declared that he would show “no mercy” to his own people. He compared them to rats, and threatened to go door to door to inflict punishment. In the past, we had seen him hang civilians in the streets, and kill over a thousand people in a single day. Now, we saw regime forces on the outskirts of the city. We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi — a city nearly the size of Charlotte — could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.

It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen. . . .

To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action. . . .

Born, as we are, out of a revolution by those who longed to be free, we welcome the fact that history is on the move in the Middle East and North Africa, and that young people are leading the way. Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States. Ultimately, it is that faith — those ideals — that are the true measure of American leadership.

My fellow Americans, I know that at a time of upheaval overseas — when the news is filled with conflict and change — it can be tempting to turn away from the world. And as I have said before, our strength abroad is anchored in our strength at home. That must always be our North Star — the ability of our people to reach their potential, to make wise choices with our resources, to enlarge the prosperity that serves as a wellspring of our power, and to live the values that we hold so dear.

[mistertrickster]

79. Translation: they have oil. Corporations want oil. Ergo, in we go. nt

[Javaman]

82. I like to call it "crisis of opportunity"...

where moron* used mouth breathing blunt maneuvers, Obama waits for opportunity. LOL

In the end, the result is still the same.

[Union Scribe]

76. Maybe Obama should be making you wince a little, too.

[WilliamPitt]

86. He makes me wince a lot

but the comparison is still crap.

[TheKentuckian]

80. No, he is more a younger, hipper version of Bob Dole.

[mistertrickster]

103. Heh . . . good one. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

81. The bar has been set.

[sarcasmo]

83. Gitmo still open, two of Bush's wars still going on, not the change I voted for.

[zorahopkins]

87. Wars, Guantanamo, Patriot Act, Illegal Imprisonments

I think that pretty much sums up the Bush years.

How's Bradley Manning these days? And how are the prisoners in Guantanamo?

And is the Patriot Act still in place?

And now a Third War.

You do the math.

[NightWatcher]

88. +1. He's not Bush, with Bush we knew what we were getting

no one here could have guessed we be getting this during the primaries back in 07-08

[walldude]

89. No he's much fucking smarter

which makes all this even harder to deal with.

Obama is nothing like Bush.

He's also not the man we needed. We didn't need a politician we needed a leader. We got a great politician and a really shitty leader. Woo Hoo.

[lutefisk]

90. Blanket comparisons are ridiculous. I like that Obama doesn't pretend he's a cowboy.

And he's not like Bush in his education policy- Obama is doing far more damage in that area, for example.

But in almost every other way, of course he is "better" than Bush. Much less bad.

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

92. Sorry, Will, but you're are dead wrong.

The facts say otherwise -- I should know, I spent years several years cataloging Bush policies and I am seeing many of the very same things continuing/expanding under Obama. :( Domestic spying. Detainees. Indefinite detention. Expanding the war to Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere. Military contractors. Bowing to Big Business.

There may be some fiddling around the edges, but it is all essentially the same.

DoYouKnow.org on Facebook -- you look through that and then tell me Obama is not like Bush.

[robdogbucky]

94. Well, lookie here....

why in the world would anyone think he is like Bush?
he sure as hell isn't- I'll never forget the 8 yrs of Bush/Cheney
Not even. Sad that liberals forget so soon how fortunate we are
He's not, and not just because he can speak in complete sentences.



True enough . . . however, voting for the Bush tax cuts when he said he wouldn't,

keeping Gitmo open when he said he wouldn't,

voting for health insurance reform without a public option when he said he wouldn't,

keeping 50K troops in Iraq when he said he wouldn't

not pushing the Employee Fair Choice Act when he said he would

not marching with the Unions when their collective bargaining rights are stolen when he said he would . . .

He's not Bush, but he's a lot more like him than any of us could have imagined when we worked our asses off to elect him.


He rejected neocons' calls for ground troops to get regime change
Said, "We went down that road in Iraq. Regime change there took 8 years." Cost "thousands of American and Iraqi lives." And more than a trillion dollars...


And today we get this news:


Lejeune Marines prepare to deploy off Libyan coast

"CAMP LEJEUNE (WTVD) -- Twenty-two hundred Marines and sailors from Camp Lejeune are preparing to deploy off the coast of Libya in northern Africa. They said goodbye to their families Monday afternoon, and they'll be leaving in the days ahead.

There's always in the back of your mind what if, what could happen," Marine wife Carrie Cochran said.

Cochran, like the other wives, is confident her Marine is prepared for the mission.

"As long as he knows how to do his job and he keeps his concentration going, he can take care of his Marines then he can bring everybody home," Cochran said..."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8039326




No, not exactly the same as Boooosh, but this sure sounds fucking familiar to me.



Sorry, not buying the cheerleading any more than usual. Walks like a duck, talks like a duck.....

Are you all fucking insane to swallow his gump?

This is just the same old same old we got so conditioned to under the 8 previous years.

Humanitarian need, UN resolution, our duty,............endless wars

[salinen]

96. Nice attempt

I'd say the pessimism meter is just as high or higher than 2000 to 2008.

[Zorra]

98. True. But unless he gets more like FDR and gets wealthy private

interests under control real soon, he will be only helping to trade out liberty for a little temporary security, the result of which is that we will very soon have neither.

It is not good enough to just be different than Bush.

He needs to be Bush's absolute antithesis.

Otherwise, we are toast.

The rapid growth of corporate wealth and power is indisputable. The negative effect this growth has had over our individual liberties and ability for self-determination is indisputable, and directly proportionate to the growth of corporate power.

Koch/Walker/Wisconsin, SCOTUS legislating from the bench in order to insure corporate control of our government, etc. ad nauseum, are not accidents.

This is a coordinated sustained effort to end democracy once and for all and take away what freedom we have left.

If President Obama does not make a full on sustained counter-attack to reign in corporate power, his Presidency will be little more than a random piss in the sea.

[Dawgs]

100. Not fighting for a public option made me wince.

Not fighting to end Bush tax cuts made me wince.

Not closing Gitmo made me wince.

Entering a third war made me wince.

All of these things and many more made me wince because He's NOT the candidate many of us voted for in 2008.

[Renew Deal]

101. Those that say he is like Bush show their ignorance.

And frankly I find it embarrassing.

[JoseGaspar]

104. Your thread, like so many others recently, makes the opposite point.

Those who agree with you point to largely cosmetic issues.

Those who disagree typically talk about policy, program, substance or partisanship.

No, he's not like Bush... but, he doesn't disagree with Bush on much (mostly on the "how" rather than the "what") and the two may become friends when he is done.

[demwing]

105. He IS like Bush.

He isn't exactly like Bush, and he certainly isn't any worse than Bush.

But in his policy decisions, and when deciding from whom he takes council, he is very much like Bush.

[SidDithers]

106. Elena Kagen and Sonia Sotomayor agree with you...nt

Sid

[K8-EEE]

107. "They're the same" lie gave us Bush instead of Gore

Like hell they're the same, this kind of shit will have us ending up with President Walker. THINK THINK THINK about it people.

[StarburstClock]

108. Torture camps are torture camps, war is war, crime is crime, corruption is corruption

I'm not like the previous person in my job either. Wow, what an insight -- NOT.

[Lorien]

111. No, he gives better speeches and has twice the I.Q., which makes him even more

of a disappointment because he should know better.

[butterfly77]

114. Meanwhile...

Bush is prancing and dancing,his lying,ass all over the place just like he hasn't a care in the world. Some even have the nerve to even suggest that Jeb will be the RepubliCONS' candidate for President in 2012..

[Fire Walk With Me]

115. Pretty unfucking believable. Where are the illegal wire taps, torture, invasions for oil,

ties to the destructive ultra-rich, the list is endless.

[Rex]

116. No shit Will! Me too!

I wonder if they even know what they are saying! Obama like Bush...hardly in any way, shape or form. Bush was the Destroyer from Hell and Cheney was Satan! Obama and Biden are not bent on destroying the country or the citizenry...Cheney couldn't wait to start punishing the poor and fucked over the Justice Department, evidently permanently, with his evil cohorts.

[Morning Dew]

117. In one respect he's exactly like Bush to me.

I don't want to have a beer with him.

Obama, however, unlike Bush, is capable of doing the job.

I wish he'd do that job a lot more to the left.

[carolinayellowdog]

118. assertions are not arguments

this reads like the first line and a half of a post that needed a couple of paragraphs to be worthwhile

[I Drink Water]

119. If we were to drawn a Venn diagram, there would be considerable overlap

Of course, there would be some difference, but there would be plenty of similarities.

[alarimer]

120. But he is using Bush policies re: indefinite detention, etc.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc., etc.

[texshelters]

121. Saying he's like, or not like, Bush are both simplistic generalizations

in some ways Obama is like Bush (war, corporate taxes, foreign policy, hiring former bankers to give money to current bankers, etc), and in other ways, he's not like Bush, (he speaks better, he cares some for homosexuals, he supports more diversity, and a few other ways.)

Big deal if we compare him to Bush. Perhaps you are protesting a bit too much?

In many ways, his policies are the same as Bush. Sorry, but that's the facts.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[proud patriot]

123. K and R

:thumbsup:While I have been dissappointed w/ some stuff Obama has or hasn't done , I'm in complete agreement Will.

[texshelters]

127. Perhaps Obama can run on the slogan

"Not as bad as Bush." That should fly for the easily mollified.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[PhillySane]

129. Well he did extend the Bush tax cuts and start a war in the ME

but besides that, I'd say he's alot like Bush.

[sendero]

130. Other than talk.

...he IS just like Bush.

[Redford]

138. I cannot believe we are in 3 wars now.

I truly believed Obama would of gotten us out of the first two by now.