I'm going to attempt to make myself as clear as possible, although, to some, that might do no good considering I made it extremely clear in my last entry that I was a girl and someone still proceeded to refer to me as "he". Don't comment on something you clearly are not reading all the way through... or just don't read it. I have no preference.
I'm venting about something that's been bothering me far too much about people I look up to. I don't believe there is right or wrong as far as accuracy goes with this... I am merely pointing out what should be obvious.
I try to follow as many progressive Facebook pages as I can, as I often repost their pictures in attempts to have my friends read about current events. Relevant or not, I follow Occupy Wall Street's pages as well as the pages that have stemmed from their initial movement because I truly admire their message to this day. I cannot think of a single thing that I've disagreed with them on up until recently. However, they posted a picture not too long ago that really doesn't make any sense at all.
I must specify that this was posted on Occupy Portland's Facebook page, not Occupy Wall Street's. It was a picture of Obama and George W. standing next to each other while the caption on the photo said "Is it Possible for Obama and Bush to be Terrible? You don't just have to pick one..." The photo of course implied that they are one in the same. I felt only disappointment for the people I identify with the most in this world and this diary is directed towards anyone who honestly agrees with that statement.
I have to say it. This is just about one of the stupidest and most unintelligent things I've seen Occupy post and if you're smart, then you should know far more than me that it is a ridiculous thing to honestly compare President Obama to Former Governor Bush. Yes, Obama has issued drone strikes that have killed civilians, which is nothing I condone. Was the healthcare bill anywhere near what it should have been? Of course not. But I honestly don't know what people expect from this guy with a congress that literally refuses to do it's job. Obama is not doing all the things he wants to do AT ALL because he simply cannot and I really don't know what is so hard for people to understand about that. That is what the executive orders are for and Obama STILL has yet to issue as many as Bush did.
Let's understand what it means to say that President Obama is anything like Governor Bush.
President Obama:
- was a constitutional law professor
- the first African American President of the Harvard Law review
- someone who chose being a community organizer for $10,000 a year in Chicago over much higher paying opportunities
- someone who ENDED the war in Iraq, a war which he spoke out against to begin with (despite any current happenings)
- someone who came out before an election in favor of same-sex marriage rights
- someone who literally saved the American car industry
- someone who got rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell
- a former senator with one of the most liberal voting records
- someone who got healthcare passed while he had the chance
- someone who raised taxes on upper income earners
- implemented new EPA regulations meant to drastically cut Carbon emissions
- Discusses income equality and endorsed minimum wage raises for the entire country
- Attempted to make background checks required for people who seek gun ownership
Obama was also left with a financial crisis the moment he took office, meanwhile Bush went back to Texas to apparently pain self portraits. The stock market was in the 6,000's when President Obama took office and just topped 17,000 for the first time in history. As Obama took office, we were losing roughly 800,000 jobs a month and 288,000 jobs were created in this past month along with over 40 months of consecutive job growth previously. I don't pull this out of thin are, the facts are the facts.
President Obama is NOT Bush.
Now allow me to give the other side.
Governor Bush:
- Was a "C" student at Yale
- sent our soldiers to die in a "fictitious war for fictitious reasons" (I'm quoting Michael Moore, I know.)
- put two wars on a credit card and sunk this nations economy into what was almost another depression
- someone whose negligent and delayed reaction to Hurricane Katrina left those in New Orleans to suffer for weeks
- someone who did absolutely nothing proactive on terrorism until after 9/11 even with intelligence that Osama Bin Laden had plans to attack the United States
- Gave two major tax cuts to the wealthy which only added to the deficit
- Had over two hundred billion in surplus from Clinton when he took office and left Obama with an enormous debt AND deficit
I could go on, but I'll stop before I get too boring.
There are many things that Obama has done that I disagree with. He is NOT a perfect president. However, I look back on what we had before and am much more thankful for the things President Obama has accomplished and tried to accomplish than anything Governor Bush ever did. Would Bush have even proposed healthcare reform let alone gotten one passed? Get real. 8 million more people have healthcare now that did not before because of this President.
So, basically what that post said was that things are just as bad now as they were when Bush was in office? President Obama's decisions have matched that of Bush's? Are there really people that think this way? Let me just say that there is no sane person that wants Bush back in office. My apologies for the blanket statement, you can argue with me if you feel so inclined.
Moreover, if you believe that Bush and Obama are both just as bad as the other, you are just flat out wrong and I am disgusted that, statistically, people seem to think Obama is actually worse. President Obama is 100 times the President that Bush was and that's really the only point I wanted to make.
The End.