Mr. Wow Blog
Barack Obama’s Second Term –“Que Sera, Sera?”
3:00 pm | June 21, 2011

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 83

Mr. wOw finds the President’s recent remarks about his future in office … disconcerting, to say the least

I was still recovering from the absurdity and cruelty of President Barack Obama weighing in on now-former Congressman Antony Weiner (“If I was him, I’d resign”) when his remarks about his second term emerged.

Oh, man — so laid back. Obama said that the thought has crossed his mind that “one term was enough.” And he revealed that if he said to Michelle and the kids, ‘You know what guys, if I want to do something different,’ they would be fine.  “They’re not invested in ‘daddy being president’ or ‘my husband being president.'”

REALLY?!! I don’t give a rat’s ass if Michelle Obama is invested in her husband’s presidency. I didn’t vote for Michelle or their two children. I voted for him. She can go off and do the Jackie Kennedy thing — clothes and foreign visits and flirtations. (Not that Jackie wasn’t entitled, married to that hound-dog JKF.)

I wasn’t even that invested in Obama. But others were, deeply. What a disappointment for those who put their heart and soul into Obama; those who thought he was putting his own heart and soul on the line.

What kind of fire in the belly of voters does Obama think he can light, with his own belly so empty and weary?

I don’t want a Republican president in 2012. I want Obama again in more vivid form. I’ll vote. I’ll hand out pamphlets. I’ll reveal my name!

But, damn!  The man makes it hard to get on board. He makes it so difficult to be …”invested.”

Comments:
  • KarenR

    For what, acknowledging that it’s a bitch of a job sometimes? There are people out there “investing” in quitter Palin, fercryinoutloud!

    12:10 am | June 20, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      DEar Karen…

      It’s the hardest job in the world.  And I wonder always over the hubris and sanity of those who seek it. 

         This is about the third time in three years he has talked about “maybe only being a one term president.”   It is discouraging.  I appreciate his weariness, but for heaven’s sake can’t he keep it to himself and Michelle, especially now as we race toward the election.  (As you know, in adult time, a year rushes on us before we can take a breath.)

      5:47 am | June 20, 2011
      • KarenR

        Rather than worry about that the best thing to do would be work to get him some help in Congress.

        6:43 am | June 20, 2011
        • Bonnie O

          One of the reasons why Obama is lamenting about a one-term Presidency is probably because during his first two years in office, he and the Dems had control of both Houses of Congress.  The majority of the populace disapproved of their spending policies and Obamacare and, as a result, overwhelming tossed them out.  Is the GOP doing any better as majority of the House of Representatives?  At least the borrowing and spending has come to a halt.  We will have to wait and see if the House alone can effect some other changes in policy.

          7:08 pm | June 20, 2011
          • KarenR

            Borrowing and spending haven’t come to a halt by any means and the risk of a double dip recession (or even of deflation) remains.

            The ONLY solution is to stop and then full-reverse the consolidation of wealth that’s occurred over recent decades.

            12:25 pm | June 21, 2011
  • rick gould

    On the one hand it is disconcerting…given the fervor surrounding his election.

    On the other, I kinda admire the fact that being President isn’t the end all/be all of his life.

    Pretty tired of politicians who will sink to any level to get elected or stay elected.

    Politics in general have devolved to such a low level, that who can blame any decent one for considering opting out? The us vs them tactics of both parties, the media and YES, the American public themselves are to blame for tolerating and participating in the current political game of chicken…

    4:20 am | June 20, 2011
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Rick…

    I never thought O was so very passionate to begin with, I wasn’t one of his “fans.”  But I was damn pround when he was elected.

    Along with everything else, being presdient requires a bit (more than a bit) of acting.   I’m all on board  with his devotion to his family.  But let’s put that on the back burner.  He can be tired or  disillusioned privately.  PLease, as a president  whom I do wish to see occupy the White for a second term,  goose it up a little. 

    5:53 am | June 20, 2011
  • phyllis Doyle Pepe

    Ain’t it a shame Obama jest don’t cotton to yer needs, Mister W. Being president is a bloody job –– it’s not , after all, being King where a remark like he made would completely disrupt the Kingdom. I like the idea that he can voice that possibility. Who knows, might be a political tactic in which we tremble at the prospect of no Obama and one of those christian-ban abortion–-bomb Iran- kind of loons getting in to run this country right into the ground deeper than it’s already being ground. Then his supporters will rally round twice as hard, he wins, with a big smile on his face. I hope he does run and win because perhaps he can have more of a leg up in his second term and show those of us who are progressives more progressive stands.

    P.S. I did think, however, that his remark about Weiner was unnecessary. He should have passed on that one.

    7:12 am | June 20, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Phyllis…

      Nobody has to “jest cotton to my needs.” (charming turn of phrase.)  I’m ofering my opinion, and on this subject–President Obama’s remarkably low temperature–I have complained before.  I’m going to vote for the man again.  I just wish he’d give some indication that he really wants that vote.

      Maybe if he’d use that cool to simply end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and mind his business in Libya, I’d be excited, even he isn’t.

      I think is a good and compassionate man. 

      7:34 am | June 20, 2011
      • phyllis Doyle Pepe

        I hear you. I know how you feel––actually, I was “jest” jousting with you. You and I have had some go arounds on Obama’s cool demeanor. I’ll tell you my concern for his second run––Jon Huntsman. Here’s an example of Obama’s bipartisan warm and fuzzy stance biting him back. If he sent Jon to China to get him out of the way and was aware that Huntsman was preparing a run for president then Huntsman really pulled the wool over his eyes.

        7:50 am | June 20, 2011
        • Baby Snooks

          More than likely someone asked him to send Huntsman to China. In the old days of investigative reporting, well, can we talk about insiders and conflicts-of-interest? Alas, those days are long gone.  O fcourse ethics left Washington a long time ago. Which is why Congress seems to have enagaged in “insider trading” among other things and why we have two Supreme Court justices who apparently believe ethics don’t apply to them.

          We are “Of the corporation, by the corporation, for the corporation.” And stop fooling yourselves. Obama serves the corporations. Not the people. But then none of them do. Which is why they all need to be voted out of office and continued to be voted out of office until they get the message that it is “Of the people, by the people, for the people.”  They only exception would those members of Congress who have voted “NO” to everything the past ten years. And there are none who did so. 

          1:11 pm | June 22, 2011
  • phyllis Doyle Pepe

    One more thing: The irony of all ironies: The person who was leading the investigation into Clarence Thomas’s gift receiving largesses and other improprieties was none other than Anthony Weiner. One more Long Dong Sliver kind of flummery.

    7:22 am | June 20, 2011
  • Andy C

    There are those who thought he would be IT.  There are those, as you say, who invested their hearts and souls in him and he’s proven to be a bitter disappointment.  I believe he simplified this job in his mind and his ego got caught up with all those raving about the new coming.  If he doesn’t want it, don’t run.  I thought he might do more than go down in history as our first black president.  Evidently, that’s enough for him.

    7:36 am | June 20, 2011
    • Bonnie O

      Andy –  I think you are correct.

      7:02 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Andy C

        Thank you Bonnie 🙂

        8:56 pm | June 21, 2011
  • Pdr de

    I’m just tired and discouraged – my savings are running out, my home that I love deeply sold in three days (not nearly enough time for me to adjust), I’m leaving the state I love to move closer to my son and his family in NC. My future is undecided – I don’t even know where I’ll be living – staying with my son until I regroup! Leaving my precious friends – in other words, leaving everything familiar to me is devastating! I’m fortunate the house sold, I know that but at 72 years of age, pulling up stakes and moving to a place I’ve only visited has left rocks in my stomach.

    I am very stressed about my own future but more so about the future of this country. Can’t blame Obama for not looking forward to “girding his loins” in preparation for another battle in which he will be much maligned, insulted and threatened; blocked at every turn by a very frightening group of what I refer to as “Rabid Republicans”, whose ignorance is appalling and penchant for twisting the truth or telling outright lies is well known. God help our country! We obviously can’t!

    7:47 am | June 20, 2011
    • Chris Glass`

      Dear Pdr de, I don’t know what part of North Carolina you are moving to but we loved Wilmington. We lived there several years before my husband was transferred. It was a wonderful coastal community open to new ideas and input from all residents.We still miss it. I am just a couple hours from Western NC and go often to collect minerals, get apples in the fall or just drive the back roads. Rent before you buy to make sure you will like your new community. Some areas are better and more open than others and a few miles can make a difference. Once you settle in you might wonder why you didn’t move down sooner.

      1:46 pm | June 20, 2011
  • phyllis Doyle Pepe

    Dear Pdr de: It is so disheartening to read your post. I can imagine how so very difficult this must be for you, and scary. One way that might make it easier for you is to look at this transition in your life as a new beginning rather than the great loss I know you feel. I hope the rocks in your stomach will begin to be pebbles and little by little you will adjust to a new life. In my lifetime I have had to move many times and leave behind beloved friends and homes I cherished––you can do this, it gets better, believe me.

    8:04 am | June 20, 2011
  • wlaccma

    I love Obama and will work for him again if he runs. However, I don’t blame him at all for not wanting to put up with the c**p he has to put up with. No president has had to try to run a country while being attacked by rabid, racist people continually. Enough. You can only knock you head against a wall (Congress) so long. Give the guy a break.

    8:06 am | June 20, 2011
    • Deirdre Cerasa

      wlaccma! My sentiments exactly!!!

      8:16 am | June 20, 2011
    • D C

      Agree.  I think maybe what we’re seeing is a man who has his priorities in the right place.  He knows his family is very important, and that another run and term might be bad for them, so he’s considering all the options.  Maybe his kids just want a normal life, and in the next 4 years they will grow up and be on the way out the door.  Maybe being daddy is more important than banging your head against a brick wall for four more years.  In the grand scheme, the next 4 years won’t really matter at all in where this country goes.  

      8:57 am | June 20, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Wlaccma…

      Obama has had more than his share of horrible issues and attackers.  But surely he knew that was the way it was going to be when he went for the White House.   I’ve said over and over again (and been roundly slapped down) that I believe so much of the criticism of Obama has been racially motivated.  But my criticisms are not. 

      I did give him a break.  I gave him my vote. 

      And I will again. 

      But I won’t stop complaining if I feel moved to do so. 

      10:18 am | June 20, 2011
    • Andy C

      I am so tired of the race card.  There are, perhaps, racist people who don’t like Obama, but it didn’t stop him from getting elected.  The people I know who don’t like him, don’t like him because he’s done very little that he promised to do and they are so bitterly disappointed.  He doesn’t get that fire burning with his speeches and has lost many of those who thought he would be the wonder for which we were waiting.  But not liking him because one is racist?  I think perhaps that’s a racist comment — I’d forgotten his color (until just recently when I realized that now all he’ll be known for is being the first black president — whoopee!) and simply am unhappy with the way he’s run the presidency.  Perhaps it was too big a job; perhaps he needs another four years, but copping out now isn’t doing squat.   

      5:19 pm | June 20, 2011
      • chipgiii

        90% of the racist stuff was pure crap.  Disagreeing with a policy doesn’t make anyone a racist.  The racist bs was media driven to dismiss opposing view points.  Don’t get me wrong, I am sure there are a fair share of racists out there from both parties – but that was way over played….

        7:56 am | June 27, 2011
  • Paul Smith

    Obama is like the lover who threatens to leave if you don’t do his/her bidding. Aside from the physical seduction there isn’t much to miss.  Aside from the wealthy, who benefits from his Presidency? The pool of poverty is growing.

    10:04 am | June 20, 2011
    • KarenR

      The pool of poverty has been growing since 1980 and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. I fear it will take major civic unrest before the powers that be truly get a clue.

      10:20 am | June 20, 2011
      • Andy C

        Karen — absolutely!  Perhaps we’re just looking for someone to blame and who can we blame but the president?  Things are getting worse and worse.  We’re in a country where people have to choose between gas for the car to go to work and food for the table.  As well, we’re in wars that were not sanctioned by Congress — it’s a mess.  And I do agree — I’m afraid there will be civil unrest.  People are angry and frustrated and rightly so.

        9:22 pm | June 20, 2011
  • Maggie W

    On her sixteenth birthday, Susan Ford’s dad asked what she would like on that special day.  Her answer, “One day without the Secret Service”.   She did not get that wish.  After school, Chelsea Clinton often would hang around with the cooks in the kitchen .  The Bush twins are lovely, but they got their share of publicity during their university days. 

    The President will have his own teenager next month. No doubt she has her teenage thoughts and dreams, too.  Trying to live a normal life in that bubble must be difficult for all of them.   The First Lady is on a trip to Africa with her daughters and her mom.  Within a day, the talking heads were whining about  “another vacation on the tax payers’ dime”.  It is impossible to shelter the two girls completely and hearing your parents being constantly ridiculed and mocked must be heart breaking.
      
    I can understand why he would not want to put his family through four more years of that. However, as I watched the  Republican ” debate”, I wondered about the collective sanity of this country if that motley group might render the next most powerful man/woman in the world.  Frightening and then some.

    10:22 am | June 20, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Maggie…

      I understand it too…for any president, Democrat or Rebpublican.   I would simply rather it was kept between him and his family. 

      Now is not the time for a downbeat Obama.   Not with that lunatic Rick Perry stepping up.  Among the other loons.

      12:04 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Maggie W

        Slick Rick may be jockeying for the VP slot, giving him a smooth runway for 2016.  As for loons, we certainly are rich in that arena.  

        ” I make my staff crazy, but I be the candidate!”…… Herman Cain would be our first President who speaks in Eubonics.

        *Sigh*

        12:28 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Baby Snooks

        Now, now lets not be mean to Governor Goodhair. Reality is Texas is not going down the drain. Small businesses are still in business in Texas because of his refusal to tax them to death. And employers are hiring and 47.8 percent of the new jobs created in the past two years were created in Texas. So he does know what he’s doing. Unlike Clueless in The White House.

        Will he run?  Who knows.  Personally I think he’s just having a little fun. And enjoying a little “payback” particularly with the “Rapture” in August.  He really didn’t find the “gay governor” rumor very funny. And some made an enemy they shouldn’t have made.

        Can he win?  Same question people asked about Ronald Reagan.  Except you won’t see a Bush riding in on the coattails again. No love lost there as they say. Which you can’t say about Obama. Who seems to have been quite content in continuing the very policies of his predecessor he campaigned with the promise to end. And instead continued. 

        12:55 am | June 21, 2011
        • Count Snarkula

          Dear Baby:

          Those “job” numbers are ghostly. They are positions that were offered and either they were not filled or they were minimum wage jobs at best. They were part of the campaign that has been plotted since the election of 43. Will always be seared into my brain at a photo-op for 43 the horrible and jealous things RP said as he stood behind me. Governor “Goodhair” could not make it as a Democrat, so switched parties as the tide turned in my beloved state. And now is a tea-bagger. Uh, I mean a tea-partier. And no, neither he, nor Anita found the gay thing funny or amusing. Too close to home.

          1:07 am | June 21, 2011
          • Baby Snooks

            Too close to home?  The little weasel who started that rumor is a self-described  Democratic “gadlfy” who is also a “hired assassin” who spreads all sorts of rumors about all sorts of people and who was finally sued for defamation two years ago although of course they settled it before it became too “politically incorrect.  Rick Perry is straight. 100%.  Got it?  If you don’t take it elsewhere.

            1:26 am | June 21, 2011
          • Baby Snooks

            Unfortunately his secretary of state apparently was gay which was used as a basis for the rumor and of course his secretary of state found his career coming to an end because of the rumor that Anita Perry have found them in bed together. And apparently Rick Perry knew ahe was gay and wasn’t bothered by it or by anyone else being gay. Until it was used as a basis to spread a false rumor about him in a state where like it or not some people are bothered by it.

            So the gay community in the end destroyed one of their own.  And made a bad enemy of a friend.

            2:04 am | June 21, 2011
          • Count Snarkula

            I was not trying to intimate that RP is gay. You are right, he is not. I meant all the ugly scandal about the SOS that was just so uncalled for as you stated. And I know the weasel who you are speaking about, and yes, he is despicable. But don’t throw the gay “community” such as it is here under the bus. They were duped and used as pawns.

            8:58 am | June 21, 2011
  • Mary

    Every time a president has left office, for whatever reason, he has passed along to his replacement the sentiment that they never could have foreseen how difficult this job realy is.   I believe that for Obama the job has been made even more difficult because of the racism alone, not to mention the problems that were left to him.  True, problems have been left for other incoming presidents, but, I don’t recall that on the first or second day of being elected the other newcomers to the office have had to endure the public outcry from a mob of protestors who’s agenda is based on racism.  Every situation the Obama presidency has had to deal with has been faught hard and yet the same group of people have made it their mission to destroy by their rhetoric that has done nothing but deface the man.

    Why would anyone want to continue any job when that is what the job has entailed?  But, at any rate, I wonder how much of his statement of possibly leaving has been taken out of context from the original question, and how much has been exploded by the media?  Maybe he was just giving a honest answer to a question.  I would guess that at this time in every President’s career they have questioned whether or not they realy want to pursue another 4 years.

    11:52 am | June 20, 2011
  • Richard Bassett

    Mr. WoW,
    You were in a state of the same rage when Obama was a bit caviler (to your liking) about his thoughts of the gulf oil spill. He didn’t show enough emotion. I find it refreshing that Obama is a regular kind of guy who happens to run the country. Being president is his job, it does not define him…who is like a person, as everyone else is. We are not our professions. We are so much more. You must be in show business because I think that you enjoy melodrama. The movies give us a lot of melodrama and he is simply stating the truth without the histrionics. He is well aware of his image and how he wants it portrayed. Being laid back does not mean that issues are not addressed. We don’t know what goes on behind the judicial doors, where his qualities MAY make him ever more effective. You cannot depend on personal passion and public outrage from a man who does not address our situations that way. Personally, I think he is a regular guy (not a sin) who has a job (who isn’t God) and wields his power when he needs to…in his way. I think that voting on the condition that a president elect possess that mania, is a little shallow. Sorry.


     

    12:18 pm | June 20, 2011
    • O E

      Bassett, I fully agree with your response to Mr. Wow.  We’ve seen the drama lovers and egotists in the White House; those who strut and shout and also lie and pervert the office. Unfortunately, there is a segment of the American public that enjoys that, that is deluded in the thought that a drama lover is effective, intelligent, discerning. 

      In president Obama I see a sensible, responsible, intelligent, educated, discerning man who is secure in his manhood and his abilities and isn’t afraid of expressing his feelings with honesty. He speaks from his heart with sincerity.  Those are rare qualities to be found in a politician these days and we should be thankful to have seen them in him. 

      We have forgotten too quickly the lessons to be learned from the charmers and talkers.  Exihibit A: John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, John McCain, Knewt Ginrich, and all the others who can’t pass up a chance to be in the public eye and have made sucking off the Government’s tit their lives’ career.  Each time I see them, I want to run for the puke bucket!

      2:29 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Mr. Wow

        Dear OE
        I am cognizant of President Obama’s fine qualities.  Ad I would like to have him, and his fine qualities, in the White House for Round Two.  

        But  he has to act like he really wants a Round Two. 

        That said, he is a politician.  I maintain a somewhat cynical distance.  He’s better than most.  When he pulls us out of Afghanistan and Iraq, he’ll be better still.  Perhaps then we’ll  have  a few trillion for jobs and such. 
         

        2:48 pm | June 20, 2011
        • O E

          Mr. Wow, pulling troops from a war zone is not as easy as a walk to the corner fast food store to order a burger.  The logistics of it alone can be mindboggling.  It isn’t like walking out the door because you don’t like the guy you’re living with anymore.  It takes time, planning, diplomacy, and many other things difficult difficult to imagine for those not physically involved with it.  What makes it more difficult is having gone into war without an exit strategy, because the dunces in charge thought we would be welcomed with flowers and flourishes by the people of the country invaded and they would want us to establish permanent military bases and  run their government forevermore.  Put yourself in the place of a poor Afghani or Iraqi who has his door kick in by a well-equipped soldier who follows orders to look for terrorists when all that he finds in that home is a humble poor couple with their children trying to enjoy their refuge.  Just imagine that:  a foreign country invading the United States and doing that to you!
           
          The American military has tried to get the native people involved in their own destiny.  That can’t work where 90% of the population is illiterate, struggling for countless generations to survive from day-to-day.  So we thought we could train natives to be soldiers.  How could that be done, when they can’t read instructions, can’t tell you what kind of rifle they are holding, can’t follow protocols?  While they are illiterate, here we had a government ruled for 8 years by an arrogant,  ignorant,  president (and his cronies) who was clueless about the culture of any place beyong the borders of the U.S.  Who had no idea where he was sending our young men to die, because he himself had never been there or been in a war.

          The American people want the wars to end.  The families of the soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines, want their children to come home.  I’m sure president Obama wishes he could snap his fingers and put an end to the senseless wars he inherited.  But the reality is that pulling out will take time and we better get it in our heads and deal with it. On the other hand, do you Mr. Wow, have any idea what a woldier deals with upon returning home from repeated deployments (that is if he/she returns alive)?  I won’t ruin your day by telling you.  But you can be sure he/she won’t be returning home to a well paid job or a career, unless he/she decides to make his life the military.  Even that is chancy, since Defence costs are being cut.

          You want president Obama to “act like he really wants a second term”.  Really? Act? Look at the slate of GOP candidates who are acting  like they want to step into Mr. Obama’s shoes.  Any of them ringing your bells?  A bunch of nay sayers who plan to run campaigns on a platform of negativism and with plans to deprive the middle class of what little is left to them, in favor of continued support for the rich who take jobs away to other low-waged workers in foreign countries.  Give me a break!

          3:27 pm | June 20, 2011
          • Mr. Wow

            Dear OE…
            You got your break.  Did I say I saw anybody better?  Or that “doing things” is easy?   I did not.  But Mr. Obama ran for and won the presidency.  And at least a part of what he ran on was getting us out of these wars.  And closing Gitmo.

            You speak as if I supported the wars.  I sure did not think we’d be welcomed and I sure didn’t anybody was hiding nuclear weapons.  Unless we knew exactly where Osama bin Laden was, back in 2001, and bombed his sorry ass then, I don’t think we should have gone to war at all.  We are supposed to have the greatest intelligence network in the world.  Whatever happened to good old espionage and assassination?

            As for the soldiers, I sure do know what they go through, mentally and physically.  They suffer more than ever now, because with our advanced medical expertise we can save their lives.  Lives as triple amputees with no place to go after they are “rehabbed.”  We don’t have the resources to tend to them because we’re spending it all sending them off to war to be mutilated , in body and mind. 

            Obama will probably win in 2012.  I sure hope so.  But I am entitled, as I cast my vote, to hope for a more vigorous second term and a less publicly tentative Commander iN Chief. 

             
             

            4:30 pm | June 20, 2011
          • Baby Snooks

            I doubt he can win again as more and more people experience the reality of Obamacare as it begins to “kick in” and kicks quite a few in the rear end.

            Managed care. Providers. And no doubt higher premiums with less care. As I found out last week. And today. The protocols as they’re called. Set in placed by providers. In both the public and the private health care systems. All these tests for nine months. I have asymptomatic reactivation TB of all things. Showed up on the third CAT scan.  And on a second set of X Rays. The first set of X Rays last year indicated TB. But I tested negative on the PPD skin test and so additional tests were not run.  The additional  tests this time probably wouldn’t have been run had I not insisted.  They assumed I tested positive on the PPD skin test because of what is called a booster reaction. I have no real symptoms. I may have cancer. If so, it is in the very early stages. I could die, however, from TB that wasn’t treated promptly. Because  someone didn’t do additional tests. 

            I am not a happy camper as they say.  I have been told TB is actually becoming a major problem in this country. Everyone should have a PPD skin test once a year. And anyone having any kind of ongoing lung problems should insist on a chest X Ray and if it indicates TB they should insiste on a sputum test or a blood test. Even if they have to pay for it themselves. 

            For me, it’s “Nobama 2012.” Just because of what Obamacare will do to our health care system.  We are not going to end up with two health care systems. One for the rich and one for the poor. We are going to end up with one health care system. For the rich.

            1:18 am | June 21, 2011
          • Andy C

            I have great health care insurance, paid for at a great sum.  I too have gone through and am still going through a great deal of testing and treatment and will probably be going through it the rest of my life.  the paranoid feeling I get is that how much of it is necessary when they knew what and where from the beginning.  When we go for yet another treatment or test (now, I agree necessary…..but then, took too long and let it spread) we feel that they’re saying “here come Mr. and Mrs. Good Insurance” — sad that in our country it should come to this.  Oba”care”?  Care for who?  As the detectives in the books and movies I read and watch — follow the money.

            I hope you’re doing well now Baby Snooks, and continue to do well.  Though like me I know you facea lifetime of testing, prodding and treatment….expensive treatment.  Again, to paraphrase Shakespeare “Kill the Lobbyists”

            One bright light:  there is a pediatrician who’s name, unfortunately, I don’t know, but he told the father of a patient of his that he heard his wife lost her job (the symphony orchestra of which she was a member shut down) and that he shouldn’t avoid bringing the children to see him because of that.  It took awhile, in a land far, far away, but I did hear of it.

            7:07 am | June 22, 2011
          • Baby Snooks

            The problem is not all the tests they did run. The problem is the one test they didn’t run. No doubt because it isn’t “allowed” unless there is a positive PPD skin test. With total disregard to the false negative PPD skin tests. And they wonder why TB is becoming a problem in this country again. It’s because of our health care system.

            1:21 pm | June 22, 2011
          • Richard Bassett

            They will only do a chest x-ray with a positive PPD. I think that you just fell through the cracks, having a false negative. This does not happen very often. It is just a horrible set of circumstances. Had you had the chest x-ray (which is radiation and subsequent bronchogram (even more radiation) then your condition would cause more of a concern. There is a battery of other exams before a diagnosis of TB is confirmed, One hundred years ago; this would have been much more dismal. They weigh the primary exam with the amount of radiation one is exposed to when coming up with a treatment plan.

             

            5:19 pm | June 22, 2011
          • Snooks, I’m sorry to hear about your TB and hope that antibiotics did their thing for you. I had a soldier with TB once – bad stuff but he did well with treatment.

            A lot of troops gripe about the military med system but honestly – I think it could be a model for a national system. The biggest obstacle (I think) is those who would make a lot less profit from such a system. I mean – really, how can health costs continue to outpace inflation, if greed is not a factor?

            All military doctors are salaried. They get nothing from ordering tests or performing surgeries, so there is very little unnecessary expense. Routine exams, dental care, vaccinations and other prevention are a priority. Records are centralized so any doctor can immediately see your history and meds. Sure, it’s not perfect (nothing is), but I think it’s a good start.

            11:41 am | June 22, 2011
          • Richard Bassett

            Baby,
            Whatever the cost and whoever will pay is irrelevant right now. I just hope that you receive the treatment that you need and can get well. It does happen! Much love to you!

            12:52 pm | June 22, 2011
          • Mr. Wow,

            The problem was not with intel COLLECTION, it was in the FOCUS. There is a huge amount of information; which bits are important? We knew who and where bin Laden was, we had the information from YEARS before that he had considered using aircraft as weapons, and there was even a report tying all of this together. The failure was in assigning appropriate attention and follow-up to that report. Personally, I think there is some national hubris there: “Afghanistan is just a dirt hole, what can they do to us?” Well, duh, it’s not things or places that are the threat; it’s PEOPLE, and what they can do.

            Sadly, the intel community has bloated beyond belief post-9/11 and this is NOT a good thing. We already had plenty of resources; we did NOT need more, we just needed to change how we used them (isn’t this always the story?). So now there is even more “noise” to sift through, and at greater expense. Good thinking, bureaucrats.

            As for the soldiers, yes – our battlefield survival rates are better than ever but at terrible personal and financial costs for decades afterward. And the military medical system is a good one, but many of the wounded warriors will be “medically retired” and become dependent on VA care, spotty at best.

            I was always, always against the 2002 Iraq invasion. Saddam was contained, it balanced power in the region, and it was cheap and low-risk for us. Now – Iran is ascendant, Iraq is a total mess, and we have spent billions for… nothing. Nothing. I know this is a slap to many who have served there, but show me ANY national security benefit we have reaped from that war. I see none.

            Afghanistan I think was necessary because the government supported and shielded a nonstate actor who attacked us, and would not surrender that actor (bin Laden) upon diplomatic request. Failure of diplomacy = war. But I also think it was poorly handled and we should have kicked ass and been home long ago. We did gain a security advantage at the outset, but it is bleeding away.

            The bin Laden raid – and surprising Pakistan with it – was a bright spot and beautifully handled. Pakistan is showing its true colors in the wake of that.

            11:24 am | June 22, 2011
      • Bonnie O

        OE  –  I believe your facts are a bit hazy.  Ginrich was a teacher before he was a Congressman.  McCain was  career (Annapolis graduate) Navy and the loathsome John Edwards was an attorney.  None of these politicians “made sucking off the Government’s tit their lives’ career”.  As for Weiner, I believe your description fits.

        8:21 pm | June 20, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Richard…

      Actually, I’m not in a state of rage.  More resigned, actually.  Perhaps like Obama. 

      I’m afraid when one wants to be the most powerful person on Earth, the job does define the person. 

      I don’t want him to be manic, simply not comatose. 

      And I never ever said I wasn’t shallow.

      In any case, I will campaign for him again and vote for him again.  And hope for a more vital, thicker-skinned  prez in term 2.  (Certainly not one who caves in to Donald Trump!)

      And I really don’t care what Michelle thinks.  I didn’t vote for her.  Great woman.  Couldn’t care less. 

      2:32 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Richard Bassett

        Mr WoW,
        I totally understand your position and, on second examination, I see where the ‘relaxed’ attitude can be seen as a weakness and his image IS important, as there are too many people who vote on that aspect alone. You are not shallow, Mr WoW, and I do not think anyone could see that you are. My hope, like yours, is a 2012 election where more issues are discussed in a stronger manner, which may be incentive for those to go out and vote. Only President Obama is in charge of that…at least on his end.

        3:33 pm | June 20, 2011
  • Count Snarkula

    About the only good thing, in just my humble opinion, that has come about during this administration is the ending of DADT. If he wants me to step back up to the plate he needs to re-think his position on marriage equality. The Count has grown far too tired of living without equal civil rights.

    1:24 pm | June 20, 2011
    • Baby Snooks

      And when you get them you will find like everyone else has that you still don’t.  It’s still a world of White Ango-Saxon Protestant men aka WASPs and there are not WASPettes.

      Everyone else is something “less than.”  Despite the Constitution stating clearly there is no such thing as “less than” within the framework of the Bill of Rights. Some believe the founding fathers worded the Ninth Amendment in order to ensure that when the time came “chattel” including women and Negro slaves and people of “different faiths” and possibly even homosexuals would have their “equall rights” protected withoujt the need for additional amendments. I tend to believe they did. Unfortunately it didn’t happen.

      And it won’t as long as we have people like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. Both of whom have forgotten that their fathers were openly discriminated against. And that they would be as well if they weren’t on the Supreme Court.  There are quite a few in this country who dislike Italians and dislike Catholics and really dislike Italian Catholics and of course also really dislike African-Americans.

      Welcome to America. It is not the America the founding fathers envisioned.

      1:54 am | June 21, 2011
  • Chris Glass`

    Obama is up against the good old boy system of corporate interests. Unless those companies are willing to change, and they aren’t, things will stay the same no matter who is in office. Is it me or has anyone else wondered just who these conflicts overseas are enriching? There are corporate names behind them, Obama may well figure that he is tired of fighting a system that one person can’t change. The only way to change it is to vote professional politicians out of office from the local level up. I have always favored a cap on serving in office and a ban on lobbying.

    1:58 pm | June 20, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Chris…

      All politicians are “professional.”  Even Obama.  If we vote them all  out we have…what?  Emperors? 

      2:53 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Chris Glass`

        I should have stated that differently. The majority of people we send to Washington end up being in the pockets of lobbyists and special interest groups. A cap on time in office could curb some of that if legislators had to come back in a few years to face and live with the constituents that voted them into office.

        8:15 pm | June 20, 2011
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear Chris…

          I’ve always felt that high pressure jobs like policemen or doctors or politicians should have a hiatus after, let’s say…four years.  Allow them a six-month vacation, to re-connect with their humanity and the high ideals that led them to their profession. This assumes they had high ideals.  Mr. Wow remains foolishly wedded to his own ideals–that people are basically good, but life can fuck you up.  (I think Anne Frank expressed it with more eloquence.)

          2:57 pm | June 22, 2011
          • Richard Bassett

            I totally agree, Mr WoW…being battered and bruised throughout life, from time to time, is bound to make an drastic impact.

            6:03 pm | June 22, 2011
      • O E

        If we vote out members of Congress, in all probability we would end up ruled by a junta or a dictator.  That would negate a democracy; something unthinkable in the 21st Century. Kingdoms and empires are almost a thing of the past.  Even some kingdoms in Europe are in reality ruled via democratic or parliamentary monarchies: royal family for the sake of tradition and elected prime minister with  parliament or congress.  When the “arab spring” is over, who knows what will remain…

        11:50 pm | June 20, 2011
    • I would LOVE to see a ban on foreign lobbies at the very least, if not all lobbies.

      Hmmm. Corporate names… ummmm… Halliburton?

      9:57 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Andy C

        Lila — I’ve been singing that song for a long, long time.  Only I want all lobbyists banned and that profit from same would be illegal — yes, even for Congress and the Senate.

        9:03 pm | June 21, 2011
  • Bonnie O

    Perhaps President Obama is opining about being only a one-term President because he realizes that the direction he took the country to fight off a deeper depression and to put the country onto a path for economic recovery did not work.  He is out of ideas and all but one of his economic advisors (Secretary Geithner) have left his Administration.   There are no more ideas …. there is no more money to borrow and ergo no more spending our way to recovery.  His economic plan was and is a failure.

    I did hear on The Charlie Rose Program that Obama has been reflecting upon his presidency in terms of the Bush #41 presidency.  Bush broke his pledge about raising taxes and the Democrats took him to the cleaners at the election.  But it was via Bush’s tax policies that led to the short-term economic growth during the Clinton years.  Apparently Obama is seeing some parallel that perhaps his economic spending may yet lead to a recovery …. though the GOP is going to make “his spending” the core issue of the campaign.  Personally I do not see the parallel.

    The fact that President Obama is thinking of only a one term presidency is apparnetly not a new idea for him.   It has been simmering for some time.

    As a postscript, I find Mr. Wow’s comments regarding the First Lady quite apt.  I might add that since the JFK presidency, I am not quite relaxed with a man who chooses to run for the Presidency when his children are still very young …. not even teenagers.  A President, never mind what President Truman said, is always President first, then husband and father.  I do not like that equation especially when young children are in the picture.

    5:02 pm | June 20, 2011
  • BeanCounter

    He SHOULD be a one term president!  The economy is tanking, our debt is skyrocketing (due to all the wars, thank you Mr. Bush), and he’s giving everyone health care (like that doesn’t cost anything!!!!), renewing Bush’s tax cuts, and he’s starting ANOTHER war in Libya!    Cheese and Crackers!!!!!   Don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out, Mr. President!

    7:46 pm | June 20, 2011
    • BeanCounter

      and!   we’re having horrible flooding and natural disasters in the midwest and he’s pledging billions of dollars in aid to the middle eastern countries, and just “touring” the wreckage down there.   i sure hope he’s not re-elected.  I’m holding onto hope that HIllary runs.  Please Hillary!!!!!

      7:48 pm | June 20, 2011
      • Mr. Wow

        Dear Bean…

        Even though I was a Hillary man, that is simply not going to happen.  Do I think she’d like to?  Sure.  But she made her deal when she accepted the Sec of State position. 

        Also, she’s more war-like than Obama.  God knows what she’d get us into. 

        8:21 pm | June 20, 2011
  • Count Snarkula

    Alert to all WOWOWOW readers. Rick Perry, current Governor of Texas, IS running for President. As an “insider” I can tell you with all authority that this is happening. Do not fall for the hype that the economy crisis has not hit Texas. It has. Badly. As usual, it takes a little while for the disasters on the West and East coasts to hit us, but hit us it has. This past, and current “special”, legislative sessions are devastating to Education and Health and Human Services care. He is all smoke and mirrors, Please don’t buy into it. Vote for who your heart and mind tells you to, but know that he is disingenuous and only out for his own fame.

    9:30 pm | June 20, 2011
    • Baby Snooks

      Oh nonsense. I don’t particularly agree with the conversion of Medicaid to “managed care” in the VaAlley but the rest of the state’s Medicaid program is also “managed care” which is a mixed bag but his plan may in fact lower costs and improve care in the Valley.

      As for education, well, maybe you like all the “debt retirement bonds” and all the other tricks the school districts in Texas use to pull in more money that they then waster on silly programs and administrative perks. Let’s see if the voters in the school districts approve more bonds and in those school districts that can do so more taxes to provide billions of dollars that will be wasted on silly programs and administrtive perks. Time for the school districts to learn to concertate on teachers and children and get back to plain old “reading, ‘righting and ‘rithmetic.” HISD alone wastes millions of dollars every year as the ABC affiliate in Houston exposes every year.

      I assume you would rather have had the former mayor of Houston who along with his controller who is our current mayor bankrupted Houston?

      2:28 am | June 21, 2011
    • Bonnie O

      It is estimated that six companies are leaving California each month.  I have read that some of those companies are going to Texas where pro-business policies have been enacted to encourage companies to relocate … especially those companies who are being taxed to the max in California.  Those companies being offerred incentives are in the business of medical technology and those in computer and related fields.

      2:51 am | June 21, 2011
      • KarenR

        Those same companies will pick up and move elsewhere as soon as they get a better deal. Tax incentives to lure business are just a race to the bottom.

        12:23 pm | June 21, 2011
        • Baby Snooks

          They seem to work well for Texas. One reason may be that the companies move here and realize very quickly their paychecks are bigger. Texas has no state income tax. 

          Like him or not, and quite a few don’t because he cut off their access to the “goody box” as I call it,  Perry has kept Texas afloat. The main problem with the buget is the “franchise” tax which slumped along with the economy. We will see if things improve in two years. Indications are that they will.   And there are “emergency funds” in the Rainy Day Fund which among other things will be used to help poorer school districts if need be. Most Texans agree that the school districts have wasted too much money for too long. And so the “head honchos” in the school districts need to learn to do without just like everyone else. Despite the propaganda of the Texas Democratic Party, which of course was cut off from the “goody box” a long time ago, Perry has been a good governor. And hopefully will continue to be for a long time.

          12:54 pm | June 21, 2011
          • KarenR

            They’ll only work for Texas until Texas stumbles or another location undercuts them. You’ll learn in due time. There’s nothing overly attractive about Texas to hold a company there if they get a better deal elsewhere.

            9:34 pm | June 21, 2011
  • I can feel for him, but agree that a leader keeps those things to himself. First off – if running for Pres, one should be prepared for a tough EIGHT years, not just four. If serious about not seeking a second term, he should be quietly moving behind the scenes to help position some strong Dem candidates for a good run once the announcement is made; NOT hinting anything publicly in advance.

    All that said, though – what a huge burden. I have been in leadership roles far, far below the rank of President, and for fewer consecutive years as well; even those jobs could be very draining.

    If I ran for Pres, I’d probably be too much like “Bulworth,” and end up the same way.

    9:43 pm | June 20, 2011
  • Baby Snooks

    For me, again, it’s “Nobama 2012.”  And hopefully by 2012 it will also be “Nobamacare.”  If not, well, remember that Baby Snooks warned you! 

    12:59 pm | June 21, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Baby…

      We will remember. 

      1:31 pm | June 21, 2011
      • Baby Snooks

        I am really not a happy camper.  I’ve been poked, prodded, and glow in the dark. And all anytone had to do last October was run a simple sputum test or blood test to confirm the X Ray indication that I had TB. Welcome to the world’s worst health care system. Brought to you by the health care providers. Who will get rich off Obamacare. While everyone else does without more and more health care. And many will die while waiting for “provider approval” of tests and treatment. Which is already happening. 

        10:34 pm | June 21, 2011
  • Jody

    I actually appreciate President Obama’s candor. I can appreciate your perspective, but mine is a bit different. For me, he’s just being honest. And, I think a lot of people in this country don’t know what to do with that. They are so used to being lied to (like Mr. Weiner) or controlled by their party, lobbyists, etc., that everybody often sits open-mouthed when President Obama says something truthful. As for him commenting on how his wife and children would react… Again, my perspective is different. He is showing that his family is most important to him and he’s going to take their thoughts and feelings into consideration. I like that. I like that he has a strong woman to talk to at night, and bounce things off of. She’s his rock. And, without her, he wouldn’t be the man he is. Looking back, I think when I voted for Obama, I voted for her at the same time. I knew we needed a TEAM in the White House, not a one-man ego-maniac (as before, in my opinion).
    Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, we definitely vote in “couples”. We know our married Governors are going to get opinions from their wives/husbands. We know that goes all the way to the top. I think that’s a good thing. It’s like getting 2 for the price of 1.
    That’s my patriotic, unprofessional perspective.

    1:09 am | June 22, 2011
    • Count Snarkula

      @Jody – Laura Bush was also part of the couple vote. She was just less in the press than Michele is (not a slam on Michele, LB just really wanted a much lower profile). Yes, you cannot just consider the candidate without thinking if the spouse/partner is supportive and someone who is with the program. Not too much though. Remember how much hate Hillary got when she was supposed to tackle health care instead of giving cookie recipes? I have to say, it is a joy to see GWB and LB post White House. They are having a ball, and truly love each other.

      2:03 am | June 22, 2011
    • Andy C

      But Jody, is this candor or pressure from his party?  I have a sneaking feeling that they feel, the Republicans can come up with a viable candidate, our pres won’t win.  And we kinow that we come last in this equation it’s all about party and money and very little about us.  Even Obama who was supposed to care about us, has done very little that he promised he would do.  Obam”care”?  End the war? — he’s started new ones. 

      I do agree that it’s a couple thing and that including his wife in his speech is not a bad thing after all, Nancy Reagan ran the country for long time.

      7:17 am | June 22, 2011
      • Baby Snooks

        Actually her astrologers ran the country…. 

        1:29 pm | June 22, 2011
  • mary burdt

    I believe President Obama will definitely run in 2012…and win. There are NO viable republican candidates in this race, so far and I see none on the horizon. He will win handily and campaign with vigor. I think his statement about leaving the White House was generally misunderstood, he was just saying that if he was not President he and his family would be just fine. No ego, there.

    11:41 pm | June 22, 2011
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Mary…he will run and will very likely win–if not by a landslide.  I would simply prefer a  less “tenative” president.

      Every president is relieved after the damn thing over.  And much humbled. 

      12:35 am | June 23, 2011
      • Maizie James

        Mr. Wow,

        You said the words, which prompted me to finally weigh in, that, “Every president is relived after the damn thing [is] over. And much humbled.”

        Although I’m not so sure if President Obama will win by a landslide, I believe he is [perhaps] more reflective rather than “tentative” given all that has occurred since he took office. This country is still in the midst of an unabated economic crisis, which overshadows everything else. And, until middle America feels hopeful that recovery is forthcoming, President Obama’s response to this crisis will continually be scrutinized.

        This is a time when he NEEDS to keep his ‘cool’. Don’t you think?

        1:55 am | June 23, 2011
  • Mr. Wow

    Dear Maize…

    Yes, I prefer a cooler head.  But I’d also prefer, as we inch closer to election time, a more outwardly confident Obama.  Not cocky, not arrogant, not swearing or pushing red buttons indiscriminately, just a bit less reflective.  Publicly. 

    At home–that cozy spot at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave–he and Michelle can rightfully put their heads in their hands and wonder what the hell they got into?

    2:54 pm | June 23, 2011
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