Yeah, that doesn't sound like all that great of an idea.
It is a great idea. Pardoning the GITMO detainees and relocating them in the heart of leftist Amerika in order to wreak havoc seems like a wonderful course of action. Who lives in NYC? Leftists. Off with their heads figuratively speaking.
Talking about his "word of honor" is kind of misplaced here. He tried to do it, but the political will wasn't there. It wasn't even close. Dems and republicans in congress were dead set against it, and he is not an emperor.
Obama could have kept his word by pardoning the detainees and releasing them. Most of them are Yemenis. Send them back to Yemen.
I can't really figure out where you stand on this. You call support for the war "realist", so it sounds like you think he should have continued the war, but you also strongly criticize him for supporting it.
There are four schools of thought in the realm of American foreign policy. Realist, Liberal International, Neo-Conervative, and Isolationist. Most of my life I subscribed to the Realist school of thought. Through the process of learning I have evolved into an Isolationist. America should never have invaded Afghanistan. That was foolish. Afghanistan can only be dealt with using Mongol/Chinese techniques.
This is really just a lot of big words without all that much meaning.
Love him or hate him, Bush Jr did more than enough by 2008 to ensure that people were ready for a change. The financial crisis certainly didn't help the republicans either.
The election was the Dems' to lose, and Obama won his spot on the Democratic ticket because he is way more charismatic than Hillary.
His reelection certainly was not "hope over experience". Romney has a total of 4 years experience in elected office.
The Republicans never established a clear vision that people could get behind. They attacked on the basis that the economy was bad, but it was easy to see that Obama inherited a very bad situation, and much of the rest of the world was still struggling too. They attacked over The Affordable Care Act, but it made no real sense coming from Romney who implemented practically the same thing as a governor, and they had no good alternative.
He wasn't elected because of some defect of the American people. He was elected because he was the most electable candidate each time.
I will direct your attention to the fact that Obama had no managerial experience of any type when he ran for the presidency in 2008. In 2008 Obama portrayed himself as all things to all people. He promised he would expand the welfare state at the same time he cut the budget deficit in half. Anyone with a brain could tell such a promise was impossible. Anyone with the ability to critically reason could tell that Obama was completely disingenuous. I know enough politicians, lawyers and diplomats to recognize the pattern of dissembling. Obama was different from other lying politicians not in degree, but in kind. He represented the worst thing about modern leftism, i.e., the desire to acquire and hold power at all costs...consequences be damned. In other words Obama believes the ends justify the means.
In 2012 Obama was reelected by character assassination. He characterized Romney as a dog abuser who killed some guys wife. Obama lied about the ACA. He lied about the economy. Obama isn't interested in creating jobs. He's interested in growing the power and control of the federal govt.
The fact that Obama was elected and reelected tells us a great deal about the American people. No one on CC will deny that the Americans have become a profoundly ignorant and unreflective people. Maybe they are getting what they deserve.
Obama seeks to transform people like me out of existence using the full weight of the United States Govt. In the process I have stopped thinking of myself as an American. I have detached myself from love of country. I have become implacably hostile to Uncle Sam. I am not alone.