Many are so impressed that Obama was able to find and kill bin Laden. Some think that this achievement has united the left and the right. Here we can all finally agree: Obama deserves credit. It happened on his watch, he gave the command, he saw the operation live on video, so on and so forth. But what about the economy, which, if you care to remember, Bush left in total shambles. In reality, we should not be talking about a slow recovery right now; we should be talking about being totally fucked. The unemployment rate is amazingly below 9 percent, when it should be at levels last seen during the Great Depression. Most Americans have no idea what happened in 2008, of its magnitude, and so are hardly impressed with the current state of the economy. The bin Laden thing is minor when compared to this other achievement. Finally, if you think Obama could not outwit bin Laden, then you have no idea of the man who is running your country. Only an arrogant fool (emphasis should be on fool) could not catch and beat a blockhead like bin Laden.
Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory... More by Charles Mudede
I’m sure Detective Charles would have gotten him years ago.
Best president in sixty years!
My take:
Osama was politically obsolete the day Tunisia threw off its depot. No longer was Al Qaeda’s rule of fear needed, as moderates started to create a Pan Arab democracy.
It was Bush who fought for Arab democracy, and Obama who did everything to reducing our mission to turning our backs and running.
Credit: Bush
it’s “seen”, Charles, not “scene”. And what @1 said.
@5 you can impose democracy with the barrel of a gun?
lol @5
U6 down to a whopping 15.7%, which is still probably under reality. A bigger accomplishment is the upward transfer of wealth both given to us by the Congress, Bush and Obama.
“we should be talking about being totally fucked.” We really should because we still are…
@2: You, sir, are batshit fucking crazy.
@10: I’m not American, you putz.
As to proving you wrong… there’s really no point. You are a conspiracy theorist. There’s always another layer, always another explanation, each more far-fetched than the last. Personally, I find Occam’s Razor to be quite useful in clearing the tangled underbrush that you and your ilk seem to love so much.
9/11 was not an inside job. We know who did it. We know why. Your rambling screeds are incredibly tiresome.
Unemployment rates only measure those still looking for a job. In a bad economy, they underestimate the problem, because they don’t count people who have given up all hope of finding a job. So, yeah, the unemployment figures are a lie. The average interval of unemployment between jobs has gone up. The economy is having serious problems. I’m not saying Obama hasn’t lessened the problem we would have had. I’m just saying it doesn’t help to have people in cozy jobs pretending that things are better than they are and overlooking the problems of those who are truly struggling.
I agree that the unemployment figures are not accurate at 9%, because as anyone who’s even listened to a news story on the topic knows, that only counts people who are presently on unemployment. Those of us who have gone through our benefits and are now even worse off are not counted.
And yes, Obama should get more credit in balancing what seemed to be a capsizing ship, especially considering he had about half of the Legislative Branch pulling every petulant stunt in their power to spite his every effort.
Good Afternoon Charles,
Indeed, Pres. Obama deserves high marks for this extraordinary event. However, it is important to remark that in his speech Obama acknowledged former Pres. Bush for his efforts as well. I believe the men and women in the field or behind the board deserve the most credit. It was an act of extreme fortitude that genuinely transends politics. Read, it unites Left & Right as you said.
You are also correct that the economy/unemployment remains the paramount issue. I only disagree that Bush was solely responsible for the economic collapse of 08′.
Let’s just all of us for the moment savor this rare victory of human courage and civility over barbarism.
@1 and 12, i say 9 percent with the understanding that everyone knows what it means. it basically means those looking for work. i expect everyone knows this and so do not bother to point it out.
Hi Charles,
The paragraph is a useful construct. Is your Return key broken?
“i expect everyone knows this” Well that expectation would be wrong when most of the media give U4 as the only metric without hinting there are others. It’s not called “mainstream” for nothing. You did the same, btw.
“Only an arrogant fool (emphasis should be on fool) could not catch and beat a blockhead like bin Laden.”
cf: the previous resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500
Sure, Obama is a better man than Bush, but they’re still part of the same system. It’s about time we got beyond the two party puppet show. Today, the struggle is between the mega-rich neocon warmongers and the rest of us. Anyway, Bin Laden was a CIA patsy and NOT the mastermind of 9/11. Even the FBI admits they have insufficient evidence to connect him to 9/11, thus 9/11 is not mentioned on his FBI 10 most wanted profile. Pakistani intelligence and the late Benazir Bhutto had previously stated that OBL died of kidney failure years ago. Of course it doesn’t really matter when he died because he’s just a state sanctioned boogeyman, but such bullshit does serve the purpose of creating a distraction and helping Obama get reelected. Why else would they dispose of the body so quickly while releasing such shoddy evidence and multiple conflicting stories about how they killed him? It also sets the stage nicely for future false flag operations.
Go for it, Charles!