Author Topic: The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'  (Read 694 times)

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rangerrebew

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The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'

As a poll of American voters ranks Barack Obama as the worst president of all time, Matt Lewis says his presidency has been a disastrous flop
 

The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'

American voters ranks Barack Obama as the worst president of all time Photo: AP
 
By Matt Lewis

12:01PM BST 05 Jul 2014

 



The trailers were great, but the movie was horrible.


Six years in, that's the general consensus on the Obama presidency. Having ridden a wave of "hope and change" to the White House, President Barack Obama has failed to deliver on his huge box office, err, ballot box expectations.


Just how bad is it? Since it is summer "blockbuster" season, I'll explain thusly: There's a difference between being bad and being most awesomely bad. You and I probably never even hear of the worst movies made. They are forgotten, not mocked. But the truly disastrous flops - the Water Worlds and Ishtars of the world - are the movies that come with huge budgets and huge expectations.


Obama fits the latter category - extremely talented and hyped, but ultimately, unsatisfying. True, I've been making this case for a long time - but now, there's evidence.


A Quinnipiac poll released in America this week has Obama ranked as the "worst president" since World War II. For various reasons, this may or may not be entirely fair, but considering his competition included Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, this is problematic. And, what is more, a majority surveyed also said "the nation would be better off" had Mitt Romney won presidency.


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Whereas Jaws was a summer hit in the summer of 1975, Obama has now "jumped the shark" in the sweltering summer of 2014.

So what's to blame? For one thing, all the talk of "hope and change" turned out to be a stark contrast to his practice of stoking bitterness and division in order to win re-election. Call it false advertising or buyer's remorse, but just because someone buys a ticket to a show doesn't mean they're going to applaud. Somewhere along the way, this feel-good romcom turned into a horror show.

To most Americans, the economy continues to feel anemic, and it's hard to imagine the international situation could get much worse - again a case of false advertising.

If Obama were a movie, he'd be Gigli.

Speaking of high expectations, we were led to believe back in 2008 that Obama's charm offensive would woo other nations into loving us again. That obviously didn't work. Russia is back and Iraq is falling apart - two movies I hoped I'd never see again.

But if nobody is buying his act internationally, things aren't much better on the domestic front. Having failed to persuade Congress to pursue his policies, Obama has resorted to unilateral decisions, many of which appear to be outside the scope of his constitutional authority. In a strong rebuke, the Supreme Court recently ruled three of his recess appointments (appointments made while the US Senate was ostensibly on recess) to be unconstitutional. And just last week, House Speaker John Boehner announced he would sue the administration over executive orders. (And is it fair to blame Team USA's World Cup loss to Belgium on him?)

What is more, it's becoming clear that Obama has lost interest in being president and now looks like a prisoner of the job. If the Obama presidency was a movie, even the president's now shuffling for the exit. It's time to roll credits.

And really, who could blame him? It's not just that Obama has failed in the eyes of most Americans, but that he has also failed to advance his own goals. Yes, of course, there is a laundry list of famous broken promises, including the closing of Guantanamo Bay. But here I'm speaking more broadly.

During President Obama's tenure, income inequality has risen, the black unemployment rate has consistently been twice that of whites, and (despite some tough rhetoric) he has yet to rein in Wall Street. And for a president who talked a lot about civil liberties and privacy, revelations about NSA surveillance, and the use of drones, should have civil libertarians on the left and the right concerned.

The Box Office, err, ballot box was a smashing success, but the reviews are in and the critics and the public - even his fans - are starting to hurl the rotten tomatoes. Citizen Kane this ain't.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10948224/The-Obama-years-The-trailers-were-great-the-movie-was-horrible.html
« Last Edit: July 06, 2014, 01:52:50 pm by rangerrebew »

Offline Chieftain

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Re: The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2014, 02:11:45 pm »
yep....this regime has birthed a few epics...



















 :beer:

Offline alicewonders

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Re: The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2014, 02:24:38 pm »
yep....this regime has birthed a few epics...

 :beer:

Those are great!  Thanks Chieftan!  ROFLMAO!!
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Don't tread on me.   8888madkitty

We told you Trump would win - bigly!

Offline Chieftain

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Re: The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2014, 02:28:55 pm »



















Offline Chieftain

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Re: The Obama years: 'The trailers were great, the movie was horrible'
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2014, 02:31:14 pm »










 :beer: