They elected a president based on symbolism, not on capability. This is a man whose highest role to date was community organizer, did they really think he could leap from that level to run a country, the biggest in the world. Clearly they did, not knowing just what that means, apart form all the promised handouts.

What's amazing is his ego led him to believe he could.

He wasn't even previously a state governor, like the much maligned Sarah Palin (who was NOT running for president, but I expect the flailing arms and the usual left wing bile for mentioning her - Sarah is not stupid and could run a state, Obama is the idiot who can't even run a meeting, without a teleprompter)

"little was known about Obama's political views, management style or leadership skills."

No kidding!, yet the dems elected him, the left in Australia were all cheering, it's all about the look not the substance as it always is with the left.

Have a nice day, it's great to see now the realization that Obama is a fool. Americans I know are horrified at his kowtowing to the tyrants of the world.

Well said, Amicus, the comment about Obama being a fool.

A very cunning fool, Amicus, appointed and sponsored by the Zionists mafia in Chicago for a single term during which time he was to do nothing, to keep sprouting his election rhetoric, hot air, which he has done, exceedingly well. No resolution in the middle east, no reduction of the war in Afghanistan, no initiatives for the poor except printing money, making the US financially as well as morally bankrupt.

He will retire in 2012 having allowed a right wing government to be installed with the assistance of the AIPAC / Israeli fifth column, aiming for an Israeli-sponsored war with Iran, as per Iraq and Afghanistan and retire to Hawaii, well-heeled and having survived an assassination by either Mossad or the 'new' Republicans. This is America, after all.

So we will now see an extreme Congress (and Senate in 2012), even more so than the Bush / Cheney cabal with another war on the agenda, possibly following another false flag operation, any day soon.

The US is now the most indebted nation in the history of the world and the cleverness of the mortgage-holders, China, will allow them to be calling the tune in a few more years.

How the mighty have fallen. And this is the country before whom Rudd, Gillard and Smith were prostrating themselves two weeks ago in the US campaign at getting American bases on our soil to spread the war load (and increase the targets) and make China feel that they are surrounded.
That is the same China who buys all our raw material, the same that contributes so heavily to our current standard of living.

We are so naive.

As a stooge, Obama has done his job with two years a a lame duck to go, as planned.

Perhaps the two previous opinions would prefer Sarah Palin as President of the USA?

The man is all hot air and piss; pleasant, but useless.
He is the Billy Ocean of politics - light, catchy and disposable.

hohum, anyone would be better equipped than Obama to run a country - Sarah Palin was just an example of someone who actually has experience in running large organizations.

Would I prefer her? Who cares .. I'm not American, so it's irrelevant.

For the sake of a man who talks well, the Dems sacrificed an opportunity to progress their society.

Now they regret not electing a capable woman, and as much as I dislike Hillary Clinton, there is no doubt she would have made an admirable and capable president.

To balance this regret, the left hate Sarah,because she's acapable woman who will probably be the next president.

If you listen to the blather of the left who hate her, you hear what you want - if you listen to her, she's not an idiot.

Obama is the bozo, perhaps a bozobama .. as someone said

I couldn't believe it when the democrats painted themselves into the corner, with just looser to be Obama, or proven looser Hillary as their choice of candidates.

Hillary had failed to do the health care thing, even when her old man was the boss, & it was pretty obvious to anyone with any perception that Obama was like a hired actor, pretending to be something he was not, & never could be. That he was elected by a wave of yanks, dreaming that they had become liberal & mature, showed just how dumb they are.

That we could elect the same kind of actor in Rudd, when it should have been obvious that he was following a script portraying someone nothing like the man he was, shows us in no better light. In fact, that we could repeat the foolishness shows that we may be just a little dumber than our yank friends.

That both us & the yanks could have such dead heads in the top jobs, at the same time is probably just down to a mixture of bad luck, & bad management. At least I hope it is. If not, those Chinese are a damn sight more cleaver than I have given them credit for.

Has anyone ever noticed how people on the right of the culture wars divide are always accusing those on the left of being haters (as in Howard haters for instance).

Implicit in this kind of uninformed criticism is the presumption that only those on the left express hatreds, and that somehow right-wing criticisms of who-ever and what-ever are based on some kind of disinterested "truth".

This group-labelling seems to deny that our entire political tradition is based on the freedom to freely criticize any and every political player or group (as in her Majesty's loyal opposition).

It also slowly and surely over time creates the politics of binary exclusions, and eventually to the search for and targeting of (un-Australian or anti-American) scapegoating. We on the right are always right and you left-wingers are always full of hate.

We thus need to do whatever it takes to "take our country back" from the left/liberal "elites". Which is of course the binary slogan that has energized the Tea-Party zealots (and the former Hansonite's here in Ozland)

Never mind that the real elites, that is those who really get to decide as to who lives and dies, or loses their jobs, communities destroyed, or rivers polluted, and lush green mountains reduced to moon-scapes (as in the Appalachians) etc etc, are the captains of industry and commerce (the Koch brothers for instance). The very parties that would have poured mega-bucks into the GOP and Tea Party coffers in the recent mid-term elections.

I find this quite strange because I find that if I want my daily dose of hate all I have to do is log on to a right-wing website or blog. Such an exercise is a very depressing and dis-heartening experience - most unpleasant.

So right now, Amicus, from your point of view it really looks like more more war war, just like a Churchill.

To be sure, going by you, Netanyahu now sees his chance to dominate as the only one in the Middle-East with nuclear artillery at the ready, with all of us now just simple fools for believing Obama, though non-white might have had the much needed aproach for genuine future peace.

One might even be allowed to surmise, Amicus, that you could possibly be excited about it all?

Obama didn't fail 'coz he's timid. He failed 'coz America is overpopulated with right-wing fundamentalist Christian lunatics, who truly believe that rednecks and religious zealots are the best people to run a country.

"it's all about the look not the substance as it always is with the left."
-Amicus

Yeah, but at least the substance isn't nuttier than a fruitcake.

"To balance this regret, the left hate Sarah,because she's acapable woman"
-Amicus

Capable, yes. Sane, no. I've listened to her, and to 'the blather of the left', and 'tis quite apparent to me who is and who is not (metaphorically) frothing at the mouth. Call me strange, but I think I'd prefer an incapable head of state to one who is both crazy and capable. At least the incapable one won't be able to mess shyt up too badly.

"Would I prefer her? Who cares .. I'm not American, so it's irrelevant."
-Amicus

Except for the fact that America is the world's dominant superpower. When they sneeze, the rest of the world reaches for the tissues. When their banks engage in dodgy lending practices, it comes back to bite the whole world in the arse. Letting a crazy person like Palin get their hands on the levers of power bodes ill for the whole world.

Ritz Too, like me, mate, reckon you're tryin' to be Middle Road like a good historian.

Still bloody hard, though, like when we had the younger George Bush using Condoleeza Rice to run the UN.

Certainly we must take lessons from Sociological Analysis when after Napoleon we had Hegel still talking about the benefits of strong leaders while Immanuel Kant did not talk much about singular leadership, but democratic-style multi-leadership as later with the UN, but of course naturally buggered up by over-strong nations still with singular blatant power like our present United States

Like Mr Rudd and now Ms Gillard yes we can quickly became no we can't with Mr Obama. From the farcical CopenHagen to the ridiculous notion that wasting billions is good for the economy to symbolic gestures rather than any substance highlights the stupidity of the policies of the left. I actually feel embarassed for Mr Obama because I think he actually naively thought he could do a better job than Bush. Seeing a statesman like John Howard take this country to great prosperity has also highlighted how void those following him have been. Dumbing spitting shoe throwers are happy with Obama carrying on the same Foreign Policies as previous administrations. Thankfully it did not take the Americans long to realise that you need more than slogans to run a nation. Australians are just that little bit slower.

<<Obama...lacked the ideological and partisan conviction to effectively bury his opponents for a generation.>>

Like so many declarations from "progressives", the opposite is true.

Obama buried the Democrats for a generation because of his "ideological and partisan conviction".

Obama helped focus the attention of the majority of Americans on the destructiveness of the "progressive" agenda.

Hopefully it's not too late to undo the damage.

*Americans I know are horrified at his kowtowing to the tyrants of the world.*

Ah Amicus, so your friends seemingly want another sabre rattler!
Just bully, force and threaten, never mind the people skills.

Sheesh and there was silly old me, thinking that alot more is
achieved when we talk to people and try and figure out our
differences.

Then those same Americans are truly puzzled, why they are hated
around the world. How odd.

Is that how you too lead your life Amicus?

<<never mind the people skills>>.
Where is the evidence of Obama's people skills?
Teleprompter skills, yes.
People skills, no.
Unless you count the kool-aid drinkers.

<<a lot more is achieved when we talk to people and try and figure out our differences>>.
This statement ignores the reality that Obama has achieved precisely nothing,
apart from reducing America's standing in the world of course.

<<Then those same Americans are truly puzzled, why they are hated around the world. How odd.>>
Before Obama, America was hated and feared.
After Obama, America is hated and treated with contempt.

That's progress to a "progressive" I suppose.

*Teleprompter skills, yes.
People skills, no.*

Ah Proxy, so you prefer the Palin method, just write it on your
hand hey.

As to people skills, Obama has them in spades, just like Clinton.
That is why he gets on with the rest of the world, unlike
Bush-Cheney's sabre rattling.

*This statement ignores the reality that Obama has achieved precisely nothing*

Proxy, you really should stop watching Fox TV, they arn't the
brightest and a bit biased you know.

Obama has indeed achieved heaps in one year and nine months, but
no, no magic wand, as some
expected

At the end of January 09, the GFC was in full swing, share markets
were crashing, hundreds of thousands a month were losing their
jobs, GM and Chrysler were just about ready to shut the doors,
threatening millions more jobs. The pain of 8 years of Bush-Cheney,
was unleashed on Americans.

Today, things are turning around. Banks are repaying money borrowed.
GM is being refloated, taxpayers are being repaid. Large American
firms are back to healthy profits, consumer sentiment is turning
around, as they rush to buy their ipods and ipads.

The deregulation of oil industry regulation by Bush had much to do
with the BP saga, but we've now survived that one too.

Obama is an active president. Meetings to crank up cricial r&d
in future industries such as electric vehicles, solar and a host
of others, have hardly stopped. Every business leader of note has
been at the White House, adding their contribution about America's
future. Things have been set in motion, but it will take some years
for all the results to show, as that magic fairy is indeed an
illusion and reality prevails.

America is once more accepted and respected, when under Bush, all
that the world could do was snigger at the fact that they US had
a prez who was battling to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Sadly Bush nearly bankrupted the nation in the process. Obama has
done a great job at picking up the pieces that remained.

bushbred, how do you go from comments about Obama and Palin, to accusations of support for Netanyahu and nuclear military?

Then you verbal me about being excited about it - the piece is about Obama and his lack of competance, you've driven off on a different road.

If Obama was competant, why hasn't he got the middle east sorted out? Iran sorted? What does he do, go and bow and kowtow to the local despots and apologise.

The result of that is..? Nothing, as expected, oh, except less respect for the USA, well done Obama, so now everyone feels they can do what they want, and the USA will apologise, not kick their butts.

What a statesman, what a guy! (for you, not anyone else interested in peace)

If you want peace int he middle east, you need to be a strong man, it's how it works there, tolerating their intolerance to them, is a sign of weakness.

Obama is weak!

"Sheesh and there was silly old me, thinking that alot more is
achieved when we talk to people and try and figure out our
differences"

Where has that worked in the muslim world?

Sheesh, I guess you don't have those skills either eh yabby "Is that how you too lead your life Amicus?"

Obama will be a single term leader and the dems will be int he wilderness because of him and the dem policies for decades.

They will be punished for putting someone in charge who was a self centered preening imbecile, who listened to no one, and for someone with no experience, that just makes his time in office even worse.

The author says:

//Furthermore, as president his push to assure that 30 million more Americans are insured under a more just national healthcare scheme is a significant and worthy change.//

and I say..ONLY a person who has NOT read the bill..and is ignorant of how such legislation was to be used to introduce rampant socialism to America through a political framework would say such a thing!

It's not the 'idea' of bring healthcare to 30million people which is the problem...it's THE BILL itself and what wolfish laws are brought in under the sheep skin of 'better health care'.

Thanks to astute political commentators and some research.. the American people have been SAVED from Communist infiltration and dominance by the last mid term election.

Unless one knows what is really going on with the Unions and Obama's marxist friends..this might not make much sense. So I suggest you

"get up to speed" and become aware of the bigger picture.

*If Obama was competant, why hasn't he got the middle east sorted out?*

Did it occur to you, Amicus, that Obama had a couple of other things
taking up most of his time? Like a collapsing global economy,
or an American economy spinning out of control?

Your bias is showing here. 8 years of Bush-Cheney sabre rattling
achieved nothing in the ME, yet you wonder why Obama did not
wave a magic wand in a year and 9 months. I remind you that the
last guy who came closest to achieving a result was Clinton,
using people skills.

*Where has that worked in the muslim world?*

It works everywhere Amicus, but you need to understand the
psychology of people skills versus sabre rattling, to understand
how and why. Clearly you are of the sabre rattling tradition.
You don't know any better. Fair enough.

Obama is hardly inexperienced. His talents showed through in how
he won the US presidential election. His was by far the best and
most organised campaign, making the rest look like schoolboys.

But he had complete power in his campaign, unlike as prez. Some
of those members of congress and the senate are not the brightest
little pixies, so its a bit like trying to herd cats.

Never said Obama was competent, Amicus, but only felt he might have had the capacity to arrange rather than brute force, a type of social understanding similar to Nelson Mandela.

Certainly forgiveness comes into such a philosophy, also.

Finally, must admit that I have not had much faith in Obama, only hope possibly for some sort of wondrous miracle, which our troubled world needs so much

Obama like Bush is doing his puppet job really well.Obama has brought in preventative detention and expanded the war into Pakistan.He is trashing the US economy with quanitative easing ie counterfeiting money.

Why critise him when he doing as he is told.How can we have a new world order of facism without compliant pollies? You will all feel much safer in your houses with the boogy man terrorists replacing the reds under your beds.In fact anal probes at all the airports will keep you even safer.You'll be able to get your prostate checked and have a colonoscopy just for the price of a flight to Vegas.