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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn alternative look at Obama’s 5th year
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/alternative-look-obamas-5th-year
An alternative look at Obamas 5th year
12/18/13 10:15 AMUpdated 12/18/13 02:13 PM
By Steve Benen
When books are written on Barack Obamas presidency, its unlikely that his fifth year will be celebrated as the pinnacle of his tenure. On the contrary, its a year White House officials almost certainly consider a disappointment.
But Im not sure its been quite as disastrous as advertised.
For much of the Beltway, that the year was an abject disaster is a foregone conclusion. Little seems to have gone right for the White House in 2013, Politico noted this morning in a piece asking which administration had the worst fifth year. Obama had the worst year in Washington, the Washington Post concluded last week. 2013 has been a pretty terrible year for the president, BuzzFeed argued.
This has been Obamas year from hell, The New Republic said. When Beltway pundits arent comparing Obamas 2013 to George W. Bushs 5th year, theyre comparing it Richard Nixons 5th year.
Even the most enthusiastic Obama supporter would probably balk at heralding 2013 as a success, but the premise of these analyses seems a little excessive. Consider:
* Congressional Republicans shut down the government to extract White House concessions. Obama and congressional Democrats stood firm and the GOP backed down.
* The Obama administration forged an international agreement to rid Syria of chemical weapons, struck a historic nuclear deal with Iran, and brought Israelis and Palestinians to the table together for the first peace talks in years.
* The economy has steadily improved, and 2013 is on pace to be the best year for U.S. job creation since 2005 and the second best since 1999.
* The scandals the media hyped relentlessly in the spring proved to be largely meaningless, and while the presidents poll numbers have dropped, his standing is roughly at the same point as two years ago.
Obviously, the Affordable Care Acts open-enrollment period got off to a dreadful start, though theres ample evidence that the system is the midst of a dramatic turnaround. Besides, two months of website troubles do not a year make.
And while Obamas detractors will also note that no major legislation was signed into law this year, that just makes 2013 identical to 2011 and 2012 when Americans elected a divided government featuring radicalized Republicans unwilling to compromise, the fate of good bills with popular support was sealed, but thats hardly the White Houses fault.
Songs will never be sung in honor of Obamas fifth year, but the year from hell talk seems disproportionate given the circumstances. There have been disappointments, but 2013 just hasnt been that bad.
Orrex
(63,199 posts)Obama could personally eradicate all forms of cancer, and NPR would report on the tragedy of the oncologists losing their jobs.
babylonsister
(171,056 posts)telling us the sky is falling. I guess they all have short attention spans. That, or they're not invested in good news for the country, just like the rethugs.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)Orrex
(63,199 posts)"The botched rollout and the website fiasco" is their preferred meme, in fact.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)to it every day, morning and evening. Even if I'd started out opposing the ACA, their transparent propaganda would have me reconsidering by now.
Orrex
(63,199 posts)NPR was giddy with self-congratulation as it ran down their list of Obama's failures, chief among them the spectacular failure of the ACA website. To hear them tell it, this is the worst example of government incompetence of all time.
They blamed Obama for the GOP's stonewalling and obstructionism, and they held him specifically responsible for the government shutdown.
As always, when the minority GOP blocks Democratic legislation, it's a failure of the Democrats. But when the majority GOP rams a piece of legislation through congress, it's a failure of the Democrats.
Public radio still has a lot to offer, but NPR's "news" programs are the bottom of the barrel.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)spanone
(135,816 posts)this bullshit meme proves how distorted and fucked our media outlets are.