Stu Blog

Before Barack took office I implemented the Barack Obama approval rating system. He started at 100%, and would be downgraded/upgraded as his job performance was positive or negative (max 10 points per event.)  

There just aren’t enough hours in the day to keep up with it–the President has been doing a lot that I’m not too fond of lately (and a couple of things were aiiight.)  I guess what I’m saying is it’s time for a batch update.  As of today, officially he’s still at 99% approval, but I’m going to guess that’s not going to continue (there may be a minus 10 point stimulus bill that still hasn’t been factored in). 

So that I don’t miss anything, feel free to post in the comments section anything that Obama has done so far (good or bad) that you think should change his rating.  And if you are keeping your own personal approval rating like some who have emailed, feel free to post that.  And fine, you can post Carrie Underwood photos too, although that’s just a standing invitation.

Right after his election, I wrote about giving Barack Obama a clean slate.

So today, I give Barack Obama a 100% approval rating. If and when he screws up, I’ll deduct points. Let’s make it a maximum of 10 points for each individual annoying event. If he does something great-I’ll add points. I’m that kind of guy. Let’s see how long he stays above 50%.

I decided not to take any points away until he actually took office.  It didn’t take long for his first minor infraction–in which Obama loses one percentage point.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.

This is fundamentally wrong.  Size does matter.  You can easily look back at the founders and see that the size of the government was incredibly important to them.   But, I’ll let Glenn hit you with the quotes from the 1700s.

What bothers me is that this logic puts you in a never ending circle that only leads to larger, more ineffective government.  When something fails, you try to fix it.  How do you do that?  You assign more resources.

That’s what government does with schools.

Schools fail->someone says they’re underfunded->there’s more funding->schools continue to fail->repeat

So, if you don’t start with at least a general goal of making government smaller, and allow for very few exceptions, you will reliably find things that don’t work, throw money at them, and then unavoidably make them more of a nightmare then they were before.

But it doesn’t end there.  How does Obama define a government that “works?”  Four ways:

1. help families find jobs (I assume he means individuals in families, unless he’s looking to create a new Partridge Family-esque industry)
2. have those jobs pay a “decent wage”
3. get them “care they can afford” (I assume that means health care, unless it’s just encouragement and moral support)
4. and get them “a retirement that is dignified”

Is it me? Or have the right been far more sensible and gracious to Barack Obama since his election then the left ever was to George W. Bush when he was elected?

Immediately with Bush, he “stole” the election and he was “selected not elected.” That didn’t go away, even after winning all the recounts, the media recounts, and winning re-election four years later.

Bush has been widely praised for his graciousness during the transition, and McCain’s concession speech was very classy.

But it’s even happening on that evil talk radio. An Ohio paper ran a story about local republicans, where Glenn’s response was mentioned:

With a photo of vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin still sitting atop a meeting room table at Ed Pickens’ Cafe on Main, (Richland County Republican Chairman Mark) Arnold urged Republicans to support the incoming administration. He quoted conservative talk show host Glenn Beck from a recent show, in which the Fox commentator chastised a Georgia man who’d called in to say he refused to accept Barack Obama as president.

Explaining that this same attitude caused problems for President George W. Bush in 2000, Beck said, “How very un-American of you. He is the American president. … this is the way our system works.”

Link

It’s not like Glenn is changing any of his ideals-it’s just that their guy won, fair and square. The country is bigger than the party.

Also, Rush Limbaugh said:

“Barack Obama is my president of the United States. I couldn’t care less where he was born, what his name is, how old he is, or the color of his skin. He’s not black. He’s not white. He’s not Asian-American or Mexican. He’s not Chavez’s brother or Islamic. I don’t see Americans as members of groups. I see individual human beings. It is his ideas I am terrifically, tremendously worried about.”

These are the quotes that don’t make their way into the liberal blogs.

Why is there such a massive difference between the left and the right’s response? My guess is a combination of:

1) The right generally starts with the assumption that this country is good, and it works. We respect it–even when it doesn’t go our way–and we tend to blame ourselves for not being competent before blaming the other side for being unfair. Some of that is a form of personal (and somewhat blind) patriotism, at least for me. This country is bigger than one candidate. The flag wavin’ side of me doesn’t think that Obama could ruin this country even if he tried. The constitution and capitalism won’t let him. (Of course, if he ignores them…) Plus, I refuse to let politicians affect me that much.

2) We really hated the way Bush was treated. He wasn’t given a chance, and we remember that. It pisses us off. Much like Sarah Palin, Bush was viciously attacked from the second he appeared on the national stage—most of the time unfairly. Part of this response (at least for me) is a promise I made to myself years ago-that if Kerry (or now Obama) was elected-they would get a clean slate from me.

So today, I give Barack Obama a 100% approval rating. If and when he screws up, I’ll deduct points. Let’s make it a maximum of 10 points for each individual annoying event. If he does something great-I’ll add points. I’m that kind of guy. Let’s see how long he stays above 50%.

I don’t think Obama will be a good president. But I HOPE for a CHANGE in that opinion. I hope he’s the greatest president in history. I hope the pre-election promises of perfection are realized. I doubt they will be, but I want to at least give him a chance to screw it up before I say he screwed it up.

Regardless, he’ll be my president until he leaves office—even if his nationwide approval rating is zero (which will be impossible unless the on air staff of MSNBC is left out of the sample.)