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Comment by spwa4 | Hacker News Reader

I miss Obama. A president that could actually deliver a decent speech and actually bothered to be a politician.

A politician should do TWO things: get elected, and convince the electorate about a path forward, including any compromises needed. Obama is the last president that actually did that. As we all know. Trump just doesn't even bother. And before anyone else points this out: yes, I kind of agree, Biden didn't either. Democrats are their own worst enemy, just like republicans are.

I really miss Obama.

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I know the recent presidency really lowered the bar, but Obama wasn't decent. Sure, he was good at speeches. Yet one of the first things he did was let war criminals off the hook. He went soft on fraudsters at Wall Street after they caused a global financial crisis. He prosecuted more whistleblowers than his predecessors combined. He sent drones to foreign soil and extrajudicially assassinated thousands of people outside of war zones, including many civilians. All of this is insane and did play a role for what came after. The world deserves better.

Your post reminds me of that scene from the West Wing where the president joins a meeting the VP had already started who had opened with:

"Surely our first priority is to figure out a way to work with Congress"

Then the president joins and is caught up by the note taker and embarrasses the VP with

"Our first priority is to work with congress? Surely our first priority is to serve the American people"

Biden did both, at least at first. Age (and refusal to recognize it) hobbled him in the end, but during his term he was one of the more effective presidents of the last several decades. Arguably more effective than Obama, considering the amount accomplished in one term and the far slimmer majorities he had to work with. And I say that as somebody who loves Obama.

Hopefully when Russia is sorted it will be a chance to remember how the Biden administration helped derail "three days to Kyiv" while absolutely embarrassing the Kremlin.

That and letting JPow fix inflation without constantly screeching about needing to lower interest rates.

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