Has there ever been a president who has spent as much time and effort complaining about his predecessor and counterparts instead of implementing his agenda than President Obama?

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10 months into his administration we still have to hear about what he inherited and how the Republicans continue to stand in his way.  Mr President,  do you need to be reminded about Constitutional powers?  You have ALL THE POWER!  There is not one single Republican who can stop you from enacting any legislation brought to your desk.  If you want a public run healthcare system, do it,  If you want cap and trade, get it, if you to end global warming, end it, if you want the troops out of Iraq, get 'em out.  The only power Republicans have right now is the power to verbally disagree, and as we all know, talk is cheap, especially in Washington.  So stop painting Republicans as obstructionists, stop blaming President Bush for the predicaments you find yourself in now and exercise the unprecedented powers granted you by our Constitution and make it all happen.

I hope for the sake of our country that you continue to seek bipartisan solutions, but make up your mind which way you're going to play it.  Remember this little rant from two months ago?

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We can stop talkin' and we can even start moppin', but one thing we cannot do is stand in your way.  So stop the bloviating and get something done.

It has just been announced that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to President Barak Obama.  Let's analyze this from a factual standpoint.  What has President Obama tangibly accomplished on the international scene that merits the global standard for peace?

Alfred Nobel the benefactor of the award wrote in his will that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

Let's take a brief look at the facts (and it has to be brief since he has only been President for 9 months).  Troop levels in Afghanistan are actually higher(although slightly) under his administration.  He has continued the policy of indeterminate detention without trial for certain terror suspects.  Gitmo is still open.  His foray into nuclear negotiations has resulted in North Korea and Iran snubbing their noses at the world by launching numerous short and long range missle tests.  Isreal stands on the precipice of being forced to rightfully defend itself before it is erased from the map.  Other than Chavez, Castro, and Qhaddafi, no other world leader has come out and swooned over the President like one would expect for a world peace initiator.  Even the IOC didn't recognize the accomplishments and reward the great global uniter with a shot at the Olympics, booting us out in the first round.  We don't even have peace in our own country as we find ourselves more politically, racially, and socially divided as a nation then we have been in decades.

Even though I pointed out that he has only been in office 9 months, it must be noted that nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize must be submitted by February 1st.  Therefore the President was nominated for this prestigious award just twelve days into his administration.

Take a look back at the quote from Alfred Nobel's will and decide if this prize has been reduced to a shred of what it was originally intended to be.

In the New York Times this morning, we read this of President Obama's appearance last night at a White House news conference:

The news conference was the centerpiece of an intense and highly orchestrated campaign by the administration to wrest control of the stimulus debate from Republicans and reframe it on Mr. Obama’s terms.

Did he succeed? Was it what he needed to do?

A few short days ago I wrote a small blog entry on the wonders of America and the heroism that was displayed during the Hudson River Rescue.  I am still in awe of that total sense of sacrifice and service.  I also included a request that everyone give our President Barack Obama some time to accomplish things and recognize that he too needs to step up  to serve and strive greater than any recent President to help solve our mounting problems.  I do believe he will be a wonderful President.  In his first two days of office, he has achieved and accomplished so much.  I don't see vacation on his schedule anytime soon.

With all that being said, my simple request for time and patience and my belief that Americans in general do feel positive about the new President (recent poll showed 83% felt positive) has resulted in some of the very sophmoric replies that really do rankle me.  For an American to use a person's name as a "slur" or negative connotation is just as demeaning and nasty as using many of the words that we have defeated in the past.  Equating the President's middle name as a negative reference is perhaps the lowest of low.

I respect that all Americans have freedom of speech, but that does not mean I have to like it, tolerate it or even accept it.  It basically takes an unintelligent mind to become so low that a person's name can be used as such.   Our President's name is Barack Hussein Obama.  Learn to live with it and if you don't like it ignore it, but don't use a man's name as derision or as a blatant racist attempt to lower him in the eyes of America.  I happen to think it is a great name that reflects "all that is indeed possible in this wonderful country we call home".

My "Time to Renew" blog entry is exactly what it says.  I believe it is such a time in America.   Time to heal and to move forward, to enlighten those who lead into greater service and to call up to service those that want to lead.  It was meant to reflect on the heroism in the Hudson River as a wonderful exmple of "people helping and indeed saving people".   To my amazement it solicited 62 responses to date, many of which contained hateful insights, off-topic giberish and senseless drivel. Some of the responses attempted to lower hope and return to name calling nastiness.  Other responses attempted to prove who was smarter, who knew more and who could have the last word.  That certainly isn't renewal.  It is rehashing the crap from that past.  As an American, I feel that is not acceptable.

Now it is my turn.  Like I said before, I respect your freedom of speech and the open medium of blogging.    Please remember, my intent is to be positive and to express hope and solutions for the future.   If your intent is not the same then take a flying leap.  Start your own blog that points out who is better than who, uses names as damaging labels and resorts to one-up-man-ship.  As the old adage goes, if you are not part of the solution, guess what..... you are part of the problem.  Please join me on the side of Solutions and Hope.

Stay Safe, Prayers for our New Leaders and as always, Thanks for listening.