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[–] un_salamandre 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I feel I need to stop caring so much about americal politics, part because it's just a huge shitshow, part because I have no real impact. I should focus on my country. The only problem is that the internet flows through america, so I have to be at least somewhat concerned about the NSA, etc.

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[–] mcdowell_ag 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I grew up reading American Science Fiction in N. Ireland during the troubles, about the time when Reagan was just taking over from Carter. It seemed clear that the Americans had this "E Pluribus Unum" stuff working much better for them and that we hadn't a clue (although I was well aware that the troubles were partly funded by Irish American romantics who would have thrown up on the spot if they'd seen first hand what their money was paying for). I would have voted for George W. Bush the first time, but was not at all impressed with his presidency. I have been very impressed by Obama, but I am not at all impressed with the current slate of candidates contending for either party.

So yeah - what you do goes round the world, and sometimes it's incredibly impressive, but sometimes even some of your bigger fans (like me) are appalled at what seems to be a godawfull mess, and can only hope that, in the words of Churchill, "The Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives."

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[–] crazy_eyes ago  (edited ago)

What about Obama has impressed you?

He's not been very impressive from the perspective of inside the country

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[–] mcdowell_ag 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

The UK is very proud of its National Health System and my parents are old enough to remember a time before that and are great fans of it (I especially remember my Dad pointing out to me all the wonderful care he was getting for free, just after being told that the terminal cancer his Doctor had failed to diagnose had just destroyed his lower spine). So Obamacare looks like a great achievement from here. Even putting aside whether it was worth doing, my view of Obama vs Hilary as capable politicians is heavily influenced by the fact that Obama did what Hilary failed to do, because she made too many enemies.

Coming after George W Bush almost anybody would look good (let's face it, that got Obama his Nobel Prize) but Obama always appears calm, collected, and capable of giving a reasonable explanation what he is doing and why. And if he hasn't done the equivalent of tearing down the Berlin Wall, the Obama Doctrine of "Don't do stupid shit" is pretty reassuring for the rest of the world.

For those who want a tough guy in times of crisis, I refer you to the "Obama as Michael Corleone" view of Bin Laden's killing e.g. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/opinion/04dowd.html?ref=maureendowd&_r=0). I was also impressed by the picture at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden#Killing_of_bin_Laden - look where he's sitting. This is a President who lets the military get stuff done without micromanaging and without needing to stand up every five minutes and tell everybody he's a winner.