Actually, it would be a tie between him and his namesake/soulmate Ayn Rand, but since she’s dead and he might actually run for president (I wonder if he’ll run ever four years for a generation, like his Dad), I’m going to go with him.
I’m saying this in response to the little ad thingy that cropped up on Facebook a few minutes ago. On the off chance that it was actually asking me whether Barack Obama, who is pictured, was the worst president ever, I hesitated to click on it. Instead, I’m responding here to the implication in the text — that Rand Paul, who is named, would be the worst president ever.
I was sort of warned off from clicking by the fact that our good friend Doug had “liked” it, as you can see.
You heard it here first.
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How can a man that has accomplished so much even be considered “worst” ever? Folks don’t look at things objectively but merely get caught up in some kind of partisan naysaying. (That sounds like Brad I know but, oh well). He got us out of Iraq, brought the unemployment rate down 2.7% and counting, finally moved the ball on healthcare, cut the budget deficit by 60%, brought Osama Bin-Laden and Ghadhaffi to justice, helped secure Syrian chemical weapons, rallied the DOW from 8000 to more than 15000, ended the housing and auto crises and put the financial markets on sound footing. If that’s the “worst” ever what does that make his predecessor?
Well, I guess the next for Obama is to gather 12 disciples, walk on water, turn water into wine, heal the sick, and ascend into heaven on wings. After all, based on what you claimed he has accomplished all on his own, he must the second coming we have been waiting for.
That job is already taken.
Of course no single individual is responsible for what happens in the country not to mention the world. Somehow conservatives want to blame Obama for everything bad that ever happens anywhere and ignore positive developments that he has a direct hand in achieving. Take the auto bailout. I was pretty lukewarm to that whole thing when it was being proposed, especially for Chrysler since they had already been bailed out in 1979. But it was done and the industry has come roaring back. Some on the right, in particular Mitt Romney, suggest that the traditional bankruptcy process would have accomplished the same thing. That is really a stretch. Most experts believe the entire economy would have suffered a tremendous hit. We’ll never know for sure. But what we do know is that the auto industry is thriving today. And the president deserves a lot of credit for that.
It’s nice to see that Obama has finally come around and embraced the Paul doctrine on non-intervention in Syria. His father also proved John McCain wrong on the economy back in 2008 when McCain was denying there was any problem.
You know about as much about Rand Paul as you do Ayn Rand. Get back to me after you’ve actually read Atlas Shrugged.
And for the record, I didn’t “like” the statement about Obama being the worst president ever. I “liked” the Rand Paul page. Obama isn’t the worst ever. Just one of the worst in my lifetime. Bush II was worse.
It’s funny how scared everyone is of Rand Paul. Liberty and peace are scary philosophies.
Doug,
Have to disagree about Bush ll being the “worst” ever. Maybe the third worst ever. Carter is second but Obama is still No. 1.
There wasn’t a single thing Bush did that I agreed with. He was led around on a leash by Dick Cheney. And he gave up without much of a fight on privatizing Social Security.
With the 1-2 combination of Syria’s chemical weapons and the positive developments with Iran Obama has the potential to become the best president since WW II. Of course both of those thing could go very badly, not to mention some very bad economic developments may crop up, but the potential for true greatness is there. No president can boost: (1) an improving economy, (2) the eradication of not 1 but 2 tyrants without resorting to major American military involvement (3) ending an unpopular war (with a second likely) (4) a major domestic initiative that could benefit millions of American AND (5) a dramatic reduction in the annual budget deficit.
So are poverty, ignorance and illness. Rand Paul would deliver us plenty of all 3.
So Rand would deliver us poverty at an even faster increasing rate than Obama? Have you looked at the food stamp participant numbers over the past six years, oh way that’s probably Bush’s fault.
How would he do that, bud? I’m especially interested in how a doctor who is also a son of a doctor would deliver more illness? Both Pauls have done more to help patients than Obama ever will.
So you are saying that the number of patients that 2 single doctors have personally cared for in their personal practices will be greater than the number of low income people who will gain access to healthcare that they did not previously have prior to Obama care.
That seems to be what you are saying.
I find that hard to believe.
Obama signed a piece of paper. He has nothing to do with patient care, just how it is paid for.
with other peoples’ money..
Obama has also done more the make insurance companies rich than either Paul ever will.
Scout, don’t the poor have Medicaid? How does that hold them back form medical care? Has a patient been refused life threatening treatment because they couldn’t afford it? A friend of mine is an EMT, they transported a guy from the projects last week because he broke a toe. There’s your Medicaid dollars hard at work.
Another thing about Syria. In spite of near universal condemnation, even from some in his own cabinet, Obama “flip-flopped” on attacking the place on his own. He decided, belatedly, that the Constitution really does require congressional authorization for acts of war. Good for him.
Better late than never. Still a long way to go.
Oh, and I know it spoils the joke, but his real name is Randall and his name has nothing to do
with Ayn Rand. His mother picked out his name. It took all of five seconds on Google
to confirm that.
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/08/23/rand-paul-wasnt-named-after-ayn-rand-dad-confirms
I guess that’s why newspapers have fact checkers.
Huh. I had no idea. You’d think that if any set of parent would have named their kid for Ayn Rand, it would have been the Pauls…
So excuuuuuussse me.
I’ve seen Southern kids with more screwed up names than in any other part of the country. Who’s idea was it to name the first male born child the mother’s maiden name? Most end up going by a middle name or a nickname.
Good thing my family didn’t do that. My brother would have been Rose.
I’m sure there are exceptions, had they done so he would have probably been named Ross.
Would it be too big a stretch to guess that the choice of “Rand” as the name he was called on a daily basis – rather than Randall or Randy, say, was intentional and perhaps meaningful. It’s not a commonly encountered nickname for Randall.
Did you read the article? He was called Randy until he became a doctor… and the shortened version was initiated by his wife.
No, I didn’t. I apologize. I should have.
My apologies to everyone. It is Saturday afternoon, not much going on and shooting fish in a barrel is a minor distraction. So, here goes.
Per bud:
“How can a man that has accomplished so much even be considered “worst” ever? Folks don’t look at things objectively but merely get caught up in some kind of partisan naysaying. (That sounds like Brad I know but, oh well).”
“He got us out of Iraq” – news flash – the plan was in place to reduce troops well before Obama was elected. All he did was fulfill a commitment made when Bush was in office.
“ brought the unemployment rate down 2.7% and counting” – another news flash – the reason the unemployment rate is down by any percentage is because the unemployed and the ones who have dropped off the rolls of those seeking employment plus the low number of jobs being created have skewed the real numbers in Obama’s favor. If anything, if the real number were published, it would be well above 14%. If I lower the water in a 50 gallon barrel by half, leave the lid off and allow evaporation until water was available to add to the barrel, there would be considerable residual loss. Then when I started to add water back and only considered the current level as the base line, anything added back would be considered an increase. Then I could claim to have increased the amount of the water in the barrel by a few percentage points. Until the number of people who are employed is returned to the previous levels, the numbers are still bogus.
“finally moved the ball on healthcare” – moved the ball down the throat of the American taxpayer by , passing a bill no one had read, understood, and the truth about the impact kept from the voters. It remains unpopular and not due to talk radio or Fox News. Sorry, “Faux” News, otherwise, you wouldn’t know what I was referring to.
“cut the budget deficit by 60%” – increased the debt by trillions more than the combined administrations beginning with Reagan,
“brought Osama Bin-Laden and Ghadhaffi to justice” – the plan to capture or kill bin Laden was developed by a high ranking admiral and was in place before Obama was informed of it but when it was time to “watch” the heavy work being done by Seal Team 7, Obama and his buddies left the situation room and played spades for a few hours. As for Ghadhaffi, if the news reports were accurate, I think the rebels were the ones who captured and killed Ghadhaffi by torturing him and executing him without the benefit of a trial. Well, I guess in your world, that is justice. You little peace monger you.
“helped secure Syrian chemical weapons” – yes, after Kerry accidentally come up with a plan out of shear frustration; Putin picked the idea up; did the negotiations and Assad agreed; then Obama inserted himself into the picture. He backed down from his bold words, deferred the decision to send a few pinprick missiles into Iraq to congress, and covered his ass just in case something went wrong.
“ rallied the DOW from 8000 to more than 15000” – no, the DOW is at 15000 because of QEl and QEll both of which are responsible for transferring more wealth into the hands of a few since he instituted it than at any time in our history because of the inflated stock market and endless supply of support from the FED.
“ended the housing and auto crises” – another news flash, the national housing crisis is not over yet, it is over in a few select areas where government spending is at historical levels – try a 20 to 30 mile radius of Washington, DC for a prime example. As for the auto crisis, the industry was rescued at the expense of the taxpayer for the benefit of unions and Obama supporters. I have family living in the Detroit area and the facts spewed by the administration are contradicted by the people who live there.
“and put the financial markets on sound footing” – what sound footing? The financial market is supported by the government, no one else and as mentioned, creating more wealth for the 1% than at any time in history, hurting the poor and middle class at the same time. Once the government pulls financial support from the market, watch out!!
“If that’s the “worst” ever what does that make his predecessor?” – a genius by comparison!!
Thank you Bart for demonstrating what is known in basketball as a “in-your-face slam dunk”.
Bart’s attempt to shoot fish in a barrel has failed. Maybe we should take up a collection and get him a fully automatic AR-15. Why? Because facts are facts. President’s get credit for things they don’t deserve and condemnation for things beyond their control. I get that. Still, it’s funny how so many things have gone right over the past few years and how many went so badly, horribly wrong in the previous 8.
I appreciate the offer to get me a fully automatic AR-15. When you get it, let Brad know and I will send him my address. But, I don’t need an AR-15 to shoot a fish in a barrel and know when the target has been hit. A pea shooter works just fine in this instance. Your response is proof positive. Maybe you can pass along to the current resident of the White House that if he wants praise and credit for the good things then he needs to “man up” and accept the bad as well and stop blaming every damn thing under the sun on Bush. But that would require an honest leader, not one who more concerned with covering his ass on every difficult issue that comes before him.
Wonder how many tires have been punctured on the bus Obama keeps throwing people under.
If you don’t want it, I’ll take it. Just let me know when I need to start my Class 3 paperwork. Does this include the tax stamp or am I on my own for that?
You don’t need to complete those forms to buy an NFA weapon; those are for manufacturers and importers. And the transfer tax is just $200.
It’s a bit amusing I know that as I don’t even like guns. If it isn’t a hunting weapon, it’s just a compensation toy as far as I’m concerned. Mostly, it’s handguns though that are more problematical than automatic weapons. Somehow, those (NFA weapons) seem to have mostly stayed in responsible hands. Happily, but surprisingly. Thanks to all the responsible owners out there…
The main problem is the actual price. Current market prices for a legal, fully automatic M-16 is roughly $23-25k.
Bryan,
A high price is only a problem if one wants to see cheap, and therefore more plentiful, automatic weapons.
Otherwise, such valuations just serve to keep them as collector items; and well secured items at that.
I’ll be the first in line to criticize the president when he is wrong. I find the drone strikes abhorrent. What I’m suggesting is only that to call the president “worst ever” ignores a lot of facts.
BULL$HIT!!!!
Only if the president is “not Obama” will you be the first to criticize.
Syria’s chemical weapons have been secured? Threads like this are why I enjoy the diversion of college football on Saturdays.
Bud, you left out one more thing on the list. Steady pressure and economic sanctions and back-channel dialogue (and not overreacting to Ahmedinajad’s verbal provocations) may very well have started Iran on a path to negotiation over nuclear weapons’ development. At the very least, there is dialogue on a level perhaps unheard of since the Iranian Revolution.
And that is exactly what Rand and Ron Paul have pushed for – war should be the last resort. The general public is tired of the McCain-Graham doctrine.
On this issue the Pauls are spot on.
Not according to Carl Rove. This is a hopeful sign but far too early to get too excited.