Sexual Harassment/Assault Scandals

Let us also not forget that Obama and Holder really looked into restructuring the criminal justice system in their final years. They worked on doing away with mandatory sentencing, doing away with long incarcerations for petty crimes, attempting to get the voting rights of prisoners back after they left prison, etc. This was beneficial to African Americans too, especially black men, who have historically been done wrong by the justice system. The work Obama and Holder were doing was impressive enough to get positive responses from people like criminal justice reform activist and The Wire creator David Simon as well as Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow”. Obama was even finally getting some bi-partisan assistance as many Republicans were coming out against governments being overly punitive and discussing the excessive costs it was costing to jail millions upon millions of American citizens. So things were working out well and progress was being made. So what happens Trump gets into office and appoints an AG who is does away with all this progress and brings the status quo back to its original profit-for-jailing and racial-profiling ways. And once the damage is done, Trump has a meeting with a Kardassian ho and decides criminal justice can give him some good publicity and pulls together a bi-partisan effort for reforms. Only thing is those reforms take us back t the very stage Obama and Holder had gotten us too earlier, but of course Trump wants to take credit.


Of course Obama was far from perfect. From a domestic standpoint his administration could have done a better job on the predatory lenders who caused so much economic damage in the housing market that resulted in so many black people losing their homes and they could have sent some bankers to jail and maybe used more of the money to assist homeowners rather than the banks. But some key people in the administration made the call that the best way to help everyone was to prioritize stabilizing the markets and the banks. I disagreed with some of these decisions but I can’t argue that their stabilization worked as a whole for the country. Sure if MLK, Malcolm X or a Black Panther member (why are people still talking about this group?) had led the country they would have likely done some things different but those types of individuals were NEVER going to get elected, not just by white people but pretty much not by any of the non-black communities in this country. So why bring that bullshit up?



Guess what I’m trying to say is stop listening to any garbage that compares Obama to Kamala Harris. Obama didn’t get to a high political standing off the backs of poor black people he sent to jail or by trying to make criminal laws tougher than they already were. He also didn’t have the luxury of running in a pure blue state like California when running for Senator. He actually earned his position. Also why are some of you even listening to these black “prophets” on YouTube in the first place considering that almost all of them would think you as a coon for even looking appreciatively at a white woman, let alone fucking or being in a relationship with one? Isn’t that in itself an attempt to control the choices “free” black men make? I’m all for the economic, educational and social betterment of the African American community as a whole but I have no time for uninformed, unintelligible, militant race hustlers. Fuck that shit.


Lastly I don’t understand the condemnation of Crews on this site. I really don’t. I may not agree with all of his points but I don’t see him as like some surrogate for the Smart Brothers either. But that’s my two cents. Can y’all please stop using the language of the racist, insecure, conservative white man with all that “SJW” talk too. Because no matter how many black dudes with YouTube channels think they have some sort of bond with the white dudes out there who came up with such terms, the reality is most of those white dudes hate your black ass. Conservative white guys, historically, have rarely reached out to black men in solidarity and there’s a reason for that.

 

I have also come across far more feminist sites (led by white chicks) who support Crews rather than go after him. But in typical American fashion we get people who see a few bad apple examples and try to claim that this handful represent the majority opinion of these groups overall. Enough of this nonsense. Get off the internet, America, and read a good book.

 

No, I'm not going to stop because it's true.

1. Obama and his corporate cronies threw the Black community under the bus early in his administration when he opted not to bail out mortgage holders who were stuck underwater as a result of the financial crisis.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/23/untouchables-wall-street-prosecutions-obama


The Democrats had a supermajority in Congress during Obama's first two years in office, and they passed passed a three-quarters of a trillion dollar bank bailout without issue. They could have easily included relief for homeowners, but Timothy Geithner and the rest of the Wall Street crew, who were running the Oval, talked Obama out of it. Their priority was relief for the malicious corporate actors who crashed the economy with their incompetence over the regular people who were victims of Wall Street's greed.

A general mortgage holders bailout would have been a non-race specific policy that would have disproportionately benefitted Black people because Black people were targeted by predatory banks and mortgage lenders who gave Black homebuyers suboptimal rates or ARMs even if they qualified for prime rate loans.

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/nyregion/15subprime.html

The crash of 2007 wiped out an entire generation of Black wealth because of the redlining and mortgage fraud that had been perpetrated against Black communities.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/black-recession-housing-race/396725/

Sorry, but the reality is that Obama had the ability and the political capital to address this issue and refused because he didn't want to appear too liberal. These are facts. People need to wake up to it.

2. You need to stop defending the ACA. Yes, it helped people get insured and was an improvement over the previous system, but the entire strategy pursued by the Obama admin for healthcare reform was comically flawed. The ACA was a fucking Republican solution to the healthcare crisis.

The Democrats adopted it because they thought that "common sense" would prevail among the Republican caucus in Congress and that they would vote for the type of healthcare solution that Mitt Romney was praised for instituting in Massachusetts.

This was criminal stupidity. Obama was trying to play nice with the people who were saying that he was an illegal immigrant from Africa who wasn't legitimately president. They got ZERO Republican votes for the ACA after they allowed the Republicans to sabotage the bill before it was even passed with hundreds of ridiculous amendments.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opin...-craft-obamacare-ross-baker-column/523952001/

When it was clear that they weren't going to get any GOP votes after the bill left committee, the entire thing should have been scrapped. But because of the failed attempt to accommodate Republicans, the Democrats were stuck with a law that was easily sabotaged by the following hostile administration.

I could go an ad nauseum, but I've already written about this topic several times on this board over the years.

In practical terms, the ACA was a total strategic failure. The notion that the best option is to prop it up so that it can be attacked the next time that the Republicans take power just to preserve Obama's "legacy" is madness.

3. If we want to have this conversation, we should move it to another thread, but the fact is that Obama was a deeply flawed President who made many strategic blunders on issues that could have helped the Black community and the broader Democratic base in service of some sort of ridiculous bipartisan compromise with a Republican party that would have impeached him if he were dumb enough to give them an excuse.

The motherfucker was even willing to concede to the GOP by slashing the social safety and undercutting the entire case for supporting the Democratic party. Ironically, the Tea Party crazies who hated him so much saved his legacy by blocking the "grand bargain."

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/268857-showdown-scars-how-the-4-trillion-grand-bargain-collapsed


I understand the desire to reflexively defend Obama because of what his election symbolized for Black America and the fact that he was subjected to so much racist bullshit, but at some point, we need to have the ability to make good faith criticisms of his decisions.

 

Like I said before the political system isn't for black people and really people in general with all of this fighting. No politician on either side is even interested in fighting against systemic racism, racial injustice and giving reparations and this includes Obama. How many times have Obama dissed the black community? We know he is behind feminism and agrees with Toxic Masculinity among black men. Stop complaining about the state of the country and systemic racism, feminism, black men being targeted for toxic masculinity if you're going to defend it in the same breathe if it comes from Obama.

For every defense of Obama there's a defense for Trump. For every defense of Bush there's a defense of Clinton. The political system got you on a rollercoaster of stress that is OBVIOUSLY not fun and makes you sick at times but you want to get back on anyway. lol.

Ya'll know my feelings on politics so agree to disagree to avoid this thread getting derailed.

 

Again, this is better suited for another thread, but I'll give a pithy response.

"Looked into it" is all that they fucking did. They did the bare minimum on criminal justice reform.

Holder changed the DOJ sentencing guidelines. Like the ACA, this change was immediately rolled back after the next administration came into office. Again, I've written ad nauseum about how Sessions rolled back the Holder sentencing guidelines as soon as he was confirmed as AG.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/...al-jeff-sessions-drug-offenses-penalties.html



Obama was unwilling to do anything that would have made him look crazy to the DC establishment. EG marijuana. He was sending up the signals about some sort of softening of cannabis prohibition on the federal level when he was on the campaign trail in '08. Not only did he not do anything on weed (e.g. rescheduling it, which could have been accomplished with an executive order), he kept nominating prohibitionists to head the DEA.

His first DEA director was the fucking idiot who was given that job by George W. Bush. There were literally dozens of people qualified for that job with experience running major police departments who've turned against the drug war, but he picked a mass incarceration zealot from the Bush administration.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikka...ise-escalates-crackdown-on-medical-marijuana/

Obama functionally escalated the drug war for a large portion of his presidency before Holder changed the sentencing guidelines.


Finally, when the polls had shifted in favor of legalization during his last year in office, he came out and said it should be legal right before Trump was inaugurated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...should-be-treated-like-cigarettes-or-alcohol/


This is the same sort of craven shit that he pulled on gay marriage. He was for it when he was a state senator, then claimed he was opposed when he ran for POTUS, then his position "evolved" after support for gay marriage hit the magic 60% threshold in the polls.

Like I said brother, the Black community is going to start to have a serious conversation about what Obama's actual legacy is one of these days.

 

I don't know why this MYTH of Obama not doing much for the Black community is still alive, but these are the FACTS, Obama did A LOT for the Black community during his 8 years despite very tough opposition every step of the way;

Programs to improve economic conditions for minorities: http://www.blackenterprise.com/feat...e-track-record-for-helping-african-americans/

President Obama’s JumpStart Our Business Start-up (JOBS) Act resulted in a major shift in securities laws that meant the emancipation of capital for minority and women-owned businesses, who traditionally have struggled with gaining access to capital through traditional means. More minorities and lower net worth individuals were able to get in on investments that can drive more wealth generation to their communities. Thanks to Titles II, III, and IV, a start-up can publicly raise capital, participate in equity-based crowdfunding and use online tools to find investors, as well as raise up to $50 million from both non-accredited investors and accredited investors (those making at least $200,000 a year or have a million dollar net-worth).

Under President Obama’s watch there was an emphasis on black males. In February 2014, the president introduced My Brother’s Keeper, to specifically focus on improving the lives of young African American males. The initiative encouraged nonprofits to raise $200 million in five years for programs focused on young men of color. Though My Brother’s Keeper is not a federally-funded government program, no such effort has existed before under any American president.

Awarded $1.2 Billion To Black Farmers

President Obama’s administration oversaw the $1.2 billion settlement awarded to Black farmers who have been denied loans and assistance by the Agricultural Dept. for decades.

Expanded Funding For HBCUs

President Obama signed an executive order increasing funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to $850 million over the next 10 years. The funding is being administered through the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities that was, ironically, started by the late Ronald Reagan.

And when some people trot out statistics showing that Black people are not seeing the same gains as other ethnic groups show them this article http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/15/news/economy/blacks-trump-obama/

 

You saved me a whole bunch of typing thank you

 

Aaaaa motherfucking men. All that damn crying because Bill Cosby said pull up your damn pants and speak proper English. Holy Shit!!

 

C'mon now. He was "not just a politician" to the Black Community. He really was seen as their "hope and change". He was a freaking Rock Star (unlike Beto) and more Black people came out to vote for HIM in the history of Black voting. He was seen as a Messiah, if not he saw himself as one.

Curious then... Is he correct here?
(I would say he certainly walks the talk as a shining example of a wonderful father)

Obama Sharply Assails Absent Black Fathers



Addressing a packed congregation at one of the city’s largest black churches, Senator Barack Obama on Sunday invoked his own absent father to deliver a sharp message to African-American men, saying, “We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception.”

“Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said, to a chorus of approving murmurs from the audience. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”...

....Mr. Obama noted that “more than half of all black children live in single-parent households,” a number that he said had doubled since his own childhood.

Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who sat in the front pew, Mr. Obama laid out his case in stark terms that would be difficult for a white candidate to make, telling the mostly black audience not to “just sit in the house watching SportsCenter,” and to stop praising themselves for mediocre accomplishments.

“Don’t get carried away with that eighth-grade graduation,” he said, bringing many members of the congregation to their feet, applauding. “You’re supposed to graduate from eighth grade.”...

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/us/politics/15cnd-obama.html


*He also said to "...Stop using racism as a crutch for a lack of economic progress" and to "...Stop feeding your kids Popeyes for breakfast". and "..Monitor your kids doing their homework"
He also co-sponsored a Bill to address "the national epedemic of ansentee fathers" with tougher enforcement.

 

Brother, I got a lot of respect for you, but you're a lifelong Republican.

The fact that you're so heavily invested in defending Obama's presidency is proof of what the problem was.

 

That man is a moderate and he supports Obama, and that's a problem??

LMAO.


You want moderates to stay away? With Saint Bernie, you got it! No worries.

 

Is your issue just with PrExCo or do you want single.payer for all. As in, get rid of Private choice insurance.

 

A public option. Insurance should not be coupled with a job.

 

If you don't have a job you get Medicaid. If you have a low-paying job, you get Medicaid.
Many Employers pay the bulk of your health coverage.

Serious question on public option. How do you propose to pay for it?

 

With a Medicaid expansion. Again its absolutely startling that anything done for the people of this country is always met with how are you gonna pay for this but everyone can't find that question when they give a 1.5 trillion dollar tax cut or when they give the pentagon a budget too big and have to give some of the money back.
And to your Medicaid and Medicare point no that does not always happen because the threshold is totally unreasonable currently. You have to be at poverty levels to be considered for those programs. If you make over something like 40k you aren't eligible. In areas like NY California and DC you literally can't live on that. Rent in the shitty areas near me are around 1400 and if you have a student loan and god forbid want to eat you're shit out of luck

 

I understand why people pay out the ass to live in DC and California, but NY I don't get. Chicago is a sweet alternative as long as you're not on the southside.

Anyway people are leaving NY and California by the bus load. Cali people are going to Nevada. NY people are coming here as always, make it stop.

 

Lol well I work in the financial industry and this is the hub.
I love NY the diversity is second to none and its not nearly as segregated as the other cities. I was in LA last summer that shit was segregated af and the homelessness was insane like tents everywhere.

 

Chicago is the second hub, but yeah more segregated.

 

And say what you want about NY but for such a huge population crime is insanely low

 

Anytime people struggling like with that high ass rent, that's subject to change any moment.