The Obama years

This is FM reference page listing articles discussing the foreign policies of and geopolitical implications of the candidates for new President of the United States.

FM reference pages on related topics:

• America – how can we reform it?
• Politics in America
• Good news about America, a collection of articles!

Contents

Click on the title to jump to that section.

1. About the 2008 election
2. About President Obama
3. About Team Obama
4. About change
5. About the policies of the Obama Administration
6. Articles from other sources about the 2008 election

I.  About the 2008 election

1. What do blogs do for America?, 26 February 2008 — As our problems reach critical dimensions and our economy sinks into what is (at best) a severe recession, our national leadership will likely move into the hands of someone with astonishingly little capacity to govern.
2. American history changes direction as the baton passes between our political parties, 18 May 2008 — Importance of the November 2008 political landslide.
3. President Obama, an Muslim apostate?, 2 June 2008 — Nope.
4. Is Obama running for the office of Chief Shaman?, 6 June 2008 — Weirdness from our next President.
5. Does America need a charismatic President?, 15 July 2008
6. More about charisma, by Don Vandergriff…(#2 in the “getting ready for Obama” series), 16 July 2008 — About charisma:  know it before you buy it!
7. Obama might be the shaman that America needs, 17 July 2008 — At what point does criticism of Obama’s charisma and rhetoric become criticism of leadership itself — and blind faith in technocratic solutions so loved by policy nerds?
8. Obama describes the first step to America’s renewal, 8 August 2008 — Obama’s statement about America may be the simple truth; this may be why so many find it disturbing.

(2) About President Obama

1. America gets ready for new leadership (or is it back to the future?), 14 November 2008
2. About Obama’s coronation – wisdom from Fred, 23 January 2009
3. What past President does Obama most closely resemble?, 31 May 2009
4. Obama knows how to lead America by exploiting our fears, 5 June 2009
5. Obama is just like Jack Kennedy!, 13 October 2009
6. Stand by for the Obama implosion, 9 December 2009
7. Thoughts about President Obama, 17 December 2009
8. More about President Obama, a decoration to the White House for the next 4 years, 18 December 2009
9. Dumbest headline of the week, 1 March 2010
10. How Obama failed in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the most common indictments of him are wrong, and overlook his biggest errors., 22 June 2010
11. President Obama celebrates 9-11 by renewing his Emergency War Powers, 11 September 2010
12. Obama’s greatest accomplishment so far, 26 September 2010
13. Obama scores again against the Constitution. The Tea Party is right about the battle, but AWOL., 28 September 2010
14. Obama vs. the Generals, 1 October 2010
15. Can Obama, or anyone else, outmaneuver the war advocates?, 2 October 2010
16. Obama can point liberals towards a new future, 10 October 2010

II.  About Team Obama

1. Secretary Gates would be a hero – if speeches could reform DoD, 6 May 2008
2. I was wrong about SecDef Gates – here is a more accurate view of him, 7 May 2008
3. Biden’s gaffes are a threat to American’s complacency!, 13 September 2008
4. Obama’s national security team: I hope you didn’t really believe in change?, 26 November 2008
5. Obama’s cabinet are the best and brightest (here we go, again), 20 February 2009
6. The media rolls over and plays dead for Obama, as it does for all new Presidents (Democrats only, of course), 19 February 2009
7. Steve Fraser compares Obama’s Brainiacs and Roosevelt’s Brain Trust, 20 September 2009

III.  About change

1. “Don’t Let Barack Obama Break Your Heart” by Tom Engelhardt, 21 November 2008
2. Obama’s national security team: I hope you didn’t really believe in change?, 26 November 2008
3. Obama supporters mugged by reality (and learn not to believe in change!), 9 December 2008
4. Change you should not have believed in, 10 February 2009
5. Quote of the Day, 20 May 2009 — Connect the dots between Bush and Obama to see the nice picture.
6. Stratfor looks at Obama’s foreign policy, sees Bush’s foreign policy, 30 August 2009
7. Motto for the Obama administration: “The more things change, …”, 5 September 2009
8. Change, the promise and the reality, 11 October 2009
9. Another bold action by the radical leftists of Team Obama, 9 September 2010

IV.  About the policies of the Obama Administration

1. How the Iraq and Vietnam wars are mirror images of each other, 7 February 2008 — Now we have McCain, the leading Republican Presidential candidate, talking of an open-ended commitment to victory in Iraq.
2. A look at the next phase of the Iraq War: 2009-2012, 1 March 2008 — What is next in Iraq?  None of the leading candidates have expressed any intention of leaving Iraq – except in the distant and vague future.  Obama has been quite explicit about his plans.
3. Our metastable Empire, built on a foundation of clay, 3 March 2008 — We elect leaders with vast ambitions, but can no longer afford them.
4. How long will all American Presidents be War Presidents?, 21 March 2008 — The 7th year since 9/11, with the only debate about the Long War being what nations America should fight. We see this even the speeches of the most “liberal” candidate, Senator Obama.
5. American history changes direction as the baton passes between our political parties, 18 May 2008 — Importance of the November 2008 political landslide.
6. Obama describes the first step to America’s renewal, 8 August 2008 — Obama’s statement about America may be the simple truth; this may be why so many find it disturbing.
7. These days all American Presidents are War Presidents (part 2), 13 September 2008
8. What happens next? Advice for the new President, part one., 17 October 2008
9. What to do? Advice for the new President, part two., 18 October 2008
10. The evil of socialism approaches!, 22 October 2008 — Economic crisis and a leftist President.  Can socialism be avoided, or is it our destined fate?
11. America gets ready for new leadership (or is it back to the future?), 14 November 2008
12. These days all US Presidents are War Presidents (part 3), 23 November 2008
13. “What Barack Obama Needs to Know About Tim Geithner, the AIG Fiasco and Citigroup”, 3 December 2008
14. Obama proposes a new New Deal – like Japan, will we burn money to keep warm?, 8 December 2008
15. The transition between Imperial reigns: what will it mean for America?, 16 December 2008
16. Lind explains why Obama’s foreign policy will fail, 14 January 2009
17. Obama opens his Administration with a powerful act that will echo for many years, 4 February 2009
18. Obama makes his first major policy error, 27 February 2009
19. Stratfor looks at Obama’s foreign policy, sees Bush’s foreign policy, 30 August 2009
20. Foolish but dangerous attempts to manage the media by Team Obama, 24 October 2009
21. Stand by for the Obama implosion, 9 December 2009
22. Can Obama turn America into something like Zimbabwe?, 22 February 2010
23. Obama, a disciple of Reagan’s foreign policy, 12 June 2010
24. Can Obama, or anyone else, outmaneuver the war advocates?, 2 October 2010
25. The Obama Doctrine: we will attack and destroy all non-nuclear rivals, 13 March 2012

V.  Articles from other sources about the election

1. “Biden Admits Errors and Criticizes Latest Report“, 22 September 1987, New York Times — A revealing article from Biden’s past.
2. “Foreign Policy and the President’s Irrelevance” by George Friedman on Stratfor, 5 Feb 2008
3. “Obama Adviser Calls for Troops To Stay in Iraq Through 2010“, New York Sun, 4 April 2008 — No comment needed; the headline tells the story.  Will be interesting to see if this is true.  If so, only the naive should be surprised.
4. “John McCain’s “100 Years” — putting the controversy to rest“, Moira Whelan, posted at Democracy Arsenal, 30 April 2008 —  This gives McCain’s actual words on the war, at various times and places.
5. “Barack in Iraq“, Michael Crowley, The New Republic”, 7 May 2008 — “Can he really end the war?”
6. “President Apostate?“, Edward N. Luttwak, op-ed in the New York Times, 12 May 2008 — Would the Muslim world welcome an Obama presidency?  Is Obama an apostate from Islam?
7. “Is Obama the Apostate, or is Bush? A Reply to Luttwak“, Prof Juan Cole, posted at Informed Comment , 15 May 2008 — A rebuttal to Luttwak,
8. “Entitled to Their Opinions, Yes. But Their Facts?“, Clark Hoyt, op-ed in the New York Times,  1 June 2008 — Another rebuttal to Luttwak’s NYT op-ed (above).  A definitive one, imo.
9. “The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind“, Daily Mail, 8 June 2008 — About McCain’s first wife, her accident and abandonment.  Again, we need the Brit press to tell us.
10. “Obama May Consider Slowing Iraq Withdrawal“, Washington Post , 4 July 2008 — “Candidate Says He Remains Committed to Ending War.” Yes, just as is McCain.
11. “McCain’s broken marriage and fractured Reagan friendship“, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2008 — More about the messy details of McCain’s divorce..
12. “The Election From Hell“, John Derbyshire, National Review Online, 25 August 2008
13. “The Inconvenient Obama“, Andrew Breitbart, op-ed in The Washington Times, 26 August 2008 — Senator Obama has a problem. And it lives in a hut.” About his brother-in-law living in poverty, in Africa.