Collegiate Times

You blame society for Obama's 'problems'? You have got to be crazy.. Obama IS society's problem. He's so elite and aloof to the American people that he doesn't even listen to us anymore. He's broken dozens of promises, brought dozens of corrupt persons into gov't, and is throwing the US economy out the window. How are THE PEOPLE responsible for that?! Terrible article. And calm down with the big words.. you sound aloof, too.

Check out the big brain on Gerald. OK, we get it. You obviously possess an expansive vocabulary, as evidenced by your extensive use of multi-morphemic constructions. Either that or you know how to right click on a word and use the thesaurus function in Word. As to the actual content of your letter, first, most who have said they want Obama to fail generally predicate this sentiment with the antecedent “if he wants to socialize the United States” or something similar. As an example, as an American I desperately want Obama to have a successful Presidency, but not if that means we end up with more entitlement programs and debt. So if his aim is to institute socialized medicine, then I, too, want him to fail; I guess that means I am “unable to ascertain anything but (my) own ideological aspirations.”

(con't) Second, the media is trying to subvert Obama? Are you defecating me? The media is the only reason Obama us President at all. Third, intransigent politicians? So what are they supposed to do? Rubber stamp whatever Obama says? This isn’t Venezuela. Besides, the Republicans in the Congress represent the 46% of Americans who didn’t vote for Obama’s vision of change. I take particular umbrage at the overall condescending tone of the letter. You seem to feel that the reason Obama will fail is because the American people are just too stupid to understand and should just step aside and let the brains run the show. The most disturbing thing about this letter to me is that you are pursuing a PhD in education. Please stay as far away from the public schools as possible.

(con't) Second, the media is trying to subvert Obama? Are you defecating me? The media is the only reason Obama us President at all. Third, intransigent politicians? So what are they supposed to do? Rubber stamp whatever Obama says? This isn’t Venezuela. Besides, the Republicans in the Congress represent the 46% of Americans who didn’t vote for Obama’s vision of change. I take particular umbrage at the overall condescending tone of the letter. You seem to feel that the reason Obama will fail is because the American people are just too stupid to understand and should just step aside and let the brains run the show. The most disturbing thing about this letter to me is that you are pursuing a PhD in education. Please stay as far away from the public schools as possible.

Second, the media is trying to subvert Obama? Are you defecating me? The media is the only reason Obama us President at all. Third, intransigent politicians? So what are they supposed to do? Rubber stamp whatever Obama says? This isn’t Venezuela. Besides, the Republicans in the Congress represent the 46% of Americans who didn’t vote for Obama’s vision of change. I take particular umbrage at the overall condescending tone of the letter. You seem to feel that the reason Obama will fail is because the American people are just too stupid to understand and should just step aside and let the brains run the show. The most disturbing thing about this letter to me is that you are pursuing a PhD in education. Please stay as far away from the public schools as possible.

Dude, your vocab is killing me.

You make a claim but you don't elaborate any of your points. An ostentatious display of multisyllabic phrases is not an argument. This piece should be titled instead "look at how I talk I have a phd." The "What?" guy raises some good points too.

You make alot of assertions that you don't back up. Your ostentatious display of multisyllabic phrases is not an acceptable substitute for reasoning. This opinion piece isn't an argument, it is you showing off that you earned a phd. Well bravo, you obviously didn't get it in philosophy, a freshman philosophy major could form a better argument than you.

sorry for the double post there was so much lag I thought my first comment didn't get posted

Sorry for the triple posting. I thought my "con't" posting wasn't posting (see Anonymous, below). A thousand apologies.

Seems to me like the author of this letter got a hold of a thesaurus and just couldn't wait to use it.

I wonder if his professors are as impressed with him as he is with himself.

Subversion by the media -- are you insane?

The author is clearly using large words to camouflage a lack of substance. I find it astounding that less than 30 days into office, Obama supporters are already playing the victimization card.

Look at me! Look at me! I can use big words.. geeze.... Honestly gerry, you might want to actually look at what the new Prez has tried to do in his first few weeks in office before you ask us to all adopt a bent over position, with arses in the air.... His first call to any head of state as president was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party in the Palestinian territory. His first one on one interview with any news organization was with Al Arabia television. He ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and all military trials of detainees halted. He ordered all overseas CIA interrogation centers closed. He withdrew all charges against the masterminds behind the USS Cole and 9/11. Earlier this week, we learn that he is allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refuges to move to and live in the US at American taxpayer expense. PLus add the hilarity over his appointees and their tax records, the passing of this "porkulus" bill, and the fact that in the press conference held earlier this week, he sounded no more intelligent then Bush, whom everyone ridiculed for sounding like an idiot....... This is a fine start by a president trying to model himself as the second coming of abraham lincoln.

Typical Obama supporter - anyone who disagrees with his destructive vision for this country must be misguided, stupid, or evil. I guess I should just put aside my own ideological aspirations, and get in line to ask the "chosen one" for a kitchen and bathroom of my own.

You had me...until you mentioned God. The single most destructive enemy of effective governance, is the obsession with imposing religion on everyone and everything. If God will save us, why do we need a bailout?

i agree... we can only hope that Flying Spaghetti Monster will reach down with his Noodly Appendage and guide our President's hand

Actually the shortcomings Obama faces are as follows: -Complete ignorance of economics and free-markets -His beliefs that gov't can fix everything -His idealist nature and that he has the power to change anything he wants -His want for more war (Afghan., Iran, Pakistan) -His belief that socialist policies advance society He is aided in the fact that the media fall over-themselves about him and annoint him as if he were the second coming. I opposed both mccain and obama as well as bush. These idiots are running our country into the ground.

Hokie Teacher, You mention the only good things he has done. Why would he want to replicate a murderous tyrant such as Lincoln? I agree his is a disgrace already but not for reasons you mention.

Please, Bush f***ed up the Republican party so badly they are now a bunch of babbling monkeys...too(joining the Dems). Fiscal conservatives?! HAHAHAHAHA, yeah, I believe that. Obama is sending us down the Socialist path but remember the father of big government gave him a shove...

I think that we should all read the good books that Marx wrote and realize that a giant government is inevitable...just get used to knowing someone is watching you on the toilet, it isn't your privacy it is the country's privacy. God is the Devil...but there is no God so no devil either, oh well lets just try to get rid of them both...we don't want people with false hopes. The real Hope is Obama.

use your big words correctly

I'd love to hear about these long-term, strategic visions of Obama's. Certainly you're not talking about the bailout band-aid. You know, the stimulus package that he has been pushing so hard? There is no long-term vision in that package. The government is turning the US dollar into Monopoly money, and with not so much as a second thought given to what the future implications will be.

I find it odd how you mentioned the media hindering Obama's success when we all know the media has a crush on Obama. Lets face it the man promised a lot in his campaign, a lot more then any man can do unless you are Simo Hayha, go look him up. If you are going to promise everything you have to live up to it, and I don't think he can.

Anyone who watched Obama's presidential address a week ago today should probably realize on their own that he doesn't know the first thing about setting up a lemonade stand, let alone the economy. It seemed as though he made a great effort to memorize most parts moments before the address and it showed. It was like watching our nation fall apart.

Hey Andy, have you been watching the last 8 years? Bush pushed Humpty-dumpty off the wall and then left for Texas. Now that other, more responsible, people capable of completing a sentence are trying to put him together again, the least you can do is get out of the way. The Respendicans can't get to the fiscal high-ground. The avalanche of freshly printed money doubling government in the last 8 years keeps pushing them back to the depths of hypocrisy.

The thing that amuses me most about supporters of Democratic supporters is their insistence that the fact that Republicans don't live up to their own standards 100% of the time is an indication of the failures of their policies and themselves. Democrats, for a variety of reasons, tend not to hold themselves to any standards and pride themselves on a sense of pragmatism and relativism which enables them to maneuver out of pretty much any situation without any moral culpability attached - after all, nobody can claim that you 'fell short of expectations' if you made it explicit that there were no expectations to begin with.

That having been said, Reality, is your position really that the fact that the Republicans in congress, along with Mr. Bush, spent loosely and irresponsibly during their tenure, and their failure to 'clean up the mess they created' (though to complexity of the situation is much greater than such a simplistic assessment) means they ought not have a say in the future developments of this nation? Or perhaps more interestingly, that the Democrats ought to be given just as much right to ruin the financial situation of America as the Republicans had? The fact that Democrats tend to be upfront about their desire to tax and spend more doesn't make it any more morally appalling than the fact that Republicans (of late) aren't upfront about it. We wind up on the road to hell either way - but your point seems to be that 'at least the Dems told us where we were going!'

Though I am sure that your superfluous and wordy article was sincere Gerald, the fact is that it is completely wrong. You seem to be doing the same thing that your beloved PResident is doing; You talk, use big words, but otherwise do nothing. The reason Obama is and will fail as President of the United States is that he is qualified to be in that position. You liberals scream for chance and you most defintely are going to get it, but it won't be the changes you were expecting. America is in a lot of trouble and the "candidate for change" is going to be a big reason why we stay in trouble.

Yes, that's what it means. Republicans are notoriously politically expedient and practically irresponsible. It started with Reagan when he said "it's your money." Well, no, it isn't. It's the cost of living in a modern society with public modern conveniences. Someone has to pay for infrastructure. Republicans "sell" the idea of no taxes but strong defense, strong infrastructure and strong economy. That fairytale is exactly what caused the current mess. It's blatant greed manipulation, it weakens America, and it is ultimately UNpatriotic. So yes, quit it with the whole "socialist" attack rhetoric. Republicans have caused this mess, and now obstruct potential resolution. They chew off the foot in the trap, but do it below the jaws, freeing the foot but bleeding America to death. Bin Laden is cheering them on.

Reality, I understand what you're saying, and certainly the things the Republicans champion cost money as well, but the difference is that Republicans, historically, though not recently, also DON'T believe that extensive social programs are a function of government. Curtailing these programs has become political suicide, so the Republicans face the difficult task of being forced to continue them, while still trying to maintain defense and infrastructure. So we now have a confluence of Republican and Democrat spending focuses, resulting in a government that takes on a huge array of responsibilities, leading to a larger burden on the public. By the way, Republicans don't promote the idea of no taxes, just fewer taxes. Democrats play the same game. Often, it's just a matter of who sees the tax breaks, which may differ based on your philosophies of our progressive income tax system.

I guess Obama's greatest challenges really are that: 1. There is at least sort of a free market in this country. 2. People can think for themselves, provided they don't get a PhD in education 3. We aren't fully socialist yet. Poor Obama.

Who is John Galt?

Hey, Jason T, cut that out! I bait you with the grenade throwing "unpatriotic" and "siding with the terrorists" rhetoric and you respond by cogently and rationally focusing on "entitlements". ok, ok, I take back the bin laden thing and fox chewing off its foot analogy. You've found the middle ground. I agree.

Expain to me again how Defense and Infrastructure spending caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis and collapse of our banking and credit system?

Reality, I'll certainly agree with you that it is decidedly unpatriotic to not pay the taxes one owes to the nation, state, locality, etc. The point here, though, is that not every modern convenience benefits everyone, and as Jason T points out, there are heavily conflicting views of what government is supposed to do and what it is not supposed to do. I, personally, prefer to make my own choices when it comes to things like health care, retirement, and the like - but we live in a society buoyed by 'safety-net' programs which are critically hampering our ability to fund the things which need to be funded. The size and scope of federal influence has changed drastically over the course of the last century, and I would claim that the change we have seen has been decidedly for the worse. Constitutionally speaking, our federal government is an abomination.

1)inexplicable subversion by the media - As has been mentioned, the vast majority of the media (unless you are an AM radio junkie) has nothing but love for glorious leader comrade Obama...some of the major liberal news outlets had very little to say about the fiasco over several cabinet appointments, and the broken promises. The liberal media may not be the only reason this guy got elected, but you can bet it had some very powerful sway. 2)intransigent politicians - Surprise, our country was built on there being different ideas among our policy makers. People are stubborn about not voting for things because they believe they are wrong, and they vote based on what they think is right for the country. That is the duty of every elected official. I like how the PRESIDENT of our country has gotten into little tit for tat arguments with people like Rush Limbaugh...ridiculous. If you disagree with the president you are now officially partisan. Sorry, but competing ideas are what our country was built on. Remember the Great Compromise? Do you think they would have had to compromise if both sides agreed? Remember the Federalist papers? What about the Anti-Federalist Papers? Two sides to every coin…

continued from below... 3) and the irreconcilable expectations of a myriad of entities within American society All I can say is what can you expect peoples expectations to be when you campaign with signs that say “hope”, promise to do things radically differently in Washington, and have your face posed like the most pious of the pied in every picture of yourself. The media has turned this man into such a savior figure, and he will never be able to live up to it. To be clear, I do not agree with most of his policies, and as such I hope that many of them fail. Saying this does not make someone unpatriotic, on the contrary... it is the free expression of ideas that makes our country great. Let us make a clear distinction between saying that we hope these new shifts in policy fail, and saying that we hope America as a nation will fail. I don’t agree with Obama, but I don’t wish anything bad upon him…in fact I hope he does a great job, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to agree with and support everything he does…for me, doing so is un-American. Good day Comrades.

Wow Gerald, thank you for making it clear that Virginia Tech's Ph.D. is absolutely atrocious. I won't even take the time to point out the fallacies in your precious little letter, but would like to say that whoever admitted you must have been smoking crack, just like your hero.

Gerald, you are completely right. The media is full of meanie heads that obviously oppose Obama and are just trying to hinder his success as president. And to those below, GET A LIFE. The media didn't help Obama get elected, it was his wonderfull ability to speak about nothing but make it seem like something, and his godly ability to take bong hits. Obama, I support you and all of the corrupt officials you appoint to your cabinent! YAYYYY PEACE ON EARTH!

LEAVE BRITTANY ALONE!! Ooops...sorry. Wrong celeb. Geez, the guy has been in office a month and people are already making excuses for him. The stock market has fallen 2000 points since he took office. Obviously, there is not a lot of confidence in this president. He needs to quit badmouthing the economy and go back to talking about hope. The whole "subversive media" idea sounds like something that a disheveled guy would mumble as he wanders Lafayette Park in the summer.

Henry and Anonymous@Feb18 sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then...the terrorists have won.

I'm the author (Gerald Millner) of what generated all of the comments. Last time I checked, opinion meant an expression of what one thought, and I stand by what was written. Concomitantly, I thank the evident McCain supporters for their elementary take on what was written. It must be nice to obscure your own individual reality with lies and distortions (common place for Republicans are the need to lie, belittle and distort, lol).

Instead of posting nonsense about the opinion piece, it wouldve been wiser to sign up for a basic reading comprehension course. In closing, Virginia Tech is an academic institution of higher learning, try elevating your prose beyond rudimentary thought and sarcasm.