Obama Too Intelligent for Republicans to Understand

[Dale00]

I found this great new site that seems related to The Onion....forwardprogressives.com

The Simple Truth: President Obama is Too Intelligent for Republicans to Understand

November 17, 2014 By Allen Clifton
A few years back I worked with a guy who was probably a genius. In fact, he often struggled in life interacting with people because his brain simply performed at a higher level than the average person. I remember asking him what his biggest belief was in making life decisions and he always, without fail, told me “think of the bigger picture.” And while I’ve always tried to be a big picture thinker, knowing him when I did helped me understand it a little better. ... Which brings me to President Obama. While I’m not calling him a genius, I do think he’s extremely intelligent. I also believe that his tendency to use “big picture” thinking while drafting policy is something most Republican voters simply can’t understand.

Take “Obamacare” for instance. It’s not a “fix health care today” law. In fact, the law itself is made to grow and evolve over time. My belief is that it’s a springboard to true socialized medicine. But, as it is now, it’s a long-term outlook on our health care. While many Republicans want to look at the “now” aspect of the Affordable Care Act, they seem unable to grasp the reality that as more Americans get health insurance, giving them access to preventable care, this lowers expenses down the road for everyone. If people can prevent very costly heart attacks, strokes or other debilitating health issues now, that’s an overall savings for practically everyone from consumers to health insurers to doctors who now have more patients. Quite literally, improving the overall health of Americans will improve the health of this country. It even makes sense for our economy. If workers are healthier, because they have access to quality health care, that means there will be fewer people calling in sick to work, showing up sick to work (putting other employees at risk) or relying on government programs because their health conditions (that were preventable) render them unable to work at all. But to see all of that requires “big picture” thinking and Republicans seem unable to understand anything beyond the spoon-fed bumper sticker talking points they’re given by the GOP and the conservative media.

Minimum wage is another issue you see this with. Republicans constantly paint it as a “job killer” (it’s not) while also rallying against the millions of people who are on government assistance. Funny thing though, a good portion of the Americans who are on government assistance have jobs. If we made sure that no American working full-time had to rely on government programs just to survive, instantly we would save our country hundreds of billions of dollars over the years. Not only that, but when Americans have more money, they have more to spend. And what’s the biggest driver of economic growth? Consumer spending. More consumer spending means higher profits and higher demand, which means – more jobs. But once again, when it comes to Republicans and explaining job creation, anything outside of “tax cuts create jobs” is often too complex for many of them to understand.

The same goes for war. When it comes to ISIS, Republicans just want to send in troops and “crush the terrorists.” They’ve hammered President Obama relentlessly about how he’s handled the entire situation. See, to many of them, they just want to go in guns blazing because that’s what sounds good. But as we’ve learned by our previous war in Iraq, going into these situations haphazardly without a plan leads to absolute chaos. Remember, the existence of the ISIS we see today is a direct result of Bush’s Iraq War. When it comes right down to it, I really do believe a huge part about why so many of the non-racist Republicans are against President Obama is because many of them are simply unable to grasp his “big picture” thinking that drives a lot of his policies. That requires intelligence and far too many conservative would rather just be told what to think by Fox News. They want their policies to be so simplified and catchy that they fit on bumper stickers. It’s like I’ve often said, Democrats are trying to use science, math, reality, history and education to reason with people who deny science, don’t trust math, create their own reality, distort history and often devalue quality education. And that’s a big reason why we’re not getting anywhere in this country.

Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/simple-truth-president-obama-intelligent-republicans-understand/

 

[KOPBET]

I can't even read all that drivel...

 

[Dale00]

OK here is the gist of the article:

All those "failures" of the Obama administration: Obamacare, the declining economy, the middle east...those aren't really failures caused by Obama. Either his big picture plans have not yet started to work (but will pretty soon and will be amazingly effective) or those unintelligent Republicans blocked him from doing enough of what was needed. If you can't understand and agree with this then you are unintelligent. P.S. Some of those "failures" are really Bush's fault.

 

[caojyn]

I can't even read all that drivel...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blayne-davis/trump-is-smarter-than-you_b_7962032.html
Trump Is Smarter Than You Think, Period

Reluctantly I write about politics. In today’s climate it’s impossible to start such a conversation without talking about Donald Trump, and like many Americans, my invigorated interest is exclusively attributable to him. Trump is beyond single-word descriptions, unlike his lackluster rivals in the Republican field. Trump’s flamboyance is actually his cunning genius expertly concealed that enables the masses to identify with his message quickly and effortlessly. In truth and in fact, it’s the sound bites that resonate with the common people and not these sermon-like speeches where it’s hard to distinguish whether the speaker is addressing a political bunch or Sunday’s congregation. In keeping with his punchy plain speak, Trump has drawn new audiences and injected excitement into the otherwise stagnant and boring world of politics.

Right now people are understandably stuck on Trump’s showmanship, perhaps even mesmerized. I’m one of those people because I see a skillset very few people possess - like when he turns an unflattering remark into an opportunity to highlight some underlying success associated with a failure. It’s a quick, “delete and replace” method, and it works brilliantly. This is part of something bigger with Trump that a lot people are wholly, or at least partially, missing with the Wharton graduate. Let me explain. I was one of the estimated 24 million who tuned in to watch the debates, and putting aside the suspect crowd, something struck me when one of the moderators quizzed Trump on his commercial bankruptcy. I wish at that point Trump had pointed out that failing is a quintessential component of success, and every great convenience or luxury that we enjoy today was initially cloaked in failure. From Edison to Franklin to Ford, to the medicines we rely upon, all undeniably touched failure in some way. While the simple minded will suggest that I’m putting Trump in that group of notable greats, instead, I’m putting the personality denominator, and that is unwavering and unabashed perseverance in the face of adversity. The trait of a true winner.

Turning to a bigger and more relevant question, what is worse? The isolated instances of business failure over the course of decades and thousands of transactions or being the CEO of a public company whose business failures have wiped out billions of dollars of market capitalization and eviscerated at worst, dented at best, the investment portfolios of pension funds and retirement accounts of millions of Americans? I guarantee the latter had more of a sweeping economic effect than smartly and legally contained bankruptcy proceedings.

Trump’s cerebral qualities extend much further than the zingers that have made recent politics worthy of watching. The complexities of guiding a global business that employs thousands certainly dwarf those required in visiting bingo parlors and getting legislation approved for some dilapidated bridge. That’s not to say those functions are not important, but they don’t rise to the level of intellectual horsepower that America needs right now. Trump does indeed have that, and that is undeniable.

It’s never been so sadly en vogue that it’s better to be fake and snuggly tucked under the blanket of Political Correctness than to voice our true thoughts. But what I really wonder is how much different are the conversations at the homes of these political pundits when they’re shaving in the morning or drinking their coffee before they put on their masks. I venture to say they are much different and their attitudes morph when they cross into the lobby of the studio.

Let’s not forget the effect Trump is already having on the economy because of his surge and his universal interest. You can bet the networks are making more because they are charging more for advertising. It would be foolish to think that Fox didn’t figure out a way to parlay that 18 million rise in viewership over the debates of last year.

Here are some questions I think everyone should consider (honestly), and they are probably closer to the Trump camp than they think.

Who would you rather have negotiate your mortgage?
Who would you rather have negotiate your kids’ college tuition?
Who would you rather have negotiate with nefarious countries?
Who do you think better understands the needs of your small business?

While I don’t believe that Trump has all the answers, he’s certainly the one I would call upon to get things done. When I listen to the other candidates, their answers are circular, and leave the distinct absence of direction. I don’t think Trump’s problem is his inability to answer “tough” questions from the media. I think a greater challenge is having the patience and discipline to wade through a debate where everyone but him is lobbed softballs while he fights the institutions of political correctness. But I think the tide is slowly turning, and The Donald will ride it further than anyone might think.

 

[rawhide]

Reflects very well the conversations I've had with liberals. Liberal: "We are so much smarter than everyone else, and we know what is best for you. We are doing what is best for you whether you like it or not. If you can't see that or accept it, you are not very smart."

 

[YukonGlocker]

Liberals say that to conservatives...conservatives say that to liberals...iterate, iterate, iterate.

 

[dennishoddy]

Reflects very well the conversations I've had with liberals. Liberal: "We are so much smarter than everyone else, and we know what is best for you. We are doing what is best for you whether you like it or not. If you can't see that or accept it, you are not very smart."

Liberalism is what looks smart to stupid people.

 

[Dale00]

The essay talks about the "big picture" thinking of Obama. Of course that requires a benign "big brother" to devise and administer complex policies to engineer the society. Small thinking conservatives and libertarians do not get the "big picture". Their little minds just can't wrap themselves around big, complex topics. Or maybe it is because they believe in individual initiative and the individual freedom to choose....hmmm. Individual freedom? "We're better than that!"

 

[YukonGlocker]

Liberals and conservatives value different things. They aren't better or worse values, less or more intelligent people, just different.

 

[dennishoddy]

Well, progressive policy's have been a general failure for the last 7 1/2 years.