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Those are military choices. People need to stop imagining these law-degree prime ministers as kings that control every aspect of government. The military had been developing drones for a while, and having superior tech wanted to use them more. The wars were started by the Republican jackasses before Obama and we were already stuck in them. There's a very limited playbook Obama could draw from to have any influence in that situation. He simply did what any US president would have done by continuing with the mess left by the previous admin and following the recommendations of the generals when it comes to the approach to war. Military stuff was one of Obama's weakest knowledge areas, so he did what any educated person would do and simply let the seasoned experts handle it.

If you ask me WHEN I had a problem with it, it was when we let Bush start a series of unwinnable wars promising it would be done in 3 months and over some BS excuse that everyone knew was nonsense going into it. I don't blame Obama too much for the tech advancements in drones, and I don't blame Biden too harshly for the exit out of Afghanistan. I blame the morons that create that unsolvable problem, promising it would be cheap and easy and would go great.

Obama knew from a young age he wanted to be in politics, so he lived his life as neatly as possible towards that objective, including graduating with honors from top American schools and leaving a manicured political track record of his path.

Republicans wanted so hard to hate on him but they couldn't find anything. He ran an excellent presidency, he spoke very carefully with great charisma, and his background was pristine.

That's why any controversies about Obama had to be fabricated. Republicans attacked him for the mustard, the color of one of his suits, how he rode a bike, how he was physically fit and very good at basketball (an urban sport). They fabricated claims on his birth certificate. They blamed him for stuff that happened on someone else's watch (why didn't Obama keep us safe on 9/11? Why didn't he prevent the economic crash of 2008?)

They attacked him with that nonsense because they couldn't find anything else to attack him on.

It's the new line of Republican attacks on Kamala as they try anything they can think of.

They found out that she likes Doritos, because she said that when she won her election for the Senate in 2016, she ate a bag of Doritos watching the election results on TV as she mentally accepted the mandate to fight for her state of California against whatever Trump had in store to antagonize them. So now Republicans have decided that eating Doritos when pondering on one's life is beneath the dignity of a head of state.

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/20/are-you-kidding-me-fox-news-guest-fumes-over-kamala-harris-eating-a-bag-of-doritos/

It is a known fact that briefly dating Montrel Williams several decades ago, when you are both available singles, provides a direct path to becoming the Leader of the Free World. I tried it myself but couldn't get Montrel to set a date for a movie night no matter how desperate my DMs. Ah, to think I could have been a contender.

Yet I, for one, am glad that Mr. Trump's dating history is unimpeachable, because I don't think I could handle 2 risqué backgrounds in a single presidential season.

It's crazy how Trump can't stop talking about how attractive he finds Kamala. He has compared her to his imported model wife, and to Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor, and then recently he decided enough is enough and went on a rant about how he himself is hotter than Kamala.

I don't remember a single Dem politician or pundit going there at all. Everyone was busy scrutinizing her record, her success chances, and her policy platform for the next 4 years. But then again, I don't remember Dems going far out of their way to call every female politician dumb and unhinged, as is customary in Republican campaigning. This weird cult of sexualizing every woman while calling her stupid, no matter the scenario. She could be an accomplished lawyer with an economics undergrad, wearing a pantsuit covered from neck to toes, and they'll still go there.

I think, since the lettuce won that race, we don't really know when the lettuce would have finally wilted. We just know that Truss was no match.

The Mooch was one of the many officials to come and go in the Trump admin. Anthony Scaramucci, affectionately known as "The Mooch," lasted 10 days of chaos before being shown the door.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40806586

Since then, the mooch is accepted as a unit of time equal to 10 days in the metric system, or 11 days if measuring in imperial (his actual term was something like 10.6 days). The defacto use of a mooch for measuring time in the US is the metric 10 days per mooch.

The mooch is an appropriate unit of time to measure the duration of failed political positions. Another unit of time that serves this purpose is the lesser-known British Truss, which is 49 days imperial. That one is often reserved for failed heads of state.

JD Vance was nominated on July 15, so by Aug 16 he has latest 32 days so far. That would be 3.2 mooches. I guess this meme was made to stay fresh for a few days, optimistically presuming Vance will make it to at least 4 full mooches.

That's how he walks around. This one is directly from NBC News so we know it's not shopped:

https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2023-06/230629-jd-vance-mjf-1718-92f842.jpg

It's more important than that. Trump is laying the ground work to try to steal the election in Nov by saying that he has once again been cheated by the electoral system. That's why it's so important to him to pretend that his crowd sizes are enormous.

We have a civic duty to rub their noses into their tiny crowds that don't represent real America, to make sure it's clear to all that the MAGA movement is a minority of the weirdos, and by no means deserves nor is expected to win in November. After the election, when Trump tries to pretend he commands the majority and he should be crowned king, the entire country needs to be ready to laugh it off and hold the line of democracy.

Perhaps the link is loading something different for you and me? Because just in the first 7 items I see:

Raised the minimum wage Reverse draconian Trump policies on refugees and travelers Defended democracy by sanctioning Russia's meddling Presidential commission to begin discussions to fix the SCOTUS Defended human rights by reversing bad Trump policies on the ICC New council on gender equality and equity Protect students from discrimination

That's just the first 7 items, of the list of 52 items covering only executive actions in the first 100 days. Keep reading just a few more points and you'll see more defense of democracy, protection of minorities, improvements to the economy, etc. Again, I could be here all day talking about how Biden has done so much for people - if we include signed bills and Bully Pulpit work, it would take hundreds of items to cover even the highlights.

Perhaps look into it a bit closer, here is a more complete list of 118 executive actions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_executive_actions_by_Joe_Biden

How did raising the min wage to $15/hr help the elites? Defending medicare, strengthening bank regulations, coming after junk fees, fighting the GOP on student loan forgiveness... or standing with unions on the picket line, and so forth. I bet I could write a list of 200 things he's done in less than 4 years that were intended to help American workers, while I'd be surprised if anyone can come up with a list of a dozen things he did that helped only the rich and corporations.

And if anyone is wondering if I'm exaggerating about "200 things," you should consider how much the media's low-effort coverage and Trump's BS circus are keeping real stuff out of the news. Biden signed 52 executive orders in the first 100 days alone. A list of 200 things he's done for regular people vs elites would be the highlights, not the full list.

Here are his first 52 executive orders if you want to review his work: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-executive-orders/index.html

That massive list only gets you to April 2021.

I think that's the point of the chart. Your elected officials are not going to magically know what you want and bend over backwards to give it to you. If you are serious about a topic, it's on you to join the political process and have your points heard. That's what they mean by "we work to find a fair balance." The work part is a lot of political arguing back and forth. If you want to have influence, you have to make an informed argument for why what you want is better than what we have, and you have to square off with the group on the other side that thinks they have a better solution and will make their case too.

The Democrats don't guarantee you that the compromise will break your way. The guarantee is that you do get a voice if you choose to participate in the political process, which is not something that's on offer with the other party.

And to those that are annoyed by the Dems due to lack of progress or any other reason, we get it. Don't think I'm not annoyed too. The difference between you and me is not that I don't find the Dems disappointing, the difference is that I understand I would be disappointed with anyone because politics are about negotiation and compromise, not about having our whims fulfilled.

We have to take the wins we can get, and then work on pushing for the next thing. Objectively, Biden has been one of the most progressive and effective presidents in history, let alone my lifetime. One of the first things he did within days of taking Office was move the min wage of gov positions to $15/hr. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-sign-executive-order-raising-federal-contractors-minimum-wage-15-n1265427

People forget how much he has done and how progressive he's been compared to even Obama. People complain that Bernie got sidetracked, but Bernie's movement is still in the conversation and pushed the Dems further left on a ton of things. That's what discourse looks like, and if you want real change you have to get involved with the only party that is offering a path. That's why Bernie and AOC caucus with the Dems, because being sour about what you want solves nothing, but getting involved is a real path.

Vote for the only party that offers discourse and power to change things, and then get your voice in the mix as much as you'd like. Bernie is not sour, he is in the Senate getting things done, he is campaigning influencing the conversation, and he is constantly in the media making his points. A voice from within the system is way more powerful than one sitting on the sidelines pouting. Vote, and then tell your Officials what you want.