I don't think this is exactly fair on Obama. Sure, he had a Democratic majority, but that majority was narrow and included proto-Republicans like Joe Lieberman who made it virtually impossible to pass progressive legislation. The drone strikes were awful but it was also an attempt to end a conflict that would (and did) drag on indefinitely. He also did a lot to boost clean energy and make it near to the default for new energy projects in America, dropped sanctions against Cuba and Iran, and has never chummed around with dictators during or post-presidency.
Ultimately, he's morally better than either Blair or Clinton - though that isn't a high bar - and he's probably a great conversationalist.
Being an academic, a 52-year old American who has lived in this culture, and someone who is critical of all politicians across the landscape - Obama was a brand to sell (he won three very big prizes in 2008-09 ----The Presidency, the advertising world's "Marketer of Year" for his campaign and the 2009 Noble Peace Prize. He arose from the Chicago political machine and had a nice back story, as one term Senator from Illinois. This kind of rise does not occur unless the elite establishment and wealthy benefactors want that to happen. He also won the Noble Peace Prize, in 2009 (1 year after being elected) for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation among people"). This turned out to be fantastic cover for his later actions with drones and maintaining/expanding military empire -- a far cry from what we would expect from a Noble Peace Prize winner.
1. Not ending conflicts in Afghanistan nor Iraq
2. Launched air strikes against Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan
3. More upon request (see Andrew Bacevich)
However, he does deserve credit for removing US troops out of war zones (150,000 US troops whittled down by 125,000 or so - replaced by technology not diplomacy).
<![CDATA[<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/l9rNFI--sWk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/l9rNFI--sWk</a>]]> I do not see Obama as morally better --- I see as him just as a hollow public relations hologram better alternative to Clinton, Bush, Trump etc... He still spews the same failed Neoliberal policies, ideas that permeate the Washington Beltway where I live still. Thomas Frank, author who also lives here in this area, Bethesda wrote two books on the subject -- of how the democratic party uses the cult of personality and identity to sell their political agenda --- as they have been taken over by the billionaire class.
"Listen Liberal and What's the Matter with Kansas"A fly on a speck of shit is more moral than the US Republican party. That's not really an achievement.
To see the Democratic party in the US (and their leaders) as being "more moral" is to have missed out on how much they have damaged labor, education, worker's wages- Minimum wage, healthcare, and foreign policy around the globe for personal gain. We have an entire generation of politicians who get paid off for selling one thing during an election, but then tack right the first opportunity they get. They feign an interest, posture for it, but always come up short --- see the fine print of the Cares Act or what the new Biden $1.9 Trillion stimulus does not cover for more recent iterations. It is the same thing: rub, rinse, repeat. (see this
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/12/musk-bezos-zuckerberg-gates-pandemic-profits/?arc404=true )
Obama's Net Worth -- $1.3 Million (2008) =====> 10 years later
Obama's Net Worth -- $70 Million (2018) =====> That's a helluva a personal return while banks got bailed out and
*** During this approx time period -------------> 7.8 million US home foreclosures (1 out 11 US Households) -
There are even some that perceive Obama as more problematic, meaning that a certain type of activism stops occurring because many on the center left perceive that they have won the battle -- where his winning really masks his relationship to elite capital.
Now, as far as your point about being a great conversationalist -- I suspect you are spot on about this. He has a great deal of charisma. I suspect you are also going to feed the Secret Service at your dinner party too then
