B+ and AOTW

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, President Obama graded his own performance as President.  He gave himself a B+.  Now I know the expected (and therefore boring) reaction would be to scream "bullshit" while enumerating all the real and perceived flaws (and I have a typewritten list somewhere around here) of PrezBO and borrowing from JK Rowling to give him a grade of T, followed by another AOTW. 

But there's an important point that needs to be clarified:  Obama is judging how well he has done on his goals in the White House.  So let's look at it that way (with the expected copious sarcasm).

Foreign policy of the obvious - B -  Iraq was wrapped up so all he has to do is ride the wave.  He continues to commit troops to Afghanistan which is what he said he would do.  He's having issues in the world (due to America looking weaker every day), but America is looking weaker every day, so he's getting what he wants. 

Jobs, jobs, and more jobs - D - Obama stated the non-stimulus "stimulus" bill would save or create jobs, and cap unemployment in the 8% range.  With it over 10%, the issues on the "saved or created" numbers, and an economy that has yet to hit bottom (although we're almost there, unless the governmnet intervenes), he's biting the big one here.

Housing - C - The market is improving, but most of those are local stabilization, not a plus or minus caused by the federal government.  Credit for not fucking it up, but none for any actual solution (other than dumping cash).


Health care takeover - C - Like softcore porn, it looked like a promising beginning, but then proved to be disappointing, as there was no penetration shots, or visible shot.  In this case, it got bogged down in the Senate, held up by the much more important goal of spending money on election-buying goodies.


Environmental takeover - B - With the bullshit line of a "green jobs" revolution, it looked like something that could be tied to a jobs "growth" plan too.  But even the economic education-challenged don't buy the numbers on this one.  But even if Congress doesn't want to pass legislation, there's always the claws of the EPA to command things into existence by force.

Corporate takeover - C - The banks and the auto industry find themselves somewhat enslaved to the federal government.  But, not so strangely, the automaker that didn't take bailout funds (Ford) and the banks not chained by the government pay czar seem to be doing a whole lot better than the victims.  Mixed results here.

Spending money on shit - A - It helps when you have majorities on Congress, and they have tons of pet projects that will fund reelections.  And there are always Republicans that can be bought too.  The true success of the "stimulus" package.


Giving speeches - A+ - While it is getting wearying for us to hear him reading speech after speech off the POTUS, the fact is that he can deliver really good-sounding speeches.  It's what got him elected.  It's the basis for assessments of his intelligence.  It's his substance.  And we've heard more talk from him this year than most politicians in their careers.

So by his own goals, I think he deserves his self-assessed B+ grade.  Of course, I'd give me a B+ for the shit I've produced in the blog since his election, mainly due to the fact I'm more right than most, losing points because I'm just a lazy bastard).

And to avoid said laziness, and fill out the second to last AOTW of 2009:

Mark Sanford is Asshat of the Week!

I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon every time someone gets caught banging someone behind their spouse's back, primarily because it's not an easy thing for the jilted spouse to deal with.  That even applies to political figures, although usually there is more wrapped up in it.  Thus, as I was sure Mark Sanford would get out of the spotlight and do the right thing, I let him slide. 

Tiger, take the following lesson away from this post (and so far, you're in the process of doing so), lest you be up for asshattery next year.

What you do, especially when you get caught so spectacularly, is get the fuck out of the spotlight (whether that be the governor's office or the PGA) and fix your marriage.  Mark Sanford didn't.  He survived an impeachment threat for his conduct relating to pounding South American ass (misuse of government funds, dereliction of duty) for some ungodly reason, and decided to try to have it all (political power and his family (and maybe more ass on the side)).

Thankfully, Jenny Sanford is a woman of action (unlike so many other punching bag political wives (Hillary Clinton being the most pathetic of the bunch)).  Last week, she filed for divorce, officially booting the asshat from her life as much as possible.  And in doing so, she shows that there are strong, intelligent, and powerful women in the world that exist without whoring themselves out for political power and gain.  If she were in this state, I'd be interested in seeing her run for office (dependent on her political philosophies, of course).

So since I don't have a weekly award to give Jenny (although I could drop her a note to call me when she gets properly single again), I'll honor her by crowing her soon-to-be ex (and hopefully soon-to-be former governor (come on SC, boot the bastard!)) as the asshat this week.