Remember during the Obama years there were long periods of like nothing going on? It just feels like it has been non stop daily catastrophe’s since 2015 or so. Every night.
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by John Cole| 49 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Remember during the Obama years there were long periods of like nothing going on? It just feels like it has been non stop daily catastrophe’s since 2015 or so. Every night.
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Subsole
Oh God, what happened to the mustard, now?
MobiusKlein
To be fair, Crimea was 2014
Manyakitty
And it’s exhausting. Been running on fumes for weeks around here and those are almost gone, too. Oof.
Subsole
More seriously, yes. Ever since that asswipe slouched down the escalator it has been either one damned thing after another, or the same damned thing over and over again.
Often both
Having this place has often been the only thing keeping me somewhat sane.
Thanks for building such a wonderful place full of interesting people.
Gin & Tonic
@MobiusKlein: Thank you for pointing that out. Arguably Obama’s inaction in response contributed to the invasion of 2022.
Mike S
I wonder where we’d be if he hadn’t humiliated Hair Furor at the white house press party.
schrodingers_cat
The past always seem more pleasant than the present.
Hildebrand
@Gin & Tonic: I don’t think it was just Obama – where was the outcry from the rest of Europe, the Senate, the House?
Seems that the world has changed since then. But, what the heck, blame Obama, because no one else had agency.
NotMax
On a more pleasant note, Remember WENN.
:)
Gin & Tonic
@Hildebrand: Cole wrote “Obama years.” Take it up with him.
West of the Rockies
It’s been insane since a about ’16 (though Palin was sort of a preview).
Climate change, Trump, unmitigated racism and bigotry, massive fires, Covid, insurrectionists… it just never stops.
mrmoshpotato
@West of the Rockies: Andy Borowitz on the Wasilla Wingnut
HumboldtBlue
And the non-stop drumbeat of mass shootings, the appalling loss of life and the callous disregard of so many in this country is dishearteningly wearisome.
Martin
We need a betting pool on how much coke Don Jr snorts before his testimony tomorrow. I’m putting 100 quatloos on ‘all of it’.
Gvg
The response this time is different partly because the last time obviously only made Russia bolder, but I would also say that like pre WWII, the west started waking up and getting ready. Some countries more than others. Some of the former Easter Europe now NATO countries started to drag the others into getting ready.
They didn’t totally succeed, but I think they had plans and discussions that were not even thought of before. The mindset evolved. By the time this invasion happened, we had different possible choices we could make. Thank God we got Trump out before. Also lucky that Boris Johnson wasn’t as stupid. Also, we had shed the Afghanistan war finally. We were out of Iraq too. That probably helped. Wonder if this was a factor in Biden being so determined to get out. Being stuck in a useless war would always be a problem if a real emergency came up.
Gvg
I remember thinking during the Obama years how nice it was to not have to panic about the news all the time because Bush was a disaster too. If he hadn’t been followed by Trump so soon, we would still be analyzing how bad he was. Obama was calm, smart and trustworthy. I had time to think about other things.
Now I know Trump is just a pimple on a party of killer zombies. There are a bunch of nasty dangerous reactionaries who are worse than I could have imagined outside a book.
geg6
My whole life seems like this right now. My new boss is turning out to be an ineffective supervisor who is obsessed with things that aren’t really his problem, isn’t willing to delegate what he should, ignores my entire area of our enrollment team and, when some issues are nicely pointed out to him, argues instead of listening to the concerns. My co-workers, with one exception who is retiring in December, are allowed to work from home most days and, when they aren’t, are flitting around campus socializing most of the day. My partner John seems to be developing dementia. We had a major plumbing issue that has cost us about $3k so far and we aren’t sure if it’s been fixed. I’m hating my life right now and then, when I can relax a bit at home, it’s nothing but crazy all around me when it comes to politics, the law and world events.
I am not a happy camper, no matter how I look at it. I need something to turn around or at least ease up a little or I’m seriously going to lose it.
Manyakitty
@Martin: those courtroom sketches are gonna be extra.
Manyakitty
@geg6: what kind of work?
cain
@Gin & Tonic: there was a lot of stuff where Obama should have done something especially in his second term. That should have been his no fucks to give them. But he played careful the entire time
geg6
@Manyakitty:
I am my campus’ financial aid officer and VA certifying official. Our department is admissions and financial aid, or as they call it recently, enrollment management.
Manyakitty
@geg6: hmmm. Think those skills could transfer over to medical provider enrollment? It’s remote with decent pay and I know my friend is looking for someone.
Jeffro
@mrmoshpotato: omg SO good!
Mike in NC
The media quickly became addicted to Fat Bastard’s constant chaos and mayhem. That’s why they need him back. They suck!
CaseyL
Obama’s term in office also saw marriage equality become the law of the land by SCOTUS.
I think the combination of a Black President, and Marriage Equality, simply broke what was left of some peoples’ minds.
It makes me think of mitosis, when a whole cell splits into two. Or those old iron-filings-and-magnet toys, where you use the magnets to separate out the filings into a design. Or crystals precipitating out of saturated solution.
The whole country became like that. Something, more than one something, catalyzed people: they either rolled with the changes, or flipped out and wanted to revive the Spanish inquisition. And the two sides stopped having anything in common, including an agreed-upon reality.
ronno2018
I am headed to the Maldives and will not listen to any news for 10 years…
Ohio Mom
@geg6: That’s a lot. May I suggest ignoring world events for a while? It’s stress you can avoid. You’re entitled to just concentrating on shoring up your life for now.
I gave to say, the bad new boss story triggered a bunch of bad old memories. From my working years and Ohio Dad’s. Shuddering.
Narya
@geg6: oh, that sounds so hard; sending hugs if you want ‘em. If I knew you in meatspace, I’d offer you a beverage of your choice. I’ve had to reduce my news consumption pretty dramatically when I’m overwhelmed, and focus my reading on non-grim fiction. Keep coming here…
mrmoshpotato
@Jeffro: Watching the entire show now.
Honus
@Hildebrand: I remember 2014 and I can just imagine the groundswell of support and how the entire country would have united behind any war effort initiated by President Obama.
danielx
If I recall correctly, the unofficial motto of the Obama administration was “don’t do stupid shit”.
Those were the days.
Frankensteinbeck
@CaseyL:
When Obama was elected, someone here said that White America was going to lose its shit. No truer words were ever spoken.
mvr
@geg6: That’s a bunch of stuff to deal with at once. I hope your partner turns out to be OK. That’s a load of worries by itself.
Jay
Home from AZ.
Had a nice time.
Political news, SWMBO’s friends voted for TIFG in 2016.
He has major health problems, (Vietnam Vet).
They need major mods to the house and the VA was stonewalling, (they think that he will die in a year or two, have for the past decade, so everything from medical, dental, disability mods), just go into the round file. She had to take a job at In and Out Burger to make ends meet. She wrote the White House during the TIFG’s Admin, nothing. She wrote the Biden White House, and everything is now fast tracked. She’s now his “Primary Caregiver” and get’s paid more than a living wage to care for him.
They are now Biden Voters.
We watched a lot of TV while we were there, and about 50% of the ads on their local channels are two fold. Infrastructure for green energy, (thank’s Biden, and yes, it’s there, from the local utilities and Dem ads) pointing out it will create jobs and lower energy costs for consumers significantly.
The other’s are jobs, jobs, jobs, paying well. Almost every place we went to has “We’re Hiring” signs up.
Plus we got to spend some time in the desert seeing new birbs, pictographs, cactus, lizards, sun, (it was wet and gray for two weeks before we left, like lights on in the apt from when we got up until bedtime), and play 7’s.
BellyCat
@geg6: Sadly, there is no repairing the ethos of your employer. Your new manager’s Central goal is to meet your employer’s expectations.
The only work-solution is a new job for another employer or retirement if you are able. Wishing you strength and fortitude with the other personal challenges
kma815
In 2014 Obama wore a tan suit. So there was that.
Richard
Remember when he wore a tan suit? So disrespectful. And the mustard thing? I can’t even remember if it was Dijon or some other satanic radical leftist mustard.
He was an OK President. You wouldn’t find Barak Obama groping and vaping in a music hall.
I’m not saying he was the best. But he was better than these Republicans. I could probably still vote for a moderate Republican who has principles and is educated. Oh well, I guess that means I won’t be voting for a republican anytime soon.
Mike in Pasadena
@Gvg: excellent point about getting out of Afghanistan. Agree heartily.
Mike in Pasadena
@Gvg: excellent point about getting out of Afghanistan. Agree heartily.
Mike in Pasadena
@Gvg: excellent point about getting out of Afghanistan. Agree heartily.
Mike in Pasadena
@Honus: does one hear a hint of sarcasm?
Noskilz
We live in exhausting times.
mrmoshpotato
@Noskilz: LOL!
Ruckus
@Gvg:
They have a fucked up view of the world, which says that the only valuable humans on the planet is their party in this country. And then of course they prove every damn time that the reality is that every time they see crappy humans – it’s in a mirror.
geg6
@Manyakitty:
I appreciate your thoughts, but I don’t think so right now. I just celebrated my 25th work anniversary there and am only waiting another couple of years until I hit full SS eligibility and then I’m retiring. Will probably try to find something part-time at that point just to get out of the house. I am my least productive when working from home, sadly.
Manyakitty
@geg6: fair enough. 🙂 In that case, hang in there, at least you can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
brantl
@Gvg: I don’t think there’s any evidence that Boris Johnson wasn’t as stupid.
terraformer
Gawd, the generalized *anxiety* created by T***p and all his minions and the Leonard Leos and all their ilk
will be the topic of many a thesis and dissertation in psychology and psychiatry – for decades
BellaPea
I was just thinking the same thing the other day–remember how relatively quiet the Obama years were? I told my husband that I will have had to worry about the Orange Fat Menace for 5 elections in 2024. It’s terrible what he has done to this country.