TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE MEANING OF OBAMA

THE REPUBLICAN PRISM

THE DEMOCRAT PRISM

OBAMA A POLITICAL HOUDINI

THE OBJECTIVE PRISM

FOREIGN POLICY

OBAMA GRADE

EGYPT

ISRAEL

SYRIA

The Red Line in the Sand

Syria backed by Russia

Gas found – fabricated or planted

GHOST OF IRAQ WAR

IRAQ / AFGHANISTAN

IRAN

CUBA

UKRAINE

UNEMPLOYMENT

ECONOMY

EXPENDITURES

DEBT

SOCIAL ISSUES

DANCING WITH THE SEXES

TANGLING WITH PRISONERS

SECURITY & TERRORISM

ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE

HEALTHCARE

 

Preview of the book can also be found on the blog at the following three links:

https://peoplebranch.org/2016/12/11/preview-of-obama-legacy/

https://peoplebranch.org/2016/12/13/a-preview-of-obama-legacy/ – Part 2

https://peoplebranch.org/2016/12/20/a-preview-of-obama-legacy-part-3/ – Part 3

 

Obama presidency has been the least confrontational American administration in modern time in regards to foreign policy. Ironically, Mr. Obama has quietly set the stage for a possible full scale war (read World War III) because of his handling of the Ukraine crisis in 2014. In the “OBAMA Legacy”, elaborate details on what’s happening behind the scene should scare the living day out of everyone.

In the next couple of articles, I will provide a succinct preview of each chapter of the book. The OBAMA Legacy is not a tabulation of praises for the Obama administration; it is a hard look at how he has led the country during his presidency. You owe it to yourself to learn the FACTS about Obama.

INTRODUCTION
It’s just that, an introduction of how Obama was perceived from the very beginning of his presidency

THE MEANING OF OBAMA
A discussion of what the “person” of Obama meant to different people, to different groups and to the two major political Partys.

THE REPUBLICAN PRISM
Obama presidency is looked at through the Republican prism; how did Republicans in general perceive Obama? Did they mean everything they said about him? Did they believe everything they heard? Or was it just dirty politics? Read this chapter to discover how Republican Legislators in Washington have mastered the art of “fooling” everyone regarding Obama; some have even expressed admiration for him privately

THE DEMOCRAT PRISM
A discussion on why Democrats did not lend unwavering support to Obama, much like Republicans always do towards their president. Could that have been an obstacle to his presidency? This chapter should surprise anyone on how often Democrat Legislators in Washington have opposed Obama privately but offered their (tepid) support publicly.

OBAMA A POLITICAL HOUDINI
The discussion is framed like a reflection of the observation made about Obama’s presidency. How could he have managed to get anything done at all? He had ZERO support from the Republicans, split support from the Democrats. Even when presented with the difficult decision of going after bin Laden, he was on the opposite side of everybody. You will be shocked to discover the first magic act Obama has done. This chapter is definitely entertaining and enlightening.

THE OBJECTIVE PRISM
In this section, an overall discussion of Obama presidency from the time he was sworn into office in 2009 to the first half of 2016; politics, partisanship and party loyalty are all set aside to take a hard look at Obama presidency.

FOREIGN POLICY
The first part of the discussion is focused almost exclusively on how the United States was viewed under Obama. Recall the unprovoked war in Iraq based on the false WMD existence under the Bush administration? United States standing in the world stage plummeted a great deal. Everyone was looking to see whether Obama’s approach was going to be different. This chapter sets the stage for a more in-depth analysis of the Obama administration foreign policy.

In the next preview, we will grade Obama foreign policy approach and discuss particular countries which might have shifted Obama’s thought process when it comes to foreign relations. Stay tuned!

PART 2

In part 2 of “The OBAMA Legacy”, I dedicate a great deal of time discussing his foreign policy approach. The book is not a tabulation of praises for the Obama administration; it is a hard look at how he has led the country during his presidency. You owe it to yourself to learn the FACTS about Obama. Below are previews of chapters which comprise his foreign policy

OBAMA GRADE
First, we briefly assigned a grade (just like in college, from passing grade to failing grade) to Obama in his handling of foreign policy in general. And we delved into discussing his foreign policy in particular vis-à-vis several countries and in regards to events which have impacted the world, such as the Brussels Airport attacks by terrorists.

EGYPT
This is where it all started for Obama; just six months into his presidency, he traveled to Cairo, Egypt where he delivered a speech meant as an olive branch to the Arabs. Was he successful? Did he follow through on his promises? Or was it just showmanship?

ISRAEL
For the first time in quite a longtime, the US-Israeli relation was borderline cold. Obama wanted to change the status quo embraced by Washington regarding the endless conflicts between Israel and the Palestine. The Republican led Congress lent full support to Israel in opposition to the president. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, at the invite of the house speaker John Boehner came to Washington to deliver a speech against Obama foreign policy towards Iran. The Republicans played politics, Netanyahu made a major blunder in foreign policy; read in this chapter why Obama showed lack of resolve regarding the Palestino-Israeli conflicts despite his conviction the issue needs to be resolved.

SYRIA
Fighting between the rebels and the Assad’ army captured the attention of the Obama administration when images of dismembered children, army trucks rolling mercilessly on the streets were shown on television. Unwilling to get involved in a civil war, pressured by the Republican Legislators to do something, Obama was at a crossroad. When the news that the Assad regime was using gas against the civilians, Obama used that to his advantage; he drew a RED line in the sand.

The Red Line in the Sand
If it is found that Assad used gas against the civilians, the United States will … Well, that was the RED line Obama drew in the sand to warn Assad. Did Assad really cross the line as reported in the US media? Or was it another blunder by the media reporting “fake” news, just like in the case of the WMD in Iraq under Bush? Read in this chapter why the US media needs to do a better job reporting on matters which may affect millions of lives across the world.

Syria backed by Russia
Even if Assad had crossed the line, could Obama have done anything about it? Could he have bombed Syria like the Republicans suggested? In this chapter, we discuss how Obama’ thought process of having to fight Russia in Syria pushed him to change strategy vis-à-vis Syria.

Gas found – fabricated or planted
Was Obama correct in his assessment regarding the news that Assad army may have used gas against the civilians? Could it have been another blunder of the intelligence? Was there proof of gas? Even if there were, could it have been attributed to Assad’ army? In this chapter, we explore the balancing act of the president between acting on the intel that Syria used gas against the civilians and facing the prospect of having a full fledge war with Syria (and Russia).

GHOST OF IRAQ WAR
A war that had cost so much to the country has left behind a ghost which still haunts the country. Was Obama spooked by the ghost in his decision regarding Syria? Or was it his aversion for war which had kept him on the sideline in regards to the massacre of the civilians by the Assad’s army?

IRAQ / AFGHANISTAN
During his bid for the presidency, Obama called the Iraq war a “dumb war”. However, once settled in the Oval Office as commander-in-chief, Obama was in no hurry to end the war in Iraq despite having promised to do just that during his 2008 presidential bid campaign. What had happened? Had Obama changed his mind about wars? Read here in this section how Obama tried to hide behind the ghost of war while he was chased by the gods of war.

IRAN
Iran was always on Obama’s mind; even during his bid for the presidency, he stated he would sit down with Iran’s president (at the time, Iran’s president was Ahmadinejad). For the record, he never sat down with the former or the current Iranian president. What Obama was always concerned about was Iran’s capability to develop or acquire nuclear weapons. So, as president he struck a deal with Iran: get rid of your enriched uranium tubes, stop the activities to make nuclear weapon, in return the US will lift financial sanctions on the country. Was the Obama administration played by the Iranian president? Read about the game of chess which led to the agreement in this section.

CUBA
Obama evaded both prying eyes and ears to do what no previous administrations would even dare talking about, to lift the embargo on Cuba. Was he right to lift the embargo? Which president placed the embargo on Cuba? Why? Many attempts to kill Fidel Castrol (no less than six completely organized, financed and executed by CIA; a total of over 500 attempts) or to overthrow his government failed. Obama reflected that Cuba is no more a danger than China to the United States. Could his presidency be downgraded to have lifted the embargo on Cuba? His handling of the whole matter is discussed in great details in this section.

UKRAINE
The Obama administration had so grossly mismanaged the crisis in Ukraine that the specter of another cold war between the United States and Russia would be considered tolerable over the possibility of a World War III. This is not scaremongering, conspiracy theory or figment of my imagination.

This section not only detailed the crisis which has led to this point but also provided a window into how the Obama administration managed to anger Vladimir Putin who has abandoned the accord – both US and Russia signed – for the reduction of nuclear warheads

In the next preview, we return to discuss domestic issues under the Obama administration. Stay tuned!

PART 3

This is the last of a 3-part series which provides a preview of “The OBAMA Legacy” book. Read part one and part two here and here. In this preview, I turn the focus on Obama’ domestic policy. Although I abstained from “grading” his performance like I did in the foreign policy section I nevertheless outlined the progress (or lack thereof) he has made on that front. “The OBAMA Legacy” is without a doubt the book to read if one is seriously interested in politics and government but most importantly if one wants to know the FACTS about Obama presidency.

UNEMPLOYMENT
It is true that the unemployment rate was close to 10% when Obama took office in 2009; it is also true that the rate according to the latest report was at 4.6%. Can Obama take credit for the great turnaround? Read this section to see whether other factors may have helped to strengthen the job market along the way.

ECONOMY
It goes without saying that if the job market improves the economy does as well vice versa. What did Obama do to help improve the economy? Could it have happened under any president? Read this section to obtain a clear picture of what Obama in particular contributed towards improving the economy

EXPENDITURES
US Government has always been prolific when it comes to spending, a major factor to help explain the reason the country is so much indebted. The other factor is the country spends money it doesn’t have. Every president in the Oval Office suffers criticism to have spent too much from the opposing party. Obama was no exception but his administration claimed to have spent much less than the previous administration. It’s always a “he says she says” type of back and forth argument between the two major political partys. Where does the truth lie in regards to Obama? Read this section to see for yourself the numbers, the figures and the charts provided by independent agencies.

DEBT
US Government has always been in debt; the reason is simple: it spends money it doesn’t have. In other words, US pays for its expenses with an “unlimited credit” credit card. So, it’s no wonder it’s easy for every president to keep spending; just send the bill to the taxpayers. Obama was no exception. But Republicans claimed that Obama is a big spender, the Obama administration had always rejected that claim. Who is right? In this section, we took the same approach we use with our personal finance; we look at what the country has produced (revenue) and what the country has purchased (spending) under Obama. It’s that simple. Read this section to see how Obama fared in comparison to other presidents.

SOCIAL ISSUES
There is no doubt Obama had tried very hard to address a number of social issues (LGBT, Maternity Leave, Equal Pay, Women’s Rights to choose, Criminal Justice System, Healthcare, etc.) but even Democrats were not too happy with his performance. What was exactly going on? LGBT group believed the president didn’t go far enough in his policy to help its cause; blacks think Obama didn’t address any of the issues which affect them every day, mainly police brutality and the inequitable justice system. What could Obama do? Did he implement any policy to help improve blacks’ lives? Did Obama even understand the struggle blacks have every day? Could he really relate to LGBT? Was he just in a race to be the “first” in everything? Those questions are discussed in this section to shed light on Obama’s frame of mind when using the president’s executive power.

DANCING WITH THE SEXES
Obama is fondly called the LGBT president. No, not because he is gay. He is the first and the “more gay” friendly president ever but the LGBT group yearns for more to be done for the group.

TANGLING WITH PRISONERS
Obama certainly recognized the struggle blacks face every day here in America. As president however, Obama had to dance an awkward dance of “doing something” and be criticized by the right or “doing nothing” and be criticized by the left. During his first term presidency, Obama had purposely ignored most “race” issues; the incident involving the Harvard Professor (a black man) who was trying to get into his house by breaking the side window (having forgotten the key inside) to have to answer to police after a neighbor called in for a possible theft in progress. Obama’s comments on the incident generated an avalanche of criticism from the Republican talking heads.

In his second term however, Obama had done a lot to change blacks’ treatment in the country. However, to judge by what’s still going with police brutality and the court system, one would simply be disappointed of Obama’s effort to help the Blacks’ cause.

Read this section to discover the work Obama had done to improve blacks’ lives in America.

SECURITY & TERRORISM
This topic is discussed in the political arena as if Obama’s job was to stop each and every act of terrorism not only here in the United States but also across the globe. In this section, we discuss the role the Obama administration had played and where it had succeeded and where it had failed. Read in this section for a contrast between facts and fabrication in regards to how Obama had fared in his handling of the security of the country.

ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE
Republicans believe Climate Change is a hoax; from the newborn baby to Legislators in Washington, the Republican Party wants nothing to do with climate change.

Read in this section why Obama dedicated so much effort, so much energy and so many resources to combat the effect of climate change. Forget about Al Gore! Obama shows you why you too should join his fight.

HEALTHCARE
Obamacare! Yep, Obamacare! Need I say more. In the fight against Obamacare by the Republican Party, an extremely critical aspect of the act is lost: insurance companies have been disarmed; they can no longer deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. That is a freakin’ big deal. Especially to any family who might have had to mortgage everything to desperately try to save the life of a loved one.

Read this section to discover why Republicans in Washington had fought Obamacare tooth and nails and yet Republican constituents in their districts have embraced it wholeheartedly. You will also discover that despite the repeated maneuver by Republicans in Washington to repeal Obamacare, they DO NOT want to get rid of the healthcare act.

The OBAMA Legacy is a good read for college students, faculty members and anyone who expresses interest in government, politics, history or simply wants to know more about Obama’s presidency.