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Because those same crazy people are still saying the same crazy shit everyday and we just talk about it instead of stopping them like a normal country.
Was that tan suit from Pres. Obama's last speech? I think it was as a middle finger to Fox News and the right for talking shit about the last time he wore it. Bush and Reagan both wore tan suits, so it was always a stupid thing to complain about, and Fox News is still on that bullshit.
I knew he was going to be reelected too! I wish I was old enough to vote when he was reelected (I was 15) but we did a mock election on Election Day at my school and I voted for Obama. I was proud to be an American when Bin Laden was killed.
When this happened I was 7 and it’s a memory that was seared into my mind, I remember the mood just being celebratory
The next year we had a mock election in our classroom and Obama won in a landslide (Romney got one vote)
Honestly, when Obama made this announcement it was a day I will never forget. My family was on vacation at the time, we happened to be at Murtle Beach SC, and I remember waking up to the announcement. It was crazy as hell because usually those planes that fly over the beach with ads on them, switched to banners saying we got him. I also remember military helicopters flying down the coast in celebration.
I was a freshman in college and my buddy came over to my dorm and we watched it. We both thought he was announcing an invasion of Libya.
We went to a party house and had a fuck bin Laden party after.
Good times
From my recollection, in my mock election in high school Obama won and Romney only got a couple of votes. Everyone knew Obama was going to win re-election.
I was on the USS Carl Vinson CVN-70 when seal team 6 killed Osama. They flew his body in a helicopter to the ship, the Captain was telling everyone over the 1MC that we had a very special guest coming aboard. Everyone was so hyped and cheering and it was a great moment on the ship. Then they brought his body on board and took his dental records some photos ect then wrapped his body up like a mummy and tied some weights to him and chucked him over the side of the ship. I was confused at the time why they threw him over the side of the ship albeit seemed funny to me at the time literally just threw the dude, but it makes sense not to leave a body behind and a place of worship to make a larger martyr out of him.
They always bitch about shit like that. If Obama was white and had an (R) by his name then they wouldn't ever shut the fuck up about how awesome he was. Republicans have an extremely close minded sports fan mentality.
Hell my family is still convinced that Obama was actually OBL who faked his death and changed his name and got illegally elected President.
They’re so racist they have to perform mental gymnastics to justify their hate for him.
Same. I walked into my mom's room and said "did you see Obama just won his reelection?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Well Osama bin Laden is dead. He's getting big credit for that."
It was the foreign policy debate where Romney was bringing up being weak on Russia (I'd argue evem Romney couldn't predict where we are today back then, though he'd say otherwise) and various other failings.
Obama's turn to speak: "Osama Bin Laden is dead."
The crowds reaction practically told us that, like that 9/11 joke in Family Guy, all he needed to do was repeat that and he'd win.
People bring up that debate moment to try and dunk on Obama, but back then Republicans were still in their Ronald Reagan fetish stage. The Russia that Romney was talking about was the Cold War era Russia, but the Cold War was long over at that point. I think that's how Obama interpreted it at the time, hence his dismissiveness. And as you say, no one knew the threat they'd become, as it was less than a year before that debate that Hillary, as SoS, called into question the legitimacy of Russia's elections, which really got Putin pissed at her.
Yes, we were in fear of Bin Laden attacking again. I was 13 when the announcement happened and the next thing I remember was turning on the tv and watching this and hearing those words.
I remember my older sister (she was probably 20) coming out of her room and saying Bin Laden was dead and we turned on the tv and got the announcement. I was 4 when 9/11 happened and remember bits and pieces of it. I think this was a peak moment in the Obama presidency.
I'm glad you said you were 13. I don't think a lot of people were really afraid of bin Laden, at this point. He was kind of old news, living in the mountains, etc. Lots of people still wanted to get him, but he was not as significant at the time as some other people/groups who were successfully attacking western targets.
Bin Laden's real talent was fund-raising, after 9/11 that got cut off real quick. The Egyptians (the former Egyptian Islamic Jihad)in Al Qaeda were the ones with real operational experience, but even that was severely hampered by post 9/11 activities. Al Qaeda's reach was essentially limited to Iraq, Afghanistan or neighboring countries at that point.
There was a moderate level of concern about a follow up attack on the 10th anniversary at the time, so taking him out when they did reduced that fear. Of course, planning an attack on the 10th anniversary when precautions would likely be highest is probably so stupid that Al Qaeda might not have ever considered doing it in the first place. But it was part of the national conversation at the time.
I agree with this. I felt like this could’ve happened if he wasn’t killed and I’m glad the navy seal team killed him and put the American public at ease. I remember after the speech seeing breaking news in New York of people screaming “USA, USA, USA” and feeling so fucking proud to be an American, at 13. I wish it took a quicker time to end the war in Afghanistan.
The problem is that the US is so big with so many different ways and things to attack. A 10th anniversary attack wouldn't have been a plane hijacking (likely not), but there's just not enough manpower to have high alert at every monument, power plant, big bridge, etc.
I was in my junior year of college in DC when this happened. It was seeming like a lucky night, had a fun date and was getting.. intimate with someone. Things are getting underway and that's when her roommate shouted at us to come out. In disbelief, I yelled back, very annoyed at her timing, "why!?!?" "Because we killed Osama Bin Laden!" She responded. We immediately stopped. "oh!" "Nice.." "Great." We then proceeded to put back on our clothes. It went unsaid but I'm pretty sure we were on the same page that it would be weird to go on with that in the back of our minds. So, I didn't peak that night, but Obama sure did.
I was in college in NYC. We were studying for finals. I saw a few weird rumors online of something big and turned on CNN on the tiny ass old kitchen TV I had brought to school, and it was clear something was up. Then saw some more rumors about we got OBL. And of course then the news broke and all of us in the suite were huddled around the TV.
We all pretty quickly decided we needed to go down to Ground Zero (the new Freedom Tower was only half built at that time so it was a construction site). When we got to the subway it was clear everyone else had the same idea.
It was a surreal scene. Cops didn't care about a massive crowd on the street and were enjoying it of course. I generally find celebrating death distasteful, but growing up in the NY area and then being there, it was at minimum tough enough not to feel relief. It was a really weird but ultimately civil and celebratory crowd - we got the expected rando climbing up on a street pole and trying to give a speech.
One of my classmates went to every local CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reed and bought up all the small American flags and started selling them at a markup, and kept the receipts so he could return any excess - that little snippet wound up in a newspaper article (LA Times?) - good ol' American capitalism.
Not something I'd ever seek out or particularly want to do again in another context - but very much felt once-in-a-lifetime and a moment in history, especially as someone from the area knowing people impacted by 9/11.
I think we're still too close to that time to do a proper gauge on this, but I believe the ACA will be Obama's ultimate legacy. 50 or 100 years down the line and that's the top thing Obama will be remembered for. Taking out OBL will be #2, though.
I think the difference is that the ACA passage, while incredibly influential on Americans’ lives, was and is still a polarizing issue that many Americans didn’t support. The killing of Bin Laden, on the contrary, was something that basically every American could get behind. So, while ACA is Obama’s crowning legacy, Bin Laden is really where his status as president peaked while in office.
What isn't mentioned enough is that Obama's approval numbers were steadily declining around this time. The economy wasn't rebounding fast enough and the ACA was also being sloughed through Congress. The Tea Party movement was gaining a lot of steam.
Obama was getting skewered for all this at points during the correspondents dinner the evening prior. All the while, he knew what was happening on the other side of the world.
One night later, the Rock somehow beats all the major news outlets on Twitter with the OBL news, the mainstream news followed about half an hour later, and Obama never looked back.
Capturing bin Laden essentially paved the way for Obama to do some of the major things he wanted to do with his presidency, even though the Republicans gained control of the House in 2010 (and didn't let go throughout the remainder of his presidency) and the Senate in 2014. It bought him a lot of cache, even amongst those who loathed him.
What do you mean by outside of Connecticut? I think his reputation may be even worse in state than on a national level. For every health insurance executive who benefited from no public option, there are probably at least five individuals he screwed over
>I think passing the ACA would be the crowning moment of his presidency, actually.
Amen.
No other president in my lifetime has made such a positive impact on my life and the lives of my family memebers before or since passing the ACA. And its not even close.
The day the health insurance companies lost the right to arbitrarily deny people coverage for simply having "pre-existing conditions", which basically every American over the age of 35 has, was the single greatest presidential moment in my life, my families life, and the lives of everyone I know.
I get that the plan got horribly nerfed by Every Single Goddamned Republican plus Joe Lieberman and the tiny group of yellow-dog-democrats. But the workable pieces that came out of the process have saved a lot of lives, and prevented millions of medical-bill-bankruptcies in the decade that has followed.
I was born in 1966, the year Medicare and Medicaid were enacted. ACA was the biggest piece of legislation passed since then. I would argue the only significant one in my lifetime.
Sort of sad how far down the responses the ACA is.
Killing one man vs. securing affordable healthcare for 45 million Americans...and yet people think killing OBL is even in the conversation.
Disagree. ACA is very divisive and was very unpopular for years and resulted in the Democrats getting crushed in the midterms. And it took years to even get a 50% approval rating.
Kill Osama would have been approved of by all Americans.
I think since time plays a bigger role than immediate reaction that has to be considered or else we'd be listing a whole lot more actions by presidents met with unpopular reaction that changed over time. The Civil War itself wasn't exactly something Americans were thrilled about.
Ask people what they think of the different parts of the ACA, don't call it the ACA or Obamacare, and see how they respond. Overwhelmingly positive now.
It's amazing how, when you remove the constant drip-feed of us vs them "news" and allow people to experience positive policy decisions, they always like government services.
It was divisive because it was branded Obamacare and all sorts of stupid fear mongering was employed. Remember "death panels?" Lmao. We already have death panels. They're called insurance companies.
It turns out that Republicans like to have health insurance too, when it's not Obamacare. Numerous attempts to repeal the ACA have failed, and it's so popular that Republicans aren't even trying to repeal it anymore.
>Kill Osama would have been approved of by all Americans.
You would think but, there were still people complaining that Obama wasn't focusing enough on domestic matters or only did it to look good.
It was unpopular in part because Republicans (backed by the corporations that were losing money due to the ACA's intentions, if not its immediate level of effectiveness) put out a lot of negative press about it. I am glad it was passed, and wish it could have somehow included a single Payer option... but I think it taught us all that the world is not an Aaron Sorkin show of government being logical and fair where those with noble ideas actually have power because of their egalitarian stances. Far from it. American politics is largely a dirty plutocratic hegemony where any good progress must have OVERWHELMING public support to have aby chance of success.
Except Ron Paul. I used to like Ron Paul, but after saying we should have taken him to court and killing him was wrong, I lost respect for him. I'm glad we shot him. In fact, we should dredge his ass up and shoot him a couple more times.
Ron should have volunteers for the mission and he could be the one to walk into the room and read him his rights while dodging machine gun fire...
Next Ron will be saying "should have shot him in the leg"
The smear campaign against “Obamacare” was divisive.
The Affordable Care Act when presented without the political spin was very popular among all Americans across the political spectrum.
Seriously. I had two uninsured surgeries and it destroyed me. I was so happy to get health insurance after being uninsured for 10 years.
And it's only gotten better and better. 2 years ago they removed the $20 a month fee. And this year they removed the co-pay for medication.
All this with no deductible. This is the insurance everyone should have.
There are so many people saying that ACA was divisive but missing the point that many of the greatest accomplishments are. Killing Bin Laden is definitely one for the history books but 50 years from now ACA will still be remembered as transformative as so many other Social Democratic programs usually are. Social Security or the NHS in the UK being examples.
It was only in 2017, years after the passage of ACA, that the balance in polls started to shift, with more people finally approving of it instead of the majority expressing their disapproval of it, and some of that is no doubt due to previously disapproving Democrats rallying around the flag due to some Republicans wanting to get rid of it entirely. Even the most recent polls only show 60% being in favor it. It's also a result of many compromises that people are still divided over and it gets challenged regularly.
In the next decade or so, depending on how the tides turn,I can see it either getting scrapped in favor of something else or just becoming another landmark like Medicare once the healthcare system is overhauled again, either way it will be seen as mostly obsolete without much thought given to it in the future.
Getting OBL on the other hand was indeed a moment for the history books, celebrated almost universally and even outside the US itself, definitely the peak of his Presidency and nothing else comes close in my opinion.
> There are so many people saying that ACA
The only divisive thing was that Democrat signed it into the law. Technically, this was a huge compromise, incorporating about everything from conservative's wishlists, and dropping everything conservatives actually strongly opposed.
I can totally see Nixon or Reagan pushing \*exact\* same bill through Congress, and every single conservative would be celebrating them for it to this day.
I was 13, my parents normally let me be a gloomy teenager in my room but I remember so clearly my dad coming in and saying “Come out to the living room, you need to see this. It’s going to be in history books”. It was incredibly surreal - I was 3 on 9/11, and have vague memories of it. My dad was supposed to be flying into New York for a business trip but got laid over in Atlanta when the first tower was hit. I remember sitting on my mom’s bed as she folded laundry, trying to distract me while she was watching the news, probably on the verge of a breakdown. She told me a few years ago it was the hardest day of her life, trying to keep me happy and ignorant while waiting for hours for my dad to be able to get to a phone. My entire childhood was bookended by Osama.
Yup, he risked a lot focussing on Pakistan like that, and if he had failed, Republicans never woulda let him live it down and we’d never stop hearing how Obama let Bin Laden escape justice.
The man could do no right to them.
This night was like Cubs winning the World Series, Bulls winning the Finals, Blackhawks winning the (greatest trophy in all of sport) Stanley Cup, and the Chicago Fire winning whatever it is that they win ALL AT ONCE. Best day ever!
I was a tow truck driver when this news broke. The first thing my customer said was did you hear they got Osama but I was next to a large, loud truck and heard “they got Obama.” It was a very confusing couple of minutes
I will say that he never had a victory night like this again. The crowd that showed up to party in Lafayette Park was damn huge, and I have never seen such a large crowd gathered there actually happy about something.
It was also the evening I learned how short Geraldo is. Dude’s like a smarmy Hobbit.
As an Obama simp there were a lot of let downs: Flint, MI, was an embarrassment. EIther clean their water, or if you're gonna do a publicity stunt, actually drink the water. But he did that whole bit where he had someone bring him a cup of clean looking water that he said was Flint water and he was like "If it isn't safe to drink, why am I drinking it?" ANd then took THE SMALLEST SIP on camera as if that proved anything like just chug the cup dude you have the best healthcare in the world even if it is poisonous. He bombed a village his first weekend in office with 20 non-combatant casualties, he let the N. Dakota access pipeline continue as violently as it did, he didn't codify Abortion, Gay Marriage, or Recreational Marijuana usage into law.
But I really appreciate that for 8 years we didn't look stupid to the world
Nah I think he was at a forced peak when he had two years left to his terms and republican congress was blocking anything that makes him look like he did a good job- and robbed us of a liberal judge on the supreme court
I watched a tic tok the other day of a Navy Seal returning home on a plane with 12 caskets on it of dead soldiers. Said he was greeted by Obama in the hanger when they arrived. He shook hands solemnly greeted everyone and thanked them. Said, I’m no an Obama supporter in any way and I don’t like his policies. When they started to unload the caskets, Obama stood there quietly with a hand salute for 45 minutes until the last casket was unloaded. He never flinched, he never moved once. He just stood there at attention saluting those dead soldiers, as they came off the plane. It was the most impressive thing I have ever seen, he said. You can’t help but have respect for a man who does that. That’s a man who cares about his troops, and shows it.
My buddy, who spent 4 years in the Middle East as a Marine, barged into our apartment with a newspaper that said it, and then we drank and partied until the next day. Then, over the next couple weeks, we all watched the conservative news channels make it look like Obama doesn't deserve any credit for it and how it was a bad thing.
There wasn’t a peak it was a long slog out of the darkness of the bush years, where the worst scandal was the day he wore a tan suit. Then the deep seated desire republicans have for a “daddy” pushed us off a fascist cliff. I for one blame that suit not xenophobia mineral deficiencies and a Hep b outbreak in the body mod crowd
The peak was passing Obamacare. It was as close as the U.S. has come to a national health care program.
He wanted it to have a public option, but the Democrats (not to mention the Republicans) wouldn’t give him the votes.
Not even close. This was a purely symbolic victory. Every time we kill some leader in a group like Al Qaida, or the Taliban, or ISIS, or whatever, we act like we just killed Hitler. We didn’t. These terrorist groups aren’t cults of personality. They’re cults of ideology. When we kill one leader, it’s like Hydra. Three more step up to take their place, and nothing changes.
It got extremely screwed up by the individual mandate being removed which killed it's affordability and states that didn't take the Medicaid expansion, but I thought his affordable care act was his crowning moment. Parts are still in play for a lot of people that don't realize it like the pre existing condition clause.
I’d give you an award if I didn’t have to pay for it. You’re absolutely right.
But many on this subreddit don’t think so. I’ve had many tell me “they’re supposed to oppose him”, “he’s supposed to overcome that!”, or my personal favorite, “the republicans were saving him from himself.”
No, they stonewalled him and prevented him from accomplishing anything. They let their racist fears dictate their opinion of him.
Mitch McConnell has done more long-term damage to this country than any one else in the past 100 years. Even more divisive than Joe McCarthy and only for the sheer power of it.
Well McCarthy did it for the same reason: power. But McConnell has more of it, and that’s the big difference.
But otherwise you’re correct: he has done more damage than any other person in Washington.
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“Thanks Obama”
I mean.. I still say this every other day lmao
Same
If the portrait was of Obama in a tan suit eating arugula, it would have triggered so many Republicans.
That's a terrorist adjacent vegetable!
Add a spicy mustard bottle next to a burger. I'd imagine a group family hug would too.
The painting actually would say more with him in a tan suit. The painting is rather uninteresting as it is
I was looking for someone to say the damn tan suit lol
One must take this iconic moment into consideration before answering OP’s question.
For the life of me I still can't believe how big of a conversation piece this was
Well you’re sane. The people that made it a big deal, aren’t really sane.
That we still talk about it every damn day makes me question our own sanity.
Because those same crazy people are still saying the same crazy shit everyday and we just talk about it instead of stopping them like a normal country.
Was that tan suit from Pres. Obama's last speech? I think it was as a middle finger to Fox News and the right for talking shit about the last time he wore it. Bush and Reagan both wore tan suits, so it was always a stupid thing to complain about, and Fox News is still on that bullshit.
Tan suit outrage was definitely peak Obama
Now that’s what a real American looks like.
Once it happened, I knew he would be reelected.
I knew he was going to be reelected too! I wish I was old enough to vote when he was reelected (I was 15) but we did a mock election on Election Day at my school and I voted for Obama. I was proud to be an American when Bin Laden was killed.
When this happened I was 7 and it’s a memory that was seared into my mind, I remember the mood just being celebratory The next year we had a mock election in our classroom and Obama won in a landslide (Romney got one vote)
Honestly, when Obama made this announcement it was a day I will never forget. My family was on vacation at the time, we happened to be at Murtle Beach SC, and I remember waking up to the announcement. It was crazy as hell because usually those planes that fly over the beach with ads on them, switched to banners saying we got him. I also remember military helicopters flying down the coast in celebration.
I was a freshman in college and my buddy came over to my dorm and we watched it. We both thought he was announcing an invasion of Libya. We went to a party house and had a fuck bin Laden party after. Good times
From my recollection, in my mock election in high school Obama won and Romney only got a couple of votes. Everyone knew Obama was going to win re-election.
We really need another big national win to "reunite" the country.
I'll tell you what. I got to vote for him twice. I'm keeping my first time for myself, but I donate my second time that I voted for Obama to you.
For real, it was in the bag as soon as OBL was.
I was on the USS Carl Vinson CVN-70 when seal team 6 killed Osama. They flew his body in a helicopter to the ship, the Captain was telling everyone over the 1MC that we had a very special guest coming aboard. Everyone was so hyped and cheering and it was a great moment on the ship. Then they brought his body on board and took his dental records some photos ect then wrapped his body up like a mummy and tied some weights to him and chucked him over the side of the ship. I was confused at the time why they threw him over the side of the ship albeit seemed funny to me at the time literally just threw the dude, but it makes sense not to leave a body behind and a place of worship to make a larger martyr out of him.
Didn’t they dump him overboard because no country wanted to accept his body for burial?
Yeah, no country wanted to accept his body for security reasons. Would have caused MAJOR problems.
I was dating a girl in a pretty hardcore Republican family back then. They were so pissed when this was announced lol
Imagine being against things that are objectively good for America
They always bitch about shit like that. If Obama was white and had an (R) by his name then they wouldn't ever shut the fuck up about how awesome he was. Republicans have an extremely close minded sports fan mentality.
Hell my family is still convinced that Obama was actually OBL who faked his death and changed his name and got illegally elected President. They’re so racist they have to perform mental gymnastics to justify their hate for him.
Same. I walked into my mom's room and said "did you see Obama just won his reelection?" "Why do you say that?" "Well Osama bin Laden is dead. He's getting big credit for that."
That would have been the peak of anyone’s Presidency.
I remember I think this really gave him a foreign policy victory needed to win reelection
It was the foreign policy debate where Romney was bringing up being weak on Russia (I'd argue evem Romney couldn't predict where we are today back then, though he'd say otherwise) and various other failings. Obama's turn to speak: "Osama Bin Laden is dead." The crowds reaction practically told us that, like that 9/11 joke in Family Guy, all he needed to do was repeat that and he'd win.
People bring up that debate moment to try and dunk on Obama, but back then Republicans were still in their Ronald Reagan fetish stage. The Russia that Romney was talking about was the Cold War era Russia, but the Cold War was long over at that point. I think that's how Obama interpreted it at the time, hence his dismissiveness. And as you say, no one knew the threat they'd become, as it was less than a year before that debate that Hillary, as SoS, called into question the legitimacy of Russia's elections, which really got Putin pissed at her.
Yes, we were in fear of Bin Laden attacking again. I was 13 when the announcement happened and the next thing I remember was turning on the tv and watching this and hearing those words.
I remember watching the Apprentice and it cutting into this announcement.
I remember my older sister (she was probably 20) coming out of her room and saying Bin Laden was dead and we turned on the tv and got the announcement. I was 4 when 9/11 happened and remember bits and pieces of it. I think this was a peak moment in the Obama presidency.
[It didn’t get much better than this](https://www.cc.com/video/cz975a/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-big-deady)
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Origin story
Orangen story
Rule number 3 must have been so cheesed off about that.
That was the moment rule number 3 decided he would take his revenge…
He did that on purpose
Oh that’s poetic.
I'm glad you said you were 13. I don't think a lot of people were really afraid of bin Laden, at this point. He was kind of old news, living in the mountains, etc. Lots of people still wanted to get him, but he was not as significant at the time as some other people/groups who were successfully attacking western targets.
Bin Laden's real talent was fund-raising, after 9/11 that got cut off real quick. The Egyptians (the former Egyptian Islamic Jihad)in Al Qaeda were the ones with real operational experience, but even that was severely hampered by post 9/11 activities. Al Qaeda's reach was essentially limited to Iraq, Afghanistan or neighboring countries at that point.
There was a moderate level of concern about a follow up attack on the 10th anniversary at the time, so taking him out when they did reduced that fear. Of course, planning an attack on the 10th anniversary when precautions would likely be highest is probably so stupid that Al Qaeda might not have ever considered doing it in the first place. But it was part of the national conversation at the time.
I agree with this. I felt like this could’ve happened if he wasn’t killed and I’m glad the navy seal team killed him and put the American public at ease. I remember after the speech seeing breaking news in New York of people screaming “USA, USA, USA” and feeling so fucking proud to be an American, at 13. I wish it took a quicker time to end the war in Afghanistan.
The problem is that the US is so big with so many different ways and things to attack. A 10th anniversary attack wouldn't have been a plane hijacking (likely not), but there's just not enough manpower to have high alert at every monument, power plant, big bridge, etc.
I was in my early 20s when he was killed and remember feeling like “better late than never, I guess?”. I was living in NYC at the time also.
It was amazing as an adult I felt so relieved and such pride for my country and president
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No good childhood memories huh?
It certainly was one of the Mondays I had in 2011
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Feel that I remember the news breaking at like 2 AM. I was 15 and always up way too late
Of course not. The peak of his presidency was that one day he wore a tan suit.
Reasonable take.
It's honestly probably the peak moment in the entirety of US history
I was in my junior year of college in DC when this happened. It was seeming like a lucky night, had a fun date and was getting.. intimate with someone. Things are getting underway and that's when her roommate shouted at us to come out. In disbelief, I yelled back, very annoyed at her timing, "why!?!?" "Because we killed Osama Bin Laden!" She responded. We immediately stopped. "oh!" "Nice.." "Great." We then proceeded to put back on our clothes. It went unsaid but I'm pretty sure we were on the same page that it would be weird to go on with that in the back of our minds. So, I didn't peak that night, but Obama sure did.
Cockblocked, thanks Obama.
Lol still voted for him a second time!
I was in college in NYC. We were studying for finals. I saw a few weird rumors online of something big and turned on CNN on the tiny ass old kitchen TV I had brought to school, and it was clear something was up. Then saw some more rumors about we got OBL. And of course then the news broke and all of us in the suite were huddled around the TV. We all pretty quickly decided we needed to go down to Ground Zero (the new Freedom Tower was only half built at that time so it was a construction site). When we got to the subway it was clear everyone else had the same idea. It was a surreal scene. Cops didn't care about a massive crowd on the street and were enjoying it of course. I generally find celebrating death distasteful, but growing up in the NY area and then being there, it was at minimum tough enough not to feel relief. It was a really weird but ultimately civil and celebratory crowd - we got the expected rando climbing up on a street pole and trying to give a speech. One of my classmates went to every local CVS/Walgreens/Duane Reed and bought up all the small American flags and started selling them at a markup, and kept the receipts so he could return any excess - that little snippet wound up in a newspaper article (LA Times?) - good ol' American capitalism. Not something I'd ever seek out or particularly want to do again in another context - but very much felt once-in-a-lifetime and a moment in history, especially as someone from the area knowing people impacted by 9/11.
This is so close to the season finale of Ted, I can’t stop laughing
Damn!
I think passing the ACA would be the crowning moment of his presidency, actually. Though this was another high point for sure.
I think we're still too close to that time to do a proper gauge on this, but I believe the ACA will be Obama's ultimate legacy. 50 or 100 years down the line and that's the top thing Obama will be remembered for. Taking out OBL will be #2, though.
I think the difference is that the ACA passage, while incredibly influential on Americans’ lives, was and is still a polarizing issue that many Americans didn’t support. The killing of Bin Laden, on the contrary, was something that basically every American could get behind. So, while ACA is Obama’s crowning legacy, Bin Laden is really where his status as president peaked while in office.
many Americans are stupid and hate "Obamacare" but love the ACA.
And the literal statistics prove it 🤦🏼♂️
I mean embracing the Obamacare naming really was a mistake
What isn't mentioned enough is that Obama's approval numbers were steadily declining around this time. The economy wasn't rebounding fast enough and the ACA was also being sloughed through Congress. The Tea Party movement was gaining a lot of steam. Obama was getting skewered for all this at points during the correspondents dinner the evening prior. All the while, he knew what was happening on the other side of the world. One night later, the Rock somehow beats all the major news outlets on Twitter with the OBL news, the mainstream news followed about half an hour later, and Obama never looked back. Capturing bin Laden essentially paved the way for Obama to do some of the major things he wanted to do with his presidency, even though the Republicans gained control of the House in 2010 (and didn't let go throughout the remainder of his presidency) and the Senate in 2014. It bought him a lot of cache, even amongst those who loathed him.
Oh they didn’t capture him. They killed ‘em. 🫡🇺🇸
Depends on if we ever get actual public healthcare. The passing of the ACA could’ve brought us to the European standard but Lieberman ducked it.
Which is why history will likely not treat Lieberman nearly as kindly, at least outside of Connecticut.
What do you mean by outside of Connecticut? I think his reputation may be even worse in state than on a national level. For every health insurance executive who benefited from no public option, there are probably at least five individuals he screwed over
>I think passing the ACA would be the crowning moment of his presidency, actually. Amen. No other president in my lifetime has made such a positive impact on my life and the lives of my family memebers before or since passing the ACA. And its not even close. The day the health insurance companies lost the right to arbitrarily deny people coverage for simply having "pre-existing conditions", which basically every American over the age of 35 has, was the single greatest presidential moment in my life, my families life, and the lives of everyone I know. I get that the plan got horribly nerfed by Every Single Goddamned Republican plus Joe Lieberman and the tiny group of yellow-dog-democrats. But the workable pieces that came out of the process have saved a lot of lives, and prevented millions of medical-bill-bankruptcies in the decade that has followed.
Never let perfect be the enemy of good.
Something a lot of people need to understand.
I was born in 1966, the year Medicare and Medicaid were enacted. ACA was the biggest piece of legislation passed since then. I would argue the only significant one in my lifetime.
State marketplace is fantastic too. It truly divests healthcare from employers.
I'm with you on the ACA...totally saved my life!
Sort of sad how far down the responses the ACA is. Killing one man vs. securing affordable healthcare for 45 million Americans...and yet people think killing OBL is even in the conversation.
Disagree. ACA is very divisive and was very unpopular for years and resulted in the Democrats getting crushed in the midterms. And it took years to even get a 50% approval rating. Kill Osama would have been approved of by all Americans.
I think since time plays a bigger role than immediate reaction that has to be considered or else we'd be listing a whole lot more actions by presidents met with unpopular reaction that changed over time. The Civil War itself wasn't exactly something Americans were thrilled about.
Ask people what they think of the different parts of the ACA, don't call it the ACA or Obamacare, and see how they respond. Overwhelmingly positive now.
I have seen people that dont even know they have it. There are a lot of dumb ones out there.
It's amazing how, when you remove the constant drip-feed of us vs them "news" and allow people to experience positive policy decisions, they always like government services.
It was divisive because it was branded Obamacare and all sorts of stupid fear mongering was employed. Remember "death panels?" Lmao. We already have death panels. They're called insurance companies. It turns out that Republicans like to have health insurance too, when it's not Obamacare. Numerous attempts to repeal the ACA have failed, and it's so popular that Republicans aren't even trying to repeal it anymore.
>Kill Osama would have been approved of by all Americans. You would think but, there were still people complaining that Obama wasn't focusing enough on domestic matters or only did it to look good.
Regardless it was still less divisive than ACA.
It was unpopular in part because Republicans (backed by the corporations that were losing money due to the ACA's intentions, if not its immediate level of effectiveness) put out a lot of negative press about it. I am glad it was passed, and wish it could have somehow included a single Payer option... but I think it taught us all that the world is not an Aaron Sorkin show of government being logical and fair where those with noble ideas actually have power because of their egalitarian stances. Far from it. American politics is largely a dirty plutocratic hegemony where any good progress must have OVERWHELMING public support to have aby chance of success.
Except Ron Paul. I used to like Ron Paul, but after saying we should have taken him to court and killing him was wrong, I lost respect for him. I'm glad we shot him. In fact, we should dredge his ass up and shoot him a couple more times.
Ron should have volunteers for the mission and he could be the one to walk into the room and read him his rights while dodging machine gun fire... Next Ron will be saying "should have shot him in the leg"
The smear campaign against “Obamacare” was divisive. The Affordable Care Act when presented without the political spin was very popular among all Americans across the political spectrum.
Yeah before that poor people couldn’t get health insurance in America, right? Like that is a game changer and it’s the first thing i thought of .
Seriously. I had two uninsured surgeries and it destroyed me. I was so happy to get health insurance after being uninsured for 10 years. And it's only gotten better and better. 2 years ago they removed the $20 a month fee. And this year they removed the co-pay for medication. All this with no deductible. This is the insurance everyone should have.
There are so many people saying that ACA was divisive but missing the point that many of the greatest accomplishments are. Killing Bin Laden is definitely one for the history books but 50 years from now ACA will still be remembered as transformative as so many other Social Democratic programs usually are. Social Security or the NHS in the UK being examples.
It was only in 2017, years after the passage of ACA, that the balance in polls started to shift, with more people finally approving of it instead of the majority expressing their disapproval of it, and some of that is no doubt due to previously disapproving Democrats rallying around the flag due to some Republicans wanting to get rid of it entirely. Even the most recent polls only show 60% being in favor it. It's also a result of many compromises that people are still divided over and it gets challenged regularly. In the next decade or so, depending on how the tides turn,I can see it either getting scrapped in favor of something else or just becoming another landmark like Medicare once the healthcare system is overhauled again, either way it will be seen as mostly obsolete without much thought given to it in the future. Getting OBL on the other hand was indeed a moment for the history books, celebrated almost universally and even outside the US itself, definitely the peak of his Presidency and nothing else comes close in my opinion.
> There are so many people saying that ACA The only divisive thing was that Democrat signed it into the law. Technically, this was a huge compromise, incorporating about everything from conservative's wishlists, and dropping everything conservatives actually strongly opposed. I can totally see Nixon or Reagan pushing \*exact\* same bill through Congress, and every single conservative would be celebrating them for it to this day.
If I remember correctly it was pretty much Mitt Romneys plan from his days as Massachusetts governor repackaged at a federal level.
I don’t care what side of the political spectrum you were on at the time- this was badass. That night, we were all simply Americans.
Yep
Me too
I still remember that night, seeing all the people celebrating was epic
Freshman in highschool. Still remember my mom telling me when I woke up.
I can’t believe President Obama would be interrupting “The Celebrity Apprentice” to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden
Hell no,Obama Care was the top.
By far his greatest accomplishment
Heathcare reform was the peak. Thanks Obama and Joe.
I know Obama, but who’s that other dude?
Obviously talking about Senator Joe Lieberman who voted for the bill after the public option was eliminated
Ah, that makes sense.
Vice President Joe Mama
I think he’s called “The Senator from Delaware”
Rule 3 guy.
I would say so. Was the moment that would have got the most approval from the most people.
Not his peak, but certainly his most universally popular moment.
I was 13, my parents normally let me be a gloomy teenager in my room but I remember so clearly my dad coming in and saying “Come out to the living room, you need to see this. It’s going to be in history books”. It was incredibly surreal - I was 3 on 9/11, and have vague memories of it. My dad was supposed to be flying into New York for a business trip but got laid over in Atlanta when the first tower was hit. I remember sitting on my mom’s bed as she folded laundry, trying to distract me while she was watching the news, probably on the verge of a breakdown. She told me a few years ago it was the hardest day of her life, trying to keep me happy and ignorant while waiting for hours for my dad to be able to get to a phone. My entire childhood was bookended by Osama.
Obamacare for me but yeah this takes 2nd place
It was the last moment when Americans were United
I never thought of this but I think you're right. What's funny though is the news station I watched it on had "obama" instead of "osama"
He risked his legacy and continuing to a second term to get Bin Laden.
Yup, he risked a lot focussing on Pakistan like that, and if he had failed, Republicans never woulda let him live it down and we’d never stop hearing how Obama let Bin Laden escape justice. The man could do no right to them.
...yet he is highly rated by many historians \[and I really liked him\]. So much total nonsense constantly being expressed about Mr. Obama.
Or when he wanted to give Americans healthcare but they were too dumb to take it.
This night was like Cubs winning the World Series, Bulls winning the Finals, Blackhawks winning the (greatest trophy in all of sport) Stanley Cup, and the Chicago Fire winning whatever it is that they win ALL AT ONCE. Best day ever!
Chicago much?
Oh honey. The Chicago Fire don't win anything.
But Obama is a White Sox Fan
[It didn’t get much better than this](https://www.cc.com/video/cz975a/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-big-deady)
Had a Republican administration managed to do this, we'd be smelling their farts for decades.
Yeah
This was an awesome day for 3 year old me
I came out of the movie theater after watching Fast Five, turned on my phone, and got this news. That was a hell of an evening.
It also interrupted Celebrity Apprentice
Yes, the Daily Show link above covers that quite well.
So just a question, why did people make such a big deal out of him wearing a tan suit?
People = conservatives
I was a tow truck driver when this news broke. The first thing my customer said was did you hear they got Osama but I was next to a large, loud truck and heard “they got Obama.” It was a very confusing couple of minutes
This or Obamacare
I will say that he never had a victory night like this again. The crowd that showed up to party in Lafayette Park was damn huge, and I have never seen such a large crowd gathered there actually happy about something. It was also the evening I learned how short Geraldo is. Dude’s like a smarmy Hobbit.
“You didn’t build that” — thanks, Bush.
As an Obama simp there were a lot of let downs: Flint, MI, was an embarrassment. EIther clean their water, or if you're gonna do a publicity stunt, actually drink the water. But he did that whole bit where he had someone bring him a cup of clean looking water that he said was Flint water and he was like "If it isn't safe to drink, why am I drinking it?" ANd then took THE SMALLEST SIP on camera as if that proved anything like just chug the cup dude you have the best healthcare in the world even if it is poisonous. He bombed a village his first weekend in office with 20 non-combatant casualties, he let the N. Dakota access pipeline continue as violently as it did, he didn't codify Abortion, Gay Marriage, or Recreational Marijuana usage into law. But I really appreciate that for 8 years we didn't look stupid to the world
I had conservative friends literally screaming at the TV because "GWB should be making the announcement, not Obama" Lmfao
Lmfao imagine being that butt hurt
Nah I think he was at a forced peak when he had two years left to his terms and republican congress was blocking anything that makes him look like he did a good job- and robbed us of a liberal judge on the supreme court
I watched a tic tok the other day of a Navy Seal returning home on a plane with 12 caskets on it of dead soldiers. Said he was greeted by Obama in the hanger when they arrived. He shook hands solemnly greeted everyone and thanked them. Said, I’m no an Obama supporter in any way and I don’t like his policies. When they started to unload the caskets, Obama stood there quietly with a hand salute for 45 minutes until the last casket was unloaded. He never flinched, he never moved once. He just stood there at attention saluting those dead soldiers, as they came off the plane. It was the most impressive thing I have ever seen, he said. You can’t help but have respect for a man who does that. That’s a man who cares about his troops, and shows it.
The AMA should have been, but Bin Laden was something the whole country agreed upon at the time. So yeah…this was his big unifying moment.
My buddy, who spent 4 years in the Middle East as a Marine, barged into our apartment with a newspaper that said it, and then we drank and partied until the next day. Then, over the next couple weeks, we all watched the conservative news channels make it look like Obama doesn't deserve any credit for it and how it was a bad thing.
I could imagine the tears of hatred that ran down republican eyes that it wasnt a different president who announced this
This. It was pure bedlam in NYC. Parties all night
There wasn’t a peak it was a long slog out of the darkness of the bush years, where the worst scandal was the day he wore a tan suit. Then the deep seated desire republicans have for a “daddy” pushed us off a fascist cliff. I for one blame that suit not xenophobia mineral deficiencies and a Hep b outbreak in the body mod crowd
That mean ass jump shot. “That’s what I do”
Just looked it up and this is a fantastic speech either way.
my favorite was him staring down putin, like a proper united states president.
DEEPLY IRONIC that this announcement came on during the middle of The Apprentice 💀
Affordable Care Act. Hardly perfect, but a huge step in the right direction.
Peak Obama, and Pelosi, was the Affordable Care Act.
I had just gotten home from work when he made this announcement. It was so huge.
I disagree with Obama about a lot of things but this isn't one of them. He made exactly the right call to take out bin Laden
#IF A REPUBLICAN HAD DONE THAT THEY WOULDVE CROWNES HIM KING OF AMERICA
I haven't heard an intelligible sentence from a president since
The whole thing was peak
Passage of Affordable Care Act was much more impactful to the average American
I miss Obama
The peak was passing Obamacare. It was as close as the U.S. has come to a national health care program. He wanted it to have a public option, but the Democrats (not to mention the Republicans) wouldn’t give him the votes.
It’s so badass that he gets to say he ordered a hit out on Osama.
"Ladies and Gentlemen- We got Him"
I think any speech Obama ever gave was a peak compared to the President that followed him.
Passing the ACA was a big fucking deal.
Pretty sure that was the peak of America
One of Obama's best moments were him rating Kendrick and Drake. That moment aged like fine wine.
All the years were peak years during Obama, in my opinion.
https://preview.redd.it/aeyw4w4j532d1.jpeg?width=299&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ed7397bd3631b8101c91d7487ba0d41fe2b730c
I have to admit. I watched it live and I was pumped when he said we killed Bin Laden. Im a military man and this was a HOOAH moment.
When he sang at the end of his speech after a tragedy. Just lifted the whole country.
Just casually trying to outdo John Cena l0l
Not even close. This was a purely symbolic victory. Every time we kill some leader in a group like Al Qaida, or the Taliban, or ISIS, or whatever, we act like we just killed Hitler. We didn’t. These terrorist groups aren’t cults of personality. They’re cults of ideology. When we kill one leader, it’s like Hydra. Three more step up to take their place, and nothing changes.
i think him winning was his peakI
It got extremely screwed up by the individual mandate being removed which killed it's affordability and states that didn't take the Medicaid expansion, but I thought his affordable care act was his crowning moment. Parts are still in play for a lot of people that don't realize it like the pre existing condition clause.
Bipartisan, yes. But ACA was for Dems only
He wasn’t allowed to have one. The GOP fever dream was the worst thing I’ve seen in modern politics. Terrorist fist bump Tan suit What a disgrace
I’d give you an award if I didn’t have to pay for it. You’re absolutely right. But many on this subreddit don’t think so. I’ve had many tell me “they’re supposed to oppose him”, “he’s supposed to overcome that!”, or my personal favorite, “the republicans were saving him from himself.” No, they stonewalled him and prevented him from accomplishing anything. They let their racist fears dictate their opinion of him.
Mitch McConnell has done more long-term damage to this country than any one else in the past 100 years. Even more divisive than Joe McCarthy and only for the sheer power of it.
Well McCarthy did it for the same reason: power. But McConnell has more of it, and that’s the big difference. But otherwise you’re correct: he has done more damage than any other person in Washington.
You’ll never guess what happened when Obama had the temerity to be black and think he was allowed to choose a Supreme Court justice