Obama: a man full of regrets

[ballz2wallz]

This article caught my interest, mainly because as we near our next presidential election, we will not only be eyeing these candidates to see what their promises are and the positions they take on controversial issues, but also what kind of men they are...what kind of leaders they'll be. This article strikes me as unique in that I've never seen anything like it about any other political candidate:

On Wednesday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said he regretted allowing his young daughters to participate in a family TV interview with "Access Hollywood."


It was an abrupt shift from decision to regret, even for Obama. The family sat down for the interview on July 4, and the first segment ran on July 8. By the next morning, Obama was saying he regretted including his daughters, even before the other two parts of the interview could air.

...

So what jumped out at me was how quickly Obama regretted his decision. And that, in turn, made me wonder how often the senator has regretted other choices. Answer: pretty often. (Googling "Obama" and "regrets" yields more than a million hits.)

In November 2006, Obama said he regretted buying property adjacent to his Chicago home from Tony Rezko, a longtime supporter and big-time fund-raiser who has since been convicted of mail and wire fraud, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering.

In February 2007, as his presidential campaign was beginning, Obama said he regretted saying that the lives of American soldiers who died fighting in Iraq had been "wasted."

In April 2008, Obama said he regretted his choice of words when he told some well-heeled donors in San Francisco that "bitter" folks in Middle America who have lost economic hope "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."

To be sure, these are choices worth regretting. Anyone can understand why Obama would regret his land deal with a convicted felon. And even liberal Democrats like Obama have been careful not to say American lives have been "wasted" in Iraq, even as they imply the same thing when they dismiss the war effort as corrupt, inept, unnecessary and worse.

Obama's most costly regret, however, may well prove to be his condescending shot at those decent, hardworking Americans he said were desperately clinging to God and guns and bigotry. It was a regret-worthy statement that said volumes about Obama's easy contempt for those in what elites call "flyover country."

Maybe this is what it means when someone says "it's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission".

[WickedLou9]

This really has no substance IMO. Just a partisan attack piece. Did you come up with this or is it copied from an article?

BTW. The part where it says there are over a million google hits... that's utterly meaningless. I just googled " George Bush Sex Change" and I got 349,000 results. THe fact that you put that in there makes me think that the rest of the article is equally poorly thought out and researched.

[IminWonderland]

Well, I don't know if regret is a value that is UnAmerican. I think that regret is a valuble term/emotion, because it means a recognition in the other side's perspective of offense, but is not the same as "sorry".

I think he can regret those things that are listed, but I hope he doesn't feel "sorry."

And most of those things, I don't regret he said/did.

[Phantom]

I regret alot of decisions I make, things I do. I'm lucky that I don't have the press to badger me about it for an admission.

[WickedLou9]

Originally Posted by Phantom

I regret alot of decisions I make, things I do. I'm lucky that I don't have the press to badger me about it for an admission.

I regret the donut I had with breakfast this morning. Clearly I'm a horrible person that should be locked up.

[IminWonderland]

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

I regret the donut I had with breakfast this morning. Clearly I'm a horrible person that should be locked up.

Yeah, you can't regret that. Just keep acting like it didn't end up as a tire around your belly, which everyone has to pay for, because you have diabetes, and an addiction to sugar you can't quench.


(relate that to the lack of regret found in some areas in politics.)

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

I regret the donut I had with breakfast this morning. Clearly I'm a horrible person that should be locked up.

I regret reading your bleeding-heart posts every day

[Scrum]

I regret that I clicked on this thread.

[kinggovernor]

If you saw the interview you could see the regret on his and especially Michelle's face during the interview.

They are still learning about being national celebrities and how to include their kids, cut them some slack