Of course, it wasn't supposed to be like this. When Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination and was subsequently anointed as America's first black president, anything seemed possible.

Who can forget his inspirational acceptance speech in Denver? '

Generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.'

OK, so he missed out the bit about world peace, an end to hunger and poverty, and a cure for cancer, free at the point of delivery.

And, inevitably, the reality was never going to measure up to the rhetoric.

Yet 12 months ago, when Obama took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC, there was a genuine sense of optimism, even among those who hadn't voted for him.

Almost eight years after 9/11, embroiled in two messy foreign wars and mired in an economic recession brought about by the hubris of rapacious bankers, America was facing a crisis of confidence.

Could this baby-faced senator from Illinois unite the nation and rebuild the country's battered reputation on the world stage?

The early signs were encouraging, as millions of people of every race, creed and colour turned out to celebrate Obama's election victory.

America was presenting a new face to the world - young, vibrant, diverse. Suddenly the buttoned-down WASPs in their Brooks Brothers suits seemed so last century.

It was virtually impossible not to get swept along by the tsunami of euphoria, a collective catharsis after the paranoia and backbiting of the Bush years.

International leaders clamoured to touch the hem of his garment, in the hope that some of the stardust would rub off.

But despite their infatuation with his glamour on the world stage, they weren't able to persuade him to seal a deal on global warming at Copenhagen and, regardless of the ludicrous award of a Nobel Peace Prize, his popularity failed to win the Olympics for his home town of Chicago.

At the end of his first year, Obama has disappointed just about everyone.

His personal ratings have fallen lower at this stage of his presidency than any incumbent since Reagan's first year. His party's approval ratings are scraping along below 25 per cent.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1243622/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-I-said-Obam...

Oh you're free to spend money, if you need some lessons my wife has a phd in that particular area!

Can any of you guys tell me what it is that you want to do so badly that you cannot do since Obama became president? I keep hearing about 'all our freedoms have been taken" I am at a loss as to what in the Hell it is you guys want to do that you cannot since G.W. Bush left office, please tell me what it is that you are no longer free to do.//// Answer: SPEND MONEY OR PAY BILLS JUST FOR ONE.

Carol E Donaldson

Ask average Americans with union jobs how their job environment and pay scale fare and then as a non-union worker. You will find that without a union a worker has no rights, is usually required to work in dangerous environments and is threatened with dismissal if he/she complains and is often ripped off by their employers monetarily.

Unions may not be perfect but they are better for the worker than not having one, but then, you probably are not interested in the welfare of the average American worker?

It's a simple question: what SPECIFICALLY has President Obama done in the past 365 days that has taken away a "freedom" that you had under President Bush?

As I see it, imho if one believes that freedoms are not being eroded, just as the sands of time seemingly moves so slowly that it appears that little is happening, and who does not look back at events through the passage of time to the present and review those erosions and impositions of our liberties (the Patriot Act comes to mind) then it is futile to attempt any further discourse.

specifics please, give some specifics not these nebulous phantom freedoms

Don't be deaf, dumb and blind dimwits. . . Our freedoms are being stripped away by enactment of harmful regulations within our legislative bodies. . . you know the very ones we unwittingly continue to re-elect into office? . . C'mon get a grip on reality, instead of that Utopian pipe dream you've bought into.

Oh for fuck's sake. Obama is "taking away our freedom"???

Right. I heard Obama's Army is rounding up citizens and putting them in prison camps run by FEMA! Rush Limbaugh was right!

(eye roll)

The thing we all have to understand about Conservatives is that they LOVE writing fan fiction about Obama on message boards.

In their fan fiction stories Obama is transmuted into the world's greatest tyrant and loyal patriots (like the ones writing their hyperbole) are the only ones the can save the world for the all-powerful evil that is the tyrant Obama!

Can any of you guys tell me what it is that you want to do so badly that you cannot do since Obama became president? I keep hearing about 'all our freedoms have been taken" I am at a loss as to what in the Hell it is you guys want to do that you cannot since G.W. Bush left office, please tell me what it is that you are no longer free to do.

# America is under siege in four major areas: Attacks on our basic human rights by the politically correct in government and the courts, by a political party that continually aids and abets the enemy, by the communications media that only presents highly selective news coverage, and, finally, a radical Muslim terrorist network that confronts us with a methodology of conflict which we are not prepared to combat.

America is plagued with inept leadership in these bureaucratic agencies, and they are shredding our Constitution and Bill of Rights and curtail what we hold dear, our freedom. *(1)

# Consider. The Obama administration and its congressional courtiers have put the federal government into the domestic car business in a big way. They've gotten "health care" legislation through both federal houses that goes a long way toward nationalizing the one-sixth of the economy, they put the national debt on steroids, and they're going for the homerun in cap and trade legislation, which would take decisions on how much and what kind of energy can be used in the economy from the private sector where they belong and turn them over to politicians and bureaucrats.

Cap and trade, if enacted, would effectively Sovietize (i.e. - socialize) the United States. America under cap and trade would have a command and control economy run (into the ground) out of Washington. As for America's long run of affluence and liberty, it would be time for Dandy Don to sing, "Turn out the light, the party's over." Cap and trade America would be grotesquely different than what America is and ever has been.
[...]
As we've seen, this goes well beyond economics. Government making all the decisions -- economic, political, cultural, sexual, religious, personal -- is what socialism is all about. Under socialism everything is political.

The depressing tendency toward over-regulation, a fact of life at least since the New Deal, has gone into warp-speed with the new Washington crowd. This bunch recognizes no limits in telling business "owners" what they can produce, how much of it and when, with what kind of and how much energy, who they must hire, what they must pay employees and what conditions of employment they must provide.

As we watch Obama and his merry band annex more and more of our personal and economic freedoms by putting more and more under the federal thumb, how much comfort can be taken by saying, "Well, at least it's not exactly socialism?" Socialism vs. Obamaism may not be a distinction without a difference. But it's certainly a distinction with such a trifling difference that there's not nearly enough there to make a living on. *(2)

*(1) Joseph R. Breslin
*(2) Larry Thornberry

I'm not talking about the time period, I'm talking about the performance of this idiot. BTW, go ask the people in Detroit or Southeastern Kentucky if the depression was any better.

The worst in history?...wow!..worse than Hoover...worse than Nixon...I don't really know what to even say to such a remark..it's ...uh...simply amazing. If you know anybody who lived during the depression of the 30's ask them what they think...which was worse, then or now.

As long as we have a government run by Wall Street and my choices at election time is one crook over the other, yea, I guess I have no choice but to make more mistakes. There is no difference in the parties or the Presidents, except this one already being the worst in history.

What was the crying about?

In only one year unemployment has started down, more people are going to be getting health care, banks are recovering and beginning to pay off their loans, and housing starts are finally starting to rise. Last year the NASDAQ saw the biggest point gain in the new millennium. With technology investment increasing we'll be getting new industry and job growth in America.

For comparison, it took Reagen three years to end his recession.

You talk about the Bush legacy? Well its too soon we still live in the Bush era and Bush is still alive and well but not his victims they are still; very dead. Haven't you seewn the Bush family recently with Bill Clinton, George Bush adn Barack Obama all together happy as a couple of dictators. Yes laughing at the world because they know the world is helpless against them.

He should have addressed the speaker more directly rather than continuing on with his script. I expected better from you, Barack.

It is pointless to interrupt any speaker for any reason. I have been to Klan gatherings where the mostly black crowd silently listened to the hateful rhetoric and walked away.
That kind of classy behavior simply allowed everybody to hear what was being said. If an question and answer session is scheduled after the speech, take advantage of it or arrange for a counter-point speech at the same location after the main speaker and the adoring hordes have left.
Your vote is the only thing you have right now-that also is very classy.

I don't care whether Obama dealt with the heckler well or not. How a president handles hecklers has little bearing on my opinion of how they do their job.

Obama's speech however, seems like nothing more than a remix of his pre-election campaign speeches. Again, that has nothing to do with his performance as a president. But he's just pulling the same oratory levers used for his campaign for president, adjusting them very little if any to the context of what he's presently speaking about.

Small business?

Not to put down small business, but let's be realistic. The corner grocery store employs 5 people.

Ford and GM employ slighty more than that.

That's just reality.

So, yeah, the unions are more important that some dude with 3 employees.

And what's wrong with being in a union? What's wrong with skilled labor organizing themselves to maximize their profits?

See, here's where Conservatives expose their double-standard: if a multi-billion dollar company tries to maximize their profits by reducing healthcare coverage or scrapping pensions or redcing wages....Conservatives applaud and say it is RIGHT and PROPER for the corporation to do ANYTHING IN ITS POWER TO MAKE A PROFIT even if its at the expense of the workers.

Now if the workers organize and through perfectly legal and democratic means try to maximize their personal profits and increase wages and create safer working environments..these exact same Conservatives insult them!

So there ya go.

Conservatives think the only "real" Americans are Citibank, Enron, Haliburton and Lehman Bros.

The enemies of America? The guys working 3rd shift doing hard manual labor.

Conservatives hate working Americans.

To Obama "Working Folks" means SEIU, TEAMSTERS, AFofL-CIO, NEA. He does not mean the small businessmen/women who are the foundations of the Middle Class and who hire more people than all the Unions put together.

SEND A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS - VOTE SCOTT BROWN!

Massholes everywhere! If only they'd stay in their state! I don't know whats more disappointing: the stupid ass heckler or the brainless crowd chanting.

Looks like the Chosen One is experiencing some reality. More need to heckle him. He needs to be heckled right back to his little corner of Chicago.

Those of you wantign people to stay out of their private lives should apply that logic to Obama and the other idiot liberals. THEY are primes examples of meddling in other peoples lives. It's all about the libs wanting to control us.

There is an expression that sums this up perfectly.."it's always the empty wagon that makes the most noise" and these frustrated conservative protesters shouting down the President of the United States illustrate that expression beautifully....

Old, white men holding pro-life signs are ridiculous. Screaming conservatives interrupting the President in manners that are disrespectful do nothing for their image of being reactionary hot heads.

Painful but delicious to watch a guy who is toast discovering that he is .... toast.

His own peeps. Heh.

Too bad nobody threw a shoe at him.

And all of this is going on in the blue state of Massachusetts. Just imagine the tidal wave that is going to happen in November! This evil is going to be swept away. evil hates the light.

He just sounds like an idiot without a written speech to read. Just my opinion, he stammers, stutters and makes no sense half the time.

I have no bias, I voted for Obama, biggest mistake of my life, let's hope I never make a worse decision. How is he any different than Bush? Now there is a question for you.

No the heckler. You can;t even tell what he was saying. All you get is the tone. He even gets shouted down by the audience. Where is Obama screaming in this? Your statement says more about your bias and lack of ability to judge than the topic at hand.

You are talking about Obama, aren't you? I agree.

look. someone screaming unintelligibly.

It's sad that most Americans can only see the evil in their own party. Then, they automatically dismiss anything said about anyone in their party or deflect to an issue from past years about the opposite party. Why can't you just take one issue at a time and study it, look at it from various angles, and then decide the issue according to the facts at hand? The right/left paradigm is the true reason no 'change' ever happens in this country. We, collectively, bicker liberal, conservative issues and 10 years later nobody actually knows the full truth. We must learn to re-think the way we discuss the issues in this country. We all know that most of the politicians in Washington are crooks and are bought out by Wall Street. Why can't we get together to keep an eye on them, rid Washington of lobbyists and stop this insane habit of confusing the issues and electing crooks. Nobody ever said they had to be lawyers or millionaires. We need to start electing people from our intellectual community that specialize in the issues hired for. Economists working on the economy, environmentalists working at the EPA, not former coal industry execs. All of Washington, even more for this President, is Wall Street or former Energy Industry executives. We let that happen, and the liberals in this country must stop with the conservative hating long enough to help us fix the ills this country faces. I come from a non-partisan viewpoint and it's funny to see all of the liberals behaving exactly as they claimed conservatives were acting during the Bush years. In the meantime, we're losing this country, Wall Street is robbing us, our money is being spent recklessly, Obama lied to us, the wars are escalating not coming to an end, the economy is in the tanks and isn't going to recover and people are getting thrown out of their homes. Vote however you want, but when you're not voting we are all Americans and we're in this together. Be non-partisan when examining the issues to find out if they are true or not and then make your decision who and what is best for this country. Finally, go out and meet your neighbor no matter what party or religion they are and ask them what they think would make this country better. Quit all the hating and let's bond together to solve some of the problems we are facing in this country before there is no country left to defend.

Obama is a waste of skin, no matter what color it is.

These anti-abortion people screwed up the first 8 years of this decade by voting for a repugnant liar, would you please take your bullshit stand on abortion back to your church and hear is my real advice if you are against abortion don't get one! Oh and stay the fuck out of my friends private lives.

notice the thundering applause that drowns out the moronic outburst.

(eye roll)

Is Obama just a moderate politician no better or worse than Clinton...or is he the greatest tyrant and mass murderer in all of human history?

The sad fact is that about 25 percent of the US population still believe Obama is 100 times worse than Hitler and literally nothing anyone says will ever change their minds.

Even sadder? They are arming themselves and only getting bolder.

And in the Bush times the protester would have been water boarded and beaten on his way to jail. Good for Obama, well done.

He needs to speak over the crowd. And as soon as they quiet to hear what the President is saying that's when he should of pointed out about people trying to demonize certain issues and opponents. I'm glad he states that it exists and I'm glad he didn't go off on them in an aggressive way because people do have the right of speech too. Of course he should of gave them a quick lesson that there is a time for everything and that time wasn't the time to be shouting out negative comments in protest. He also should of tried to correct them in showing them the right way to protest. (Now a days protest do get out of hand and if I knew history well enough I would demonstrate how negative protests have ended up). Then use that negativity to generate an even stronger rally for Martha Coakley.

Psh, he handled that fine. what should he have done? told the guy to go fuck him self? im sure that's what any logical minded person would WANT to say. he did fine.

So is the economy good or bad Obama?

Or is it only bad when election time comes around

Let the bitching that he can't do anything but read from a teleprompter begin.

Now THAT must've been sufficiently awkward.

Meh, I think Obama handled that fairly well.