REPLIES TO THE CURRENT QUESTION

Our question last week was:

Give an assessment of President Obama's first month in office.

Here are your answers.  The name of a writer is included only if he or she actually placed a name at the end of the message.  Otherwise, we assume the writer wished anonymity and "name withheld" is inserted.

An old song goes,

"A" you're adorable,

"B" you're so beautiful,

"C" you're a cutie full of charms,

"D" you're a darling,

and "E" you're exciting,

and "F" you're a feather in my arms...

What does this have to do with President Obama's first month as commander-in-chief and leader of the most "powerful nation on Earth"?  Ask the media, as they are the ones singing the song.  In real terms, fiasco comes to mind.   So, I suppose that "F" is a worthy grade.

Don Newell

Current Question -- Give an assessment of President Obama's first month
in office.

Current Answer -- One down, 47 to go.

Francis Drouillard
Novato, CA

The most disastrous first month in history. Obama is like a chain-gang prisoner who has escaped, but can't get the leg irons off his ankles.

The obvious way to fix the economy is to reduce taxes and regulations
on the productive segment of society. That is the only thing that is not in the President's playbook. Even JFK got that one right.

Scott Robinson

I think that in general the new president is doing about as badly as
I was afraid he would. During his campaign I never once heard 0bama
say anything that made me think he knew anything at all about
economics, and his actions since taking office only confirm his lack
of knowledge of the subject. First he shoves through Congress the
largest spending bill in history, and then a few days later he
announces that one of his big priorities is to "reduce the deficit by
half." FAIL!

He seems to think that it is perfectly all right to have a tax cheat
be secretary of the treasury on the grounds that we need Tim
Geithner's expertise to solve our economic problems. Every time
Geithner says anything he reveals that he doesn't have any concrete
ideas on how to get the job done, and the stock market goes down some
more. FAIL!

I'm not sure that all the rest of his problems are even worth talking
about, except that his economic idiocy adds to a general consensus
among our allies that we won't be able to carry out a consistent
foreign policy, and among our enemies that we won't be so much of a
threat to them now.

Pete Madsen

Give an assessment of President Obama's first month in office.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.
 
Bewitched: The press in completely denying reality and instead sticking to the mantra.
Bothered: By the fact that things aren't turning around domestically or internationally. Also, that the Obama camp's idea of change is not the one the public wants.
Bewildered: By what to do.
 
Michael Smith
Seattle, WA

As the cliché goes, be afraid, be very afraid.  The ramming of the stimulus bill through the House and Senate showed the ruthlessness and focus that Obama brings to his efforts to achieve his agenda.  Yet, with his focus he has also shown moments of utter ineptitude, such picking the cabinet nominees who have gone down in flames.
 
I have been amazed at the number of changes that have been effected over the past month.  It seems as though every day there is a new surprise, be it via executive order, a new proposal for legislation or a new diplomatic move that is utterly baffling;  he is moving quickly and surely to his goal. 
 
I have been surprised by one thing . . .  Wall Street and the financial sector donated heavily to Obama’s campaign, yet they are still in the crapper and the DJIA is tanking.  You would think that, given the millions they shoveled his way, we would have seen more things that would have lifted the market.
 
 I have become convinced that the true price of the stimulus bill is not the huge debt we are obligating ourselves to; it is the surrender of states’ rights that accepting the money requires. 
 
One very telling thing is that all of our local retailers cannot keep ammunition on the shelves.  Even the mail order outlets are backordered as people hoard what may become a scarce commodity.   I think that there is a sense among many that it won’t be long until Obama moves against the Second Amendment. 
 
If the next 47 months are anything like this first one, we are in for a long, hard journey.
 
Robert Bush

What has thoroughly amazed me is Obama’s inability to let anything go.  It seems any negative remark from the press or another politican or a CNBC stockbroker has his shorts in a knot and his press secretary actually answering back.  I thought refusal to acknowledge the remark was customary on the president’s part.

(name withheld)