FS, there was this old saying my mom use to say to me in Spanish:

"Ayudate, y Dios te ayudara"

Roughly translated:

"Help yourself and God will help you"

I always have hope that someday i will get myself out of my financial problems, but there is one fact I have to face, regardless of how much hope I can have to get out of my problems, there are only1 of 2 ways it can happen:

1) I get a higher paying job

2) I win the lottery

The irony is I have to get my behind up and get both or either one myself in order to fix my financial problems because hope will not get me either without some effort on my part.

Obama can inspire, but I find it hard to believe that Obama had to become President in order for some to decide to improve their lives. Obama is just a single man, he is not super human, he is not Divine, he is not a solution. He is simply another man like me, like you (man in the sense of human, not sex) and like everyone else on JU.

Our country failed, not because Bush made it so, our country failed because we, the people, made it so. No matter what you or anyone else wants to believe about Obama, change can only happen if you and everyone else changes. Obama can not make anyone change, only you can make yourself change. The power has always been with us to change and was many here have said time and again, no one can make anyone change.

If people can't tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong and they need someone like Obama to tell them, then these people do not need a leader, they need a parent.

This is the point Charles, you're saying it yourself..."we the people, made it so"  at least, some of the people, not everyone.  Now everyone else who worked hard are suffering too, not just those who failed.  Now we all fail!  As Draginol titled an article recently, about being complacent, so many of us, so many people, have become complacent because they have given up, not just women, man, child, everyone!  I know that, and we all know that Obama is not the saviour, cannot be the saviour for us all.  You and everyone else who keep repeating the same point about this, are not looking at the bigger picture here.  Not Obama as the savior, but the inspiration to get some people to wake up and face the task that they have been avoiding in their lives, not because of a hand out, because you the individual are going to get up and fix your problems yourself!  Why is it that you guys keep saying that Obama is who we who talk of hope, and the future look at for our solution.  He might not be able to do it, he won't be able to do it all, but he will try, and it is that spirit that will give some people the energy, to try.  That is all.  If you can't see this point, then I'm afraid I don't know what else to say to you about this, because no matter which way it is put, or said, you keep going back to the same thing.  Much like the good Lord inspires his people's faith, and for those who will be quick to jump on this, it is just an anology, Obama is not God or saviour, people use an object, or occasion, or sign, as that pinnacle when they jump start themselves, and in a way, keep their eye on that ball to get them moving!  You need to find one, keep saying it and doing nothing about it, won't do it, you know that. 

Beccause they have fallen for hype, nothing else.  I would over 90% of Obama supporters know nothing about his history of votes, nor do they know anything about his policies going forward.

I find it astounding at the short memories of people.  It was but 8 years ago we were told we were in a train wreck with no hope of survival.  We did.  It was 17 years ago we were told we are in a train wreck with no hope of survival.  We did.  It was 30 years ago that we were in a train wreck with no hope of survival.  We did.

So what is the common factor?  Not the president.  That was Carter, Bush, Clinton, and Bush again.  Both sides were in the "train wreck" and yet we survived.  The common factor was the hype.  And hysteria.

We will survive this one (if the government does not wreck it with socialism).  It is a bad recession.  Some would say brought on by a perfect storm of circumstances.  Yet the ingredients for that storm were created by - The Government.  Whether you want to blame Bush, or Clinton or Carter, or Pelosi, Frank or Reid, the problem started and was exacerbated by the government.

Now a smart man would say "you broke it, I am not going to let you try to fix it!" (if a plumber breaks your plumbing, do you want him to then fix it?).  But many are looking to the government to "fix" it.  Yet the fix is not going to come from the source of the problem.  The fix is going to come from the American people IN SPITE of the government.  And it will.  If obama carries through on his promises, it will be a short presidency indeed and we will get another president who knows how to fix it - leave it to the ones that know what to do!  And that aint government.

Obama may not be the plumber that broke the toilet, but he is from the same company.  And I for one am going to find another company to fix it!  That he "thinks" he can fix it after breaking it is what scares us.  As you note, we dont have time to "experiment", so we really dont have time for Obama to "take advantage of this crises" as his COS has decided they are going to do.

Pouring water on an oil fire will not put it out.  It will only make it worse.

While I agree that the sense of hope that Obama engenders is needed right now, the reality is that economic cycles exist.  Having gotten ourselves into this mess, this economic crisis would run its course and we would emerge as we have before--different, definitely, but healthy once again--even if we did little about it.  The tricky part is whether the government will make things worse through its actions.

The best thing Obama has done so far has been to remind people that we each need to act responsibly.  That extends to every part of our lives and it's something that we as a culture used to pride ourselves on.  Losing sight of that basic value helped to get us to this point.  So while I say bring on the hope, bring on the responsibility, bring on the desire to improve your life, I also say don't over-react.  As Dr Guy pointed out, we've been here before and gotten through it. 

By nominating a man for Secretary of the Treasury that can't even get his own taxes right? My definition of responsibility must be way different from the presidents.... and I'm supposed to hope?

FS, the part you seem to be missing is that hope should come from the people themselves, not from a single man. There is a big difference when it comes to looking for hope in the Divine and looking for hope in a man, and I am not talking about Obama not being Divine. I am talking about when a person seeks for hope in the Divine, they (in most cases) understand that they must take it upon themselves to get the wheel turning and hope it keeps turning, what I hear from Obama suporters is that Obama will get the wheels turning and people hope they keep turning. Where is the personal responsibility here? This argument is not about people using Obama as inspiration towards a better future for themselves, this is about people using Obama to make a better future for them.

There is nothing wrong with being inspired by someone. What's wrong is expecting that same person to do the work for you and that is what we (those who disagree with Obama and his supporters) see in an Obama Administration. We see an Administration that will not help the people make a better lives for themselves but will try to make the better life for them. This is what we refer to as a Nanny State, where people don't do the work, the Gov't does it for them.

Let's also be straight about something, Obama can not create jobs, Obama can simply approve to pay for a project (with our tax money) and it is up to the business who will do the work to hire more people so in essence it will be up to the businesses to decide if more personnel is needed to accomplish the job.

Good point! And most rational businesses will not hire three if they can make due with two. It is all about the bottom line. People will be very disappointed if they are expecting a Santa's workshop approach to job creation. A lot of the money is going to go to the people this administration despises most. Rather ironic.

We all keep going in circles with the same point.  Understanding is pretty much having someone see your point of view and agreeing with you, I guess that's how you guys see it.  This is a futile attempt at best.

I for some reason keep thinking of antique shops that have signs says "do not touch, if you break it, it,s yours" Well we the people helped break the country, now it's up to us to own it and fix it.

I hope this makes sense.