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> virtually all of Trump's official acts have been things that Obama did not do

examples?



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>Obama didn't accomplishing this much in his 8 years, as Trump has in 2 weeks

Err, no.

He has put out some Executive Orders, and done some hiring and firing. Even that has been enough to massively damage his Administration, such is the level of decision-making that we've seen so far.


Obama didn't do it noticeably, Trump often, hence you hear about it.

I think a direct comparison between Obama and Trump is a bit dishonest. Obama did some bad things, sure, but Trump's behaviour is unprecedented.

Obama did both those things that you mentioned, routinely. I don't think they're good examples.


What was mostly on GWB's watch?

The parent doesn't imply that Obama was president when events in the article took place.

Also; Trump 2016. Make America Great Again.


> egregious abuses directed at the press under Obama

I'm curious, because I haven't heard of these before. Examples?


Obama signed a fair number of executive orders (277) and was not really checked either. Trump was certainly on track to significantly outpace that count, he was simply continuing a trend of overusing executive orders to achieve what really should have been legislation. This abuse of power is completely bi-partisan.

Of course, I could now say something to the effect of democrats having selective memory when it comes to talking about sort of thing... but that wouldn't useful, fully correct, or factual and these sorts of statements are much more self service than revealing outrageous truths.


Absolutely not. Trump is the only one who did it. Your comment is completely wrong. Acting as if Obama “also” did something wrong here is utterly disingenuous in an intellectually bankrupt way - it is not comparable to Trump’s behavior and any attempt to argue it is comparable is, at this point, literally the same as legitimizing fascism.

nit: The previous president could certainly have done this, but chose not to. obscures the reality that the opposition party - and its grassroots supporters was ruthless in opposing all that Obama did, often for no apparent reason. For instance, the SCOTUS nominee. It was poor behavior, giving us "legislative debt", as it fostered executive action over legislative action.

Something that was not done when Obama handed to Trump.

Did you even read the article? The WSJ one agrees with the BBC one!


This is the worst kind of whataboutism.

Yes, Obama and Bush and Clinton did things we didn’t like. That doesn’t mean they are even remotely comparable to Trump and his administration.


If Obama was still president, he might have had done just that.

Trump is too pettiless for that.


This is classic Whataboutism[1]. The startup community has been criticizing Obama on many of these issues for the past eight years as well.

That Obama engaged in such activity doesn't suddenly mean that Trump's administration is justified, nor does it mean that things won't get much worse with Trump.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism


He continued the war, he didn't pull out as promised.

Got involved in Syria.

He kept Guantanamo open.

He upped the number of drone strikes. Knowingly killed a 16 year old US citizen who was not an enemy combatant or in a country like Iraq or Afghanistan.

He extended the Patriot Act.

All things he criticized Bush for.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/14/13577464/...


In both comments, you spoke only of "Trump praising an action made by Obama." It was not a comment specifically about this issue. I think that's fine. I don't have a problem with you failing to cite everybody who has ever done anything on this issue. It's just the irony of your comments.

Some examples:

-Obama said, on multiple occassions, that Assad using chemical weapons would be a "red line". Assad crossed it. Obama did not strike Assad.

-Syrians asked repeatedly for a no-fly zone like that imposed against Gaddafi, to prevent Assad from pulverizing residential neighborhoods. Obama refused.

-Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey wanted to send serious weapons to those struggling against Assad. Obama essentially vetoed any such steps.


Just because it happened under Obama's leadership doesn't mean Trump can do it too.

First you say there is (I suppose you mean in absolute terms) no moral equivalence, but now you admit that Obama did the things I mention, but claim Trump will be worse.

That is a moving of the goalposts.

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