"Quit Listening to Rush!" shrieks BHO."I won, I will trump you on that!"

[Julie R.]

What is this lightweight going to do when things get really tough? We are the laughingstock of the world to elect such a man to run our country. He's never run a city, he's never run a state, hell he's never even run a lemonade stand, and he is already shrilly reminding people that don't agree with him "I won, I won!"

I sincerely hoped things would improve on the new president's watch, he did win the election and does deserve a chance however his childish rants and tantrums only a few days into his administration don't inspire much confidence.

[WindyCreek]

The first few days have been "Ameratuer Hour" in so many ways and this is when it is easy. Wait until it gets hard.

[YardleyLabs]

"Poll shows high approval for Obama Posted: 04:14 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) — More than two-thirds of Americans appear to approve of President Obama’s job performance during his initial days in the White House — an approval rating that significantly exceeds the early poll numbers of his two immediate predecessors.
The new survey by Gallup — the first conducted entirely after Obama took the oath of office Tuesday — found 68 percent of Americans approve of how the new president is handling the job.
Meanwhile, only 12 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s job performance so far.
It’s not unusual for new presidents to enter the White House with a high approval rating, but Obama’s is markedly higher than the initial approval numbers for both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush."

When Bush took office he launched an aggressive campaign to deliver on his campaign promise for tax cuts, shutting out any democratic participation in the formulation of the plan and effectively challenging Dems to oppose the plan so that this could be used in future campaigns. In 2004, when he actually managed to win the support of a majority of the electorate, he commented that he had political capital to spend and he intended to use it.

By contrast, Obama has reached out to Republicans in an unusual effort to obtain bi-partisan support despite the fact that he has the votes in Congress to get his way on most issues. In the course of the meeting one congressman complained that Obama's proposals focused too much on benefits for lower income families and contraceptives (not sure how that got into the discussion). Obama, who had campaigned on just that type of proposal pointed out that the election was over and he had won.

Following the meeting, Congressional Republicans were generally reported to have welcomed the effort to involve them in the development of the program and Mitch McConnell indicated that he believed a stimulus plan could be finalized by mid-February as requested by Obama even though there would continue to be areas of disagreement about the size and structure of the program.

"Republican leaders said they are pleased by the tone of the meeting and the willingness of Obama and the Democrats to listen to their ideas.

"I do think we'll be able to meet the president's deadline," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said after the meeting." (Bloomberg News)

Most papers reported this as the story. However, the News Corp/Fox outlets focused on a story about the president mocking the Republicans and gloating over his victory. Media bias anyone?

As to being the "laughingstock of the world", we have been that ever since GWB rose to the Presidency. I suspect that the world will continue to worry about us as long as our economy is in the tank and our foreign policies continue to threaten their existence. Obama is viewed as an improvement simply because he's not George. However, that sheen will wear off quickly unless accompanied by some concrete changes.

[Bob Gutermuth]

I will continue to spend time listening to Rush and Bill and Sean, hoping to learn enough to be able to help vote america out of the morass that the nattering nabobs of negativity have lead and are leading us into without a map or battle plan RESIT!

[Illinois Bob]

Only 1456 days left.

[subroc]

I thought he was going to do some big things.

[YardleyLabs]

I thought he was going to do some big things.

Five days in office and we're still in a recession and still fighting in Iraq. Just goes to show what happens when you elect an amateur as President. Not only that, I still have my guns.

[Pete]

Its only been less than a week and he has spent close to 200million partying

Pete

[BlackDog1337]

i miss bush lol He made me feel like i had a chance at being president some day lol.

[YardleyLabs]

Its only been less than a week and he has spent close to 200million partying

Pete

Yep. Spent about the same amount as Bush did in 2005 and managed to entertain five times the number of people. Finally, a President who understands the economies of scale.