Is Obama a Chess Master?

I still think that's a very apt metaphor, and I've used it myself although I don't even play the game. But it's probably overworked, and besides it seems to enrage a few here.

But I'm beginning to regard him as Master Minimalist. He will NOT waste an ounce of "political capital", where it is not really needed. He won't do or say something merely to please his supporters, or to piss off his detractors. There is no real "benefit" to highlight the CIA coup in Chile (although that's still a hot-button issue to most of us here). Recent events there make that quite superfluous. But his specific reference to that 1953 coup in Iran in his Cairo speech, was history-making. And his recent statements regarding events in Iran, were just right. We have probably NEVER had a President who commanded such world-wide respect. And his clearly expressed disapproval/outrage there would be far more effective there, than all the absurd posturings of his predecessor.

pnorman

cause you really don't.

One can have an opinion, that ain't an issue with me....
but simply posting a statement of "NO" as an absolute statement,
is what I objected to, i.e., poster may have an opinion one way or the other,
and could have made a statement as to why they believe as they do.

In otherwords, drive-by one word negative posting says more about poster
than anything else.

And that hypocrisy is what I'm objecting to. You only got upset at the one saying "no", but the one saying "yes" seems ok with you (and there's one right in this thread. As of my typing this, you haven't said boo to that poster). The absolutes doesn't really seem to bother you as much as your protestation would indicate.

As for who I chose to respond to, there's something called posting history.
And in fact that poster posted at a DU forum telling everyone to come and see
the chess threads at GDP. In otherwords, there's a specific reason that I responded
to this particular poster......but thank you for questionning me on it.
I appreciate your interest as to who I respond to and whom I don't.

I realized months ago that they usually lead you to a dead end.

:D

and I never tire of that metaphor. I'll eat my hat if we ever see him flail about like Bush often did when things went badly.

Yes, there is something about him that I've never been able to put my finger on, and now I think that's it. He does just what's needed, and doesn't put anything unnecessary out there that could just leave him vulnerable. He doesn't put up a front that will just be attacked and exposed anyways.

Yea, who needs real healthcare or civil rights anyways?

What's wrong with that? We all have things we don't like.

I would have voted for Mccain

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He does actually think things through before he acts. I don't think he is necessarily a "master" we are just so used to having dumb-fuck Bush pulled by neocon, ultra-criminal Cheney that we are amazed to see actual brains in the presidency.

So I was wondering if "Chess Master" hadn't overstated it. Probably not, it seems.

Here's something that really impressed me last year, and still sticks in my mind. I'm not "of" the anarchist community in Seattle, but am fairly close to some who are. Right before the November election, I was conversing with one of them and had remarked: "BTW, I've become a very strong supporter of Obama! But PLEASE don't denounce me to the Anarchist Central Committee! (sic!)". His reply was: "So am I!". In January, he emailed me to ask where I planned to watch the Inauguration Ceremony! He was a committed anarchist for the 20 odd years that I've known him, and AFAIK he still is. Bur Obama seems to have the knack of getting deep into what really moves us all.

pnorman

His opponent doesn't realize what's happening until he has a rook and his queen forked by a knight. Or he's in check and is about to lose his queen and a bishop in exhange for a knight and a bishop.


And there's nothing worse in chess than your opponent moving a piece and saying "checkmate", and you didn't see it coming. "Wait, what? That's not...um... uh... shit."

:rofl:

At least we hope so. I'll say it again. It is very refreshing to have a president with a brain and I would also say that Obama is one of the brightest we have had in a while (comparisons to the stupidest in awhile not withstanding).

That gives a few people agita around here. Don't dare imply that he has any long-term strategic skills.

:rofl:

Personally, I do think there's more method to his 'madness' than some would be willing to acknowledge. I give him some credit for understanding who he's dealing with well beyond whether they have a "D" or an "R", and knowing that he can't swagger in there like some movie actor president and lay down the law and expect compliance.

Let's see if a healthcare plan with a GOOD public option is passed while he's president.

I hope so. But I really don't think so.

"those pawns were Republicans all along!"

I use my knight like a Queen---meaning my two knights dominate the board and make all the essential moves. However some chess masters depend solely on their Queen. Obama uses all his pieces and I have yet to see any pawns sacrificed...yet. But in any normal game their the first to go.

the two effectively (Queen and Knights), you will definitely get blind sided.

There is a phrase they use in boxing, when you get punched by a left hook you
don't feel the effect until 10secs later. I'm sure boxing fans would know what
I'm talking about.

But "Minimalist" is a long way from "Triangulation"! Please reread it carefully. And also read this DU Journal: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/GinaMaria It's not quite up to date, and not all items may strike you as really significant. But it's still pretty impressive so far, isn't it?

pnorman

His most stalwart supporters have been saying this all along, in fact, some of the same recently-disillusioned and some who claim that he's never mislead us.

Yes, it's all elegant and brilliant beyond belief; he's the Bobby Fischer of ultra-moderatism.

If he can't pull those out then little else matters. Though in the face of such a corrupt corporate congress, it would be quite masterful if he could make some real change in those arenas.

Climate Change = Food and Water
Healthcare = Healthcare

There is nothing more basic to the human condition.

My gay teenage daughter couldn't care less about his "political capital". She just wants to know that someday she can marry Lexi and have her marriage sanctified by not only the state of California, but every state in the nation should they choose to relocate afterward. She wasn't old enough to vote last November. Nor were her friends. She reminds me every time we discuss the matter that he's not living up to his "fierce advocate" statement. She wants to know what he's fiercely advocating in regards to marriage equality.

"He won't do or say something merely to please his supporters..." You are 100% correct in that assessment. He said what he needed to say to get elected. That proves that he's nothing more than your average everyday politician. He said what was necessary to get elected. I'm beginning to think that I was approached in a gas station parking lot and convinced the Rollex watch that I was enticed to buy was just what it is: Fake.

This morning, she and I were out fishing by ourselves on beautiful Big Bear Lake. My boat has XM radio. She, while looking for the Alt Nation channel happened to tune into CNN and heard that dozens of people were killed in Pakistan by a drone. I had to hold up my hand and stop her from asking a question I had no answer for...

Chess Master? Please. More like Every Day Politician who's more concerned with being reelected than anything else.

Obama is in the multi-dimensional range. His brilliance has no equal.

because the opponent is stupid and can't play any game well; unfortunately, our players are too afraid to play. :(

If i'm looking to defend him for doing something I don't agree with, or something that's not in line (or the exact opposite) of one of his campaign promises, I can always fall back on the "He's a chess master" defense, because it assumes that he's really trying to get something done that I support. I'll have to wait to see a few wins before I'm convinced.

was like a turtle on a fence post. You don't know how he got there, but you just know he doesn't belong there.

because something's off between the actions in Washington and his press conferences. During the press conferences it's as if he's talking to the people that elected him, saying "don't worry, I've got it covered", but the actions in Washington are more like "I can't believe those fools are going for it".

I often hope I'm wrong and this is one of those times.

Red card keeps moving but people keep betting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqWcYuIRSKc

He blocked them because he feared political fallout. There was no strategy, just fear of being criticized.

He did manage to come from behind, win the primary and win the general election. I will give him credit for pulling that off.

At the same time, I do not think it is wasting political capital to come out for gay rights or pushing harder for a real healthcare system with real reform rather than capitulating to their unpopular demands.

If he is a chessmaster (IMO) he would call for bipartisanship on healthcare just long enough for the public to see what obstructionists the GOP are, and just long enough to fire up the base to become activist. After that has been done he'd force healthcare reform via reconciliation claiming the public cannot wait any longer, and that we can't have meaningful reform w/o a public option to keep costs down. Then he gets the best of all worlds. A GOP that looks like it wants to block popular, meaningful reform; a progressive base that is organized and active and meaningful healthcare reform.

However I don't know if he'll do that.

... won't know his moves until he wants us to.

Mr. H is not a DUer, btw -- y'all would drive him over the edge, LOL. But he does play chess.

Hekate

his goals and motivations are generally the objects of dispute.