Nix column lacking in fact

Dusty Nix's "Godspeed, Mr. President, and thank you" (Jan. 15) is seriously flawed, not in its intent, but in its lack of meaningful factual support. Apparently Mr. Nix expects us to accept praise for President Obama as a good family man who is quite intelligent. OK, I concede all of that, as well as the killing of Osama bin Laden was an important tactical and morale-building move.

Mr. Nix's farewell goes quite flat thereafter. He wastes time condemning sound bites (OK, some of them are knee-jerk) from several pundits and, sadly, he slips into petulant name calling: President-elect Trump is not a buffoon or an idiot, and his supporters are not deplorable. He loses all track of his intent to praise President Obama and to wish him well.

The greatest fault in the Nix piece is that, while criticizing President-elect Trump, he fails to mention the horrible failure of the Affordable Care Act, which was ill-conceived, poorly presented, and unilaterally passed without being read or understood by many of those who voted for it. It was deplored by millions of us even before it passed, and it is imploding even as you read this letter.

Mr. Nix further neglects to mention the stubborn refusal of President Obama to follow the advice of his Chiefs of Staff in several instances in the Middle East. His allowance of blatant partisanship in the IRS scandal resulted in big shots being retired on full pension. Perhaps Mr. Nix can explain — with facts, not accusations — the VA quagmire of incompetence. Excuses ranged from "low-level rogues in Cincinnati" to "glitches no worse than at Amazon" to "that lousy Bush administration."

No doubt President Obama has been treated with undue vitriol; however, the Ledger-Enquirer should not sink to the sins that it condemns.

Familiar spin

Dusty Nix recently presented one of the most one-sided recountings of the Obama presidency imaginable.

In regurgitating all the usual things Obama critics have been accused of — racism, bigotry, etc. (we know the drill) — he ignores some very real things for which a President whose demeanor belies his actions should be held accountable.

Mr. Obama pushed through a massive economic stimulus, saying it would fund infrastructure and “shovel-ready” jobs. It turned out that only a minority of that stimulus went to infrastructure and much of it was used to reward political supporters. Ultimately the stimulus had little effect and the economy continues to suffer, with the middle class losing ground, plagued by the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s.

Next the President rammed a dubious health care law down America’s throat on a strictly partisan basis. He essentially told the opposition to get lost, else they would be accused of, well, what Mr. Nix accuses them of.

President Obama went on to suggest that law enforcement consists of closet racists, there is no such thing as radical Islamic violence, and his Iran deal is the greatest thing since sliced bread. (For better insight into those topics see “reality.”)

Nix is viewing Obama through rose-colored glasses. Anyone truly interested in how we got to this state of polarization should start by factually reviewing the actions of Mr. Obama over the past 8 years, followed by a clear-eyed assessment of the selective reporting of journalists like Mr. Nix.

Those who think the Obama presidency, or the incoming Trump administration, will be reported on objectively need only read Nix’s editorial and remember one thing: his view is just another familiar reverberation from the increasingly discredited, ideologically homogenous echo chamber that is the modern media.

Dissenting view

I am constantly amazed at the well-meaning folks who criticize Obama falsely about his record, which has been outstanding. I suppose these writers don’t study the published facts and just repeat what they have been told.

Please study the record in published facts by many of the important sources. Example: Fortune reviewed market results compared to past presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama. Obama inherited a down market, high unemployment and major losses by many, and today his record surpasses all those past presidents by a large margin. Look at employment and how low it is from when he started. Look at the jobs created each month, and the all-time low for unemployment.

Look at the millions of people who have had health care for the first time.

It is sad to me to read the messages some send to Sound Off. I would wager that our new president, soon my president, will never match the past record.

Thank you, L-E.

Police perk

May we discuss having a "Hissy Fit Free Day" in honor of police whose jobs are interrupted by those who throw a Hissy Fit, instead of allowing officers to do their job?

If you call the police, then let them do their job. Trying to do it over talking or screaming makes the situation worse!

Allow the officer to be the leader; after all he or she has had the training.

Happy Hissy Fit Free Day. (Make it every day.)

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Nix column lacking in fact."