The Legacy of Barack Obama

As 8 years of the Obama Presidency comes to close, I look at his legacy, and what he leaves for Trump & the world at the large.

What is Obama's legacy?  When he became President 8 years ago,  he was elected on the idea of "Hope". How has this transformed in his Presidency?  And what is the legacy he leaves behind? 

Is it Obamacare, the first National healthcare plan in the US? Is it the Legalization and support for Same-Sex marriage?

or is it the continued fracture of American Politics, ending in the election of Trump? or Syria & Ukraine going to hell?

Inevitably,  both 'good' and 'bad' are part of his legacy. Obama's presidency rapidly transformed American society into a progressive one, yet with inevitable faults. While many gasped for a Post-Racial America, that dream is all but dead now. Not only has continued instances of Black Unarmed civilians being shot by Police officers bought into the forefront the implicit racism of law enforcement officers, but the response to the 'Black Lives Matter' Protesters, 'Blue Lives matter' shows the disconnect between the two major parties.

Race and racial issues- which by the 90s were no longer a source of conflict, have now become an issue again. The cultural wars, of course, are over, and the left has unequivocally triumphed. In my opinion, this is the most monumental achievement of the Obama Presidency: Marriage Equality & repeal of Don't Ask & Don't Tell. It would be most probably what his presidency would be remembered for in America. Other than being the first African American President.

In the international arena, Obama's strategic failure in the middle east cannot be discounted. and don't forget Russia. Obama's administration failed to counter Russia in Ukraine, and the humanitarian crisis in Syria. On the other hand, Positives include the Paris climate deal, but is on the way to being  gutted(maybe).  

Don't forget the drones. Some even argue this was his worst legacy. Relations with India, of course, improved, but it would have anyways; India enjoys huge bipartisan support.

What about Obamacare, you may ask? Is that not his greatest legacy? It could have been: Obama achieved what Clinton and Democratic Presidents could not before: a National healthcare plan. But it is needlessly complicated, as a result of Obama trying  to find a consensus  with the Republicans.   And its well on the way to being repealed.

Obama failed the  Democrats domestically, and there is no doubt about that. His failure to help his party in domestic elections has led the democrats to a minority in State Governorships, Legislatures, and didn't get a democratic house since  2008-10.  Obama might have led the economy out of the 2008 recession, but the economic fracture led, in some ways, for the Trump Vote.

Is he the most successful Democrat since FDR?. the most consequential Democrat, yes. His success is debatable. One most however not forget that he was a dignified man, a humane person, who strived to do right by him.

Obama leaves a fractured world order, a hyperpartisian domestic arena, and a weak democratic party, which will be unable to preserve his legacy, or take a meanigful stand in the House.

Extra Reading

Politico:Re-Alignment of American Politics

NY Times: On race, silence is Bipartisian

The Atlantic: Racism by any other name

Brookings institution: America's Race relations

Foreign Policy: Barack Obama's Foreign policy failure

Questioning the Legitimacy of Elections

Originally article written in Telegram.

Trump won the US Presidential Election, upsetting more than a few (including the author)

There has been a lot of hullabaloo and panic in the Mainstream American Media about the Russian interference in the American Elections to help Donald Trump. The nature of this Russian interference is at the moment theorised to be like this : Hacker groups connected to Russian Government apparently targeted the US state department and US White House by a sending pools of Phising Emails. They were able to breach The DNC servers as well as John Podesta's account.The information thus acquired was then handed over to WikiLeaks, whose head, Julian Assange had a lot of reason to hate Hillary Clinton. The information then released had a detrimental effect on a Particular Clinton's chances of being President.

The Democratic National Committee was compromised almost completely by the email leak: members of the DNC sent emails to each other deriding Bernie Sanders Campaign (Bernie was Hillary's Primary Democratic competitor). Which darkened Hillary in the eyes of many Younger Idealistic Liberals, who had supported Bernie Enthusiastically.

A Server (allegedly) hacked by Russia next to a cabinet broken into during the Watergate Scandal in the DNC office; The nature of the two happenings were intrinsically different. 

It is impossible to know how all these controversies and relocations affected the outcome of the US Presidential elections. Yet, the Mainstream American Media Establishments are fawning over this supposed interference for Trump by Russia.
Rival Nations will of course try to influence each others elections and politics in a way favorable to them. Trump and Putin hit it off; Putin was likely swayed to support Trump cause his opponent winning would have severely impacted the vanning Russian Economy, already crippled by sanctions.
Trump, in his initial urge to appear as a serious candidate, claimed to know Vladimir Putin "because they were featured in the same 60 minutes Episode". He might have walked down that claim later, but he appeared warmer option to Russia Than Hillary Clinton, who would have in all probability continued America's policy to Russia.
The allegations that Russia was behind the DNC and Podesta hacks came in October, and it did become a news story that was the centerpiece for some time.
But it was only after the election that reports came out, leaked from the CIA, very less, that Russia attempted to influence the elections.
The situation being very ironic - CIA complaining about a Right Wing President installed by a foreign power (apparently) is one thing.
The fact of the matter however is that those questioning the legitimacy of elections are wrong. Well they're blurring the definition between influencing the election and delegitimising the election.
What Russia is believed to have done is influence the election, not 'hack' the elections. The election is undoubtedly legitimate: there is absolutely no proof that the votes tallied have been manipulated in any manner.
Is Trump's election a cause of worry for traditional American foreign policymakers? Surely. But he has not been installed by an outside foreign power, he was elected by the American Citizen, and by the American system. Blaming Russia for your loss is not ingenious from the part of Democrats.
Let's see what the future holds.