Obama Has Some Serious Problems

[roycastro]

Adam Zyglis, Buffalo, NY, The Buffalo News 11/09/08

In this cartoon, we see Barack Obama holding a hammer that says "hope" on it. We also see "Uncle Sam," who represents the U.S., being restrained by prison balls. Uncle Sam's right leg was chained to a ball that says "racial barriers" before Obama broke the chain with his "hammer of hope," whereas his left leg is chained to three different prison balls that say, "recession, Iraq, and deficits." Uncle Sam turns to Obama and says, "You may need a bigger hammer for these." This cartoon is obviously aimed towards the problems that Obama now has to look forward to resolving as president elect of the United States.

We know that Obama, as it is evident in this cartoon, has broken racial barriers by being elected the next president of the U.S. (the first African American to be elected president). Through campaigning, all presidential candidates aim to be elected; it was no different for Obama except for the fact that he needed to carry hope on his side. The hope that maybe people would get past the fact that his race is different and realize that he would make a good president. Not only did he win the election, but he broke the racial barriers with this "hope" that people needed to realize what was aforementioned. Although one obstacle was already overcome, Obama still has to look forward to dealing with problems such as the ones that Uncle Sam is restrained by. As Uncle Sam implies, it's going to take more than hope to resolve the problems with the recession, Iraq, and the deficits. The president will, of course, need to rely on more than hope to solve these problems. He will need to rely on his skills and leadership to resolve them; after all, those are some of the qualities that got him elected. Although the problems are "large weights" to the progress of America, many will argue that Obama will have no problem taking care of them properly.

[brittanyk88]

Nice response Roy! I definitely think that Obama will try and change most of the damage the Bush Administration has caused and although it may be difficult, he will definitely try and fix the problems as best as he can. He has already "broken" the chain of the racial barrier, but the question is, will he break the recession, deficits, and the Iraq "ball and chains" that we carry on our shoulders?

[joshuak]

I agree, Obama is going to have a tough time with the big problems of today. I like how the racism ball is the smallest even though it's still a problem, but there are bigger problems. As I said in a reply to somebody's cartoon last week, anybody with half a brain can do better than Bush but it will take more than one term to get the U.S. out of this mess. The debt is too large, Iraq is a bigger problem than ever, and believe it or not, the U.S. is in a recession. The real question is, can Obama keep us out of a depression. Starting in January the people will see whether the man they elected is less of a liar than the rest of the politicians.

[sarahe57]

I completely agree with your response to this cartoon. It is true that president elect, Barack Obama, has broken the "racial" barriers that are being faced here in the United States, but we do have other problems to solve. Obama might have a difficult time trying to fix all the other problems that we are facing. Some of these issues include "recession, Iraq, and deficits," but with all the great qualities he showed during the election, it seems as if with time, he will make things better for the people of the USA. Great response by the way!

[ruthlanden92]

Barack Obama broke the racial barriers in his way. He overcame the racism and prejudice views of others, and became president-elect. But now Obama has even bigger problems to deal with as president. He has to deal with the war in Iraq, the recession, and deficits the nation is facing today. Obama has a copious of pressure put on him. He has to live up to his saying of "Yes, We Can". Now people are actually waiting to see what he can do and what he can accomplish for this country. Obama was the change many believed in and everyone is hoping that he doesn't let us down and try to live up to his promises. In the cartoon, the racial barriers is the smallest. This country has bigger problems than to worry about a person skin color. It's time to face the serious issues that can take a negative affect on our country and also a negative affect on us.

[Mr. Wells]

Good discussion, everyone. Josh really got to the crux of the matter: Obama (or whoever had won the election) will not be able to "fix" everything as soon as he is elected, or in the first year of his presidency, or perhaps even in one term. It took years for these problems to develop, so we shouldn't expect it to take months to fix.

[Mr. Wells]

Great work, Roy.

50/50