Wasn't that one of Draugnar's catchphrases?

"There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

There are also facts.

Blow him? That doesn't sound like a very conservative thing for a man to do.

"the fact remains, in almost every measurable way, the American people are profoundly better off today than they were before President Obama took office."

He did take over in the middle of a deep recession caused by the international banking crisis, how many individuals have been brought to justice for the illegal business practices that almost crippled the world economy, how long do you need to close Gitmo?
One thing did need to do was to close the gap between the rich and poor with a fairer more progressive tax system, this he has failed to do so the rich get ever richer.
Is that what success looks like to you?

Not to mention, he perfected a method to systematically kill any person, of any nationality (including American) anywhere on earth, with a minimum of actual flesh-and-blood humans involved, and without pesky trials.

For non-Americans, it's so hard to read any of these so clearly partisan articles. US society has become incredibly polarised, rendering almost every piece of US journalism pretty useless. Presidents are usually judged not by peers in their age, but by history.

Let's all thank the Republicans in both houses for these tremendous achievements brought about despite the Obama administration. :)

I agree, minister, the article is very polarized. I do, however, find some of the facts reported really quite telling. Many of them are things that the republicans are supposed to be doing (low unemployment, reduced spending and deficit), but seem to muck up whenever they get into office.

"I do, however, find some of the facts reported really quite telling."

The problem is that few of these are "facts". If you knew how the government computed the unemployment statistic, for instance, I doubt you would call it a realistic measurement of anything. Real wages are down about 6% over the last 5 years, labor participation rates are the lowest they've been in 30 years (including, most tellingly, among those in the 25-35 age bracket), and the former chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics publicly says that the BLS numbers this piece (and Forbes) relied on for their claims are pure bullshit. I don't blame Obama (although he certainly hasn't been helping), but the economy is still in the toilet and not getting much better.

And: trust.

Some of those numbers also got me thinking that Obama is getting more things right than the media portrayal seems to capture. But I'm also acutely aware that this was *exatly the intention* of the article. It wasnt trying to bring me facts, it was trying to convince me that Obama is actually doing a good job.

Reporting numbers is never a context-free thing. That's why we have things like politifact who need to check and double check. Not only for facts, but also to check whether it is fair to portray numbers in a certain way. And that's where a polarised article like that makes me wonder. I like reading the facts, but the sheer agitprop tone made me tune out quite fast.

"Real wages are down about 6% over the last 5 years"

Where did you hear that? I'm not doubting, I'd just like to see it. Also, how does the goverment report unemployment? I definitely doubt that this kind of drop is completely meaningless.

I do agree with MoW though, the article is obviously geared for a purpose.