Why bother?

If you're wrong, your comment will seem too negative and cynical (which it is).

If you're right, well, that'd be disappointing, right?

Comments like yours make me want to rename this site Hater News.

Don't get me wrong, it's a bold and somewhat brave move by the Obama team to do this- there are myriad ways it can blow up in their faces (Rampart, anyone?). But as a consequence of that, they're going to be playing it very safe, I'm sure.

If understanding how the world works and telling others makes you a hater, then sign me up.

Essentially before and during when the war crimes (or whatever) are being committed, everyone hates the truth-tellers because they think they are wrong and they are challenging their worldview or whatever. And then afterwards, everyone hates the truth-tellers because they remind them that they were wrong. That's why you will never read an article about prominent Republicans coming forward and apologizing to Michael Moore or whatever.

[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obam...

  1. Space Race
  2. Internet Freedom
  3. Favorite Basketball Player
  4. Small-Business tax breaks
  5. First Activity on Nov 7
  6. Most Difficult Decision
  7. Money in Politics
  8. White House Beer Recipe
  9. Jobs
  10. Work/Life Balance

Also, he brought up Afghanistan on his own in response to the 'hardest decision' question. That's not exactly a fluff answer.

Questions about the state of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Iran, Egypt, et al would have been more interesting. Characterizing sending more troops as a hard decision is not too surprising.

That said, he did come about as close as he could to acknowledging the surge in Afghanistan didn't accomplish much. And he called for a constitutional amendment on Citizen's United, which he apparently hadn't done in public before (according to news outlets trumpeting it).

I also have things to do and manage to fit in at least a couple of hours a day on reddit

Or is it just some assistant yelling from the other room "should I rephrase our standard answer on campaign reform" and his answer is "yes".

edit: link Verification photo: http://i.imgur.com/oz0a7.jpg

I don't see how anyone could truthfully expect that.

I still hope that something interesting will come out of it, but 99% of the people who do AMAs just answer the questions that they want to.

People can be so cynical and unappreciative. It's easy to get caught up in the now and take the little things for granted.

President Obama's predecessor didn't use EMAIL!!!!

Now Obama is taking questions on Reddit.

It's all about perspective. His use of technology is completely different than yours. There are so many ramifications for everything he says and does. You can't imagine living in a world like that - very few can, because very few will.

So just take a deep breath and enjoy the entertainment.

This is just a cool way to suck the air out of the RNC convention news cycle.

Stroke of (political) genius, if you asked me.

If he was right, it just shows that he understands how these things work.

If he was wrong, he would be pleasantly surprised that the expected lack of substance was averted.

One can hold a pessimistic opinion and be realistic at the same time.

It will then be followed by a scurry of liberals saying the Republicans did it just to discredit Obama.

Give me a break. This comment was one step away from "fucking stoners". It's insulting and inappropriate regardless.

This is a typical HN troll post on reddit anyway. If you think the "jailbait" scandal defined reddit at any point, you obviously don't know what the hell you're talking about.

No it wasn't, in any way, shape or form. I support legalisation, I'm just tired of it being treated like it's the most important thing you could possibly ask the President about.

If you think the "jailbait" scandal defined reddit at any point

Defined for who? It was on national television. I assure you that a lot of non-tech savvy people will have had their first exposure to Reddit as a result of that report.

If you're too jaded to care about millions of Americans dying for no reason, the destruction of the black community, the spread of AIDS and hepatitis, and our crumbling infrastructure, all direct consequences of prohibition, then that says a lot more about you than it does about those who would challenge Obama on the issue.

The reason people treat it like the most important issue facing society is because basically it is.