Obama believes that words are deeds.

I see no comparison.

As long as we are comparing Truman to Obama, it should be remembered that, not unlike Obama, while coming up the political ladder, Truman had plenty of criticism because of his connections to Tom Pendergast and the Pendergast machine. Truman’s relationship with Tom Pendergast almost caused his defeat during the Missouri August 1940 senatorial primary.. Missouri Governor Lloyd Stark, his opponent, denounced Truman as “the Pendergast senator.” Because of the “Pendergast connection”, the 1940 Democratic primary was the tightest election in Truman’s political career. He won by less than eight thousand votes. Not unlike Obama, Truman allegedly won the election by appealing directly to the people.

When he left office, Truman’s job approval rating of 22 percent in the Gallup Poll was lower than Richard Nixon’s at 24 percent, the month that Nixon resigned. However, since leaving office, Truman’s ratings have vastly improved in public polls. He was ranked seventh among presidents in a Wall Street Journal poll in 2005.

Truman died while the nation was besieged with crises in Vietnam and Watergate. But in recent years Truman has become something of a folk hero, exemplifying the integrity and accountability that were absent in the Nixon White House.

In the years ahead, Obama will have to deal with domestic and international crises of enormous proportions. I agree with Johnny B and Rich that we need to give the man a chance. I think his current cabinet choices indicate that he plans to do much of what he promised in his campaign. It will take a lot of reaching across the aisle to accomplish anything substantial. By including Republicans as well as Democrats of considerable distinction in his cabinet, I think it is possible he may turn out to be much more than the bag of wind some people here have suggested he is. Time will tell, but let’s not predict failure and insure a self fulfilling prophecy.

Thank you for your cartoon. Harry Truman is my favorite president of all time. He identified with the average American. Your cartoon caused a lot of people to think about what he stood for and how honorable he was.

When the media, (and others) were trashing Sarah Palin, calling her an unsophisticated hick among other things, it brought to mind that the same things were said about Harry Truman when he was chosen to be vp by Franklin Roosevelt. They said he would never be able to do the job if anything happened to Roosevelt. About two months after he was sworn in, Roosevelt died and Harry Truman took over the reins and became one of the best presidents this coountry has ever known, or probably ever will know. The small town haberdasher and farmer was a WWI Veteran and he never forgot his roots.

However, if things had gone the way the Neo-Cons had hoped, there would be American Troops on the ground in Iran today. I’m for containment of rogue states, but not hegemony. I think an easy victory in Iraq would have gone to their heads, leading them to believe the US could just knock down all the Middle East states that didn’t dance to our tune. So I’m kind of glad it wasn’t so easy.

A President cannot always be popular.

We’ll see if Obama can forego his desire to be a beloved figure long enough to do what it takes (ask Americans to make sacrifices) to fix the economy.

Always be sincere, even if you don’t mean it.

I think Obama has nailed this one.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

Of course, he could also hire a person who knows how to run the government and then hire her supporters.

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

This, of course, is the opposite of compromising with Republicans — the course chosen by Obama. Far from giving them hell, Obama is telling them what they want to hear.

Whenever a fellow tells me he’s bipartisan, I know he’s going to vote against me.

Gee, that’s how I felt the whole election campaign whenever Obama talked about a bipartisan spirit.

If you can’t convince them, confuse them.

Here is another one he has nailed.

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Alternatively, you could put a woman in the kitchen who can stand the heat and is able to pick up the phone at 3 am and know what to do.

Intense feeling too often obscures the truth.

Also known as the Obama campaign strategy.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Ut Oh! This could be a tough one for the junior Senator from IL and now the President elect.

The buck stops here!

We’ll see.

Hell no — he needs training wheels.

I see “him” as any other penis who has occupied the white house — more of the same — only worse — 0-zero has NO — NONE — background to even have any concept of what an executive is expected to do.

As far as I know the book — Presidenting for dummies has not yet been written. Perhaps that will be his 3rd Narcissistic book for the next inadequate penis who cheats, steals and lies his way into the white house.

You know as well as I do if Gore had been in office and this had happened on a Democrat’s watch. he would have been excoriated. And certainly not re-elected.

The outgoing Clinton administration also gave intelligence briefings and warnings and the Bush people did not want to listen because they had no respect for the Clinton Admin. That is irresponsible.

While I am an independent now and certainly do not drink anyone’s koolaid anymore, the fact as Bushwas on vacation so much that first year — how could he do that? Irresponsible, too.