Thanks, Obama is an

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

both seriously and

satirically Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

used in regard to former U.S. President Barack Obama's

policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

History

The saying first appeared in 2009 using the

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''#thanksobama'' in a tweet about President Obama's policies. Three months later, it was used in a

demotivational poster A motivational poster, or inspirational poster, is a type of poster commonly designed for use in schools and offices. Intent The intent of motivational posters is to make people achieve more, or to think differently about the things that they ma ...

. Shortly after the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

gained control of the

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in the U.S. midterm election of 2010, the meme was repurposed by liberals, to satirically blame Obama for any kind of societal and economic ills. One notable example came in 2012, when a picture of a man spilling food with the "Thanks Obama" caption was popular. In December 2012, the ''/r/thanksobama'' subreddit was started. By 2015, it seemed the meme had run its course after Obama used it in a

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video. Obama himself revived it in 2016, using it to poke fun at his critics and to thank a supporter who, during a speech, yelled out at and thanked him for $2 gas. On January 19, 2017, episode of '' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'', Obama's last full day in office, Stephen Colbert's original conservative character from '' The Colbert Report'' used the phrase to express gratitude to Obama for helping the Republican Party find a message of united opposition against him and succeed electorally again, only to later plead in fear for Obama to stay in office.

References

{{Reflist 2009 neologisms Barack Obama controversies Internet memes introduced in 2009 Political Internet memes

History

See also

References