2010 US State Of The Union Preview
| Tonight |
| Art will be a featured guest at the Des Moines Register's web site tonight during the President's speech in an online chat. You can join us at this link starting at 7:45 PM. |
Haiti Vs New Orleans
From the Palm 700P….
Hey Glenn:
London Times: Haiti earthquake: a few more rescues, but aid still slow.“Nobody can go anywhere without security in the city. No aid workers can go anywhere without taking risks with security. That adds to the difficulty of delivering the aid because you not only have to have transport – which is rare – you also have to have some sort of security with you, or you are taking a risk. People are getting angry, people are getting hungry and thirsty.†This is sounding kind of familiar.
As I mentioned before, disaster relief isn’t like ordering a pizza. It’s hard to get aid into a place where the infrastructure has been wrecked and ordinary social order broken down. I’m seeing some people start to go after Obama on this in an obvious echo of the Katrina-based criticism of Bush. I understand the appeal of payback, but I don’t see any evidence that Obama has blown it here; this stuff is just hard. Of course, the press won’t go after him the way they went after Bush, but that’s a given.
Thing is, that’s exactly the point. I said to David in [...]
A Letter to Our New President
Dear President Obama:
Congratulations on your historic ascendancy to the office of the President of the United States. You are now the leader of the free world. My hope is that you understand the gravity of this office and that you are serious in reaching out to all Americans, myself included.
I have to be honest. I didn't vote for you. Some of your campaign rhetoric seemed designed to do nothing more than to win the election, even though you and I both know that there was no way you could adhere to the promises you made. But many of my fellow Americans were unable or unwilling to think critically, so now you're my President.
I apologize that I was unable to watch your inauguration ceremony yesterday. Unfortunately, many of us had to work to pay the taxes to support the United States Treasury and the government that you are now responsible for. I guess that my efforts allowed others to take the day off and actually go to Washington and bask in your afterglow yesterday. Be that as it may, here are a few things you can do for me and my family in the next four years.
First, please don't raise my taxes. My wife and I already [...]
Two Historic Days
Today we celebrate the birth of one of the icons of our nation: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I shared some thoughts last year, which remain as they are, but I never imagined at that time the course that history would take between these two celebrations of his birth.
There are days that I still find myself seeing even more deeply just how depraved we have been as a nation. I've been studying our history this past year, and find that in the midst of a hundred other events in the course of time we have been surrounded by our constant failure to give all people the respect and opportunity they deserve. Although I would contend that we have done what should be done by government to bring dignity and equality to the masses, I know that many would be quick to disagree. It would be interesting to hear the opinions of those like Condoleezza Rice, Barack Obama, Clarence Thomas, all of whom have lived through the years of dramatic change in out society and have been in roles where they can see many of the aspects of the society's changes in judicial, legislative and education worlds.
I consider myself, as well as the whole nation, indebted to Dr. King for his sacrifice in carrying the message of our social failure and need for transformation to the leaders and people of our country. It still makes me sad to think he died so young (he was only 39), but he had already successfully lit the fire of reform in the hearts of many people, both black and white.
It surprises me that racism is still such an unfettered evil in our society. It pains me to think that people can still look down on others for any reason. But we have frail feelings, frail hearts, frail souls... we are difficult to mend.
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Tomorrow the 44th President of the United States will be inaugurated. The first African-American to be President. I don't agree with Mr. Obama on some key policy areas, and that is not likely to change. But I do hope that he is successful in his role as President. For the [...]
60-Minutes Sets A Record…
... for the most boring interview in history. Last night felt more like 3600 seconds. For those of you that missed it (lucky you), it was the big "first interview of the 44th President Elect of the United Stated". Steve Kroft, one-on-one with Obama for half the show, Michelle included in the second half (with a little time for Rooney).
Softball questions by Kroft... oh, wait a minute, he did press Obama mightily to reveal yet unannounced cabinet position appointments. Darn, Barack refused to slip up on that!
Why oh why do we care about Obama's position on college football playoffs?
Very little of what was discussed from a policy standpoint was any different than what we've heard on the campaign OR Obama just didn't provide a real answer. Auto industry? Let's see what happens. Gitmo? Shut it down... and as a commenter at James Hibberd's The Live Feed said, no follow-up from Kroft on an obvious question: what to do with the prisoners?
Economy: do [...]
The President Is Not A King
When James Madison and friends put together the Constitution, one of the key things they endeavoured to do was ensure that the Chief Administrator (President) did not have the power of a king. After all, we had just fought our tails off for the right to not have to be subjugated by King George, and as such provide sovereignty to the people and not the President.
I say this in preparation for something that Valerie Jarrett, co-chair of Obama's transition team, said on Meet The Press yesterday:
"Given the daunting challenges that we face, it is important that President-elect Obama's prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one."DavidL at BitsBlog takes this at face value, which is not in the least unfair. He characterizes this [...]
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