While I could only stay for the first hour or so of the 3 hour "protest", I can report the following: First of all, I take bad pictures, made even worse by the fact that I used a cell phone camera which was set to black/white (which actually seems to be blue/white). I'll pepper the most legible photos here. [UPDATE: … Read More
Over The Weekend
(1) I guess the big news was that the U.S. Navy rescued that skipper from the pirates. Skipper? Pirates? This sounds like a bad episode of "Gilligan's Island". But no, it happened. Obviously, it is a good thing since (1) Obama's first serious military rescue operation was a success [guess those concerns about the 3 am call were unfounded]; (2) … Read More
How Are We Doing?
Poll after poll after poll after poll, we see the same thing. This time, it's CBS/NY Times (MoE +/- 3): Obama's job approval is 66% and By contrast, Republican fortunes have dropped in the first weeks of the Obama presidency; just 31 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest in the 25 … Read More
Diplomacy In Action
For those who ever doubted that effective diplomacy cannot lead to results, and that our new president is a skilled diplomat, read this: According to sources inside the room, President Obama just played peacemaker in a spat between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China. In the finaly plenary session among the G-20 … Read More
Obama on Leno
Driving into work today, I was listening to the BBC. The topic of discussion was Obama's appearance last night on Leno. One commentator was opining that it was beneath the dignity of the presidency for the American president to appear on a "chat show". Jeez. The Brits can be such snoots sometimes. I think it was wise of Obama to … Read More
Removing Three Bush-Era Policies In One Day
(1) Stem Cell Research — Executive Order of March 9, 2009: Sec. 1: . . . For the past 8 years, the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to fund and conduct human embryonic stem cell research has been limited by Presidential actions. The purpose of this order is to remove … Read More
No, The Taxpayers Didn’t Foot The Bill For This
Malia and Sasha's new swingset on the south grounds of the White House outside of the Oval Office:
Obama Won The Night
A CBS News poll of approximately 500 people saw approval of the president rise from 62 percent before the speech to 69 percent afterward. Meanwhile, a poll on CNN showed that 68 percent of respondents — who skewed a bit Democratic — viewed the speech positively, 24 somewhat positively, and only eight percent not positively. Eighty-two percent supported the president's economic plan … Read More
What Was *That*?
I just saw something I've never seen before in my quarter-decade of following politics. I was flipping around the dial, and came to CNN. Wolf said that they were going to cut live to the White House where Obama was about to speak at a "fiscal responsibility summit". Yawn, right? It's hard to describe what I saw. It looked like Obama … Read More
Not Saying He’s *Better*
Obama beats out Jesus in poll asking for biggest hero: Americans named President Obama as their No. 1 hero, followed by Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King, in a new Harris poll. Others in the top 10, in descending order, were Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger and Mother Teresa. Can't believe … Read More
Gregg Suddenly Realizes Obama Is A Democrat, Withdraws Nomination
Judd Gregg, February 3rd: "This is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other. This is a time to govern and govern well. It was my obligation to say yes." Judd Gregg, today: "(I)t has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on … Read More
Tempting Fate
Given the fact that Obama is our first black president, and that this country has its fair share of gun-toting wingnuts who hate him, it's one thing to pay a visit to Ford's Theater (site of the Lincoln assassination). But does he have to go and mention "MacBeth" while in the theater?
Obama Throws An Elbow
Sure, Obama is willing to talk with, and listen to, members of the GOP — and solicit their views. But it's nice to know that he's no pushover: President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning – but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I … Read More
Another Good Beginning
Obama reversed the gag rule: THIS WEEK marks the 20th anniversary of a profound and misguided change in US foreign policy: the Reagan administration's "global gag rule," which was first announced at an international family planning conference in Mexico City in August 1984. The "Mexico City" policy prohibits US dollars and contraceptive supplies from going to any international family planning … Read More
The “West Wing” Opening Sequence Reworked
Emily will dig this… Sadly, I don't know who a lot of these people are (yet)….