President/Administration

I had a great time watching the SOTU with old friends from the Niles Township Democratic Meetup. Leah called us all together and it was great seeing people, some of whom I hadn't seen for way too long. We all left re-inspired and energized by Obama's words.

Obama on great and proud nations:

Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize but it's the American people who deserve the credit.

After the horrors of the Bush Administration in everything from Rule of Law to Rule of Science, it was the American people who put Obama into office. This was an illustration, as if we needed it, of how strong democracies are in a sense self-correcting.

I think the Prize is as much an expression of relief as an acknowledgment of our yankee democratic process.

Progressive Change Committee Petition:

Petition text: "We worked so hard for real change. President Obama, please demand a strong public health insurance option in your speech to Congress. Letting the insurance companies win would not be change we can believe in."

Sign the petition here...

MoveOn Petition:

It's not that I disagree with anything in this editorial from the Chicago Tribune. It's just that I get the impression they knew they had to come up with something but couldn't quite find anything particularly original to say:

Working that 'Bill Ayers' angle seems to be an obsession for whoever's putting headlines together for the Chicago Sun-Times. In this one, what we have is an article from the AP about the routine activities of Obama as POTUS during Memorial Day. Ayers' only appearance is completely minor and indirect as one of 60 signers of a petition that in the article's own words is "ignored" by the White House.

Not so much a comment on Obama's First 100 Days as a comment on the accuracy of observations on First 100 Days in general...

From the column 'Report from Washington' by Walter Trohan, Chicago Tribune (4/30/1969):

The first hundred days of Richard Milhous Nixon find him standing taller in the eyes of his countrymen and looming larger on the world horizon than most observers, and even many of his admirers, had expected....

The dark ages are over...

Transcript:

THE PRESIDENT: Dan from CNN.

DAN LOTHIAN (CNN): During the campaign you were criticized by some within your own party for perhaps not being able to be tough on foreign policy matters. Now you’ve had this friendly interaction with Mr. Chavez. Are you concerned at all about how this might be perceived back in the U.S. as perhaps being soft? Already one senator is calling this friendly interaction irresponsible. And as a quick follow-up, if I may, when you got the book from Mr. Chavez, what did you really think? (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: I think it was a nice gesture to give me a book; I’m a reader. And you’re right, we had this debate throughout the campaign, and the whole notion was, is that somehow if we showed courtesy or opened up dialogue with governments that had previously been hostile to us, that that somehow would be a sign of weakness. The American people didn’t buy it. And there’s a good reason the American people didn’t buy it — because it doesn’t make sense.

[Courtesy of the Orange Satan]

Kevin Mattson on the Carter 'malaise speech':

"You might have heard that the speech was a disaster.... But in fact, the speech worked. It prompted an overwhelmingly favorable response....

Funny, that's not my memory of it. In that blazer and everything, he just seemed like a rather ineffective guy caught up in a job he couldn't handle.

Did this guy see the same press conference I saw?

There were no smiles on Tuesday night, no memorable moments, no attempt by the president to capture the sense of drama or anticipation that has surrounded prime-time news conferences by prior White House occupants.