Nov 20 2008 - Investor's Business Daily
by DAVID IGNATIUS
He has been running toward it for years, maybe his whole adult life, and suddenly he has arrived. And what he discovers is that inside his new cocoon of Secret Service protection, the presidency of the United States is a very lonely job.
That's what Barack Obama confided in a revealing interview last Sunday with CBS' "60 Minutes." Steve Kroft asked him if he had received any good advice from former presidents, and his answer was poignant.
"You know, they were all incredibly gracious," Obama said. "But I think all of them recognized that there's a certain loneliness to the job. That, you know, you'll get advice, and you'll get counsel. Ultimately, you're the person who's going to be making decisions. And I think that even now, you know, I — you can already feel that fact."
Editor's Comments:
Oh, the nation is depending on Michelle. God help us. bbm
Jan 05 2009 - Town Hall
by Star Parker
Last August I wrote a column critical of Rick Warren's decision to host a presidential candidate forum at his Saddleback Church.
My reasoning then was that America's crisis is moral ambiguity. I argued that Pastor Warren would only contribute to this ambiguity by hosting candidates with opposing views on issues such as abortion and homosexuality and presenting himself as a neutral moderator.
Only Barack Obama would gain, I felt, being showcased as an acceptable candidate by one of the nation's best known evangelical pastors. If John McCain had wanted to clarify his social conservative credentials, he didn't need to go to Rick Warren's church with Barack Obama to do it.
Jan 05 2009 - Seattle PI
WASHINGTON –– President–elect Barack Obama plans to include about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses in his economic recovery program as he seeks to win over congressional skeptics worried that he was too focused on government spending, advisers said Sunday.
Jan 04 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle
Chicago (AP) ––President–elect Barack Obama urged congressional leaders Saturday to move quickly on an economic recovery plan, even as some Republicans are saying they want more time to review the details.
Jan 04 2009 - Town Hall
by David R. Stokes
With apologies to Dion and his now 40–year–old song – Abraham, Martin, and John – I see the ghosts of three past presidents standing slightly off stage as the nation watches the approach of inauguration day.
The ancient Israelites tended to name–drop a patriarchal hat trick when they wanted their rhetoric to stick. Crying out about, “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” was enough to speak with authority. For a politician these days, especially the highly successful one who will have to settle on seeing the White House from his Hay–Adams Hotel room window before actually moving in, there is no better political triumvirate to invoke than the really big three: Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.
Jan 03 2009 - Seattle PI
by ANTHONY B. ROBINSON
SHOULD RICK WARREN be giving the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration?
You might think that after the months–long saga surrounding Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, the president–elect would do whatever he could to avoid further pastor–politics dramas.
Apparently not. Inviting Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Orange County, Calif., and popular author of the "Purpose–Driven Life" series of books, has touched off a controversy.
During the Jeremiah Wright controversy I suggested that Wright needed to be seen within the context of the black church experience. In a similar way, it seems important to set Rick Warren within the context of evangelical Christianity in the U.S.
Jan 03 2009 - Times Union, Albany NY
by CHUCK RAASCH
Electorate can help with challenges
Barack Obama's inauguration will be saturated in Abraham Lincoln symbolism.
The president–elect launched his campaign nearly two years ago in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Ill. Obama will ride into the nation's capital in a railroad car, as did Lincoln. And he will be sworn into office on Lincoln's Bible.
But the comparisons take an abrupt turn from there as Obama faces two fundamental challenges that are the opposite of what Lincoln faced nearly a century–and–a–half ago.
How Obama meets these two challenges will be his legacy.
As Lincoln prepared his inaugural address, top advisers — including former rival William Seward, Obama's Hillary Rodham Clinton — cautioned Obama to tone down the rhetoric. In early drafts, these wise men saw unnecessary bellicosity toward the South and the Supreme Court. They worried Lincoln would incite civil war.
Editor's Comments:
Now that all you columnists got Obama elected, give it up. The rest of us can't stand the drivel. bbbm
Jan 03 2009 - Seattle PI
by ANN MCFEATTERS
At the stroke of midnight, as the old year slunk away and the new one put its toe in the water, do you suppose Barack Obama thought to himself "What have I done?"
It's hard to imagine that anyone a year ago forecast this past year properly: A complete collapse of Wall Street; Iraq and Afghanistan still taking lives; another new war in the Middle East; Detroit on the verge of bankruptcy; thousands of homes foreclosed; thousands more jobs lost; ridiculous weather. It's too bleak to contemplate, even in retrospect.
So who can blame us for being the teeniest bit hopeful that the roll of a calendar page and the inauguration of a new president will bring changes and reason for optimism?
We take with us into 2009 the baggage of 2008. More stores will close their doors. More of us will lose our jobs. More of our sons and daughters will go to war. Having done such a bad job predicting 2008, we have no business thinking we know what will happen this year.
Editor's Comments:
Drool. bbm
Jan 03 2009 - Seattle PI
by THE ECONOMIST
Delmar Boulevard is an arterial road running through some of the poorest and richest, and most racially divided, neighborhoods of St. Louis, Mo. Some city aldermen are now trying to rename the street after Barack Obama before he takes office.
St. Louis is not alone in its efforts to stick Obama's name on public property. Opa–locka, in Miami–Dade County, Fla. (one of the most dangerous cities in America), plans to rename one of its avenues after the next president.
A Long Island elementary school in Hampstead, N.Y., recently changed its name from Ludlum to Barack Obama after students organized a campaign. Another Long Island school thought of doing the same until parents intervened. One in Portland, Ore., is still considering it.
Rural, mostly black Perry County, Ala., has already gone one better, declaring the second Monday of November as Barack Obama Day. Government offices will be closed and the county's employees will have a paid day off. Not to be outdone, some activists in Topeka, Kan., are promoting a national Obama holiday.
Editor's Comments:
More drool. Or is it slobbering? bbm
Jan 03 2009 - Investor's Business Daily
by MARGO THORNING
Bailouts are all the rage, home prices keep dropping, consumer credit is getting tighter and the dollar looks weaker than a one–legged stool. To read the daily headlines it appears our nation's economy has a cold.
As President–elect Obama tries to move quickly to rescue our economy, here are four policy suggestions — two do's and two don'ts — that follow the Hippocratic oath to "first, do no harm."
• Don't: Raise tax rates on individuals or businesses.
Editor's Comments:
Three of the four suggestions are OK, but the last one is misguided. It is to reduce the number of uninsured health individuals. That won't solve the huge cost problems that we have in health care and furthermore it may well be forcing many people into plans they don't want. bbm
Jan 01 2009 - Town Hall
by Michael Reagan
As he stands on the sidelines, seemingly oblivious to what's going on in the world, President–elect Barack Obama opts out of the game by proclaiming that there's only one president at a time.
That's another way of saying, "Let George do it," when the Middle East erupts in violence, the economy continues to slump, and the governor of his state defies demands that he step down.
His almost nonchalant approach to the turmoil around him has thus far protected him from adverse reactions from his real base –– the media –– but that immunity from harsh criticism has not extended to his political base, the far left. They are after him hammer and tongs.
Dec 31 2008 - Seattle PI
by PETER S. CANELLOS
Many of the Obamaphiles streaming into Washington for the inauguration will be looking for one type of president –– the dynamic agent of change, ready to end the pain of the Bush years and usher in a liberal reformation. But Barack Obama seems determined to give them another type of president –– a figure of national consensus, wise and honorable and able to soar above the political fray.
Obama the candidate showed flashes of both approaches to leadership, and many voters were drawn to the idea that he might be the most liberal president in several generations. But it now seems clear that the vision of Obama as a liberal activist was the product of a handful of impressions that didn't make up a full picture.
Dec 31 2008 - Seattle PI
by DERRICK Z. JACKSON
A Prius in every garage and a farmers market in every neighborhood! This is our moment! This is our time for slow food! Or so, people hope from President–elect Obama.
Obama has raised hopes he will inspire Americans away from fool's gold–en arches and toward farmers markets and community supported agriculture (where people buy a share in a farm's annual harvest). Obama is the most healthy eater to enter the White House in a long time, unlike George H.W. Bush who castigated broccoli as he craved pork rinds, unlike ravenous Bill Clinton, who gained 30 pounds in his first presidential campaign, and unlike the junior George W. Bush, who, pun intended, butchered the meat of his message on food. He once said, "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."
Dec 31 2008 - Town Hall
by Tony Blankley
As President–elect Obama vacations with his family in Hawaii and publicly complains about the intrusiveness of the press pool and the intense scrutiny of his Secret Service team, I suspect about now Obama may be recalling George Bernard Shaw's heartless observation that: "There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it."
This last week of December 2008 is a strange moment for the country. It must be positively bizarre for our president–elect. It seems as if all the problems of the world are lining up and just waiting for our new president to handle. For every American but one, we are merely waiting to see what Obama will do in three weeks. For that one –– Obama –– he, presumably, is puzzling over finding the right policies –– if there are any right policies. Probably there are only terrible and catastrophic policies to pick from.
Dec 31 2008 - Town Hall
by Michael Gerson
WASHINGTON –– No year that saw a 778–point single–day stock market drop, the price of oil fluctuate by more than $100 a barrel and the death of Irvine Robbins –– the inventor of Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream –– can be called good. But the election of Barack Obama as president made 2008 important.
During a long political season, Obama was both charming and charmed –– favored by the gods of economic catastrophe, who turned a tight election into a Democratic mandate. A neophyte senator managed to combine inspiration with organization, progressive ideals with a conservative temperament, and a message of change with a manner of reassurance. As evidence, the "team of rivals" in his proposed Cabinet seems more like a team of professionals.
Editor's Comments:
I don't know who wrote the title, but it has little to do with the text. If Gerson wrote it, it is false in my view. Political honeymoons can result in all kinds of mischief that should be stopped by the loyal opposition. bbm
Dec 30 2008 - Seattle PI
by WILLIAM KRISTOL
I'm leaving the country the day of Barack Obama's inauguration.
It's nothing personal. Nor, I hasten to add –– lest some people get too excited –– is it anything permanent. It's just that I happen to have a speech to give in Canada.
And with millions of people expected to descend on Washington for the inauguration, with the Metro overloaded, and roads and bridges closing, with the Portable Sanitation Association guidelines suggesting that there should be more than 12,000 porta–potties on the Mall –– I have to admit that getting out of town seems like a pretty good idea.
But I also have to admit that I look forward to Obama's inauguration with a surprising degree of hope and good cheer.
Dec 30 2008 - Seattle PI
by DAN RATHER
NEW YORK –– Among all the predictions being made in this season of prognostication, venturing that Barack Obama will sign a big economic–stimulus plan soon after he takes office seems a pretty safe bet.
For one, the president–elect has said that he wants a bill ready on his desk when he moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
For another, Obama has signaled that he wishes to dramatically expand the size of the proposed stimulus, from the $175 billion plan on which he campaigned to a plan that could come in near the trillion–dollar mark.
The upsizing of the stimulus is directly tied to the downsizing of the U.S. economy, about which bad news continues to pile up, from steep rises in new jobless claims to continued contraction of the gross domestic product. Though congressional Republicans could still block a stimulus bill (even one sold under the Obama team's more optimistic "economic recovery plan" label), a bipartisan consensus is emerging that this is a time for action, the bigger the better. Damn the deficit, full spend ahead.
Dec 30 2008 - Seattle PI
by DAN K. THOMASSON
WASHINGTON –– Peter Hart, the veteran and highly respected Democratic pollster, talks almost reverentially about the political benefits that accrue to politicians from an association with Barack Obama. Nearness to the president elect, he says, is worth at least 5 percentage points to any aspiring candidate. It is an illusion of near Messianic proportions, the therapeutic results of a touching of the hem.
Obama himself reinforces this mystical illusion by deciding to travel to his Washington inauguration from Illinois by train, emulating the journey that Abraham Lincoln took to take the oath of office in 1861, expecting huge crowds as he stops along the way to make speeches. Furthermore, he will use a Lincoln Bible for his swearing in.
While this imagery may seem out of place in the often–tawdry world of politics it is becoming more and more commonplace as the soon to be first African–American president rides a wave of popularity of historic proportions into a job that is becoming more difficult each day. More than 70 percent of Americans seem to revere him as they pin their hopes for a rejuvenated economy on his promise of change.
Dec 30 2008 - Investor's Business Daily
by E.J. DIONNE JR.
Social and political epochs rarely end precisely on schedules provided by calendars.
Many historians date the end of Europe's 19th century to 1914 and the outbreak of World War I. What we call "The Sixties" in the United States, with its ethos of reform and protest, ended with Richard Nixon's landslide re–election in 1972 and the winding down of the Vietnam War.
In the same way, the outcome of this year's election means that 2009 will, finally, mark the beginning of the 21st century.
It comes as we face parlous economic conditions and a slew of new threats. Nonetheless, we should view this as an opportunity to embrace the words of one of Barack Obama's favorite presidents.
"As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew," Abraham Lincoln declared in 1862. "We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."
Dec 29 2008 - Times Union, Albany NY
by LAUREN STILLER RIKLEEN
First lady. First mom. Mom in chief. No — none of these titles works. And therein lies the problem.
When Michelle Obama moves into the White House, she will inherit a title with no job description as the world watches to see how she performs. So far, media coverage has focused on what she will not be doing — she is taking a sabbatical from her paid career. Obama has described her major role upon entering the White House as that of a mother wanting to help her daughters adjust to their changed lives as children of the president of the United States.
Dec 29 2008 - Seattle PI
WASHINGTON –– A top adviser to President–elect Barack Obama said Sunday that the country's slowing economy won't keep the new administration from fulfilling its plans for a middle–class tax cut.
