Camille's latest contribution.

"Why did it take so long for Democrats to realize that this year's tea party and town hall uprisings were a genuine barometer of widespread public discontent and not simply a staged scenario by kooks and conspirators? First of all, too many political analysts still think that network and cable TV chat shows are the central forums of national debate. But the truly transformative political energy is coming from talk radio and the Web -- both of which Democrat-sponsored proposals have threatened to stifle, in defiance of freedom of speech guarantees in the Bill of Rights."

"It was on talk radio, which I have resumed monitoring around the clock because of the healthcare fiasco, that I heard the passionate voices of callers coming directly from the town hall meetings. Hence I was alerted to the depth and intensity of national sentiment long before others who were simply watching staged, manipulated TV shows."

"By a proportion of something like 10-to-1, negative articles by conservatives were vastly more detailed, specific and practical about the proposals than were supportive articles by Democrats, which often made gestures rather than arguments and brimmed with emotion and sneers."

"An example of the provincial amateurism of current White House operations was the way the president's innocuous back-to-school pep talk got sandbagged by imbecilic support materials soliciting students to write fantasy letters to "help" the president (a coercive directive quickly withdrawn under pressure). Even worse, the entire project was stupidly scheduled to conflict with the busy opening days of class this week, when harried teachers already have their hands full. Comically, some major school districts, including New York City, were not even open yet. And this is the gang who wants to revamp national healthcare?"

"If Obama fails to win reelection, let the blame be first laid at the door of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who at a pivotal point threw gasoline on the flames by comparing angry American citizens to Nazis."

Labels: critics, Democrats, former presidents, health care, Obama, opposition, Republicans, speech

Obama's Secret Meeting With Historians

The president held a dinner at the White House for leading presidential scholars

By Kenneth T. Walsh

Posted July 10, 2009

President Obama has found another way to break out of the White House "bubble"—holding private discussions with eminent historians who have studied the successes and failures of his predecessors. His goal is to better understand what has worked and what has failed in the past as he makes policy today.

People Who Read This Also Read

Obama held a dinner at the White House residence with nine such scholars on June 30, and it turned out to be what one participant described as a "history book club, with the president as the inquisitor." Among those attending were Michael Beschloss, H. W. Brands, Douglas Brinkley, Robert Dallek, and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Obama asked the guests to discuss the presidencies that they were most familiar with and to give him insights into what remains relevant to the problems of today.
At one point, the discussion turned to whether Obama was trying to do too much too fast and whether he might overload the political circuits of Congress.

Read more here. 

Labels: historians, history, Obama

Larry Cebula brings to light some even more interesting aspects of inauguration day.

Labels: inauguration, Larry Cebula, northwest history, Obama

The New York Times has an interesting exploration of the new administration members in Washington.

It really brings a personal face to the administration. And possibly some insight on what to expect.

Labels: administration, NYT, Obama, Washington

The November 17, 2008 issue of Businessweek has a column by Jack and Suzy Welch listing three reasons Obama won. All three seem quite plausible and point to strengths on the Democratic side and weaknesses in the Republican column. The authors tie this back to three principles of business leadership:

1. A clear vision

2. Clean execution

3. Friends in high places

The third principle refers primarily to the media and most definitely the media was rooting for Obama. Some were even giddy talking about the victory and the multimedia presentations were a bit over the top although I did appreciate their celebratory nature in regard to the larger picture of democratic processes at work. And, history has been made with the nation's first African-American president.

I'm considering having students in my class tomorrow write a time capsule of how they will remember this event in later years.

I also don't remember seeing "The Office of the President-Elect" as an official office before but, given the challenges and complexity of presidential transitions, maybe the time has come. That's another strength of democracy -the ability to adapt to change.

Labels: 2008, Democrats, election, Obama, Republicans

The President-Elect is giving citizens a chance to peer into the transition here. Interesting use of technology

Labels: change.gov, Obama

It was interesting watching the election returns come in while in the nation's capital. However, I was disappointed with the outcome. The good news was that it was a clear and not cloudy victory.

I am trying to figure out about the concept of "change" given all the people being appointed to transition positions who came out of the Clinton administration . . . .

Labels: Clinton, election, Obama, president