Olbermann mentioned that bush took over a 1000 days of vacation over the past eight years. This works out to fully one third of his pseudo presidency.
Do you get the impression that times are a changing? I only hope that President Obama knows when to take a break.
Talk about hitting the ground running. I do wonder what the shrub said to President Obama in that note.
It will serve us well to remember all that bush has left us. We must face this, so it can never happen again.
There have been a lot of conversations regarding the investigation and prosecution of Bush / Cheney & Co. for their criminal destruction of lives and property in pursuit of wealth for themselves and their friends. There are also a lot of questions regarding the TARP money like where is it going and why? Both lines of questioning are vital to our country. Guaranteed that I myself will be sounding the charge on both of these as well as every progressive blog in the country.
(Cross posted at The National Gadfly)
On the day after the inauguration of Barack Obama, many spent the week eagerly offering up their hopes and high expectations. While some might think that Obama is being deluged by grassroots tidings, advice and admonitions. From reversing Bush’s “anti-terror” traumas to rescuing the economy from possible depression, everyone has a wish list for the Prez.
Here are some excerpts from Obama’s expectant constituents…
(cross posted at kickin it with cg)
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.
We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we’ve shared this day.
Tuesday January 20, 2009 was a very good day. It was joyous and uplifting, moving and sobering. I must say that hearing Pat Buchanan compare President Obama’s speech to Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy and (gasp) Ronald Reagan was a rather surreal moment for me.
It was so odd to me, that I wondered to my best friend Eric, whether I had died and gone to heaven. To which he responded, that perhaps I had actually died eight years ago, and have been living in hell. That stopped me in my tracks and was so very pleased when I woke up this fine morning and it is January 21, 2009. Barack Obama is the President of these United States of America, and my fears of waking to some sort of hideous version of Groundhog Day did not materialize.
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” First Corinthians 13:11.
“We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.” President Barack Hussein Obama.
I love good sermons. I appreciate good sermons as high social art. Solo spoken oration is dying out. It still exists in its best sense as a sermon. When you give a sermon you’re casting your fate to the wind. There’s no middle ground. You either hit the bulls-eye or flail around hoping someone puts you out of your misery. As does the congregation. Giving a sermon takes cojones. It is not for the meek or the easily slighted. Most sermons suck.
(Crossposted at C4O Democrats)
The President and the First Lady had a very long day. After prayer at St. John’s in the morning, coffee at the White House, the inauguration, the President’s speech, the Congressional Luncheon, and the parade, President and Mrs. Obama attended into the wee hours of the morning the 10 inaugural balls.
What a day its been. What a year its been. The end of a disastrous reign is over.
As the world takes a collective sigh, I have had the pleasure of perusing teh intertoobs. And it seems like the old dogs haven’t learned any new tricks. The same old trolls are back to their usual debauchery. Which leads one to wonder – why?
We have had a couple of interesting theories. Is it Malwebolence?
The trolls employed what the M.I.T. professor Judith Donath calls a “pseudo-naïve” tactic, asking stupid questions and seeing who would rise to the bait. The game was to find out who would see through this stereotypical newbie behavior, and who would fall for it. As one guide to trolldom puts it, “If you don’t fall for the joke, you get to be in on it.”
Or maybe the Broken Window Theory?
Why aren’t some people able to have a discussion about the merits of a candidate, or strengths and weaknesses of a specific strategy without getting personal or mean about it?
Are the stakes really so low in some parts of the blogosphere, that people feel the need to be nasty about everything?
Short answer.
Yes.
For many people, flaming and hostility are the only reasons to get online.
These are folks who suffer from a chronic case of assholicism.
troll
One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. ‘you’re nothing but a fanboy’ is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.
It’s much easier to criticise and inflame than it is to be creative and stimulating.
No matter what the topic – these trolls can’t help but flame. It’s sad really. Either way though – its been a great day. This morning I looked at my baby as I was watching the inauguration and thought – wow, you were born in the year that Obama was elected president. Change has come.
The era of hope and brains has begun. Take that trolls!
What’s on your mind, guys?
President-elect, now President Obama has been taking some flak from the LGBT community for his actions and words about gay rights during the transition period. Perhaps the most controversial was the inclusion of the pro-Prop 8 minister Rick Warren in the inauguration festivities.
It is easy to understand the frustration and doubts those actions caused in the LGBT community and among supporters of equal rights for all people. Balancing the expressions of outrage from some were calls for patience from supporters, like myself, who felt it was unfair to make judgments until Obama took office. Those calls for patience seem to have been vindicated on the day Obama took office.
The Internet savvy Obama team continued to show they are on top of their game when it came to the transfer of power from Bush to Obama. The White House web site (www.whitehouse.gov) changed at the same moment Obama took office. What I found on that site gave me great satisfaction.
There is a page on the site that addresses civil rights. On that page is a section dealing specifically with LGBT issues. There are many encouraging subjects listed in that section. I’ve included the complete section below.