In today's NY Times, Roger Cohen has an Op-Ed in which he chides Obama for lecturing when he should be inspiring. He writes that "...Obama has not yet found his presidential voice." I couldn't disagree more.
Cohen's column centers on England's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his recent speech to Congress and his appearance on The Daily Show. He commends Brown on a rousing speech, saying he felt "stirred" by it. He takes Obama to task for what he sees as telling Americans "unpleasant truths" rather than "...galvanize[ing] through the optimism of his message." This begs the question -- did Cohen listen to Obama's recent address to Congress? Yes, it was laced throughout with hard truths, truths that we in this country have needed to face for a long, long time. But we have been far too busy playing Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil. A little "lecturing" as Cohen puts it seems quite appropriate to me.
As for inspiration, I found Obama's address quite inspiring. A clear, palpable love for this country, a determination to gather us all together in shared sacrifice in order to make America strong and proud again, his confidence that we can free ourselves from the current crisis -- this practically rang out in his speech like church bells on Sunday.
During the campaign, many people tried to paint Obama as being long on inspiration but short on substance. Now here is Cohen arguing the opposite. "He has been detailing tax and other polices to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots, but in a cool, brisk top-down language that hardly seems right to overcome division", writes Cohen. So let's see -- during the campaign, not enough details. Now, too many details.
It is awfully easy to criticize when you are not the one responsible for fixing an enormous, frightening economic mess while at the same time reassuring an anxious, terrified populace. Hasn't found his Presidential voice? I already stated that I find that appraisal thoroughly wrong. But here's something else -- he has been President for what, 50 some days? The former occupant of the White House (he who shall not be named), had eight YEARS and couldn't locate a Presidential voice even with the help of a GPS machine!
I'm willing to be patient and cut Obama a lot of slack considering all that he inherited.
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Now, THAT was a Presidential Address to Congress!
What a difference a day makes.
Every time I see President Obama I feel like a desert wanderer who has just been led to water.
We all know by now what an assured speaker he is. But something other than his oratory skills was present last night. He looked, sounded, spoke, behaved like a LEADER. By that I do not mean one who wears his power in an arrogant manner -- goodness knows we've seen far too many examples of that. Obama is a natural leader. He wears it with pride and humility. Strength, conviction and good humor. And that elegance! How utterly refreshing to have a sophisticated thinker and speaker at the helm. Someone who projects power without bombast. An ability to speak frankly about hard work and challenges while simultaneously lifting spirits. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I've never seen a politician like him. He is one of a kind.
Which does not make him infallible. He will make mistakes, in fact, has already done so. Most importantly, he has admitted mistakes. No false swagger for him.
Despite all the pettiness we've seen, and will see, he consistently rises above it. In my opinion, one of the most moving parts of his speech came when he said, with absolute conviction, that he knew every person in that chamber, be they Democrat, Republican or Independent, loves this country and wants it to succeed. And you know what? He's right. Even in light of the Republican political posturing with regards to the stimulus bill, and posturing it most certainly is, they do love this country. And he made it more than clear that Democrats, who for so long have been labeled as the "blame America" party, love this country just as completely.
Mention must also be made of that sweet, obviously overwhelmed girl from South Carolina who wrote to Congress asking for improvements to her school. That little girl brought tears to my eyes. As did the banker who took his $60 million dollar bonus and gave it to current and former employees! Oh, God. There is so much kindness and generosity and grace hiding underneath our bickering and failures.
Thank goodness.
Every time I see President Obama I feel like a desert wanderer who has just been led to water.
We all know by now what an assured speaker he is. But something other than his oratory skills was present last night. He looked, sounded, spoke, behaved like a LEADER. By that I do not mean one who wears his power in an arrogant manner -- goodness knows we've seen far too many examples of that. Obama is a natural leader. He wears it with pride and humility. Strength, conviction and good humor. And that elegance! How utterly refreshing to have a sophisticated thinker and speaker at the helm. Someone who projects power without bombast. An ability to speak frankly about hard work and challenges while simultaneously lifting spirits. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I've never seen a politician like him. He is one of a kind.
Which does not make him infallible. He will make mistakes, in fact, has already done so. Most importantly, he has admitted mistakes. No false swagger for him.
Despite all the pettiness we've seen, and will see, he consistently rises above it. In my opinion, one of the most moving parts of his speech came when he said, with absolute conviction, that he knew every person in that chamber, be they Democrat, Republican or Independent, loves this country and wants it to succeed. And you know what? He's right. Even in light of the Republican political posturing with regards to the stimulus bill, and posturing it most certainly is, they do love this country. And he made it more than clear that Democrats, who for so long have been labeled as the "blame America" party, love this country just as completely.
Mention must also be made of that sweet, obviously overwhelmed girl from South Carolina who wrote to Congress asking for improvements to her school. That little girl brought tears to my eyes. As did the banker who took his $60 million dollar bonus and gave it to current and former employees! Oh, God. There is so much kindness and generosity and grace hiding underneath our bickering and failures.
Thank goodness.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
HIGHLY Recommended website
Here is a link to Robert Reich's blog. In fact, it is called Robert Reich's Blog. How clever of him. RR was the Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration. You may have seen him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has published several books, the latest being Supercapitalism.
I stumbled upon his blog by accident but am quite happy to have found it. There is this post about the Obama administration's stimulus package and what work will need to be done after the bill has passed Congress. It will pass Congress sooner or later, presumably after a lot more hand-wringing on both sides of the aisle (and no doubt with the Dems bark being worse than their bite and caving on key elements of the bill to the same folks who are largely responsible for the mess in the first place. Notice I say largely responsible, not completely. See? I can be bi-partisan.)
I have done a lot of reading about the proposed stimulus, a great deal of which has left me befuddled. (Charts and graphs make me apoplectic. They frighten me. Always have, ever since I was first asked to graph an equation in pre-algebra). Mr. Reich manages to lay out his arguments in a manner which a lay person like me, with an average understanding of economics, can understand. I particularly liked his "after the stimulus" post (please, no "le deluge" jokes), for its illustration of what he calls "structuralists" and "cyclists". (I'm a structuralist). This post is clear, concise and manages to avoid condescension. I urge you to check it out. You'll enjoy it.
I stumbled upon his blog by accident but am quite happy to have found it. There is this post about the Obama administration's stimulus package and what work will need to be done after the bill has passed Congress. It will pass Congress sooner or later, presumably after a lot more hand-wringing on both sides of the aisle (and no doubt with the Dems bark being worse than their bite and caving on key elements of the bill to the same folks who are largely responsible for the mess in the first place. Notice I say largely responsible, not completely. See? I can be bi-partisan.)
I have done a lot of reading about the proposed stimulus, a great deal of which has left me befuddled. (Charts and graphs make me apoplectic. They frighten me. Always have, ever since I was first asked to graph an equation in pre-algebra). Mr. Reich manages to lay out his arguments in a manner which a lay person like me, with an average understanding of economics, can understand. I particularly liked his "after the stimulus" post (please, no "le deluge" jokes), for its illustration of what he calls "structuralists" and "cyclists". (I'm a structuralist). This post is clear, concise and manages to avoid condescension. I urge you to check it out. You'll enjoy it.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Lobby-pop, Lobby-pop, Oh Lobby, Lobby-pop...Lobby-pop!
President Obama is coming under fire for some appointments he has made to his administration. Specifically, there are those on the right and the left criticizing him for appointing lobbyists after he declared time and time again during the campaign that he would do no such thing. Let's examine this a bit deeper.
On his first day in office, Obama declared that anyone in his administration who left, would not be allowed to lobby the administration for its duration. He also stated that he would not employ anyone who had been a registered lobbyist in the past two years. There have already been exceptions to the second rule.
William V. Corr lobbied on behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and is now the deputy health and human services secretary. Honestly, I have no problem with that. If someone who lobbied AGAINST tobacco use is now in a prominent position with health and human services, fine by me.
William J. Lynn III has been nominated as deputy defense secretary. He is an ex-Raytheon lobbyist (Raytheon is a prominent military contractor). This is potentially troubling. I am not aware of how recently Mr. Lynn worked for Raytheon. Obama has declared that appointees would not be allowed to work on issues on which they lobbied in the past two years. We'll have to see how this one plays out.
I am also troubled by the appointment of Mark Patterson (lobbyist for Goldman Sachs), who is now chief of staff to Tim Geithner (Treasury Sec'y). Again, I do not have specific details about how long ago Mr. Patterson lobbied for Goldman, yet it does raise eyebrows since financial firms are so implicated in our current economic mess.
So yes, I understand why some folks are bent out of shape about this. Obama promised such sweeping change that people are extra-sensitive to even the slightest indication of "Washington as usual". But there is a problem with this criticism as well. Obama's rhetoric during the campaign did sometimes obscure the fact that he is, essentially, a pragmatist. He has referred to himself as such many, many times. He is a politician and politicians bend the rules in order to get things done. Ah yes, but didn't he promise to change all of that? My feeling is that he has already gone a long way towards changing the tone (and he hasn't even been in office a full month yet). Some stumbles along the way are inevitable.
And in comparison to the outrageous cronyism of the Bush administration, the appointment of individuals who were egregiously unqualified for their jobs, these blips from the Obama administration pale in comparison. There will never be absolute purity in politics, Obama or no Obama. The difference I see in this situation, and it is a significant difference in my opinion, is that the few appointments coming under question right now have one thing in common -- these people are actually qualified to do their jobs. I am willing to allow Obama a little wiggle room. A little, not a lot. But I do not expect him to take advantage of that wiggle room to a large degree. Time could prove me wrong and if so, I will admit it. But for now, I am maintaining hope.
What I do feel needs to change is the way the Democrats in Congress operate. I am disappointed in Nancy Pelosi's leadership, despite being thrilled to have a woman as Speaker. She and Harry Reid strike me as ineffectual leaders. This does not make them bad Congresspeople; it means that perhaps other individuals would be better at leading the party in Congress.
I am extremely curious to know how others feel about all of this. I welcome any and all comments!
On his first day in office, Obama declared that anyone in his administration who left, would not be allowed to lobby the administration for its duration. He also stated that he would not employ anyone who had been a registered lobbyist in the past two years. There have already been exceptions to the second rule.
William V. Corr lobbied on behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and is now the deputy health and human services secretary. Honestly, I have no problem with that. If someone who lobbied AGAINST tobacco use is now in a prominent position with health and human services, fine by me.
William J. Lynn III has been nominated as deputy defense secretary. He is an ex-Raytheon lobbyist (Raytheon is a prominent military contractor). This is potentially troubling. I am not aware of how recently Mr. Lynn worked for Raytheon. Obama has declared that appointees would not be allowed to work on issues on which they lobbied in the past two years. We'll have to see how this one plays out.
I am also troubled by the appointment of Mark Patterson (lobbyist for Goldman Sachs), who is now chief of staff to Tim Geithner (Treasury Sec'y). Again, I do not have specific details about how long ago Mr. Patterson lobbied for Goldman, yet it does raise eyebrows since financial firms are so implicated in our current economic mess.
So yes, I understand why some folks are bent out of shape about this. Obama promised such sweeping change that people are extra-sensitive to even the slightest indication of "Washington as usual". But there is a problem with this criticism as well. Obama's rhetoric during the campaign did sometimes obscure the fact that he is, essentially, a pragmatist. He has referred to himself as such many, many times. He is a politician and politicians bend the rules in order to get things done. Ah yes, but didn't he promise to change all of that? My feeling is that he has already gone a long way towards changing the tone (and he hasn't even been in office a full month yet). Some stumbles along the way are inevitable.
And in comparison to the outrageous cronyism of the Bush administration, the appointment of individuals who were egregiously unqualified for their jobs, these blips from the Obama administration pale in comparison. There will never be absolute purity in politics, Obama or no Obama. The difference I see in this situation, and it is a significant difference in my opinion, is that the few appointments coming under question right now have one thing in common -- these people are actually qualified to do their jobs. I am willing to allow Obama a little wiggle room. A little, not a lot. But I do not expect him to take advantage of that wiggle room to a large degree. Time could prove me wrong and if so, I will admit it. But for now, I am maintaining hope.
What I do feel needs to change is the way the Democrats in Congress operate. I am disappointed in Nancy Pelosi's leadership, despite being thrilled to have a woman as Speaker. She and Harry Reid strike me as ineffectual leaders. This does not make them bad Congresspeople; it means that perhaps other individuals would be better at leading the party in Congress.
I am extremely curious to know how others feel about all of this. I welcome any and all comments!
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