Thanks to DC institution Jason Cherkis for the timely information!
DCist also has the 411 for tonight's street closures, complete with map.
Tom Lehrer, 1928-2025
4 weeks ago
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Street Closings for Tonight's Obama Address to Congress
Monday, January 19, 2009
MLK/Inaugural Excitement In My Hood
I spent large portions of Saturday and Sunday with my Mom, doing stuff that my late Father would have otherwise been doing. Assembling bed frames, driving her to the commissary, and hauling stuff to and from the storage area in their (her?) building. Saturday I took BabyRat with me to Mom's condo in Alexandria and gave WifeRat a much needed few hours at home alone and yesterday I went by myself. During all this driving around I was stunned to notice that traffic wasn't nearly as bad as usual. Even coming home over the 14th St. Bridge at about 1600hrs yesterday with the 14th St. and Maine Ave exits closed, the only reason there was a slight backup was the usual problem of idiots not knowing how to drive and getting into a fender bender. We have to go back to Mom's again today for dinner again tonight but, based on the last two days, I'm confident that we won't have any major problems driving in or out.
Because I've been busy with Mom, I haven't gone to any inauguration events. WifeRat somehow didn't know about the concert at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday and I had no interest in going. As it turns out the inauguration came to us this morning.
On our way to Sidamo this morning, we saw some cops blocking off a section of F St. NE between 10th and 11th streets. When we asked the DCPD officer what was up she told us that there was "a situation" and we should go about our business. I thought her answer was a little strange because there was a big ass satellite truck parked right behind the Sasha Bruce Center, but we went about our business. On our way home we found out what the "situation" was: President-elect Obama was doing some volunteer work at the SBY Shelter. We stood around for about five minutes before Obama came out and the crowd of about 200 people broke into chants of "Yes we can, yes we can."
Monday, October 27, 2008
So I Get This E-mail
On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 9:21 AM, <> wrote:
Now tell me he isn't a socialist
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck
--------------------------------------------------------
Now I wouldn't exactly call the guy I got this from a friend; but he's a dude who went to high school with a bunch of guys that I went to college with, and we've all been kind of having this weird, stream of consciousness e-mail discussion/argument for about 13 years running. So I actually know this guy pretty well; he's a FOX News lovin', Drudge Report readin', Limbaugh listenin', Reagan worshipin', big gov't hatin', Islam fearin', GOP nut gargler.
Below is my response, feel free to answer the question at the end in the comments -HR
---------------------------------------------------------
Does it really matter if he is?
If you listen to this clip, Obama has obviously spent a great deal of time studying the Constitution and how it is applied in the real world. He speaks specifically about the problem of separation of powers and unfunded mandates from the Feds to local gov'ts. It sounds to me that he's actually agreeing with you about the philosophical position that you can't legislate from the bench and that if you want to effect large scale social or economic change in the US you have to do it through a combination of legislative and executive/administrative power.
Obama has praised Reagan as a transformative president and I think we all agree that's true. Reagan led and presided over a renegotiation of the covenant between citizen and gov't and perhaps Obama wants to do the same.
Y'all have kind of clowned [redacted] for expressing a willingness to pay more taxes under an Obama administration, but I actually kind of agree with [redacted]. It depends on what I get for my money; if pay 5% more in taxes but Obama really does walk on water, balance the budget, re-affirm American power, and provide quality health care for everyone then I consider it money well spent.
Serious question B: Where do draw the line between responsible gov't and Socialism?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Give My Man a Vote
My man from all the way back in high school has entered an Obama poster contest. Cruise by and hook him up with a vote.
Thanks,
HR
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Political Observations
Even though I'm out here in Fargo for the moment, my newspaper of choice is still the Washington Post. While the polls say that the Presidential race is still too close to call, it seems like the Post's leading conservative lights are giving up on McCain.
Last week, RNC sycophant Charles Krauthammer waved the white flag of surrender on McCain's behalf. Naturally Krauthammer had to take a few shots at Obama and the Democratic party, but he did have the grace and intellectual honesty to acknowledge that the Democratic candidate for President has, " . . . both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament."
Then today George Will continued writing the epitaph for McCain's campaign for President. In the first four paragraphs of today's column Will manages to compare (or highlight comparisons of) McCain to legendary baseball manager Earl Weaver, Don Quixote, and Jesse Jackson. It was equal parts hilarious, brutal, and accurate and that was before Will started eviscerating McCain's mortgage bailout plan.
But there's a little more to the story than just the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments being done by conservative commentators. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune is concerned about the "Bubba vote." In a nutshell, Page wonders whether the "Bradley effect" will scuttle Obama's bid for the Presidency. It's a legitimate concern and one that can't really be addressed in a proactive way.
UPDATED
Knockout Ed from COINTELPOL provided a link to a good piece of analysis on the Bradley effect. I'm not sure I buy it 100%, but it's definitely worthy of consideration.
SECOND UPDATE
OTOH
Thursday, August 28, 2008
After the Speech
I'm feeling slightly better, but WTF was up with that music after Obama got done speaking? Naturally I would have preferred that he played "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" or I would have settled for the Godfather's theme. OK, obviously I'm joking but what if he had finished and then dropped "The Message?"
[updated]
This song would have worked as a nice outro too. Check out the video of NaS over at the Cynics' Party killing Fox News.
Was it just me or was the end of Obama's speech kind of weak? He waited until the last possible moment to mention MLK and then it was like he threw cold water on himself and finished up with some lame bromides about unity. I understand that if Obama wants to win this election he has to avoid being seen as "too black, too strong" but finishing up with some weak-ass, whack-ass, generic country music was a punk move.
Feeling Jaded & Cynical
As a (relatively) young Black man today is supposed to be a joyful day of triumph for me, but I'm not feeling that way right now. I don't know if my cynicism about party politics has prevented me from enjoying the coronation of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party Presidential nominee or it's my fear of having my hopes dashed by the reality that Obama is a politician and will ultimately be forced to make the compromises that all pols must make to get elected. Regardless, I'm taking no pleasure in what is one of the most significant political moments in American history and probably the single most important event in African-American history.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Nooner
Who knew what I was missing by always taking cabs?
A lot of folks are talking about how Obama can win over White voters; some are serious and some aren't.
I don't give a rat's ass about Imus, but Jimi Izrael tells like it is on the latest idiocy surrounding radio's psycho geezer.
While on the topic of douchey old geezers, it's worth mentioning that even GOP dead-enders like Robert Novak are already making excuses for McCain's crushing defeat in November.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Political Talk
All this talk about Obama's minister is starting to get on my damn nerves. So his preacher was talking some crazy shit, so what? You've probably noticed that both Hillary Clinton and McCain are keeping their mouths shut about this issue. I wonder why? Is it because they both have plenty of religious skeletons in their closets? No one's hands are clean on this issue.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Conflicted
I just got done watching the Obama video at http://www.dipdive.com/ and I'm conflicted.
There's something so inspiring about this guy that I'm thinking about pushing all my chips into the middle of the table, saying, "Fuck it!", and getting into the mess of American politics. I'm actually contemplating leaving my pretty decent job, working for Obama's campaign, and hoping I can parlay that into a full-time gig on staff somewhere when he wins. I don't believe in every plank in Obama's platform, but there's enough there that I do actually believe in that I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should get involved.
At the same time, there's the pragmatic/cynical side of me that knows that Obama is a politician and that I should protect myself from him and the broken heart that is almost sure to come if I allow myself to feel, to care, and to believe in what he's saying. I mean, I'm just one man; one flawed man; one weak man; one selfish man; one unimportant man. What difference can I possibly make?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
