President Obama
President Obama and Vice President Biden created the next wave of social change this week when they announced sweeping reforms to gun laws using both executive orders and legislation for Congress to pass. Though these are clearly sensible reforms meant to curb systemic violence against innocent people, Pres. Obama’s agenda is being ferociously thrashed by the National Rifle Association and politicians paid for by this organization. I have only one request for those folks who are over-reacting to this development: Think about Grace.
Grace, a beautiful, seven year old girl brutally murdered at Sandy Hook School last month, wanted to be a painter. Pres. Obama told the press her parents gave to him a painting she’d made, and he now keeps it in his study. I relate to this story because I was a little girl like that- in me still is an inner child who likes to paint pictures and give them to loved ones. Grace could have been any of us, or anyone’s daughter, sister, niece, or granddaughter. This shouldn’t have happened to her- to anyone. Read more
As required class reading, I am tempted to assign to George F. Will an essay in December's American Conservative written by former Reagan economic adviser and Republican apostate Bruce Bartlett, called "Revenge of the Reality-based Community." In it, Bartlett chronicles his excommunication from the conservative movement for the unpardonable offense of thinking for himself.
Will might benefit from the outside reading considering that in the Washington Post he once again delivers a broadside against one of his favorite bugaboos - rampant "political correctness" in American academia.
Will has two obsessions in life: Campaign finance laws that restrict the ability of corporations and billionaires to buy America's democracy; and "PC" speech codes that promote multi-culturalism on American college campuses and so constrict the freedom of conservative white guys to say offensive things about racial, ethnic, religious and other "protected" minorities. Read more
Watching the House vote on the Senate’s bill to avoid the fiscal cliff last night, I was struck by how relieving it can be to watch our leaders to their jobs. When the votes were tallied, we saw forward movement, with Reps. Boehner and Paul voting in favor of the necessary legislation. A splinter of hope was realized in the middle of the night on New Year’s Day. Rationality won out over ideology.
What has nearly broken our union time and again is a devotion to identity politics: so often we vote for candidates we think are like ourselves rather than the best people for the jobs. President Obama’s administration has been harassed and harangued by politicians and a media outlet obsessed with how his identity is different than theirs- and consequently, they’ve felt him unworthy of their support. At last, we are seeing that strident belief begin to weaken, and a glimmer of logic shines in. Read more
I do not know where Sarah Palin has been in the last three years but if she does not think this president has a “big stick” when it comes to foreign policy — she is entirely wrong. Has she forgotten; this president gave the order to go get Osama bin Laden, knowing very well that if the mission failed, he would take a serious political hit for it.
After the recent Libya tragedy, where two U.S. embassy staff had been killed, Sarah Palin had criticism for President Obama’s remarks and handling of the crisis. She wrote in a Facebook post this remark: Read more
When President Obama stepped into the White House almost four years ago, he had a plan and a vision for this country. Even though he has faced incredible opposition from Republican lawmakers in Congress, he still has succeeded in moving this country forward, though not as much as he first anticipated. Read more
This is not my opinion! But forget about damning with faint praise, given the source this is damning with high praise. Read more
I believe I speak for many of my fellow liberals when I say this; please leave our president alone. We are tired of the made-up garbage from conservative corners that constantly berates our president. You would think President Obama just came straight out of the bowels of Hell and placed himself miraculously into the Oval Office. Read more
It’s very clear that a lot of Americans are concerned a great deal with the new health care law the Affordable Care Act . It’s also quite understandable to be concerned; it does turn the health care system in this country up on its heels. It will change a lot of lives and yet for many, just force them to tighten their budgets more.
The way I see it, the health care law is a rough draft of what this country really wants. It is up to us, the American people to see that our legislators give it to us. We do that by demanding change, not repeal but a fix on the issues we’re mainly concerned about. Read more
Ko Olina Beach (author’s photograph) Read more
Since Republicans were given back the reins to the U.S. House of Representatives along with governor seats and state houses back in 2010, they’ve used those seats to push a certain agenda, which include anti-abortion legislation, bills and state constitutional amendments to block same-sex marriage and Voter ID laws and even voter purges, such as the voter purge efforts being pushed by Florida Governor Rick Scott. Read more
With public relations of any kind, words can carry great weight to influence positive or negative reactions out of people; presidential campaigns are no different. Putting the right “spin” on whatever a presidential candidate’s position is, can be very critical in winning the majority’s approval or disapproval.
Any election rides on what I call a “war of words” between any two rival candidates, though those words are expressed through political ads or by speeches on the campaign trail. The winner of any “war on words” wins the election. Read more
