Seeing that Glenn has provided the roundup (see especially Right Wing News where the real roundup is) of the reaction on the left to Obama selecting Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the inauguration invocation, we’ll make note of the inclusion of his oft-asked question, “who are the rubes?”
And in an effort to be helpful, let us just point out the following:
It might just come in handy in the future.
Oh, and one more thing:
Again, just to be helpful.
So…Time Person of the Year.
No brainer, right? Obvious. Yawn. Everyone knew it would be him. No one can disagree that it should be him. Right?
Wrong! I disagree! It should not have been Obama.
Two years ago Time gave the award to "You".
Shouldn't this year they give it to "We"?
"We are the ones we've been waiting for" "We are the change that we seek"
And…of course...who can forget:
For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
Obama as Time's Person of the Year? That's divisive!
We were robbed.
Obama is a transformational figure. Even before assuming the Presidency, Obama's election has transformed some of the most foundational tenets of American politics during the Bush administration oh, wait in this century no, no, the entire millennia!
Well, ok, that might be a slight bit of hyperbole.
Whatever. Obama has at least had a transformational effect on widely used figures of speech.
OUT: Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, well, you know what? I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work, and I think that --
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Is that your job? You just talked about being a journalist!
MATTHEWS: Yeah, it is my job. My job is to help this country.
SCARBOROUGH: Your job is the make this presidency work?
MATTHEWS: To make this work successfully. This country needs a successful presidency.
OUT: Speak Truth to Power!
IN: Talk to the Hand
President-elect Barack Obama’s Transition today launched “Open for Questions,” a Digg-style feature allowing citizens to submit questions, and to vote on one another’s questions, bringing favored inquiries to the top of the list.
It was suggested when it launched that the tool would bring uncomfortable questions to the fore, but the results so far are the opposite: Obama’s supporters appear to be using — and abusing — a tool allowing them to “flag” questions as “inappropriate” to remove all questions mentioning Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich from the main pages of Obama’s website.
The Blagojevich questions — many of them polite and reasonable — can be found only by searching words in them, like “Blagojevich,” which produces 35 questions missing from the main page of the site.
And although we tread lightly and hesitate in going too far out on a limb in predictions, we will make an exception in this case predict this boldly: the absence of Obama in the White House, whether in 2013 or 2017, should a Republican be elected to replace him, will, by the very nature of his absence, untransform these tenets to their previous state.
I don’t think Obama was directly involved in any improper way with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to sell Obama’s Senate seat. But Team Obama isn’t making life easy for themselves in helping establish Obama’s alibi.
Let’s use Jake Tapper’s report for the quotes…
David Axelrod on November 23:
While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."
Obama yesterday:
“I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not — I was not aware of what was happening.”
Prompting the necessary Axelrod follow up later:
“I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.”
Well. We all know what’s coming next, don’t we? Because this leaves us with one more statement to come, does it not?
OBAMA: “I did not have oral relations with that man, Mr. Blagojevich.”
Liberals are lamenting Obama's withdrawn proposal of a windfall profits tax on oil companies, asking whether it is his first broken promise of his presidency. The answer, as Jen Rubin notes, is of course not; he broke lots and lots of promises before even being elected.
But all is not lost, my liberal friends. Allow me to propose the institution of a windfall profits tax on presidential campaigns.
Why didn't I think of that?
The difference, of course, is that I wanted to provide voters with a tax rebate, whereas Geraghty apparently wants to subsidize puppies.
Puppies sure are nice and cuddly.
Beautiful.
Sergeant's Return Home Surprises 2-Year-Old Daughter
Daughter Asked Santa To Bring Her Daddy Home For Christmas
PILOT MOUNTAIN, N.C. -- A woman and 2-year-old daughter welcomed home a sergeant Thursday night who had been serving in Afghanistan since March.
Kensley Penney said she promises this year she has been a good girl. She said she does just what grandma asks and kisses her special doll with her father's picture every night.
"When we go to bed, we say prayers and ask Jesus to keep him safe," Kensley's grandmother, Patty Childress, said.
Kensley is hoping these good deeds will be enough for Santa Claus to give her the two special requests she has this Christmas.
"I asked her if she wanted a new doll or a stroller, and she said, 'I don't know,' and then a week later she said, 'I want a blue truck and my daddy,'" Childress said.
Her father, Sgt. Scottie Penney, has been serving in Afghanistan since March.
Penney's wife, April, said it's been hard for her, but that it's been especially tough on Kensley.
Scottie Penney's family worked very hard to keep him in his daughter's life, even though he was thousands of miles away from home.
"There are pictures all over the house, and like I said, she has our daddy doll," Childress said. "When she can, she gets on the Web cam with him and makes funny faces. She knows who daddy is."
In fact, Kensley sleeps cuddled up with her father every night. His picture is on a special doll that her family said she takes everywhere.
Thursday night, Penney walked into Pine Hills Church in Pilot Mountain to surprise his daughter.
The moment was caught on camera.
Kensley waited patiently in her grandmother's arms to tell Santa Claus her special Christmas wish Thursday night.
"I want my daddy," Kensley told Santa.
Kensley even practiced a song for Santa Claus, hoping it will help get her wish granted.
Kensley's constant singing must have paid off, because the Pine Hills Church Santa delivered her Christmas wish right in time for the holidays.
"It was pretty nice," Scottie Penney said. "We have been planning this for some time. I had mixed emotions about how (Kensley) would react."
The rest of the room burst out in tears when Kensley and her father reunited.
Scottie Penney said it was also a surprise for him and his wife to see the community supporting them.
"It was very emotional," he said. "I didn't see anyone who had a dry eye. It was so great to see the love and support of our community and people who care."
Welcome home, Sgt. Penney. And Merry Christmas, Kensely!
VIDEO HERE
(also embedded on the web page linked above)
AND: YouTube video here
