Obama reaches out to Muslim world

President Barack Obama has come off to a great start in my opinion. In true Progressive Liberal form, our new president extended his hand to the Muslim world by having an interview with Al Arabiya, a Dubai based TV network, and announcing that 'Americans are not your enemy'. I thought this was a very honorary example, for a US President to actually propose peace with Arab nations, after looking at the history of US-Middle East ties. Even though Obama clearly stated that his administration will continue to hunt the terrorists that kill innocent civilians, he has also clearly announced that he will work towards a better relationship between the US and its Muslim counterparts.
I personally believe that this is a very positive act, seeing how Muslims worldwide were under seige due to Bush and his wild goose chase for terrorists and WMD's. I am sure I was not the only person who was disgusted by the Bush regime's thoughts and actions towards the Muslim nation, and this to me seems like a reversal of that inaccurate view previously held of the Muslim community. Even though President Obama was a bit vague about how he is going to deal with the Isreal-Palestine conflict, and the recent 3 week invasion that Israel just recently concluded, it was overall a great interview.

CNN news article on interview

More Economic chaos

With unemployment at a record 16 year high, the government is struggling to come to terms with this, and create new jobs, but that is proving to be a hard task indeed. This week, on Monday alone there were 65,400 reported job cuts in many Fortune 500 companies across America. Not only was the amount of jobs lost shocking, but also the fact that it came from otherwise stable companies that had not really shown signs of weakness throughout the fiscal year. With steadfast American companies such as Sprint, Home Depot and Pfizer accounting to this massive nationwide job cut, the only question that comes to mind is who's next? And with the announced bankruptcy of Circuit City (the second largest tech store in America, following Best Buy) in the horizon, the path towards the Economic Revival of the US is looking dreary indeed.
And there are many questions being asked of the government and the supposed bailout that had been passed before the Obama administration, and I am curious as to how they will be answered because supposedly, half of the $700 billion bailout plan has already been pumped into the failing economy.
I was actually shocked to see how the upper part of the AIG hierarchy had used some of their bailout package, after I read this article on how they went on a luxurious vacation (cleverly dubbed a corporate retreat) as soon as receiving their $85 billion bailout package. I was not in support of the first bailout anyway, and this only reaffirms my views on corrupt companies. And what surprised me even more was how the same politicians who nonchalantly passed major bailout plans for obviously mismanaged companies as AIG, were hesitant to grant the US Auto industry a bailout (the same industry that employs over 5 million American workers).
Hopefully the new bailout organized by the Obama cabinet will be better than the first one. The reason I am so critical of the first bailout plan was not only because it was being distrubuted improperly, but also because the figure $700 billion did not come around after diligent calculations, it was just a number put together to appease the masses. The real cost of that first bailout was estimated to be over $1 trillion, and therefore it was like handing a blank check to these fraudulent companies so that they can do as they please with US taxpayer money.

article on Mondays job loss; http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/news/economy/job_cuts/index.htm

Exxon Mobil's record breaking profit

In the disastrous economy that we are facing, it is shocking sometimes to hear of companies earning a profit. And in the wake of the economic problems, Exxon Mobil has has has broken the previous record earned by a US based company of $40.6 billion (which Exxon itself earned in 2007), by reporting a profit of $45.2 billion for the 2008 fiscal year. I must say I am not all that surprised by this earning statement seeing how crude oil had hit the triple digits around mid July. The price for a barrel of oil was almost $150 around July, which was the highest it had ever been. But recently there has been a sharp decline in the prices of crude oil, with gas prices in the US falling almost 100% in the last quarter of 2008.
I guess its safe to say that only Exxon Mobil, and maybe a handful of other large public companies will be reporting such a hefty earning in their stock's and bonds.
News article;
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_exxon_mobil

The Obama Administration: Interactive Profiles

I was browsing through CNN, my new favorite Political site, when I noticed the following piece. It is an interactive profile of all of the major Obama cabinet's White House staff appointees, and a very effective way of knowing our new leaders. The Obama administration have promised us that the new government will be highly interactive and we have seen many steps taken by the administration to drive this point home. Even though I am not entirely in support of every appointment made by our new commander-in-chief, I do believe he has assembled a team of the most able and eager candidates ever.

In the cabinet picking process, there were quite a few candidates that I was skeptical about at first, including Timothy Geithner, who was being investigated on tax fraud. And I was actually getting ready to write a piece on the irony of appointing a person who has not paid income taxes for several years to the role of Treasury Secretary, but now after reading more about how he oversaw the AIG and Lehman Brothers bailout, I am slowly rescinding my criticism of Geithner. The new administration seems to be ready to go, and we are ready to see what they have in store.

The interactive profiles; http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2009/01/politics/interactive.obama.cabinet/index.html

Breaking News: Portland Mayor caught in scandal

Another day, another political scandal unfolds. In recent history, the amount of high ranking US Government Officials to be caught up in scandals are outright amazing. From the Ex-Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick (who was the first mayor ever to be charge of a felony while still on office), to the moronic Senator Larry Craig incident (R-ID) (who was caught soliciting gay sex in a airport bathroom) we have seen a succession of US Politicians involving themselves in embarrassing scandals that have cast shame not only upon themselves and their colleagues, but on the US Government as a whole.
Today, another scandal is unfolding in Portland, Oregon. The city's mayor, the openly gay Sam Adams is now being investigated for perjury after lying about his sexual involvement with a young male intern, who was 17 when first introduced to the mayor. The mayor first denied ever having relations with the young man, but then went on to admit to it upon further questioning, flying back early from the Washington DC Inaugural Celebrations to offer his city a public apology. Mr. Adams' main argument now is that the young intern, Beau Breedlove, was 18 at the time of their relations.
This scandal may not be as outrageous as the other ones we have heard to date, but is still quite appalling seeing as how the mayor committed perjury, and possible statutory rape.
This story is still unfolding, so I have chosen not to write too much about it, but I will definitely now say ahead of time that the steps taken by the Mayor were wrong and immoral, and are dampening the otherwise joyous feeling felt by Americans as we welcome our new President.
I just hope that more skeletons won't come tumbling out of his closet.
News Article;
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008655693_webportlandmayor21.html

A Government Of, By and For the People

I read an interesting article today about how Obama is beginning his work towards fixing the economy. As we all have seen, the struggling economy is one of the main problems the Obama administration are bracing to tackle. And the beginning steps towards fixing the fiscal crisis are already being taken by Obama and the professional group of people that make up his cabinet, as I can be seen in the highlighted and video.
Apparently Obama has ordered a pay-freeze for all the senior members of his cabinet citing that his actions will show how ready and willing his administration is take on the fiscal crisis. He is also highlighting how visible his cabinets movements will be by saying; "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency". If his plans go accordingly, he will set precedent by having such an interactive and democratic administration.
I, personally, do not see how effective the freezing of his senior staff's salaries will help the economic problems, but it shows willingness to work, so I am just going to wait and see before I state a verdict.

Obama temporarily suspends Guantanamo Bay prosecutions

Our new President has already began his attempt at fixing the problems that Bush created. In one of his first, if not the first, acts as the 44th President, Obama has ordered a stop in the Guantanamo Bay prosecutions. For the readers that missed my Guantanamo article, I will restate that I believe that whats going on there is a severe violation of human rights, and the Geneva Conventions' rights the prisoners have. The ongoing support of Guantanamo Bay and its inhumane ways, by Ex-President Bush and Ex VP Cheney have had me and the rest of the Democratic party supporters discombobulated, to say the least.
The Obama cabinet have also redesigned the official White House website, whitehouse.gov. The new website is faster, more efficient and goal oriented, while the previous one was a right-wing propaganda machine, that makes Fox news seem Liberal.

The CNN article on the halting of Guantanamo;
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/guantanamo.hearings/index.html

Screen shot of the new White House website;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fimoculous/3213257378/sizes/o/

Welcome Mr. President

After what seemed like decades of campaigning, debating and discussion, Barack Hussein Obama has finally been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Even though we were all confident of his win, the reality of the situation just took effect today as we saw Obama (the third US President from Chicago, after Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln) place his hand on the same bible used by Lincoln in his inauguration and recite the Presidential Oath.
The man who was once criticized for not having any experience or skill to run a successful campaign, was able work consistently on the hard path towards the Presidency. But today that journey is over as Obama, with 2.5 million of his closest supporters showed up in Washington to become the change that America has been looking for.
While on his campaign, Obama had faced large amounts of criticism by many people, even from Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden (who are now his Secretary of State and Vice President, respectfully).But he was able to rise past these challenges and make his campaign into a successful one. The campaigning that he has done is also a very different one from all campaigns to date because of his refusal to take any form of contributions from lobbyists or public donations(whose main objectives is to basically 'buy' candidates by donating large amounts of money). Instead the only financial support he got was from contributions by private donations, with the maximum amount donated per person being less than $200. Even though he was bashed for choosing such an unaccustomed method of fundraising, he went on to raise more money for his Presidential bid than any other campaign to date. In the month of September 2008 alone, he went on to make $150 million dollars for his campaign.
Even though many people said that his skin color benefited his campaign, Obama ran his successful bid by not once referring to his race, and by showing America that race and racism are things of the past. His appeal to the people came in the fact that he was willing to accept his criticism and learn from past mistakes to work towards benefiting the future. And by not playing the ever-present race card in his campaign, he proved to America that anybody, of any race or background, has the ability to surpass the limits put on people concerning race, sex or class.
Another form of appeal that Obama has is his regular guy attitude, and by proving how in-touch he is with the American people, whether it was the close relationship he shared with his family, or his friendly attitude. He has shown time and time again that he is a very regular guy, even playing a pickup game of basketball with the US troops stationed in the US, while on the campaign trail.
Another vice that Obama has is his skill as a public speaker. The only other US Presidents that I know who have possessed this skill are John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, both who were fantastic Presidents who had their office time abruptly ended, by an assassination and political scandal, respectively. During his campaign he has given many great speeches that will talked about for years to come, my personal favorite being the 'More Perfect Union' address he gave in the wake of the Rev. Wright scandal, and immediately after George Bush gave his final (and worst in my opinion) State of the Union address. Jokingly referred to as "the speech that cured racism", this speech highlighted what the Obama campaign was about, the refusal to accept the old racial divisions and classes made in previous years, and the coming together of Americans to work towards democracy.


And after overcoming all these obstacles and criticism, Obama was able to build a successful campaign, a modern campaign, that used the internet as a main source of communication with his supporters, sending text messages and emails almost daily (I still receive emails to this day), and was able to make us ordinary civilians feel as though we were part of the policy making. This is one of the reason that more people in the 18-30 demographic voted for him than any other President to date. He actually won over almost every demographic except for the middle class white women and older white male demographic, who were leaning more towards McCain.
His victory over John McCain was almost unprecedented, with him earning 52.9 % of the popular vote and earning a whopping 365 electoral votes. This was basically a landslide victory, but Obama once again excercised his humility by meeting up with McCain several times, weeks after the elections, to discuss important matters such as the War in Iraq.

With his slogan 'Change we can believe in' Barack Obama was able to motivate millions into believing that much needed change can come to to America, and the time to earn it was now. Obama's popularity was once again confirmed today as 2.5 million people showed up to see him get sworn in, making the 400,000 that attended Bush's inauguration in 04 (half which were protesters anyway) seem dismal.

Even though we all know that all the problems being faced by Americans are not going to be solved overnight, we were able to see the beginnings of a new movement in America, a much needed movement towards democracy. The problems Obama will face after taking office (the Economic disaster, the failed war in Iraq) are colossal and will require many years of work, but at least we are seeing his will to work towards fixing or hopefully eliminating these problems

Today was a bright day in American history and I am glad to have witnessed it, and would like to say Welcome to the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussien Obama.

Ted Kennedy collapses at Inaugural Lunch

An excerpt from Wahingtonpost.com;


Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) was awake and "feeling well" yesterday evening after suffering a seizure during a post-inaugural luncheon in honor of President Obama, said a physician who treated him.

Kennedy, who has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments since having surgery for brain cancer last June, was rushed from the Capitol by ambulance after he began shaking and convulsing at the luncheon, according to lawmakers and Senate staff members who were present. He was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where doctors said they thought the seizure was caused by exhaustion.

This was a sobering moment in the euphoria surrounding the Obama inauguration, especially since we all remember how the endorsement of Ted Kennedy (which came as a surprise to us all because the last major endorsement given by Ted Kennedy was to his late older brother, slain Ex-Us President John F. Kennedy). Even though Kennedy had supported previous Democratic nominees for President, his endorsement of Obama was the one in which he had spoken out actively about. The endorsement of Ted Kennedy came at a time when Obama was battling Hillary Clinton to get elected as the Democratic nominee for President, and gave Obama quite a bump in the polls.

Ted Kennedy has always been a very progressive member of the US Government, and is the second longest serving Senator next to Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) (who coincidentally also had faced health problems today at the inaugural luncheon). As the youngest brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy has been occupying JFK's vacant Senate seat from the time JFK got elected president, to this very day.

I hope he gets well soon, so that he can be able to see the progression of US Democracy in the hands of the Obama Cabinet, especially since his help did play a role in getting Obama to where he is today.

The Bush Presidency: 8 years in 8 minutes

My favorite Liberal Political Commentator and Media personality Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) had a very interesting piece today on his show Countdown, that summed up the Bush Presidency in 8 minutes. This was the most accurate rundown of Bush's 8 years in office that I have seen thus far and a must-see by anybody, whether Liberal or Conservative, Republican or Democrat.

CNN's Rick Sanchez puts Joe the Plumber in his place.

I thought I was the only one who was sick of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, more commonly know as Joe the Plumber and his constant involvement in everyday news. Ever since he was videotaped asking President Elect Barack Obama a few questions regarding tax while he was on the campaign trail, and John McCain used him as an example of America's middle class in a Presidential Debate, Joe the Plumber has went to every measure to stay in the news. He recently went to Israel and made a few idiotic statements regarding the media and how they cover war situations, and CNN's Rick Sanchez took offense to the said statements and had a few choice words for Joe. Enjoy the video;

George W. Bush's Farewell Speech to the Nation

George W Bush is infamous for giving inaccurate speeches, and his Farewell Speech today was no different. As President Elect Obama's inauguration draws closer, Bush gave his expected farewell speech today from the White House, in a televised 13 minute effort. Bush presented what I believed to be a very propaganda filled speech as he gets ready to pass the baton to his successor.
The reason that I said that this speech was full of propaganda was because after thanking his friends and family for support, Bush immediately jumped into his favorite discussion, The 9/11 attacks. Its been seen time and time again, that Bush takes pride in the steps he took following the 9/11 attacks and seems to consider that as the main preserver of the otherwise tarnished Bush Legacy. Throughout the speech, Bush went on to speak of himself as someone who saved not only Americans, but other Arab states from 'terrorism'. He seemed to take pride in saying that the US had not seen any other terror attacks after 9/11, making it seem like terror attacks were annual occurrences. He thanks all the allies that worked with him (presumably Former British VP Tony Blair being the main object of affection), and went on to talk of how he had done so much for the countries he invaded by saving them from regimes that demanded "total obedience to an oppressive ideology" . When giving his spin-filled speech, he did not once mention the financial cost of the Iraq war (which was last estimated to overall cost the US a whopping $3 Trillion dollars) or the heavy death toll (100,000 Iraqis and 4,000 US troops dead). Instead he seemed to be more interested in talking about how he had liberated the Iraqi women from the oppressive regime and had made sure that their human rights were reserved by making sure they were provided with education and such.
He then talked about how he had worked extremely hard to improve the schools in America, to improve Medicaid, and proudly announced how much he had lowered income taxes for the American people. After this he went back to his favorite topic, terror, and warned the US people that another terrorist attack could be coming by saying that "our enemies are patient".
And after that, in what I saw as a pathetic effort to promote the Bush legacy, he started talking about how America's character had not faltered and started pointing out live examples of how strong the American character was. These live examples included a principal who started a school in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, a former inmate turned preacher, and a man who joined the Army as a doctor after his son was killed in action while serving in Iraq. Even though these individuals are impressive people, choosing to bring them out was a misguided idea because they had no relevance to Bush or any of his decisions. He then concluded his speech by stating how "proud [he] was to serve America and be an American citizen", a failed attempt at patriotism.

The main reason that I thought his speech was inadequate was because even though he acknowledged that he had made some mistakes as President, he was almost refusing to accept the gravity of the mistakes. Its as if he had forgotten about how he failed to act in the Hurricane Katrina which cost the lives of more than 1,800 Americans and devastated New Orleans, or he did not mention how he did not act when the US was (and still is) facing financial turmoil. As a matter if fact he claimed that it "would have been worse if we had not acted". How much worse it could get, I don't want to know. And my final grievance with this speech is how he to spoke of himself as someone that had to make a series of inevitable decisions and the criticism he is facing now is a result of this. This is untrue. He was a President that went ahead and took the wrong opinions from the wrong people, invaded a country looking for things that did not exist (Weapons of Mass Destruction, commonly known to Liberals as Weapons of Mass Distraction), completely devastated the infrastructure of a country and cost the US a load of money and countless amounts of fatalities in the wild goose chase that was the search for these WMD's. He is also a President that flew his Air Force One Jet over the devastated areas during Hurricane Katrina instead of helping, and was so hesitant to send help that the lives of 1,800 Americans were lost.He also was was a president whose 8 years in power brought about a $10 trillion deficit. These are just a few examples of the many mistakes committed by Bush, and I'm sure he will be remembered in the US for a long time as one of the worst Presidents we will ever have to face.

The Farewell Speech;
Part 1


Part 2

Sarah Palin expresses dissatisfaction with Media

Former Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Current Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is lashing out at the media and the online community for painting a misleading picture of her. Governor Palin, who was the center of attention for many political scandals while on the Presidential campaign alongside her running mate John McCain, is refusing to follow her former running mate's decision to accept defeat and slowly fade into the background. Instead, Sarah Palin has appeared on a variety of talkshows and given out a large amount of interviews discussing her personal grievances, and therefore continues to be the topic of discussion for many media personalities.
Governor Palin was responsible for many scandals while on the campaign trail, from the pregnancy of her underage and unwed daughter, to her dismal experience on Foreign Policy (once boldly announcing that she can "see Russia from her House") and many other embarrassing situations that seemed to hurt McCain in the polls severely.
Recently she has been in the news for her harsh criticism of the McCain aides, and has come out swinging at them claiming that they tried to dictate her, and did not let her present herself as she wanted to while she was the Republican nominee for Vice President. Even though the McCain cabinet denies these allegations, I for one would not be surprised if McCain and his aides worked tirelessly to revamp her image because even from the beginning she was a completely unsatisfactory choice for the second highest office in the country, especially from the GOP party which is infamous for its conservative ways.
And now, her new target for criticism are political bloggers (such as I) who continue to criticize her. She recently was interviewed by Esquire magazine, and in this interview stated her dislike for "Bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie [and] annoy me" and continued to defend her "I can see Russia from Alaska" statement.
Overall, I found this interview to be more humorous as opposed to a serious article because Governor Palin remains adamant to admitting that she has made mistakes, (in the same manner that other people have made mistakes while on a campaign trail), and I believe her constant refusal to admit to her mistakes is going to be the reason she is going to continue to be heavily criticized by media personalities and bloggers alike.
The Esquire Interview;
http://www.esquire.com/the-side/qa/sarah-palin-quotes-011309?src=digg

The Closing of Guantanamo Bay

As the inauguration of President Elect Obama draws nearer and nearer, the problems he is facing just keep accumulating. Cleaning up after the least popular American President in modern history is proving itself to be quite an impossible task.
Even early on in the campaigning days, the Obama team had always said that one of the first Executive Orders that Barack Obama will give if ever elected President was to shut down Guantanamo Bay, a terrorist detention center in a US Base in Cuba. Now that the day has come, the Obama Cabinet seems to be keeping its promise and are now in the early stages of organizing a Guantanamo bay shutdown. Guantanamo Bay has always been a hot topic for discussion because it has been a place in which the US has been detaining 250 alleged Al Qaeda members and terrorism suspects, without giving them a proper trial date or proper sentencing. Now, many people have asked how this is possible, how do you detain all these people with giving them due process and court sentencing?
Well, the answer lies in the fact that Guantanamo Bay (as mentioned earlier) is actually not located on US Soil. Located in the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp has been in service since 2001 and has been used to detain 'enemy combatants' almost illegally. With many calls coming from the international community as to why the detainees are not being presented with the laws that they are entitled to in the Geneva Convention, Guantanamo Bay continues to be a center for an ongoing heated international debate.
And now while many people are thankful that the Obama cabinet is finally going to shut this allegedly modern day Abu Ghraib down, a large amounts of skepticism over the task seem to be emerging and it is obvious that the problems being faced will be causing a major headache to anyone in charge of this task.
What options do the US have when shutting down Guantanamo Bay? What exactly will they do with the 250 detainees that they are currently holding?
In my opinion these are the following options.
A. Let the prisoners go and try and regulate their actions in methods other than detention. (A task that will have the CIA working in overtime).
B. Try and give all of them a proper court date and trial on American soil (but I highly doubt this, seeing how the US Judicial System is already backed up as it is, and the trials will also be highly biased seeing how the detainees are seen by most Americans as enemies of the country)
or finally C. Shipping the detainees over to our allies in other countries and letting these other nations decide if they want to give them a fair trial, or continue their unlawful detention.
Whatever the outcome of this situation, it is going to be quite a struggle and I look forward to how the Obama Cabinet is going to deal with this task.

Congress hits the World Wide Web

I was browsing through Youtube today when I saw something that made me very happy. The United Stated Congress has decided on making itself more open to the public by setting up a Youtube page. I think that this is a brilliant idea because seeing how the internet has become a very important form of communication for todays's youth, using a popular site such as Youtube to get in touch with the citizens of the US is going to prove to be very effective.
With a very well detailed front page, and a well defined difference between videos by the House of Representatives and videos by the Senate, and detailed guidelines on how to access your states Representatives and Senators, this Youtube page has come as a godsend to me, and surely, other Political Junkies who were having difficulties accessing the actions of Congress.
With introductions by Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House), Harry Reid (US Senate Leader for the 110th Congress), and others, the welcome video serves as a pleasant reminder of how the US Government is always a progressive force.

Book Review; The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

Even though I was not alive in 1933, I am sure that the US was in a similar position. With a highly disliked President getting ready to leave office, and an incoming President facing an extremely burdensome task as Obama is facing now [and Roosevelt was facing then] with the troubled economy, I am sure that the feelings shared by the nations citizens were the same. And at the risk of being a naysayer, I will go ahead and claim that that the economic problems faced now are not too different from the ones faced during the Great Depression. With unemployment at a 16 year high, housing market in extreme peril, the Big Three car companies begging for Bailouts, and the Recession that we have been in for over a year, it is safe to say that the US is in trouble.
And so this reminded me of FDR and his first 100 days. I was very eager to revisit my knowledge on the topic, so I went ahead and started looking for books that can help me remember what exactly went down in the first 100 days. And so after a bit of Googling, I found the following book; The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope .
A well written book by Newsweek Senior Editor Jonathan Alter, it differs from other Franklin D Roosevelt biographies because this book focuses solely on the economic crisis, and how those first 100 days were used to start the slow path towards re-fixing the US Economy. The graphic descriptions within the book, and the relevance with today's Economic crisis makes it a very interesting read.

Reviews by other Authors;

"Jonathan Alter's The Defining Moment is an extraordinarily vivid account of a remarkable moment in American history. It is also a rich and perceptive examination of how Franklin Roosevelt transformed the presidency. This book should be of interest to everyone who cares about the New Deal, and also to everyone who wants to understand the character of American politics."

—Alan Brinkley, author of The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War

"The Defining Moment is a riveting account of the first hundred days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. Alter bewitches readers in this fast-moving story, often poignant, sometimes funny, of how Roosevelt changed the direction of American history."

—David Herbert Donald, author of Lincoln

The Adult Film Industry in need of Bailouts as well?

Well this is pretty humorous. Apparently the 'Big Two' in the US Pornography Industry (Larry Flint Hustler, and Joe Francis Girls Gone Wild), are planning on going to Washington to demand a $5 billion bailout. They claim that the Adult Film Industry was also one of the industries that has been feeling the crunch of the recent economic problems. When I first heard this I thought it was just an attempt at humor by some Late Night talk show host, but upon further investigation, I found that this was a legitimate piece of news.
Now even though I prefer to avoid picking sides when it comes to economic discussions, I just want to say that this is definitely a preposterous situation. At first, I highly doubt that this suggestion will be taken seriously by the House or Senate because we have seen recently how hesitant the US Government is to giving bailouts, by how long it took them to grant the Auto Industry a much needed bailout. The Automobile Industry employs over 3.5 million people in the US, and therefore it is an integral part of our society. And yet it had to face harsh criticism from both the House of Representatives and the Senate before being granted its bailout. And now a bunch of smut-peddlers want to use the American tax payer's money to bailout their industry?
I would like to hear opinions on this matter, because I am highly confused.
More reading;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/07/porn-bailout-larry-flynt_n_155878.html

8 days and counting....

The most unpopular American President in recent history is finally stepping down in 8 days. As the US gets ready to breathe a collective sigh if relief when Bush steps down, the criticisms he has been facing seem to be getting stronger by the second. As a matter of fact, I just finished reading this great excerpt that highlights 128 executive failures made by the Office of the President in the last 8 years. Read & enjoy.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/broken_government/articles/full_list/

Should the GOP really be afraid of Al Franken?

I was doing my usual run-through of todays Political articles, when I happened to run upon an article that struck me as rather strange.
Im sure we are all familiar with the botched Senate race in Minnesota in which Democrat Al Franken (a former comedian) and Republican Norm Coleman have been going back and forth with accusations of improper vote counting and so on. And then on January 5, 2008 the State Canvassing Board officially declared Franken as the winner by, a small margin. (Some say that he only won by 225 votes, but that is still being argued). But this did not stop Norm Coleman from demanding a recount and even filing a lawsuit contesting the ruling.
Well, while this storm was blowing over, the GOP has come forward and began accusing Al Franken of being unable to fulfil his duties in office does to his past invloving comedy. Franken has previously worked on Saturday Night Live as a writer, and has been also part of a few skits in recent times. And the GOP's main arguement has been that this will affect his job. At first when I read this article, I agreed with the GOP to a certain point. But after sitting and pondering it for a while, I started to think that maybe the accusation was a bit preposterous. Are they really claiming that a man's past as a comedian might affect his job as a Senator? Especially Al Franken, who was never accused of doing anything slightly 'comedic' while on his run for Senate?
Upon further investigation, I have classified this as a immoral attempt by the GOP to taint a man's reputation, especially a man who has had to struggle harder than the other Senators to secure his seat in the House of Representatives.
I have attached the link to the said article below

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17233.html

Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General?

In the past few days, I have been hearing talk that Sanjay Gupta, the CNN Chief Health Correspondent is being looked at as a possible candidate for Surgeon General of the United States. From what I have heard he is currently being vetted in preparation for his role as Surgeon General. And what has also erupted is a large opposition to Obama's choice, with calls coming on from Democratic Rep John Conyers of Michigan to reasses the decision of appointing Gupta.
Gupta was also in the headlines recently for a public disagreement he shared with filmmaker Michael Moore over the documentary 'Sicko'. Moore had made the movie 'Sicko' as a form of appeal to the American people in the approval of Universal Healthcare Coverage.


Michael Moore has always been known for 'fudging' his facts while making documentaries, and Gupta's negative response to 'Sicko' came as no surprise.

But what I would like to ask is this, did the Obama Cabinet make a wise decision in appointing Sanjay Gupta as the Surgeon General? Even though Sanjay Gupta is a world renowned neurosurgeon and a very capable candidate for the job, will his celebrity status make it hard for him to do his job better than another, less-renowned doctor would have been able to? Or will his celebrity status help him with his approval ratings the same way it did other celebrities-turned-political figures (Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc) Please discuss...

The Blagojevich Dog-and-Pony Show

Rod Blagojevich never fails to impress me. Even after protesting his innocence for so long, even though the evidence was clearly there, and then going on to name a Senate seat pick when he was clearly asked not to do so by the incoming Commander-in-Chief (amongst others), and finally getting impeached,he refused to fade into the background.
And following on with his strange behavior on Jan 09, 2009, just after hearing the House voted 114-1 to impeach him, he organized an elaborate press conference in which he once again presented himself as the victim to dirty politics. Even though he never once mentioned his involvement with selling the seat formerly held by President Elect Obama, he did mention all the good things he had done for the people of Illinois, almost painting himself as a Robin Hood of sorts. He paraded a few of his "friends" on stage, just another form of him showing the people what a cheap and substandard person he really is. And his constant claims of him being the people's choice is becoming quite tired now, when we see that all the people of Illinois want is a effective, working government.
I found a video of the said press conference and it is amusing to look at.

Is Obama ready?

President Elect Barack Obama, at this point in time, seems to be a very capable and willing individual who has taken the political world by storm. From his skill at speech giving, to his sharp wit, this man has been compared many times with somebody who I personally believe to have been a great president, JFK.
But when Obama comes into power, he will be facing more serious problems than any other incoming Presidents have faced in recent history. It is still 9 days before his inauguration, but the problems he is facing are already apparent. With George W Bush cruising through his last few days of his Presidency, America eagerly awaits as Obama gets ready to take over.
Even though Obama comes into this Presidency with what I believe to be a well chosen cabinet, and a Democratic stronghold over House, Senate and the Presidency, I still cringe when I think of the tasks awaiting Obama. The Economy is on chaos, the situation in the Middle East seems to be getting worse by the day and America has now been in a recession since December 07. The Blagojevich scandal and the Roland Burris situation have already proven themselves to be a headache for The Obama Cabinet, even though that seems to be clearing up right now. The lack of jobs (with unemployment at a 16 year high) and fluctuating gas prices are driving everyone crazy.
Overall, it is fair to say that President Elect Barack Obama has a long, gruesome task waiting for him in the next 4-8 years.

The Appointment of Roland Burris

We all know that American Politics, as progressive as it is, is also made up of many many loopholes that corrupt individuals such as Ex-Governor Blagojevich have been using to their advantage.
A recent example is the appointment of a Senator by Blagojevich, even though he was in the midst of a corruption scandal involving the Senate Seat. According to Illinois law, only the Governor has the right to chose who is going to occupy vacant Senate seats, and even though the whole world knew that he was guilty, Blagojevich went ahead and appointed a replacement for President Elect Obama.
And if that in itself wasnt scandal enough, the man chosen to occupy the Senate seat was Roland Burris, a highly accomplished African American gentleman.
Now, even though Rod Blagojevich is a corrupt and dirty individual, you have to admire his shrewdness in being a prime example of someone playing the 'Race-Card' very very well. If you take a quick glimpse at the US Senators, its easy to see that there are no African Americans, and therefore the appointment of Burris would be a step forward for African Americans. But then when his appointment comes in the midst of a never ending scandal involving the man who chose him, it would only be right for the House of Representatives not to seat this gentleman (as they currently seem to be doing).
But then, is that Racism, or the House just trying to get rid of Blagojevich? Well, currently to the masses it DOES seem like racism.
Well played Blagojevich. Well played.

Blagojevich Impeached: House Votes Against Governor 114-1

Well, that was sudden. After weeks of delays, Governor (or should I say Ex-Governor) Blagojevich has been given the boot. It seems that the House of Representatives has gotten sick of the constant headache, and responded to calls by the masses (including President Elect Obama) to get rid of Blagojevich.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/09/blagojevich-impeachment-h_n_156515.html

Rod Blagojevich; Wrongfully Accused or Corrupt Inividual?

As a commentator, nothing has ever impressed me more than the way Ex- Governor Rod Blagojevich disrupted Senate in the past few weeks. As we have seen in recent history, whenever a Governor is caught in the midst of a scandal, he immediately resigns and becomes the butt of all Late Night Talk show hosts for a few moths and slowly disappears, as we have seen in the case of Former NY Governor Elliot Spitzer and Former NJ Governor Jim McGreevy.
But Rod Blagojevich, caught trying to sell President Elect Barack Obama's seat for personal profit (and other similar acts of corruption), has denied his allegations so well that he almost had people convinced of his innocence. I mean, if there wasnt any hard evidence caught on this man, you would believe that he had been wrongfully accused. But then when you see the list of evidence, including a 76 page FBI dossier of wire taps of Blagojevich allegedly 'hawking' the vacant Senate Seat, his guilt is plainly obvious.
But what I still dont understand is why he insisted on presuming his innocence like that? I even read an article in which he used and quoted poetry ( Rudyard Kipling, if I am not mistaken) as a method of proving his innocence.....
Really Blagojevich...really?