Obama - The beginning

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not saying we shouldn't, just seems to be a standard thing with the media, therefore I expect it.
I don't know how they come up with 100 days as a benchmark, though? Maybe that's how long they figure the post election/inauguration momentum lasts that he can take advantage of?

[glatt]

plus that's when everyone is focused on tax season, and they are not too keen on the government then

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by classicman

Great article Bruce. I'm glad to hear that he is committed to advancing the military, instead of totally abusing it or abandoning it.

Well only an idiot would abandon the military. Military generals have vast influence and I doubt we want our military engineers working for China, Russia, or anyone else.

[Pie]

Energy Secretary Steven Chu gave a great all-hands speech to the National labs. Rob Roser at Fermilab (who attended the speech) took the following notes. Red highlights are my emphasis.

• Energy is the defining issue of our time.
• Addressing the environment is the major reason Chu took on this job.
• These problems provide a tremendous opportunity for the DOE, but it comes with a burden: we can not fail.
• The DOE is the principal supporter of physical sciences in the US, and the physical sciences are the cornerstone of prosperity for the US future.
• This was part of the message of the “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report.
• The DOE should endeavor to replace the great industrial labs that no longer exist as they once did.
• The DOE will be the “go to” organization for a multitude of key problems — will depend on all labs to help.
• The DOE can quite literally “save the world” by developing a sound energy policy going forward, and invent new science that will provide new technologies.
• Our current use of energy not sustainable — have to move forward.
• We are facing something society has never been asked to do before: to deal with ominous problems with climate change. If half of the things climate science tells us are half true, we have a huge problem on our hands and the DOE has to work to provide those solutions.
• The Obama administration is creating a new Energy and Climate Change Council which will serve as a coordinating body including all stake holders in this arena. DOE is first and foremost in this but Interior, Agriculture, Treasury and Defense etc. all play a role.
• The DOE is the science and technology “arm of energy”.
• There is a core of truly outstanding scientists at the national labs, and these labs have trained many successful scientists.
• The national labs are “crown jewels that the US doesn’t want to lose”.
• Restimulation of the economy is #1 on the priority list. DOE will get considerable funds in the stimulus package, not just to get the economy going but to provide a long term path for the US.
• We can’t be completely overwhelmed by the short term economic woes; we need to still find a path to solve our long term problems. The DOE has to invent transformative technologies that will allow us to get to the next level of energy independence.
• Chu sees a lot of young and middle age scientists shifting careers to deal with energy, and the DOE is optimistic to capture the best and brightest to work on these issues.

I find this truly remarkable. I certainly hope to be one of the "young scientists shifting careers to deal with energy"!

[glatt]

I was really pleased when I learned that Chu was taking over DOE. There was a PBS program on the other night all about US energy policy and the future and Chu was featured extensively. He's a very smart man, and we are very lucky to have him in this position. I'm so glad Bush is gone and we are getting real scientists back into government. We are actually pointed in the right direction again.

The program sort of came to the conclusion that we need to buy some time to get alternative energy (mainly wind and solar) working for us, and to buy the time, the best choice is to build a couple nuke plants in each state.

[xoxoxoBruce]

PA has our share, about time you fuckers caught up.

[wolf]

Track the progress on the Obameter.

[classicman]

Obama gets his opening grade

The Gallup Poll on Saturday released the first job-approval rating for President Obama, based on interviews during his first three full days in office: 68 percent.

Gallup’s initial job approval ratings were President John F. Kennedy, 72 percent; Dwight Eisenhower, 68 percent; Jimmy Carter, 66 percent; Richard Nixon, 59 percent; Bill Clinton, 58 percent; George W. Bush, 57 percent; and Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, 51 percent.

Gallup’s Obama poll included 1,591 adults, and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Are 1500 people enough to really gauge anything?

[wolf]

"Dewey Defeats Truman."

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by classicman

Are 1500 people enough to really gauge anything?

No, and even if it did he's got a very long row to hoe. Polls, like the stock market or a college education, will have ups and downs but we won't know the true results in less than a year.

[classicman]

Interesting take:

ROOTING FOR OBAMA
THE NATION NEEDS THE HOPE

CALLS for national unity were rampant this week, as is common when the nation welcomes a new leader. But to boost our chances of overcoming the huge challenges we face, Americans - of every stripe - are going to have to take those calls seriously. And heed them long after President Obama's honeymoon ends.
Certainly, we'll have to treat our new prez a whole lot better than we did the last one. Republicans, in particular, will have to resist temptations for revenge, after Democrats savaged George Bush - and by extension, his party.

They'll have to watch the partisan attacks, cognizant of their effect on the nation's well-being. And let politics end at the water's edge, as it once did.

Republicans should admit, occasionally, when there's real progress for the country, abroad or at home. And never, ever root for national defeat, just to boost their own prospects.

Certainly the press will be kinder to Obama than it was to Bush
Think about it: When the press honestly reports America's victories, it saps the enemy's spirit and boosts our own. When folks point to light at the end of the economic tunnel, Americans gain heart, open their wallets - and indeed restart the economy. Already this month The New York Times cited economists predicting a "fast recovery." That's a welcome change, whether politically motivated or not.
He's been the media's man, too. And perhaps most important, Americans are rightly nervous about the days ahead. By now, we have little choice but to pray that he's our savior.
here may come a time when the press, the public and - who knows? - the whole world turn against Obama, as many did against Bush. And certainly, there's nothing wrong with legitimate, responsible policy debate; that's normal - and healthy.

But for now, everyone's got a big stake in the new guy's triumph. Our common fate depends on it. So watch for more bullish news. Cheer it on. And feel free to credit the new president - generously.

Root for Obama. If he wins, we all do.

[Shawnee123]

Republicans should admit, occasionally, when there's real progress for the country, abroad or at home. And never, ever root for national defeat, just to boost their own prospects.

From what I've seen here in the Cellar, this will never happen, not for folks like ahem, and ahem...

[wolf]

DES MOINES, Iowa – Amid the pomp, circumstance and celebration of welcoming a new president, an artist in Iowa created an inaugural parade sure to draw attention, even hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C.: Barack Obama, riding on a donkey, complete with waving palm fronds and "Secret Service" escort.

As WND reported, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan declared in October that when Obama talks, "the Messiah is absolutely speaking." But artist Matthew J. Clark's parade – marching Obama through the streets of Des Moines in similar fashion to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem – takes the messianic imagery even farther.

The Bible describes Jesus' procession into Jerusalem in the 21st chapter of Matthew as the fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah's words, "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass," or as the New International Version paraphrases, "gentle, and riding on a donkey." As the celebrated Messiah entered the city, the Bible also tells of adorers spreading their cloaks at Jesus' feet and waving palm fronds.

Charlotte Eby, columnist for Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, witnessed a strange sight earlier this week, as a sculpture of Obama marched down Des Moines' Locust Street in similar fashion.

"Progressing slowly down Locust and holding up traffic was a rubbery Barack Obama sculpture saddled on the back of a donkey," Eby writes. "A pair of black SUVs led the procession and two more trailed behind, Secret Service-style. A couple of the SUVs were decked out with tiny American flags."

The Obamessiah?

I still maintain that he is the Biblical Anti-Christ.

You think I'm wacky now, but just you wait until the Great Tribulation ...

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by wolf

You think I'm wacky now, but just you wait until the Great Tribulation ...

8 years of Bush? Been there, done that.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by wolf

The Obamessiah?

I still maintain that he is the Biblical Anti-Christ.

You think I'm wacky now, but just you wait until the Great Tribulation ...

Praise da Lord!!!!