From the Wall Street Journal (a notoriously left-leaning pro-Democrat, pro-Obama newspaper), Thursday, December 11, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill from an American public that is rooting for his success in the face of bad economic times, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

The mood presents opportunities as well as perils for Mr. Obama, who confronts a series of challenges amid expectations he will handle them well.

Overall, a majority of Americans are confident in Mr. Obama's ability to govern and unify the country, with many who didn't vote for him now seeing him in a positive light.

The poll found that 73% of adults approve of the way he is handling the transition and his preparations for becoming president.

President Bush: Overall Job Rating In National Polls

PollingReport.com

	Survey Dates	Approve %	Disapprove %	Unsure %	Approve minus Disapprove
FOX/Opinion Dynamics RV	Dec 9-10	30	65	5	-35
NBC/Wall Street Journal	Dec 5-8	27	67	6	-40
CBS	Dec 4-8	24	68	8	-44
AP-GfK	Dec 3-8	28	66	*	-38
Gallup	Dec 4-7	32	61	7	-29
Pew	Dec 3-7	24	68	8	-44

A summary of those polls shows that approximately 29% of adults disapprove of the way Bush is handling the job of being president

.

Labels: approval, approve, bush, disapproval, disapprove, obama, polls

Barack Obama, My President
By Mike Huckabee

It's no secret that I personally supported John McCain for president. I agreed with him on core issues and he and I are in the same party, but I also truly believe he's an extraordinary and honorable American hero.

I campaigned hard for him - to the point of losing my voice in fact. But Americans elected Barack Obama and it's time to put the election behind us and the country in front of us.

Barack Obama wasn't my choice, but come January 20, he will be my president. I will pray for him and his family. I want him to be successful in leading our country. I will not seek to see all of his faults and none of his qualities.

Some of President Bush's harsh critics went beyond loyal opposition and engaged in angry, vile and mean-spirited hate.

Those of us who found that kind of attitude and behavior despicable can hardly engage in similar conduct toward a President Obama.

We can show our true patriotism conducting ourselves in the way that we wanted people to have treated President Bush.

In my lifetime, I saw the revolting and repulsive indignities of racism manifested in people of color being subjected to separate schools, waiting rooms, seating areas in theaters and water fountains.

It's an embarrassing part of our nation's history that we can never ignore. The evil, selfish - yes, sinful - treatment of other Americans because of color cannot be erased. But we can all celebrate that on this Election Day, a man was elected to live in the White House who 50 years ago would have at best been able to serve coffee there.

It means that when mothers put their children to bed, they will be able to tell them that there are no limits to their opportunities in America and young black children will be able to know that their pathway to the top is not necessarily limited to sports or entertainment, but might be through education, hard work and public service.

Surely, even the most partisan Republican can appreciate that.

If Barack Obama pushes tax increases, indifference to the sanctity of life or same sex marriages, I'll strongly and loudly disagree.

But I will still show him the respect that he has earned having been elected president of the United States.

Yes, my president.
Fox News

Labels: huckabee, my president, obama

Through the course of his presidential Campaign, Barack Obama has often used the expressions "This is the moment" or "This is our moment."

His November 4, 2008 victory speech was no exception. In Grant Park, Chicago his last paragraphs read:

"This is our chance to answer that call.

This is our moment. This is our time....

to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

Every time I hear Barack say "This is the moment", I have several reactions:

• I get emotional, including hopeful and proud
• I get a chill up and down my spine (quite literally)
• I think of one of my all-time favorite songs, written for and performed at the 1994 World Games: Moody Blues' This Is The Moment

For your listening and reading pleasure:
Moody Blues, This Is The Moment, 1994 (0.56 MB).

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Note: that music file is intentionally low-quality for 2 reasons

1. to keep the file's size small for faster loading
2. to encourage you to purchase the song, rather than to download it as a freebie; please do not pirate music
   

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This is the moment, this is the day
This is the moment, when I know
I am on my way.
Every endeavor, I have made ever
Is coming into play, is here and now today.

This is the moment, this the time
When the momentum, and the moment
Are in rhyme.
Give me this moment, my precious chance
I'll gather up my best, and make some sense at last.

This is the moment, when all I've done
All of the dreaming, scheming and screaming
Become one.
This is the day, just see it shine
When all that I have lived for becomes mine.

This is the moment, this is the hour
When I can open up, tomorrow
Like a flower.
And put my hand to everything I plan
To fulfill my grand desire, see all my stars align.

This is the moment, my final test
Destiny beckoned, I never reckoned
Second best.
I won't look back, I must not fall
This is the moment, the sweetest moment
Of them all.

This is the moment, so double the odds
This day or never, I'll sit forever
With the gods.
When I look back I will recall
Moment for moment, this was the moment
The greatest moment of them all.

Labels: moody blues, obama, this is the moment

Labels: fear, hope, obama, president

Elite [ e·lite or é·lite ] (n.)

1. A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status:
2. The best or most skilled members of a group: the football team's elite.

Example: The US Navy Seals are best described as The Elite Navy Seals.

The Commander-In-Chief of an ELITE group of our finest warriors: shouldn't s/he also be ELITE? Americans deserve the finest, the most elite of leaders.

In one day of campaigning (10/06/2008), McPalin threw red meat to frightened, angry crowds, and drew out responses (to the mention of Barack Obama) such as "terrorist!" and "kill him!" After candidate's reference to the news media, one person in the lynch mob looked at a (black) media crew member and said "SIT DOWN, BOY!"

No doubt, everyone in those assemblages would call themselves "Christians." Yet, they act like the hordes who demanded that Pontious Pilate execute Jesus of Nazareth.

You heard it here first: John McBush and his by golly, folksy, charming, gosh, gee-wilickers accessory will continue to whip their crowds into ugly frenzies. Then the candidates will 'wash their hands' to exonerate themselves of guilt for their followers' horrific behavior. If the analogy escapes you, check out The Bible, Matthew 27:24

When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. [ King James Version ]

Shouldn't our leaders bring out the best in us? Or should we settle for someone who brings out our worst?

Labels: george w. mccain, john mc bush, matthew 27, obama, palin, pilate, pontious, wash hands

Labels: barack, biden, george w. mccain, john mc bush, mccain, obama, palin

Dateline - New York City: March 26, 2008
McCain Rejects Broad U.S. Aid on Mortgages
By LARRY ROHTER and EDMUND L. ANDREWS

SANTA ANA, Calif. Drawing a sharp distinction between himself and the two Democratic presidential candidates, Senator John McCain of Arizona warned Tuesday against vigorous government action to solve the deepening mortgage crisis and the market turmoil it has caused, saying that "it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers."

Mr. McCain’s comments came a day after Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York called for direct federal intervention to help affected homeowners, including a $30 billion fund for states and communities to assist those at risk of foreclosure.

Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic opponent, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, has similarly called for greater federal involvement, including creation of a $10 billion relief package to prevent foreclosures.

As the foreclosure crisis has rippled across the economy, it has thrust itself to the forefront of the presidential race, with Democrats seizing on the issue in urging forceful government steps to alleviate the crisis.

Mr. McCain’s remarks Tuesday, to a group of Hispanic businessmen here, signaled a sharpening divide between the two parties’ candidates, with the senator [McCain] warning against quick, costly government fixes to a crises (sic) rooted in the private sector.

[ ... ]

"It sounds remarkably like Herbert Hoover, and I don’t think that’s good economic policy," Mrs. Clinton told reporters in Greensburg, Pa. "The government has a number of tools at its disposal." "I think that inaction has contributed to the problems we face today, and I believe further inaction would exacerbate those problems."

In addition to urging $30 billion in federal aid to states to help homeowners, Mrs. Clinton on Monday also endorsed federal legislation to expand the government’s ability to guarantee restructured mortgages, which she believes would lead more banks and other private entities to buy and resell mortgages.

Mr. Obama’s plan emphasizes making it easier to convert subprime loans to fixed-rate, 30-year loans, while requiring that borrowers have access to better data on loan costs and requiring greater scrutiny of lenders. On Tuesday, he said, "It’s deeply troubling that John McCain is suggesting that the best way to address the housing crisis is to sit back and watch it happen."

[ ... ]

Mr. McCain spoke at some length about the problems caused by lenders and by Wall Street, which bundled mortgages into securities that were chopped into pieces and resold to investors in the United States and abroad. But he did not call for any kind of legislative or regulatory measures to fix those problems, other than to say that the government should eliminate obstacles to the ability of financial institutions to raise more capital.

[ ... ]

John McCain (McBush): wrong about everything since he learned to pander.

As I said above, He Was Against it Before He Was For It.

Labels: bail out, Clinton, crisis, george w. mccain, john mc bush, mccain, mortgage, obama, private sector, regulation

In the recent debate between the major parties' candidates for vice-president (of the USA), candidate Sarah Palin gave the world the finger and announced that she didn't care what the American people wanted to find out. By gosh and golly, she was going to say whatever she darned well wanted to say.

"I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear..."

What would have been the right-wing-world's response have been if Barack Obama had copped the same attitude?

The first and kindest epithet hurled at Obama would have been "Uppity Ni**er." It would go downhill from there. "Angry." "Doesn't know his place."

As usual, this nation accepts a double standard: one for cute, perky, folksy airheads, and a diminished standard for everyone else (especially Uppity Ni**ers).

Labels: airhead, barbie, debate, obama, palin, uppity

Boredom in action.

The TV political pundits and so-called 'news' broadcasters would spend days and days analyzing this to death and come up concluding that he's an elitist, unpatriotic, uppity Negro.

Labels: barack, bush, disrespect, elitist, flag, Negro, obama, unpatriotic, uppity

Labels: obama, progessive, proud progressive