AUDIO NUGGET!
Obama's one-hour meeting with the Washington Post Editorial Board -- very interesting!
ANOTHER AUDIO NUGGET!
On NPR's All Things Considered, David Brooks and E.J.Dionne discussed their special meetings with Obama earlier in the week. Well worth hearing their general impressions! Very inspiring!
BOOKSTORE NUGGET!
Gwen Ifill's 'The Breakthrough' from The Root
A look at Gwen Ifill’s ‘The Breakthrough’, the much-anticipated book on black political leaders in the Obama generation.
Best of All Possible Presidencies (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"With the inauguration of Barack Obama, the moment has arrived for what I want to call the "progressive pessimists." This new worldview would marry the liberal desire to make life better with a realist's appreciation of the limits of political and military power."
Forgive and Forget? (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"I’m sorry, but if we don’t have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years — and nearly everyone has taken Mr. Obama’s remarks to mean that we won’t — this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don’t face any consequences if they abuse their power."
Pragmatist in Chief from the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
"PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama came to The Post editorial board yesterday with two messages sketchy on details yet reassuring in approach: a commitment to fiscal discipline, and a determination not to be bound by liberal, or indeed any, orthodoxy."
It's Over: Bush Staffers Make Exits from Politico
"The president will be the president until 12 noon Tuesday, but most of his employees will be gone by the close of business Friday. They’ll turn in their BlackBerrys, laptops, building passes and gym keys. "
Americans Believe Obamas will Deliver Despite Down Times from USA Today
"Americans are as down as they've been in decades about the state of the country and its polarized politics, even as they express soaring confidence that Barack Obama will be able to turn things around."
The Frat Boy Ships Out from the Economist
"Few people will mourn the departure of the 43rd president. HE LEAVES the White House as one of the least popular and most divisive presidents in American history."
Credit Markets Showing Some Signs of Revival from the New York Times
"There are limited signs that the credit markets in the United States are starting to function, at least for better-qualified borrowers."
First Thoughts: First and 10 for Obama (Chuck Todd et al.) from MSNBC
See "First and 10" and "You don't see this every day" entries.
"Every Kid Gets a Trophy" (Joan Walsh) from Salon
"Bush's goodbye address is a festival of self-pity and delusion."
Obama Tries to Seduce Republicans from Politico
"It's no secret Barack Obama is trying to seduce Republicans these days. But his conservative courting runs much deeper and wider than is publicly known."
The Edge of the Mystery (Matt Bai) from the New York Times Sunday Magazine
"No Democrat since Kennedy has rekindled the hipster flame like Barack Obama. ... The advance sentry for the post-’60s generation, Obama is the first Northern Democrat to win the presidency since 1960, the first whose very election seems to mark the opening of a new chapter in the culture."
End of an Era: Bush's farewell address was the president at his worst (Eleanor Clift) from Newsweek
"Such widespread rejection should provoke introspection, but Bush remains unrepentant. He interprets his dismal standing with the American people as evidence of his willingness to defy public opinion and do what is right, or rather, what he thinks is right, regardless of evidence to the contrary. The lower his polls go, the more correct he thinks he is."
The Enigma In Chief from Newsweek
"Did Bush's own innocence and incompetence drive his missteps? Or was he manipulated into his bad choices?"
The US and Europe Standing Shoulder to Shoulder' from Der Spiegel [from Germany in English]
"In a letter to Barack Obama, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier offers the US president-elect a "new dimension of cooperation" in trans-Atlantic relations. He foresees the US and Europe standing shoulder to shoulder and says Germany will "step up its contribution" to help create a stable Iraq."
Bush Wasn't Evil. Just the Epitome of Ineptitude from the Times [of London]
"Having stood closely by George Bush's America these last few years as a trusted member of Tony Blair's inner circle, and then as Foreign Secretary, David Miliband yesterday chose the last 120 hours of Mr Bush's presidency to say what a disaster his foreign policy had been."
A Narrative of Racism and Hope from the Los Angeles Times
"Bob Dunn's stories of poverty, taunts, war and elections weave through 80 years of American history. The climax, for him, was Obama's historic rise. 'It is almost as though I am on air.'"
Slumdog President from the Nation
"Many Indians believe Obama's victory makes all things possible for people of color--but for all the good will, there is little mention of India's ever-present racism."
What Obama Means to the World from the Nation
"America had a black leader, and suddenly everybody else wanted one. Or at least they wondered how they could get hold of one."
Self-Destructive Conservatism (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"At a time when Republicans should be starting to think about how they can expand their party to reclaim those who abandoned it, the party is instead lurching ever more to the right."
Two Visions of Leadership from the National Journal
"Obama promises inclusive governance, while Bush remains definat to the end."
'This is Our Moment' from the New York Times Sunday Book Review
"In four new books, hopeful progressives interpret the 2008 election and Barack Obama’s coming presidency."
Obama Targets a 'Grand Bargain' to Fix Budget (Gerald Seib) from the Wall Street Journal
"The harder part will be trying to follow that up by creating what is coming to be known in Obama circles as a Grand Bargain: getting everyone to agree to clean up the nation's budget mess in a really big way, one that doesn't just fix the problems being created now, but also addresses the frightening long-term problems America was going to face anyway to pay for Social Security and Medicare in coming decades."
Suspend Your Disbelief: How to Enjoy Your Inauguration Fully (Peggy Noonan) from the Wall Street Journal
"Barack Obama isn't president yet, but already is he is omnipresent."
A Kenyan Transition to Power from the Washington Post
"While the president-elect prepares to manage the high expectations of many Americans, members of his extended Kenyan family are also busy managing a kind of international stardom conferred upon them by their famous, if distant, relative."
At Long Last, Ready for the Real Deal (Maya Angelou) from the Washington Post
"I telephoned Oprah Winfrey, aware that she knew the Obamas, and asked, "What is your take on Michelle Obama?" Oprah answered promptly and with conviction, "She is the real deal.""
Farewell to this Flawed and Unpopular President from the Independent [of London]
"George Bush's failures opened the way for a very different successor."
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