Obama at a town hall meeting yesterday in Montana - see news nugget below.
UP-FRONT NOTE ON 2009 NETROOTS NATION CONFERENCE!!
An amazing progressive bloggers' conference just finished up yesterday here in Pittsburgh -- and there is SO MUCH to say about it! For those of you who were not there, below are video links to several of the high points:
Opening Speeches for the Convention
Bill Clinton's Keynote Address
Howard Dean's Town Hall Meeting.
Obama Special Advisor Valerie Jarrett's interview and some other sessions
For a sense of what the conference was like, see The Great Liberal Blogger Pilgrimage from the Daily Beast
"Thousands of progressive bloggers came to Pittsburgh for the Netroots Nation conference this weekend. Rebecca Dana reports that unlike in past years, they couldn’t keep the A-listers away."
UP-FRONT NOTE #2 ON NETROOTS NATION CONFERENCE
Some sage words from Carolyn who attended the conference:
My biggest take away is that it's not enough to elect Barack Obama President. I have work to do in getting the change I want passed into legislation.
Coming home on the 61A last night, I saw a group of guys on Forbes Avenue, plastering Oakland with Obama Joker posters. In case you haven't see one, I'm attaching an example to this email, only these said "fascism" across the bottom. As I walked along Forbes, tearing the posters down, four people sprang out of nowhere to help-- inspiring me to consider all the people out there just waiting to take action.
UP-FRONT MUST-READ HEALTH CARE NUGGET!!
At Free Clinic, Scenes from the Third World from the Los Angeles Times
"Doctors and dentists volunteering their services at the Forum see scenes like those in impoverished areas overseas."
A good commentary on these M.A.S.H. units from Joan Walsh of Salon HERE.
Now some regular nuggets (of a sort)
Why America Will Lead the 'Asian Century' from RealClearWorld
As China and India rise, and Japan becomes more "normal," they will balance each other within the US-led hierarchy to ensure that the US remains on top and one or the other doesn't dominate."
Obama Wins Over a Montana Crowd on Healthcare from the Christian Science Monitor
"President Obama flew cross-country Friday into a headwind of rural anger and suspicion about his healthcare reform package. And the mood of the town hall meeting awaiting him at an airport hangar in Belgrade, Mont. was framed by severe weather and about 800 “tea party” protesters gathered on the western horizon. But in the end, as a hail storm sent the demonstrators outside scrambling for cover, the 1,200 citizens indoors were not only receptive to what Obama said, but gave him standing ovations."
Repeat of '94 Looks Unlikely (Bill Schneider) from the National Journal
"In August 1993, at the end of his first 200 days, President Clinton's job-approval rating stood at 44 percent, 12 points lower than Obama's is now. In 1994, white men comprised 43 percent of the electorate. In 2008, their share fell to 36 percent."
In America, Crazy is a Preexisting Condition (Rick Perlstein) from the Washington Post
"The similarities across decades are uncanny. When Adlai Stevenson spoke at a 1963 United Nations Day observance in Dallas, the Indignation forces thronged the hall, sweating and furious, shrieking down the speaker for the television cameras. Then, when Stevenson was walked to his limousine, a grimacing and wild-eyed lady thwacked him with a picket sign. Stevenson was baffled. "What's the matter, madam?" he asked. "What can I do for you?" The woman responded with self-righteous fury: "Well, if you don't know I can't help you." The various elements -- the liberal earnestly confused when rational dialogue won't hold sway; the anti-liberal rage at a world self-evidently out of joint; and, most of all, their mutual incomprehension -- sound as fresh as yesterday's news."
Sarah's Ghoulish Carousel (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"So Newt took it upon himself to become Palin’s Pygmalion. ... He advised, the dizzy Palin has to be “clear in her own head what she wants to do.”
Barriers to GOP Revival in the Revolt Against Obama's Healthcare Plan from the Los Angeles Times
"Party leaders want to turn the conservative activism into votes, but find themselves the target of ire from many of the protesters."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwor
When the Kooks Take the Stage (Scot Lehigh) from the Boston Globe
"Some Republicans are gleeful in the hope that the testy town hall encounters will derail Obama’s signature initiative. Question: Do they really think the country is dopey enough to mistake microwave mobs staging Potemkin Village protests as an accurate expression of true American opinion? If so, they’re delusional."
VACATION POLITICAL NUGGET!!
Like Past Presidents, Obama Celebrates the Grandeur of Yellowstone from the Christian Science Monitor
"It's also a chance for the president to see how national parks - likened to Europe's cathedrals - need political and fiscal support."
A related story from Time Magazine HERE.
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Let's find out how to do this.
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