Obama laughing in the face of adversity?

Obama is a funny guy. That’s one of the reasons so many of us like him.

On the campaign trail we saw brief glimpses of his humorous side but he never really loosend up always wary of the  fact that one overblown joke could cause him the presidency Obama kept his self-deprecating, dry sense of humor in check.

But over the past few months as Obama has become increasingly comfortable with the presidency and his role as president and unfortunately as the situation has become more and more dire he’s started to lighten up and it’s not uncommon for him to crack a joke during a national press conference or address and admitedly most of the time his jokes or observations are witty and funny.

But on Thursday during his appearance of  “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno a characteristically self-deprecating joke about his bowling skills left a lot of families and people hurt. Then during an interview with “60 Minutes”, which aired yesterday, Obama joked about some aspects of the American economy likening his humor to ‘gallows humor’.

After he said, ” The only thing less popular than putting money into banks is putting money into the auto industry,” noting that, ” There’s got to be a little gallows humor to get you through the day.” Obama’s first statement was dead on but it’s no laughing matter. Detroit one of the US’s largest cities and the capital of the world’s auto industry is on the brink of collapse and Obama is joking about it?

Call me bias if you want (I lived in Detroit for over two years and I have a special fondness for Ferndale and Royal Oak MI) but I don’t get the joke.

Obama is the person charged with fixing all our problems and if he doesn’t make substantial headway in achieving many of them he’s going to be a one term president. And with everything he’s dealing with he’s probably suffering from  a ‘contact high’ brought on from being so close to all these disasters but frankly with the most powerful country currently on its knees and our collective suffering becoming a bit too overwhelming for even the strongest and the brightest among us I’m in no mood to laugh.

I admit I’ve never been one to laugh in the face of adversity, (I’d probably jump kick it..lol) so forgive me if I can’t laugh it off. And maybe if I lighten up I’d be able to see the humor in all of this like President Obama.

Republicans finally find their voice and fall in line..

And the public for the first time in a loooong time is actually listening and more importantly interested.

With so much riding on this stimulus package Republicans have decided to draw their line in the sand by opposing  the much needed and eagerly awaited economic package.

And for the first time in months they are actually falling in line and rallying behind their leader House Minority Leader John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Could Boehner be emerging as the new Republican leader? But that’s another story..

Anyway, Republicans have somewhat successfully articulated the difference between opposing the very popular President Obama whose approval rating stands at 70% and House Democrats. Who they have assigned blame for the package and the current lack of bi-partisanship. With an approval rating of just fourteen percent (14%) they can afford to diss them. I guess that means  they don’t hate Obama they just hate the other Democrats and all their ideas..lol!

And opposing this stimulus package was a gift to the GOP party it allowed them to finally express themselves in a populist manner. But what I haven’t seen or heard is a credible alternative to the stimulus package. And I’m looking believe me because our national deficit cannot be sustained at its current level and consequences loom directly over my life.

So Republicans what is your alternative?

If the government does nothing, we fall deeper in the hole but we have a shot of at least minimizing and containing the damage. If it doesn’t we fall deeper in the hole and everyone except the top 1% of the population edges closer to the brink of economic collapse and millions more will fall over the edge and the resulting impact on our society is frankly, unfathomable.

So, I ask again what is the alternative? More, tax cuts? You’re kidding right? While I agree that tax cuts, in the long term are more beneficial our economy needs to be jump started, people need some extra money just to acquire basic necessities, Americans need a jump and the stimulus package will provide those jumps- in effect it’s our jumper cables or our AAA.

Republicans have failed to show us their jumper cables and I know they don’t have AAA!

What are their proposals and solutions to help working families, the college student and the small business person today, tomorrow or next week?

You see, this is the problem with the GOP. During the election John McCain, et al, would always say they aren’t Bush but yet they could never clearly articulate the differences between themselves and George Bush and the Bush administration.  And once again the House Republicans are imitating the McCain campaign by having a counter proposal but hazy or little details on its benefits to the average citizen.

In effect Republicans are asking us to accept that their proposal is better than Democrats’ and just sign a blank check over to them? Correct? Isn’t this what got us into the mess in the first place? ?” Trust me, I know what i’m doing..” may have worked a couple of years ago but it sure as hell isn’t going to work now!  And don’t Republicans accuse Democrats of signing too many blank checks?

Hypocrisy is never flattering.

Inevitably, many of us are prepared to accept that the economic stimulation package will not solve all our economic woes but we’re also prepared to challenge the assumption that we should just do nothing and let the economy work itself out. Regardless of the outcome positive or negative Republicans will have explosive political ammunition for the 2010/2012 election.

Republicans may have found their voice this month but they are yet to find a genuine battle cry!

Obama gives first interview to Arab t.v..

 

President Obama is out to change the world!

You go dude!

Obama gave his first formal interview from the White House to a Saudi Arabian television station Al-Arabiya television.

Obama is reaching out directly to Muslims. His first outreach was during his inaugural address last week and later in his first week on the job he dispatched proven diplomatic top dog, Former Senator George Mitchell to the Middle East. This week he sat down with popular Arab journalist Hisham Melhem to discuss US policy. 

 Obama is sending a message directly to the people of the Muslim world that the US is NOT at war with Muslims or Islam, a message that was seemingly abandoned during the Bush administration, and that we’re ready to sit and talk with all  moderate Muslims who are seeking to improve their lives and the lives of the country men and women.

We shouldn’t read too much into this interview, many muslims will undoutedly remain suspicious of this direct approach by Obama for a while but Obama is seeking to actively improve Muslim-US relations and this shows he is not just paying lip service to the notion and this is a start-a GREAT START. Positive signals like these will aid in the  marginalization and isolation Al Qaeda. And combined with systemic policy directives and positive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks Al-Qaeda and their allies will be  pushed closer and closer to the fringes of mainstream Muslim societies.

 And this is exactly what needs to occur in order to defeat Al Qaeda and advance middle east peace.

Obama in his first week took on the economy.  His second week the Middle East.  What will week three bring?
He’s a multi-tasker after my own heart. Young politicians watch and learn..watch and learn..lol

You know, I think Barack Obama has achieved more in the last seven days (admittedly he hasn’t even got a bill passed yet) than George Bush did in seven years!

Observation.. I wonder which conservative pundit or  politician will be the first to say that this interview confirms Obama’s muslim sympathies? Wanna bet it will occur on or will be an anchor of FOX News? Any takers? Anyone?

Global attention for Obama..

To coincide with Obama’s overseas trip I’ve posted a couple of global music videos celebrating and praising Barack Obama’s candidacy.

Here’s a soca song for Obama by Trinidadian soca legend Mighty Sparrow….

Jamaican reggae superstar Cocoa Tea does a wicked reggae song for Obama..

Andres Useche uses Obama’s slogan, yes, we can as his hook..and it works perfectly…

There’s even a punjabi poem celebrating Obama’s rise….

Hmm..with such global attention already can you imagine how the world would react to an Obama presidency?