Al Gore wants quick action on climate change. Sen. Edward Kennedy says health care reform can't wait. Labor unions want a bill making it easier to organize.
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling for the immediate closure of the military's prison for foreign terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org urges a steady troop withdrawal from Iraq. The National Governors Association is pleading for billions in aid to states, pronto.
And, by the way, Mr. President-elect, the American Lung Association would like you to make all federal work sites smoke-free.
New administrations always face a cacophony of competing demands, but few presidents have been confronted with the sort of urgent and varied pleas being made to Barack Obama, amid two wars and the worst economic crisis in generations, says Anthony Badger, a University of Cambridge historian of American politics.
Well, when you promise to heal the world of its infirmities, this is what you can expect. The problem is, you can't please all of the people, all of the time. Someone is going to feel jilted and may get restless in the process. This could lead to disillusionment and the withdrawal of support in other areas.
Oh well, get ready for a new kind of leader. Change is on the way. (Now, turn your head and cough. This won't hurt a bit.)
5 comments:
Totally OT, but I wanted to pass this along, especially to Rocket.
I don't comment at sueprfrenchie anymore, but I still read, and you have to check these comments on the latest "french bashing" thread:
Pascal says:
December 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
[moderated - sf]
The most open vehement attacks against the French or anything French originates from American jews. Apparently they are still pissed at Chirac for opposing war on Iraq. Then as usual if you disagree they start pulling the antisemitic rethoric, remember how bad it was in the media in 2003. Add to this a few Americans travellers feeling personnaly insulted by Paris ‘unfriendly service”. On top of that, the complete absence of a real representation defending our interest in the US, and you get an out of control media diarrhea.
[moderated - sf]
SuperFrenchie says:
December 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
To Pascal: I moderated parts of your post.
Although I think you’re dead wrong, it’s fine to make the argument you made....You may have a slightly stronger argument by saying “strong Israel’s current policies supporters” although again, that’s not something I have personally noticed. But maybe I just couldn’t care less the ethnicity of the basher. And I don’t think you should either!
Ugh. Disgusting.
BTW, consider those comments in the context of what happened to me when I applied the Bush moniker "chimpy" to 0bama. I was threatened with banishment and called a racist!
Hi Greg.
I got banned for less. chuckle! I check in there about once a week or so to see what is going on and I'm really out of the loop. If I had a dollar for each "connerie" that I have heard in my life I would be a wealthy man. Life is too short. In 18 months I've lost both my mother and my father. (plus now I've got a condo in SOFLA which we can't sell LOL)I really can't worry about what some people think but I will furiously defend what I believe to be right and just. Glad to see that you have stopped contributing as it seemed you were beating a dead horse. No need to carry the flag over there. We carry it inside of us and that is what counts. No need to prove to anyone who we are.
In fact LA got it right when he stopped contributing. He simply said that's enough and he (I suppose) has never looked back. No need to insult, he just left. (even though he is Army as Mustang would say, for me LA showed real class.
Superfrenchie is what he is and what he believes in. I don't hold it against him. I just don't agree with him nor the majority of those who post but it is his blog not mine. Besides the total number of contributers is quite low just repetition. I don't miss that peace and Love chick Jo Anne though. I would love to hear from Amerloque here at LA who is often too absent.
Superfrenchie once made a comment which opened my eyes as to what he believed when he said something to the effect of there was a dichotomy in his mind as to who he was. French born but now in a certain way American minded. When you live in a foreign country for so long it is a real question we have to ask ourselves sometimes. Who are we and why do we so often vociferously defend our birth country even though we have left it long behind.
Just please remember one important lesson in life.
Dallas Cowboys bad! Dallas Cowboys bad!
Greg:
I am not at all surprised at the comment, SF's site attracts a rough bunch. Their anger shows through, although I am not altogether sure why they are all still angry.
He opened the site to combat what he believed to be widespread French bashing in the wake of the Iraq War. Much time has passed since then and to me, it is just another left-wing site.
But I will give SF some credit for moderating it a little. Not sure what it said initially, but hey, he did take it down a notch or two.
Rocket:
Thanks for the nice words, but like you said, "life is too short". I don't hold any grudges against SF either. In fact, he's always welcome here. He lurks around from time to time, like many others that read this blog and never comment.
I don't think he's a bad guy. He just disagrees with a lot of what I believe to be true. His worldview isn't the same as mine. A lot of that is merely because we were raised in two different worlds, and no other reason. He's the same age as we are, but brought up under different circumstances. His experiences formed his attitudes and opinions, just as our experiences shaped us.
I think he had a good blog at one time. But unfortunately for him, I think he lost control of it. And it's sad, because he had some good discussions at times until the angry people took over. He let it happen, but it's his choice and his right.
I didn't open a blog in response to anything in particular. I did it to have intelligent discussions and to weigh in on the issues of the day. I try to provoke people to think about something and consider it.
Do I vent sometimes? Absolutely. Am I biased? Absolutely. All blogs are. Some are overt in their bias and others not so much. SF and his readers are quite overt in their disdain for the US and very seldom hide it. Some of his readers do it out of frustration, others are just plain mean and nasty.
The difference between our two sites? His idea of a successful blog is numbers, and that's his objective. I say, if they come, great. If they don't, oh well. Not only that, I don't put up with mean people very long and I don't give a damn if they ever come back. Numbers mean nothing to me, quality does.
Greg and Rocket:
Thanks to both of you for coming here and sharing what you are willing to share. I appreciate it.
I'm not sure if you've noticed but jew-bashing is VERY common on left-wing boards. However, I have to say I am completely shocked to see Denis tell a blogger it's cool to say the Jews hate the French, even if he disagrees. So, you're right, LAS, it's become just another left-wing blog where everyone thinks if it weren't for the Jews and their sponsor America, peace and prosperity would reach every corner of the world. It's a BIG BIG REASON I HAVE BECOME MORE CONSERVATIVE IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. I REALIZED THAT MOST OF THE LIBERALS (NON-JEWS) I KNOW ARE ANTI-SEMITES AT THE CORE. It makes me physically ill. We've got one of these assholes in the White House now - I see right through him.
Post a Comment