Ms. Hughes and Mr. Obama

[filkertom]

Understand: I am not happy with the way things are going under the Obama presidency so far. I'll have to post in detail on that later this week, but the short form is that the "stimulus" is a mess and the state-secrets legal bullshit is wrong wrong wrong.

There are problems. There will always be problems, and we must always be diligent.

But.

I defy you to watch this footage from Obama's town-hall meeting in Fort Myers, FL today, and not get at least a little bit teary-eyed, and feel a little proud that, after eight years of Chimpy McShithead, someone like this is, at last, our president.

And the best part is, the community stepped up.

Comments

[kyril.livejournal.com]

A legal argument made the same day the order to start reviewing all of the state secrets comes out, should not be expected to have been reviewed in that short a timeframe. Should they have asked for a continuance? Perhaps. But I'll buy that this one case was worked under the previous marching orders.

Next time we hear about a state secrets defense, I won't be eager to cut the new administration any slack. But for now, they're still cleaning out the old vestiges of W's administration, and trying to locate the "Yes we can" keys removed from their keyboards by disgruntled outgoing workers from the previous administration.

[concertigrossi.livejournal.com]

What Kyril said.. I'm inclined to cut some slack, at the beginning. Deliberate action after carefully weighing all factors; not jumping to immediate, knee-jerk reactions without examining all the data - these are such refreshing changes.

Having said that, lo, the White House phone will ring, and yea verily will the inbox overflow with my fury, if he continues the Evils of the Bush Administration.

Alternately, what Marc Ambinder (http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/02/considered_in_light_of_the.php) said.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I can agree on the "stimulu" bill being a mess.

But I also want to thank you for posting the link about Mrs. Hughs and how so many people stepped up to help her. I really needed to see something like that and it lifted my spirits tremendously to see people coming together to help one of their own.

[tommytoony.livejournal.com]

Hell, this woman wouldn't even have been able to get near the building Bush would be speaking in.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Yup, she'd have been off in a 'free speech zone' and would be lucky not to get tasered.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the stimuli bill is a reeking crock of horse manure... but lets be fair here, just how much of that is his fault, and how much is the result of all those congress-critters and senators trying to pad it with pork and those with their own axes to grind...

and lets be honest here. Even the basic premise of the bill is flawed. It assumes it's even possible to fix this disaster, and that is by no means assured.

But at least he's trying to do the right thing, rather than actively fucking it up even more than it was!

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

What siliconshaman said.

It's going to take them time to even come close to fixing this crap.

But at least they're moving forward.

[eibii.livejournal.com]

Word.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

The best part of the town hall is that, as reported by Keith Olbermann, the tickets were given away on a first-come-first-serve basis, at the venue. They weren't handed out by the president's political party based on whether the recipient was known to be loyal to the president.

And I'd bet real money there were protesters right outside and no damned First Amendment Zone.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

The Presidency - now featuring COMPLETE SENTENCES!

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

You owe me a new keyboard because mine has become full of water for some reason. ;-)

[talis-kimberley.livejournal.com]

Hey. A President who can inspire ordinary people to try to make each others' lives better. Wow.

...it's nice to feel on speaking terms with the USA again. (All my USA friends notwithstanding, of course! *You* guys were never the issue.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

[hugs] Very good to see you here, lovely lady. All going well?

[naomi-de-plume.livejournal.com]

I admit that isn't all magical perfection yet (Damn it where is my unicorn! I was promised a unicorn!) but, it's been a really long time since a president hugged a homeless person and promised to help. Obama's got class and he does stuff that makes me cry. I think I'll give him a month before I render judgment on how he's doing.

[old-fortissimo.livejournal.com]

I suspect your unicorn is wearing my jet pack or driving my flying car.