UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who bore with us through our tech issues today for the live stream. We finally got it done.
The video stream of the taping is after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »
President Obama today unveiled Dr. Regina Benjamin today as his choice for Surgeon General.
A rural Alabama family physician, Benjamin made some headlines rebuilding her nonprofit Gulf Coast medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Obama said during the news conference announcing the pick, “For all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what’s best about health care in America, doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients.”
Benjamin calls the job a physician’s dream. “I cannot change my family’s past,” she said. “I can be a voice in the movement to improve our nation’s health care and our nation’s health. I want to be sure that no one falls through the cracks as we improve our health care system.”
Read more about Benjamin below the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
By Lorna Bracewell
PoHo contributor
In a presidential proclamation issued on Monday, President Barack Obama officially recognized the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The president’s call for equality and his acknowledgment of the many contributions LGBT people have made to America’s culture, society and politics despite being culturally, socially and politically marginalized are truly moving. However, I can’t help feeling slightly ambivalent about the whole thing. Here’s why:
By Peter Schweitzer
PoHo contributor
Let’s hope for his sake Barack Obama’s vetting team asked Sonia Sotomayor if she has paid her taxes. Let’s hope they asked her if she’s ever hired, employed, otherwise used undocumented folks for laundry, housekeeping, garbage pickup, whatever. Also, she damn well have been kidding about the impact a judge’s ethnicity and sex have on the decision-making process. She better downplay her comment about a Latina woman (isn’t that redundant) making better decisions than a white male considering the folks asking her questions are predominantly white males, and old white males at that.
Now, for the hard part… Read the rest of this entry »
By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
Ben Luongo is a USF political science graduate student. He will be graduating this spring.
I wanted to follow up on my last piece which was on the tea party protests, so I attended Tampa’s tea party at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. I previously wrote that the debate on Obama’s spending has suffered from the failure of both sides to provide reasons for their arguments. I therefore attended the event with the hopes of understanding some of the tea-partiers’ reasons for their concerns.
Here is what we talked about: Read the rest of this entry »
Conservatives have not been shy to voice their concerns about Obama and his stimulus plan, especially with their new fad, Tea Parties. More than 600 Tea Parties are planned nationwide on tax day Wednesday, according to taxdayteaparty.com. There will be around 40 to 50 Tea Parties here in our home state. However, its not clear as to what the concerns over the stimulus really are because the protests are rife with attacks calling Obama a “socialist” or “commander in thief.”
Check out the video from taxdayteaparty.com below:
However, the dumping of tea into rivers and lakes is not only a waste of tea, it’s a waste of an opportunity. I propose an alternative plan which will put that tea to good use:
By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
President Barack Obama announced on Friday his new Afghanistan/Pakistan strategy, which he says has a clear goal:
To disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That is the goal that must be achieved. That is the cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same – we will defeat you.
Listen to his speech below:
To achieve this, Obama is sending an additional 4.000 U.S. troops to the 17,000 scheduled to be deployed to the region in the next couple of months. He is also sending a civilian “surge” which would include mostly diplomats and specialists.
Is this a good idea?
Read the rest of this entry »
By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
Ben Luongo is a USF political science graduate student. He will be graduating this spring.
Last Thursday marked the six-year anniversary of the war with Iraq. During this time, the U.S. has lost more than 4,000 troops and Iraq civilian losses are estimated around 90,000. According to the National Priorities Project the war has cost more than $650 billion so far, and much more will be spent. Also according to them, Tampa taxpayers have paid more than $600 million in federal taxes towards the total Iraq war spending approved to date.
By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
Ben Luongo is a USF political science graduate student. He will be graduating this spring.
The New York Times on Tuesday reported on a letter President Barack Obama sent to Russian president Dmitri Medvedev supposedly offering to terminate the development of the missile defense system in Europe if Russia became a key player in halting Iran’s nuclear program. Later that day, Obama clarified the content of the letter saying that the NYT article didn’t “accurately characterize the letter.”
“What I said in the letter is what I have said publicly, which is that the missile defense that we have talked about deploying is directed toward, not Russia, but Iran, and what I said … was that, obviously, to the extent that we are lessening Iran’s commitment to nuclear weapons, then that reduces the pressure for, or the need for a missile defense system.”
The NYT article may have mischaracterized the letter if it led readers to believe that the White House was using the missile defense system in Europe as a bargaining chip. I don’t believe that was the intention of the article nor do I think that Obama plans on using the system as a bargaining chip. There is another concern though – that the topic of the defense system even came up at all in the letter. Here’s why…
By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
Ben Luongo is a USF political science graduate student. He will be graduating this spring.
Obama’s Congressional address was not the only speech the nation was eager to hear, but it was the only one that wasn’t a disaster. Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana delivered the response to Obama’s address Tuesday night and took on big government spending. Jindal said:
“In all these areas, Republicans want to work with President Obama. We appreciate his message of hope, but sometimes it seems we look for hope in different places. Democratic leaders in Washington — they place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you, the American people. In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government. We oppose the National Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and to create jobs.”
How did this go over?
A fitting video of the arrival of Fay, a storm we in the CL Weathercenter 4000 find highly suspect. Stay dry, folks.
And in non-storm news:
Obama does a little social work, helping care for — and foster a sense of community in — a certain elderly gentleman. Have a good weekend everyone.
Olympic fever and the dull days of August have slowed real news to a trickle. Sports Illustrated has a list of the 25 best sports videos (that contain no actual sports) on YouTube. Here is #1. (Warning: Not for the kids.)
As the debate over “The Surge” continues, here’s a look at Baghdad from a journalist who actually lives there.
Here’s a sneak peak of the movie everyone (especially angry conservatives looking to score political points) will be talking about this fall. Presenting the first trailer for Oliver Stone’s W.
And so we bring the week to a close in style, with a little game of “Bush or Batman?” Have a good weekend everyone.
McCain insists he was right when he said The Surge led to the Anbar Awakening, despite the fact that the Awakening happened in 2006 and The Surge happened in 2007.
Work got you down? The state of world keeping you up at night? Are stress and anxiety eating you alive? Have I got the solution for you:
Obama’s weekend tour of Afghanistan (as shown in this AP video) seems to have gone well. And check that standing-o he gets from the troops.
Here’s your first look at the new, unfortunately-titled Bond movie, Quantum of Solace:
I usually don’t pimp golf, but Tiger Woods put on a show this weekend at the U.S. Open. His bum knee a constant distraction, Tiger made a dramatic birdie putt on the final hole to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate.
In Honor of Fathers Day, I present this short film that I did not make but found on YouTube.
Planning to vote Republican? Watch this video and then share your ideas for our nation in the comments section.
Scientists have planted electrodes in the head of a monkey that allow it to control a robotic arm with its thoughts. Here’s the video:
Notice how they force the perspective so you can’t tell that the top of the monkey’s head is chopped off or that wires are streaming out of his exposed brain. Have a good weekend everyone.
*-As WP pointed out in the comments section, Alma is a Pacific hurricane, and the Pacific hurricane season started on May 15. I’m a dumb ass. Thanks WP.
Lost finale tonight. Predictions in the comments section.
Great moments in presidential speechifying.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!
Sen. Barack Obama’s appearance at the St. Pete Times Forum is over, but the battle for Florida’s 27 electoral votes is just getting underway. In a poll released Monday, Rassmussen has Sen. John McCain out in front of Obama 50%-40% in Florida. This 10-point lead is down from the 15-point advantage McCain enjoyed last month. Digging below the surface of the numbers reveals some other interesting tidbits:
On that last point, Markos at Daily Kos is chalking up Obama’s weakness to the ongoing battle with Clinton and the raw feelings of her supporters. If that’s the case, Obama simply has to win back Florida Dems (something that seems very likely to happen before the election, primary bad blood or no) and the Sunshine State is a dead heat. With McCain behind in fundraising and currently purging unhappy lobbyists from his campaign staff at an alarming rate, a 10-point lead may not be very good news after all.
But don’t get too cocky yet, Obamaheads. Rasmussen still puts the likelihood of a McCain victory in Florida at 75%.
A lion in winter.
(Photo Credit: Brian Finifter)
You’re a grand old flag …
OBAMA IN OREGON: Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of 65,000 on Sunday in Portland; another 15,000 couldn’t get in. How well will he pack the St. Pete Times Forum Wednesday?
(photo by Ryan Harvey)
So, among the items in the shrunken section formerly known as ‘Metro’ in the St. Pete Times was this tidbit: “Obamania, or Obamaybe Not?” — in which the writer raises the specter that “snubbed Floridians” might “stay home and sulk” rather than attend the Obama event in Tampa on Wednesday. Really? Biggest political celebrity in years, who attracted 2,000 without hardly trying last time he was in town, and now arrives with nomination in reach? Who are these “snubbed Floridians,” anyway? As far as I can tell, they’re a projection conjured up in the minds of “snubbed” St. Pete Times political reporters who haven’t been paid sufficient homage by the Obama people, and so have been harping endlessly on his failure to campaign here — whereas I suspect most voters (except for the Clinton-or-else crowd) see that both Democratic candidates have been hobbled by an impossible situation aggravated by the FL legislature and the DNC, and will gladly turn up to see either.
A little dose of straight talk.
Have a good, non-violent weekend.
Dave is so friendly.
What will you do with your government stimulus check?
