January 16, 2009 – 6:03 pm
Mike Allen’s Politico Playbook alerts us to this AP article about the end of David Letterman’s “Great Moments in Presidential Speeches.” In case you’ve missed it, the bit contrasts clips of grand historical presidential rhetoric (“The only thing we have to fear…”; “Ask not…”) with clips from current presidential speeches in which George Bush is […]
January 16, 2009 – 2:24 pm
President-elect Obama visited the Washington Post yesterday – always a good idea to make friends with the hometown reporters and editors (as if his press coverage could get any friendlier). During the meeting, the Post reports, Obama spoke about the need for Social Security and Medicare reform. Not surprising, even though the issue was once […]
January 9, 2009 – 7:17 pm
Continuing with Josh’s theme of … uh … indecorous utterances, Chinese dairy producers have finally provided a firm answer to the question, “What should you absolutely never, ever communicate to someone via text message?” And the winner is: Sorry we killed your children. According to the BBC, “Chinese dairy companies involved in the tainted […]
January 8, 2009 – 6:39 pm
It sure would have been nice to see a Ford among all those Buick dealers, not to mention a Reagan. But your sentiment about the historic change represented here is one we all deeply share. It brought to mind the graphic above that somebody created shortly after Election Day. Talk about dramatic. Also, not a […]
January 8, 2009 – 11:22 am
I hate to dwell too much on visuals and symbolism, but the pictures coming out of Wednesday’s lunch with President-elect Obama and Presidents Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Carter were pretty cool. To understand how cool, just picture John McCain standing there instead of Barack Obama. Wednesday afternoon bridge club? Meeting of Buick owners? Yes and […]
January 7, 2009 – 5:55 pm
Economists may find trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see to be exciting. Personally, it takes me right out of the mood. It seems every one has decided that Richard Nixon was right after all, and we’re all Keynesians once again. Just so the Democrats realize: when the inevitable inflation follows, it’s […]
January 7, 2009 – 11:49 am
At Barack Obama’s press conference today, NBC’s Chuck Todd asked the president-elect to please, please, please say something about the current situation in Gaza. Obama didn’t take the bait, patiently explaining to Todd that when he says, “There’s only one president at a time,” he means it. Kudos to Obama. The press and plenty of […]
January 6, 2009 – 7:36 am
While Barack Obama is putting the finishing touches on his Inaugural Address, the candidates for chairman of the Republican National Committee are discussing how to rescue the Republican Party. The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank quotes RNC candidate Michael Steele, former lieutenant governor of Maryland, “You have Republicans scratching their head, going: ‘Who are we? What […]
January 4, 2009 – 6:03 pm
In a State of the Union address the president can set out the details of his new federal policy on widgets and waterworks. In the Inaugural Address, however, Barack Obama will need to be as much of a poet as his friend, Elizabeth Alexander, a prize-winning poet who will read the celebratory poem. The new […]
January 3, 2009 – 5:03 pm
In a world of tepid editorial pages, The Washington Post remains a standout. Its writers are truly diverse, incisive and smarter about policy than the readers who actually make it. If we took economic advice from Robert Samuelson, legal and constitutional advice from George Will, and let Charles Krauthammer direct U.S. foreign policy, we’d have […]
January 2, 2009 – 6:02 pm
Eli Saslow’s Washington Post profile of Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter, 27 year-old Jon Favreau, lays the groundwork for Favreau’s DC media persona. Young? Check. Guitar hero, text messaging, Red Bull, rumpled and unshaven, mildly inappropriate partying. Successful? Check. Quick on his feet, trusted by the president-elect, associated with the best speeches of the last year. […]
