Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Hope Revisited!

I'm feeling it again. That same hope I felt on November 4, when Barack Obama was declared the winner of the Presidential election. And on January 20, when I saw him get sworn in and pinched myself.

That hope I felt when I knew we had a smart, empathetic, real person in control. That hope that has somehow been wearing away as we've watched the Republicans somehow maintain control of the debate over how to fix the mess their party got us in to in the first place. The hope that's been wearing down during the past few weeks while President Obama's been in Washington attending to our country's business, but hasn't been speaking directly with us.

Well, three times over the last couple of days he spoke with us again. And the hope is back!

First, President Obama visited the town of Elkhart, Indiana for a town hall meeting, and we remembered why we fell in love with candidate Obama. Then last night, he held his first prime time press conference as President Obama, and the magic was back.

He answered questions intelligently and thoughtfully, and he stated the case for why we needed this "stimulus package" and how it will work. He admitted that he's human, and showed that he cares... about all of us.

If you didn't get the chance to watch the press conference last night, you can now:



Today was the icing on the cake. President Obama proved that he can be the answer we need. I think he needs to do these town hall meetings, at the very least, on a weekly basis. These are his "fireside chats." They and he are what we need right now.

Chances are you didn't get to see today's event, as it happened in the middle of the work day and, hopefully, you're lucky enough to still have a job. So, do yourself a favor and watch it now by clicking here.

For the next few days, I'll be in San Diego participating in a music conference called the Sunset Sessions. I'll be interviewing and videotaping a lot of artists who are playing, blogging, and producing a radio special from the event as well. I'll have a lot of music to share with you next week, in addition to my regular interviews and commentaries.

I'll probably blog from there, but likely won't have another podcast until Monday... but please check back often. You never know when something will warrant a post!

Click here to listen to today's Radio or Not podcast (runtime 26:54), which features Hope in a Hopeless World by it's writer Phil Roy, and another version by Widespread Panic.

1 comments:

elkojohn said...

I'm not as hopeful as Nicole:

Mr. Obama gets 50% on Truth Meter about Stimulus Plan:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/feb/09/barack-obama/some-republican-attacks-relatively-small-others-no/

Amy Goodman on Obama's War:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090210_obamas_afghan_trap/

The Obama Justice Department Stands Behind Bush Secrecy
In Extraordinary Rendition Case:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/38695prs20090209.html

And of course,
he has totally disregarded the suffering
of the Palestinians in Gaza,
who continue to suffer under the Israeli blockade & apartheid.

I think Mr. Obama is a nice person and very sincere,
but as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm-X) pointed out,
many successful blacks continue in
the tradition of the house slaves who
look favorably upon the white power structure.

I think the problem is not that the Hero Democrats
are being obstructed by the Villain Republicans
but that our 2-Party System is run by
big money & powerful special interest groups.

Yes, they will always throw bones to the voters, PRN,
but ultimately, they will always ignore
our Constitution and Human Rights
when it suits their needs.
This will eventually ruin our country.

My HOPE is that someday,
the 'Merikan sheeple will take a
wrecking ball to the 2-Party Dictatorship.