Day: April 26, 2009

Obama’s  Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has declared that press coverage of the first Hundred Days merits a grade of "A", while he believes that his President’s performance so far deserves a grade of "B+"  because there is always room for improvement.

It seems obvious that Obama and the majority of the nation’s press, particularly the major newspapers, the major networks,  and two of the three cable channels have been involved in a "torrid"  love affair.  Of course, talk radio and Fox News Channel and a few major conservative oriented daily newspapers have been dissenters. 

The question is how the majority of the nation’s media will react when things get tougher and the sense is that there are major shortcomings in results and reaction to crisis, something that seems realistic to expect over time.  And one wonders whether Gibbs will ever lower his own estimate of his boss’s job performance over time.  Somehow,  I doubt that he will be willing to admit any less positive conclusion.  :)  LOL

A major controversy surrounds the release of the Interrogation Memos drawn up by White House lawyers in 2002 for the Bush Administration, in  order to justify the need for congressional backing of a war against Saddam Hussein, despite lack of evidence of a connection  to Osama Bin Laden or to Weapons of Mass Destruction. 

There are those who say the torture methods used at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, as well as at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, were necessary and justified, but it is clear that Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and others were simply trying to find reasons for the upcoming war and were willing later on to claim a few low level soldiers (so called "bad apples") did this on their own without higher authority.  Several soldiers have been punished but neither the lawyers who drew up these memorandums nor the top government officials who authorized illegal actions have been willing to admit their part in the emerging scandal.  Rather than tell the truth, they have tried successfully until now to "sweep it under the rug" and "cover up" the facts so as to save their own skin.  This is despicable, outrageous behavior, and it makes Nixon’s scandals pale by comparison. 

Now we are told it will hurt national security if we investigate this in detail and that we must look ahead.  I say we cannot look ahead until we expose the total truth and hold those accountable for these illegal activities and crimes in a court of law.  The top officials in the government of the past administration need to be called before the bar of history,  because truth is the most important thing, not the impression it makes on other nations or even our enemy.  We are a special nation, or at least we would like to think so, and we need to emphasize the importance of ethics and morality in our dealings with the world, and also the need to come clean and make sure that NEVER again do we have a rogue government that abuses powers and dumps its crimes on the low level soldiers, the young men and women who sacrifice for their country and deserve our respect, and instead have been utilized as scapegoats.

CBS’s Sixty Minutes just had a story by Lesley Stahl about Vice President Joe Biden and his role in the Obama Administration after 100 days, which will be marked this Wednesday, April 29.

Biden  has played a major role, stating that he is involved in every major decision and is "in the room" until the end of each situation that requires consultation.  He has made no major "slipups" since early February, despite his well  known penchant to talk too much and put his "foot in his mouth".  He and Obama get along splendidly and Biden is the best ambassador the President has for his many initiatives in domestic and foreign affairs.  Biden also gets along very well, without any feeling of rivalry, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who meets with Biden every Tuesday for lunch.  Biden has had to get used to the idea of being a number two and therefore not always being a free spirit who could say whatever he wants to say and do whatever he wants to do, but he expresses the feeling that he is very content in his role as second fiddle. 

It is obvious that Biden is indeed having a major impact on the Obama Presidency and is in the process of restoring the dignity and class to the office that was earlier displayed by Walter Mondale and Al Gore when they were Vice President under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton respectively.  The country is well served by Biden being in the number two position, and it is obvious that Barack Obama is very happy with his partner as they attempt to "move mountains" in domestic and foreign policy.  The selection of Biden remains one of the very best decisions Obama has made, and it will have a positive effect on the historical image of the Obama Administration.

It is a good sign that the Obama Administration is not sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see whether or not the Swine Flu crisis will be a national health emergency.

Better to plan that it will be, than react as the Bush Administration did with the early threat of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 by doing nothing.  If it turns out that the flu crisis remains smaller than thought likely, all to the good, but the nation’s government agencies must act quickly if it does indeed turn out to be a major epidemic as feared.

In my mind, this is similar to the concept that global warming may turn out not to be a reality, but better to plan for it than be caught up in the midst of a crisis with too little reaction, leading to major catastrophe.  One must plan for the worst, and hope for the best in both areas as well as other potential situations that may arise in the future.

In other words, there is a NEED for government to be activist, not the Reagan emphasis on government being the problem.  Lack of action and preparedness has been the problem.  Repudiation of Reaganism is definitely part of the American scene in 2009!

President Obama had a meeting a few days ago with the leaders of the credit card industry, and gave them a clear declaration: Stop the exploitation of America’s consumers, an action long overdue.

Credit card abuse has been and remains a major problem, victimizing millions of American consumers, with short pay periods, sudden rise in interest rates, and all kinds of excuses to impose fees, even when a consumer pays the entire bill.  Millions of young Americans have been coaxed over the years to look at plastic as if it is a gift, and then ruining their credit histories for the long run by building up horrendous debt levels they cannot pay.

During the Bush Administration, creditors and the credit card industry received unfair advantages, including making it more difficult for debtors to declare bankruptcy.  Now the trend is toward helping debtors and cracking  down on the abuses so obvious in the credit card business that have made many middle class people fall into the lower middle or even the poorer class of society.  Regulation is now in the offing, something that was allowed to collapse during the years of the GOP in charge of Congress and the White House.  To say the least, long overdue and essential to occur as soon as possible!