Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Saturday, August 8, 2009

FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA, IT WAS A VERY GOOD WEEK


Through unofficial diplomatic efforts and former President Clinton's diplomatic skills, two American journalists returned home, unharmed, and to great enthusiasm and gratitude.


The unemployment numbers were down for the first in FIFTEEN MONTHS, indicating that the economy MAY be improving. That's better than news indicating that the economy MAY be worsening, n'est pas?


President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, was confirmed with 9 Republican Senators voting for her confirmation. Congratulations, again, to Judge Sotomayor!


Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, appears to have been killed by a missile strike in Pakistan. Prress Secretary Gibbs said "...there seems to be a growing consensus among credible observers" that he is indeed dead. "If he is dead, without a doubt, the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result," Gibbs said.


17 comments:

Arthurstone said...

I think Obama is doing okay.

Things are a mess. No mistake about that. And 24/7 cable and the endless echoing of the internet make that abundantly clear.

Seven months in and the work doesn't get any easier. And with seemingly ever-decreasing attention spans and ever-increasing demands for 'fix it yesterday' on the part of the great American public the static level remains far too high.

But that's just the way it is.

The new 'American' motto, "No!".

Wait, make that "Hell no!".

Things are mighty uncomfortable all around. Particularly for a heretofore over-privileged group used to having things their very own way for a long, long time. The resentment is obvious and the 'discourse' too often very ugly.

Old habits die hard.

Pamela Zydel said...

Arthurstone: Don’t forget the motto of “NOW!”
Unemployment is down one tenth of a percent; it’s low, but going in the right direction. It remains to be seen if it’s a fluke or our economy is on its way to improving. There is no doubt that the recovery of our economy is going to be VERY slow, and I think the public better get that through their entitlement-immediate-gratification-saturated minds VERY quickly.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

This period is similar to when Carter became president in that it is a pousy time to become president. No matter what Obama does, it's going to take time to show progress because of the huge mess he took over.

I wish Obama would move faster on ending our occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. And also work towards a single payer health insurance system. But he has to work with the nattering nabobs. Things take time.

TOM said...

Yes, a good week for the President.

A bad weekend for the SOX - ouch.

Ruth said...

Silver lining; because treasuries are less desirable when the economy brightens, stocks are regaining their value as investment.
S&P above $1000.

Anonymous said...

In light of what I have read about your blog being anti republican. I also read you blog and I’ve read it many times... You take pride in making Rush Limbaugh who you have called the ‘real’ head of the republican party, as well as George Bush and Dick Cheney who have left office 8 months ago. And now you are on Michael Steel’s case. And you never let up on Sarah Palin And you have been the number one name caller and you seemed to delight in your posting of pics making them into clowns and looking like fools.
I don’t want to be the expert for how to NOT respond to negative comments. But I need to tell you that you are doing yourseld a big disservice. Indeed, this is not my duty.. But if you want some advice on what to do when you get a negative comment on your blog. As bloggers, you and I will always be inclined to deal with negative people online, it goes with the territory .. But before getting all fussy and angry at the person who made the comment, make sure it wasn’t your fault all along, remember that it’s ok to be wrong once in a while. And I really think that’s your problem. You think that you are always right and you have a chip on your shoulder if you are called on something you said that my not be correct. Apologizing to the commenter can really turn things around and be a good ting..
Take time to cool off and do not respond to criticism immediately. Every time I have responded to something negative right after I read it, I’ve regretted it. Ignore it, at least for a while that will help you put the comment into perspective.
Let your followers defend you. If the negative comment was by a new reader,
Ignore the comment, or reply with a very short, non-combative response. Maybe it’s not even worth it to reply. Maybe replying will satisfy the ego of the commenter, if indeed their intention was to yank your chain. Doing nothing is not a bad option at all – although I recognize that as bloggers we have a hard time not responding An appropriate short response may be something as simple as “Okay.” Or, “Okay, whatever.” This type of response shows you are not going to get into a debate or argument, and would rather diffuse the issue. But when you resort to name calling and delete their comment and yet allow your commenters to also name call, you are asking for trouble. Remember that you side, the liberal side is not “always” right. You may want them to be but you can’t defend them when they are not. You NEVER seem to delete Truth101's comments even when he himself thinks that you would because of the NASTY things he says!!!!
I’m aware that no one is perfect, not you and not even the person leaving a comment – they might be horrified to realize how their comment might be misinterpreted! But don’t directly make fun of them.
Don’t delete, the comment if his comment was really degrading, and obviously off-topic then your readers will ignore it as you should.
And remember, You get what YOU ask for.

Anonymous said...

I enjoy reading someone's viewpoint of Obama or Bush or Rush Sarah Palin from a liberal viewpoint. But only if you remaine objective and pointed out the interesting facts about the person and their duties.
The name calling and the stupid pictures only make you blog less credible.
A blog that's littered with hatred and rabid emotional rants are only doomed..

Pamela Zydel said...

Sandy: I like reading Shaw's views on the Right's talk-show hosts and Palin, etc. The only one I listen to on a regular basis is Beck, because he makes me laugh and I need levity in my life. I digressed. The photos Shaw posts aren't any different than the ones the Right are posting with Obama and Pelosi, etc. Both sides have a canny way of accusing the other of making fun of people when they are both doing the EXACT same thing. I think everyone needs to practice what they preach.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Sandys Thoughts wrote:

"You take pride in making Rush Limbaugh who you have called the ‘real’ head of the republican party, as well as George Bush and Dick Cheney who have left office 8 months ago. And now you are on Michael Steel’s case."

Dear Sandys Thoughts,

Could you please show me where you got the information that I'm "...now on Michael Steel's case?"

Because if you review my last, say 10 posts, you will see that I don't mention Michael Steele. So could you please tell me where you got that idea?

And if you mean by the beginning of your comment that I take pride in making fun of Rush Limbaugh, you are absolutely correct.

Limbaugh is a radio entertainer with an audience in the millions who listen to and internalize what he says to it for 3 hours a day, five days a week. Most of his listeners, I suspect, never bother to verify his blather, therefore, they come away with disinformation. Limbaugh is NOT an elected official, he's a radio personality, not sacred, but IMHO, certainly profane and fair game.

SANDYS THOUGHTS: "And you never let up on Sarah Palin And you have been the number one name caller and you seemed to delight in your posting of pics making them into clowns and looking like fools."

This is a political blog with a liberal point of view. When I visit CONSERVATIVE blogs, I see, among other things, photoshopped pictures of President Obama depicting him as the devil or a Nazi, as well as postings that excoriate him, his wife, and everything he has done in the last 6 months. And those blogs call him every name in the proverbial book. I expect that when I go to conservative blogs. As is said "It comes with the territory."

[Just wondering, do you visit thos conservative blogs and scold them for their policitcal photos and their opinions?]

I don't understand why you come here and complain, expecting me to change how I run this blog because you don't like my liberal point of view.

The last person at this blog to call one of my commenters a name (he called him a "fag" a "scumbag" and a "shithead.") was a guy who calls himself "Conservative." His blog is full of nasty writings about Mr. Obama.

Have you instructed him on name-calling and how to better run his blog? I'm just wondering if you police conservative as you do mine.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Also, Sandy, to be fair, I went to your blog and found that you're not above name-calling yourself.


FROM YOUR MAY 12, 2009 POST: "Not President Smirky, we will just show everybody, HE WON! He will do what he likes. I'm sure Michelle is proud of his Country now. She is sitting on the other throne.

FROM YOUR APRIL 8, 2009 POST: "But I don't think that Bibi Netanyahu is going to allow the little pipsqueak Obama to dictate to him in any way shape or form!"

And you're not above calling teevee personalities names either:

FROM YOUR SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 POST: 'Palin was right. Gibson is a braying jackass,"

FROM YOUR SEPT. 13, 2008 POST:"Baabaa Waawaa and her gaggle of post menopausal hags obviously do not have the dignity or etiquette to treat some one like Senator John McCain with the respect he deserves as a guest, a senator, a former Vietnam POW, or Presidential candidate."

What can I say, Sandy?

You come here and high-handedly instsruct me on blog etiquette, when you don't practice it yourself?


PS. I read through a number of your posts, and the long comment to me on how to handle commenters, etc., is not your voice. It appears that you cut and pasted that part of your comment. Just an observation.

Shaw Kenawe said...

I posted before I read Pamela's comment.

She understands how this blogging stuff works.

And probably better than most since, like me, she has a lot of LEO characteristics.

;-)

Pamela Zydel said...

Shaw: Thank you for the compliment. Although far from perfect, I try REALLY hard to be fair. It's probably my Libra rising and that "justice" thing. lol. But in all seriousness, people need to open their eyes and see that the Left and Right are both doing the same exact thing. Has anyone taken the time to google Bush Hitler and Obama Hilter and checked the results? The image results on Bush are 1,820,000 and Obama are 1,510,000. So, this isn't just one party bashing another. It's BOTH parties. Neither are innocent and it's time people owned up to the truth.

Shaw Kenawe said...

I'll be posting in a day or so what the various Jewish leaders have had to say about the Hitler comparisons on BOTH sides.

We've got to come to our senses and stop this.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Why can't all the hypocritical,ignorant and deluded right wing fools get along with us open minded and rational progressives? We are all Americans here.


Sandy jumped on my latest post. I thought it was pretty even handed in that I got on both sides. Oh well. Some people just can't handle fair and balancedness.

TOM said...

To stop it, it must become unacceptable. To become unacceptable, it must be denounced by the same side that is saying it.

If liberals compared Bush to Hitler, it should be other liberals that condemned that speech.

When conservatives compare Obama to Hitler, it should be other conservatives that condemn that speech.

If something is truly out of line, isn't it out of line no matter which side of politics you are on?

This week a religious right winger claimed that by reading the words of the Bible, the Bible proves that Obama is the anti-Christ.

Are there not other religious conservatives that would condemn that speech, or do they really agree with that statement? If they disagree with that statement, I have not heard them say so.

I am a liberal, but some things are just wrong, even if it's my fellow liberals saying it.

Shaw Kenawe said...

The pastor who tortuously makes Obama's name into meaning the anti-Christ will feed into an already fearful, distrustful group of people, some of whom may be weak-minded enough to believe it is their Christian duty to rid the world of the antiChrist.

That pastor is the one who represents Evil.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

I've always said I have no problem with God. It's the creeps that claim to represent Him that I abhor.