January 23, 2009 – 12:06 pm
News that former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was dumped from Bank of America yesterday capped a remarkably tone-deaf period in Thain’s otherwise successful ascent of the Wall Street ladder. After being brought in to restore confidence in Merrill in 2007, and then hailed as a shareholder savior when he arranged Merrill’s sale to BofA […]
January 22, 2009 – 10:24 am
On day 1 (or 2, depending on how you count), President Obama took action on a few items that were regularly highlighted in his campaign rhetoric: Guantanamo, lobbying, and open government. He also made a decision that’s responsive to the times: freezing the pay of top White House employees. All of the orders send positive messages […]
January 22, 2009 – 9:19 am
Wait, what’s that lump in my back? Should I call the doctor? Let me feel around back there . . . There seems to be a long, ridged boney protrusion in the middle of my back, rising from my hips, up the length of my torso, into my brain. Could it be a spine? Oh […]
January 21, 2009 – 11:48 am
As Vinca did, I also cruised around the new whitehouse.gov shortly after noon yesterday. The Obama team looks poised to do some interesting things with the site, most of which I probably won’t understand. But one old-fashioned thing seems to be missing: Any evidence that the last eight years happened. Throughout the Bush Administration the […]
January 21, 2009 – 10:44 am
Reaction to President Obama’s inaugural address has been fairly tempered in the 22 hours since it was delivered. Aside from Mark and Clark, no one seems to think it was a home run. Few seem to think it will be memorable in and of itself – apart from the reality of Obama’s place in history. […]
January 21, 2009 – 10:15 am
In his inaugural address, President Obama spoke with force and depth – and went far to confirm himself as more than the winner of an election, but as the leader of the entire country. In broad strokes he did what every president does in his first speech on entering office: He reaffirmed the American experience […]
January 20, 2009 – 5:21 pm
Listening to President Obama’s magnificent Inaugural address today, I am struck by his ability to hit on what every American craves out of Washington—a willingness to put work before politics. “On this day,” he said, “we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that […]
January 20, 2009 – 4:15 pm
We already knew that President Obama would author a new chapter in presidential communication. Beyond his personal writing talents and his signature speaking style, he and his team have made the most of new technologies to spread his message — with the result that the clock has been turned back on the soundbite-ization of America; […]
January 20, 2009 – 12:29 pm
So the moment has passed; the address is delivered. It will be remembered, probably not as one of the best, but certainly as one of the most consequential. Everyone will take their own piece of it with them. Here’s what I took. The most heart-stirring line, coming near the end of the speech, captured the […]
January 20, 2009 – 10:20 am
Up to three million sets of eyes are expected to look upon the West Front of the United States Capitol today as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. But I can’t help but think of one set of eyes in particular that will look in the other direction: […]
January 20, 2009 – 10:12 am
Whatever your politics, today is a day of great moments. In one profound respect, Barack Obama’s inauguration is similar to those of Andrew Jackson and John F. Kennedy, not so much as a matter of American politics, but of American culture. A group that felt excluded to one degree or another from the American system […]
January 20, 2009 – 9:01 am
The normally unbearable Richard Cohen pulls out a nice piece today in the Washington Post. He reminds us that, aside from Lincoln and Kennedy and all, Barack Obama will have a few other things on his mind as he steps up to the podium to deliver his inaugural address. He also (inadvertently?) previews the first […]
January 20, 2009 – 8:53 am
On The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday – the day before Inauguration Day – Jill Biden told the audience that Barack Obama gave her husband, Joe, the option of being either vice president or Secretary of State. Doh! Furthermore, Mrs. Biden suggested that her husband chose the VP slot because it would involve less travel, sort of the […]
January 19, 2009 – 2:18 pm
First inaugural addresses mark a moment at once sacramental and instrumental. The secular sacrament — the outward and visible sign of the inward, invisible grace in our polity — is the American democracy’s peaceful transfer of power. Through the contentiousness of an election campaign, the people’s mandate, not just for this or that leader, but […]
January 19, 2009 – 12:33 am
I was struck by a phrase in President-elect Obama’s remarks to the throng who’d gathered for today’s “We Are One” extravaganza at the Lincoln Memorial. After saying that few generations have confronted the kind of challenges we face today, and warning that meeting these manifold challenges will take not months but years, Obama asserted, “But […]
