Another Reason Why I Think Barack Obama is Cool

Ten-year-old Kennedy Corpus has a rock-solid excuse for missing the last day of school: a personal note to her teacher from President Barack Obama.

Her father, John Corpus of Green Bay, stood to ask Obama about health care during the president’s town hall-style meeting at Southwest High School on Thursday. He told Obama that his daughter was missing school to attend the event and that he hoped she didn’t get in trouble.

“Do you need me to write a note?” Obama asked. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious.

On a piece of paper, he wrote: “To Kennedy’s teacher: Please excuse Kennedy’s absence. She’s with me. Barack Obama.” He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note _ to Kennedy’s surprise.

“I thought he was joking until he started walking down,” Kennedy said after the event, showing off the note in front of a bank of television cameras. “It was like the best thing ever.”

Obama Picks Lakers in 6

Vote on our poll at http://www.theblockfm.com to voice your opinion on who will win the NBA Finals this year, the Los Angeles Lakers or the Orlando Magic. President Obama has predicted the Los Angeles Lakers will win in 6 games. What do you think?

Obama in Saudi Arabia to discuss Middle East Issues

President Barack Obama is in Saudi Arabia after an overnight flight from Washington. Obama is planning to meet with Saudi King Abdullah to discuss a host of thorny problems, from Arab-Israeli peace efforts to Iran’s nuclear program. The surge in oil prices also was on the agenda.

The president was to stay overnight at the king’s horse farm in the desert outside Riyadh before heading to Egypt.

The talks with the monarch come a day before the president is to deliver a highly anticipated speech in Cairo on the U.S. relationship with the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.

Sonia Sotomayor Nominated to Supreme Court!

President Barack Obama named federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as “an inspiring woman” with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.

Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the “respect of colleagues on the bench,” the admiration of lawyers who appear in her court and “the adoration of her clerks.”

“My heart today is bursting with gratitude,” Sotomayor said from the White House podium moments after being introduced by Obama.

Palin writing a book!?

The very ignorant determined Republican governor of Alaska has signed the deal with HarperCollins publishing and the book is slated for Spring 2010, ironically around the same time as her re-election.

We hope the book addresses how she was elected in the first place!

The book is set to follow her Alaskan upbringing, her politcial career, and her most important roles: wife, mother, and grandmother of a baby out of wedlock. Lovely.

Palin shared her thoughts about the project with the Associated Press, stating:

“There’s been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered.”

Publisher Jonathan Burnham promises that “every word will be hers”, which at least means one person invovled understands the real purpose of this book: to show the world exactly how dumb she truly is.

Excellent View of the Miss CA/Perez Hilton Mess from Roland Martin of CNN

A lot of folks are always saying they like to keep it real, that they want authenticity and straight talk. Yet when someone actually does it, there is hell to pay.

Welcome to the world of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, who, since she answered a question regarding same-sex marriage in Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, has been savagely attacked by those who oppose what she had to say.

Leading the burn-her-at-the-stake parade is media opportunist Perez Hilton, the self-described gossip queen, and the individual who kick-started this controversy by asking the initial question as to whether the issue of same-sex marriage should be left up to the states.

It seems that Hilton, who is gay, was none too pleased that Prejean chose to actually give her personal opinion on the issue, and ripped her on his blog after the show, using crude obscenities as he continued to attack her at every turn on his media blitz.

Hey, Hilton, from a real journalist to a wanna-be who traffics in gossip: Never ask a question if you’re unprepared for the answer!

Frankly, this whole story is pretty stupid. Isn’t the whole point of asking a question to get someone’s true feelings, rather than the plastic and superficial answers we are all used to receiving?

Sure, Prejean could have gone the safe route and given one of those answers that reveal nothing and is hard to decipher — you know, the ones politicians give all the time — but no! She actually gave her real opinion, and is now being torn to shreds for it.

She opposes same-sex marriage. OK, fine. So what if she had said, “Hey, I’m in full support of same-sex marriage.” Would she now be celebrated on gay-focused blogs, magazines and Web sites? Would her detractors actually be saying how open she is and that she’s a great person?

Same-sex marriage is undoubtedly a hot button issue. And being from California, the site of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that voters approved outlawing same-sex marriage, Prejean has surely had to hear the debate go back and forth. But her remark isn’t outside the mainstream. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that 55 percent of Americans are against same-sex marriage, and Proposition 8 did pass in her state 52-48 percent. iReport.com: Prejean ‘should step down’

What’s interesting about this is that many of the same folks who are slamming her for her remark voted for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both have the same belief: that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that she has the same view, and it was her husband, President Bill Clinton, who signed the In Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that forbids states from having to recognize gay marriage in other states.

In other words, four of the biggest liberals in the country have the same belief as Prejean, but a beauty pageant winner is being torn to shreds. Hello, hypocrisy!

Those who criticize Prejean have the same right as she does to express their viewpoints. But enough with all the political correctness, where someone says she should have danced around the issue, smiled and move on. iReport.com: ‘Thank you, California!’

At the end of the day, we all have to be true to ourselves. Whether it’s a gay gossip writer who favors same-sex marriage or a heterosexual woman who is against same-sex marriage. The day we condemn folks for speaking honestly is the day we become a bland society.

Maybe we’re already there.

Alright Fine, We’ll Talk About the Tea Parties

I didn’t want to give these idiots any relevancy, but since the nutjobs are sprouting up all over the place, I guess I’ll take some time to respond, however inane their arguments are.

Ok so I think the best way to do this is to just rattle off some facts (and some opinions) in list format for ease of reading:

Here’s are 10 questions for all you people at these so-called T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already…cute isn’t it?) Parties ranting and raving about wasteful spending and deficits–

1. Why all of a sudden are  you upset about paying taxes?
2. Why all of a sudden are you upset about government spending?
3. Why all of a sudden are you upset about the bailout and the stimulus package?
4. Where have you been over the past eight years?
5. Where have you been while GWB and his Republican administration racked up the largest deficit in our country’s history?
6. Where were you when GWB and his administration would not include Iraq in the normal budget and would only pay for it with “emergency spending money” so he could hide the billions that were being funneled to private contractors (aka his friends) over in the Gulf to rebuild and secure a nation that we had just irresponsibly attacked for no good reason?
7. Where were  you when GWB passed the first stimulus package?
8. Where were you when Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt (i.e. more than equaled the entire debt burden produced by the previous 200 years of American history?
9. Where were you when GWB doubled it after Clinton eliminated it?
10. Where were you when Reagan (because of his insane cut taxes/raise spending economics) was forced to raise taxes TWICE to avert a fiscal catastrophe?!

I don’t mind if  you are worried about government spending. I will respect your views as much as their are LOGICAL and VIABLE with facts, history, and reality. But you Republicans and Libertarians and Fox News nuts at these tea parties don’t have facts, history, or reality on your side.

You protest when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office and a Democratic Congress. But you’re silent when there is a Republican President and/or Congress. You are currently a party that is living in a heaping pile of lies, revisionist history, and alternate reality.

You’re not protesting spending. You have rallied behind deficit spending for the past 30 years. You are protesting the fact that you lost the election in embarassing form. You are protesting because you are sore losers and you’re not willing to allow the “other side” even 100 days to try to right this enormous ship that has been diverted off track by your leaders.

Rather than taking to the streets to allegedly protest wasteful spending (by, ironically, wastefully spending on millions of tea bags), why don’t you all take some time to READ FACTS and LEARN HISTORY and deal with REALITY. Just for a change. Just to see where it leads you. You might upset your other ignorant, fire-breathing friends and family members, but you might just feel a little better inside yourselves.

ASU Feels Alumni Wrath

So ASU has been strongly affected by the noise created by The Block FM. Our loyal listerners who also happen to be ASU alumni donors have courageously made a bold stand against ASU’s decision not to award Barack Obama an honorary degree at the commencement this  year by pulling their donations.

So nowwwwwww ASU is backpeddling. See, when you make stupid, illogical decisions, all of a sudden the money fountain stops flowin’. $ talks folks, so keep up the good work.

Biden News!

Biden: Cheney Is “Dead Wrong,” And He Made U.S. Weaker
Vice President Biden told CNN that Dick Cheney is “dead wrong” in his denouncements of the Obama White House’s national security policies: “This administration — the last administration left us in a weaker posture than we’ve been any time since World War II: less regarded in the world, stretched more thinly than we ever have been in the past, two wars under way, virtually no respect in entire parts of the world.”

WaPo: Biden To Lead Push In Senate For Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The Washington Post reports that President Obama will be putting Vice President Biden in charge of shepherding the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty through the Senate. Biden led the previous push in the Senate for ratification in 1999, when he was the ranking minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee, coming up 19 votes short of the 67 needed in the then-Republican controlled chamber.

Joe Biden News!!!!

About an hour after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the Orioles-Yankees Opening Day game, Vice President Joseph Biden went up to the announcers booth and brought the house down, poking fun at the anonymity of his office, mocking his own baldness, and making a well-timed joke about former V.P. Dan Quayle’s failures as a speller.

Biden, appearing in a baseball cap and casual attire, was in the booth alongside Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, who is known, alternatively, for his great and colorful head of hair. After a bit of banter about the state of sports and the economy, the subject moved to politics. Pointing to Palmer’s scalp, the V.P. blurted out: “If I had this guy’s hair, I might have had a shot in the primaries.” Removing his cap, Biden added: “You know… Look, there ain’t a whole lot there.”

Palmer and fellow announcer Gary Thorne loved it. Telling Biden he was handling the responsibilities of his job well, the Delaware Democrat said of the gig: “No one ever remembers your name. It’s okay.”

When Palmer told Biden that they were going to have him do some of the game’s play-by-play announcing but had decided against it, the vice president replied: “Good. Good.”

Told that Dan Quayle had done as much and asked by Thorne if he would reconsider his decision, Biden chimed in: “Hell no. And I can’t spell potato either.”

Earlier in the day, Biden had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at Camden Yards. And while the toss was a bit high for the traditional strike zone, it did make it into the catcher’s mitt. “I’m so happy it got across the plate,” Biden said of his toss. “I was more worried about that than the debate.”

“Everyone knows you can talk,” said Palmer, in reference to the vice president’s gift (or curse) for gab.

“The question is, could I throw?” replied Biden.

From there, the booth got into a conversation that veered between the worlds of sports and politics. Biden talked about how he gave up dreams of a future in athletics relatively early in life. “I couldn’t make it in pro sports so I figure: ‘what the hell, I might as well be a vice president.’” Later, he quipped of his career choice: “It’s a lot easier, especially the ‘vice’ part.”

It wouldn’t be the last time he was self-deprecating when it came to his job. Told that it had been 76 days since the administration came into office, he replied: “Seems longer, doesn’t it?”

Hangin’ wit the Royals!!!!

Barack gives the Queen an iPod/she gives him a pic of herself
Michelle and Queen touch
Michelle fashion – rocks JCrew
Warhead cuts with Russia
Collaboration v. N.Korea
The art of protesting – 86 arrested, 1 dead

Home Decorating with the Obamas

Home Decorating With the Obamas

At a time when people are having trouble holding on to their houses, Barack and Michelle Obama have sensibly decided not to use taxpayers’ money to renovate theirs. New presidents are allotted $100,000 to overhaul the White House residence and the Oval Office, and the Obamas hired Hollywood decorator Michael S. Smith (known, per his site, for mixing “Old World classicism with very contemporary settings”). But the First Couple isn’t spending that money. They “are not using public funds or accepting donations of goods for redecorating their private quarters,” says Camille Johnston, director of communications for the First Lady. Nor is the couple, who reported $4.2 million in household income in 2007 tax returns, using money from the White House Historical Association, a privately funded foundation that paid for a $74,000 set of china shortly before Laura Bush left town.

But does this mean they’re going to spend more than $100,000 or less? Though Michelle Obama has talked up Pottery Barn, Smith’s client list includes cost-is-no-object types like Rupert Murdoch, Steven Spielberg, and former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain—for whom he procured that $87,783 rug. “There’s no question that he’ll get it done in the way that it’s supposed to be done,” says Smith client and Democratic donor Katherine Chez. “But how, I don’t know.” The White House declined to disclose the budget, saying that all expenses would remain private as a result of the Obamas’ decision to absorb the cost.

Review of the press conference

Last night’s Presidential press conference was a snoozefest. But that’s understandable. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance leading up to this election – it was historic for more than a few reasons. But now that the festivities have ended and all the confetti has blown off the Washington Mall, it’s time for the real work to start. Barack Obama has the world weighing on his shoulders right now, and he has tried to make himself excessively available to the media and the American public, and in my opinion, it’s not necessary.

What is needed right now is action, not words. Nothing that Barack Obama is going to satisfy the media or the right, and sometimes it doesn’t even satisfy the left. So instead of trying to explain every little thing to every person and defend every action, I think Barack Obama, with his wisdom and his intelligence and his toughness and grit should just bear down with his team and work on these problems. He can show his face to us once a month in  a nice big arena and do a speech telling us what he’s done over the past month and how it is affecting us. He can also do those weekly YouTube “Fireside Chats” that inspire and ignite us into action. But honestly, that’s it.

Don’t give the media fodder to throw around. It’s ridiculous. Damned if you do wear a lapel pin. Damned if you don’t. Damned if you speak on a topic too quickly and rashly. Damned if you take a few days to respond to a topic. Barack Obama cannot win in this situation. So he should not try. He should not allow the media to control him, instead he should control the media. He has the power to have them at his mercy, and right now, the time is so vital, I think he should make himself a bit scarce and just show his mental prowess and his toughness through the work of his administration, not through press conferences and talk show appearances.

We’ve put up with incompetence and idiocy for eight years, and now that we have someone who can make a complete sentence and actually has some intelligence, he is expected to be a miracle worker. Unbelievable. On that note, the White House will be Open For Questions on Thursday. Check it out, http://www.whitehouse.gov. This first round will deal with a chief concern for all of us: the economy.

To get started, head over to http://WhiteHouse.gov/OpenForQuestions and set up your account.  Then follow the simple instructions to start voting on questions or submit your own (we encourage you to include a link to a published video of the question being asked, although this is not required).

Alright Megan McCain…Now You Can Shut Up

We cut Megan McCain slack when Ingram called her fat. We defended her when she argued with Ann Coulter. We gave her our blessing to keep writing and speaking for the young Republican movement. But now, she’s done something stupid and we’re not going to let it slide.

“Hmmm,”Megan tweeted, “maybe the president shouldn’t go on Leno and talk about basketball and instead explain to me how those morons at AIG got bonuses…”

Perhaps Meghan shouldn’t have been so impatient with her critiques. Obama’s appearance on the show was remarkably wonky for the forum. Indeed, the main topic of discussion was the very issue — AIG — that Meghan McCain was knocking Obama for avoiding.

As the New York Time‘s write-up noted: “most of the discussion was devoted — perhaps for the first time in the show’s history — to in-depth discussions of tax policy, as well as macroeconomics and finance. And there was a reassurance from the president that the American people ‘should have complete confidence in the banks,’ and should not be putting their money ‘in their mattresses.’”

Also Megan, maybe you should take a few moments to ask your daddy and your daddy’s colleagues from the Bush Administration why they FORCED the language into TARP 1 that would ALLOW these bonuses. Shut the hell up until you get your facts straight, oh and also, unlike your dad, Obama seems to be able to do a few things at once, including filling out his NCAA bracket.

Damn, I am Proud of my President

Finally, a President who understands the power of words, the power of kindness, the power of wisdom, the power of diversity, and the power of extending a hand while being ready with the other clenched just in case. Wow, what a difference. Here is the transcript of President Obama speaking to the Islamic Republic of Iran to congratulate them on their New Year’s ceremonies and to welcome them to join the community of civilizations. So great. You can also check out the video right here.

Today I want to extend my very best wishes to all who are celebrating Nowruz around the world.

This holiday is both an ancient ritual and a moment of renewal, and I hope that you enjoy this special time of year with friends and family.

In particular, I would like to speak directly to the people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nowruz is just one part of your great and celebrated culture. Over many centuries your art, your music, literature and innovation have made the world a better and more beautiful place.

Here in the United States our own communities have been enhanced by the contributions of Iranian Americans. We know that you are a great civilization, and your accomplishments have earned the respect of the United States and the world.

For nearly three decades, relations between our nations have been strained. But at this holiday, we are reminded of the common humanity that binds us together. Indeed, you will be celebrating your New Year in much the same way that we Americans mark our holidays, by gathering with family and friends, exchanging gifts and stories, and looking to the future with a renewed sense of hope.

Within these celebrations lies the promise of a new day, the promise of opportunity for our children; security for our families; progress for our communities; and peace between nations. Those are shared hopes. Those are common dreams.

So in this season of new beginnings, I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders.

We have serious differences that have grown over time. My Administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran, and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek, instead, engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.

You, too, have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities. And that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization, and the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create.

So on the occasion of your New Year, I want you, the people and leaders of Iran, to understand the future that we seek. It is a future with renewed exchanges among our people, and greater opportunities for partnership and commerce. It is a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you, and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater peace and security.

I know that this won’t be reached easily. There are those who will insist that we be defined by our differences. But let us remember the words that were written by the poet Saadi so many years ago: “The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence.”

MARCH MADNESS!!!

It’s one of the most exciting times of the year! We all pretend we know what we’re talking about! We all fill out brackets, win and lose bets, formal or informal. We all watch the games, yell at the TV, cheer and boo, and wear our school colors, whether they are playing in the “dance” or not. It’s a great month!

The White House even joins in on the fun! This year, despite the crappy economy, Barack Obama has filled out his official bracket. Here it is! We’ll post our brackets for you so you can see how insanely stupid we are when it comes to college basketball!

Obama News Conference Next Week – Set Your TiVo

Barack Obama will be addressing the nation again in a live primetime news conference at 8:00 PM EST. News reports suggest that he will use the event to talk up his budget proposal. Here are five questions that should be asked:

1. Can AIG survive without additional government money? Why is this important? After the pounding the company has taken over the executive bonus issue, it may be politically impossible for Congress to approve any new bailout funds for AIG.

But if the company can’t survive on what it’s already received, that’s a huge problem. The government bailed out AIG in the first place because it feared AIG’s collapse would trigger a global economic meltdown. If AIG needs more money, the U.S. could be about to find out whether those fears were valid.

2. What did Geithner know and when did he know it?

A new White House timeline released Tuesday night shows that Geithner learned of the payments last Tuesday and called Liddy at 6 p.m. last Wednesday to tell him the payments are unacceptable and need to be renegotiated. By Friday, Liddy and Geithner had agreed to cut the bonuses in half and stretch executive bonuses out over time. President Barack Obama asked his team on Sunday to find a way to get the bonus money back.But the White House has sent mixed signals about Geithner’s efforts to recoup the money, saying on Sunday that he had exhausted all legal means to do so only to come back Monday and say he’s still trying. Maybe this seems trivial, but I’m sick of Geitner and I want to find a reason to force him to resign.

3. How will the taxpayers be paid back for all this 170 BIL for AIG?

There’s a larger question here. In the past, AIG has said it will sell assets – pieces of the company — to raise money to pay back the government for the bailout. Yet it’s possible that the company’s assets are worth much less than the $170 billion taxpayers have handed to the company so far. In fact, at close of trading Tuesday, the stock market valued the entire company at a paltry $2.6 billion. So is there any realistic scenario in which taxpayers get their money back, or are they in the hole on AIG indefinitely?

4. Was Goldman Sachs treated any differently in the AIG bailout than any other investment bank?

There’s a conspiratorial edge to this question: many have muttered that Goldman Sachs got preferential treatment because the company’s former CEO Hank Paulson was Treasury Secretary at the time of the initial bailout and because Liddy himself served on Goldman’s board.

But there’s enough data out there to merit a serious question: AIG long tried to keep hidden its clients who benefited from the taxpayer bailout, companies that bought AIG’s insurance for their exotic investments. But it finally disclosed the information on Sunday.

And it turns out that among the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer money from AIG was … Goldman Sachs. Someone on the panel surely will ask why.

5. Now that you’ve seen the first round of the NCAA Tournament, who will make the final four?

Well, you gotta have one token sports question per news conference, right? Aren’t we making that a tradition!?

TWITTER

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THIS MAN IS PSYCHO!!!!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/28/rush-limbaugh-at-cpac-dou_n_170792.html

Don’t mess!

First lady Michelle Obama looked swell in a Narciso Rodriguez plum silk dress at President Obama’s first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

The dress, which looked like a two-piece, was sleeveless, unusual in such a serious setting, but quickly becoming a first lady signature, exuding a certain confidence which seems to be exactly what the country needs right now.

On Friday, we’ll be seeing another Obama fashion blast on the cover of People Magazine where she’ll be wearing a lacy, kimono frock by Tracy Reese in azalea (this one has a tiny lace sleeve), which you can buy at the Tracy Reese store at 641 Hudson Street in Manhattan. A bargain at $395!

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