Barack Obama -- March 8, 2009

March 8, 2009

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From $1 trillion in debt
to $4 trillion in debt
in six weeks

event	description
Taliban Outreach	Obama declared in an interview that the United States is losing the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban. Asked in an interview with The New York Times if the United States is winning in Afghanistan, Obama said "no," while adding "our troops are doing an extraordinary job in a very difficult situation." "But you've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think ... in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," Obama said in the interview, which was posted Saturday on the Times' Web site. There may be opportunities to reach out to moderates in the Taliban. Obama says he hopes U.S. troops can identify moderate elements of the Taliban and move them toward reconciliation. Asked if the United States was winning in Afghanistan, a war he effectively adopted as his own last month by ordering an additional 17,000 troops sent there, Obama replied flatly, "No." Obama said on the campaign trail last year that the possibility of breaking away some elements of the Taliban "should be explored," an idea also considered by some military leaders. But now he has started a review of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan intended to find a new strategy, and he signaled that reconciliation could emerge as an important initiative. At the same time, he acknowledged that outreach may not yield the same success. "The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex," he said. "You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and sometimes operate at cross purposes, and so figuring all that out is going to be much more of a challenge." For American military planners, reaching out to some members of the Taliban is fraught with complexities. For one thing, officials would have to figure out which Taliban members might be within the reach of a reconciliation campaign, no easy task in a lawless country with feuding groups of insurgents.
Paying A Price	According to PowerLine blog, from the beginning of his administration, Barack Obama has been more popular, personally, than the policies he has sought to implement. It was inevitable that before long, voters' doubts about Obama's policies would erode his approval ratings. That process now seems to be underway. After consistently scoring a 59 or 60 percent approval rating in the Rasmussen Survey for at least the last couple of weeks, Obama has begun to drop and has been at 56 percent approval for the last two days, with 43 percent now disapproving. "Strong" approvers now outnumber "strong" disapprovers 39 to 31 percent. So after only six weeks, 70 percent of the electorate already has strong feelings about our new President, pro or con. From the beginning, the Democrats have overestimated both Obama's personal popularity and the extent to which that popularity will cause voters to accept (or perhaps not to notice) otherwise unpalatable policies. The most basic evidence for that proposition is that polls do not show majority support (or, in most cases, even plurality support) for Obama's major policy initiatives -- the bailouts, trillion dollar plus deficits, and so on.
The Class Warfare Drum	He hasn't called anyone an "evildoer" or denounced an "axis of evil." But make no mistake: Obama is putting together an enemies list, and in his search for an enemy, he keeps beating the class warfare drum. Strangely, though, those on Obama's list are not terrorists or foreign dictators. They are mostly Americans lucky enough to have succeeded through capitalism and democracy. In the President's words, they are guilty of being "special interests" and "lobbyists." The Bush-era tax cuts were merely "an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy" and he will bring fairness by raising taxes on "the wealthiest 2% of Americans." His barbs flow almost daily, faulting corporate leaders for "greed" and shirking "a sense of responsibility." And sometimes he suggests the problem is criminal, as when he defended his plan for an expanded government push into health insurance as necessary "to keep the private sector honest." Less than half-way through what should be a 100-day honeymoon, the Obama administration is on a war footing. Make that a class-war footing. Sometimes the targets are critics, including two TV commentators singled out by press secretary Robert Gibbs for faulting the President's bailout plans. Sometimes the targets are Republicans, like conservative talker Rush Limbaugh, the focus of a plan led by chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to divide the GOP and score points with the Democratic base. But the tone of the President's own attacks on industry and his spending and tax policies are increasingly worrying Wall Street and much of the business world. With the stock market reaching lows not seen in more than a decade, including a 20% drop since Inauguration Day, headlines like "Obama's bear market" are suddenly routine. Obama dismisses the growing perception that he is adding to the economic pain. Asked about the markets, Obama waved them off as like a "tracking poll in politics" that "bobs up and down day to day."
Too Tired	Obama was "too tired" to give proper welcome to Gordon Brown. Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president was facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. Sources close to the White House say Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest. British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister. But Washington figures with access to Obama's inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship. "Obama is overwhelmed. There is a zero sum tension between his ability to attend to the economic issues and his ability to be a proactive sculptor of the national security agenda. Allies of Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk. "People say he looks tired more often than they're used to," the strategist said. "He's still calm, but there have been flashes of irritation when he thinks he's being pushed to make a decision sooner than he wants to make it. He looks like he needs a cigarette." There he goes complaining about being tired again. Many others have noticed that Obama, despite his comparative youth, often complains of being tired or fatigued. During the campaign, Obama frequently used the excuse of being tired or fatigued to cover-up campaign missteps and verbal gaffs. Too many late night parties with Stevie Wonder.
Holder Chided	Obama has chided his attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., for describing America as a "nation of cowards" when discussing race, wading into a tumult that flared over Holder’s indictment of the way this country talks about ethnicity. "I think it’s fair to say that if I had been advising my attorney general, we would have used different language," Obama said in a mild rebuke from America’s first black president to its first black attorney general. In an interview with The New York Times on Friday, the president said that despite Holder’s choice of words, he had a point. "We’re oftentimes uncomfortable with talking about race until there’s some sort of racial flare-up or conflict," he said, adding, "We could probably be more constructive in facing up to sort of the painful legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and discrimination." Holder made his comments last month during an address to employees at the Justice Department, saying that "though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been and we, I believe, continue to be in too many ways essentially a nation of cowards." His remarks ignited protest, particularly from conservatives. One post, by Stephan Tawney on the American Pundit blog, said that "our attorney general is black, both major parties are led by black men, the president is black." "And yet," Mr. Tawney wrote, "we’re apparently a 'nation of cowards' on race." Mr. Obama was asked whether he agreed with Mr. Holder. He hesitated for five seconds before responding. "I’m not somebody who believes that constantly talking about race somehow solves racial tensions," Mr. Obama said. "I think what solves racial tensions is fixing the economy, putting people to work, making sure that people have health care, ensuring that every kid is learning out there. I think if we do that, then we’ll probably have more fruitful conversations." Sounds to me like Obama agrees totally with Holder -- he just disagrees with his choice of words.
Obama, The Film	Perhaps a film made in Hawaii will put the idea to rest that Obama was not born in the United States. For some skeptics showing a birth certificate might not have been enough. Now some University students are about to produce a film about Obama's birth. These University of Hawaii students will use a cast of local people for the story that takes place at Kapiolani Medical Center, the place where it is conjectured Obama was born. The story will relate how nurses and staff would feel if they knew that the child born there was going to grow up to be President of the United States. It focuses on one nurse in particular passed over for promotion and the baby that is born, with the impact that the event eventually had. The students are advertising for a cast and crew to sign up for this film.