In one week, on Wednesday, January 20th, Barack Obama will celebrate his first anniversary as President of these United States. I’ll let others criticize his first year in office. Here is a list of a few of his accomplishments, at least as I see it:
- U.S. and Global economies pulled back from the brink of catastrophe
- Responsibly winding down the war in Iraq
- Increasing our focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Prohibited torture and worked to close Guantanamo Bay
- After eight years, renewed America’s engagement on the world stage
- Uniting the international community to call on Iran to live up to its obligations
- Iran is more isolated than ever
- Passed $787 billion stimulus package
- Confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
- Bailed out the U.S. auto industry
- Allowed the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco
- Won Nobel Peace Prize
- And let us not forget, cover of the best-selling comic book of 2009, Amazing Spider-Man #583, Cool!
Not too shabby a performance, for just a former community organizer. He still has health care to carry out, but it is so close, you can almost taste it. Obama also still has three more years to go and maybe another four after that. Just try to imagine what his promise of change will bring in time.
I offer the following blub by way of equal time. After all one must stay fair and balanced. Just as I am sure, Sarah Palin will be as she embarks upon her next career as a FOX News Entertainment commentator.
Last Sunday on Sixty Minutes, former McCain campaign advisor, Steve Schmidt, was interviewed. It fell to Mr. Schmidt to “prep” McCain’s Vice-Presidential running mate, Sarah Palin for her debate with the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. Apparently, when he was first called in to help, things were not going too well. The sole Vice Presidential debate in Saint Louis was just days away. When he stepped in she was not at all engaged in her debate preparations. If that wasn’t enough for deep concern, Palin had a reflexive tendency to refer to Biden as “O’Biden,” said Schmidt, something that had to be fixed before the debate. He said others in the campaign came up with a solution, ‘Just say, Can I call you Joe,’ which she did. Schmidt said he took over the prepping, simplified it, and said she “held her own” in the debate. But not without one “O’Biden” slip up on national television. 😈
The picture with this post is of a Cooper’s Hawk. Anne spotted it on January the third, on our way into Ted Jones State Park, at the Confluence. Today’s header shows a Boeing 747 sailing overhead, improbably Air Force One. This photo was taken last Sunday.
OBTW, this my soapbox. If you have something to say, get your own.