Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Phorced to be Phony

“You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save in college.’’
It’s not me saying that, it was Barack Obama, last month. Good advice, but as is often the case when you’re president, it landed him in hot water, so two weeks ago he went out of his way to [...]

Stockholm Syndrome in Copenhagen

It’s cold in Vermont. Our long autumn has given way to the winter weather that always beats the calendar winter by a few weeks here. Frank Capra snowflakes fall past my window as I type.
On Saturday evening, in the company of a 14-year-old girl, I walked to a park in the south end [...]

The Audacity

The need to address the co-option of Newsweek and the Washington Post was so strong last week that I left hanging President Obama’s decision to send 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize today, Mr. Obama spent a good portion of his speech addressing war in general and the Afghan war specifically.
So, [...]

The Edge of History

I hate anniversary journalism, but the remembrances of the fall of the Berlin Wall this week got me thinking. I was in Chicago that week in 1989, watching the news in a hotel room as I rested my feet, which ached from walking all over town in new shoes. Never visit Chicago if [...]

Condemned to Repeat It

The actual quote from George Santayana is, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (Those who cannot remember the quote are condemned to misquote.)
Today’s New York Times has a story about Ted Kennedy’s posthumous memoir, in which he says President John Kennedy’s “antenna” was up over the misbegotten situation in [...]

You Don’t Say

Some days, it must stink to be president. Earlier this week, for example. Barack Obama was in Mexico meeting with President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Kind of a NAFTA meet-and-greet. The three big topics were supposed to be drugs, gangs and immigration.
(The New York Times [...]

Joe Biden Date Night

Barack Obama is causing me trouble. Me, personally.
The president and first lady are making a habit – a very public habit – of reserving one night a week for a date. Marriage maintenance is important for couples who’ve been together a while, especially if they have kids and the day job [...]