I wanted to say thank you once more to this week's Guest Reactors. All of whom did a fantastic job.
If you missed them, here's a list of their contributions:
- Wednesday: Ashiado - Auto industry meltdown
- Thursday: Theghostofkarlafayetucker - Obamalocomotion
- Friday: scubaval - No Drama Obama
On behalf of the Guests, thank you for your continued reading. We love you, Kula!
Now, on to this Morning's Reaction.
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For the first time since they met during the final Election Debate on October 15th Alfred E. Smith Dinner/Roast on October 16th, President-elect Obama will be meeting with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today. This was just some the 44th President's lost news in the wake of speculations concerning Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and the Obama Administration's Secretary of State position.
An Obama-Biden spokesperson, Stephanie Cutter, spoke that this meeting is in keeping with the promise that Mr. Obama made to Mr. McCain during the election to move "beyond partisan politics and [start] bringing change to Washington."
"They share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality. They will be joined in the meeting by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Congressman (D-IL0) Rahm Emanuel."
Also reported by The Washington Post, Mr. Obama taped his first post-election interview with Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes. The interview includes First Lady-to-be Michelle Obama and will air this Sunday, 16 November.
A 0:45 clip of the interview is available on their website.
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President-elect Obama wants you to pull up your pants.
From the New York Times reporting on a 3 November 2008 broadcast of Mr. Obama speaking with young people on MtV:
"... brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What’s wrong with that? Come on.
"Some people might not want to see your underwear. I’m one of them."
I suspect he's also going to want us to tighten our belts and get to work! Well lead on, McDuff!
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For those having withdrawal from the campaign "video updates" from Mr. Plouffe and others, Obama-Biden Transition Project co-chair, Valerie Jarrett, offers a 2:09 video message via Change.Gov. In particular, she lays out, in layman's terms, what the rules are that all lobbyists will be subject to as they take part in the Transition Project's work.
Video embed and Transcript are below (for those having trouble, link is above):
Transcript:
Hello everyone. My name is Valerie Jarrett and I'm one of the three co-chairs of President-elect Obama's Transition Committee. The other two chairs are John Podesta who was formerly Chief of Staff to former President Clinton and Pete Rouse who was formerly Chief of Staff to Senator Obama when he was in the Senate.
So we are very interested in making sure that this transition is transparent, that we are giving information just in time to those of you who are logging on to our Change.Gov website, so that you know what's going on just as decisions are being made.
So last week we announced the co-chairs, President-elect Obama also announced that Rohm Emanuel will be his Chief of Staff. And this week we announced several of the key people who are leading the agency reviews. The Departments of Treasury, State and Defense were the three we came out with since of course you that the economy and national security are two of the key issues that you, the American People, are concerned about.
So we have a lot of work to do. We've hit the ground running. President-elect Obama is committed to having an efficient, competent well-organized, transparent and bi-partisan transition team. We are looking for the best and the brightest around the country to help the President-elect as he assumes office on January 20th.
President-elect Obama adopted the most sweeping and strict ethics rules that have ever been in place in the course of a transition. So what we will prohibit is anyone who has lobbied on an issue, within the last year, from working on that issue in the course of the transition. Also, if you are a lobbyist, you may not lobby during the course of the transition.
Normally you'd come back after President-elect Obama takes office for one year and lobby on an issue that you worked on in the course of the transition. These are sweeping rules. The goal is to make sure that everyone understands that this is not going to be a revolving door for lobbyists. That we are looking for people who have the best interests of you, the American People, in mind as they help us prepare to govern, and going forward.
So we'll be back, frequently, to give you updates. We encourage you to log on to our website, as I mentioned it's Change.Gov on a regular basis so that you have just-in-time information.
Thank you very much.
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From what I've been reading and hearing from many around me, the talk of Mr. Obama's Senate seat vacancy has gone through all points between shark-jumping to Powerball-numbers speculation. I spoke with two non-Obama-backing colleagues yesterday who modesty was wondering why he doesn't keep his Senate seat until the inauguration.
Now these two are not morons. To their credit their allegiances are not unshakable (their concerns are strictly based on taxes and healthcare reform issues, and considering their incomes and positions, they get a bit of a pass on me so long as they're not snippy with criticism.)
I offered that having a President-elect hold a position as Senator as well would constitute a direct conflict of interest (voting for legislation now that would go into effect upon the start of his administration, etc.) They accepted this, but I wasn't completely happy with my answer and knew they weren't either. So I decided to see if there's a Senate Rule that backs me up.
I think this is the one:
Standing Rules of the Senate -- RULE XLIII
REPRESENTATION BY MEMBERS
- No Member, with the intent to influence solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation an employment decision or employment practice of any private entity, shall-
(a) take or withhold, or offer or threaten to take or withhold, an official act; or
(b) influence, or offer or threaten to influence the official act of another.
Now if I'm reading this correctly, this rule doesn't mean he and Joe Biden cannot remain Senators, it means they cannot vote.
What's your take? I really want to get these guys come Monday afternoon. :D
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Not enough pictures in this Reaction. So I'll go Chuck Norris on you all and kill two stones with one bird.
Some people make and keep promises for only themselves, donchaknow? From comic genius, The Oregonian's Jack Ohman.
Nice of her to endorse, finally. :D
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ONE MILLION PEOPLE!
That's what the AP reported yesterday as the estimation of how many may be attending the inauguration of the 44th President on 20 January 2009.
If you want to go, don't go looking for tickets from eBay (they banned any attempts to scalp them online), Craigslist and other sources are to be considered "suspect".
New rules to be issued Monday will lower the number of ticketed bleacher seats along the parade route from 20,000 seats to 8,700, leaving much more of the route open to people without tickets, Barna said.
I know there's already a group of Kossacks organizing for the big day so I recommend that you think and plan ahead if this is really something to be personally witness to, or something to watch from home or about town.
A million? ... I can believe it. :D
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"Mr. 44" recorded the Democratic Radio Address last evening and will have the address turned into a YouTube Video and posted on the Change.gov website early this morning according to AFP. This will be Mr. Obama's second run of offering the DNC's weekly radio address, and the first time it will also be made available as a video.
Looks like the "Fireside Chats" are indeed being upgraded to the 21st Century, as it was clearly stated he would back in the early days of the Campaign in The Blueprint for Change.
I'll update this news item with an embed and transcript once it becomes available.
UPDATE (@03:31PST): As promised, President-elect Obama's Weekly Address (3:34 time length -- Alt. Video viewing option & Transcript available here)
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Finally, for a bit of levity, Dixit Jay of Salon.com pines and whines about the cuteness, humor and ultimate tragedy of pooties and lolcatz.
"... I submit that the true genius of lolcats lies in their tragedy."
Like his satire, i can haz lol 2. kthnxbai
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Kula should be back tomorrow. So to all of you: Many thanks, keep the recommendations, ideas and reactions coming. Stay positive and focused!
To what, in today's morning's wrap-up, are you reacting?