Sputnik Moment

Tonight was one of my favorite political events of the year again--The State of the Union Address!

I thought President Obama's speech (well, at least the two-thirds of it) was very good. I like what he had to say about immigration. I like what he had to say about education. I like what he had to say about innovation (specifically in the area of clean energy). He addressed concerns about America being surpassed by other countries, and challenged us to be greater, all the while, elaborating on what makes the US great. His call to action was empowering by calling this our "Sputnik moment." He then addressed the pressing concern of the crappy economy and rising national deficit. However, reinforced his former ideas by saying, "Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you'll feel the impact."

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) the clapping/standing/sitting/frowning/cheering wars between parties wasn't as nearly as pronounced this year. Perhaps in the spirit of what Obama said himself:

And yet, as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, I know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth. We may have differences in policy, but we all believe in the rights enshrined in our Constitution. We may have different opinions, but we believe in the same promise that says this is a place where you can make it if you try. We may have different backgrounds, but we believe in the same dream that says this is a country where anything's possible. No matter who you are. No matter where you come from.

Amen! Sometimes that can be easy to forget in all the ugly bickering and partisanship in our political landscape.

P.S. Anyone catch the Survivor Reality TV show reference? "We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world." Seriously Obama's speech writer? Did you really include that? Sounds suspiciously like Outplay, Outwit, Outlast...

Ooo la la, Barack

Hmmmm. The GOP has quite a lovely selection of valentine's cards. At first I thought they were parodies created by democrats to mock republicans, but no. The GOP really has these cards, ready to email on their website. Send one of these to your valentine. He/she will love it!


Nothing says romantic like a card such as that. Hahaha.

Star Studded Sunday

Last Sunday I attended the pre-inaugural concert that boasted of a boat-load of stars. The list of expected stars kept on growing and growing as the day approached. The most fun part of the afternoon was questioning "and who's gonna be next?"


It was a little cold and lot of standing, but fun regardless. The theme was We Are One. The complete star list was as follows: Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Caleb Green, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, Bettye Lavette, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, U2, Usher, Will.i.am, Stevie Wonder, Jack Black, Steve Carell, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Judd, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah, Laura Linney, George Lopez, Kal Penn, Marisa Tomei, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, and Tiger Woods.

Despite it being an inauguration concert and all, someone needs to explain to me why Garth Brooks got to sing 3 solo songs while other artists were paired up in rather...unusual combinations. Take for example, Shakira with Stevie Wonder and Usher. Huh? Those three? Together? I wonder who was the dude who got say, "yeah, and let's group together a latin singer, motown/blues singer, and a hip hop artist." Not that they didn't do a good job. I'd just like to have seen a little more Shakira and whole lot less of Garth. But, hey, that is just my opinion.

Obamamania

If you can make it, vendors can sell it...and Obamafy it.


You can't even imagine all the different products vendors were selling on inauguration week along the streets of DC. For starters, there were the classic buttons, t-shirts, posters, and hats. But those don't even touch upon the more absurd products I saw being sold among the streets. There were vendors peddling Obama perfume body spray (with catchy slogans like "I smell change"), Obama boas, Obama condoms, Obama puppets (creepy), Obama bling, Obama sandwhiches, and Obama dolls among other Obamarific goods. What craziness.

We were joking that next they were going to sell Obama Chia Pets. But, oh wait, they actually do!

Inauguration 2009

Yes, I went to the inauguration.


Yes, the city of Washington DC was a mad-house.

Yes, I woke up at 5 AM and stood out in the freezing cold for hours upon hours.

Yes, there were so many people on the mall that we huddled in front of a jumbo-tron near the Washington Monument and still could hardly see.

Yes, Obama looked like an ant way up at the capital when he messed up took his oath of office.

Yes, I went to the inauguration of the 44th president of United States.

Even if I had to do it all again, I still would've gone. This is the first presidential inauguration that I've ever witnessed in person and I doubt it will be my last.

"Make Platitude!"

Quote Unquote

Generate a Barack Obama Quote!

"I think it's time we had a national conversation about the economic downturn. We need to get past all the disease and recognize that we are our own best hope for overcoming man-eating tigers. We need unicorns, not unemployment. Unicorns are our change we can believe it. And we need to have change in the economic downturn."

Generate your Barack Obama quote at Buttafly.com

Did I mention I plan on going to the inauguration this Tuesday?