MetaFilter posts tagged with President

The Obama Jacket

mrducts — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:58:22 -0800

Herman! It's me, it's Cathy, I've come home, whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, let me in at your position of Europe's first High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

creeky — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:34:32 -0800

Europe finally has a president. And a foreign policy chief. As predicted, the little-known Flemish Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy (vɑn rɔmpœy, in case you were wondering) took the presidency, thanks to backing from Sarko and Merkel. Baroness Ashton, another relative unknown was chosen for the post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs, to provide a centre-left counterpoint to the centre-right President, when Merkel balked at the alternative, (an Italian ex-communist who has expressed pro-Palestine leanings). So following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty which paved the way for these appointments, Europe has chosen low-profile, quietly diligent and relatively inexperienced leaders, over the more controversial alternative. It doesn't look good for Turkey's chances of joining the EU, at least.

Did you even DOOO the reading?

jock@law — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:23:05 -0800

Do you feel disappointed in government? Does Obama seem a little too meek for the Presidency? Do you wish he'd make larger structural reforms? Maybe, suggests Matt Taibbi, there's an answer. Citing her ability to speak plainly and her extensive knowledge of the credit system, Taibbi suggests that Elizabeth Warren should run for President. Not in 2016, but in 2012.

ACCORDION SOLO!

WCityMike — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:54:33 -0800

Be forewarned, the sound quality isn't the best. But for a dose of pure surreality strong enough to turn your socks into melted Dada timepieces, try mixing "Weird Al" Yankovic on accordion with the Presidents of the United States, performing a (non-parody) cover of Boston's "More Than a Feeling" (SLYT). (via Dave Dederer's Reddit interview)

OF COURSE!!!

netbros — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:15:00 -0800

All at once, they practically screamed, “We’ve got ten minutes with the President on Monday…do you wanna do the shoot?!!”. Don’t let anyone tell ya photographing the President ain’t all it’s cracked up to be! Here is Brad Trent's portfolio.

Maher and Feather

Christ, what an asshole — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:57:43 -0800

Bill Maher's criticism of Obama? Be more like Bush. ...And just like Lindsey [Lohan], we see your name in the paper a lot, but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something. Follow up of his statements with Keith Olbermann. ...But where's the beef? And it's easy to make speeches; what's hard to do is stand up against corporations. Corporations and their incredible strength are what have ruined this country so far, and this president -- we thought -- might be the one to stand up to them. I'm losing hope. I still have audacity, but my hope is fading.

"I have owed too many people..."

kkokkodalk — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:19:36 -0800

Former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide on May 23. The former president jumped from a cliff in his hometown, where he had retired to. A country mourns (video and articles 1, 2), and clashes (more, WSJ), over the legacy of the former human rights attorney who fought for the rights of student protesters and against the corrupt presidencies of the 80s, had his presidency saved by protests and activism in the electronic age, and at the end of his life found himself being investigated for bribery. Roh practiced law, during the corrupt governments of former presidents Chun Doo-hwan (see also Gwangju Massacre) and Roh Tae-woo. He set up his platform as being part of a new era of clean and open politics (video of an ad Roh ran during his campaign, where he plays upon the theme of being for the people and against corruption of the old by singing the famed protest song "Sang Rok Su." The ad says that "the people are the president," and talks about how much Roh is indebted to the public who supported him in hardship, like when he didn't have money to run, and there were people who sent him their piggy banks. His campaign line is drawn as being a new president for a new Korea), and broke from his Millenium Democratic party to start the Yullin Uri Dang (“Our Open Party”), even though his political career was continuously plagued with accusations of incompetence and corruption of those around him. In 2004, Roh’s support for the Uri Party created an opportunity for the opposition party to vote to impeach him on charges of electioneering and incompetence. However, the impeachment also created an opportunity for a new chapter in Korean civic behavior, showing the potential of the fully-wired constituency of Korea as many supporters gathered online to voice their dissension and spread the message while organizing protests (video showing actor Moon Sung-geun giving a speech to protesters where he says the government "sees the people only as bugs" and asks for people to keep fighting against "the final gasp" of corruption, that the Korean people "have fought for with their lives" until now) and candlelight vigils. Videos and images spread of those in the assembly who supported Roh attempting to physically block the impeachment. spread online, and images of an assemblywoman dragged from her seat (4:58 in the video), as well as the triumphant looks of those of the Han Nara party, especially the grinning face of Park Geun-hye (5:37 in the video, daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, which made her involvement in the impeachment even more open to negative interpretation for those who found it undemocratic) further cast the opposition in a bad light when compared to images of Roh's despairing supporters who attempted stop proceedings even until the last minute by throwing objects (during the struggle, one politician even declares "I'm photographing all of this with my phone!"). In one of the more violent incidents, a man crashed his car into the National Assembly and set it on fire in protest. On May 14, 2004, the impeachment decision was overturned and Roh was reinstated as President. He eventually retired to his hometown of Bongha Village, however, political scandal followed him even after he left office. An investigation revealed that records were missing, in particular, several terabytes worth of records disappeared before incoming president Lee Myung-bak took office. Roh eventually returned the missing records, and the scandal went away, but in early 2009, bribery allegations were brought up. On May 23, 2009, Roh took a lone body guard with him on a hike to Owl’s Rock in his home village, where he fell. He sustained injuries that sent him to a hospital in Busan, where he died. Many gathered around Bongha Village, which became a tourist spot after the president broke tradition to retire there, to pay their respects to the former president, even some major websites have taken on grayscale coloring to show their respects. And Kim Jong-il (the two previously met) sent his condolences.

Dear 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

ThePinkSuperhero — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:19:28 -0800

Letters to the President- and his responses. The story of the President's mailman. A peek inside the White House mail room.

Fuck the President. Literally.

Pope Guilty — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:49:58 -0800

"In Join Or Die, I paint myself having sex with the Presidents of the United States in chronological order."

Open For Questions

dersins — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:06:20 -0800

Open For Questions. Metafilter's Own™ box and klangklangston "skim the White House's Open For Questions, posting the best and brightest queries the American public can manage." [via mefi projects] NB: "Best and brightest" may be used facetiously.

Yo, President

alms — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:15:20 -0800

"President" replacing the N-Word (SLYT).

"The writer is the president of the United States."

JVA — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:45:46 -0800

In 2007, Dubya wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal. Obama has followed suit with an op-ed article in the Washington Post. Both sites mention that The writer "is the president of the United States." Have we entered a new era of the bully pulpit?

A Story in Pictures

OverlappingElvis — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:17:38 -0800

Two of the most important women’s-rights-related bill-signings in the past few years.

Who said what now?

blue_beetle — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:08:12 -0800

Wired: Obama Sides With Bush in Spy Case. "The Obama administration fell in line with the Bush administration Thursday when it urged a federal judge to set aside a ruling in a closely watched spy case weighing whether a U.S. president may bypass Congress and establish a program of eavesdropping on Americans without warrants."

I'm President Barack Obama, and today is the longest day of my life.

armage — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:12:58 -0800

Barack Obama: President, CTU Member, Jedi Knight, Samurai. This particular presidential action figure is by a Chinese company, Dragon in Dream, but there are others. McCain figure not included.

A nation of nonbelievers

0bvious — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:40:35 -0800

"The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian Religion." ~ George Washington / "I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature." ~ Thomas Jefferson / "The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my religion." ~ Abraham Lincoln / "A just government has no need for the clergy or the church." ~ James Madison / "I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end... where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice." ~ John F. Kennedy / "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers." ~ Barack Obama

The Onion Vs. President Bush

Del Far — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:28:06 -0800

The whole eight years of Bush in Onion articles. (Via)

I do solemnly swear...

twoleftfeet — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 06:39:05 -0800

Presidential inaugurations often invoke higher powers. President Obama will swear in on the Lincoln Bible, though the appropriate verse is unknown. When Harry Truman took the oath of office he kissed the Bible. Theodore Roosevelt was the only President not sworn in on a Bible. More Presidential Inauguration Trivia.

44 Presidents Coming.

sleevener — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:30:45 -0800

44 Presidents Coming is either the perfect antidote or the perfect complement to all the Inaugural excitement. Though not complete yet, it will continue to be updated until all 44 presidents are....there. I'm particularly partial to Teddy.

So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

RedEmma — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:26:26 -0800

Dear President Bush, Thanks for the memories. You will be missed. Thanks for making people care. And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Wishing you all the best, A Citizen.

A Formal Debate About George W. Bush With Some Unusual Players

WCityMike — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:34:19 -0800

On December 4, 2008, at NYC's Symphony Space, NPR's Intelligence Squared program conducted an Oxford-style debate. As their future debate schedules in Australia, England, and America show, the propositions of such debates are routinely phrased strongly to provoke debate, and this was no exception. The motion that was put forward was: "Resolved, that Bush 43 is the worst President of the last 50 years." [mp3, 23 MB, 50 min.] What lifts this above the reams of media and multimedia already spent on this issue is that, moderated by ABC's John Donvan, this premise was debated — under formal debate guidelines — by Jacob Weisberg, Sir Simon Jenkins, Bill Kristol, and ... Karl Rove. The BBC airs "Intelligence Squared", in which Oxford-style debates are conducted. In Oxford-style debates, experts take opposing sides of a proposition. Each has an opening statement, which are followed by rebuttals, audience questions, and two-minute closing statements. (The show itself would be worthy of its own front-page post, given the caliber of intellectual discussions that take place.) The American version of the show is distributed by NPR, who makes a free podcast of it available (iTunes, RSS). Jacob Weisberg, Slate's editor-in-chief, argued for the premise, as did Sir Simon Jenkins, a Guardian columnist, formerly of the Sunday Times. Arguing against the premise was Bill Kristol, the Weekly Standard's editor-in-chief and the chief of staff to former vice-president Dan Quayle (in 1990, his debate opponent had called him "Dan Quayle's brain"), and Karl Rove, who has advised Bush since his initial 1977 House run and served as his Deputy Chief of Staff (for West Wing fans, think Josh) from February 2005 to August 2007. The debate opened with opening argument from all four debaters.

Weisberg stated he was sympathetic to many of Bush's causes, which he felt were executed badly, and said that the invasion and occupation of Iraq were mismanaged, constitutional rights were trampled, goodwill was ruined, and the economy was mismanaged.
Kristol stated we've been safe since 9/11; that we've won Iraq; that they increased the economy by 18%; began offering the prescription drug benefit; that, when Bush entered, al Qaeda was ascendant, Hussein wasn't contained, and North Korea and Iran were developing nukes; and that "Obama's presidency will be the major respect and continuation of the Bush presidency."
Jenkins opened by saying he liked Bush initially, but that what made America's reputation was the moral founding of our actions, and that Bush "snapped the backbone."
Rove apologized to any audience members sensitive to sulfur or brimstone¹ and proceeded to address what he termed the "drivebys" in the other arguments: that No Child Left Behind was per-state because the states should be engaged; that the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief had offered 2 million retroviral drugs; that 21 of the 22 Democrats in favor of NAFTA voted against for CAFTA and free trade purely for politics; that March '00, under Clinton, had the Dow down 38%, the NASDAQ down 78%, and the S&P down 50%; and stated that as to Iraq, "Look, do we wish ... that the weapons were there and it was justified under those terms? Yeah." (The audience at that point booed loudly.)

Audience questions proceeded.

An audience member asked that if the gross American population is generally wise en masse, and if what Rove said about Bush's successes are true, why is his approval so low? Rove replied it was an unpopular war and a tough economy, and that four had lower approvals: Carter, Nixon, Johnson and Truman.
Jenkins was asked if Bush's low approval rating was good for Obama (in terms of how he would be compared to Bush), or bad for him (in terms of what point from which he starts his Presidency). Jenkins said that 9/11 was Bush's starting point, and that we'd done what the terrorists wanted: restrict liberties and behave in a certain way. The moderator noted Kristol had said elsewhere that we won, as the terrorists were on the run. Kristol replied that al Qaeda was now a losing proposition; that we curbed civil liberties less than Roosevelt post-WW2 or Kennedy, Johnson or Nixon during Vietnam; and that Goldsmith and Mukasey moved some of those curtailings back. Weisberg noted that Goldsmith was drummed out for that. Kristol said that terrorists don't get civil liberties, Rove noting that terrorists shouldn't get Miranda rights. Weisberg didn't think so either, but said they should have some. Rove replied that the policy wasn't as if they were going to round up the audience, but that if they ran into a U.S. citizen on a battlefield abroad, he'd be treated as a terrorist, not a citizen. Weisberg noted acquittals, and Rove championed that as the system working. Kristol went on to indicate America didn't go to war against Muslims; Jenkins disagreed, saying that there were "lists of people who vanished." Rove called this lunacy.
Jenkins was asked by an audience member that if Bush had gone only to Afghanistan, what would Hussein have done: been neutral, allied himself with us, or supported al Qaeda? Jenkins responded he didn't believe terrorism to be state-sponsored. Weisberg indicated he was in support of Hussein's removal, but not without allies and not unilaterally.
Kristol was asked who he believed the worst President in the last 50 years to be, and responded that he believed Johnson made the worst mistake (Vietnam), but did great things with civil rights and Medicare; that the most corrupt was clearly Nixon, and that the most incompetent was Carter.
Rove was asked if the intelligence had been accurate, would the invasion have still happened? Rove responded no; that Bush was concerned about human rights abuses and Iraq's disregard for U.N. resolutions, but would have pursued a containment strategy.
An audience member asked that if Bush got credit for our post-9/11 safety, does he then get the blame for 9/11 itself? Rove responded that they wish they had been more alarmed. Weisberg noted that Clarke's book said that because Clinton had been focused on Iraq, Bush wasn't interested as he was actively reversing all of Clinton's policies.
An audience member asked as to the Bush Administration being the biggest domestic spenders, excepting Homeland Security and Iraq. Rove responded that Clinton's last budget (FY01) increased discretionary domestic spending by 15%, and that Bush reduced it to 7% (FY02), 4% (FY03), 2% (FY05), and 0% (FY06-8). Kristol indicated the biggest domestic expenses were for the two most popular implementations: the tax cuts and prescription drug benefit.
Weisberg and Jenkins were asked to name courageous decisions by LBJ and Carter, and to compare Bush and Iraq to JFK, LBJ and Nixon and Vietnam. Jenkins noted he had been in Vietnam at war's end, and felt its withdrawal was more competent ... that we had just lost by a bit, and could've stabilized it had we stayed longer. He felt that the punitive element was one of the fundamental problems of Iraq. Weisberg noteed that Johnson said goodbye to the South for Democrats for generations in order to further civil rights.
Weisberg and Jenkins were asked how Obama should deal with "Islamofacism" and how such dealing would differ from Bush. Weisberg responded that the focus should be on Afghanistan, on withdrawing from Iraq without it reverting, and questioned whether our lack of post-9/11 incidents was due to policy or chance. The audience member said that he didn't feel that the answers were responsive; that Hussein was supporting terrorism with payments, medical treatment, and a training camp; that Democrats such as Sen. Kennedy had echoed the WMD claims; and that Gaddafi had been successfully cowed by our actions.

Two-minute summaries closed the debate.

Kristol compared Vietnam body counts (55,000 servicemen and 2 million citizens) to Iraq (4,000 servicemen), believing Vietnam to be far wose than Iraq.
Weisberg said that Bush's failure to unite the country as he himself did as a Texas governor and as Roosevelt did after Pearl Harbor showed a lack of character: that he wasn't interested in policy, and didn't tolerate dissent or opening his mind to alternatives.
Rove stated that dissent was allowed, echoed Kristol's Vietnam claims, and stated that "[t]o suggest that he's not interested in ideas is that pecuiliar form of Bush hatred that causes people to lose their rational senses about the man."
Jenkins noted 2 million Iraqi citizens were camped outside Damascus because of their fear to return home, and that 66% of Iraqi Christians had been driven out of the country; he said he liked Bush's initial courtesy, moderation, and belief in humble governance, but that he believed Bush allowed the politics of fear, the "most corrosive of all forms of politics", to ruin him; and that America's power obligated it to show restraint, which it had not.

Intelligence Squared judges who "wins" a debate not by who has the greater number of people agreeing with them at debate's close, but instead by how many people changed their opinion during the course of the debate. The debate opened with 65% believing Bush was the worst President in the last 50 years, 17% disagreeing with that, and 18% undecided.² It closed with 68% (+3%) agreeing to Bush being the worst, 27% (+10%) disagreeing, and 5% undecided; since Rove and Kristol had acquired the larger portion of the undecided, they were considered to have won the motion. ¹Not editorializing by yours truly, he actually did. ²Upon hearing this, Rove joked, "I demand a recount."

Buddy, can you spare a dollar?

woodway — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:04:09 -0800

The historic inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama is two weeks away, and vendors are making a mint selling memorabilia. But be warned: the commemorative coins you see being advertised are not official. A relatively new $1 coin series does feature US presidents in chronological order (previously), but getting Americans to use $1 coins hasn't been easy. Remember Susan B. Anthony, Columbus and Sacagawea? Native American $1 coins will be offered in tandem with the presidential series; if they continue to be issued, Obama's official $1 coin should be available in 2017.

Shoes thrown at President Bush in Iraq

xorry — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:07:36 -0800

Shoes thrown at President Bush in Iraq. As America prepares to give him the boot, President Bush was forced to do some atypical sole searching during a press conference in Iraq when an Iraqi television reporter flung both shoes at him. HuffP has MSNBC video without ads and adds: "In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam Hussein with their shoes after U.S. marines toppled it to the ground after the 2003 invasion." This is a "gross insult in the Arab world." Value added video.

Is this 18.5 minutes of tape anything important?

Horace Rumpole — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:01:39 -0800

It's been a busy week for presidential libraries. The Nixon Library released 200 hours of tape (excerpts) and 90,000 pages of documents (excerpts) that detail his obsessive attempts to destroy his political enemies. The LBJ library released MP3s of dozens of phone calls, including one where he accuses Nixon of treason for stalling Vietnamese peace talks in advance of the 1968 election. Finally, the Reagan Library released 750,000 pages of documents (NYT, reg. req.) to researchers. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Washington to Obama

Glibpaxman — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:09:04 -0800

America has come a long way. There is the official version of history or the peoples' version. There are artifacts and rankings. They had some quirks and were occasionally men of their time. If you prefer audio or visual references those are available as well. Common knowledge has it that one GW was our first President but the title of first is under dispute. 230 years later another GW is making a run for worst. That is also under dispute by the nations best brains. For better and worse, the story of the Presidency is the story of America.