MetaFilter posts tagged with presidency

President of Ghana dies suddenly

Etrigan — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:17:40 -0800

President John Atta Mills of Ghana died unexpectedly today, with Vice President John Dramani Mahama taking the presidency. The West African nation of Ghana (the second largest producer of cocoa and also a large miner of gold) has become a model for African democracy, with peaceful transitions of power since becoming a constitutional parliamentary republic in 1992. Its 2008 elections, which brought Mills to power and were not without controversy despite being peaceful, were the subject of the award-winning documentary film An African Election. Mills was a candidate for re-election, with the first round scheduled for December of this year, and his National Democratic Congress party has called an emergency meeting to determine whether Mahama will replace him on the ballot. His opponent, Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party, has suspended his campaign until further notice. Mills, 68, was a lawyer who also studied at the London School of Economics and Stanford University, then taught at the University of Ghana for 25 years. He stood as the NDC's vice-presidential candidate when former dictator Jerry Rawlings ran for his second term as president in 1997, then ran to succeed him in 2001. He lost that race, and the next one, to John Kufuor of the NPP, but finally won the presidency in 2008. He led efforts to produce oil in Ghana. He is the first Ghanaian head of state to die in office.

Obama's Friendly FIRE

ennui.bz — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:36:57 -0800

In 2008 the late Robert Fitch, author of "The Assassination of New York", was asked to foretell an Obama presidency before the Harlem Tenants Association:

If we examine more carefully the interests that Obama represents; if we look at his core financial supporters; as well as his inmost circle of advisors, we’ll see that they represent the primary activists in the demolition movement and the primary real estate beneficiaries of this transformation of public housing projects into condos and townhouses: the profitable creep of the Central Business District and elite residential neighborhoods southward; and the shifting of the pile of human misery about three miles further into the South Side and the south suburbs... Obama’s political base comes primarily from Chicago FIRE—the finance, insurance and real estate industry. And the wealthiest families—the Pritzkers, the Crowns and the Levins.

Yes, but do they have a secret plan to fight inflation?

zarq — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:14:13 -0800

"It’s been nearly 6 years since the series finale of The West Wing, and more than 12 since the one-hour drama, which [Aaron] Sorkin created and largely wrote, first walked and talked its way through NBC’s Wednesday-night lineup; and yet you might think the series never ended, given the currency it still seems to enjoy in Washington, the frequency with which it comes up in D.C. conversations and is quoted or referenced on political blogs. In part this is because the smart, nerdy—they might prefer “precocious”—kids who grew up in the early part of the last decade worshipping the cool, technocratic charm of Sorkin’s characters have today matured into the young policy prodigies and press operatives who advise, brief, and excuse the behavior of the most powerful people in the country."

...act now before Canada becomes too similar to the US to make these jokes anymore

flex — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:04:19 -0800

Canada declares its "canadacy" in the race for US President (The Canada Party on Twitter; also spotted on HuffPo)

“It’s a little bit like the shooting gallery at the arcade. It’s hard to tell which rabbits are real and which aren’t. You have to have the discipline of not shooting at the wrong rabbit."

availablelight — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:36:28 -0800

Washington, We Have a Problem. On the heels of a New Yorker feature exploring the question, "Just How Broken Is The Senate," Vanity Fair publishes a look at the (mindboggling) day-to-day life of the modern US Presidency.

Canada is sex?

stinkycheese — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:34:45 -0800

One Nation Under Sex. Pornographer and free speech activist Larry Flynt is no stranger to politics, hypocritical politicians, or to writing books on same. But his latest project "One Nation Under Sex", co-written by Columbia lecturer David Eisenbach, and subtitled How the Private Lives of Presidents and First Ladies Shaped America, is nothing less than "a sweeping account of how the sex lives of American presidents have had a tangible effect on American policy and history." Gawker has posted the book's proposal online. [All links SFW.]

The Obama Proxy

ELF Radio — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:35:59 -0800

Having grown tired of all the ludicrous conspiracy theories about Barack Obama not being eligible to hold the office of the President, one lone writer gives us his own deranged take with "The Obama Proxy". The descendants of the Melchocki Indians will not be amused.

To the best of my ability...

twoleftfeet — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:19:11 -0800

With one month left in George W. Bush's presidency, he contemplates his legacy; how the public will view him and his place in history. Whatever your personal feelings, you must admit that Bush did have his moments.

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.

The Plum Book, 2008 Edition

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:18:09 -0800

Wondering which Obama administration job is right for you? The Plum Book (2008 Edition) is a US government publication that lists some 8000 jobs (including salary ranges) in the executive branch that will become available upon the inauguration of President-Elect Obama. (Individual chapters are .pdf files.) The jobs range from from part-time gigs that pay about $600 a year to executive level full-time posts with yearly salaries of around $200,000. We've covered how to apply, so here's what to apply for.

In historical perspective.

markkraft — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:29:26 -0800

The fierce urgency of now and then. On May 24, 1963, concerned about the potential for race-related riots nationwide after Birmingham, Attorney General Robert Kennedy met with group of prominent black intellectuals and artists, such as Kenneth Clark, Clarence B. Jones, and Harry Belafonte, in a meeting organized by James Baldwin (YouTube 7:07... and also 6:27 and 6:28, if you're interested.) The tone of this emotionally wrenching meeting, however, would be greatly influenced by the presence of fifteen-year-old Jerome Smith, a nonviolent CORE volunteer who was being treated in New York for jaw and head injuries sustained after a brutal beating by segregationists in Mississippi. Kennedy, who at first tried to address the meeting with facts and figures, soon found himself on the defensive, confronted by Smith's revulsion for the very necessity of the meeting, and his unwillingness to fight a theoretical war in Cuba while American civil rights workers weren't protected at home, and were perilously close to renouncing nonviolence. "Kennedy said, as he had before, that his grandparents had encountered discrimination and now, two generations later, his brother was President; a negro would be President within forty years. Baldwin replied furiously, "Your family has been here for three generations. My family has been here far longer than that. Why is your brother at the top while we are still so far away? That's the heart of the problem.'"

A Speech So Stirring It Converted Pat Buchanan

WCityMike — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:46:30 -0800

On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party to be their Presidential candidate with a speech so well-crafted that Pat bloody Buchanan couldn't stop raving about it, and had to be cut off by his fellow broadcasters. It was an occasion so historic that McCain chose to release an ad congratulating his opponent.

A moment in history; Obama Wins Presidential Nomination.

Effigy2000 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:18:49 -0800

It's official. Obama has won the Democratic Party nomination for the US Presidency. In response, McCain has launched a "verbal sortie" against him and the media has already begun disecting Hillary's campaign.

Where do we go from here? Why is the path unclear?

WCityMike — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:54:27 -0800

The antidote to LOLbushsuxx0rs. Over the course of the past week, Slate ran a ten (10!)-piece series, "Fixin' It", in which various writers postulated how the course of various aspects of the United States' military, culture, and policies could be redirected for the better. Although the articles are not entirely devoid of Bush criticism, there's mostly a fairly rare focus on the positive actions to be taken from here onward by the next President (whether it be McCain or Obama or Clinton).

McCain's extraterritorial birth

caddis — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:00:23 -0800

Is John McCain eligible to become president of the U.S.? He was born on a military base in the Panama Canal zone, which was not sovereign US territory. The Constitution provides:No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. Is McCain a natural born citizen?

Who should I vote for?

nickyskye — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:38:06 -0800

A little lost coming up to the Presidential Primary? The Electoral Compass is a brief set of questions that matches your choices with the candidate whose positions are the closest to yours. Discover your position in the political landscape for the US presidential election 2008. Also: Political Compass

The Imperial Presidency

homunculus — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:21:01 -0800

Candidates on executive power: a full spectrum. Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on presidential signing statements, surveyed the major 2008 presidential candidates about their views on the limits of executive power. [BugMeNot, via Huffington Post.] It doesn't looks like Savage bothered to ask Gravel or Kucinich, but the former's view can be summed up as "power to the people."

Beats flipping a coin.

allkindsoftime — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 01:35:29 -0800

Glassbooth connects you to the presidential candidate that represents your beliefs the best. Too busy/lazy/etc. to research the candidates on your own? Let web 2.0 tell you who to vote for.

Thompson's Glitch-Folk Debut

digaman — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:47:29 -0800

"I want those two minutes of my life back." Musique concrète Fred Thompson-style -- a merciless videohack of the candidate's performance at the GOP debate on MSNBC, October 9, 2007. While almost anyone can be made to look foolish edited this way, not everyone was impressed by Thompson's unedited presence at the debate, his TV debut as a presidential contender. Some believe, however, that the former Law and Order D.A. is just the man to "restore the Republican Party to Reagan's default settings."

And the races begin

Astro Zombie — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 19:24:48 -0800

Tomorrow morning, from this place, I'll announce that I am a candidate for President of the United States.. John Edwards prepares to throw his hat into the ring via YouTube, from New Orleans' 9th Ward.

Christopher Morris's "My America"

matteo — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:42:24 -0800

"Then my photography started to shift; everything had to be very clean and Republican, straight and perfect... Everything is staged and controlled... It's the complete opposite of war photography."
War photographer Christopher Morris's new exhibit and book: "My America".

"I slept most of that Sunday."

starkeffect — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:06:20 -0800

David Rice Atchison is claimed by some to have been President for one day, Sunday, March 4, 1849, since the incoming president, Zachary Taylor, was a religious man who refused to take the Oath of Office on the Sabbath. Even the inscribers of his gravestone thought so. The truth, however, is somewhat more subtle.

A reappraisal of that guy in Grant's Tomb

pandaharma — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 22:09:48 -0800

President Ulysses S. Grant: Civil Rights Hero. A reappraisal of a president considered ineffective and mired in scandal.

Dueling Pundits on 2008

bardic — Sun, 07 May 2006 09:47:48 -0800

Why Hillary Can't Win (by Markos "Kos" Moulitsas). Why John Can't Win (by Byron York). (via)

Insulation in High Places

digaman — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 20:40:44 -0800

Bush in the Bubble. Newsweek's analysis of the man who is possibly "the most isolated president in modern history."