Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Uncle Teddy's Letter to the President
May 12, 2009
Dear Mr. President,
I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me — and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.
On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.
You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.
When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me — and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.
There will be struggles — there always have been — and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat — that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.
And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family's health will never again depend on the amount of a family's wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will — yes, we will — fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.
In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign — and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America's behalf inspires the entire world.
So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend — and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.
At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.
And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.
With deep respect and abiding affection,
[Ted]
Obama + Health Care + Joint Session
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Obama + Middle East Address
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Obama + Leadership
Bare with me: This is a first draft.
Leadership does not come from simply winning. A large part in leadership comes from setting the bar ahead of where it has been, and challenging people to follow you there. To put is simply, it is guidance. It is what is happening now with Obama.
The times we are in certainly must be confronted with a vigorous new approach. The tasks we have before us are many, and the margins for failure ever smaller. The solutions require a sense of humility, and must be novel. This is a new direction forward.
Obama is benchmarking a new vision for this country. The same vision that swept him into office. He is challenging the root wisdom of many in his own party, as well as that of the opposition. He is asking the citizens of this [and other] nation(s) to move into a new dialogue, that pushes through the old arguments that have kept our policies for the most-part stagnant domestically and internationally.
This is an approach that has been met by many with scorn and admonishment. It is an approach that many feel is too moderate. But, it is just the approach that we need.
President Obama has pushed his agenda further in the first three months than any President in recent memory. As citizens, we are responsible to keep up with these changes. To educate ourselves, to form opinions, and to ask more of our government and ourselves. To demand that our voices and ideas be represented. To actively participate in our democracy.
Such sweeping policy reform is not always clear or easy to follow — but it is consistent in it's call: To grow this nation's potential will require hard work. Vision. Participation. Courage. Trust.
As a country, we can no longer just claim greatness. We must become the greatness we expect from our collective selves.
Obama's push forward requires this. Agree or disagree with the policy, he is actively guiding our nation, requiring us to dictate the directions that we now take. That is why what we are witnessing is true leadership.
Leadership does not come from simply winning. A large part in leadership comes from setting the bar ahead of where it has been, and challenging people to follow you there. To put is simply, it is guidance. It is what is happening now with Obama.
The times we are in certainly must be confronted with a vigorous new approach. The tasks we have before us are many, and the margins for failure ever smaller. The solutions require a sense of humility, and must be novel. This is a new direction forward.
Obama is benchmarking a new vision for this country. The same vision that swept him into office. He is challenging the root wisdom of many in his own party, as well as that of the opposition. He is asking the citizens of this [and other] nation(s) to move into a new dialogue, that pushes through the old arguments that have kept our policies for the most-part stagnant domestically and internationally.
This is an approach that has been met by many with scorn and admonishment. It is an approach that many feel is too moderate. But, it is just the approach that we need.
President Obama has pushed his agenda further in the first three months than any President in recent memory. As citizens, we are responsible to keep up with these changes. To educate ourselves, to form opinions, and to ask more of our government and ourselves. To demand that our voices and ideas be represented. To actively participate in our democracy.
Such sweeping policy reform is not always clear or easy to follow — but it is consistent in it's call: To grow this nation's potential will require hard work. Vision. Participation. Courage. Trust.
As a country, we can no longer just claim greatness. We must become the greatness we expect from our collective selves.
Obama's push forward requires this. Agree or disagree with the policy, he is actively guiding our nation, requiring us to dictate the directions that we now take. That is why what we are witnessing is true leadership.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Obama + Economic Address at Georgetown + Yes, the University
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Obama + G-20
With all the comings-and-goings in this week's G-20, I decided not to even try to tackle posting about it. In summary, the following clip seems a good round-up (albeit a liberal-wind-bag-round-up).
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Obama + Press Conference + Keith + Chris Matthews
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Obama + Lincoln Bicentennial
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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