Quick Hits
Thursday, January 22, 2009 7:56 pm Daniel J. Summers
I know, I still owe you folks the 2008 YIR “The Good”, the MLK/Sanctity of Life column, and Bush Administration epitaph posts. All in good time - this is Pinewood Derby week in our Cub Scout pack!
But, to tide you over, here's a teaser of the latest Ann Coulter column…
It will not be easy for President B. Hussein Obama. More than half the country voted for him, and yet our newspapers are brimming with snippy remarks at every little aspect of his inauguration.
Here's a small sampling of the churlishness in just The New York Times:
- The American public is bemused by the tasteless show-biz extravaganza surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration today.
- There is something to be said for some showiness in an inauguration. But one felt discomfited all the same.
- This is an inauguration, not a coronation.
- Is there a parallel between Mrs. Obama's jewel-toned outfit and somebody else's glass slippers? Why limousines and not shank's mare?
- It is still unclear whether we are supposed to shout “Whoopee!” or “Shame!” about the new elegance the Obamas are bringing to Washington.
Boy, talk about raining on somebody's parade! These were not, of course, comments about the inauguration of the angel Obama; they are (slightly edited) comments about the inauguration of another historic president, Ronald Reagan, in January 1981.
You can read the whole thing here.
In other news, I'm very disappointed with the tone on the “Additional Issues” page of the White House website. Here's the quote, in case the text is changed - it appears (as of this writing) as the first paragraph under the “Katrina” heading…
President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.
That's just wrong. First off, I and probably over half this nation don't think any promises were broken in the first place. But, even if they feel this way, they could phrase it in a more neutral way. “President Obama will make good on the promise America made to rebuild New Orleans…” is the way an administrative agenda should read. This looks like campaign retreads.
Of course, change is here - as Cassy Fiano points out, Obama is the first president since Eisenhower, who started it, to not attend the Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball.