Obama Events

The ColdType
Reader
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Issue 41

64 Pages: WHAT WOULD MUHAMMAD ALI SAY ABOUT OBAMA’S WAR? Dave Zirin has the answer. Plus: Writing history in the streets; a tale of two wall; two book excerpts; Tony Blair: war criminal; unchecked globalisation and its threat to culture; are Israelis spies infiltrating your airport?; why Benjamin Dangl will never buy a Kindle. And much more

Contributors this month are Rebecca Solnit, David Pratt, David Swanson, Richard Kim & Betsy Reed, Benjamin Dangl, John Pilger, Sherwood Ross, Chris Hedges, Ramzy Baroud, Rory O’Connor, Jonathan Cook, Norman Solomon, Mark Hurwitt, David Michael Green, Khalil Bendib, Fred Reed and William Blum

This month’s READER EXTRA is The Lockdown, an excerpt from the new book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander

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Dick Cheney decided to leave the safety of his secret bunker and declare war against President Obama. That was a very big mistake for Cheney, because he got his ass kicked more thoroughly than any politician in history.

Obama was precise, honest, serious, and thoughtful. Cheney was petty, vindictive, sneering, and utterly dishonest - just another Lying Sack of Dog Mess (LSDM).

Obama struggled to find the difficult balance between the Constitution and fighting terrorism. In response, Cheney repeated 8 years worth of lies.

The White House released its transcript of President Barack Obama’s address to members of the Business Roundtable held March 12, 2009, and the question-and-answer session that followed.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you so much. Please, everybody have a seat. I want to get to some Q&A as quickly as possible, so let me dive right in. First of all, thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here this afternoon. I see a lot of friends in the room. It’s especially important, I think, for us to be meeting today with the Business Roundtable, because the companies that you lead account for nearly 10 million jobs and generate trillions of dollars in revenue each year. Your companies have fueled the prosperity of communities across the country and the success stories of countless individuals. They’ve enriched our nation; they’ve served as a tribute to the enduring spirit of American capitalism.

But for over three decades, the Business Roundtable is also taking a broader view of your responsibilities as chief executives. You’ve looked beyond the bottom line and the next quarter to the long-term health of your company. You’ve not only served as accomplished leaders, but as engaged citizens — citizens who understand that it is in the interest of both your companies and your country to have a workforce that’s highly educated, healthy, and prosperous; to have a market that is free, but also fair; and to live in a nation that’s willing to invest in its own future. You understand the public responsibility of private enterprise.

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery
Address to Joint Session of Congress
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States:

I've come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

Greg Sargent has the scoop:

At a private White House cocktail reception last night for leaders of major progressive groups, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle appealed to these leaders and signaled that their groups would play a key role in driving the big progressive changes at the heart of the White House’s legislative agenda, an attendee tells me.

The message was that these groups would be valuable as a kind of progressive outside “echo chamber,” as the attendee puts it.

So who was there? Christy Hardin Smith reports:

The crowd was estimated at 2 million - and countless more were unable to get through ludicrous security.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
January 20, 2009

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.