The Burrow

Did you? About 45 minutes into the speech, that beautiful, rhetorically marvelous, speech tonight, I sighed aloud. The audience did, too.  I can't remember the context beyond the fact that he is leaving. I sighed. Going forward, I imagine I'll be outraged and horrified and I'll be screaming and groaning.  But tonight, watching the Father In Chief do Aaron Sorkin as well as Aaron Sorkin does Aaron Sorkin , I sighed. And then, I cried.

Not many grown men cry ... not many grown men cry at work .... not many grown men cry on television.  Our President did all of that, and more this morning.  I am so very very proud of him. My friends were there - Roxanna and John and Daniel and Pat and Pam and Mark and Gabby - representing our shooting, which has gotten lost in the shuffle as time passes and more deaths are recorded.  My President hugged and smiled and hugged some more.  The audience clapped and cheered as the simple solutions - mental health services, expanded background checks, responsibility for lost and stolen weaponry - were detailed. As he said, It's not enough.   Those of us on the right side of the issue (my side, obviously!) must be as loud and committed to action as those on the other side.  As Mr. Obama reminded us, 90% of Americans want action on this issue.  If our elected representatives can't give it to us, then it behooves us to vote them out and replace them with t...

I promise - The Burrow will not turn into a grandma blog.  It's just that I am obsessed right now, surrounded as I am by baby paraphernalia and a nursing mother and a little ball of love.  But there are other things going on in the world, things upon which I must comment. First, let us take a moment an mourn the loss of James Brady.  Younger readers may not remember that he was President Ronald Reagan's press secretary early in Reagan's first term.  I enjoyed his repartee; quick wit is often frowned upon in political circles but he was a master of the art form.  His genial demeanor made up for the fact that he was working for a man whose idea of trickle down economics  made my blood boil. And then, in 1981, he was shot in the head by a mentally ill young man, as he was standing 10' from his boss.  Brain damage, partial paralysis, constant pain ... none of them stopped him from becoming an advocate for stronger, sensible, background check legislatio...

The Mall was packed.  As far as the camera could see, there were people.  Big people and little people of all colors and genders and sexual orientations were huddled together, standing in front of the Capitol, watching our government transition. The poet spoke Spanish.  The old white guy only sang one verse and a chorus.  The young blonde raised chills as she hit the high notes and filled the air with song.  The gorgeous superstar, followed everywhere by her equally famous superstar husband, filled our national anthem with meaning. The President spoke briefly, pointedly, inclusively.  He reminded us that we are all in this together, that big projects take big visions, that we still have work to do.  His girls, adorned in shades of purple, listened carefully.  His mother-in-law, in the only orange coat I've ever wanted to wear myself, and his wife, stylish in black, nodded sagely. The Vice President could barely contain his glee, and his wife...

So, there was a firefight.  It enveloped the US Embassy in Bengazi.  Our ambassador three others died.  It didn't take long for the brouhaha to spread to the political arena.  Candidate Romney, ignoring years of precedent enjoining those on the stump from criticizing Presidential actions during international incidents like these, lambasted Mr. Obama's State Department for apologizing.  Here's what caused the controversy. The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.    Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others. ( http://tinyurl.com/8t8eq5v ) Probably not the strongest condemnation of an assasination, I must agree.  A...

I've been thinking about it all day. I haven't listened to the radio or political talking heads and the sports guys are all caught up in Tiger's privacy statement so I've gotten no input from that angle, either. The local paper is filled with the usual crime and mayhem and good deeds being done around town and the Wall Street Journal didn't offer much more than a recap of the speech itself. These thoughts, therefore, are totally my own. I love listening to President Obama speak. He is the very best of teachers and explainers and convincers. He looks me right in the eye and tells me that he refuses to believe that we can't recapture that feeling of all being in it together that we had after 9/11 and suddenly I want to go out and hang the flag as I did all through September and October and November of 2001. He tells the Afghan people straight out that he has no interest in occupying their country nor of becoming a permanent military presence and I almost-ne...

President Obama is doing a lot of thinking about Afghanistan this week. To prove it, NBC Nightly News just ran a picture of him sitting at the head of a long table, in his shirtsleeves, surrounded by Cabinet members and the Veep and lots of paper. There wasn't a laptop in sight. The President was the youngest person in the shot by a bunch of years. He's drinking a bottle of water; Hillary's a Coke girl. Not Diet Coke. Regular, full strength classic Coca-Cola. That's one of the few things I think she gets right. I really hope they recycle at the White House. Otherwise, they're setting a very bad example for our nation. In another conversation on Afghanistan this afternoon, Campbell Brown couldn't believe that the President was " considering separating the Taliban and al Quaeda. I mean, can you do that ?" Um.... yes, Campbell. One is a repressive, hateful-to-women political force with no ambitions beyond its own borders. The other is a terror...

I'm getting a little bit tired ...ok, a lot tired..... of the process stories surrounding health care. There are serious issues being discussed behind closed doors, and while I know that we only hear what they want us to hear, and that the media is manipulated by planted leaks and back stories, I'm looking for the investigative journalists who will present a reasoned, well thought out analysis of what's being proposed and who's against it and why. Instead, we are overwhelmed with Rep. Joe Wilson and "You lie!" Parsing the phrase has become a national sport; he didn't actually call the President of the United States a liar, he was only referencing the statement. Sure. Any kid on the playground knows there's really not much of a difference. Of course, that child also knows that you don't call out in the middle of an assembly. It's just not done. And that's where I start and finish with Representative Wilson's behavior. It was " dow...

I'm smitten. TBG is, too. We have a special little place in our hearts just for him. It's both a parental pride and a communal pride. We proud of him and we're proud of America and it's really nice to have our default position be something other than cynicism. And we're not embarrassed nor are we hiding it. The Schnozz still has my first and only automotive political bumper sticker firmly affixed to its rear bumper. It's fading in the Arizona sunlight, but the red white and blue is still there. And, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm wearing my (possibly the most comfortable in the entire world) Obama t-shirt as I type. All this is prelude to my rant on his press conference tonight. I can't get away from it - there is no way on God's green earth that President Bush could have/would have/had/has the intellectual chops to do what President Obama did tonight. He's not afraid to stop and listen and while his answers may be long, they are never...