Obama: turning the tide in the war on brains?

Nicholas Kristof opines on the impact of having an "out of the closet, practicing intellectual" as our president-elect. 

An intellectual is a person interested in ideas and comfortable with complexity. Intellectuals read the classics, even when no one is looking, because they appreciate the lessons of Sophocles and Shakespeare that the world abounds in uncertainties and contradictions, and — President Bush, lend me your ears — that leaders self-destruct when they become too rigid and too intoxicated with the fumes of moral clarity.

...as Mr. Obama goes to Washington, I’m hopeful that his fertile mind will set a new tone for our country. Maybe someday soon our leaders no longer will have to shuffle in shame when they’re caught with brains in their heads.

Amen

Obama: already spreading hope and faith in America

I received an email on Saturday about a person's experience abroad as the U.S. election came to a close and Obama won.  She's connected to me through family and a college professor I once knew.  Her story itself is inspiring, but a person on Daily Kos (who also got the email) made the story much more poignant by discussing her travel abroad experience from 2003 as a prelude:

In 2003, was beginning my round-the-world trip after having left my corporate publishing job in NYC. Just ten days prior, Bush had just shaken up the world by invading Iraq with the infamous "shock and awe" bombing of Bagdad. The anti-American feelings of confusion, anger and hate were reflected back to me so clearly during my trip.

My connecting flight took me into the heart of Asia and my first stop was the same Kuala Lumpur airport as the young traveler below describes.

In a restaurant at the KL airport, I noticed the young Muslim table-seater and waitresses, wearing light, flowing gowns and headresses, whispering and looking suspiciously at me. I ate my meal a little self-consciously and tried to be inconspicuous throughout.

As I paid my bill and started to leave, the young table-seater approached me and asked "Why is your country going to war against Muslims? Why does your country hate us?" I turned my eyes down, here it was, what I feared, right in my face. I paused, took in a deep breath, thinking, how could I possibly explain?

Finally, I looked up at her and said with my deepest sincerity and humility, "I'm so sorry about what my country has done. I don't agree with my government. There are many American who don't agree and don't like what our President has done in Iraq. The best thing we can do is love one another and pray for one another, because all people really want is peace."

She looked at me as if she understood. I stood there for a moment looking back into her dark eyes, eyes that were seeking to understand. I walked away feeling that I had no answers, no solution or resolution to what was happening. I held that thought of love and peace as I continued my travels and strangers questioned me or stared at me suspiciously whereever I was in that year -- Australia, Korea, Thailand, India, Germany, Italy and England. All the while the bombs, missiles and machine guns kept falling and firing.

So five years later, we finally have change and the hope of, at long last, a new, brighter day for everyone in the world:
-------------------------------

November 4, 2008

My dear friends,

Today I have had to travel from the island of Borneo...from SABAH and the town of Kota Kinabalu.  Then to Kuala Lumpur where I had a 5 hour lay over and finally arriving very late at night in Bangkok.  The election has already begun....

Today, in honor of the election, I am wearing an Obama '08 button on my lapel.  If the treatment and reaction throughout my day is any indication of what our world might become....I am overwhelmed with optimism.  First, every single place I went, someone noticed the button and called out, "OBAMA!".  There were international administrators from across the region at the Hotel.  Many of them nodded and smiled, and even the non-Americans who reacted with huge enthusiasm.  One man from Australia stopped me to talk politics for 10 minutes.  The crew working behind the desk all gave a thumbs up...the taxi driver did not charge me for taking me to the airport.

I must explain that, once at the airport,  I am one  of very few Americans among Asians from all over this region.  I might possibly be the only blond in either airport I have been in so far today, and won't see many if any Americans until Bangkok.  I do not speak the language...thank goodness they speak English.

Upon seeing my button, everyone, without exception, smiles.  I have received preferential treatment all day long. They didn't make me pay extra for a heavy bag, they treated me in short, like royalty. The stewardess told the pilot, who stood up in the cock pit to give me a thumbs up.  Even the immigration official barely looked at my passport.  He was much more interested in knowing an Obama supporter and what I thought would happen today.

When I was buying dinner at a very American McDonalds (the only place to get something to eat), the entire crew behind the counter (not one American) came to say kind words to me.  The man who exchanged my money asked how I could do anything so far away from the USA.  I told him, with some amount of pride, that I had voted by absentee ballot.  He took my hand and said, "thank you so much for voting for Mr. Obama."  There were actual tears in his eyes.

While waiting at the airport in Kota Kinabalu and girl about 9 years old saw my button. She smiled broadly.  I said hello and she asked if I wanted Obama to win because she did and her whole family did and that that morning they said a prayer that he would.  I  told her that I thought Barack would like that a girl all the way in Kota Kinabalu said a prayer for him.  She asked could I tell him that they were praying for him and I said I would send an email to his headquarters.  She was so excited that she ran to tell her parents.  Her father came over and asked me if I knew Obama.  I told him I had seen him speak, but never met him.  He said that his whole community was praying for Obama and that he appreciated that I would write an email to tell him.  He took my hand and said, we are praying for all of the American people too.  This was the second stranger to take my hand today. It was my turn to have tears in my eyes, because this man, who I didn't know, was completely sincere.  I thanked him.  He said, "all of us, together...do you understand?"  I said, "All of us together."  We parted...smiling!

I write this as I sit in the airport at Kuala Lumpur waiting for hours for the plane.  The women who guard the doors have on muslim headdresses , orange pants outfits and lime green jerseys.  They are shy and reserved, yet they give me the thumbs up, and quietly whisper, "Obama" as I walk by. There are Thai and Chinese, and Indonesians and Indians surrounding me...The languages, dress, foods are all interesting.  And sitting right next to me is a Buddhist monk, in just his orangish/yellow robes and shaved head.  He smiles broadly when I look at him.  He says frankly, "I like Obama."

The man behind the counter is Malaysian.  He asks if I voted and when I confirm I have he laughs really loud and says something to the other official sitting next to him.  This man laughs too.  They both look at me intently.  The one, fighting to find the right english begins, "This is (something in Malay).  I smile saying I don't understand.  He looks at his colleague and rattles something in Malay...The man says just a minute.  He gets out a book.  It is an english translation book.  He says something to the man and hands him the book...pointing to a line on the page.  The 1st man turns back to me and says..."this is fan/tas/a/tic...fan-tas-aahhh-tic...how do you say?"  I tell him, yes, he is right "Fantastic".  They laugh again at their attempts.  I laugh too.  He stamps everything forcefully, "wham! wham! wham!"  And then he says something none of these officials ever take time to say,  "We hope you will come back and visit our country!"  "Of course," I say, "of course."  I don't quite know how to explain the full meaning of his invitation.  Americans haven't been at the top of the list for quite awhile and traveling around, it isn't hard to sense.

Our leaders reflect who we are as a country/nation.  I have always been proud of my family and Oregon.  I have not always been proud of our leaders and the choices they make.  Today I am proud...I am proud of our country and I was tearful watching a top French official trying to explain to the BBC reporter why the whole world is watching this election and praying that Obama will become our president.

Well, thank you for letting me share.  Tomorrow at 7am we head to the American Embassy gathering to watch the election results come in.  We are attending with world leaders and diplomats.  We are to dress 'smart casual.'  It should be quite the experience...one I hope brings new hope to our country and the world.

We Won!

Our opponent gave one of the most gracious concession speeches.  I only wish his campaign had been as classy.

Thank you, Senator McCain, for trying to bring America together behind our new president-elect.

Whassup: 2008 edition

And in case you forgot the original...

Obama and America's standing

A great piece on the potential for a President Obama to significantly increase America's standing in the world and why it's important (as opposed to just being a military power).

Best line:

you can’t fire cruise missiles at the global financial crisis

Election 2008: a chance to conquer unconscious racism

The studies show that conscious prejudice has been on the decline for years, but that unconscious prejudice has been fairly steady.  The problem is that the prejudice rarely happens in a clear-cut fashion:

Whites are particularly likely to discriminate against blacks when choices are not clear-cut and competing arguments are flying about...

For example, when the black job candidate is highly qualified, there is no discrimination. Yet in a more muddled gray area where reasonable people could disagree, unconscious discrimination plays a major role.

White participants recommend hiring a white applicant with borderline qualifications 76 percent of the time, while recommending an identically qualified black applicant only 45 percent of the time.

The subconscious prejudice unfortunately plays out in the election campaign:

a careful survey completed last month by Stanford University, with The Associated Press and Yahoo, suggested that Mr. Obama’s support would be about six percentage points higher if he were white

It may seem that solving this problem is beyond us. 

But another lesson, a historical one, is that we can overcome unconscious bias. That’s what happened with the decline in prejudice against Catholics after the candidacy of John F. Kennedy in 1960.

A great debate

If you missed it, you can still catch the first presidential campaign debate here.  The best?  Plenty of time for the candidates to go back and forth, to challenge inaccuracies and to provide point-counterpoint.  It was a DEBATE.

I hope the other two live up to this.

Oh, and if you haven't, always follow up your debate watch with a visit to Factcheck.org.  Get the truth.

Comparing presidential tax plans

Which do you prefer, tax cuts with debt or tax cuts that are paid for?  That's your choice in the tax plans of the campaign.  McCain's plans skews to the rich (in percent of income and absolute dollars) and will increase the deficit.  Obama's plan offers tax cuts skewed toward the middle class and pays for it with an income tax surcharge on the very rich.

 

Obama: bailout Main Street not just Wall Street

Obama's response to the bailout proposal:

The sin of symmetry

An interesting piece from the Washington Post that notes the media's penchant for symmetry (instead of being objective, truth seekers) and how it's allowing the McCain campaign to run roughshod over the truth.

The most outrageous of McCain's distortions involve Obama on taxes. He asserts that Obama's new taxes could "break your family budget," and that an Obama presidency would inflict "painful tax increases on working American families." Hardly. Obama would lower taxes for most households, and lower them more than McCain would. The only "painful tax increases on working American families" would be on working families making more than $250,000.

Likewise, the McCain campaign has its story about Sarah Palin, and it's sticking with it -- facts be damned. She said "thanks but no thanks" to that "Bridge to Nowhere," except that she didn't: She backed the bridge until it was unpopular, then scooped up the money and used it for other projects. More than a year after McCain began railing against the bridge, Palin, then a gubernatorial candidate, said the state should build it "now -- while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." 

 Obama's not innocent of stretching the truth, but he's also got enough of a conscience to stop lying when he's caught.  McCain, on the other hand, is "playing to win."

Lipstick on a pig

I'll let Obama respond to this latest example of "phony outrage":

Obama's economic message

It's not pithy or succinct, but it's insightful as only a longer essay can be:  Obamanomics.  Obama also shares that he really loves the following quote from Robert F. Kennedy, about the true measure of economic prosperity.

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

Charting health care

Paul Krugman provides an illustration of the presidential candidates' health care plans versus "busienss as usual."  While no one covers everyone, Obama's plan is the only one that shrinks the number of uninsured.

Obama's Energy Speech

From Time Magazine

The short term:

• Offshore drilling, requiring oil companies to use existing leases first
• Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (boo!)
• Grants and loans to help automakers retool for fuel efficient cars

The longer term:

• $150 billion over 10 years to get
• 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2014
• $7000 tax credit per car
  
• 4% increase in mileage standards each year
• Better battery technology
• 10% of energy from renewables by 2012
• Extend renewable tax credits for 5 years
• 6 billion gallons from next generation biofuels by 2022 (actually less than the current goal, as far as I can tell)
  
• Reduce electricity demand by 15% by 2020
• New buildings 50% more efficient by 2012

The not-insignificant individual contribution: inflate your tires properly.  If everyone in the U.S. had properly inflated tires, we'd save 4% of our oil consumption, more than we'll ever get from offshore drilling.   Mocking this means you love giving terrorists our oil money.

Smart: the Obama that was

Obama has come out in favor of releasing some oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help reduce gas prices.  This is a bad idea because it's 1) short-term "fix"; 2) a political and not strategic use of the reserve; 3) counter to the principle of conservation and energy independence. 

There's an even better reason not to discuss it:

“We're arguing over a gimmick that would save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say they did something,” said Obama. 

That was his comment about a federal gas tax holiday for the summer.  It's true here, too.

If you heard about the New Yorker cartoon

Then you must watch this video (hat tip to Shadoweyes):

The Truth about Barack

From Slate, hat tip to Shadoweyes:

Here are many things people do not know about BARACK OBAMA. It is every American's duty to read this message and pass it along to all of their friends and loved ones.

Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.

Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.

A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.

Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.

Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.

Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.

There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.

Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized. His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic. He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.

Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.

Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.

Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.

Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS. He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.

Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.

Are we really still debating experience?

Apparently the Clinton campaign is asserting that John McCain is more experienced than Obama, with the conclusion that Democrats would be better off voting for the Republican Senator than Mr Obama(?). I already covered the inanity of the experience argument, but here's another taste.

From the Votemaster, a table of presidents ranked by greatness (a consensus among many different surveys) with their respective experience. An analysis freebie: the top ten presidents averaged 10 years experience; the bottom ten had 14 years. So much for learning from your mistakes. And then there's this anecdote:

Suppose you had to choose between two Presidential candidates, one of whom had spent 20 years in Congress plus had considerable other relevant experience and the other of whom had about half a dozen years in the Illinois state legislature and 2 years in Congress. Which one do you think would make a better President? If you chose #1, congratulations, you picked James Buchanan over Abraham Lincoln. Your pick disagrees with that of most historians, who see Lincoln as the greatest President ever and Buchanan as the second worst ever...

Obama: you better stick to universal health care

The time is ripe for universal health care, so as much as I want Obama to win, he better be planning to go for gold. This news about the company he keeps is not impressive. In other words, get on the stick, Obama!

Obama's health care plan (and rhetoric) needs a tweak

Paul Krugman has taken Obama to task several times in recent weeks for holes in his health care plan. For some of the campaign rhetoric from the Obama camp, check out Factcheck.org's recent post on an Obama health care mailer.

Krugman's criticism is tough love, since it addresses a couple shortcomings in the Obama plan: the issue of free riding and enforcement. Basically, if healthy people opt to not have insurance until they get sick, they get a "free ride." To make health care more economical, you make them sign up. Which takes enforcement. Obama's been criticizing Hillary for having an enforcement provision, but you really can't go universal without it.

Unless...you go with my idea. Which is that people are automatically signed up for health insurance on the government employee's plan unless they opt out. And you can only opt out if you have other health care coverage. You can opt for a monthly premium payment or just pay it from your taxes. In other words, leave the enforcement to people who already do it (the IRS) and the health care to an existing health care group (government employees).

And Obama, get your wonks and rhetoric around free riders and enforcement. Because we can't solve the health care problem without addressing both.

Disclosure: I'm supporting Obama on Super Tuesday.