In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama President discusses his blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul No Child Left Behind.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He is postponing his trip to Asia, which had been scheduled to begin on March 18th, for three days to keep working on the national health care reform bill.
Obama senior advisor David Axelrod, on one of the Sunday chat shows, expressed great confidence in the final passage of the national health care reform bill, which Obama is still working on.
Preliminary results from last Sunday’s national parliamentary elections in Iraq, which came off despite jihadist attempts to disrupt them, were to have been released on Thursday. Instead, only some results have been available. What’s the hang-up? Supposedly, it’s due to computer problems.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was hospitalized recently but shrugs off a supposed assassination attempt, seems to have a slight lead.
Israel is trying to make nice with the U.S. after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton read the riot act to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in a lengthy phone call for embarrassing Vice President Joe Biden with the announcement of 1600 new housing units in hotly disputed areas.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of state.
He has no scheduled public events.
Schwarzenegger did not attend the California Republican Party convention this weekend in Silicon Valley.
I did. And I will have lengthy reports during the week including a new feature column. (I was too busy on Saturday to write something and, in any event, there were no blockbuster happenings.)
The two Republicans vying to succeed the term-limited governor — billionaire Meg Whitman and super-rich state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner — are both running far to the action superstar’s right.
Whitmann stepped back from the abyss of totally post-journalism politics, but launched into a new phase of peekaboo politics. She also launched into an unprecedented duo performance with her mentor, conservative Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Aside from her Friday night banquet appearance, Whitman was not much in evidence at the convention, which she left altogether after her breakfast Saturday morning with Romney, who celebrated his birthday on Friday by appearing with Whitman.
Poizner, in contrast worked the convention and its grassroots activists through Saturday and into his evening banquet speech. Where Whitman spoke — to a notably tepid response — from subtly concealed teleprompters, despite her resolutely conservative message, Poizner spoke without notes. His response was better, if hardly overwhelming.
The star of the convention on Saturday turned out to be Carly Fiorina, the ex-Hewlett Packard CEO running for U.S. Senate. The current leader in the GOP primary, ex-Congressman Tom Campbell, had a much smaller presence and was overshadowed, still struggling with his past involvement with a convicted jihadist terrorist.
Fiorina’s speech, also delivered without a teleprompter (though she used some notes on a stool, to which she circled back from time to time), delivered in a theater-in-the-round set-up, was a big hit. As was the new film from “Demon Sheep” creator ad man Fred Davis. Featuring a giant Hindenberg head of Senator Barbara Boxer, floating across the country from Washington to California, making various pronouncements, it’s a clever skewering of Boxer and promotion of Fiorina’s pseudo-populist, anti-big government themes.
Behind-the-scenes video of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks visiting the White House to screen their new series The Pacific. The miniseries tells the story of the Pacific front during World War II.
** MEG WHITMAN’S NEW! IMPROVED! POST-JOURNALISM! POLITICS. Something new and more than a little bizarre is busy being born in California. Call it post-journalism politics.
Billionaire Meg Whitman has been spending feverishly for months on an advertising blitz, trying first to purchase the Republican nomination for governor and, ultimately, the governorship itself. After a number of terrible performances in press conferences and interviews with knowledgeable reporters, the former national co-chair of the McCain/Palin campaign and her high-priced handlers have decided to drop the pretense of normal campaign engagement, dispensing entirely with press conferences. …
In very stark contrast to Whitman and her bloated, big budget would-be blockbuster of a campaign, Jerry Brown is pursuing what might be described as a cinema verite campaign. … From my March 12th column.
** IS MEG WHITMAN LIKE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER? YES (IN THE WRONG WAYS) Is billionaire Meg Whitman, the former McCain/Palin campaign co-chair who seeks to replace action movie superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California, like Schwarzenegger?
It’s a question that her ultra-megabucks campaign clearly doesn’t like. The heavily programmed career corporate marketing executive goes out of her way to distinguish herself from the multiple times Mr. Universe. She was a CEO, of a company you may have heard of, eBay. And in case you hadn’t heard that and you live in California, she’s spent many millions of dollars for months on ads telling you about it. After all, it is her sole claim to fame. Whereas, in her view, Schwarzeneggger was merely a jock turned entertainer. (Not that she mentions her not so excellent eBay era adventures with, say, Skype, Craigslist, and Goldman Sachs. So I won’t, either.)
Whitman hates the comparison with Schwarzenegger, a comparison which is nonetheless obvious as both she and Schwarzenegger are Republicans, both are super-rich, and neither had any experience in elected office before deciding to run for governor of California. Why does she hate it? Well, Schwarzenegger, while still personally popular, has seen his once record job approval rating plummet with the global recession and the state’s gridlocked budget process. And he’s turned out to be too liberal for the increasingly right-leaning party whose nomination she is trying to win.
As someone who knew Schwarzenegger and talked with him extensively before he ran for governor in the 2003 California recall election — and who began scouting Whitman, putting together several hours of film of her, when she suddenly emerged as national co-chair of the Republican presidential campaign in early 2008 — it occurs to me that Whitman is like Schwarzenegger.
But in the wrong ways. (Keep in mind that I’m referring to the Schwarzenegger who suddenly jumped from promoting Terminator 3 into running for governor in 2003.) … From my March 9th column.
** IS OBAMA’S AFPAK STRATEGY ACTUALLY WORKING? … From my March 5th column.
** THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. With Democrat Jerry Brown finally declaring his candidacy for California governor today and billionaire Meg Whitman’s super-rich Republican rival Steve Poizner starting his own TV ad campaign against her, this seems a good time to talk about a big new negative theme about the rather tarnished Golden State. Is California America’s first “failed state?” That’s what a lot of people are saying. So I talked about that with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; the governor he replaced, Gray Davis; and a famous former governor favored to be the next governor, Jerry Brown. … From my March 2nd column.
** SO WHO IS THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER ANYWAY? PALIN, ROMNEY, PAUL (!) … … From my February 23rd column.
** MAD MEN: THE STREAK CONTINUES. … From my February 22nd column.
** THE BIGGEST SPENDING RACE IN AMERICA IS UNDERWAY! (WELL, SORT OF.) … From my February 19th column.
** TONY BLAIR’S GHOST (WRITER). … From my February 16th column.
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: BEHIND HER ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE COMPETITION AND HER WHOPPER ABOUT HOW LONG SHE’S LIVED IN CALIFORNIA. … From my February 10th column.
** HOW JERRY BROWN CLEARED THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA. … From my December 9th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** HELP FOR HAITI.
You can donate to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, www.clintonbushhaitifund.org, by clicking here.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed at $81.24 per barrel on Friday.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
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| Comments (22) |
Looking forward to this evening’s first episode of the Pacific.
Good education reform speech by obama.
Spielberg makes a good camcorder movie.
I see some of the gong show media are soooo excited that Whitman finally talked to them…
Everybody wants Barack to only do economy, or health care, or get out of Iraq now, it’s not that simple.
Jonas Blane says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:37 am
Good education reform speech by obama.
It looks really good.
Sacramento Solon says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:33 am
Looking forward to this evening’s first episode of the Pacific.
What some call governing in a time of multifaceted crisis, others call lack of focus …
> Capitol Boy says:
March 14, 2010 at 10:42 am (Edit)
Everybody wants Barack to only do economy, or health care, or get out of Iraq now, it’s not that simple.
Jonas Blane says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:37 am
Good education reform speech by obama.
That’s how he started out as a kid.
> Jonas Blane says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:41 am (Edit)
Spielberg makes a good camcorder movie.
It is good. Though not in the center of the current debate.
> Jonas Blane says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:37 am (Edit)
Good education reform speech by obama.
I may enjoy this more than Band of Brothers, which I liked very much …
> Sacramento Solon says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:33 am (Edit)
Looking forward to this evening’s first episode of the Pacific.
Isn’t the use of “from whence” in the first sentence in Fiorina’s TV ad a grammar error?
This resonates very well with all of us Boxer haters out here.
Some of Boxer’s statements about CO2 are laugh out loud bonkers.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CarlyforCalifornia?feature=chclk#p/u/2/lJKlc77K5dg
It’s a mock portentous tone.
That’s pretty funny, alright.
Pacific…it was good.
What new video today?
Yeah, it was really good.
Sacramento Solon says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Pacific…it was good.
I enjoyed it, though I was very tired when I watched it.
I understand that it focuses in more on three Marines as it goes forward. And spends three episodes on Peleliu, a place few have heard of.
> Sacramento Solon says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:51 pm (Edit)
Pacific…it was good.
Axelrod on the Israel crisis, and The Pacific …
It is definitely entertaining.
> Truth Teller says:
March 14, 2010 at 1:29 pm (Edit)
That’s pretty funny, alright.
best email marketing…
Sweet, really great article…
Incidentally, NWN passed 94,000 comments sometime in the past week or so.
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