Sargent Shriver was laid to rest on Saturday night next to his wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in Barnstable, Massachusetts.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama is prepping for his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, in which he is expected to emphasize technological innovation, economic competitiveness, and efforts to restrain the deficit.
As today is Championship Sunday in the National Football League — the day of the two conference championship games leading up to the Super Bowl — Obama is also rooting on the Chicago Bears. The Bears host the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field in the National Football Conference championship game, and Obama has already predicted their victory.
In the American Football Conference championship game, the Pittsburgh Steelers host the New York Jets.
As a Californian and a Pac 10 guy, I have to go against the president and back the Pack — and their great quarterback, former Cal star Aaron Rodgers — against the Bears for the NFC championship. (Besides, Green Bay is the westernmost team left in the play-offs.)
I know that Obama favors the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose owner and stars campaigned for him in 2008. But despite that, and even though I went to some games in great old Three Rivers Stadium with my first wife and her family, as a Californian and a Pac 10 guy who also likes the Big Apple, I’m backing the New York Jets, and their terrific young quarterback from USC, Mark Sanchez. Besides, the Steelers don’t play in Three Rivers anymore.
The Republican presidential race had its first straw poll on Saturday at the New Hampshire Republican Convention.
Next door neighbor Mitt Romney won it easily with 35% of the delegate vote, with libertarian fave rave Ron Paul a distant second at 11% and everyone else in single digits.
On the other hand, a Tea Party candidate easily beat a Romney backer for New Hampshire state Republican chair.
Incidentally, the presidential campaign straw poll phenomenon can be exceptionally misleading and a massive waste of time. I had to get very involved in it on Gary Hart’s behalf in the 1984 presidential campaign and on Jerry Brown’s behalf in the 1980 presidential campaign.
It usually doesn’t mean much, but can be a huge press-driven distraction.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Massachusetts.
He is preparing for several speeches in Canada over the next few days.
Late on Saturday, he attended the private burial of his father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, in Barnstable, Massachusetts.
This followed a public funeral Mass Saturday morning at Our Lady of Mercy Parish, the Shriver family church in Potomac, Maryland.
Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton, and former California First Lady Maria Shriver were among the eulogists, with Bono and Stevie Wonder performing.
Schwarzenegger was a pallbearer for his father-in-law, who mentored him in public service and, rather fatefully, introduced him to the after dinner cigar in 1977.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama discusses the steps he is taking to make America competitive in the short and long terms, and why he chose GE CEO Jeff Immelt to head up the new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
** OBAMA AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE JFK INAUGURAL 50 YEARS ON. Why, 50 years after the fact, did official Washington celebrate the inauguration of a most imperfect man who served less than one term as president, and had far fewer accomplishments than many other presidents?
The answer undoubtedly lies in why John F. Kennedy continues to be rated higher in polling than all other modern presidents, and why Barack Obama became a major political figure in the first place and is resurgent today. Ideology, policy, even accomplishment has remarkably little to do with it.
Obama flashed on to the national scene in 2004 on the strength of nothing more than one great speech, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. He was only a state senator in Illinois, about to become a freshman U.S. senator. But after that one speech, he was a major presidential prospect.
So, too, with Kennedy, finding his place on the stage of history with his great inaugural address.
When Senator John Kerry selected Obama to deliver the 2004 convention keynote, like most in politics I’d barely heard of him. But his obscurity and newness on the scene — in 2000, Obama had struggled to even get into the Democratic national convention in Los Angeles, as he endearingly recounted in The Audacity of Hope — didn’t stop him from delivering one of the great convention stemwinders of all time, an exercise in uplift, ennoblement, and possibility that launched him on a steep trajectory taking him to the presidency four years later. …
From my January 22nd essay.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama is prepping for his State of the Union address Tuesday evening.
The White House will have a host of online venues for viewing and participation around the State of the Union. I’ll run through those prior to the event.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Tunisia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and the Korean peninsula, as well as the Wikileaks crisis.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California today.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working on California’s chronic budget crisis and on developing his nascent administration.
He’s getting a lot of pushback from most quarters, each of which insists that sacrifice is needed, just sacrifice somewhere else.
Not surprisingly, a host of city officials yesterday threatened to sue to block his plans to do away with redevelopment agencies and repurpose the property tax revenue for core services which would otherwise have to be cut.
Sargent Shriver was remembered on Friday evening at a wake at Holy Trinity Church in Washington.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts today.
Today a public funeral Mass is being held at Our Lady of Trinity Church in Potomac, Maryland. The former leading figure of Camelot was a native of Maryland.
The event begins at 7 AM Pacific. You can watch it live on CNN.com.
Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton will be among the eulogists.
A host of notables will be in attendance, including First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator John Kerry, and Oprah Winfrey.
Last evening, a public wake was held at Holy Trinity Church in the Georgetown area of Washington. This is the church where John F. Kennedy took Mass on the morning of his inauguration as president 50 years ago yesterday.
Later today, Shriver will be buried next to his wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in Barnstable, Massachusetts.
** THE JERRY BROWN ERA UNFOLDS (AGAIN). And he is off and running as governor of California. Again. The first week of Jerry Brown’s governorship told us a lot, and set the stage for the second week, in which a hellacious state budget proposal is dominating.
First, let’s look at that, and then at the first week of the Brown governorship as he took over from Arnold Schwarzenegger. A week that was telling and even, in its way, festive. At least at first. …
From my January 11th feature.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. It’s the fate of Jerry Brown, the 34th and 39th governor of California, to succeed Republican movie stars as governor. Of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a much bigger movie star than Ronald Reagan ever dreamed of being. (And Reagan is a much bigger Republican than Schwarzenegger ever intended to be, as angry right-wingers have been pointing out for years.)
Schwarzenegger wasn’t simply the biggest action movie star in the world prior to winning his first landslide election as governor of California in 2003, he was, more specifically, the biggest science fiction movie star in the world.
Indeed, there is something decidedly sci-fi about him becoming governor of California. (Cue raucous comments.) And there’s always been something more than a little sci-fi about Jerry Brown. … From my January 3rd feature.
** MAD MEN FOR CHRISTMAS. … From my December 23rd column.
** 2010: A JERRY BROWN ODYSSEY. … From my December 20th feature.
** JERRY BROWN ON CRISES PAST AND PRESENT. … From my December 10th essay.
** 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.
** 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 on Friday at $89.11 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $55 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 (71) |
CB,
The Pack were 3 1/2 point favorites. The had the better team and figured to win the game. Glad it makes you so happy. Just be careful that you don’t become so excited that you soil yourself…again.
Oooh, sour grapes…
Chicago won the division championship over the Packers who had to get to the game as a wild card. They were playing on Chicago’s home field.
CB,
No sour grapes. I was pulling for the Bears but, like the folk who set the odds, thought the Pack would win. Can’t be an upset when they were 3 1/2 points favorite no matter where the game is played or who won the Division championship. Green Bay, behind the best young QB in the game, deserved the win and I wish them well in the Super Bowl
Just remember what I said, don’t celebrate too much.
OK, so you have an excuse for Chicago losing at home to a wild card team. Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers are better!!
I’m glad we cleared that up…
Didn’t offer an excuse…don’t need an excuse…did say that the Packers were a better team and figured they would win the game
Funny how those who make lots of money laying odds felt the same way. Does appear, however, that you felt different…which is cool.
Today’s second game was also very good. Sets up a very good Super Bowl. Kind of hard to decided who to root for. But, hey, what the hell…Go Packers!
And that’s even though the figure to be 3-5 point underdogs to Pittsbugh.
Hey, CB, enjoy the rest of this evening…always fun playing with you.
Old Florida is like Georgia, but not the nice part.
Nah, the Packers are favored, not the Steelers. By two and a half points…
Sacramento Solon says:
January 23, 2011 at 7:43 pm
Didn’t offer an excuse…don’t need an excuse…did say that the Packers were a better team and figured they would win the game
Funny how those who make lots of money laying odds felt the same way. Does appear, however, that you felt different…which is cool.
Today’s second game was also very good. Sets up a very good Super Bowl. Kind of hard to decided who to root for. But, hey, what the hell…Go Packers! And that’s even though the figure to be 3-5 point underdogs to Pittsbugh.
Hey, CB, enjoy the rest of this evening…always fun playing with you.
CB,
That does surprise me. It will be interesting to see how it moves between now and game time. Truly thought the Steelers experience would sway the spread. Oh, well…like I said, Go Pack!
American football is a mystery.
What new video today?
Green Bay is the hot team with the best QB, the Steelers barely held on at home against the Jets…
Sacramento Solon says:
January 24, 2011 at 6:16 am
CB,
That does surprise me. It will be interesting to see how it moves between now and game time. Truly thought the Steelers experience would sway the spread. Oh, well…like I said, Go Pack!
Sargent Shriver: The sands are running out on Camelot…
Indeed.
It’s an acquired taste.
>#
sergei says:
January 24, 2011 at 6:34 am (Edit)
American football is a mystery.
I get it now.
> pat skipper says:
January 23, 2011 at 7:53 pm (Edit)
Old Florida is like Georgia, but not the nice part.
The 49ers made an enormous mistake not picking him …
> Capitol Boy says:
January 23, 2011 at 3:53 pm (Edit)
Aaron Rodgers was AWESOME today, beating Chicago in Chicago!!
What a great quarterback he’s turned out to be. I knew it all along when he was at CAL!!
Rodgers and the Packers in the Super Bowl, baby!!!!
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, beating Chicago in Chicago!!
What a great quarterback he’s turned out