Obama's first day

[burnt]

he re-took the presidential oath. a handful of rightwing hacks were screaming that he wasn't legitimate because of the stutter during the inauguration ceremony. so he re-took the oath, just to be safe. and to shut those hacks up. pic related.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/djburnt/obama-oath-constitution.jpg

he began discussions with his military, and asked for some initial plans to begin a 16-month withdrawl out of Iraq, with some troops to be deployed into Afghanistan.

he began his plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, by ordering a 120-day halt on all "military tribunals", so that he can prepare to prosecute the prisoners in a court on American soil.

he called several middle eastern leaders to acquaint himself with them, and drafted laws to further prevent arms smuggling to Hamas. (awesome... now if he'd just block arms sales to Israel, we'd all be sorted).

he temporarily froze the paychecks for all administration officials earning over $100,000 per year, and drafted several new anti-lobbying policies. my personal favorite is the one that says "if you quit working for me to become a lobbyist, you can't come to the white house and lobby your former coworkers until at least 2 years after you quit".

he revoked the executive order signed by President Bush which expanded the definition of "executive privelige" and allowed the public greater access into the goings-on of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. (oh, and looky here! a day later and we already find out that the "anti terrorist" eavesdropping policy was in fact snooping on anti-war activists and journalists! nice that Bush could afford to tap someone like Rachel Maddow's phone during a recession...)

he also rescinded former Attorney General John Ashcroft's policy which made it more difficult to successfully request a document based on the Freedom of Information Act.

aaaaand lastly - he ordered all executive/federal agencies to *NOT* push through *ANY* of the final orders that former President Bush had mandated... which had not yet been implemented... until he and his staff could review them.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28767687/

[B_tech]

Seems like he's doing everything he said he would. It's refreshing to see a politician do what they say and say what they do.

[St. Earl]

i'm glad you took the time to post this.

i wanted to, but i try to do at least a little self editing here:cool:

obama just looked at the cheif justice calmly, knowing the words, and nodded prompting him to continue.

[IrisSilverMoon]

thus far I have been incredibley impressed and pleased with President Obama.

I love the lobbying rules and the pledge of openness he's made.

Apparently all executive orders and non-emergency legislation will be posted to the White House website for public review for five days before they are passed or rejected.

I LOVE IT!

[forrest303]

One day down, three years and a day left to go!

"and they're off!"

[pretylc]

I really like how he has started off, especially the whole thing with the lobbyist. It is great to see things happen quickly for a change.

[tr0llaccount]

One day down, three years and a day left to go!

"and they're off!"


that's 3 years, 364 days (not accounting for leaps).

[RichPoor]

So far I really have no complaints.

[Roddimus]

yay for the good things, big fucking BOOOOOO to not withdrawing the tax cheating, bailout happy geithner for treasury and for pushing outright bank nationalization.

[Cethe]

yeah, i dunno how this bank thing is gonna work out...i'm will to give him a shot though....worst that can happen is they actually, finally fail & there's some chaoss...i'm ok with a bit of chaoss

[Roddimus]

yeah, i dunno how this bank thing is gonna work out...i'm will to give him a shot though....worst that can happen is they actually, finally fail & there's some chaoss...i'm ok with a bit of chaoss
if obama was actually for allowing the banks to fail he'd be my instant hero.
with nationalization the worst that could happen would be that our government would actually, finally fail. all nationalization is going to do is transfer the shit debt from the banking industry to the government, which is a sure fire way to ensure our currency and government will go down the shitter.

[k1e0x]

if obama was actually for allowing the banks to fail he'd be my instant hero.
with nationalization the worst that could happen would be that our government would actually, finally fail. all nationalization is going to do is transfer the shit debt from the banking industry to the government, which is a sure fire way to ensure our currency and government will go down the shitter.

Well things have gotten beyond crazy with this. Now there is talk of Obama setting up a National Bank.. That's some scary shit to think the government could eventually be in control of every transaction we make..
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE50G2D420090117?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

And... it might already be here.. Bank of America after several bailouts and acquisitions is the nations largest bank and has the closest of relationship with the government. It's pretty much The Bank of *the United States of* America.

[k1e0x]

Obama made a token gesture to close Gitmo, but has he outlawed the practice of torture? Is he closing the *other* secret prisons? http://www.antiwar.com/orig/vine.php?articleid=12628
What about the prison ships? Or the CIA's "special program"? What is he doing with the people who are under the Bush's newly created legal definition "detainee" ?

There are still a lot of unanswered questions..

[Euro]

Obama made a token gesture to close Gitmo, but has he outlawed the practice of torture? Is he closing the *other* secret prisons? http://www.antiwar.com/orig/vine.php?articleid=12628
What about the prison ships? Or the CIA's "special program"? What is he doing with the people who are under the Bush's newly created legal definition "detainee" ?

There are still a lot of unanswered questions..

yes he has outlawed the practice of torture.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/181007

the CIA specifically must adhere to the Army Field Manual. All CIA prisons are to be shut down. All Gitmo detainee's are being re-investigated.

it's a clean slate. he's doing exactly what he said he's going to do, which is what he's done throughout his campaign. and when he doesn't or can't, he explains why.

check politifact's "obameter" which is analyzing all 510 campaign promises and seeing what he follows up on and what he doesn't. in his first two days he's followed through on 7 promises, with 14 considered "in the works", 1 "stalled" and another 488 to go.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

time to start reconsidering that tinfoil.

[burnt]

yes he has outlawed the practice of torture.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/181007

the CIA specifically must adhere to the Army Field Manual. All CIA prisons are to be shut down. All Gitmo detainee's are being re-investigated.

it's a clean slate. he's doing exactly what he said he's going to do, which is what he's done throughout his campaign. and when he doesn't or can't, he explains why.

check politifact's "obameter" which is analyzing all 510 campaign promises and seeing what he follows up on and what he doesn't. in his first two days he's followed through on 7 promises, with 14 considered "in the works", 1 "stalled" and another 488 to go.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

time to start reconsidering that tinfoil.

couple that order to use the Army Field Manual, with the reversal of the closed door policy toward FOIA requests. looks like torture is gone. dead and gone. god, one can only hope.

growing and grooming suicide bombers is a business as much as American "defense" is a business and prison is a business. I would love to see Obama bankrupt that "business". the best way to bankrupt it, is to make procedural counterpoints to the standardized argument

[Shauk]

I don't have anything to add to this thread other than, I'm happy.


Seriously, I bookmarked that Obameter, I expect to see many things start filling up over the 1st year, hell if he does even half of it, I'll be satisfied.

[Andromeda.]

if obama was actually for allowing the banks to fail he'd be my instant hero.

sometimes i feel the same way...fuck the banks! they deserve it!...but the people who bank there DON'T. if banks fail millions of people could lose everything through no fault of their own. i liken that to theft. it IS theft.

you're SOL if you do and SOL of you don't.

feeling sorry for people who don't deserve being fucked over is pretty much what keeps me in check every time i get seriously "let it burn! FUCKING LET IT BURRRRNNNNAAAA!" tendencies lol...because you know when the banks fall all the top CEO's with their multimillions stashed in off-shore accounts aren't going to be homeless, starving, and destitute. not even close. they get to run away with their blood money all in the name of the "gee whiz honest free market capitalism! no really it's 100% fair and legal!" idealogies that made it possible for this entire fiasco to start -- and get so unbelievably, inhumanely far -- in the first place...

[forrest303]

I'm all for nationalization of banks...

Bring it on.

[B_tech]

yay for the good things, big fucking BOOOOOO to not withdrawing the tax cheating, bailout happy geithner for treasury and for pushing outright bank nationalization.
That's not exactly a fair statement to make. He made a good faith attempt to find out if he was liable for the taxes; he emailed his accountant and was told he wasn't liable. Hell, MANY others in the IMF had the same issue... this all came out in the hearing. I don't see how he's some evil tax cheater, based on the facts.

And I seem to recall he was giving a warning to the public in Feb of last year; at least he's smarter than the schmuck that was previously there, who was trying to tell America 'everything is OK' in November.

[B_tech]

if obama was actually for allowing the banks to fail he'd be my instant hero.

I'll grant you that I fail to see how all this TARP money has done anything, since credit still seems to be tight, but you honestly think that all these banks failing would be a GOOD thing for America? Shit, if they let the banks fail, the NYSE would crash and it would be similar, if not WORSE than the 29 crash. So... really? C'mon.

[DJBryanCharles]

the worst that could happen would be that our government would actually, finally fail.

Ughh...that would be...hmm...how do I put it...BAD!!!

[Roddimus]

I'll grant you that I fail to see how all this TARP money has done anything, since credit still seems to be tight, but you honestly think that all these banks failing would be a GOOD thing for America?
of course i do. do you honestly think these banks staying in business with pure inflation is what's good? these companies are insolvent, often due to outright fraud. the losses are real and you can't make them go away with government. how is keeping them alive with more public debt a good thing? we're just trading a banking crisis for a government bond and currency crisis.
Shit, if they let the banks fail, the NYSE would crash and it would be similar, if not WORSE than the 29 crash. So... really? C'mon.
yes it would, but without government intervention it would recover fairly quickly as the competent bought up the incompetent. the crash in 29 turned into a prolonged depression because the government intervened. it propped up banks, refused to allow liquidation of assets and fixed prices. many agree this unnecessarily prolonged the depression for a decade.
it would be painful, yes, but it's unavoidable. either we grit our teeth and go cold turkey now or risk an total overdose.

[MrMiyagi]

aaaaand lastly - he ordered all executive/federal agencies to *NOT* push through *ANY* of the final orders that former President Bush had mandated... which had not yet been implemented... until he and his staff could review them.



That was expected and Bush knew it... I remember reading that Bush gave lawmakers until the Saturday after Thanksgiving to have papers ready for him to sign, since I guess it takes 60 days or something before an order can go into effect...

I remember Bush doing the same thing to Clinton, but Clinton probably would have done things differently had the 2000 race been sorted out earlier...

[forrest303]

of course i do. do you honestly think these banks staying in business with pure inflation is what's good? these companies are insolvent, often due to outright fraud. the losses are real and you can't make them go away with government. how is keeping them alive with more public debt a good thing? we're just trading a banking crisis for a government bond and currency crisis.

yes it would, but without government intervention it would recover fairly quickly as the competent bought up the incompetent. the crash in 29 turned into a prolonged depression because the government intervened. it propped up banks, refused to allow liquidation of assets and fixed prices. many agree this unnecessarily prolonged the depression for a decade.
it would be painful, yes, but it's unavoidable. either we grit our teeth and go cold turkey now or risk an total overdose.

I completely agree with you, Jesse. Odd...sooner or later the pain is gonna happen. I'd like to see it come quickly without more *coughtaxpayermoniesformillionairescough* money being handed over to the banking industry.

[Roddimus]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/guan-j23.shtml

Obama's orders leave framework of torture, indefinite detention intact
...

While the media is portraying these orders as a repudiation of the detention and interrogation policies of the Bush administration, they actually change little. They essentially represent a public relations effort to refurbish the image of the United States abroad after years of torture and extralegal detentions and shield high-ranking American officials from potential criminal prosecution.
...
The orders signed by Obama do not undo the Bush administration’s attacks on constitutional and international law. They do not challenge the supposed right of the president to unilaterally imprison any individual, without trial and without charges, by declaring him to be an “enemy combatant.” Nor do they end the procedure known as “extraordinary rendition,” by which the United States during the Bush years kidnapped alleged terrorists and shipped them to foreign countries or secret CIA prisons outside the US, where they were subjected to torture.

They do not affect the hundreds of prisoners—600 at the Bagram prison camp in Afghanistan alone—incarcerated beyond the barbed wire of Guantánamo.

i'm impressed with obama. well, mainly with his ability to fool people so slickly.

[burnt]

the "world socialist web site" ??

lol, who the fuck is THAT?!!

no, no, seriously, I loves me a good blog as much as the next guy, its an infinitely better news source than traditional news. but that article? well, its crap. its crap like Bill O'Reilly is crap.

common d00d.

a good bloggy article like that needs to be riddled with hyperlinks, linking to PDF screenshots or whitehouse.gov press statements, or... well, shit, SOMETHING.

as it stands? its an opinion piece. nice opinion piece, dude.

[Roddimus]

yes it's an opinion piece, but it points out some very real facts. i just liked the way they articulated them.
the fact remains, obama did not end the indefinite detention and extraordinary rendition policies. he simply closed gitmo and instructed the army and CIA not to torture.
even the ACLU is critical of the fact that obama didn't put a concrete end to indefinite detention and extraordinary rendition.
“Adherence to American legal principles requires unconditional action; there is no room for a middle-ground. It would be an enormous mistake for the Obama administration to allow for indefinite detention in any case, or to endeavour to create any system other than our centuries-old justice system for prosecuting detainees,” Romero added.
http://www.sknvibes.com/News/NewsDetails.cfm/8269

[djed]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WUyCyzzdkGI/R8OjqcA4zzI/AAAAAAAAAlY/rI__gDtF4dg/s400/obama.JPG

[King Lumpy]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WUyCyzzdkGI/R8OjqcA4zzI/AAAAAAAAAlY/rI__gDtF4dg/s400/obama.JPG

I knew Id seen this dude before!!!
Funny frackin movie btw.

[burnt]

overturned the Ledbetter ruling today.

enacted the "Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Bill" into law today.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200901291333DOWJONESDJONLINE000757_FORTUNE5.htm

so, like, there was this woman executive who worked for 19 years at Goodyear. after working there for a while, she realized she'd been severely underpaid when compared to her male counterparts. she sued for equal pay - all this happened under Bush's administration - and the Supreme Court ruled that "no, see, the way we interpret the law, you only get 180 days to realize you're being screwed... after that, you can't sue for equal pay."

this new law overturns that ruling.

so ya, there's another of his 510 promises kept. and to think its only been like a week and a half. =)

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

[Roddimus]

yay for all that, although obama didn't really "overturn" anything. the ruling made my the supreme court stated she wasn't entitled to recourse because of the statute of limitations. this new law (which was being formed back when bush was in office) simply changed the statute of limitations. but yeah, yay for congress changing a stupid law.

[B_tech]

after working there for a while, she realized she'd been severely underpaid when compared to her male counterparts. she sued for equal pay
I haven't read into the law, but there's something about this that doesn't sit well with me.

If she was as qualified or more qualified than the men, I could see the justification, but suing to be paid more without that justification is asinine. None of the people that work for me make the same... they're paid based on experience, which is how pay SHOULD be measured.

[tr0llaccount]

I haven't read into the law, but there's something about this that doesn't sit well with me.

If she was as qualified or more qualified than the men, I could see the justification, but suing to be paid more without that justification is asinine. None of the people that work for me make the same... they're paid based on ability, which is how pay SHOULD be measured.

i assume that's what you meant?

[IrisSilverMoon]

hmm...I was under the impression that she was as equally qualified as her male counter-parts.

Or did you read elsewhere that she wasn't B_tech?

[burnt]

ya but, after 19 years you'd kind of have to assume she would be pretty good at it?

regardless - putting a 180 day cap on how long you have to both discover and object to pay discrimination is pretty fucking uncool. salaries aren't an oft-discussed topic, and you can bet your ass that if someone *does* actually feel like discriminating based on pay, they're not going to allow themselves to get caught in 6 months.