February 14, 2009
Why Government
As you know, all of us here at Dakota are deeply concerned about your development as an informed citizen Thus we worried that you might have missed Obama's inspiring speech at the Lincoln Banquet due to the trumped up flap around Judd Gregg's withdrawal, so we have unearthed Obama's speech in its entirety from YouTube for your viewing pleasure. .
Obama's Speech Part I and Part 2
Our new President is a fine teacher. Just in case you couldn't find time to watch the clickies, Obama explains that the purpose of government is to do the things that cannot be done with individual action alone -- least we still think government should be diminished to the point that it can be drowned in a bathtub.
Given Republican behavior over the past few weeks, William Rivers Pitt gives us a plethora of reasons to dump the GOP, all of which are worth noting. Here's an excerpt for the hurried:
There are a few distinct reasons the GOP has decided to get in the way of everything proposed by the Obama administration and the Congressional Democratic majority. They need to appear to be relevant after back-to-back electoral pastings in 2006 and 2008. Because they are better at playing the media game than the Democrats, they can telegraph whatever remaining strengths they have far more effectively.They need Obama to fail on all fronts if they are to have a prayer at recovering lost ground at the polls in 2010. Finally, they only have representation in states where Bush remains popular and the GOP cant on government remains holy writ, so if they want to keep those few remaining seats, they have to play in the hard-right part of the pool. This is not a group of people Obama should expect anything from beyond what has already been demonstrably in evidence. Hoping for something different is a foolish pipe dream.
....as well as The Saturday Night Live version
Photo note: Light shining through the American flag framed by clouds and darkness.- a metaphorophoto
Posted by Dakota at February 14, 2009 10:22 AM