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Obama Visits West Virginia, Honoring the Memory of Fallen Miners
Tweet Share on Facebook April 26, 2010 Comment (2)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The heart of Appalachia is not Obama country, but it is Democratic in the New Deal sense of that word. The rugged terrain of West Virginia's coal mining towns is rock-solid blue Byrd country--as in Senator Robert C. Byrd, 92, who used to play folk songs on his fiddle as he campaigned. Songs like "Let the Circle Be Unbroken."
Sunday afternoon, the president came to pay a grave condolence call on the grief-stricken community of the 29 miners who died in a disastrous blast at the Upper Big Branch mine on Easter Monday. Just by showing up at the memorial service, Obama showed up the president who dipped the wing of Air Force One over the devastation wrought by a hurricane named Katrina in 2005; while Washington slept, New Orleans wept. -
Obama's Soft Spot for Strong Women
Tweet Share on Facebook April 16, 2010 Comment (3)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
An Imaginary Conversation over Breakfast This Week--in American and English
James: Holmes, I say, my hypothesis was confirmed when I just read in The Washington Post that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of President Barack Obama's favorite heads of state in the entire world. He had to greet, wine, dine, and work the magic on dozens--but he gave her a welcome kiss on both cheeks to say hello at the Nuclear Security Summit.
Sherlock: Enchantee, as they say en francais. German's not my cup of tea in the morning.
James: The day before, also in the Post, there was a front page picture of Obama with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton striding from the White House to Blair House and man, there they were, on the same page, like they'd never been at each other's throats running for president. They radiated sparks and strength, like hey: Watch out, world! The ultimate Washington power couple is coming at you now to knock your nuclear socks off. Hillary had that no-nonsense look in her eye and you know the president really likes to see that fire in a strong woman.
Sherlock: Do you mean to say that the president of the United States has got a soft spot for a strong woman?
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RNC Chairman Michael Steele: Bob Ehrlich's Gift That Keeps Giving
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2010 Comment (19)By Jamie Stiehm, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Whatever former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a Republican, has to say today as he announces he's running again for the job he lost to Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2006, nothing will change the greatest legacy he gave to his party and country. The gift Ehrlich gave his fellow Republicans is one they greatly rue, but are still paying the bills for: Yes, I'm speaking about Michael Steele, the garrulous national party chairman who dares to compare himself with President Barack Obama. Talk about audacity. One has a deft and brilliant way with words, spoken and written; the other appears to use the dignity of his office for his unique, jazzy brand of celebrity and has not said one sober thing of importance or insight yet.
Jamie Stiehm
Jamie Stiehm is a weekly Creators Syndicate columnist. Her op-eds on politics, culture, and history have appeared in newspapers across the nation, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. She previously worked as a reporter at the Baltimore Sun and The Hill. Jamie's first journalism job was as an assignment editor at the CBS News bureau in London.
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