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Obama Was Wrong to Criticize the Supreme Court
Tweet Share on Facebook January 29, 2010 Comment (82)As the dust settles on the State of the Union address, I can't stop thinking about the one memorable part of the evening. My mouth dropped open when the president looked the justices of the Supreme Court in the eye and criticized their recent decision on campaign finance law. Here's the video of what the president said and Justice Alito's reaction. Vice President Biden piled on the next day, telling ABC News, "The President didn't question the integrity of the court. He questioned the judgment of it." The decision was "dead wrong," and an "outrageous decision," he said. "Not outrageous in the fact that these guys are bad guys, but outrageous in the way you read the Constitution." Leave it to Biden to tell us what the president really thinks: the justices are "dead wrong" in reading the Constitution and he questions their judgment as "outrageous." Now opinions are flying on both sides. On scotusblog.com, there's a round-up of the commentary with links to interesting articles, but I'm going to leave the legal analysis to the lawyers and just say I thought the President and Vice President were disrespectful.
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The State of the Union Address Won’t Make or Break President Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2010 Comment (16)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Here's the real story on the State of the Union address: As a speech, it's no big deal. The press today is in complete overdrive building up President Obama's need to hit it out of the ballpark tonight: He's at "the crossroads of his Presidency," says the New York Times; it's the "speech of his life," writes Jonathan Cohn in the New Republic; the morning shows were full of analysis along the lines of "the chips are down" and "the pressure is on"--that Obama needs to do well tonight to survive politically.
And while everyone in official Washington watches the State of the Union address, how many people in the rest of the country sit down for the entire hour long laundry list of legislative proposals? Not many, I bet. Most catch a video clip or two afterward on the 11 o'clock news or read about it in the paper the next day. It seems like every year the speech gets longer and longer, and the analysis from the talking heads does, too.
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President Obama Should Not Skip Out on Jury Duty
Tweet Share on Facebook January 25, 2010 Comment (39)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Politics Daily is reporting that President Obama was summoned for jury duty this week in Chicago and told the Cook County circuit court that he would not be able to make it because of the State of the Union address. I can certainly understand having a conflict because of a major address to the American people, but he should have rescheduled the jury duty. The president had an opportunity to signal that jury duty is important and a duty of citizenship, rather than just simply saying he "would not be able to serve." Let's face it, not many people like having to go on jury duty, and would love to say that they're just "not able to serve." I don't think it's right that the president--who is a lawyer himself--can just say this doesn't work for him. Think of all the people who are paid by the hour, the stay-at-home moms, and small-business owners who have to report for jury duty, no matter how inconvenient (and costly) it is for them.
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How McDonnell Should Respond to Obama’s State of the Union
Tweet Share on Facebook January 25, 2010 Comment (8)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
A number of pundits are making suggestions for Gov. Bob McDonnell's Republican response to the State of the Union address, and I have an idea too. Rather than standing in front of any empty desk in the U.S. Capitol and speaking into a lone camera, he should address the nation from the floor of the Virginia legislature in front of a live audience, and say something like this:
I'm speaking to you tonight from the Capitol of the great Commonwealth of Virginia, in the building designed by our former governor, Thomas Jefferson, located on Shockoe Hill here in Richmond. Not far from where I stand tonight, on the hill next to this one, Church Hill, sits the old St. John's Church. In 1775, just hours after the British marched on Concord, Mass., Virginia's first governor, Patrick Henry, stood before citizens of the largest colony and said, "Give me liberty or give me death!" And Virginia joined the revolution.
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Obama Should Follow Domino’s Pizza’s Lead and Start Over
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2010 Comment (6)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Here's an idea for the president's State of the Union address next Wednesday: Do what Domino's Pizza is doing.
Take a look at Domino's Pizza's new ad campaign and Web video. In the video, focus groups tell corporate executives that the crust tastes like cardboard, the sauce like ketchup, and even, "It's the worst excuse for pizza I've ever had." The company hears the complaints and then sets out to fix the problem: "You can't just add a little salt or a little something to the recipe. We basically had to start over with a new recipe," says the marketing director.
In this hilarious segment, Steven Colbert quotes CEO David Brandon: "The weakness in our value chain with the customer was really in our core product." Colbert speculates that the flavor of the core product--pizza--was being overshadowed by the superior flavor of their fringe product--the little white plastic table thing in the box.
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Republicans Need a 'Happiness Index'
Tweet Share on Facebook January 21, 2010 Comment (30)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The tension that springs up when some Republicans are asked about the tea party movement is fascinating. They want the tea partyers' energy...but not their anger. They'd like tea partyers to run for office against Democrats...but not as spoilers in Republican primaries. Some conservatives fear that if they support the partyers' anti-establishment populism, the media will lump them all together as uneducated yahoos. Even conservative columnist David Brooks recently sniffed at the tea partyers, whom he said are not part of the "educated class" in America, as an "amateurish movement with mediocre leadership."
There's a reason why the press mocks tea partyers: Tea partyers believe that the mainstream media have joined big government and Wall Street to form one big, bloated nanny state, with massive regulation, high taxes, unlimited spending, and deficits as far as the eye can see—and plenty of favoritism, bailouts, earmarks, and ethics complaints to go around. The tea partyers didn't like the $787 billion stimulus plan, the AIG bonuses, or what seems likely to pass as healthcare reform. Neither do many independents.
And then this week, along came Scott Brown and the voters of Massachusetts. Here's what Brown said the night he took away the Democrats' lock on a 60-vote majority in the Senate: "What I've heard again and again on the campaign trail, is that our political leaders have grown aloof from the people, impatient with dissent, and comfortable in the back room making deals. And we can do better." Then he said how the Republican Party can do better: "Across this country, we are united by basic convictions that need only to be clearly stated to win a majority."
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Scott Brown's Victory Should Draw Democrats Back to the Middle
Tweet Share on Facebook January 20, 2010 Comment (111)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Last night was my idea of a good time. On the way home in late-day traffic, I listened to Ray Flynn, the former Democratic mayor of Boston on POTUS Radio on XM. In a fascinating interview, he announced that even he had voted for Republican Scott Brown, because Brown gave a voice to the millions who aren't being heard by the Obama administration: "People feel like their vote is being taken for granted with this powerful, one-party state, and with one-party government in Washington. People want a little coalition, and a little respect… I don't know how you regroup from something like this. There are going to be a lot of problems in the Democratic party from here on out."
Once I got home, I turned on the TV to watch Martha Coakley's concession speech and Brown's victory speech. (The link has the "as prepared" text, but it's MUCH more fun to watch the video clip with all his laughter and ad libs.) I don't know who wrote Brown's speech--maybe he wrote it himself--but I was jealous. How fun was that to write? Gracious to Coakley and the Kennedy family, down-to-earth, funny, he spoke to his supporters in the room as well as to the millions of us rooting for him across the country--and connected the dots, as we say lately, bringing it all together and explaining why people are frustrated with the kind of "change" we're getting:
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Scott Brown Fueled by Independents’ Anger at Liberal Arrogance
Tweet Share on Facebook January 19, 2010 Comment (37)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
At least here in D.C., everybody's eyes are on Massachusetts as we await the results tonight. They're giving Boston weather reports on the radio, to try and gauge turnout in the state today in the absence of any exit polls. Just two weeks ago, the Boston Globe had Martha Coakley leading Scott Brown by 15 points. This weekend's polls showed big changes: seven out of the last eight polls over the weekend on Real Clear Politics put Brown ahead, some by as much as 10 points. No wonder everybody's watching it. There's a great lesson for Republicans and Democrats there.
That same Politico poll has Brown ahead by a whopping 41 percent margin among independents; according to Sunday's Boston Globe, the majority of registered voters in Massachusetts are independents. I don't know if Brown is going to win or not, but the fact that he's ahead by such a huge margin among independents is a great thing for the GOP--after all, independents were also the deciding factor in the Virginia and New Jersey governors' races recently won by Republicans. Brown is picking up on the same themes that worked in those races, and he's smart to do so. Like Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie, he hasn't been out front on social issues, just talking blue-collar pocketbook concerns and running against big-government liberalism. The day after those two elections, the Washington Post's Dan Balz reported this:
For months, polls have shown that independents were increasingly disaffected with some of Obama's domestic policies. They have expressed reservations about the president's health-care efforts and have shown concerns about the growth in government spending and the federal deficit under his leadership.
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Haiti Relief Effort Marks a Tipping Point for Mobile Charity
Tweet Share on Facebook January 14, 2010 Comment (7)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
"Today is a huge day for mobile giving," Tony Aiello, chief executive of mGive, told the New York Times. "We are experiencing a tipping point." He was talking about the one piece of good news coming out of aftermath of the horrific earthquake in Haiti: that his company has raised over $2 million for Red Cross relief efforts there just since Tuesday--all via cellphones. Word spread on Twitter and Facebook that mGive could get money immediately to the Red Cross, and mGive was waiving all of its usual fees so that 100 percent of the money would go to Haitian rescue efforts. A nonprofit clearinghouse that collects donations for charities given by text message to wireless carriers, mGive usually charges the charities a licensing fee.
In this case, anyone with a cellphone and an account with a major wireless carrier can text "Haiti" (without the quote marks) to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross. You'll see the $10 charge on your cellphone bill. I just did it myself, and it couldn't have been easier.
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Palin Praised Many New Fox News Peers in ‘Going Rogue’
Tweet Share on Facebook January 13, 2010 Comment (5)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
As Sarah Palin joins the Fox team, I remembered finding this paragraph buried in the acknowledgements of Going Rogue:
To some media professionals whom I admire because you don't let anyone tell you to sit down and shut up, please keep making the idiots' heads spin. Thanks for not taking our Freedom of the Press for granted, you bold and patriotic, fair and balanced media folks. Keep calling it like you see it: Amanda, Andrew, Ann, Bill(s), Bob, Cal, Dennis, Dick, Eddie, Fred, Glenn, Greta, Hugh, Joey, John, Jonah, Larry, Laura, Lou, Mark, Mary, Michael, Michelle, R.A.M., Rich, Rush, S.E., Sean, Tammy, Walter ... and there are more. I join you in standing up for what is right. Remember that as your voice is heard and your spine is stiffened, the spines of others are stiffened, too.
