POPSUGAR -- Insanely addictive.

Briefing Book! Obama Goes Back on First Campaign Promise?

LibertySugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:30:41 -0800

Obama: How does it make you feel? Obama breaks promise to tax oil company windfall profits. — 23/6
GOP: The comeback party? RNC chair discloses comeback plan that helped Chambliss win. — Politico
Spitzer: The sheriff of Wall Street is back? Fallen Governor Spitzer writes his first column in Slate all about the bailouts. — Slate
Media: Time for a print media bailout? A number of local New England newspapers may get government help, calling into question the meaning of "free press." — Good

Friends of MLK Gather to Raise Funds For Memorial

CitizenSugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:30:38 -0800

In 1996 President Clinton signed a bill proposing the establishment of a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. Twelve years later, friends, associates, and admirers of King are still working to raise the $120 million needed to build the memorial.

Yesterday, original civil rights activists gathered on the National Mall at the planned memorial site for a rally. Their goal: to raise the final $18 million so President-elect Obama can dedicate the memorial during his first term. King's memorial will sit between Lincoln's and Jefferson's, and the design pleases King's associates. Clarence Jones, who worked as King's attorney and sometimes speech writer said yesterday: "At some points, I was so welled up in the memories of what the memorial reflected that it really caused me to have quiet tears."

If you're in the mood to donate to the dream, a $5 donation will get you a band together to build the dream wristband! Are you surprised there isn't a MLK memorial already in Washington, DC?

Source

Inauguration Week: Oprah Goes to Washington!

LibertySugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:01:00 -0800

Oprah Winfrey plans to go to Washington, DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama, and she's bringing her audience, which is spread out across places like Saudi Arabia and another 140 countries!

During inauguration week Oprah will tape her show at the Kennedy Center's Opera House, also the location of Oprah's rumored star-studded inauguration night party. I guess we can start calling it the Kennedy Center's Oprah House.

Since Oprah really, really wanted Obama to win, you know she'll throw a celebratory bash to remember! Are you one of the 1.5 million people that plan on being in DC with Oprah for the inauguration?

Source

Bill Clinton Says He's Cool With Staying in the Shadows

LibertySugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:30:30 -0800

Bill Clinton, America's 42nd president, says he's ready to stay out of his wife's way as she serves as president 44's secretary of state. Bill told CNN that he would act as Hillary's sounding board, but doesn't think he'll do more than that.

As for helping Obama, Bill said he would if Obama asked him "to do something specific." I could imagine Bill acting as America's on-call peace negotiator, dispatched on specialized missions.

Either way it appears that the former president read Cherie Blair's advice to Michelle Obama: learn to like the backseat. Considering Bill's expertise, accomplishments, and ego, it surely will take some effort to keep quiet. Should he?

Source

Would You Buy a Barack Obama Victory Plate?

LibertySugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:15:43 -0800

Would You Buy a Barack Obama Victory Plate? Like most of you, GiggleSugar asked herself while watching this Barack Obama victory plate commercial, "Is this for real?" It's not an SNL or Daily Show skit; she saw it with her own two eyes during her Thanksgiving weekend television watching marathon/extravaganza.

Obama Tells Bush-Appointed Ambassadors to Go Home

LibertySugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:30:01 -0800

Politically appointed US ambassadors will be unemployed starting Jan. 20, joining their fellow Americans also on the job hunt. Ambassadors picked by George W. Bush received notice this week that their services will not be needed even for the usual administration transition period.

As the Washington Post points out, Obama's decision does not impact all ambassadors, as many are foreign service officers heading up America's outposts in less crucial countries. But the embassies in places like London, Tokyo, or Paris (located right by the Champs Élysée!) will soon be led by those who have shown loyalty to Obama's candidacy and worldview.

Considering US embassies act as a powerful symbol of America abroad, and sometimes as the sites of anti-American protests, it makes sense that Obama wants to appoint new faces that represent his vision. Does that sound fair to you?

Source

Richardson as Commerce Secretary to Spark Racial Tension?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:30:39 -0800

President-elect Obama named New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as his commerce secretary nominee today, putting Richardson on track to be the voice of the US business community in Obama's cabinet. Richardson will also lead international trade missions, watch over the 2010 census, and oversee the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Office (an agency involved in the climate change debate).

But not everyone is pleased. Chinese-American activists in California have planned a nationwide protest to the appointment of Gov. Richardson, who enjoys popularity among Latino Americans as his demographic's most prominent politician. The Chinese-American group maintains that when Richardson was President Clinton's energy secretary he handled the case of Taiwanese-American Wen Ho Lee in a way that made all Chinese-Americans seem like potential spies. To find out more about this controversy,

Submit Your Ideas For a New America at Change.org

LibertySugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:30:33 -0800

At change.org you can submit your ideas for the Obama Administration, as well as comment and vote on other submissions. On Inauguration Day, the top-10 ideas for change will be presented to President Obama. Right now citizens are discussing ideas such as a Do Not Mail Registry to Stop Junk Mail, Single-Payer Health Insurance for All Americans, Vegan School Lunch Options, and End the Phony War on Terror.

But some users think change.org is out to censor.org. Those who posted popular suggestions for a new investigation into 9/11 or those who suggested abolishing the Federal Reserve claim they got an email saying that their topic had been removed because it "lies outside the scope of the Ideas for Change in America project, which is focused on identifying solutions that we believe can, through a grassroots lobbying effort, receive serious consideration from the Obama administration and/or Congress." If the group censors controversial ideas and handpicks its own top 10, can the result really be called a citizen-generated agenda?

Of course, you can always tell Obama your idea directly through his official website (change.gov not change.org) — but no commenter feedback promised there!

Would You Buy a Barack Obama Victory Plate?

GiggleSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:00:00 -0800

Like most of you, I, too, asked myself while watching this Barack Obama victory plate commercial, "Is this for real?" It's not an SNL or Daily Show skit; I saw it with my own two eyes during my Thanksgiving weekend television watching marathon/extravaganza. What can I say that this hilarious commercial doesn't say for me? "Yes you can own a piece of history" — but just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Would You Buy a Barack Obama Victory Plate?

Yes. One can never have too many porcelain, 22-carat gold trimmed commemorative plates.

No. There's only room in my curio case for The Franklin Mint's commemorative Elvis bust in faux ivory.

Maybe. But with only 65 firing days left and a limit of two victory plates per caller, I'd better act fast.

Other (see comments below)

More Americans Think Obama Can Save Economy — Do You?

LibertySugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:02:35 -0800

A poll released yesterday shows that 55 percent of Americans are at least somewhat confident that Barack Obama's economic team can lead the US out of its economic troubles. Last week, when Obama held three consecutive press conferences to address the economic crisis, the markets rallied. In addition, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman dubbed the recently unveiled economic team (made up of economists and many Clinton vets) the "Ministry of Talents."Considering the recession has been under way for more than a year, I think it's about time to bring it to an end! The day after the election most SavvySugar readers thought Obama would have a positive impact on the US economy. Now that the President-elect has selected his team, are you all feeling confident that the end is in sight? Source

More Americans Think Obama Can Save Economy — Do You?

Yay! Competence is back!

Nay. We're in this too far.

Other. I'll tell you in the comments.