All That Is Necessary

Tag: Obama Silver-Lining Watch

  • Congratulations, Mr. President: Chapter 2 of My Quadrennial Search for Silver Linings

    If you had to win, I’m deeply relieved that Florida doesn’t matter this time. But once again, you’ve inherited a mess from your predecessor.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr.: Preacher, Activist, Martyr… and American

    At church today I had the privilege of reading excerpts, from the lectern, of one of the greatest speeches in American history. I was worried that I wouldn’t make it all the way through without crying.  I have a Boehner-like tendency to dissolve in tears on solemn occasions — not just at funerals, but also […]

  • The “Obama Silver-Lining Watch” and the Nobel Peace Prize

    At first blush, the Nobel Prize may seem to make it harder for an Obama administration to do anything involving a projection of American military power. But there’s another way of looking at it. While the prize is ridiculous, it’s not Obama’s fault that it was awarded. At the risk of indulging in wishful thinking, the prize may give him protective cover to act in the long-term interests of peace — even when it involves military action in the short run.

  • Thank You, Mr. President, For Your Message to Kids

    The kids just saw a highly accomplished black man, who lives with his wife and plays an active role in raising their delightful young children, tell students of all races that it’s important to stay in school and do their best. Any excuse for staging such an event is a good enough excuse for me.

  • Mr. Obama’s War: I Told You So

    President Bush salutes in front of General David Petraeus and Admiral William Fallon, September 2007, in Iraq President Obama today announced an Iraq withdrawal plan that George Bush would be proud to call his own. Actually, it IS Bush’s own. Don’t be fooled by the lawyerly language in his pledge to complete “the responsible removal […]

  • A Centrist Obama May Help Moderate the Democratic Party

    Today’s edition of Obama Silver Lining Watch (hereafter OSLW) starts with a trip down memory lane. In my very first substantive post on this blog, way back in July 2008, I discussed how Obama was, inevitably, moderating his stance on multiple issues after finally knocking Hillary Clinton out of the race: But it turns out […]

  • Obama Silver Lining Watch (Gitmo Edition)

    “The single best thing about the election of Obama may be that we now have a chance to view the terror threat without the distorting lens of Bush hatred.” So says Jack Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general in the Bush Administration, as quoted in a William McGurn column in today’s WSJ. The topic of […]

  • Reasons for Republicans to be Thankful

    Jennifer Rubin offers some Thanksgiving cheer at Pajamas Media. I don’t agree with every word of her post, but I love these parts: First, President-elect Barack Obama won by assuring voters he would pursue tax cuts, victory in Afghanistan, prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and go “line by line” through the federal budget to […]

  • Evidence That Obama May Not Be a Socialist

    Here’s hoping that whatever socialist tendencies President-elect Obama may have will be tempered by recognition of the success of his remarkably entrepreneurial, decentralized campaign. Bret Swanson floats this idea in today’s WSJ (free link), in a piece headlined “Obama Ran A Capitalist Campaign.” Some excerpts: The results of Mr. Obama’s decentralized Web effort were staggering: […]

  • A McCain Voter Finds Silver Linings

    Differences on policy issues should not, on this day, obscure the marvel that has occurred. A man who in his early childhood could not use certain public restrooms has just been elected to the most powerful office in the world. The 109-year-old daughter of a slave lived long enough to help elect a black president. […]