January 20th, 2010

President Obama was sworn in and became our 44^th President one year ago today.

     Happy Anniversary, President Obama:

You’ve been the President for exactly one year.

And though some other commenters may differ,

What you’ve accomplished is (at least to me) crystal clear.

     Sorry we didn’t get you a better present–

Losing that 60^th Senate seat is unpleasant.

I don’t think that means the country rejects you

Or what you and the Dems are trying to do.

     It’s natural that Americans are feeling bad,

And lots of people are a little mad.

10% unemployment doesn’t help the national mood.

Add the Republican attack machine, and you’re screwed.

     Some recommend you should dial it back

And retreat in response to the Republican attack.

I disagree, and say keep moving forward.

The reasons, to me, are very straightforward.

     The last year has shown that whatever you do,

The incessant Republican attacks will continue.

It’s instructive that they’re just as opposed to the healthcare legislation

As they would have been without your outreach and concession.

     You gave Republicans more than a fair chance,

So maybe it’s time to dial back the bipartisan romance,

Maybe it’s time for some realpolitik,

To put away the carrot and get out the stick.

     Two final requests: first, please stay safe.

There are a lot of crazies out there all over the place.

And keep standing up to the Teabagger clan.

Can we still do it? Yes, we can.

***

For more news and views, read Too soon to write off Obama (Washington Post 1/20/10), Obama’s first-year success, and The Great Transformer? Not yet (Washington Post 1/19/10).The latter article makes the interesting point that among recent presidents, only Ronald Reagan experienced a comparable drop in his first-year approval ratings, from which the “Gipper” recovered to go on to “a landslide reelection, success in changing the course of the nation and world, [and] canonization by the Republican Party.”

Here’s the Daily Show’s 1/19/10 retrospective.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
The First 364 Days 23 Hours
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Here’s the President’s swearing in and inauguration speech from exactly one year ago today.

And here again is the will.i.am “Yes We Can” music video (I don’t know about you, but I can watch it again and again).

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Comments

One Response to “We Still Can”

1. Newsericks » Blog Archive » Happy Birthday, Mr. President Says:
   August 4th, 2010 at 5:39 pm

   [...] updated version of We Still Can in honor of the President’s birthday [...]

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