Obama agenda: The Ft. Hood speech
Posted: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 9:16 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
White House, Barack Obama
The New York Times on Obama’s speech yesterday: “President Obama took on the role of national eulogist on Tuesday for the first time since assuming office as he led the country in mourning 13 active and retired soldiers gunned down not on a foreign battlefield but here on their home post by one of their own… Although Mr. Obama had spoken at the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy and made a post-midnight visit to Dover Air Force Base to salute the returning dead, this was the first time he had served as the nation’s comforter at a time of major tragedy. These are moments that can define a president, as when Bill Clinton eulogized the Oklahoma City bombing victims or George W. Bush gave voice to the anguish of a nation after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”
The Los Angeles Times adds: "The speech left some of the thousands of military personnel and civilians in attendance in tears. It appeared that Obama too had to compose himself at times."
The New York Post puts Obama's speech at Fort Hood on its cover.
Video:
Rachel Maddow reports on the Fort Hood memorial service, including President Obama's speech.
“Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are coalescing around a proposal to send 30,000 or more additional American troops to Afghanistan, but President Obama remains unsatisfied with answers he has gotten about how vigorously the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan would help execute a new strategy, administration officials said Tuesday,” the New York Times says. “Mr. Obama is to consider four final options in a meeting with his national security team on Wednesday, his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters. The options outline different troop levels, other officials said, but they also assume different goals — including how much of Afghanistan the troops would seek to control — and different time frames and expectations for the training of Afghan security forces.”
The Washington Times does its curtain-raiser on the president's trip to Asia, noting that most of the leg work has been about avoiding pitfalls. "At his first stop in Japan, U.S. officials have worked to forestall a thorny debate over American military bases. In Southeast Asia, they have tried to dampen expectations for the first-ever interaction between an American president and the brutal military ruler in Myanmar. In South Korea, discussion of Seoul's refusal to import American cars will take a back seat to expressing gratitude for South Korean contributions to the war in Afghanistan. And in China, the administration's top trade officials have worked to smooth over a recent flap over low-cost Chinese tire imports, while Mr. Obama's advance team has struggled to hash out an itinerary that will enable Mr. Obama to address the Chinese people directly."
"President Barack Obama still has the public approval of a majority of Americans, but he finds himself governing an increasingly pessimistic country," according to an new AP-GFK poll. "Obama's approval rating stands at 54 percent, roughly the same as in October but very different from the enthusiastic 74 percent in January just before he took office. And some 56 percent of people say the country is heading in the wrong direction, an uptick from 51 percent last month and 49 percent in Obama's first month as president."
On foreign policy: "Compared with October, 45 percent of people now disapprove of Obama's handling of Iraq, up from 37 percent; while 48 percent now disapprove of his handling of Afghanistan, up from 41 percent. A majority of Americans oppose both wars. And more than half -- 54 percent -- now oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan, an increase from 50 percent last month."
How many other stories like this will we start to see across the country? "While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted jobs, filed erroneous figures, or claimed jobs for work that has not yet started. The Globe’s finding is based on the federal government’s just-released accounts of stimulus spending at the end of October. "
Our friends at msnbc.com have several features related to the stimulus, including a tracker, a piece describing some of the projects, including a "bat gate" (no, it's not for batman).
