April 2009 Archives
From expanding the White House's faith-based office to opening his rallies with prayer, Barack Obama has embraced faith in a more visible way than any other president in recent memory. At the same time, Obama's actions on a variety of fronts, from abortion policy to accepting a speaking invitation at Notre Dame--a prestigious Roman Catholic university--have outraged religious conservatives. The confluence of these two phenomena have made for an explosion of "faith moments" in the first 100 days of Obama's presidency. Here are the 10 most important.--Dan Gilgoff
Obama began his presidency literally and politically reaching out as far as he could: to Cuba, Russia, Syria and Iran, for example. Here at home, he hunkered down in the Oval Office with congressional Republicans and leaders of corporate America.
He had two purposes. Diplomatically, he wanted to show off his globalist vision and herald a new era of cooperative good will after eight years of President George W. Bush's my-way-or-the-highway style. Domestically, he wanted to demonstrate good will of a different sort in the midst of frightening economic chaos. I'm not here to bury capitalism, his actions declared, but to save it. Yes, there will be medicine to administer to Wall Street and big banks, but it's medicine, not poison, and it was (and is) supposed to be dispensed in the spirit of tough love.
Speaking at the National Academy of Sciences, the President paid due tribute to the wonder, history, and inspiration of science in America. But he also made the connection between science and the news being discussed all across America right now to make clear that science is no afterthought or hobby:
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Ursula Holmes was settled into her usual pew toward the rear of Washington's Nineteenth Street Baptist Church when President-elect Barack Obama saw her. Both he and his wife, Michelle, paused, stooped down and took hold of her hand as they left church after a Sunday service in January.
With an African-American population estimated as high as 50 million, the "blight of racism" is "still an epidemic assailing" the United States, writer Maya Angelou said April 24 at the Southeast regional gathering of the New Baptist Covenant April 24 and 25 at Wake Forest University.
The public got only one glimpse of Barack Obama on Thursday, March 26 -- the 66th day of his presidency, and the most intense so far in an administration that has been defined by its intensity.The event was an online town hall designed to show the president as accessible, informed, in control.
A 19th-century historian called the Middle Ages "a thousand years without a bath." That oversimplified somewhat, but was interestingly suggestive. So is the summation of Obama's opening sprint as 100 days without silence.
Ordinary politicians cannot comprehend that it is possible for the public to see and hear too much of them. In this sense, Obama is very ordinary. A few leaders of democracies have understood the importance of being economical with their demands for the public's attention.
Like so many Christians, Kevin McNeese carries his bible to church on Sundays. He "pops it open," he says, and follows along as the pastor reads that week's chapter and verse from the pulpit. For fun, McNeese reads additional, sometimes extensive, Bible commentary. At the conclusion of the service, he closes his Bible--and puts it in his pocket. He used to carry the Good Book to church, he says, but now, thanks to an app installed on his iPhone, "my Bible is with me all the time."
This week the President reiterates a theme that has been a hallmark of his career, namely that "old habits and stale thinking" will simply not help us solve the new and immense problems our country faces. Listing off several specific changes he intends to bring, he describes his guiding principle: "To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent."
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Obama Gets a B-plus for his first 100 days, while the retro GOP battles FDR.
The reporters assembled Thursday morning to hear the results of a new poll measuring public attitudes toward President Obama did their best to ferret out nuggets of bad news. How durable is the president's high job-approval rating (63 percent) and higher-yet personal rating (73 percent)? One bit of bad news and the rainbow disappears? asked one scribe. What about the narrative Republicans are advancing that Obama is a weak president who can be pushed around? Another wondered how much of Obama's "halo effect" could be attributed to the nation's "historic self-congratulations" over the breakthrough his election represented.
One of the Washington media's most time-honored rituals is starting to flower, with the blossoms at peak for the next week or so. April 29 will be the 100th day of Barack Obama's presidency.
The "100 days" concept has had mythical status since the days of the New Deal, when Franklin D. Roosevelt made history with a blizzard of bold federal actions. And reporters have been addicted to stories around this milestone in every administration since.
As I watch Washington politics I am not easily given to rage. Washington politics is a game and selfishness, out-sized egos and corruption are predictable. But over the last week I find myself in a fury.
I saw very little of Tiger Woods playing Sunday at the Masters tournament and that was enough to know that he was not out of the woods. Literally.
One of his shots struck a tree on the 17th hole and another one hit a tree on the 18th. Of course, thousands of African Americans were deeply disappointed that Woods did not collect his second green jacket in Augusta.
President Obama heads to the motorcade in Mexico City after a helicopter ride aboard Marine One on April 16, 2009.
With the process of going through the budget line by line in full swing, the President uses his Weekly Address to give some examples, big and small, of how the Administration is working to cut costs and eliminate waste. The President also announces two new key appointments, Jeffrey Zients as Chief Performance Officer and Aneesh Chopra as Chief Technology Officer, who will be invaluable in streamlining the way government functions through efficiency and innovation.
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Acknowledging a "confidence gap" with taxpayers, President Obama ordered his Cabinet on Monday to cut a total of $100 million from office expenses over the next 90 days - but his effort was immediately ridiculed by Republicans who said it was a pittance.
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After eight years in the political wilderness, civil libertarians didn't have to wait long for President Barack Obama to make them feel at home again. Within just one full day in office, the new President issued a blistering array of orders reversing the policies of George W. Bush -- on harsh interrogation techniques, on access to government information and on Guantánamo, which he announced he would close. "A giant step forward," hailed Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
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The vast nation of China remains under the control of one of the few surviving Communist regimes on the planet. Over the last two decades, that regime has redefined Communist economic theory, allowing private capital and a consumer market to emerge alongside state control and ownership. Nevertheless, the totalitarian nature of the regime reaches even into the most intimate dimensions of life. The most insidious example of this totalitarian impulse is China's infamous "one child only" policy.
Reporting from Washington -- If it seems arbitrary -- even unfair -- to take the measure of a new president after just 100 days in office, you can blame Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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Three Christian organizations encouraged a biblical view on homosexuality in the nation's school, Monday, with an event called the "Day of Truth."
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Here's a quick history quiz for you. Which nationally prominent leader said this? "Edicts of nondiscrimination are not enough. Justice demands that every citizen consciously adopts a personal commitment to affirmative action, which will make equal opportunity a reality."
At the request of the White House, Georgetown University covered up all the symbols in Gaston Hall, before the Great Man spoke, including IHS, the millennia-old monogram for the name of Jesus Christ. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, had adopted the monogram in his seal and it became an emblem of the Jesuit order.
The cool, cerebral White House might logically conclude that Wednesday's decidedly uncool, uncerebral "tea bag" protests were intellectually and politically incoherent, and therefore not worth a second thought. That would be a dangerous mistake.
Since the conclusion of the presidential election, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has largely avoided the political fundraising circuit. Nevertheless, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee has emerged as an almost unparalleled fundraising force, with both foes and fans minting money off the mere mention of her name.
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A young Easter Egg Roll participant carefully balances an egg on a spoon making his way toward the finish line Monday, April 13, 2009, at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
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He doesn't thunder from the pulpit in righteous rage. He'd rather relay stories that make a moral point. He has no catchphrases, fussy handlers or televised religious talk shows.
Proposals contained in the EU's draft discrimination directive could lead to churches being sued if they refuse to give communion, baptism or membership to non-Christians trying to get their children into a church school, experts said.
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This week the President discusses the multitude of problems and opportunities before the world through the prism of Passover and Easter: "These are two very different holidays with their own very different traditions. But it seems fitting that we mark them both during the same week. For in a larger sense, they are both moments of reflection and renewal. They are both occasions to think more deeply about the obligations we have to ourselves and the obligations we have to one another, no matter who we are, where we come from, or what faith we practice.
Despite being "a skeptic of vouchers," candidate Barack Obama promised this would not prevent him from "making sure that our kids can learn." As he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "You do what works for the kids."
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President Barack Obama meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner aboard Air Force One March 31, 2009, on their way to attend the G-20 Summit in London.
President Barack Obama is clearly liked overseas -- adored, in many quarters. But is he respected? Americans bathed in glowing press coverage of his trip evidently think so, judging by results in the latest CBS-New York Times poll.
I wrote a cover story for NEWSWEEK this week entitled "The Decline and Fall of Christian America." In the essay I argued that two things were going on in American religion this Holy Week. First, that new (and newish) data suggested that the percentage of Americans who self-identify as Christians has been falling, albeit from astronomical heights to semiastronomical ones. President Obama's campaign promise to dismantle new conscience protections for health care professionals could let governments and medical institutions threaten the careers of pro-lifers who refuse involvement with abortion and contraception issues, a pro-life medical coalition said yesterday.
In eight days in Europe, President Obama has started down the road to remaking the global financial system, reinvigorating the NATO commitment to Afghanistan and Pakistan, rewriting nuclear policy, and repairing relations with the Muslim world.
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President Barack Obama is saluted by U.S. General Raymond T. Odierno, commanding general of the multi-national force in Iraq, upon his arrival Tuesday, April 7, 2009, at Baghdad International Airport.
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It was a leisurely 12:20 PM, just after noon in Turkey, but it was 5:20 AM or earlier back in the United States, so many here may have missed a very interesting discussion with 100 university students in Istanbul (read the full transcript). The President laid out why he wanted to do the roundtable in his opening remarks:
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The National Organization for Marriage, a prominent backer of the successful campaign against same-sex marriage in California, is launching a $1.5 million ad campaign this morning aimed at forestalling same-sex marriage support in other key states.
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Republican National Chairman Michael Steele is urging Florida Republicans to send delegates who "look like Florida" to the next GOP National Convention.
Mr. Speaker, Madam Deputy Speaker, distinguished members, I am honored to speak in this chamber, and I am committed to renewing the alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people.
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President Barack Obama is filling out his advisory council on faith-based groups without appointing a well-known football coach, who was reportedly invited to join the panel but drew fire from liberal groups for his opposition to gay marriage.
A Pentecostal bishop who has challenged Democrats on abortion and a representative of a national gay rights group are among nine new members of a White House advisory council.
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Former President George W. Bush's international AIDS-fighting campaign has reduced by 10 percent the mortality rates in 15 targeted countries, primarily in Africa, and has saved 1.1 million lives, according to a study that for the first time quantified the successes of his program.
The incoming head of NATO called on Monday for a balance between free speech and respect for religious feelings after a dispute over his support for the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad had threatened his appointment.
A news report from the Netherlands points to a form of theological insanity that is spreading far beyond the Dutch. Ecumenical News International reports that church authorities in the Netherlands have decided not to take action against a Dutch pastor who openly declares himself to be an atheist. 
Gov. Tim Kaine on Monday signed a bill that will allow Virginia motorists to obtain license plates with the message "Choose Life," joining 23 other states that issue plates with the pro-life slogan.
The United States is still the same country it was a year ago, give or take about 6 million jobs. But its international branding campaign, as led by the new President, Barack Obama, is so different that the rest of the world might be forgiven if it has to do a double take.
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American visitors to Britain have a reputation for whirlwind "if-it's-Wednesday-it-must-be-London" tourism. But none can ever have had a schedule as breathless or as daunting as that of President Obama yesterday.
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Concluding his first international summit, President Barack Obama hailed agreements at the emergency meeting of world powers Thursday as a "turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery." But he cautioned, "There are no guarantees."
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Follow the London Summit live on this website! Watch streamed video of proceedings at the G20 meeting and events involving the world leaders gathered in London.
During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden attracted attention for saying that world leaders would test Barack Obama early in his presidency. The provocative sentiment was seized on by Republicans as a signal of doubt even from Obama's running mate about the Democratic nominee's readiness for office, though in context Biden was actually expressing his confidence.
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Although the parties have changed places, the nomination wars continue.
Senate Republicans are struggling to adapt to an altered political world when it comes to candidates for federal courts and senior Justice Department posts.
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