Thank You, Mr President

(Photo credit: SHFWire photo by Eddie Ameh)

(Photo Credit: Erik S. Lesser-Pool/Getty Images); CBSNewYork)

 

The 2008 election was probably the most exciting election that I had experienced.The memory is still so clear, with his theme song, Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”ringing in the airwaves when Obama won.

Like many people. I never thought that I would see a minority person elected as the President of the United States.

But more important than that, Obama brought with him qualities of inclusiveness, compassion, and a great sense of humor. I always believe that a person’s character determines the kind of energy/aura/ vibes, whichever you wish to call it, that he carries with him or brings into a room. And Obama’s energy was always positive.

There were times when he was too nice to the Republicans, still praising them or thinking that they wanted to work with him. You felt like yelling to him “stop”, when it was obvious that all they wanted to do was to obstruct him or see him fail.

We admire him and Michelle for graciously standing tall against all the racism and ugliness that were shown to them from all the mean-spirited people. As the First Lady said: “When they go low, we go high.”

Thank you, President Obama, for your service, the hope and the inspiration.

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Personality Revealed

(Pic: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo.)

When President Obama welcomed Trump to the White House, he said this to his successor: “Most of all, I want to emphasize to you, Mr. President-elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed — because if you succeed, then the country succeeds.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this in an interview in 2010: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Well, big difference. Reminds me of the saying: “What you say about other people reveals more about you than what you say about yourself.”

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Inauguration Moments

Roses and ranunculus added a vibrant note to the Inauguration Luncheon setting. (Pic: politico/AP)

It’s been an eventful week for the nation, watching the second Inauguration of President Obama.

One of the most outstanding moments for me was when President Obama stopped and looked back as he left the Inauguration ceremony.

As he walked up the steps, the President turned to look back at all the people in the Mall and the whole scene before him, and paused.

He could be heard saying: “I want to take a look one more time. I’m not going to see this again.”

To me, that was a very human part of the event.

 Another thing, more in the realm of colors and beauty, that caught my eyes was the vibrant floral arrangements at the Inaugural Luncheon.

According to reports, the bouquets consisted of roses and ranunculus in shades of peach, coral and orange.

I’ve always loved the ranunculus, and it was just lovely to see how the orange ranunculus added to the beauty of the arrangements.

That spurred me to visit the garden center, and there they were; the first few ranunculus plants have arrived in anticipation of spring.

The President took one more look at the Inauguration scene.(Pic:dailyfinance/cspan)

Flowers and final preparations for the Inauguration Luncheon held in the Statuary Hall. (Pic: nbcnews)

Orange ranunculus played a role in adding beauty to the Inauguration Luncheon.

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Election Lesson: Disrespect Backfired

(pic:cnn)

Minority voters showed their strength in helping to re-elect President Obama.

Obama won 93% of the African-American votes. Pierre Thomas, Senior Justice Correspondent for ABC News, gave an interesting and insightful analysis of the Black community’s overwhelming support in this election.

He first pointed out that African-Americans have a complicated relationship with Obama. The recession has hit the Black community hard, and the unemployment rate among Blacks is higher than the national rate.

But everywhere he went, interviewing African-Americans for his stories, the one thing that stood out was how they felt about the disrespect that some members of the Republican Party had shown towards the President.

People talked about two episodes in particular. One was the time when Obama gave his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson interrupted the proceedings by yelling out “You lie!”

The other was the moment when Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer pointed a finger at the President’s face.

“They told me this is not the kind of America that they want to live in,” Thomas said. And this motivated them to support Obama, and almost totally rejected Romney.

A lesson in politics, EQ and life: do not treat people with disrespect. It never works and will come back to bite you.

Is this how you talk to the President? Republican Gov. Brewer’s extreme rudeness stayed on people’s mind. (pic: msn.com)

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Election Predictor: Hot and Accurate

A good one is the 7-Eleven convenience stores.

This is the fourth election cycle where the 7-Eleven chain has launched its “7-Election” promotion. Customers can choose coffee cups representing each Presidential candidate, and the chain then tracks and tallies the sales of each to predict the outcome of the election.

The slogan on their website reads: “Help predict the winner. Grab a cup of hot, fresh coffee and cast your vote.”

And their poll has accurately predicted the winner each time. At the time of this post, the “7-Election” poll shows that Obama is leading with 59% of the cups or “votes”, and Romney has 41%.

(The poll for California shows 62% for Obama, 38% for Romney.)

On Sunday, I went to my neighborhood 7-Eleven store and bought a cup. I asked the store owner about the sale of the cups. He replied, “We’ve been selling mostly Obama….we had to reorder the Obama cup three times!”

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Between Weak and Alpha Male

Mitt Romney and President Obama….not backing down at the second debate. (Pic: usnews.com)

First Presidential debate: the President’s performance was described as weak, listless, disengaged.

Second debate: Obama was seen to be feisty, energetic, alpha male.

But some commentators had some concerns about the President taking on the alpha male persona. For instance, New York Times columnist David Brooks appearing on the PBS Newshour pointed out: “The person who is deemed to have won the debate is the person who dominates the room. And so it becomes alpha male.”

He continued: “I think — I think Obama will get a little something out of this. That would be my guess.

“But I say that with some trepidation, because the coolness, you know, I think that may not — it won’t help Romney, but it may not swing things.”

Could there be a middle ground between weak and alpha male? It would be interesting to see if the President will be able to find that optimum style and body language. Stay tuned for the third debate.

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Happy Milestone Birthday, Mr President

(Pic: Google images)

(Pic: Tom Uhlman/AP)

(Pic: The Washington Times/AP)

(Pic: (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

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Name Calling the President

Sticks and stones may break my bones...(Pic: AP)

Senator Jake Knotts seems to enjoy labeling people in a most distasteful way.

The  South Carolina state senator called a Republican gubernatorial candidate of Indian descent a “raghead”, on a political talk show. Then he went on to refer to Obama:

“We’ve already got a raghead in the White House, we don’t need another raghead in the governor’s mansion.”

He later apologized, saying that his slurs were meant as a joke. Well, not many people are buying his explanation. Seanna Adcox of AP (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37518532/ns/us_news/) writes:

“Joke or not, his comments echoed some of the racially tinged attacks on Obama by far-right ideologues who question his U.S. citizenship or his Christianity, by noting his father was Kenyan and he lived as a boy in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country.

“”Raghead” is a derogatory term used for people of Middle Eastern or Indian descent, or for Muslims, deriving from stereotypes about turbans and other national headwear.”

Knotts...lambasted for his remarks. (Pic:AP)

Sometimes, the mind boggles at the way some public officials conduct themselves. A holder of public office is expected to act with a certain decorum, and intelligence in public life.

Knotts’ defenders said that the senator is known for speaking his mind. Yes, it’s perfectly fine to speak your mind, or criticize, on policies and actions. But for a public official to call others, especially the President, by a racial slur is a new low.

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Obama’s State of the Union: Best Quotes

(Pic: The Huffington Post)

President Obama delivered his State of the Union address Wednesday night. Here are among the words that stood out for me:

• “And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership.”

Hard lesson to learn in life: there is no point in being nice or magnanimous to people who don’t want to work with you, or who want to define you.

• “Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals. The same is true at home. We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal, that no matter who you are or what you look like, if you abide by the law you should be protected by it; that if you adhere to our common values you should be treated no different than anyone else.”

The perennial truth: The promise of equality, or at least the striving and the dedication towards this ideal, is the best thing about America.

(Cartoon courtesy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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The Year of the Brooch

Michelle Obama...loves the brooch (Pic: Sipa)

The first year of the Obama presidency might bring mixed reviews for Obama’s performance as a President. One thing though has remained fairly constant: Michelle Obama has remained a popular First Lady.

She seems to be a genuine, warm person. Her style has been closely watched, and undoubtedly, she has brought back the brooch as a desirable fashion accessory.

There is an endearing, old world kind of charm about brooches, and it is even more fascinating that it has been given a new lease of life by a barrier-breaking woman like Michelle.

So, here are a few illustrations of how the brooch has given an extra dash  to the First Lady’s outfits.

Pic: Huffington Post

Pic: AFP/Getty Images

Pic: AP

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