So I was reading news again today. It was fairly depressing, which is not too unusual unfortunately. But I saw this article on the Huffington Post and was inspired to write one of my periodical letters to the White House. I know the President never actually sees anything I write, but I figure someone adds up the numbers of supporters and/or commenters about various things, so I can at least make my opinion known.

Then I thought, well, I can also let my opinion be known other places, so here is my latest missive to the man in the Oval Office.

I see in the news today that Press Secretary Gibbs said that it looks like Senator Enzi has given up on bipartisan healthcare reform and walked away from the table. I believe this statement is incorrect. In order to give up on something, you first have to want it to happen. It has been apparent since July that very few Republicans in office have any desire for healthcare reform to happen, especially in a bipartisan manner, so they can hardly give up on that now.

Gibbs also says, “”It looks like Republicans are stepping away from seeking a bipartisan solution. It is bad for this town but it’s worse for this country.” Again, this in not correct. While it would be better for everyone in Congress to work together to make the best bill possible, that is not what has been happening. They have been using the cover of bipartisanship to do their best to delay and stop any kind of reform from happening. If that cover is finally wearing thin and falling away, then that is very good for the country. Now you just need to corral the cats (i.e. Congressional Democrats and moderate Republicans like the 2 ladies from Maine) and pass a bill that really is good for the country.

A single-payer system like Canada’s may be out of reach, but the HELP committee’s bill looks pretty solid to a layman, and is at least a good starting point. Republican’s want to force the responsibility for reform on the Democrats? Well they did that 40 years ago with Medicare and that seems to be pretty popular these days. I say the Democrats should say thank you and get on with passing it.

So the week started with Bush as the President of the USA and not much happening except getting ready for the inauguration. Then Tuesday happens, and it feels like a tornado is going through the government. In over 30 years of watching national politics, I do not remember this kind of change happening so quickly, in so many areas.

CNN is making a big deal about covering Obama’s first 100 days. But is seems that in his first 100 hours, he has already accomplished more than the Bush administration did in the last year. Just the first three days of Executive Orders shows the enormous difference between the former and present administrations.

Not everybody is happy of course. The Republicans have decided that their losses in the elections are proof they need to stand up and disagree with Obama more. I am not sure pushing back hard is a good idea at this time. It will probably be popular with their base, but not so much with the more moderate section of the population that they need to woo back. It does show a certain amount of chutzpah, which I wish some of the Democrats could learn to have. On the other hand, it may just be an inability to grasp reality.

And one very important Democrat understands exactly where the country is right now. And the President let the GOP know it during their meeting this morning.

But some progressives need to see about picking up some tin foil from their haberdasher. While the title of his article, Obama and Ted Kennedy See Plans Foiled as Caroline Withdraws? does end with a question mark, Steve Clemons writes it like he knows exactly what Obama and Ted Kennedy were planning. And what they were planning was a Machiavellian scheme to set up Caroline Kennedy for a run at the Presidency in 2016. His reliance on anonymous insiders and an inability to get simple facts straight (Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will have to run in 2010, then again in 2012 if she wins), as well as his apparent mind reading abilities, tend to count against his credibility.

And it is looking like the trial in Minnesota will not be too long. Coleman does not appear to be doing well even convincing judges appointed by Republicans that his legal arguments are correct. With luck, this might possibly be over by the end of next week. (Was that enough weasel words?)

I guess it all comes down to, right now it feels really good to be able to say President Barack Obama. I hope he continues as well as he has started.

While reading over at 538.com, I followed some links to a couple of commercials for Barack Obama. The first is from the Obama website and it exemplifies most of the reason I am voting for him. It is 2 minutes of him talking about the country and what his plans are to get up back on the right track if he is elected president.

The second video is a bit more humorous. And much more painful, as it points out many of the problems with the country right now. It is from 60Frames and stars the same guys that were in the Budweiser wazzup ad. This one is not from Anheuser-Busch, which is not surprising considering where Cindy McCain gets her millions, but otherwise it is very recognizable.

The two ads are obviously not going for the same demographics, which shows the broad appeal of the Obama/Biden campaign and the narrow base of McCain/Palin.

That same broad appeal is also a danger for Obama. If he wins the election with any kind of mandate, it is imperative that he and Congress actually deliver on at least some of their promises. They will be handicapped by the ongoing economic crisis, but that is also the first place they can show leadership.

Obama winning the election will probably ease some of the current fears in the market, but who he would chose for his cabinet would be even more telling. Listening to his advisers like Buffet and Powell and picking the right Treasury Secretary, National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State, will ease all kinds of fears and nerves, all over the world. If, on the other hand he picked someone out in left field, it would probably be catastrophic.

I have faith that Obama will choose his cabinet wisely if he wins the election. He has already shown a talent for surrounding himself with able men and women and listening when they offer advice. In the complicated world we live in, that is the probably the best talent that an intelligent POTUS can have.

If you pay any attention to news programs and/or election news, it is easy to guess what is the top story of the day. That would be Secretary Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president on Meet The Press Sunday morning. I just watched it again, and it is  one of the most thoughtful and articulate listings of the current state of the country and the world, and what is needed to meet the problems that exist, that I have ever seen. The video is here on MSNBC.com.

This is all over the blogosphere of course. The Arena at Politico.com has a large number of comments, from all over the political spectrum, talking about it. There is also a variety of responses at Mike Murphy’s Swampland blog, some well reasoned, others much less so. Some on the left were very happy about the endorsement, others discounted it because of Powell’s history with Iraq.

CNN just had an interesting piece on an encounter outside a McCain rally. Someone was making some nasty comments about Islam, and passing out bumper stickers equating Obama with radical Islam and the Soviet Union. He was confronted by the American News Project reporter about what he was saying, then several Muslims and Christians that are McCain supporters started taking him to task. Then a McCain campaign organizer came up and told him that the McCain campaign did not support what he was saying and did not want him saying it there. The video is not the highest quality but it is a good story.

This is a very good look at the McCain campaign, showing them supporting moderates and repudiating some of the extreme points of view that have been outside their rallies in the past. The sad part is, Rich Sanchez was going to do an interview with the McCain staffer, but had to cancel because the McCain hadn’t given him permission to talk to the press. I can understand the campaigns wanting to make sure their staffers do not say unfortunate things. But it seems to me that stopping a story like this is counter-productive.

It is sad to see how McCain’s campaign has been using innuendo and smears to try and beat Obama. I didn’t like it when it happened to McCain in 2000, especially since he would have been my choice to vote for in the general election that year. (Yes I am a Democrat, but that doesn’t mean I turn off my brain and follow blindly where someone else leads.) His choices since then, especially the way he has ran his campaign this year, have lost him a lot of respect from moderates and even conservatives. He has to have seen this, endorsements like Powell’s, the Chicago Tribune’s, and the Salt Lake Tribune, show how much he is driving away the moderate conservatives. But he continues, using the same kind of negative campaigning that he once denounced so loudly.