Citizen Brand

Letterman on Limbaugh

I can't resist this take on Limbaugh by my main man David Letterman. Katie Couric co-stars.

Filling the Republican vacuum

No one loves it more than him. The fact that Rush Limbaugh has become the center of all things Republican since Barack Obama moved into the White House makes him very happy. His ratings are probably strong which means he can charge his advertisers more for his daily dose of entertainment disguised as political discussion. His pronouncements that he hopes President Obama fails continue which begs the question, what is it you are for Rush? We always know what you are against.

What right thinking Republicans must be asking themselves now is how did we get here? The party of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt and Reagan is in search of their next leader. The Party apparatus elected an African American as Chairman, but no one seems to be showing him respect yet. They sent out poor Bobby Jindal to follow the President and he didn't fare so well. But who would with the tired and worn out format of the "opposition response" to the President. It's not a fair fight and should be scrapped in the future. Why not set a speech the next day for someone in front of a friendly crowd to lay out the loyal opposition's agenda.

Right now, Republicans are in search of their voice and in desperate need of focused leadership. Romney, Palin, Jindal, Gingrich and the GOP leaders in Congress are talking all at once. Which brings us back to the loudest voice the Republicans have right now - Rush Limbaugh. He has the biggest megaphone and any Republican who doesn't fall into line gets called out on the air and forced to apologize to the big guy if they dare criticize him.

The Obama White House is stoking the fire. From the Chief of Staff to the Press Secretary to the President himself, all have said over and over that it is obvious that Rush Limbaugh is the defacto leader of the Republican Party today. This political sideshow is interesting to watch. Who will be the Republican to step up and try to wrest the megaphone away from Limbaugh? Will the Democrats keep throwing logs on the fire to keep Rush the face and voice of the GOP? Will Limbaugh sacrifice the Party that has kept him in the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed in order to keep the spotlight on him?

Stay tuned. It can only get more interesting.

A simple apology

Twice in less than a week, two public figures at the top of their respective professions, told us they made a mistake. How refreshing is that. It shouldn't be news, but unfortunately it is news. We have become so immune to public figures lying, cheating, stealing and blaming others that when someone actually takes responsibility, we notice.

First it was President Obama telling us "I screwed up" last week while taking full responsibility for the Tom Daschle debacle. Then today, Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez goes in front of the public and says he's sorry that he made the mistake of taking steroids in 2003. Our CEO at Barkley emailed me immediately and said how he instantly thought more of A-Rod after his apology compared to how he felt about Roger "I never took steroids" Clemens. That is the reaction A-Rod deserves.

One of the first rules of crisis management is to take responsibility for the problem. Taking responsibility gives you instant credibility with everyone. It frees you up to move on and begin to fix the problem. It avoids the blame game that wastes time and energy. In short, taking responsibility is the only way that the crisis can begin to come to an end.

Let's hope the President and the ballplayer are only the first of a wave of authenticity and transparency that washes over a few others.

(A-Rod photo courtesy Sports Illustrated.com)

Style points

 

President Barack Obama campaigned on change as we all know. And while we have already seen some policy changes from the previous administration, there is also a noticeable difference in style and approach to governing from former President Bush. We will let the Associated Press take it from here.

This is really change

 

I have to give the Republican National Committee credit. An African-American is the new Chairman of the GOP. Michael Steele won it on the sixth ballot, but he won. There was apparently a bit of idiocy by one of his opponents that helped. But old habits die hard. Something about a CD with a song slamming President Obama in a not so nice way.

Enough of that. Focus on the positive here. Steele beat the incumbent chairman and three other challengers garnering 91 votes on the sixth ballot. 85 were needed to win the chairmanship. He is a former Maryland Lt. Governor and his election signals that at least part of the leadership of the GOP is paying attention to the 2008 election results.

All this in a week when radio personality Rush Limbaugh tried to assert himself as the GOP leader and House Republicans played politics with the American economy.  Perhaps Steele's ascendancy to the head of the RNC will provide Republicans who want progress, and want to work with Democrats to fix America, a place to go.

This is another good sign for our country.

White House doors are open for business

Barack Obama's campaign was all about change. He didn't waste any time in starting to pay that off.  At 12:01 pm on January 20 -- one minute after he became President -- his White House once again became our White House. WWW.whitehouse.gov launched and gives each of us immediate access to what the Obama Presidency will do for us and for all the world.

Check it out. The issues are there. His administration's agenda. History of the White House and the Presidency for the kids. And they want to know what we think. The conversation his campaign began with all of us continues.

That's one big promise kept already.

A magical and historic moment.

A League of their Own

I'm a sucker for stuff like this.  Regardless of your political leanings, it is truly extraordinary to see all the living US Presidents together in the Oval Office.  It says something about our country and about how, despite the deep divisions and serious issues we have, we transition power from one president to another with grace and dignity.

The same can't be said for what has been happening on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.  Seat the man from Illinois and tell Coleman in Minnesota the election is over and let's get busy moving this country forward.  The Democrats in Congress need to understand one thing.  There is only one top Democrat now and he will be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  Get on board the train before it leaves the station.

"What can I get for one used Senate seat?"

Can you believe this governor of Illinois?  The only thing that can get the worst economy in a lifetime off the front page is some good old political scandal.

But this isn't your routine governor with call girls scandal.  Oh no.  Governor Blagojevich gets arrested today for trying to sell the United States Senate seat formerly held by the next President of the USA. You can't make this stuff up.

The quote of the day from a wiretap of Governor Blago's phone:  ""I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden, and I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it."

This isn't exactly what President-elect Barack Obama needed right now.  He had nothing to do with any of this, but it was his seat.  It's his home state.  And on January 20, it will be his Justice Department's headache.

And by the way, President Bush has 42 days left to pardon Scooter Libby.  One scandal could end just as another gets started.  Meanwhile, the economy remains on life support.

And so it goes.

Why Obama is President-elect

He had a single organizing thought - change.

He was disciplined in sticking to his message.

So was his staff.

He understood community organizing and applied it to the national level.

He gives a damn good speech.

He has a vision for the future and is able to make us all see it and feel it.

He energized a new generation of leaders for our future.

Obama understands America's place in the world and is ready to take us where we need to be.

He has already helped raise America's standing in the world by winning this election.

As proof of that, read this email from a good friend of mine in Ireland, Jim Walsh.

Congratulations on the ultimate example of democracy in action.

Whether Democrat or Republican the people of the United States of America
have shown the world how to behave when selecting a new leader.

The stunning acceptance speech from Barack Obama and the gracious acceptance
of defeat from John McCain has reverberated around the world.

Here in Ireland we quickly found a link with your president-elect. His
great, great, great, grandfather emigrated to the United States during the
Famine from a village called Moneygall in County Offaly. We look forward to
welcoming President Barack Obama to his ancestral home as we did John F.
Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Jim

Isn't it great how everyone in the world wants to lay claim to our incoming President.

Thanks Jim for giving us a great perspective on how the rest of the world is looking at the events of November 4.