Chicago Tribune: "Obama Has put his ambition and audacity to work"

[rasputin1952]

Our president is tackling several problems at once:




President leading with a sense of urgency and calm

By Faye Fiore and Mark Z. Barabak

Tribune Newspapers

April 19, 2009


WASHINGTON — On the last Friday in March, President Barack Obama summoned leaders of the banking industry to the White House, where they gathered around a mahogany table in the sumptuous State Dining Room. On this day there was not a piece of fruit or can of soda in sight. At each place was a glass of water. No ice. No refills.

The president's message was as hard and crusty as a slab of day-old bread.

He urged the businessmen to view corporate excess through the eyes of Americans who are belt-tightening their way through the recession. Obama mentioned the carpet stains in the Oval Office — to make a frugal contrast with million-dollar executive suites appointed with $8,000 trash cans.

The bankers protested, citing the specialization of their field and the need to pay handsomely to avoid a brain drain. Obama cut them off: "Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn't buying that. My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."

Direct, assertive and utterly self-assured, Obama has used his broad popularity, a driving ambition and sweeping agenda to move America in a wholly new direction.

Just shy of 100 days in office, he has ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison and a troop withdrawal from Iraq, made it easier for women to sue for job discrimination, eased restrictions on federally funded stem-cell research, extended health care to millions of children, ousted the head of General Motors, reached out to the Muslim world, moved to ease tensions with Cuba, traveled to Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, and set aside huge tracts of wilderness for federal protection.

More broadly, Obama has seized on the worst economic crisis since the 1930s — exploiting it, critics say — and set out to reshape major aspects of everyday life: the price we pay to see a doctor, the size of our children's classrooms, the fuel we put in our cars.

More at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama-100-days-part-one_earlapr19,0,2027270,print.story

[Phx_Dem]

1. Great line . . .

The president's message was as hard and crusty as a slab of day-old bread.

:rofl:

[Cha]

4. Plain

water and no bread..just the image!

[rasputin1952]

5. I loved that line as well...

:D

[Cha]

2. Thank you, President Obama for all

you've done so far..and thank you, rasputin, for this article.

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. k&r.....

:kick:

[babylonsister]

6. Recommend. Finally, a president we can be proud of! nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. Great post to read.

[Puzzler]

8. I like the closing line...

"It will take much longer to determine whether Obama's actions were wise or successful. But from the start he took the reins, and pulled hard."

[ClarkUSA]

9. Good factual description of Pres. Obama's first 88 days; we must link this to every trollish OP...

... just for fun. :D

[firedupdem]

10. K&R Thanks! n/t

[AtomicKitten]

11. Pres. Obama gives new meaning to carpe diem. n/t

[rasputin1952]

12. Yes, he does have the knack of seizing the day...

:D

[Hekate]

13. Go on, Mr. President. Make my day.

:bounce: :toast: :loveya:

Hekate

[Number23]

14. This particular line SAYS IT ALL

"You can carp and gripe," said Allan Lichtman, a historian at American University. "But you really have to go back as far as Franklin Roosevelt for this much coming out of a newly elected president."

Hell yes. :applause:

Happy to rec. Thanks for posting