I have one in my office. It's not all that exciting.

compared to the one Ive been sitting in for 12 years...it looks pretty durn good to me.

I just learned earlier this month that as of March 1, I will for the first time in a decade not have an Aeron at work. I may have to buy one for myself.

And I'm going to file your responses on this topic under "Clueless."

I'll leave it to a person of color to respond to your unacknowledged White Privilege that is so engrained you deny its very existence. How completely arrogant, oh member of the ruling class by virture of your pigment at birth.

When's the last time you were stopped and frisked by the police? Pfft, I'll stop there. This is absurd.

I think great and significant changes are in store for our country.

Not so much from Obama's actions as president, but from his inspiration for so many.

When people are inspired, we work harder, and thus can turn this country around.

I have much faith in him as a president, but most of the kudos goes to his ability to speak and inspire, and that's exactly what we need.

I think the growing sense of optimism surrounding the new Presidency has made me less tolerant of the nay-sayers. (Not that my tolerance for negativity was ever very great.) I just find that I don't want to read about being stuck in the mud. I just want to move forward to better place.

So because most everyone likes him you don't want to hear what might be wrong? I get that you don't like negative, and I'm cool with that, but that seems like that would prevent him and his administration from being held accountable (if everyone who is optimistic adopted that philosophy).

He is off to a good start (in my opinion)

Sure there are some meaningless token gestures like freezing the pay of the administrations higher ups, but there is also some meat there.

For example, changing the freedom of information acts to err on the side of making information public and not to look for reasons to legally withhold it as was the case in the Bush Administration.

Just speaking for me, but yes, accountability is very important, and freedom to criticize and dissent is essential. I don't think anyone is arguing against these things. I suspect the reaction is to knee-jerk negativism - like, yes, people getting up in arms about the rhyming guy's benediction. (I've peeked at some of the right-wing blogs, and wow, people are sure reading a lot into this. "You see? It's a racist regime! We were right all along!") Yes, this goes both ways, and I try very hard to recognize when liberals overreact as well. (cough*Olbermann*cough)

My last shot in this absurdly minor scurfle - One reason I am so impressed with Obama is that he talks calmly, like a rational adult addressing other rational adults. The sixties-throwback rhyming benediction is a little silly and could have been more carefully considered, but a true insult? I'm not seeing it. But the discussion about it is threatening to turn into the kind of childish back and forth that prevailed during so much of the last eight years and reached epic-ludicrous levels during the recent campaign. I'd love to believe that we can do better.

Arguing about the bendiction Dr. Suessical is indeed childish, but the issues it raised are not.

A White Man in America deluding himself there's no White Privilege in this country?! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Will the same man claim there's no Male Privilege?


I think these things are worth debating. I can only imagine how insulted people of color would be at a white man denying white privilege in America. It's only imagination, as I'm not a person of color. But it's that very imagination that let's me contemplate just one day as a black man in America and face the White Privilege by 9:00 a.m. that imaginary morning.