YES We did!

[Not Afraid]

OMG! The Obama Inaugural quartet music was recorded!!!!!!!! Terrorists among us!

[Snowflake]

VNAM

Well, I wondered why neither Perlman not Ma seemed to be bothered it was 15 degrees and both of them have Strads.

Now, we know.

Maybe Obama and Roberts should have pre-recorded the oath of office?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Fantastic list! Even if you take issue with some of them, most are inarguable, even in a place like CA.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

Obama screwed up first. Period.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. I'm glad you put it in bold or else I might have missed it.

[Alex]

My problem with that list is that it generally equates race with culture. A third-generation black person born and raised in upstate Minnesota isn't going to be feeling a loss at the lack of soul food in the local grocery stores.

Yes, majority is a form of advantage, but not all of those advantages are caused by race differences. When I moved to Hawaii it wasn't a racial disadvantage that the food selections and musical trends changed, merely a cultural one; an ethnic Hawaiian whose family lived in Vancouver, WA, for as long as mine has would have been at the same disadvantage and all the white locals born and raised in Hawaii get just as nostalgic for good poke when they move away as any of the racial Hawaiians.

And a lot of the examples, in my opinion, trivialize the issue of race (or cultural advantage) to a degree that dilutes the whole idea. As a left handed person I form a distinct but small minority. It is a "race advantage" that I can't write with cheap pens and not smear the ink or that people assume I lack in manners because I am clumsy pour soup from the right-handed ladles used at Sweet Tomatoes. In an idea world I wouldn't face these minor obstacles but I don't for a moment believe that they of malign intent.

All of which is not to say there is no longer significant structural issues of race discrimination or privilege in this country even if much reduced from the past. I just found the list mostly trite.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by JWBear

The difference is that in Bush's first hours in office his every act and utterance were not greeted by cries of "He's going to fail!!! See what a mistake you made?" It took months for the full horror of the Bush Presidency to become apparent.

1) Pointing out facts regarding the way Obama has thus far conducted himself is hardly saying "he's going to fail"......unless, of course, you equate poor speaking to being a poor leader(surely you don't think a Bush supporter like me thinks poor speaking=poor leader?)

2) Hatred of Bush(and I do mean pure hate) by the media and Dem partisans started well before he even took the oath of office(something he got right the first time, btw ) By the time Bush was executiving a couple of days I'd say he'd taken more shots than Obama will see within the next several months.....in my totally biased opinion I must admit

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

1) ...unless, of course, you equate poor speaking to being a poor leader...

See, that's where your analogy fails. Obama is anything but a poor speaker.

[JWBear]

... And as for hatred of Bush... I don't remember seeing much of that until after he took us to war. Concerns about the legitimacy of the election? Yes. Realization that we elected a President that is dumn as dirt? Yes. Hatred? Not so much.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Alex

As a left handed person I form a distinct but small minority. It is a "race advantage" that I can't write with cheap pens and not smear the ink or that people assume I lack in manners because I am clumsy pour soup from the right-handed ladles used at Sweet Tomatoes. In an idea world I wouldn't face these minor obstacles but I don't for a moment believe that they of malign intent.

As a fellow left-hander I'm obscurely pleased to watch Obama signing executive orders with his left hand.

(No, that does not mean he's been converted.)

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by JWBear

Obama is anything but a poor speaker.

I agree....if you go back to my op on this subject I said I believed him to be a great speaker and was looking forward to that one aspect of an Obama Presidency; I was merely voicing my disappointment that perhaps he's not as great a speaker as I had originally thought---based on his flubbing the oath and his scores of "ums" during his first executive orders.

Look, I do hope Obama succeeds....when he's acting in our Nations best interests.

I also, will easily admit that I hope he fails.....when he's acting in his own or his parties best interests or just advancing an agenda that goes against my ideals.

I will point out Obama gaffes, mistakes etc when they occur.....not because it happened to Bush, although I will continue to offer up that excuse because the irony does amuse me since I believe Bush went thru a lot of unfair criticisms(my opinion, lets not debate that right now), but mainly because it's just plain FUN. I remember the Clinton years very fondly