The president we need, not the president we deserve

Rather than the junk novels that I usually read, I've taken up President Obama's youthful autobiography, Dreams from my Father. It is a remarkable book, full of nuance and analysis. But what gives me hope is that there is none of the black vs. white, us vs. them, evil vs. good garbage that infested us for the past eight years. It's well-written, and he wrote it all by himself, something that our previous guy would have been incapable of doing.

Preaching to the choir? Probably, but some things bear repeating. Read the book.

Hillary story, part deux

A quick trip to Washington to attend the confirmation hearing of the sister of OLGS to be an appellate judge in the District of Columbia. Because Congress oversees the district, judicial appointments are made through the same nomination/confirmation process that applies to federal judicial appointments.

It was a remarkable event in many ways. However, there was unusual rock star quality because of the presence of Senator Hillary Clinton, who introduced sis to the committee (a sub-committee of the Homeland Security Committee--still in the hands of Sen. Lieberman, who was not present). Senator Clinton, who may be our next Secretary of State, demonstrated why she almost became president. Even for something as ordinary and probably routine as introducing a friend to her Senate colleagues, Senator Clinton was prepared, charming and articulate. Barak would be well-advised to make use of the talents of this remarkable woman as he tries to do something about our national mess.

And, despite the efforts of a Republican senator who initially objected to sis as too partisan (read too Democratic, even though she was nominated by Current Occupant), it looks like she will be confirmed. More later.

And the other thing about the trip? I discovered the joys of Midwest Express and their leg room and chocolate chip cookies. Now that NWA is no longer a hometown airline, I'm switching. They fly everywhere I want to go.

Yes we can, yes we did

It seems so churlish to even mention the disapointments in yesterday's election. But when we have come so far it's hard to accept that we still must keep walking.

Here's the thing: in the true blue state of Minnesota, Michelle Bachmann won convincingly, despite amazing gaffes and big dollars pumped into her opponent's campaign. There is something in the water in the MN 6th congressional district. This is the woman who suggested that we need to investigate members of Congress to make sure they don't hold anti-American views. Although Joe McCarthy is six feet under, he has a worthy heir in Michelle.

Here's the second thing: Senator Slimy (aka Norm Coleman) has a lead over Democratic rival Al Franken of less than 500 votes. An automatic recount will take place. But Norm, ever the guy with an eye for the main chance, proclaimed himself the victor this morning and suggested that Mr. Franken was being unhelpful by not declining the recount (it's automatic unless the underdog declines). Norm's vote totals got smaller and smaller during the day, making his proclamation rather hollow and suggesting the very real possibility that Al Franken was indeed the winner.

But these things pale against the memory of Jesse Jackson weeping in Grant Park. The sight of the old civil rights fighter wiping away tears should remind us that the victory of Barak Obama was not only the election of a president who may put us on the right track again. It is a symbol of so much more.

Presidential debates: history doesn't always matter

CBS News Photo

We are a modern family. OLGS and I have offices across the hall from each other. Today, we each sit at our PCs, reading the polls, the post-mortem debate analysis and scanning the election district maps for any additional signs of solidification. We call out comments to each other. The conventional wisdom apears to be that Barack won simply by not losing, going up against a congressional veteran successfully. I agree--and given the setup, that's about as good as he could expect.

Clearly, he was much more relaxed than McCain, for all the Arizona senator's vaunted experience. He could pronounce difficult names of leaders in far-off countries. He was very good at framing the economy as a national security issue--McCain finds it difficult to resist the temptation to frame national security as an ideological matter, rather than a practical one with real consequences for real people. And then there's the Eisenhower reference. Poor ol' John made this lovely speech about Eisenhower, a president I barely remember, and I was actually alive. And to make matters worse, the speech was not in reference to the general's years in the White House, but to his leadership in WWII--and the number of people who remember the famous invasion is dwindling very rapidly. The people who resonate to that reference are probably already supporting Senator McCain. And those--the vast majority--who didn't, are just going to see Mac as old, out of touch and someone who, as BO says, just doesn't get it.

And then, he referenced Henry Kissinger and Ronald Reagan--I'm not going to do the stats, but I suspect that there is a significant number of voters who weren't alive during the Reagan years, and if they were not going to vote for BO before, they might now, feeling the need to throw their lot in with someone who has a similar frame of reference. I feel sorry for John. He's trying, but I think his time has passed. As a historian, I'm quite comfortable in saying that historical references are useful only in certain times and places. Last night was not one of those. And OLGS, based on his grunts and cackles from across the hall, agrees with me.

Senator Obama yesterday at “The Place where the Pike are Caught”

By OLGS, guest blogger

The presumed Democratic nominee for president keeps showing up at places of interest to me—last week at the “X” in St. Paul, yesterday in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. I heard his speech on C-SPAN radio as I happened to be driving to the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation in Shawano County, not that far from Kaukauna.

The senator gave a speech on his plan for a middle class tax cut. As I understood him, he planned to propose a $500 tax credit for wage-earners in a household who are not dependents. Let’s see…Joe College Graduate, working in Los Angeles would get $500. Louise and I would get a combined $1,000. Not bad. Joe College-on-leave and Joe High School (aka "Pizza Dude") both earn wages, but we still claim them as dependents. The people in Kaukauna seemed to like the plan, as measured by the audible applause.

Whoever introduced Sen. Obama did not tell him or the audience about the history of Kaukauna. The French were the first to write of it in the *Jesuit Relations* in the 17th century as the place on the Fox River where the Sauk Indians, the Outagamie (“Fox”) Indians, and the Menominee Indians went to catch sturgeon and also pike, hence the name in Menominee: okakaning meaning "the place where the pike are caught." Father Claude Allouez reported in 1670 that:

we passed the portage called by the natives Kekalin, our sailors dragging the canoe among rapids; while I walked on the River-bank, where I found apple-trees and vine-stocks in great numbers.

Kaukauna is the fall-line on the Fox River below Green Bay and above Lake Winnebago. The Stockbridge, Munsee, and Brothertown Indians moved there from New York State after 1822 and set up their first village in Wisconsin, with the permission of the Menominees. In 1831, the Menominees formally ceded Kaukauna to the United States in a treaty. In a separate treaty, the Stockbridges and Munsees ceded their claim to Kaukauna to the U.S. and took reserved lands about 40 miles away on the east side of Lake Winnebago. Thus, Senator Obama was speaking yesterday in lands once in possession of the Menominee Indians, and for about a decade, in joint possession of the Menominees and the Stockbridges and Munsees.

I like to think that Sen. Obama might have been interested to learn some of this history. The Stockbridges, Munsees, and Brothertown tribes were all composed of mixed Indian-European-African people. Had Senator Obama’s ancestors from Europe visited, or his ancestors from Africa visited, they might have found Kaukauna in the 1820s one of the few places in Wisconsin, or for that matter, the U.S., to welcome a European and a free African at the same time.