gobama

Michelle Obama on the arts:

The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation.

The First Lady went on to discuss Rocco Landesman (no, not that Rocco), the nominee for Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, praising his entrepreneurship and "commitment to being a bridge between the philanthropic, non-profit and commercial arts community". Yeah!

[via The Clyde Fitch Report]

Kal Penn Playing a New Role

Actor Kal Penn, best known as Kumar, (spoiler alert!) was killed off in last night's episode of House, M.D. Why, you ask, would an actor want to give up a cushy series regular role on a massive hit tv show? Why, to go work for Barack Obama, of course! Penn told Entertainment Weekly, "I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I'm going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison." Awesome!

Hopefully Obama won't catch too much flack in 2012 for hiring Hollywood's stoner hero.

By the way, if you haven't seen The Namesake (starring Kal Penn!), check it out. Mira Nair directed a quiet little coming-of-age story that quietly unfolds into a stunning character drama about family, love, and identity. One of those few movies I'll watch all the way through whenever it comes on cable (along with Annie Hall and Speed, if you're wondering).

fantastic

Listen to this right now, and then buy your own damn fries, cause you ain't Barack Obama's bitch.

I give it 2 days until the remix hits.

(Thanks Isaac, you totally made my day)

it happened today

I'm gonna leave the reflective essays to the pros today, but I thought y'all might enjoy this photo of the gorgeous work of sand-sculpture artist Sudarshan Pattnaik, all the way from Puri, India.

If you want to read President Obama's (!!) full inaugural address, you can find it here.

Some say John Roberts screwed up the Presidential Oath on purpose, so that crackpot conservatives could claim he isn't really the president.

And Gawker has a fun round-up of the top-ten inaugural moments. #5 is Dick Cheney being wheeled around, looking "a bit like a Nazi who just peeked a bit at the Ark of the Covenant." Heh.

Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Petition Obama to Create a Secretary for the Arts

Sign here!

(thanks, Leonard!)

the best thing you'll see all week

BarackRolled!

"it's you, and me, togethaaah"

I know I'm probably supposed to lurve Will.i.am's new song "It's a New Day," being an Obama fanatic and all, but... does anyone else find the beat, well... annoying? It's lodged in my head and won't budge. Actually maybe it's not annoying, it's just annoyingly catchy! It does have a lot going for it: in addition to the Obama love, I can't argue with a song that pays homage to Hall & Oates hit "Sarah Smile".

OBAMA: a communal photo retrospective

The photos below are a handful of my favorites from a basic flickr search for "Obama".

zyrcster

Barack Obama

happeningfish


Delta Niner

cindiann

Racoles

Scott Beveridge

Joe Crimmings Photography


karen20_20

change has come

On November 5, 2008, the NY Times used 96-point font across the front page, declaring one simple word: "OBAMA". The paper has used the large font size only three times before - for Nixon's resignation, for the first man on the moon, and for the attacks on September 11th.

I have been finding it very challenging to just wrap my head around this moment. It's inspiring, daunting, and surreal to even try to take in the ramifications of this historic time. The simple headline decision by the Times reflects the weight this will have in the history books - this is a true landmark moment in our country's history.

Oprah had a good show yesterday, interviewing prominent political and media figures and getting their take on this new America we live in. Gloria Steinem said that in the 60's, so many people felt that true democracy was so close. Then when they killed two Kennedys, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, it was "as if the future died, and now I feel as if our future has come back in an even better form." You can watch the clip here.

Obama: the Casting Director's Pick

I'm no political blogger, but I think Obama is going to win the presidency. Know why? Because it's good casting.

Okay, that sounds naiive. But think about it - if you were auditioning for the role of the American President, who would be the most compelling in the role? This exercise isn't about policy, politics, experience, or who is "best" for the job. But sheerly in terms of who you would cast in the role of Great American President, admit it - it's Obama. Edwards is too pretty, too soft, not grounded and solid enough. Clinton isn't quite right - she's powerful, but doesn't inspire the right kind of confidence. You might want to love her, but it's not easy or natural. The republicans all look like washed up jerks, not inspiring leaders. If the presidency was a casting project, Obama would get the first offer.

The thing is, policy, issues, experience, of course they matter. But I think that Americans look at politics through the prism of the entertainment industry, and American Idol is where we live now. And as optimistic as I'd like to be about the American public, I think the judgement of who to vote for is a lot more about that first snap judgement (the casting decision) than we'd like to believe. Do I trust this person? Do they seem ready to lead? I'm betting these questions have waaay more weight in the rest of the country than we oh-so-informed New Yorkers want to believe.

Not to mention, the guy's got Oprah on his side, and that really never fails.

I fucking love Roseanne

I love how straight-up she is. She seems totally bananas, but the stuff coming out of her mouth makes more sense than a lot of the more "reasonable" sources! From her blog, which is fantastic:

Don't Legalize It???

Hilary does not want to decriminalize marijuana and neither does obama... They should both be locked up for that outdated crap! You know they both smoke it.

I just love a woman who says what she means. Her and Arianna Huffington are my favorite guests on Bill Mahr. No tap dancing or tiptoeing in Roseanne World.