This sort of irks me (emphasis mine):

On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are.

What?!

This is really unfortunate wording. It implies that in order to determine whether Obama is popular, we have to throw out African American opinions to find out what real public opinion is.

In fact, I’m having a hard time finding a way to interpret this that isn’t troubling.

Sure, I’m willing to accept that a large percentage of African Americans support the President (and people can debate the reasons for this on their own time; I don’t care to address this). But how does that make him “seem” more popular than he “actually” is? This boggles me.

Are you a conservative who was disappointed by the election results but nevertheless harbor no ill will toward the incoming Obama administration?  Are you making an effort to come together and support Obama, to wish him well as he attempts to steer us through troubled waters? If so, you’re a turncoat traitor, according to conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.  El Rushbo thinks that you shouldn’t wish Obama well because liberals didn’t want Bush to succeed in 2001, which was wrong; therefore, conservatives should get their revenge by hoping Obama doesn’t succeed either, because that’s right.

“Why?” Limbaugh demanded. “They didn’t give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated, the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I’m not talking about search-and-destroy, but I’ve been listening to Barack Obama for a year and a half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don’t want them to succeed.”

Ok, this is really cool - and also marks one of the only times I’ve ever clicked on a Google ad, ever (you’re welcome, fivethirtyeight.com - enjoy the penny).

Google did a project with 54 public schools around the country, asking their students to write letters to the next President. As of right now they have 1115 letters, and you can read ‘em here.

Sure, their real purpose is probably to get kids familiar with using Google Docs, but it’s still a great project.

At random, here’s one of the letters:

Dear Mr. President:

I would like to personally thank you for your time and concern for our great country. I would like to take a few minutes to address a few concerns that I have with the United States.

First of all, I would like to address the war. In my opinion, we should have never been involved with Iraq to the extent that we are now. I believe we should pull our troops out. However, I think there should be a time table that we follow but the time table should not be released because the enemy does not need to know when we are going to pull out. Also, the war takes out a ton of our money, which leads me to my next issue.

The economy right now, in the opinion of many Americans, is the biggest issue with which we are facing right now. The stock market seems to be so sparatic. No one can predict what will happen one day or the next. The obvious thing to do is to put 700 billion dollars in the economy, but that bill failed and was rejected by the House of Represenatives. Instead of putting 700 billion dollars in, I think the money should be equally distributed between Americans to pay off their debts. I’m not sure if this would work, but I think it is a positive alternative we could take.

Abortion. Some say its okay, some do not. I personally believe that it should be illegal. I am 100 percent pro-life. I believe that no one should ever just have the right to kill an innocent child that has not even been born yet. Despite the evil crimes of rape and such in our country, I believe that no baby should ever have its life taken away before it has the chance to live.

Another issue that Americans debate on is gay or same sex marriage. I believe that God created man and woman for each other and that only a man and a woman should be together. I believe that if gay marriage was okay that it would’ve happened in the bible, and it did not. So, I believe that same sex marriage should be illegal.

The high school students of today are America’s future. In a way, America’s future depends greatly on the high school teachers of America. Saying this, it is sad that teacher’s salaries are where they are. While teachers are working harder and harder every day to teach high school students, CEO’s of big companies that are driving our countries economy into the ground are getting bonuses. This makes no since whatsoever. I’m not saying that teacher’s salaries should be the same of CEO’s of companies, but I do strongly believe that action should be taken place to increase the salaries of teachers because they have one of the most important jobs in America– preparing our country for the future.

Oil prices are outrageous. If the price of a single gallon of gas keeps increasing then before long people will simply not even be able to get to work and back. Alternate routes to obtaining oil should be taken. I believe that we should begin drilling off the gulf coast and east coast where we can. This would greatly lessen the amount of pressure on oil companies and lead to lower gas prices.

My final issue I would like to call to your attention is immigration. Hundreds upon hundreds of immigrants cross the border each day. Our country is infested with them. Our border control needs to step up its security. Why not just build a wall? It is a priviledge to be an American, and I believe that we just don’t need to let immigrants in our country each day. If they want to live in America and be an American, then they should go about the proper way. Step up border control!

Once again, thank you for your time and your effort you put in to making this great country a better place.

Sincerely,

Walker E

Here’s my take on last night’s debate, the final (THANK YOU, UNIVERSE) debate before the election 19 days from now.

The best:

• McCain: “Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.”
• Obama: “nobody’s pro-abortion. I think it’s always a tragic situation.”
• Obama: (about Ayers) “And I think the fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me.”
• McCain (about taxing small businesses): “You know, when Senator Obama ended up his conversation with Joe the plumber — we need to spread the wealth around. In other words, we’re going to take Joe’s money, give it to Senator Obama, and let him spread the wealth around. I want Joe the plumber to spread that wealth around. You told him you wanted to spread the wealth around.”
• The moderator. Excellent job by Schieffer.

The worst:

• Not one minute spent discussing gay rights, by either of them.
• McCain (defending his negative campaigning against Obama): “Well, this has been a tough campaign. It’s been a very tough campaign. And I know from my experience in many campaigns that, if Senator Obama had asked — responded to my urgent request to sit down, and do town hall meetings, and come before the American people, we could have done at least 10 of them by now.” (Huh? So you’re retaliating against him because you didn’t get your way?)

• Obama: “One hundred percent, John, of your ads, 100 percent of them have been negative” (Misleading: only true about current ads, not all of the ads throughout the campaign)
• McCain: (about Obama not agreeing to a partial birth abortion ban because it didn’t contain provisions for the mother’s health): “That’s the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, ‘health.’” (complete with air finger quotes)
• They both support “clean” coal. (yep, air finger quotes from me, too.)

The WTF?!:

• McCain: (about Palin) “And she has ignited our party and people all over America that have never been involved in the political process. And I can’t tell you how proud I am of her and her family. Her husband’s a pretty tough guy, by the way, too.” (WTF? How is that relevant to Palin’s ability to lead the nation?)
• McCain: “We need to encourage programs such as Teach for America and Troops to Teachers where people, after having served in the military, can go right to teaching and not have to take these examinations which — or have the certification that some are required in some states.” (this, just after his tough talk on teacher accountability and qualified teachers)
• And this (PIC) is really WTF, even when taken in context.

The entire debate transcript can be found here, among other places online.

Here’s this guy outside a Palin event in Johnstown, PA, heckling Obama supporters:

And here’s him in the stands, when he realizes he’s on camera:

Awww…..isn’t it sweet how he gives the toy to a small child he doesn’t even know? It warms the heart.