Loyal O-readers: I am back.
A lot has changed on PubliCola during my absence and luckily I have changed too. Eight weeks on a remote island with only cucumber water to drink and rice crackers to eat and Tyra Banks’ enormous forehead to ponder changes a “man.” PubliCola is more refined and, luckily for you, I am more refined too. No longer the days of distasteful talk of O-gasms and O-rections. So juvenile. Cheap laughs … how very Borat.
PubliCola has investors. It has an IPhone app. It divines Seattle mayoral races. This can no longer be a place of f-bombs and giggling when the number 69 is mentioned. No. We are an adult blog now and I must adjust to fit the times.
And what a time to be back.
The push for health care is in full force with the (overly) idealistic goal of passing the health care overhaul before the holidays still set in everyone’s Outlook Calendar. Obama spent yesterday on the Hill trying to create some goddamn Democratic unity around the health care issue. Meanwhile, Mr. Sour Grapes 2008 held a concurrent press conference accusing Obama of not being bipartisan enough in his dealings with Republicans on the health care issue. I wonder why Obama might be a little gunshy about reaching out to Republicans on a major policy initiative? Hmmm.
Additionally, just as Obama announces he’s sending more troops to Afghanistan, he is set to jet off to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize this Thursday. Sweet, sweet irony.
Tuesday, Obama plans to deliver a speech on the economy. Expect many self-congratulations over a better-than-expected unemployment report from last week. A preview of his job speech tomorrow can be found here. We’ll have the full play-by-play, rest assured.
Also on the agenda this week: a trip to Copenhagen to talk at the two-week United Nations’ climate change conference. Ex-VP Al Gore made a last-minute swing by the White House today to compare notes with Obama on the topic before his appearance at the conference. Coming off the heels of Climategate, a scandal-of-sorts involving the public release of thousands of private emails of climate scientists, the conference will guarantee a sizable protest of climate change “skeptics,” who are now activated because these released emails supposedly contain evidence that scientists are overstating the case on climate change. The brilliant Nate Silver will be flying out to Copenhagen and blogging his thoughts on the conference. We’ll re-package those thoughts with our own special brand of adult snark and sarcasm, of course.
Overall, a busy last push for the O-agenda before people check out for the holidays. All the spinning plates and O-pproval numbers hovering at the 50% mark begs the obvious question: is the O-agenda too full and the message then too diluted?
