While my belief in the potential of the Obama administration is strong, the connection I felt during the campaign has faded. The disconnection I feel comes from the Obama administration's struggle to move from campaign mode to governing mode.
When I and others suggested that the Birthers, the Tea Baggers, the Limbaughs and Becks of the world were motivated at least in part by racism, the President himself said he did not believe that to be the case.
Now that just about the entire world has weighed in on whether or not President Obama deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the fact remains: he was awarded the prize.
If Obama doesn't deliver significantly, disillusionment and anti-Americanism will increase among the very people who were euphoric at his election.
The Obama administration's Peace Corps transition document is a blueprint of what must be done and how it can be done.
Lots of people are disappointed with some of Obama's recent decisions but they still love him because he is a person of conviction working within a flawed system.
Cheney filled his time speaking with fear-induced anger, inaccurate claims, righteous indignation and cheap shots at Europe.
The President is clearly the agenda setter, but he is not, as President Bush tried to be, "the decider." The verdict on Obama is clearly still out, but the early returns are positive.
Eight years of having someone to point at and say: See! There's the problem (and it was), was an easier proposition than looking in the mirror and asking: How am I the problem?
As long as he is perceived as communicating clearly and honestly, he should sustain the trust of the American people.
But President Obama can single-handedly avert that fate with a little political hardball. He has the authority to unilaterally limit climate pollution through the Clean Air Act.
The Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh advises us that if we are angry with someone, it is good to give that person a gift. While Chavez gave Obama a gift in the form of a book, Obama also gave a gift of openness.
For those of us who have waited 8 years for good news, Obama's pragmatism can be frustrating, but it's the right strategy for a realistic president confronted with difficult times.
What is America to me A name, a map, or a flag I see A certain word, democracy What is America to me Lyrics by: Abel Meeropol Well into m...
This time, his attempt at self-deprecating humor backfired, and Obama and his staff immediately realized it. He called Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver to apologize before the program was broadcast.
Obama's ability to identify ethnically and emotionally with the Islamic world, along with his ability to articulate American tolerance that goes back to the founding fathers, means that we're on our way.
I spent the weekend in North Carolina at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and had the great pleasure of getting to see many inspiring and thought provoking films.
Harold Koh is a brilliant and hard-working lawyer with a strong dedication to protecting America's interests and upholding our Constitution.
The smartest students understand that there are better ways of learning than being the passive recipient of a one-way, one size fits all, teacher-focused model where the student is isolated in the learning process.
The former chief of staff to Colin Powell acknowledges, too, that both Rumsfeld and Cheney knew innocent men were being detained as enemy combatants, without charges, and they did nothing about it.
The Justice Department descision that Obama has the right to detain enemies during wartime, without charging them, comes as a disappointment to those who expected carte blanche change.
