Chris Weigant

I present the transcript of President Obama's remarks at yesterday's memorial service for those killed in the tragedy at Fort Hood in Texas.

The fall of The Wall signified the fall of the Soviet Union, and an end to the Cold War. And while this was of enormous historical import, I fear that future generations won't really pay much attention to it.

What puts this first year in perspective for me is that: Obama may not be smarter than all of us, but he sure is smarter by a long shot than McCain would have been. And that, for now, is enough for me.

Happy Samhain, everyone, if that isn't an inherent oxymoron. For those of you who expected (and were, of course, waiting for with bated breath... what...

The real head-scratcher for serious media-watchers right now is what the "war" between the White House and Fox News was meant to distract us from this week. The "war" itself is laughable, for a number of reasons.

Yesterday, over 300,000 people picked up the phone and called Congress demanding health care reform this year. The phones ringing off the hook certainly did not go unnoticed by Congress.

Obama's plan is good news for medical marijuana advocates, but although this is a historic shift in the War on Drugs, it does not go far enough because it does not resolve the illogic of the underlying legal issue.

A football locker room. Hundreds of Democrats are sitting on benches, to hear Coach's halftime pep talk in the Health Care Reform Superbowl. Some appear exhausted, some appear battered.

I have little sympathy for Baucus at this point, when he complains that his adversaries have had time to put out a report attacking his bill. Because there is one reason that they've had all that time.

The plan isn't going into effect until 2013. Think you're tired of TV ads and screaming folks at town hall meetings now? Picture a more local version of that for the next four years -- not a pretty sight.

A woman whose name we all know was a proud Red, a committed Socialist, and an unapologetic Wobbly. And now she's not only buried in the National Cathedral, she's got her own statue in the Capitol.

This month, the news for Obama fans is not bad. It's not get-up-and-cheer good, either, but it's a lot better than the news has been for the past two months.

First, let's get rid of the distractions this week. Chicago will not be getting the Olympics in 2016, even after President Obama went over to Copenha...

I encourage everyone, no matter what part of these United States you live in (or even if you live elsewhere), to take a "trip out West" at some point in your life. Get in a car, and go explore everything west of Denver.

The progressives and Blue Dogs are going to have a showdown. It is going to culminate not in statements to the press (or the lack thereof), not in some whispered whip count, but rather in a very public vote.

No so very long ago, Afghanistan was known as "the forgotten war." But these days, Afghanistan is hard to miss in the headlines. Obama needs to begin talking about our newly-forgotten war: Iraq.

Baucus' was supposed to be the "bipartisan" bill, but the only way it can truly be referred to as such is in the growing bipartisan distaste for the bill.

The code words change over time (from "nullification" to "states' rights" to Pawlenty's "state sovereignty"), but the idea is the same -- we retain the right to ignore any laws we don't feel like following.

Political discussions in America are fast becoming solely theological in nature.. Each side has their beliefs. Each has their tenets which they fervently defend. Much of this is done on faith.

Stylistically, the speech was reminiscent of Obama on the campaign trail. But the bar for him is so high that this was only remarkable because it has been so absent of late from Obama.

Obama absolutely loves the phrase "everything's on the table." But the time for piling "everything" on "the table" is over. Everything being on the table means that no decisions have been made.