First Impressions

President Obama spoke to us as adults. Jindal speaks to us like we were children. I watched the speeches on MSNBC and noted on the graph below the picture how partisan the reactions of viewers were to the Jindal response. There will always be opposition. We need opposition to clarify, to define. Hopefully opposition will make the solutions finer. However, this opposition seems petulant, like a stubborn child, although with cameras rolling even John McCain was forced to leap to his feet in seeming approval of the President's words and ideas. Then why did all of those Republicans vote against the stimulus package, and Michael Steele, Chair of the Republican National Committee threaten to withhold funds from the three Senators who didn't?

It warmed me to see Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Congress tonight and to see the genuine affection extended to her by the President.

Obama is charming. He has substance. He seems to have aged already. Did you notice how gray his hair has gotten?

It doesn't seem possible to do it all: stimulate the economy, provide health care, and offer the best in education. I don't believe in American exceptionalism, which so infused the President's speech. But he is giving us hope, and for now, that is certainly an awful lot.