Obama igen - avgörande TV-tal inför kongressen till folket

No drama Obama. Så kallas han ibland. Men det har varit mycket drama sista månaderna. Inte bara skolframträdandet tidigare i veckan utan framför allt health care reformen som han driver.

Det har urartat till rean pajkastningen på t ex olika Town Hall meetings runt om i landet när reformförslaget diskuterats med vanligt folk - ivrigt påhejade av republikanerna förstås som gör allt de förmår för att få in sina förslag istället och därför talar ned Obamas förslag. Helt vanlig politk med andra ord. Men ganska avgörande för Obamas vidare presidentskap.

Så stor show ikväll på bästa prime time tid, bland annat CNN bjöd på "landets bästa panel av politiska experter" (som vanligt), http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/09/obama.speech/index.html, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090903464.html, bloggosfären fylldes med olika aktiviteter och ja, jag fick mitt eget lilla mail från presidenten själv...

Therese --

I just finished laying out my plan for health reform at a joint session of Congress. Now, I'm writing directly to you because what happens next is critical -- and I need your help. Change this big will not happen because I ask for it. It can only come when the nation demands it. Congress knows where I stand. Now they need to hear from you.
Add your voice: Ask your representatives to support my plan for real health reform in 2009.

The heart of my plan is simple: bring stability and security to Americans who already have health insurance, guarantee affordable coverage for those who don't, and rein in the cost of health care.

Tonight, I offered a specific plan for how to make it happen. I incorporated the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans to create a plan that's bold, practical, and represents the broad consensus of the American people.

We've come closer to real health reform in the last few months than we have in the last 60 years. But those who profit from the status quo -- and those who put partisan advantage above all else -- will fight us every inch of the way.

We do not seek that fight, but we will not shrink from it. The stakes are too high to let scare tactics cloud the debate, or to allow partisan bickering to block the path. Your voice, right now, is essential.See my full plan and call on your representatives to support it:

http://my.barackobama.com/SupportReform

Ours is not the first generation to understand the dire need for health reform. And I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Here in America, you write your own destiny

Idag var det så dags för något som diskuterats en hel del på nyheterna sista veckan - president Obamas tal om utbildning riktat till studenter runt om i Amerika. En del har varit väldigt skeptiska till detta och menade att han kommer propagera sin politik till eleverna exempelvis. Obama själv säger att syftet är att entuiasmera eleverna till att anstränga sig och fullfälja sina studier och på så vis också skapa välstånd i landet på sikt. Nedan är några utdrag från talet som finns på Vita Husets hemsida:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Streaming-at-Noon-The-Presidents-Speech-to-Americas-Students/

... "But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future."

..."The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it."

The Patriot Soccer Tournament

Labour Day weekend - och självklart fotbollsturnering igen i Virginia. Det verkar bli svårt för oss att komma från stan vid de få långhelger som finns... Strålande vacker väder, ca 30 grader varmt hela helgen och absolut ingen skugga vid fotbollsplanen. Men Eriks lag spelade på bra och lyckades så småningom sluta som två. Erik gjorde många bra instaser, bland annat hat trick i en av matcherna.

I pausen mellan matcherna på lördagen tog vi oss iväg till Manassas National Battlefield Park för att se omgivningarna där första slaget i amerikanska inbördeskriget hölls - slaget vid Bull Run 1861 och sedan åter ett slag där året därpå, 1862. Vid Manassas fanns en viktig järnvägsknut som bägge parter ville åt. Museerna och nationalparkerna är otroligt bra här, med filmer, utställningar och rangers som guidar runt i omgivningarna. Vi lärde oss en hel del på de två timmar vi hade att spendera där. Väldigt intressant. Hela omgivningarna runt Washington är fyllda av minnen från Civil War eftersom många av slagen hölls runt i trakterna, ex vid Gettysburg.

Plötsligt förstod vi också varför fotbollscupen heter Patriot Tournament - vid Manassas fanns minnesmärken uppförda för att hedra The Patriots, de som slogs för att bevara sitt land.

Enough of live funerals

Our first day here Senator Teddy Kennedy died. All the the flags were flying on half-mast the whole week and on TV there were memorial shows running in a number of channels. Then Saturday - funeral. And all day long you could followed the drawn out cermony live on TV. Tonight I switched on the TV and once again I saw mourning people live. Now it is finally time for Michael Jackson to be put to rest after 70 days. I thought this was going to be a private cermony - but how could that happen if you have a media circus following it?

Todays reflections

I understand there are old buildings not adjusted for wheelchairs and strollers, but how is it possible to build brand new shoppingmalls without doors that can slide open automatically? In Friendship Heights we have several new shopping stores, for example an upscale Bloomingdales, completely without it. And often when entering shops or restaurants there are a couple of steps, of course without any wheel friendly ramps. This irritates me a lot since I use to still bring Ellinor's stroller when walking there. But being handicapped here must be really difficult.

Nice lifestyle!

What a lovely day! Since we still are waking up fairly early in the mornings, due to the time change, we took a power walk in the nice warm morning weather. To the bagel bakery in Bethesda which according to the rumours makes the best bagels in Washington... Yum! We were not the only ones being out early, in fact there were lots of people out running, biking, walking their dogs and of course bying the traditional coffee cup. It's not like in Sweden.

By lunchtime we accompanied friends and headed outside the beltway, followed Potomac northbound and went to the Homestead Farm in order to pick peaches and apples, tomatoes and corn. It was hot but also great fun to see the countryside and walk among hundreds of peach trees. And also to see the houses in the Potomac area - huge... we ate the corn for dinner and it tasted delicious!

After a quick lunch at home we took off to the neighbourhood pool, a five minutes walk from our house. Luckily they closed the pool by six o'clock, three hours in the water is not enough for the kids but well for me. I am glad they are returning to school tomorrow.

How can I be fed up after a day like this?

Back again!

After nine intensive weeks are we back in Washington D.C. again - and it's nice to be back! It's fantastic how familiar a new country can be after living here during just six months, it's feels like home here as well. And how nice it is to not be a newcomer knowing nothing about the life here. The kids immediately ran off to see friends the day after we arrived and yesterday there was a sneak peak at school where the children met their new teachers and classes. So they are so ready to start school on Monday.

The big happening here is not our arrival. When we came to Dulles airport all the flags were placed at half mast. Senator Edward Kenney, also called Ted, died Tuesday after being ill with brain cancer for 15 months. The 77-year-old senator had represented Massachusetts since 1962.

Now, I don't now how much this has been reported on in Sweden but here it is very very big. Why? He became the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics after the assassinations of his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, during the 1960s. Ted Kennedy was Senator for almost 50 years and was called the "Lion of the Senate". He seems to have done a great job and is very appreciated, not only for what he has accomplished, but also because what his family has sacrificed.

Teddy Kennedy will be buried today at Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C next to his brothers John and Robert. Of course it will be sent on all TV channels all day as the memorial shows that have been running since Wednesday. This is so close to a presidential funeral you can have in America without actually being a president.

Learn more on http://edition.cnn.com/