The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is looking for graphic designers to propose a new “Art Works” logo and, if selected, to finish it so it can be reproduced on NEA materials. Submissions are due Feb. 26. Download the request for proposals here.
President Barack Obama today addressed and took questions from House Republican party members attending a retreat in Baltimore. For students of government and political junkies everywhere, the entire event, seemingly unprecedented in the modern political era, was fascinating. If YouTube and CSPAN can disabuse citizens of the notion that government can be reduced to 30-second sound bites, that would be a positive development.
Citizens must try to find, and watch, these more honest exchanges, which shed a little light on the hard realities of governing in the 21st century. Legislating is just messy; it’s complicated for the press and somewhat disgusting to the citizenry.
But letting polarization take hold will only lead to legislative lethargy, which in turn will only lead to stagnation in the country and hurt average Americans with everyday problems. It simply cannot continue. Today was one small step to break the impasse; many more steps will no doubt be needed. It’s a start. Kudos to all who participated.
More than 48 million viewers watched President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union, more than watched Clinton’s first, but less than watched G. W. Bush’s first, Nielson reports.
More reaction:
Gail Collins in the New York Times, along with its Editorial Board.
Melissa Harris-Lacewell in The Nation.
Christopher Buckley at the Daily Beast.
The Washington Post (on Alito-Obama flap) – Yes, this has achieved flap status! Toobin also weighs in at the New Yorker, as does Packer.
The New Republic, cutting against the grain, as usual.
Americans for the Arts recently launched a new tool to measure the vitality of the arts in U.S. communities across 76 indicators. Click the image to check it out.
You know, this never crossed my mind that this would become an issue; tonight: a Supreme Court justice had a human reaction to a speech and people freaked out.
There was a point in the speech tonight* that I liked where the president referred to the gridlock and paralysis of Washington, generally ascribed to as a sort of people’s “distrust” of the federal government. This article spelled it out well (tip: James Fallows), as did the president, toward the end of the speech. I particularly liked the admonition of Dems not to “run for the hills.” Ha! Don’t fear the people; get stuff done, and they might like you (a little tiny bit).
Some reaction from live bloggers:
Read it here; will post below when it’s available. Here is the video.
*Just heard on C-Span, Hillary Clinton was in London but it was Shaun Donovan, Housing and Urban Development secretary, who was asked to stay home in case of a disaster.
Part III of NPR’s look at the bail bond industry; the other two parts are here.
The American Presidency Project, a collaboration between University of California historians John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, has compiled what appears to be a complete history of State of the Union addresses (sometimes called joint session addresses) going back to President George Washington. Read the first president’s initial “message” to Congress, where he talks about hostile Indian tribes and the possible need to “punish aggressors.”
Much has been said and written about the demise in the popularity of health care reform, but a new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that support goes up if people hear about its specific provisions:
“[M]ajorities reported feeling more favorable toward the legislation after learning about key elements such as the availability of tax credits for small businesses, the creation of health insurance exchanges, the inability of insurers to deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions and the move to close the Medicare drug benefit’s ‘doughnut hole.'”
On the day of the State of the Union address, it’s striking that the American people still do not know how — or if — Congress will proceed on health care reform.
