How does your bracket measure up to the President's?

See how your NCAA Men's Basketball tournament picks stack up against those of the POTUS!  If you do better than Mr. Obama, he'll recognize you on this website! 

Hey, have a little fun!

Go here to go head-to-head with the Commander and Chief! 

POTUS sings Al Green!!!

Forget partisan issues and perspectives.  Just enjoy the fun and the humanity! 

President's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

By Associated Press, Published: November 23

President Barack Obama’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation as released by the White House:

One of our nation’s oldest and most cherished traditions, Thanksgiving Day brings us closer to our loved ones and invites us to reflect on the blessings that enrich our lives. The observance recalls the celebration of an autumn harvest centuries ago, when the Wampanoag tribe joined the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony to share in the fruits of a bountiful season. The feast honored the Wampanoag for generously extending their knowledge of local game and agriculture to the Pilgrims, and today we renew our gratitude to all American Indians and Alaska Natives. We take this time to remember the ways that the first Americans have enriched our nation’s heritage, from their generosity centuries ago to the everyday contributions they make to all facets of American life. As we come together with friends, family and neighbors to celebrate, let us set aside our daily concerns and give thanks for the providence bestowed upon us.

Read the entire Proclamation here.

The President and the Poor

Contrary to much popular media reporting, almost no public leader talks seriously about poverty in the U. S. these days. 

Think about it.  When was the last time you heard any political leader or policy maker enter into a serious discussion about domestic poverty? 

No one should expect us to make much progress in low-income, impoverished neighborhoods if none of our leaders are calling attention to the needs or suggesting serious public strategies for attacking the life-destroying realities of poverty. 

I've been thinking about this for some time now.   As a result, the essay below caught my attention.  Read it and let me know what you think.

Hard-Knock (Hardly Acknowledged) Life
The New York Times
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: January 28, 2011

President Obama made history on Tuesday.
It was only the second time since Harry S. Truman’s State of the Union address in 1948 that such a speech by a Democratic president did not include a single mention of poverty or the plight of the poor.

The closest Obama got to a mention was his confirmation for “Americans who’ve seen their paychecks dwindle or their jobs disappear” that, indeed, “the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real.” I’m sure they appreciated that.

The only other Democrat not to mention poverty in the speech was Jimmy Carter in 1980, but even he was able to squeeze in one reference to at least a portion of the poor and disenfranchised, stressing the continuation of jobs programs to “provide training and work for our young people, especially minority youth.” (Carter did mention the poor in a written version that he submitted to Congress.)

John F. Kennedy didn’t say the specific words “poor” or “poverty” in his first State of the Union, but he talked at length about providing “more food for the families of the unemployed, and to aid their needy children,” securing “more purchasing power for our lowest-paid workers by raising and expanding the minimum wage” and of a new housing program to address the problem of “cities being engulfed in squalor.”

So how is it that this Democratic president has the temerity to deliver a State of the Union address that completely neglects any explicit mention of the calamitous conditions now afflicting his staunchest supporters: the poor?

(In 2008, Obama won 73 percent of the vote of those earning less than $15,000 a year, 60 percent of those earning between $15,000 and $30,000 and 55 percent of the vote of those earning $30,000 to $50,000. Those were his widest margins of victory of any income group and helped to propel him to victory.)

He talked at length about education (the most inspiring part of the speech) and about civility and his repackaged bromides of global competitiveness and investments in the future. And, of course, there were cautious mentions of programs that benefit seniors and the need to protect and secure them. Can’t forget the plea to the old people.

Protecting programs for seniors strikes the right chord morally and politically, but the data show that seniors are not the ones feeling the majority of the pain these days.

According to data from the Census Bureau, the percent of people ages 18 to 64 who were living in poverty in 2009 was higher than it had been in any year since 1959, while the percent of seniors living in poverty was lower than it had been in any year since at least 1959. (By the way, voters over 65 were the only age group that Obama lost in 2008.)

I, for one, refuse to believe that this is an either-or proposition. We can make smart choices about protecting seniors and supporting younger Americans in need at the same time. We don’t have to ignore the Annies among us to court the Miss Daisys.

For the poor, this is the Obama Conundrum. He was obviously the best choice in 2008. And judging by the current cast of Republican presidential contenders, he could well be the best choice in 2012. But does that give him license to obviate his moral responsibility to his electoral devotees? Can and should they take his snubs as a necessary consequence of political warfare as he makes every effort to tack back to the middle and reconnect with those whose opinion of him vacillates between contempt on a bad day and sufferance on a good one? Does keeping him in the White House dictate keeping them in the shadows?

And things could get even worse for the poor if the president feels the need to cut too many deals with the new Republican-led House in order to appear more centrist.

According to Brian Miller, the executive director of the nonpartisan and Boston-based group United for a Fair Economy and co-author of the group’s report entitled “State of the Dream 2011: Austerity for Whom?” released earlier this month, “austerity measures based on the conservative tenets of less government and lower taxes will ratchet down the standard of living for all Americans, while simultaneously widening our nation’s racial and economic divide.”

As Miller put it, deficits that tax cuts for the rich helped to create “are being used to justify a host of austerity measures that will harm Americans of all races but will hit blacks and Latinos the hardest.”

According to Miller, “With 42 percent of blacks and 37 percent of Latinos lacking the funds to meet minimal household expenses for even three months should they become unemployed, cutting public assistance programs will have devastating impacts on black and Latino workers.” (Obama won 95 percent of the black vote and 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2008.)

Even as my respect for this president as a shrewd politician has begun to rebound, my faith in him as a fervent crusader for the poor and disenfranchised has taken yet another nose dive. One’s tone-deafness — or blatant indifference — to the poor has to be at Black American Express status to brag that “the stock market has come roaring back” and “corporate profits are up” and not even mention the unemployment rate or the continuing foreclosure crisis.

I want to believe that President Obama’s speech omissions were oversights, not acts of arrogance. But I’m not sure.

President Truman wrote in 1953 that, “ultimately, no President can master his responsibilities, save as his fellow citizens — indeed, the whole people — comprehend the challenge of our times and move, with him, to meet it.” But, it is sometimes hard to follow — indeed, to chase — a president who appears to be moving, often at a full sprint, away from the people who once carried him.

Faith and the President: "a sustaining force"

President Obama spoke at the 2011 National Prayer Breakfast last week.

The speech provides useful insights into the faith life of the president.

I find his remarks about the church and the role of the church in his life and in his decisions to enter public service very interesting. Like most of us he differentiates church life from authentic spirituality. The Golden Rule, the ultimate value basis for Jesus, and the work of the spiritual leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement and leaders of other faith traditions shaped his worldview. He relates his own conversion experience while working as a community organizer on the south side of Chicago. Well worth your time.

President as Pastor. . .thanks be to God!

President Obama on living through our winter. . .

President Obama spoke last Sunday to the historic Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington, DC. His sermon, like most all of his speeches, was very good. He pointed to the challenges of our day and looked back at a sermon that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented to the congregation a generation ago.

While the entire message is worthy of your attention, the last two minutes of the sermon reveal a great deal about this president's personal faith. Very open. Very honest. Very inspiring.

Thinking of the school children

President Obama's speech to the school children of America yesterday and all of the controversy leading up to it remain on my mind this morning.

I'm remembering President Kennedy's speech during which he laid out the commitment to land men on the moon before the end of the 1960s. I recall the impact that declaration had on schools and on little boys like me. We all became interested in astronomy and the planets and science.

And, I remember watching public events like the inauguration and other major addresses on classroom televisions.

I'm also thinking of the children in my neighborhood who heard the President speak yesterday. I know many found inspiration in his words. My school aged grandchildren were ill yesterday and stayed home from school, but they watched the speech with their mother, she saw to that!

I'm wondering what the kids thought and felt when they heard the negative speech and news reports about their President and his desire to speak to them? I wonder what the children of color thought as they watched him and then considered all of the blow back against him?

We spend our days doing everything we can to encourage these children. Frankly, it upsets me when others behave in a manner that cuts into the impact of anything that might encourage them.

I'll let it go now. But, nothing is more important than the future of the children. The President seems to understand that. At least, that's what I heard from what he said yesterday.

Read President Obama's speech to America's students here

Everyone can read the remarks President Obama plans to make to America's students tomorrow right here.

The President will be at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia when he speaks.

Sorry, but the reaction against this speech, this idea and this President was ill-advised and downright silly.

We'll use it to motivate the children with whom we work to stay in school, work hard and see the hope that can be created as we stick together.

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Gerald Britt's post on the President and our school children

By all means, take the time to read Rev. Gerald Britt's post found right here.

Worth your time. As usual, in my opinion, he hits the proverbial nail right on the head!

Want your reactions.
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What's really going on here?

A big part of what we do at Central Dallas Ministries involves children, families and educational achievement.

For the past fifteen years we've supported, developed, nurtured and promoted numerous opportunities for children to improve their educational experiences. We done everything possible to encourage children to value education, to stay in school, to work hard and to achieve. After school programs, summer learning experiences, homework labs, SAT prep courses, college tours, learning camps, technology seminars, work options rooted in education--all have played a part in our efforts to keep children and youth engaged in the pursuit of education.

At CDM we believe that a job that pays a livable wage is the key to overcoming poverty and the urban decay that destroys our neighborhoods.

Therefore, we promote educational opportunities in as many ways as are possible because we also know education is the key to landing the kind of employment that can sustain a life and a family.

We care about education.

We care about children.

Next week, President Obama plans an address to American students about the importance of education and of staying in school through graduation and beyond.

What a great idea!

We love it!

We also recognize and applaud the fact that it has become a national tradition over the past three decades.

President Reagan delivered such an address to our students.

President George H. W. Bush continued the positive practice.

Who among us will ever forget that President George W. Bush was reading to elementary school students on that fateful morning of September 11?

Now comes President Obama. . .our President.

He wants to continue to reinforce the national expectation for our children. He brings a very unique perspective to the task. As a person who had every reason not to achieve, I expect that his own experience with education, its benefits and its importance should be a big encouragement to our students here in Dallas and across the state.

But, a number of people don't agree. They are protesting to area and state school districts to ban the President's speech from our schools.

What's worse, school boards and school leaders are paying attention to the objections. In many schools, listening to the speech will be "optional" for students. In other districts the speech will not be aired to students.

Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.

What's really going on here?

Our President's Speech to the NAACP Anniversary Celebration

This President communicates.

Here's a portion of his speech last week before the 100th Anniversary of the NAACP.

He spoke on education, achievement, community, parenting and living strong.

What a speech!

I don't care what political philosophy you embrace.

What a speech! What a message!

A President's Message

Last week President Barack Obama addressed the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. I believe his message was very important.

At one point he observed that no major world religion has as its central tenet hatred of others. That very positive observation is something to keep in mind as we move forward. It certainly is important here in the inner city.

I found the President's call for "a living, breathing, active faith" extremely refreshing.

Action is essential.

Practice trumps debate.

Improving life and expanding opportunity forms the basis of our mission. And, we do all that we do every day because of our living faith.

Can we, as our new President asked, "allow God's grace to occupy that space that is between us?"

If we do, our faith will exhibit a power to change the world.

The "sermon" is well worth your time.



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Couincil on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

President Obama spoke Thursday morning at the National Prayer Breakfast about his plans for the Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. A good summation report can be found in The Los Angeles Times article here, complete with a short video of the President's remarks.

The President's new Council continues the work of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

The new Director of the Council will be Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister who headed the President's religious outreach during the campaign. The 25-member council will advise the President on policy development and the coordination of public engagement with faith-based and neighborhood groups working on the front lines to improve communities and lift people out of poverty.

It's a good start!

What do you think?

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Completing the story. . .a struggle

Lots of white Americans remain bewildered by the feelings and comments of some black Americans, especially those of a generation ago (just see the comments on one of my posts from yesterday!). The legacy of segregation, Jim Crow, lynchings, and a system born of prevailing racism shaped all of us as a people, and it infected our systems and institutions where it still lingers today.

Frankly, our national story to date has not been completed, not fully reported, not sufficiently understood and certainly not appropriately honored.

On Monday, I listened to a fascinating report on NPR's new program, "Tell Me More," moderated by Michel Martin. "Built by Slaves: A Capitol History Lesson" is worth your time.

Most of us don't realize that the rotunda of the capitol was built from ground to dome by slave labor.

Did you realize that the statue Freedom atop the capitol dome was the work of Philip Reed, a slave who saw the work of his hand and heart lifted to the top of the dome on December 2, 1863, by which time he had been freed?

Slaves cut the stones of the capitol walls and their masters were paid $5 per month for the labor of each worker.

Eight paintings grace the walls of the Capitol Rotunda.

None include African Americans.

A history frieze is painted around the inner perimeter of the rotunda. The frieze ends with the Civil War. An original painting depicted Abraham Lincoln delivering the Emancipation Proclamation. This painting was later removed and replaced by a portrait of a Union soldier shaking hands with a Confederate soldier.

Not until the Congress acted in the mid-1980s did the Capitol enjoy the presence of a sculpture of any African American national leader. It was at that time that our representatives commissioned the depiction of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shortly before the establishment of his birthday as a national holiday.

Listen to the report. View the photos. Open your heart of a huge group of people who have reason to be rejoicing today, but who also need us to agree that we will not forget.

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New White House website

If you haven't found it yet, the new website for the White House is really something!

Combining plenty of space for policy debate and citizen interaction--including a blog page--with great history of the Presidency and of the home of the nation's First Family, this very interactive, comprehensive website is very interesting.

Take a look here.

Inauguration Day, a father's letter and our communities

Today we celebrate America with the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama. What a day it promises to be for all of us.

This week Parade Magazine published a letter that President Obama wrote to his daughters, Malia and Sasha. As I read the new president's words, it became very clear that this man is first and foremost a dad who loves his children. As I thought more about the content of his letter, I realized that the message here could serve well as an agenda for our work.

Take a moment to read his letter:

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours.

In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation. I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity. I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something. She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have.

That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure. I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

An agenda worthy of our best efforts, don't you think?

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