Monday, April 20, 2009

Convertibility

As I'm sure you've noticed, the remedial politics lessons have not yet begun, I owe you a hard news roundup before it becomes old news, and the last post was not related to any of that (except the Star Trek content alone made it worthwhile; I dare you to disagree). I've decided to get back on track by seeking your answers to a hypothetical question. This is not a test; there will be no grades in this class. But first, please feast your eyes on ATG's latest acquisition:


This is the interior of the 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster convertible. It's not available yet, but we have it here. The Porsche is lovely, of course, but sometimes one needs a little variety, and the weather's becoming convertible-worthy. Besides, we might need to take a few field trips.

Now for your hypothetical. Suppose you wake up tomorrow morning and find that you are no longer you. Instead, you are the president of the United States, Barack Obama. Please tell me: what is the very first thing you would put on your agenda for the day, and why. For purposes of this exercise, assume that you don't have to stick with any position or direction that the real Obama has taken thus far.

Leave your answer in the comments below. If for some reason you are unable to comment (and remember that you can choose Anonymous and either remain anonymous or reveal your name in the comment itself), send me your comment on Facebook or to 12tequilas-usual symbol-something comcastic in a net, and I will post it here for you.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

if change is really the goal, and progress is the purpose for change, then the first order of my day would be to call a representative group of Senators and House Delegates from both parties together for a heart to heart and get the ball rolling on some open honest communication about breaking down the partisan walls. Yes, there are fundamental points that the two sides will continue to disagree on, but to stand on ceremony on all issues is a big waste of time, money, etc. and is not the progress or change we need in order to pull out of our current funk.

Randee said...

I'd take Air Force One out to Austin and shock mom, as I would have changed race and gender overnight.

I thought of you yesterday, oddly in relation to a car: The new Lincoln ads use a "Major Tom" remake. !!

Howard said...

The first thing I, President Obama, would do is choose two senior statespeople – Nancy Kassenbaum and Lee Hamilton – and ask them to serve as co-chairs of an Independent Bipartisan Commission on Torture and Interrogation policies under the previous administration.

This commission would have broad subpoena power and be made up of senior military, ... Read Moreintelligence, medical and ethicists. Its goal would be to find out how, why and who authorized and carried out torture practices such as those outlined in today’s New York Times. The commission would operate in full transparency; no closed door hearings, etc. And once its findings are published, I would order the Justice Department to carry out any and all legal options, including prosecution of the officials who knew and authorized this hideous stain on our country.

12tequilas said...

(AG, the funny thing is that there is another commercial for the same car that uses a version of Space Oddity (the "other" song about Major Tom). I'm not quite sure that makes sense. But in any event, we're sure to be "floating weightless" in the Z.)

jksmd said...

Would I be President for just a day, or from then on?

jksmd said...

Not the President's call - a bipartisan commission is fine, but the Justice Department is not under the direction of the President. It's an independent body that is charged to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States. The U.S. Attorney General should be appointing an independent prosecutor and investigating these allegations regardless of whether or not the President (or a commission) wants anything done.

For some great writing about Obama and the Bush admin's use of torture, check out Glenn Greenwald's articles at salon.com:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/21/prosecutions/index.html

12tequilas said...

jksmd, let's say you don't know whether you will remain president. The magic that placed you there could reverse itself, but you have no idea when.

Brian said...

I would call on the NIH to investigate the following: quantify the relationship between being a Republican and being an asshole and discover its root causes.

I am sure the correlation between being a Republican and an asshole are quite high, but is the reason genetic, environmental, should republicanism be classified as a mental disease?

Shtuey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shtuey said...

You know I can't stop at one thing so....

First thing? I'd shut down our borders with Mexico and Canada to try and curb spread of the "swine flu," then quarantine anyone with the virus here and all who had contact with them. And take similar precautions that other nations with infection are taking instead of playing golf for 5 hours. Yeah, that's some change we're getting...well, Bush would go to Crawford. At least Pampers stayed in the DC Metro...how refreshing? Once those procedures were in place I would...

fire Cramit Napoleon from DHS who is making Chertoff look almost useful, no small feat there.

stop tapping America's phones without warrants. Remember when Barry O' Stupidlyingthug said he'd filibuster last summer's FISA vote and then he voted for it? Funny, after getting retroactive immunity AT&T, whose state lobbyists gave lots of money to Barry's campaign, decided to be the corporate sponsor of the Democratic National Convention. But that's neither here nor there...just sayin'.

But yeah, I'd stop tapping your phones. Then I'd tell Jay Rockefeller to take S. 773 and 778 and jam 'em up his rear.

Are people really letting themselves be distracted by this whole torture thing? Really? Hitchcock referred to that as the McGuffin...the object everyone seems to be concentrating on, but really has no meaning.

Then I think I'd commission a study to find out why Democrats don't think they're just as big a bunch of assholes as the Republicans.

BTW 12, like the car. It has lots of possibilities.