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[sly fox]

it ain't Santa Claus

http://cjonline.com/news/2011-12-02/dem-leader-obama-plans-tuesday-visit-kan

Dem leader: Obama plans Tuesday visit to Kan.
Posted: December 2, 2011 - 7:40pm

President Barack Obama plans to travel to eastern Kansas next week to give a speech in Osawatomie, the state Democratic Party’s chairwoman said.
 
The historic town was where former President Theodore Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech, which extolled the government’s role in promoting social justice and regulating the economy to help the poor and underprivileged. It also was the site of an 1856 battle between pro- and anti-slavery settlers.
 
State chairwoman Joan Wagnon said she was notified of Obama’s plans by the Democratic National Committee but was given no details. Neither the White House nor a DNC spokeswoman would confirm the visit late Friday afternoon.
 
“Of course, it’s very exciting,” Wagnon said. “It’s exciting when any president comes.”
 
In his 1910 speech, Roosevelt criticized some fellow Republicans for refusing to tackle the economic power of the wealthy and declared that the “destruction of special privilege” aided progress. Two years later, Roosevelt broke with fellow Republicans to run for president as the Progressive Party nominee, unsuccessfully seeking a third term.
 
The 1856 battle, which helped earn the territory the nickname “Bleeding Kansas,” included abolitionist John Brown and members of his family. Kansas also is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its admission to the union in 1861 . . .

wanna bet that he won't be talking about the pre Civil War battle?
http://www.osawatomieks.org/

Osawatomie, a community of 4,600 people, is located in the rolling hills of eastern Kansas on the Marais des Cygnes (marsh of the swans) River. Osawatomie is in southwest Miami County 30 miles south of the junction of I-169 and I-35.

it's southwest of Kansas City, Mo.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/dec/02/kansas-democratic-party-leader-says-obama-visit-os/

. . . The historic town was where former President Theodore Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech, which extolled the government’s role in promoting social justice and regulating the economy to help the poor and underprivileged. It also was the site of an 1856 battle between pro- and anti-slavery settlers.

State Chairwoman Joan Wagnon said she was notified of Obama’s plans by the Democratic National Committee but was given no details. Neither the White House nor a DNC spokeswoman would confirm the visit late Friday afternoon.

“Of course, it’s very exciting,” Wagnon said. “It’s exciting when any president comes.”

In his 1910 speech, Roosevelt criticized some fellow Republicans for refusing to tackle the economic power of the wealthy and declared that the “destruction of special privilege” aided progress. Two years later, Roosevelt broke with fellow Republicans to run for president as the Progressive Party nominee, unsuccessfully seeking a third term . . .

http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-theodore-roosevelt-s-osawatomie-speech/13176


text of TR's speech

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=501

[sly fox]

more info

Obama to give economic talk in Kansas
Posted: December 3, 2011 - 4:53pm

By The Associated Press

OSAWATOMIE — . . . to deliver an economic speech about how he considers this a “make-or-break moment” for the middle class, the White House announced Saturday.
 
Obama is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the high school in Osawatomie, the city where a century ago, former President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for a “New Nationalism.” Roosevelt’s speech, given after he left the White House, extolled the government’s role in promoting social justice and regulating the economy to help the underprivileged. He criticized some fellow Republicans for refusing to tackle the economic power of the wealthy.
 
Obama will “lay out the choice we face between a country in which too few do well, while too many struggle to get by, and one where we’re all in it together — where everyone engages in fair play, everyone does their fair share, and everyone gets a fair shot,” the White House said.
 
In 2010, . . . Obama’s 42 percent of the vote, however, was the best showing by any Democratic nominee in 20 years.
 
Amanda Adkins, chair of the Kansas Republican Party, said in an email that Kansas residents “expect clarity on a path to job creation, competitiveness and effectiveness,” and that it is being delivered by Brownback.
 
Joan Wagnon, chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party, said Obama’s message would likely resonate in the state and she planned to attend the speech in Osawatomie, a town of about 4,400 residents some 50 miles southwest of Kansas City.
 
“I think Kansans are very concerned about the deepening divide between the wealthy and those that are not,” Wagnon said.

Sorry John Brown, you might not even get a mention.

may have to make a 90 minute trip southeast on Tuesday perhaps

[ronkny]

more info

Sorry John Brown, you might not even get a mention.

may have to make a 90 minute trip southeast on Tuesday perhaps

To kiss his ring?  Feet?  Why?

[BGuttman]

To kiss his ring?  Feet?  Why?

To give him a plane ticket and an appointment card to review a dental clinic in Washington State

I can see the headlines now: "President bites Dentist".

[ronkny]

To give him a plane ticket and an appointment card to review a dental clinic in Washington State

I can see the headlines now: "President bites Dentist".

. Maybe he has a dental infection that is affecting how he thinks.   

[sly fox]

I'm into history

Obama is making history, first sitting President to come to that town.

how important 

won't go w/o ticket, I'm on the "alternatve" list, so chance of going not good.

_______________________________

http://cjonline.com/news/state/2011-12-04/hundreds-line-obama-tickets-kansas

no, I wasn't one lined up Sat night for the release of tickets on Sunday at noon.

1) didn't know about it

2) wouldn't have done it anyway.

I guess I'll watch from home.

I got a ticket, I got a ticket

wonder if my offer to drive from Topeka to Oswatamie made the difference???

have to be there several hours prior to the President's arrival, secret servie service inspection you know.

more later, wonder if I  will get  a chance to ask a question.  I was able to ask one of Carter when I was a student years ago.

[ddickerson]

more later, wonder if I  will get  a chance to ask a question. 

If you get the chance, what would you ask him?

[sly fox]

How does he keep going, knowing that the GOP, or a substantial part of it, at least, is dedicated to prevent him from achieving any substantial success.

Imagine, given that any President has less political power in the second term, b/c s/he cannot win election to a third term, how bad it will be unless he is able to substantially change the outlook of his "loyal" opposition.


Or perhaps, I would just ask to be invited to the next "beer summit"?

______________________________________

. Maybe he has a dental infection that is affecting how he thinks.  

ok, perhaps, what is your excuse then

or are you just exercising your 1st Amend rights?

what was that prevelent phrase used - oh yeah:  American, love it or leave it?

got your bags packed yet????

[BGuttman]

The Obama speech has been getting a fair amount of press today.  Alongside the Fair Deal of TR.

Amazing similarities of the circumstances.  This was the tail end of the Golden Age (where a select few got all the Gold and most of us wouldn't have the time to play trombone; or just play for that matter).

I suspect we won't hear from you until you get back home.  Enjoy.

[sly fox]

well, I've been home for a bit.  and I was trying to cut down the President's speech to post exerpts but instead, I'm just posting a link and urging those interested in reading it in full:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-text-obama-speech-kansas-20111206,0,7741368,full.story

There were at least 3 spontaneous standing ovations.   I thought it was a good speech although the President on a couple of occasions, kept talking when I would have waited for the applauase to end.

certain challenges were thrown out as well as a veto promise.

First time I have heard him speak live.

and yes, he used the modern technology, the teleprompter.

[BGuttman]

. . .

and yes, he used the modern technology, the teleprompter.

As has every President since it was invented.  Including  Ronald Reagan.

[ronkny]

As has every President since it was invented.  Including  Ronald Reagan.

I don't think it was a permanent appendage connected to Reagan. 

[BGuttman]

I don't think it was a permanent appendage connected to Reagan. 

Or a permanent appendage attached to Uranus, either.

[ronkny]

Or a permanent appendage attached to Uranus, either.

Ba dum dum dum. 

[sly fox]

http://cjonline.com/news/2011-12-06/hundreds-turn-out-obamas-speech

here is the full video courtsey of CSPAN:

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/watch-obamas-historic-make-or-break-osawatomie-speech-full-text-and-video/politics/2011/12/07/31344

President Barack Obama Tuesday afternoon slammed the GOP as he delivered a feisty and populist speech reminiscent of former President Theodore Roosevelt, in the same Osawatomie, Kansas, that Roosevelt did 101 years ago. Positioning himself as a champion of the middle class, Obama called this point in history a “make-​or-​break” moment for America’s middle class as he challenged the GOP’s failed trickle-​down economic theory.
 
“While never making an overt plea for a second term, Obama’s offered his most comprehensive lines of attack against the candidates seeking to take his job, only a month before Republican voters begin choosing a presidential nominee. He also sought to inject some of the long-​overshadowed hope that energized his 2008 campaign, saying: “I believe America is on its way up,” The Huffington Post reported.
 

In small-​town Osawatomie, in a high school gym where patriotic bunting lined the bleachers, Obama presented himself as the one fighting for shared sacrifice and success against those who would gut government and let people fend for themselves. He did so knowing the nation is riven over the question of whether economic opportunity for all is evaporating.
 
“Throughout the country, it’s sparked protests and political movements, from the tea party to the people who’ve been occupying the streets of New York and other cities,” Obama said.
 
“This is the defining issue of our time,” he said in echoing President Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech here in 1910.
 
“This is a make-​or-​break moment for the middle class and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class,” Obama said. “At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home and secure their retirement.” . . .

That’s how America was built. That’s why we’re the greatest nation on Earth. That’s what our greatest companies understand. Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest. It’s about building a nation where we’re all better off. We pull together. We pitch in. We do our part. We believe that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on. (Applause.)
 
And it is that belief that rallied thousands of Americans to Osawatomie — (applause) — maybe even some of your ancestors — on a rain-​soaked day more than a century ago. By train, by wagon, on buggy, bicycle, on foot, they came to hear the vision of a man who loved this country and was determined to perfect it.
 
“We are all Americans,” Teddy Roosevelt told them that day. “Our common interests are as broad as the continent.” In the final years of his life, Roosevelt took that same message all across this country, from tiny Osawatomie to the heart of New York City, believing that no matter where he went, no matter who he was talking to, everybody would benefit from a country in which everyone gets a fair chance. (Applause.)
 
And well into our third century as a nation, we have grown and we’ve changed in many ways since Roosevelt’s time. The world is faster and the playing field is larger and the challenges are more complex. But what hasn’t changed — what can never change — are the values that got us this far. We still have a stake in each other’s success. We still believe that this should be a place where you can make it if you try. And we still believe, in the words of the man who called for a New Nationalism all those years ago, “The fundamental rule of our national life,” he said, “the rule which underlies all others — is that, on the whole, and in the long run, we shall go up or down together.” And I believe America is on the way up. (Applause.)

lookee, lookee, there is the Sly Fox wearing one of his caps

(slide 17)

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/06/3304458/president-obama-visits-osawatomie.html#slide-17


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/us/politics/obama-strikes-populist-chord-with-speech-in-heartland.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Obama Strikes Populist Chord With Speech on G.O.P. Turf

. . . “This country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share and when everyone plays by the same rules,” Mr. Obama said in an address that sought to tie his economic differences with Republicans into an overarching message.

Infusing his speech with the moralistic language that has emerged in the Occupy protests around the nation, Mr. Obama warned that growing income inequality meant that the United States was undermining its middle class and, “gives lie to the promise that’s at the very heart of America:  that this is the place where you can make it if you try.”

“This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class,” Mr. Obama told the crowd packed into the gym at Osawatomie High School.

“At stake,” he said, “is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, and secure their retirement.”

Mr. Obama purposefully chose this hardscrabble town of 4,500 people, about 50 miles south of Kansas City, Kan., where Theodore Roosevelt once laid out the progressive platform he called “the New Nationalism” to put forth his case for a payroll tax cut and his broader arguments against the Republican economic agenda in what his aides hoped would be viewed as a defining speech. . . .

Though it was lacking in specific new policy prescriptions, the hourlong speech, and the days of buildup that preceded it, marked the president’s starkest attack on what he described as the “breathtaking greed” that contributed to the economic turmoil still reverberating around the nation. At one point, he noted that the average income of the top 1 percent — adopting the marker that has been the focus of the Occupy movement — has gone up by more than 250 percent, to $1.2 million a year.

The new tack reflected a decision by the White House and the president’s campaign aides that — with the economic recovery still lagging and Republicans in Congress continuing to oppose the president’s jobs proposals — the best course for Mr. Obama is to try to present himself as the defender of working-class Americans and Republicans as defenders of a small elite. . . .

Though the earlier speeches on the payroll tax took place in swing states, the fact that the president brought the message to one of the most reliably Republican states in the country shows that he and his party are increasingly confident that they have found a message that resonates with voters.

This speech, however, was cast in broad historical terms, with Mr. Obama declaring that that after a century of struggle to build it, the middle class has been steadily eroded, even before the current economic turmoil, by Republican policies intended to reduce the size and scope of government — ranging from tax cuts for the wealthy to deregulation of Wall Street.

“Fewer and fewer of the folks who contributed to the success of our economy actually benefited from that success,” he said. “Those at the very top grew wealthier from their incomes and investments than ever before.  But everyone else struggled with costs that were growing and paychecks that weren’t — and too many families found themselves racking up more and more debt.”

Mr. Obama sought to pre-empt a Republican response that he was engaging in class warfare. “This isn’t about class warfare,” he said. “This is about the nation’s welfare.”

The visit was unusual for its setting in a state that he lost decisively despite his own family roots  — his mother was born in Kansas. The vast majority of his visits as president have been to swing states like Pennsylvania that are expected to play an important role in next year’s election. But it was here, 101 years ago, that Theodore Roosevelt laid the intellectual framework for his unsuccessful bid for a third term after leaving the Republican party. That speech, which Mr. Obama referred to repeatedly, touched on many of the same themes — often in similar language — like concentration of wealth and the need for government to ensure a level playing field. Central to progress, Mr. Roosevelt said, was the conflict between “the men who possess more than they have earned and the men who have earned more than they possess.”

Mr. Obama, to laughter from those familiar with attacks against him, noted: “For this, Roosevelt was called a radical, he was called a socialist, even a communist.”

[Russ White]

It was an excellent speech, for what that's worth. If he can get into a feedback loop with the populist emotion in the 99% movement, we could see another big wave election. Not holding my breath.

[ronkny]

It was an excellent speech, for what that's worth. If he can get into a feedback loop with the populist emotion in the 99% movement, we could see another big wave election. Not holding my breath.

This is what I heard
"Rich people not paying their fair share"
repeat
repeat
repeat
etc.
Sounds like a general whooping up the troops
Lets go to war(fare)!

[sly fox]

This is what I heard . . .

might I suggest then that you read the transcript?? Here are some quotes that I think disprove your post.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-text-obama-speech-kansas-20111206,0,7741368,full.story

. . . Of course, those productive investments cost money.  They're not free.  And so we've also paid for these investments by asking everybody to do their fair share.  Look, if we had unlimited resources, no one would ever have to pay any taxes and we would never have to cut any spending.  But we don't have unlimited resources.  And so we have to set priorities.  If we want a strong middle class, then our tax code must reflect our values.  We have to make choices. 

Today that choice is very clear.  To reduce our deficit, I've already signed nearly $1 trillion of spending cuts into law and I've proposed trillions more, including reforms that would lower the cost of Medicare and Medicaid.  (Applause.)   . . .

That is the height of unfairness.  It is wrong.  (Applause.)  It's wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker, maybe earns $50,000 a year, should pay a higher tax rate than somebody raking in $50 million.  (Applause.)  It's wrong for Warren Buffett's secretary to pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett.  (Applause.)  And by the way, Warren Buffett agrees with me.  (Laughter.)  So do most Americans -- Democrats, independents and Republicans.  And I know that many of our wealthiest citizens would agree to contribute a little more if it meant reducing the deficit and strengthening the economy that made their success possible.

This isn't about class warfare.  This is about the nation's welfare.  It's about making choices that benefit not just the people who've done fantastically well over the last few decades, but that benefits the middle class, and those fighting to get into the middle class, and the economy as a whole.   

Finally, a strong middle class can only exist in an economy where everyone plays by the same rules, from Wall Street to Main Street.  (Applause.)  As infuriating as it was for all of us, we rescued our major banks from collapse, not only because a full-blown financial meltdown would have sent us into a second Depression, but because we need a strong, healthy financial sector in this country. 

But part of the deal was that we wouldn't go back to business as usual.  And that's why last year we put in place new rules of the road that refocus the financial sector on what should be their core purpose:  getting capital to the entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and financing millions of families who want to buy a home or send their kids to college.  . . .

Investing in things like education that give everybody a chance to succeed.  A tax code that makes sure everybody pays their fair share.  And laws that make sure everybody follows the rules.  That's what will transform our economy.  That's what will grow our middle class again.  In the end, rebuilding this economy based on fair play, a fair shot, and a fair share will require all of us to see that we have a stake in each other's success.  And it will require all of us to take some responsibility. 

It will require parents to get more involved in their children's education.  It will require students to study harder.  (Applause.)  It will require some workers to start studying all over again.  It will require greater responsibility from homeowners not to take out mortgages they can't afford.  They need to remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 

It will require those of us in public service to make government more efficient and more effective, more consumer-friendly, more responsive to people's needs.  That's why we're cutting programs that we don't need to pay for those we do.  (Applause.)  That's why we've made hundreds of regulatory reforms that will save businesses billions of dollars.  That's why we're not just throwing money at education, we're challenging schools to come up with the most innovative reforms and the best results. 

And it will require American business leaders to understand that their obligations don't just end with their shareholders.  . . .

That's why we're the greatest nation on Earth.  That's what our greatest companies understand.  Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest.  It's about building a nation where we're all better off.  We pull together.  We pitch in.  We do our part.  We believe that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on.  (Applause.)

And it is that belief that rallied thousands of Americans to Osawatomie -- (applause) -- maybe even some of your ancestors -- on a rain-soaked day more than a century ago.  By train, by wagon, on buggy, bicycle, on foot, they came to hear the vision of a man who loved this country and was determined to perfect it.

“We are all Americans,” Teddy Roosevelt told them that day. “Our common interests are as broad as the continent.”  In the final years of his life, Roosevelt took that same message all across this country, from tiny Osawatomie to the heart of New York City, believing that no matter where he went, no matter who he was talking to, everybody would benefit from a country in which everyone gets a fair chance.  (Applause.)   

And well into our third century as a nation, we have grown and we've changed in many ways since Roosevelt's time.  The world is faster and the playing field is larger and the challenges are more complex.  But what hasn't changed -- what can never change -- are the values that got us this far.  We still have a stake in each other's success.  We still believe that this should be a place where you can make it if you try.  And we still believe, in the words of the man who called for a New Nationalism all those years ago, “The fundamental rule of our national life,” he said, “the rule which underlies all others -- is that, on the whole, and in the long run, we shall go up or down together.”  And I believe America is on the way up.  (Applause.)   

Thank you.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.

[ronkny]

might I suggest then that you read the transcript?? Here are some quotes that I think disprove your post.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-text-obama-speech-kansas-20111206,0,7741368,full.story

I watched it.  The whole thing.

[sly fox]

didn't doubt that you did

can't change your interpretation but sometimes reading the transcript helps to learn what was said

not what you thought you heard.

jmvho, ymmv

no comments about my quotes from the transcript???

[ronkny]

didn't doubt that you did

can't change your interpretation but sometimes reading the transcript helps to learn what was said

not what you thought you heard.

jmvho, ymmv

no comments about my quotes from the transcript???

It's what stood out the most.
I will comment on that later when I have time.

http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/obama-tax-fact/2011/12/07/id/420216

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-kansas-speech-some-suspect-facts/2011/12/06/gIQAUU45aO_blog.html?hpid=z3

[sly fox]

another photo proving I was sitting in front of a rather large US Flag

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20111207/NEWS01/112070324/Obama-U-S-middle-class-jeopardy

[BGuttman]

Hey!  Didn't your Mommy teach you to take off your hat in a Public Building (exception: Synagogue)?

Seriously, I hope you had a good time.  This may be a famous incident and you can talk about how you were a part of it.

[sly fox]

Hey!  Didn't your Mommy teach you to take off your hat in a Public Building (exception: Synagogue)? . . .

It's a gym, man, a gym, not someone's home, besides, I'm a nonconforming rebel, note the vest over the shirt, the beard and the style of cap.

Fashion rules, be damned.

function rules

(besides, the photographers might have complained of the glare, if you know what I mean)

[ronkny]

The Washington Post reemed  him a new one.  He's a TR wannabe but he is missing one feature.  He can't lead.  Good rhetoric. No substance. 

[sly fox]

  Opps, I just noticed that you did post links (twice) to the fact checker story in your earlier post, so I will strike out the inappropriate comments I made earlier

 my apologies

It's what stood out the most.
I will comment on that later when I have time.

http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/obama-tax-fact/2011/12/07/id/420216

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-kansas-speech-some-suspect-facts/2011/12/06/gIQAUU45aO_blog.html?hpid=z3

would be nice to know, if you wanted to start a discussion, which WP article you were referring to, since I have to now guess, ,

I'll list two:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-invokes-teddy-roosevelt-in-speech-attacking-gop-policies/2011/12/06/gIQAEf3yaO_story.html

WP doesn't seem too mad in that one.

. . . Obama, in a 55-minute address, moved beyond the specifics of his recent jobs proposals to issue a searing indictment of Republican economic theory, framing the debate as one of right and wrong, fairness and unfairness. . . .

The speech comes at a moment when a new populist strain seems to be bubbling through the national political debate at many levels of government, from city halls to statehouses to Washington.

That debate, not so long ago dominated by concern about reducing the national debt and shrinking the size of government, seems to be shifting as the presidential campaign kicks into gear. . . .

For Obama, Tuesday marked another milestone in his recent political evolution after the disastrous debt-ceiling negotiations with Republicans in the summer.
Criticized by allies who said he had been too willing to compromise or had simply capitulated, Obama has tried since to be a more pugilistic champion of the middle class as he gears up his reelection campaign against a Republican Party that he hopes to paint as a defender of the wealthy.

Obama repeatedly blamed the nation’s economic woes on what he described as corporate greed, citing, as collateral damage, a “deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street.” And he lambasted his Republican adversaries for their eagerness to roll back financial regulations and return to the policies that caused the market crash.

Following in the footsteps of Teddy Roosevelt, President Obama has sought to frame his budget clashes with Republicans -- and the coming campaign -- as a battle against rising inequality.

“Their philosophy is simple: We are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules,” Obama said. “Well, I’m here to say they are wrong. . . . We shouldn’t be weakening oversight and accountability. We should be strengthening them.” . . .

Still, Obama delivered a scathing indictment of core Republican economic theory, with the GOP brand of “trickle-down economics” drawing some of the harshest criticism. . . .

or was it this one, the "fact checker", which you don't seem to put much faith in when it challenges Republicans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-kansas-speech-some-suspect-facts/2011/12/06/gIQAUU45aO_blog.html

it found fault with the tax figures:

Three Pinocchios
 
Significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions.

is that "reeming him a new one"????   

but now people can read the coverage from the WP and make their own judgment.  They can determine if the "errors" found by the "Fact Checker" warrant 3 pinochios or more or perhaps less. 

Unfortunately, your less than informative post didn't allow them to do that at all.

However, had you reposted the links, it might have been very helpful for some, especially MOI

I would not have had to type this apology for one.