“There is so much emotion around this subject that thinking about it is actually hard.” Here’s a two-part talk our boy Andrew Sullivan gave about homosexuality and politics at Princeton. He gave the speech based on a 1993 article he wrote, and it’s pretty smart, actually. For those who know Sullivan from his blog and writings alone, hearing him speak about a subject passionately is a treat. Second part is at the link. source
I cannot stress how strongly our board felt that this should be open to all media and also for the opportunity to question Woods. The position, simply put, is all or none. This is a major story of international scope. To limit the ability of journalists to attend, listen, see and question Woods goes against the grain of everything we believe.
Golf Writers’ Association of America president Vartan Kupelian • Regarding this morning’s Tiger Woods press conference, which we plan to cover the crap out of in a few minutes. He isn’t allowing questions, he’s controlling the flow of information, and he’s really hurting his cause. Tiger’s handling of the whole situation is pretty deplorable, we think, from a PR standpoint. The timing – during the Olympics – is suspect. source
Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own. Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you … failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith. In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.
“Avatar” director James Cameron • Giving a pretty awesome speech at the TED2010 conference today. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, has regular speeches like this. In Cameron’s, he talked about how his desire to explore led him to ideas like “Avatar” and “Titanic.” Part of his exploratory nature has been nurtured by his deep-sea diving. He’s spent 3,000 hours underwater over the last 40 years (and 500 inside of a submarine), which is kind of a lot. A very inspirational speech for sure. source
Sarah Palin’s speech at the Tea Party Convention got these points across in its first minute and a half: 1.) Thanks to all our servicemen. 2.) Happy birthday Ronald Reagan! 3.) Hi to everyone watching on C-SPAN, which is airing this even when they don’t air the health care debate. 4.) References to barbecue and sweet tea (as well as an awful “Alaska is cold” iced-tea joke). It’s not as bad as her resignation speech, but we just had to stop watching at some point. Her voice makes our brain hurt.
But he won’t take blame. Obama’s first year in office hasn’t been perfect, and now the administration’s running with its tail between its legs, trying to figure out the best way to reconcile after the Scott Brown loss. Expect an Obama who takes “responsibility” for the missteps tonight, but not one who shoulders the blame. Should be fun to watch. We’ll be there, blogging about it. source
We are running short on time. And at this point, the question is whether we will move forward together, or split apart. Whether we prefer posturing to action.
Barack Obama • Trying to set a mood at the Copenhagen climate change summit, which has fallen over on itself in a mess of infighting, criticism and so on and so forth. The Guardian seems to play it off as a terrible speech that promised little, though we’ve seen few places that agree with them so far. In other news, China isn’t offering much of anything either. source
We will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan’s security forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government – and, more importantly, to the Afghan people – that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.
President Barack Obama • On his choice to add 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, but begin to pull them out by July of 2011. Will 20 months be enough to move to the next step? We’ll find out. Obama’s plan, BTW, is in that mushy area where liberals don’t like it, but neither do conservatives. But it’s not burning fury, either. So he’s doing OK. source