The Looking Glass » Barack Obama

Obama pressed to step aside for Hillary Clinton

Anne Summers — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:15:44 +0000

An extraordinary appeal from Democratic Party pollster Patrick Caddell that in order to government effectively President Obama needs to announce he will not run in 2012 so that Hillary Clinton can unite the country as no one else seems able to do to. Read the article

We need to talk about America

Anne Summers — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:49:19 +0000

Read my article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald about the fault line in America today, a forerunner to a session I will be chairing at the Sydney Writer’s Festival at Sydney Town Hall on Saturday May 22 at 5.30 pm. For further information and bookings go to www.swf.org.au

The President takes the picture

Anne Summers — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 09:16:08 +0000

Barack Obama photographs the press

Yes he could. The US gets health insurance!

Anne Summers — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:54:05 +0000

And the President was right on the ball, thanking his supporters within hours of the historic vote. Like many millions of others, I received the following email from him:

Anne –

For the first time in our nation’s history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.

Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:

Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.

Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.

And we’ll finally start reducing the cost of care — creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.

But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.

It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.

It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.

And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.

This is what change looks like.

My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.

This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.

Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.

We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we’ve faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right — and actually create the change we believe in.

Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Tina Brown’s 10 things to stop bitching about

Anne Summers — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:21:27 +0000

Tina Brown of The Daily Beast gives us a 2010 political Zeitgeist Guide. For instance, why is Obama so cool, not cool that way but so, so detached? And does it matter? (Hint: yes!) Are newspapers being killed by the Internet? No. Read it here

Yes we can… but so far, Obama hasn’t

Anne Summers — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:15:14 +0000

Read my article on President Barack Obama in today’s Sydney Morning Herald

War and Peace in Oslo

Anne Summers — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:19:32 +0000

Read President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech for his Nobel Peace Prize here

President Barack Obama’s Thanksgiving Message

Anne Summers — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:26:21 +0000

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Americans across the country will sit down together, count our blessings, and give thanks for our families and our loved ones.

American families reflect the diversity of this great nation. No two are exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share.

Our families are bound together through times of joy and times of grief. They shape us, support us, instill the values that guide us as individuals, and make possible all that we achieve.

So tomorrow, I’ll be giving thanks for my family — for all the wisdom, support, and love they have brought into my life.

But tomorrow is also a day to remember those who cannot sit down to break bread with those they love.

The soldier overseas holding down a lonely post and missing his kids. The sailor who left her home to serve a higher calling. The folks who must spend tomorrow apart from their families to work a second job, so they can keep food on the table or send a child to school.

We are grateful beyond words for the service and hard work of so many Americans who make our country great through their sacrifice. And this year, we know that far too many face a daily struggle that puts the comfort and security we all deserve painfully out of reach.

So when we gather tomorrow, let us also use the occasion to renew our commitment to building a more peaceful and prosperous future that every American family can enjoy.

It seems like a lifetime ago that a crowd met on a frigid February morning in Springfield, Illinois to set out on an improbable course to change our nation.

In the years since, Michelle and I have been blessed with the support and friendship of the millions of Americans who have come together to form this ongoing movement for change.

You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished — and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still achieve.

So in this season of thanks giving, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and my anticipation of the brighter future we are creating together.

With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from my family to yours,

President Barack Obama

Another way to read Obama

Anne Summers — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:23:43 +0000

Andrew Sullivan thinks President Obama is better than we were starting to think. Read his column

Arianna: why Joe Biden should resign

Anne Summers — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:50:49 +0000

A very powerful argument against a continuing US presence in Afghanistan by Arianna Huffington. The same arguments apply to Australia. Read the article