Subject: Barack Obama

• Obama Appoints Miami-Raised Miguel Diaz as Envoy to the Vatican

  President Obama's relationship with religion is complex, but you can't accuse him of not being thoughtful. When it comes to appointing an ambassador to the Holy See, all but President George W. Bush's third and final appointee have been chosen much like any other Ambassador -- big time donors, friends of the President or other career politicians. President's hand out ambassadorships like thank you note. But Obama's choice to fill the position is something of a surprise. Miguel Dia

  June 1, 2009

• Silent Liquidity

  April 2, 2009

• Charlie Crist Gets a Little Biparistan Curious with Prez Obama

  Gov. Charlie Crist has secretly been in the tank for Obama since the very beginning. First he did nothing to stop Florida's primary from being ignored by the Democrats, and even as the Obama campaign has admitted, if it counted we might be dealing with President Hillary now. Then, when it came time to make his endorsement on the Republican side he picked the most comically inept geezer, and set him on the path to being destroyed by Obama in the general election. Then it came time for McCain to p

  February 9, 2009

• News Roundup

  Fidel Castro suggests in a column he might not be following international affairs in four years. Maybe because he'll be dead? [CBS4]Anyway, here he is with the President of Argentina. His first new picture in some time. [Herald]The South Beach Comedy Festival may not be selling as many tickets this year as in years past. Guess what the story is titled? "Funny Business." [Herald]Miami's Civilian Investigative Panel had to fire its chief, because she wouldn't take a deep pay cut. [Herald]Rep. Conn

  January 23, 2009

• New Gitmo Policies, Same as the Old Gitmo Policies?

  It is common knowledge among conservative bloggers that the mainstream media was totally in the tank for Barack Obama during the whole election, but now that he's actually president, it seems they don't really know what to do with themselves. So they've reverted back to the only thing they've known for the past eight years: trying to undermine the president at every turn with their dastardly methods of reporting and analysis. Politico's top story today is titled, "Why the Gitmo policies may no

  January 23, 2009

• Talking With Chuck D About Obama

  Image via www.myspace.com/chuckdpublicenemyThere are few rap songs as important to modern culture as Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," a rallying cry against political indifference. Well, it's been 20 years since PE's frontman Chuck D helped scare the hell out of white America, and a black man now sits in the Oval Office thanks in large part to record black turnout last November. "We had numbers [on our side] this time," Chuck says of the election, a few days before Obama's inauguration. (His ow

  January 23, 2009

• The Week That Was: Hats Off to Obama

  Obama was actually inaugurated! And one of those three billion people in attendance was a New Times writer! Most of us just watched in the conference room, though. Outgoing president Bush has left us speechless (in a bad way), but nut nearly as much as Aretha's hat (in a good way). Git'mo! Git'mo! Git'mo! Literally. First there was the SNL Sketch, then Obama halted trials, then he actually signed the order to close down Guantanamo, then Politico asked 'but, does this mean anything?'Fidel is actu

  January 23, 2009

• News Roundup

  Oh, look, an update from our old friends the sex offenders under the bridge. It's nice to hear from them every once in a while. [NBC6]It is going to get really, really cold this weekend. [CBS4]Fidel Castro wants Obama to give back Guantánamo Bay. [NBC6]Some dumb kid accidentally shot his friend in the leg on a bus. [CBS4]Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was in Miami Beach talking up the stimulus package. [Herald]DJ Laz's morning show has helped raise $50,000 to cover funeral costs for three young

  January 30, 2009

• Obamas at Michael's Genuine in Miami's Design District?

  image via newstatesman.com Obama in New Orleans John Tanasychuk over at the Sun Sentinel's food blog, Sup, reports that Barack and Michelle ate at Blue Hill in NYC last Saturday for their date night. Blue Hill is sposed to be some kind of local this, organic that, type of place, so Tanasychuk thinks that next time the Obama's are in town they should eat at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District. Then he opens up the discussion to reader suggestions. Shouts of Le Tub, M

  June 5, 2009

• County Commission May Create a Cultural Task Force

  Duane HansonAn online petition encouraging President Obama to create a Secretary of the Arts position has collected hundreds of thousands of signatures and media attention, but considering the hard time Obama has had filling his current cabinet slots, it seems to be the last thing on his mind. You thought Tom Daschle's tax returns looked funny? Wait til see you the 1040s of some of these artsy types. Meanwhile, the Miami-Dade county commission is looking to aid our local art scene with some good

  February 4, 2009

• Manny and His Marry Band of Mayors Get Snubbed by Obama

  Mayor Manny Diaz is in D.C. exercising his duties as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and hoped to get some face time with another president. You know, that President Obama one. Flanked by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others, Diaz is running around our nation's capital in support of the proposed stimulus package, and the mayors went to the White House yesterday. They met with top aides such as Valerie Jarrett and Cecelia Muñoz, but according to Politico were hoping to m

  February 5, 2009

• Shalala Staying Put

  Vintage ShalalaWhen the Herald reported yesterday that Donna Shalala might be returning to D.C. to take the reigns once again at the Department of Health and Human Services after Tom Daschle scampered off with his Sally Jesse Raphael glasses and tax mess, we kind of thought it smelled funny. First, nobody else was mentioning her name. Second, there was no source for the rumor.Anyway, Shalala has flat-out denied the rumors and says there's "no chance." Which is kind of a bummer, because Obama cou

  February 5, 2009

• Live From The Barack Obama Stimulus Tour

  Riptide is live today from Ft. Myers, Florida for Barack Obama's first visit to Florida as President of the United States of America. He'll be continuing the themes from his stop in Elkhart, Indiana and his first press conference last night, talking up the need for a stimulus package. The event will be a town hall style meeting, with the President taking questions from residents, and is scheduled to start around noon.We are blogging live now, right after jump. Refresh often.

  February 10, 2009

• Is There an Ulterior Motive to Picking Fort Myers?

  Riptide just settled in at the Harborside Event Center in Fort Myers. President Obama is scheduled to kick off the next stop on his Stimulus Tour in about 30 minutes, and we'll begin the live blog then.So, why of all places is Obama in Fort Myers? The official line is that the city is suffering from all sorts of economic hardships and a 10 percent job less. True, but unfortunately that's the case in lots of communities across the map. I can't help but wonder if the fact that the city is in South

  February 10, 2009

• Obama Still Attracts More Souvenir Stands Than Protesters

  Pollsters can pour over all the phone surveys they want, but the real gauge of President Obama's population may be the ratio of protesters his public appearances attract to the number of people hawking Obama merchandise. Oddly, if you used the math today at the Harborside Event Center you'd fall in the same sixty percent most approval polls are showing. All together there were about four people with signs as I exited (one more, I believe, then when I entered), and one of those wasn't so much pro

  February 10, 2009

• The Excited Kid At the Obama Rally. There is a Video of Him.

  The stimulus package Barack Obama is pushing will be a defining part of his presidency, and these events that he's held the past couple of days should be treated as sort of historic. Yet, at the end of the day all we care about is that Obama said some funny thing about Charlie Crist and a hose and this very excited kid in the audiance. Sigh. Though, if you don't understand the Stimulus package by now, you probably don't care. So, here is this video. From Rick Sanchez's show none the less. [via

  February 10, 2009

• White House Edits Out Charlie Crist Hose-Grab Remark

  BarackObama.com has the official "remarks as prepared for delivery" up from yesterday's town hall meeting in Fort Myers. Suspiciously missing? "Every body needs to grab a hose and that is what Charlie Crist is doing here today." It just ends with "...grab a hose!"Meaning, someone edited it out, or more likely President Obama made a bit of a freudian slip on the spot and deviated from the script. Oh, Obama, you rascal. 

  February 11, 2009

• No, Netroots Campaigns Won't Work for Anyone

  After the exciting efforts of Howard Dean and Barack Obama, clueless politico types everywhere have come to the conclusion that anyone, literally anyone, can be elected to office using the mystical powers of the Internet. Sayfie Review has a column up about the 2010 Senate race saying exactly that. Republicans meanwhile are absolutely convinced there's nothing wrong with their message; its just they don't have enough Twitter accounts and Facebook friends to properly convey it anymore. The though

  February 12, 2009

• Gregg Withdraws, Should We Anticipate More Sec. Diaz Rumors?

  This President Obama fellow has sure had a hard time filling his cabinet. After Gov. Richardson withdrew from consideration to be Commerce Secretary, Obama called on Republican Senator Judd Gregg to fill the slot. Turns out the Republican doesn't see eye to eye ideologically with noted Socialist Barack Obama, and now he's withdrawn as well. You may remember The League of United Latin American Citizens put forth Manny's name as a potential Commerce Secretary after Richardson's bow out. He wa

  February 12, 2009

• Crist's Admirable Stim Support Makes 2012 Prez Run Unlikely

  The economic stimulus is likely to be one of the defining actions of President Obama's first term. If it's perceived to be successful by November 2012, we're more than likely looking at four more years. But if, even as Obama himself admitted last week in Fort Myers, it's not, we might just have ourselves a new resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. So perhaps that's one of the reasons so many would-be 2012 Republican candidates are coming out hard against the stim. People such as Newt Gingrich and G

  February 19, 2009

• Obama to Manny Diaz: Don't Ef This Up

  As his young administration stomps frantically on the flaming bag of crap formerly known as the global economy left smoldering on the White House doorstep by a snickering Dubya on his way out, President Obama is about to throw around a cool $787 billion in stimulus funds to try to douse the flames.Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsLookin' at you, Manny.Understandably, he's feeling some pressure to make sure all of that sweet, sweet taxpayer sugar turns into the 3.5 million jobs he's promised. Today, he

  February 20, 2009

• Well, Look at this Obama Portrait

  MiamiKaos No offense to Serge Touissant, but there's a new Obama art king in town. Here's local graphic artist Miami Kaos, of Hardcore Designs, take on the Commander in Chief. Much like a pregnant M.I.A. at the Grammys, he's flanked by four of Hip Hop's biggest stars. [Obama Art Report via Animal New York/Gawker]

  February 24, 2009

• Clean Seas Talks Offshore Fish Farming

  Last night, Obama's State of the Union address featured a lot of talk about energy this, renewable that, and let's face it, he's right. Matter of fact, if we don't start fishing our waters in a more responsible, future-conscious manner,  the only chicken of the sea left is gonna be agoraphobic pirates.That's where Clean Seas comes in. Its goal is to close the life cycle of Southern bluefin tuna. What's that mean? A captive-bred microsystem of renewable fish stock could help eliminate the s

  February 25, 2009

• News Roundup

  Florida's deal with U.S. Sugar to save the Everglades might be dead. [CBS4]Dolphins in the Keys are dying all too frequently this year. [CBS4]Here are responses to Obama's speech last night that are supposed to represent South Florida as a whole. [CBS4]See, America? This is what happens: If our baseball players think it's OK to use steroids, our Broward Sheriff's Office deputies think it's OK to use steroids. [NBC6]The Heat beat Detroit 103-91. [Herald]

  February 25, 2009

• Bobby Jindal Ruined Rick Sanchez's Cardio Work Out

  via Chris CopinsRick Sanchez, who apprently did not get the memo from Babalu that all Miami-raised Cuban Americans should be blindly devoted to the Republican party, just wanted to have a nice workout on his treadmill last night and watch the Obama speech. But then this Bobby Jindal guy came on, and he got so angry he had no choice but to whipe the sweat from his hands and log onto his twitter, naturally.  Here are his tweets:"i don't know what to say after watching jindal? kind of stunned. did

  February 25, 2009

• Stem Cell-ebration

  By wide majorities, Americans love stem cell research. According to Gallup numbers 64% find it morally acceptable, and 52% support easing the restrictions or having none at all. Today, your president Barack Obama repealed his predecessor's strict limits on stem cell research, which created a bunch of bureaucratic, red-tape hassles for scientists (I thought the red states were supposed to be anti-red-tape). You know who else loves stem cells besides the majority

  March 9, 2009

• Peter Max = Front-Runner

  Somewhere in a factory in Candyland, there's a giant grid of John McCain portraits, casting 44 slightly insane smiles into the pinkish darkness

  March 19, 2009

• Get Ready For Crist vs. Clinton in 2016

  2016 so, so far away. We're not even sure if human civilization as we know it will exist then, but it's never too soon to make outlandish presidential predictions. We're dreaming of a Crist vs. Clinton matchup.  At this point, I don't see a Crist 2012 run as a reality. He's unpopular amongst the base and his political positions on major issues don't separate him enough from Obama. If he runs for re-election as Governor, he'd be out of office by early 2015, perfect timing to k

  March 11, 2009

• The Week That Was

  The Herald started out its week on various death lists, cut 175 people (including one on her birthday), and left people questioning whether Miami will even have a daily paper anymore. Meanwhile, one of the paper's more infamous famous employees landed a job, because there is no justice in the world. Immigrant workers went to Tallahassee this week to protest. Wingnuts meanwhile protested Charlie Crist from the safety of their laptops. This is and ingenious burglary plot involving a foreclose

  March 13, 2009

• Obama's TV Preferences Reveal Him to Be Shockingly Un-Elitist

  The right wing was eager to paint Obama as some sort of arugula-eating hippie elitist with immaculate, highfalutin taste that would turn off the common man. Silently, Riptide wished this was true. Turns out that if Obama's TV habits are any indication, he has the taste of your regular bro. Entourage happens to be the POTUS's favorite show, according to Politico. It also happens to be the biggest bro show to hit the bro tube pretty much ever. Yes, it airs on the elitist HBO, but Entourage is ev

  April 8, 2009

• Obama Calls For Ease on Cuban Travel and Money Transfer Restrictions

  It's no surprise; it's been talked about for a while, but today President Obama officially announced that his administration would allow for unlimited travel and money transfer to Cuba by Cuban Americans. The administration will also look in to easing other restrictions, though it is a long, long way from normalizing relations with the island nation. With the extra flow of money, Obama hopes that Cubans will have a lessened dependence of the Castro regime, and the change will create a situation

  April 13, 2009

• Best Buddies Like Change Too

  February 5, 2009

• Her Time Has Come

  January 29, 2009

• Dear Politicians, Please Exploit Your Family Dogs

  The liberal, elitist media would like you to think that Barack Obama is the first ever dog-owning politician in history. Charles Beauregard "Bo" Hussein Kennedy-Obama (yes, we've made that joke today but we will continue to call him that until the Obama administration produces his birth certificate. Why are you hiding the birth certificate, Obama, why?) is cute and all, but surely there must be other cute, political dogs.

  April 15, 2009

• State Stem Cell Funding Ban Upheld

  Last month President Obama repealed the ban on federal funding on stem cell research, but that doesn't necessarily open the door to state funding. Yesterday, the state house voted to keep language in a bill that would bar universities from using state money for embryonic stem cell research 68-46. The vote mainly broke along party lines, but five Republicans voted for the removal of the ban, while two democrats voted against. Amongst the Republican was J.C. Planas whose father has Parkinson's dis

  April 17, 2009

• Obama's First 100 Days and Barely Any Action on HIV/AIDS

  Wednesday will mark the culmination of President Obama's first 100 days in office, and he's done a lot: passed a massive stimulus package, ordered the closure of Gitmo, made a momentous change in travel policy to Cuba, had some pirates shot, and got a dog named Bo. Though, one area where he's moved noticeably slowly is in his policy on HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, this tends to be an area his predecessors have moved slowly on as well, if at all. Just because it's a gigantic, worldwide epidemic that&

  April 27, 2009

• Why Are The Democrats Attacking Obama's Favorite Partner in Hose Grabbing?

  I kind of hate when I touch on some point in a throw away joke in a blog entry, and then a little bit later someone with the gift of time, experience and editors makes the same point in a really intriguing, well thought out way. Yesterday, while commenting on the DSCC's early attack ad against Charlie Crist I opined,"Democrats, after all the 'hope' and optimism your party has tapped into, you're going to air a negative ad against a politician who hasn't even announced his decision to run yet? Cl

  April 30, 2009

• Don't Call it Swine Flu

  Zero swine flu cases have been found Florida, but that hasn't stopped the Herald from reporting 20 people might, maybe, sorta-kinda be infected. So you can probably blame media -- ourselves included -- for the fact that heathy people have stopped buying bacon and started calling their doctors every 20 minutes. (Riptide's doc rolled her eyes when we asked about it Tuesday.) Oh, the mass freak-outs newsfolk can ignite. Still, there's no real excuse for this one: A few hours ago, the federal gove

  April 30, 2009

• In Liberty City, Obama Wants You to Buy Schlitz Malt Liquor and Newports

  Obama is so enthusiastic about these products he added an extra r to his first name. It's tough to drive through Liberty City these days without running into President Obama. He's there on the side of Liberty City Elementary, next to the MLK portrait. He's painted on the walls of at least a couple of street-corner ministries. And at NW 12th Avenue and 58th Terrace, Obama waves happily in front of an American flag, right over the words ICE COLD BEER WINE, a pack of Newport cigarettes, and

  May 1, 2009

• Obama for Presidente

  May 7, 2009

• Obama Decides to Keep Grotesque Parody of Justice For Gitmo Detainees

  When I visited Guantanamo Bay a few months ago, I caught what looked like the last act in the long, sordid miscarriage of justice President Bush called the military tribunal system. Hope you weren't looking for a fair trial, boys.There were so many outrageous problems with Bush's plan for trying suspected terrorists, it's hard to know where to start.  The evidence, which is so mismanaged that whole case files have been lost in the Pentagon? The

  May 15, 2009

• Gitmo Terrorists Are Coming to Your Back Yard! And to the Tiny Island Nation of Palau?

  As we reported in February after a visit to Guantánamo Bay, President Obama faces some pretty damn thorny decisions as he tries to close the notorious prison camp in southeastern Cuba, none tougher than what the heck to do with all the prisoners. via Wikimedia Commons.Soon coming to a backyard near you.The logical solution -- bring them to the U.S. for a fair trial -- has been destroyed by an idiot Congress kowtowing to ignorant hometown concerns about terrorists coming to the States. Bowi

  June 10, 2009

• Remember When GOP Governors Were the Future of Their Party?

  The atmosphere at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Miami last November during the Republican Governor's Conference was hopeful. The GOP governors where the only national wing of the party to actually gain membership in the 2008 election, and the line was it was they who would bring their party back on track, emerge as the leadership that Republicans so badly needed, and it was quite possible that one of their members would challenge Barack Obama for the presid

  July 3, 2009

• News Roundup

  The Florida Medical Association has denounced the racist doctor who sent out that picture of Obama depicted as an aboriginal witch doctor. [Buzz]He has since apologized. He sent an email directly to Obama, which the president will probably never see. Of course, though, the doc still pulls the victim card. [PoHo]Someone stole the ashes of a young couple's miscarried baby. Police have since recovered the ashes. [Herald]Pictures have surfaced documenting the beginning of th

  July 24, 2009

• Floridians Sure Have Some Funny Ideas About Health Care Reform

  via A R B O's flickr​According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 58% of Floridians support creating a government health insurance plan, while only 36% oppose it. So it should be good news for supporters of the so-called "public option" that voters in a notoriously moderate swing state seem to be down with government health insurance. Yet, 62% oppose the idea that Democrats in Congress should "use their majorities to push through a health care overhaul even if it only gets Democrati

  August 20, 2009

• News Roundup

  Some county commissioners want to cut Mayor Alvarez's budget next year after revelations that some staff members make more than President Obama's people. [Herald]In other embattled mayor news, Manny Diaz has scheduled a second vote on Miami 21 for September 4. [SFBJ]A 13-year-old boy in North Dade was driving a go-kart when he crashed into a Dodge Durango and died. [CBS4]Miami-Dade budget cuts might lead to the end of DARE, the student drug abuse prevention program that also makes high

  August 25, 2009

• Top Ten Thursdays: Top Ten Songs for Obama Haters

  via rpof.orgJim Greer thinks censorship is very American.​All summer long I have gone shit-house-rat-crazy observing the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Karl Rove and the rest of The Right's evil elite dispense fear-mongering falsehoods in a desperate attempt to stop some much needed health care reform.Death Panels. Euthanasia. Subsidized Abortions. Health care for non-U.S. Citizens and illegals. Every time I hear a GOP politician or pundit issue one of these malevolent fabric

  September 10, 2009

• President Obama fails to go after those responsible for the financial meltdown

  October 29, 2009

• Letters from the Issue of November 5, 2009

  November 5, 2009

• World leaders should see the Frost Art Museum's latest exhibits

  November 5, 2009