President Barack Obama, who said last night that he "wouldn't be here'' but for the work of the Civil Rights movement which the White House was honoring with an evenng of music in the East Room last night, opened the show, "A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement'.'' (Photo by Alexis C. Glenn / pool / Getty Images)
by Mark Silva and James Oliphant
The answers may be blowing in the wind, but the snow certainly was -- though this couldn't stop Bob Dylan, Morgan Freeman and a cast of all-stars from acknowledging the struggles of the Civil Rights movement in a White House now home to an African American.
The federal government is closed again today -- the third business day on which Washington has let federal workers stay home because of crippling winter weather that has barred buses from running, curtailed train service and made getting from place to place for motorists a challenging and often dangerous task.
Since the weekend, when nearly three feet of snow was measured at Dulles International Airport far outside of town and less fell in town -- though more than two feet piled up on the Virginia side of the Potomac River -- it has gone from bad to worse in Washington. Plows hadn't made a lot of headway. And now, overnight, another four to six inches has fallen, capped now with sleet making a tough ice cake of the whole mess.
The Office of Personnel Management announced last night another closure of federal offices today, and with high winds and more power outages today, the rest of the week is questionable at best. It's supposed to snow and sleet through the day today.
All of which prompted the White House to move up to last night an event that had been planned this week: The East Room filled last night for the fifth in a series of performances celebrating American music, with this one focused on the Civil Rights Movement. It was being videotaped for air by PBS.
With about 225 chairs laid out in the East Room, a performance stage was set up along the South wall, featuring a full range of instruments, drums, piano and more. The White House had staged a jazz ensemble in this same setting during the Christmas holiday receptions in the White House.
A crowd arrived shortly 7:30 pm EST -- a few hours into the new snow that started falling last night. Faces in the crowd: Treasury's Tim Geithner, the White House's David Axelrod, Sens. Claire McCaskil and Patrick Leahy, Elijah Cummings, Rep. John Conyers, Julian Bond, OMB's Peter Orszag, Transportation's Ray LaHood, the United Nationas' Susan Rice, Interior's Ken Salazar and Housing and Urban Development's Shaun Donovan.
Shortly after 8, members of the Howard University Choir stood on stage to sang the gospel hymn "Lord (I Done Done What You Told Me to Do)."
At 8:07, Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden entered the room from the entrance closest to the stage, immediately followed by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The crowd erupted in sustained applause.
Standing at a small lectern -- with no sign of notes scrawled in the palm of his hand -- the president thanked the crowd for "braving the storm." He said he was "thrilled" at the assemblage of artists: Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan, among others.
He spoke of how the Civil Rights movement had been "sustained by music."
""It's easy to sing when times are good," the president said. "It's hard to sing when times are rough."
Obama mentioned the 1963 March on Washington, and specifically cited the efforts of Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. He was not there, but the president acknowledged that his work for freedom had "made it possible for me to be here tonight."
Five minutes later, the actor Morgan Freeman introduced Gospel singer Yolande Adams, who performed a knockout rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." But the rest of the night was left to the celebrants and the artists, as the pool, which included our own Mr. Oliphant, was ushered out of the room.
The show, as they say, will go on -- for the rest of us, on PBS.
(President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are pictured above arriving at Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement', in the East Room last night. Actor Morgan Freeman spoke. Grammy-winning Gospel singer Yolande Adams performed. Photos by Alexis C. Glenn / pool /Getty Images. )
Comments
"Standing at a small lectern -- with no sign of notes scrawled in the palm of his hand."
Silva, I'm a democrat, though moderately liberal, but this was a completely unnecessary shot that had no place for this story.
As for the artists. The greatest civil rights era song is Bob Dylan's "Only a Pawn in Their Game", about the shooting of Medgar Evers.
If you've never heard it, google the lyrics, it as absolutely brilliant.
Posted by: Steve34 | February 10, 2010 7:50 AM
"A Change is Gonna Come", I certainly hope so.
Posted by: vla | February 10, 2010 9:43 AM
LET ME GUESS, IT'S STILL BUSH'S FAULT . . .
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OBAMA'S BUDGET SEEKS $2 TRILLION MORE IN SPENDING AND DEFICITS
THAN LAST YEAR
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Last year, President Obama swept into office on a promise to
confront tough choices -- and then released a budget proposing
the largest debt-and-spending spree in American history. With
Washington having committed itself to more government than its
taxpayers could realistically afford, basic fiscal responsibility
suggests that the President scale back his expensive proposals.
Instead, this year's budget is even more fiscally irresponsible,
says the Heritage Foundation.
-
Over the 10 years in which both budgets overlap (FY 2010-2019),
this year's budget would spend an additional $1.7 trillion and
run up an additional $2 trillion in budget deficits. In fact,
this year's proposal shows annual budget deficits as much as 49
percent larger than last year's proposal -- raising the debt by
an additional 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the
same period. It is a spending spree that will drive up both
taxes and deficits, says Heritage.
-
In addition, the President's budget would:
Permanently expand the federal government by nearly 3 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP) over 2007 pre-recession levels.
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Raise taxes on all Americans by more than $2 trillion over the
next decade (counting health care reform and cap and trade).
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Raise taxes for 3.2 million small businesses and upper-income
taxpayers by an average of $300,000 over the next decade.
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Borrow 42 cents for each dollar spent in 2010.
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Run a $1.6 trillion deficit in 2010 -- $143 billion higher than
the recession-driven 2009 deficit.
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Leave permanent deficits that top $1 trillion in as late as 2020
and double the publicly held national debt to over $18 trillion.
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Before the recession, federal spending totaled $24,000 per U.S.
household. President Obama would hike it to $36,000 per
household by 2020 -- an inflation-adjusted $12,000-per-household
expansion of government. Even the steep tax increases planned
for all taxpayers would not finance all of this spending: The
President's budget would add trillions of dollars in new debt,
says Heritage.
Source: Brian M. Riedl, "Obama's Budget Seeks $2 Trillion More in
Spending and Deficits Than Last Year," Heritage Foundation,
WebMemo No. 2787, February 1, 2010.
For text:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm2787.cfm
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | February 10, 2010 10:44 AM
Ten GOP Health Ideas for Obama
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"If you have a better idea, show it to me." That was President Barack Obama's challenge two weeks ago to House Republicans regarding health care reform. He has since called for a bipartisan forum, not to start over on health reform but to "move forward" on the "best ideas that are out there."
The best ideas out there are not those that were passed by the House and Senate last year, which consist of more spending, more regulations and more bureaucracy. If the president is serious about building a system that delivers more quality choices at lower cost for every American, here's where he should start, say Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and founder of the Center for Health Transformation, and John C. Goodman, President, CEO and the Kellye Wright Fellow of the National Center for Policy Analysis.
Make insurance affordable.
Make health insurance portable.
Meet the needs of the chronically ill.
Allow doctors and patients to control costs.
Don't cut Medicare.
Also:
Protect early retirees.
Inform consumers.
Eliminate junk lawsuits.
Stop health-care fraud.
Make medical breakthroughs accessible to patients.
*
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704820904575055190217079952.html
Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | February 10, 2010 11:46 AM
Go Motown !! You did a better job of making Americans happy, over the last 50 years, than those Bandits in our Boardrooms, of the Big, bad, incompetent 3. Go, Motown !! Sing us that song !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | February 10, 2010 12:35 PM
That's a great photo of Prez and FL.
Can you say "power couple"?
Posted by: ornery | February 11, 2010 10:36 PM