Category Archives: Politics

Obama Tix in High Demand

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

I would imagine that if you are only now thinking about getting in line to get an Obama ticket, your odds are lousy, as students began lining up last night:

Students began lining up around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and by early Wednesday, police estimated there were around 850 in line hoping to get tickets to see Obama’s speech at UM’s BankUnited Center Fieldhouse Thursday.

Students brought lawn chairs, tents and air mattresses to make their wait more comfortable. Many spent their time watching movies, sleeping and even studying.

The university wouldn’t say how many tickets were available, at the request of the White House, but most students said just the chance to see Obama was worth the wait.

…

The tickets will be distributed at 8:30 a.m. Officials said students who were in line by 6:30 a.m.

Still nothing about faculty tickets. I suppose the students have more money. They certainly will make a more attractive backdrop on TV.

Previously: Obama Visit: No Faculty Wanted?.

Posted in 2012 Election, U.Miami | Comments Off

Obama Visit: No Faculty Wanted?

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

President Obama to Visit University of Miami on Thursday:

As he becomes increasingly active in his campaign for re-election, President Barack Obama plans to visit the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus on Thursday to deliver a speech at the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse.

The event is free but requires a ticket, and students will be able to get one if they line up fast enough. Tickets for undergraduate, law, and graduate students on the Coral Gables campus will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday at the University Center Ticketmaster window.

Only one ticket will be given to each student, who must present his or her own valid ‘Cane Card for swiping. Holding spaces in line for others will not be permitted, and students must remain in line until they receive their tickets, which will be non-transferable.

…

Doors to the Fieldhouse will open at 11:45 a.m. There will be very limited seating, so it will be primarily a standing-only event. All attendees must go through airport-like security and should bring as few personal items as possible. Students must also present their ‘Cane Cards upon entry to the Fieldhouse. Since it will take time to clear security, please plan on getting there early. Late arrivals will not be guaranteed entry.

No large bags, purses exceeding 8.5 by 11 inches, backpacks, sharp objects, umbrellas, food or drinks, video cameras, signs or banners will be allowed into the Fieldhouse. Still cameras and cell phones will be permitted, however. Students are encouraged to wear orange and green to show their ‘Cane Spirit.

Because of the high volume of vehicular traffic and parking expected around the Fieldhouse, students are encouraged to walk there from other points on campus, having parked in their assigned permit zones. The Yellow zone may be affected by extra traffic, so please plan accordingly.

The event will be streamed live at http://whitehouse.gov/live

If there was info about faculty tickets, I sure didn’t get the memo…

Posted in 2012 Election, U.Miami | 1 Comment

Arresting [Not] Charlton Heston/Chrysler Super Bowl Commercial: It’s Half Time in America [Corrected]

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

[Update: Corrected in the cold grey light of morning: As commentators more awake after the game than I noted, Charlton Heston has been dead for years. I knew he was Clint Eastwood, we even talked about it during the game; no I idea why I then substituted Heston in the post. One of my blogging rules is that when I screw up, I correct, but don’t hide the fact of the error. This is a beauty.]

By far the most notable Super Bowl commercial was ~~Charlton Heston~~ Clint Eastwood reassuring America that it’s only half time and there’s still everything to play for. As his gravelly voice touted the resurgence of Detroit, I thought at first it would be an Obama commercial, and then it was Clint Eastwood/the Man with No Name/Dirty Harry/Walt Kowalski and Chrysler, and it wasn’t, overtly, pro-Obama after all.

But maybe it in a way it was Chrysler’s way of saying thank-you on the QT for the bail-out; ~~if so, getting long-time Republican Charlton Heston to do the spot was a stroke of genius insurance against charges of partisanship.~~ [Update: I still think it felt like a way to say thank you without having to admit it was a campaign expenditure; and I thought of Eastwood as a Republican — see below.]

And a new catch phrase is launched.

[Update: I thought Eastwood was a Republican because he was elected as Mayor of a town in California on the Republican ticket. At least according to a Wikipedia article on the Political life of Clint Eastwood, however, his politics are more complicated than that.]

Posted in 2012 Election, Kultcha | 7 Comments

OWS and the National Conversation

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Robert Paul Wolff, now a Grand Old Man, reflects on Occupy Wall Street,

… the Occupy Wall Street Movement has already won, since it has utterly changed the public conversation in America. The brilliant polemical device of defining the fundamtnal issue as a struggle between the 1% and the 99% — a definition that cannot, of course, withstand any sort of serious political and economic analysis — has thrust into the public space the issue of income and wealth inequality and the consequent power inequality. Precisely because the roots of this inequality lie so deeply embedded in the structure of capitalism, no laundry list of manageable reforms can address it. The refusal of the OWS movement to formulate such a list is strategically brilliant, and infuriating to those in Washington who would just like to know "what they want" so that a palliative deal can be struck.

The success of the movement is astonishing when one reflects on how small it is. I may be way off, but it seems to me that nation-wide there cannot have been many more than forty or fifty thousand active OWS participants. Now, this is a nation of roughly 330,000,000, so the movement has involved maybe fifteen one thousandths of one percent of the population. Any Sunday pro football game is probably watched by twice that many people in the stands.

Myself, I don’t think OWS has yet won quite as much as this suggests. OWS has moved the Overton window, but I think our national conversation on wealth and inequality is still not back to where it was in, say, the Great Society days. As of yet, there’s no sign taxes will regain the progressivity they had under Nixon or Reagan, not to mention Eisenhower.

Posted in 99% | Comments Off