My internet's been out all damn day and it sucks.

[apocalypsos]

But now it's back! And I have three things that make me happy right now:

1. President Barack Obama's first public act in office Wednesday was to institute new limits on lobbyists in his White House and to freeze the salaries of high-paid aides, in a nod to the country's economic turmoil.

2. In one of his first acts in office, President Obama has ordered the U.S. government to suspend prosecutions of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days, military officials said Tuesday.

3. White House officials tell CNN Obama Chief Staff of Staff Rahm Emanuel sent a memo Tuesday to all agencies and departments of the federal government. The memo halts further consideration of pending regulations throughout the government until a legal and policy review can be conducted by the Obama administration.

First day and they're so busy gettin' their White House on they haven't even gotten the president a computer:



Awwwww. Look at his poor empty desk. :)

(Does anybody have the link to that site where they're keeping track of all the promises Obama made on the campaign trail and if he's fulfilling them? I forget to bookmark it and I want to keep it around.) (EDIT: Never mind! Found it!)

Comments

[stele3.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

(Does anybody have the link to that site where they're keeping track of all the promises Obama made on the campaign trail and if he's fulfilling them? I forget to bookmark it and I want to keep it around.)

Ooo, oo, I second that request. This guy at the pub was going on about how he wanted exactly that kind of website, and how Obama would never ever in a million years put one up. HELP ME PROVE HIM WRONG, INTERNETZ.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Found it! They track everything, including the promise about getting the girls a dog. :)

[stele3.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

Brilliant! Thank you!

[wrenlet.livejournal.com]

Obama has also tossed out what was apparently an official rule in the Bush White House, which was to always wear a suit jacket.

I am really fond of that pic of Obama at the Resolute desk. Sometimes hard work means taking your darn jacket off.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Really? Oh, man, that's good. Rolling up your sleeves and getting down to work's a lot harder with a suit jacket on. :)

[tinylegacies.livejournal.com]

I can't be the only person who is imagining the Obama White House as VERY similar to the Bartlett White House on West Wing, right?

[marag.livejournal.com]

You are *so* not the only person. I'm having tremendous difficulty remembering that Obama isn't Bartlett.

I think the only thing that's allowing me to keep them separate is that imaginary discussion Sorkin wrote for the New York Times...

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, I was watching The American President the other day and just ... Aaron Sorkin is off somewhere grinning stupidly. He's got to be. It's like he's writing this presidency. It's hilaaaarious. :)

[frito-kal.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask you why Obama's hugging a penguin in that icon, but I remembered that penguins are AWESOME so I'll just ask where the heck you GOT it.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Heh. shirozora does the political chibis in the headers of ontd_political and rahmbamarama and she did some of them at the holidays that were too cute. :)

[chaoticasylum.livejournal.com]

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

The Obamameter!

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Heh. Found it about thirty seconds before you commented. :)

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I don't think #3 is that exceptional a move. Seems like it would be standard practice when administrations change, especially with a party switchover happening, too. And it won't mean anything unless those regs get changed for the better.

It does give me a happy to see the remnants of the old administration getting halted, delayed, and otherwise crushed out of existence, though.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's not really any different than I imagine any other president would do, but considering one of the bills in question is that obnoxious HHS ruling so that pharmacists can decide they just don't feel like giving you birth control or whatever because of their religious beliefs, I'm giddy anyway. :)

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

Oh, that NHS thing didn't pass? Sweet! Here's to our time-consuming, inefficient legal system (notice and comment FTW!) and the way it makes it harder to sneak crap like that in under a deadline.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

I love the colors he's chosen for his Oval Office. It just feels so warm and welcoming.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

I cannot wait until that desk behind him is covered with pictures of Michelle, the girls, and the puppy. \o/

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

See that little end table behind him?

The puppy's gonna gnaw on the legs, and he's just gonna keep it.

[rubykatewriting.livejournal.com]

Okay, so per a commenter over at ontd_political, he will never get a computer. It's apparently a record-keeping issue.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Yeah as the person above me said, Obama doesn't get a computer! Isn't that kind of sad? Haha. But a little charming, actually.

I am just thinking about The West Wing and grinning like a fool a whole lot :D

[justen.livejournal.com]

I love that "Get a Puppy" is one of the campaign promises they're keeping track of on that site.

[sabotabby]

It's like I woke up today and the world didn't suck quite so hard.

[iseult-variante.livejournal.com]

I really, really love that photo. It gives me goosebumps, or something. Like, yes, actually, he is going to fix stuff with JUST A PEN, A NOTEPAD, AND THIS PHONE, YO.

Also - what a neat website!