Obama: August 2009 Archives

crossposted to Jack & Jill Politics and Huffington Post.

(White House / Pete Souza)

What makes our president laugh? Is it conversation over beers with new friends? Is it a college photo of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs? Yes. But that's kind of boring, so we're hoping you can funny it up for us via juxtaposition and language.

In other words, we're having another caption contest. You know what to do. Best caption wins a copy of Tram Nguyen's Language Is a Place of Struggle: Great Quotes by People of Color. Winner announced next Tuesday.

This is a real thing that is happening in the universe that we live in. The Birthers' intent with this, of course, is simply to give him an opportunity to prove his Christian American birthright to the presidency. (Shh — nobody tell them that Muslims also practice circumcision, and just to be safe, nobody tell them about Wikipedia.)

How long until a bill is introduced in Congress? Fingers crossed — with any luck, by this time next year, the Republican party will be so discredited that Obama and the Democrats can blow through immigration reform without letting it get killed by 'bipartisanship.'

I'm going to be honest and say that I just wanted a chance to use this title before someone beat me to it.

President Obama's announcement this week that immigration reform would be put on the back burner was met with disappointment tempered by cynicism. The hope that Obama's election kindled has flickered over the past few months as the White House has generally adhered to the status quo set by the Bush administration. While Obama has made some overtures toward reforming detention policies, activists are fighting a war of attrition against stagnation and distraction in Congress.

But faced with the news that immigration reform may have to wait until 2010, some organizations say their patience has run out.

The Mexican American Political Association has called for direct action to fight crackdowns on undocumented workers, and pushed for a moratorium on hardline enforcement measures until real reform is enacted: