Opinion

With 2009 nearly behind us it’s appropriate to critically assess the first year of Barack Obama’s historic presidency.

    It didn’t take long for the promise of his inauguration to give way to the reality of the crushing problems we all knew he’d face. The financial bailouts - controversial and expensive - had actually begun under the previous administration because, once again, it became necessary to save capitalism from itself.

Government should always strive for openness, even when the law might allow discussion on an issue to be held behind closed doors. The presumption should always be, "let’s talk about this in the open if we can."

    But government often doesn’t work that way.

My top priority is jobs for Main Street and rebuilding America’s competitive edge in the world. Recently, I was selected for two congressional roles to advance the ball on economic development for Central and Southern Virginia. I was appointed to a Congressional Task Force on Job Creation and was also made Vice-Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee.

    Barack Obama’s principled opposition to the war in Iraq in 2008 gained him a lot of attention and a lot of support. For some people, it was the deciding factor in supporting him over other Democrats. He wasn’t tainted with having voted for the war.

    What some may not have noticed then, or perhaps don’t remember now, is that Obama always separated Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq, he said, was “a dumb war,” and “a war of choice,” the wrong choice. He never said those things about Afghanistan.

Last week’s revelation that leading scientists with the global warming movement have been cooking the books to support their “scientific consensus” that planet earth is heading towards an apocalyptic end if changes aren’t made should make this nation take pause — including Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello.

    It was indeed a historic moment when the health care reform bill passed the House of Representatives, simply because corporate opposition and right-wing hysteria have always kept it from getting that far.

    It was President Harry Truman who first tried to institute universal health care. His plans were defeated by the American Medical Association, which trotted out some alleged quote from Lenin about the glories of “socialized medicine.”

In any given year, the reality of life is that one enjoys both blessing and hardship, triumph and defeats.         Many times it is easier to recount the struggles, than to focus on the blessings. Let this week once again provide the impetus to focus on the blessings.    

    It didn’t take Pat Robertson long, did it?

    He couldn’t even wait until his younger protégé, Bob McDonnell, was sworn in as the next governor of Virginia before he put the spotlight on himself.

    In the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, Robertson took a new opportunity to make an ignorant and hateful remark about Muslims, something he’s done before. This time, though, he set a new standard in expressing his loathing for Islam.

ccidents happen.

    Sometimes those accidents can’t be avoided, but far too often they could have been. Reducing the speed on secondary roads in Virginia might help.

    The Bedford County Board of Supervisors plans to ask legislators to lower the speed limits on all secondary roads from 55 miles per hour to 45 mph, unless a different speed is posted. That change could potentially help save lives in Bedford County and across the commonwealth.

    It’s a request worthy of consideration.