Brooks and Dionne Get Schooled by Professor Obama

From NPR -All Things Considered 1/16/09

President-elect Barack Obama met separately this week with conservative and liberal columnists. David Brooks of The New York Times and E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post attended the meetings. Dionne says the meeting was like a seminar on how to be a calm president in the midst of a whole series of crises. Brooks says conservatives at the dinner were impressed with Obama.

Check out Brooks dry wit in his comments at 4:30, he quips that, "...Congressional Republicans have had more conversation with Obama, in the last few weeks, than in the last four years with President Bush." Yikes! What a relief to have an intelligent, pragmatic,"empiricist" leading our country again. Ideologues on the right and left will likely disagree with pragmatic progressives, but "we loves our statistical thinking". BRD will always choose Science over Dogma.

We'll make mistakes, we'll have successes, and we'll use our lessons learned to drive continuous improvement, seeking always to "perfect our union". Yes We Can!

Audio Clip - NPR ATC 011609

Pres. Elect Obama - Weekly Address 1/17/09

From Change.gov:

In his final weekly address before assuming office, President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the upcoming Inauguration activities, a tradition at the heart of our democracy.

This year’s inauguration will be the most open and accessible in history. Thousands of people will come together—not just in the capital, but across the nation—to serve their communities and ring in a new era of change in America.

Be Prepared - Virginia Inaugural Traffic News

For those brave folks heading north to NoVa and DC for the Presidential Inaugural events this weekend or early next week, here's the latest traffic advisories from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.


At BRD we always follow the Scout motto, BE PREPARED and the 5P's (Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance):

Inauguration Events - Virginia Traffic Updates [1/15/09]
Bridge and Interstate Highway Access Closures - NoVa and DC

VA Provides Free Bus Service to Metrorail 1/20/09

Virginia Prepares for Inauguration Traffic

Good Luck, Enjoy This Historic Event & Let's Be Safe Out There