Yes to all three questions sums it up pretty good :)

The bombings continue, the torture continues, the domestic spying continues, the kidnappings continue, the illegal detentions continue, I'll believe in "Change" when things change.

has spent billions on bailing out failing companies and the US now has Government Motors (GM)

about anything, anywhere at any time in history. It's sad to listen to folks who can only complain. No imagination, and an inability to see possibility or to hope.

It was one of the great moments in history. No doubt about it. It was the perfect transition.

“I have made it clear to the Iraqi people that we pursue no bases, and no claim on their territory or resources. Iraq's sovereignty is its own. And that's why I ordered the removal of our combat brigades by next August. That is why we will honor our agreement with Iraq's democratically elected government to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July, and to remove all of our troops from Iraq by 2012,” - president Obama, June 5, 2009.

If that is not a change in tone I do not know what is. Everything else is limbaughesque drivel.

I am watching the saving of the banking industry, an economic recovery, the transition out of a war in Iraq, and health care reform being taken on with brilliance and grace, steady resolve, and an amazing articulateness I haven't seen since Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

A Nobel Peace prize is two years away, mark my word.

Rick Salutin | Globe & Mail | June 5

Barack Obama's speech in Cairo yesterday made me nostalgic. The feeling came on as he foresaw a time “when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be.” In my undergrad years, I studied at Brandeis University, near Boston, a secular school but built by American Jews as their contribution to U.S. higher education. Its architectural centrepiece was a set of three chapels around a pool where, as the school catalogue said, “three faiths go their separate ways ... together.”

The three were Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. Muslim wasn't yet on the chart, but that's not the point. The notion of religion was inclusive and humanitarian - that's the point - rather than exclusive and theological. At the synagogue school I'd attended in Toronto, by far the most popular course among us kids had been “comparative religion.” It made us feel worldly and cosmopolitan. At services, the prayer we spoke most solemnly began, Grant us peace (based on a loose translation from the Hebrew). Later, when I took grad courses at a Protestant seminary, earnest students would say things such as, “The church has gotta get where the action is, man.” It was a bit sappy, like the chapels, but the impulses were ethical and universal.

(more at link)

Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani

CAIRO, Jun 5 (IPS) - Egyptian officials are lining up to praise U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the Islamic world delivered in Cairo Thursday. But local campaigners for political reform say the speech was disappointingly light on the issues of democracy and human rights.

"Obama spoke very briefly and in very general terms on these two subjects," opposition journalist and reform campaigner Abdel-Halim Kandil told IPS. "Despite the hype, Obama's speech was little more than an exercise in public relations."

Obama arrived in the Egyptian capital amid much fanfare Jun. 4, where he delivered a seminal address aimed at Arab and Islamic audiences. The U.S. President came to Egypt via Saudi Arabia, Washington's other main Arab ally in the region, where he spent a day meeting with Saudi Arabian leaders and officials.

Ahead of his speech, Obama also met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Although talks were held behind closed doors, the two heads of state reportedly focused on regional issues, including the conflicts in Iraq and Central Asia, impending elections in Lebanon, and the volatile Israel- Palestine conflict.

Obama's much-awaited address, in which he called for "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world," covered a range of issues. These included the dangers of violent extremism; prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians; nuclear weapons proliferation; democracy; civil liberties; and economic development.

On democracy, Obama declared his belief that "all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose.

"Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere," he said. "Governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments - provided they govern with respect for all their people."

Officials of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) hastened to praise the "historic" address.

"Obama's speech reignited hope for new U.S. policymaking," wrote Osama Saraya, editor-in-chief of state daily Al-Ahram. Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, head of Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar school of Islamic learning (who is appointed by the President), declared that the address "succeeded in touching the hearts and minds of Muslims."

But local reform campaigners and human rights activists were considerably less impressed.

Bahaieddin Hasan, head of the Cairo Centre for Human Rights Studies, described the address as "superficial" and devoid of details. "There didn't appear to be any concern for either democratic reform or human rights," he was quoted as saying in the Friday edition of independent daily Al-Dustour. "This came as a major disappointment."

Hisham Kassem, a leading Cairo-based rights activist, agreed. "The Obama administration appears to have put human rights and political reform at the bottom of the agenda," he told IPS. "It's noteworthy that only 367 words of the speech out of a total of almost 6,000 were devoted to democracy and human rights. This tiny proportion appears to be an indication of Obama's priorities."

Kassem said that after a full five months in the presidency, Obama "still hasn't appointed an assistant secretary of state for human rights, while he has also done away with the Bush-era position of special envoy for human rights and political reform."

Kandil said that Obama's choice of Egypt - ruled by Mubarak under a draconian state of emergency for 28 years - sends the wrong message. Saudi Arabia that Obama visited earlier lacks even pretence of democracy.

"Obama's visit was a show of support for both the dictatorial Egyptian regime and the criminal policies of Israel regarding the Palestinians," he said. "It represents an acknowledgement of Egypt's role in serving U.S. and Israeli policy objectives, while totally overlooking the regime's dismal record on human rights and political reform.

"The government, in crisis due to skyrocketing inflation and enormous popular disaffection, is hoping that Obama's visit will somehow bolster its legitimacy and lengthen its dwindling lifespan," said Kandil.

more

An embarrassment. This review repulsed me. Absolutely no vision or concept of what can be accomplished in the world. Sad.

And I believe that with the respect he displayed toward the Muslim world, he saved more lives from terrorism than Bush-Cheney ever did.