Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Obama Effect

It is called “The Obama Effect” and it is defined as how society has changed with the election of our 44th president. Changes that are definite improvements like how Obama’s “Muslim Speech” in Cairo, Egypt may just have influenced national elections in Lebanon, held just days later, that resulted in a repudiation of Hezbollah in favor of western-leaning moderate candidates. Or how black test takers in New York are closing the performance gap in a 20 minute test – a gap between the scores of white students compared to black students that no longer exists. The research shows that the gap was closed by Obama’s example of higher academic achievement.

The Obama Effect also has its negative side. Like how white supremacists are becoming more shrill and more active. Like the actions of an 89 year old man who today shot a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. An act that is such a one off deal that it simply must be associated with the fact that we have a black family living in the White House now.

And The Obama Effect is also affecting news programs in some very surprising ways. It is no secret that right wing radio show hosts are getting more shrill in their rhetoric, but this very contentious exchange between MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer and rightwingnut radio show host John Ziegler is just the stuff of The Obama Effect.

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Throughout the exchange Brewer was cordial and professional to a fault. Ziegler, on the other hand had bile to spew from his first sentence to his last. Brewer even had to ask him, twice, whether he wanted to continue with the interview, and you could see the consternation build as she tried to keep it cordial and professional while Ziegler did everything in his power to make himself look like a snarky clown.

My favorite part? Right at the end when Contessa Brewer spoke to her producer on the microphone as Ziegler refused to shut up: “Cut the mike, please.”

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my, my, my-----Ziegler in his continuous attempts to make head way with "nasty, sarcastic barbs" against, MSNBC, The Democratic Party, Obama, etc., does no more than to accentuate, once again, the very reason, the Republican Party is viewed as it is.

Palin's use of the word pathetic is actually a good word choice for herself, Ziegler, and all others attached who think as they do by continuing to try and draw attention to themselves by continuing to throw mud against those who are winners in order to distract from the fact that they are such "big time" sore losers.

Anonymous said...

Hal,
Two things for you:

1) As an educator, have you seen improvements in the testing performance of African American students since President Obama was sworn in?

2) You left out another Obama Effect...Chastity "Chaz" Bono now feels safe enough to become a man.

Hal said...

As an educator in my unique place in the school system I am not in a position to personally observe such an improvement. I have to trust those who do the research. You know, the scientific and statistical stuff.

And as we are all finding out snark about people's children gets you absolutely nowhere.

Anonymous said...

I'll take that as a no--you haven't seen an improvement in the testing of your African American students. Because if you'd seen any improvement you'd be screaming it from the mountaintops.

I have noticed an increase in the number of announced sex changes by celebrity child stars since President Obama assumed office. After extensive research, I could not find a single one during the horrible Bush adminstration, but there's already been one during the first 150 days of the Obama administration. At this pace, I expect close to 20 such announcements during Obama's eight years in office.

Anonymous said...

I saw where University of Connecticut professors have concluded that since President Obama was sworn in, the average temperatures in 49 out of 50 states have fallen when compared to similar periods over the last 63 years.

Anonymous said...

Obama Effect:

2,300,000 -- Number of people (primarily lower income and minorities according to United States Volunteer Corps) who no longer have access to televison due to digital conversion.

Hal said...

When will people stop blaming Obama for plans and policies that were decided on before January? And if I recall correctly, the previous February digital deadline was postponed at Obama's request - again over the objections of the Party of No.

Anonymous said...

Hal,
So President Obama couldn't change this? He was powerful enough to postpone it several months, why couldn't he postpone it several more? Or for a couple of years? So there's nothing he and his Congress could do to stop this?

He was elected to stop Bush's madness. But he's going along with it.

Digital conversion, not releasing GITMO pictures, no reversal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", etc.

Anonymous said...

The Obama effect is that Obama is getting blamed for the last bad 8 years of Bush & Cheney plus anything else that can be thrown at him by the Party of No which includes the Teabaggers & al.

Oh, by the way, all past, present, and future, rainstorms, thunder and lightening, hail, sleet, snow, avalanche, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, mud slides, and all other natural and/or unnatural disasters is/are Obama’s fault and thus, absolutely, the result of the Obama effect.

Anonymous said...

Other results of President Obama Effect:

1 - Number of pandemics. And with this pandemic outbreak, it continues the streak over the last 40 years--every pandemic outbreak has been accompanied by a celebrity child announcing a gender change.

$.77/gallon - increase in cost of gallon of gasoline from end of January to middle of June ($1.90 to $2.67).

I don't believe these are solely related to the President Obama effect. But these are as valid as some study that Hal cites claiming African American students are seeing higher test results since President Obama was elected.

Anonymous said...

The lack of expectations effect and the hopelessness effect “is” the negative effect weighing down African American students' achievement and/or test scores, etc. Therefore, I would not rule out a "motivational surge” effect based on the fact that hope is on the rise for everyone, so the possibly does exist that the hope stirred within African American students is on the rise which could translate to a positive effect upon their respective test scores based upon the Obama effect.