This Photo May Symbolize Obama's Presidency

Obama needs to learn to listen, writes Peggy Noonan

(NEWSER) - A year into his presidency, President Obama isn't reading from the same page as the American people and may not even be reading from the same book, writes Peggy Noonan. A president needs to have a "deep and shrewd sense of the people," but Obama seems blind to the concerns of American citizens and their deep reservations about his policies, Noonan notes in the Wall Street Journal. More»

Stimulus, President O-bow-ma get top billing

(NEWSER) - As we await tomorrow’s feast, conservative pundit Michelle Malkin gives us something to gnaw on, running down the year’s top turkeys:

• The stimulus: The “Generational Theft Act” isn’t even a turkey, but a “Turbaconducken—the heart attack-inducing dish of roasted chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey, all wrapped in endless slabs of bacon.”

Even Nixon bowed to the Japanese emperor —but he did it better

(NEWSER) - A friend of ABC’s Jake Tapper would like to clear up some misconceptions about President Obama’s bow to the Japanese emperor: First, “the right is wrong about Obama’s bow.” It’s not an “unprecedented” display of subservience from an American president—Richard Nixon bowed to the emperor in 1971 (photo here ). But the left also misses the mark: The bow can’t be a “sign of cultural understanding” when it’s done all wrong. More»

Critics on the right already weighing in

(NEWSER) - Prepare for another bowing controversy. A photo of President Obama bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito has surfaced, and it's likely to set off critics on the right—as happened when Obama maybe sorta bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia in April. This time, there's no question about it: It's a deep, deferential bow to the 76-year-old Akihito and his wife, notes the LA Times . More»

Election should be a wake-up call for out-of-touch White House

(NEWSER) - The Democratic Party should view its walloping in Tuesday's election as an opportunity to start listening before it's too late, writes Peggy Noonan . The Democrats have been focusing on the wrong issues since they gained power last year and that explains the huge swing to the Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey, Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal, dismissing the New York special election as "too messy." More»