Obama administration

Cross-posted from an article by Sue Sturgis on Facing South

The Obama administration released the first-ever U.S. report to the U.N. Human Rights Council this week.

Prepared as part of the ongoing U.N. Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process that involved consultations with civil society groups nationwide, the report [pdf] acknowledges that the U.S. human rights record is less than perfect. However, it fails to address a number of pressing human rights issues facing the nation -- including the problems experienced by U.S. residents displaced by domestic disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

"While this report demonstrates the Obama administration's willingness to recommit to engagement on international human rights, the administration must now prove that it is prepared to not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk," said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU Human Rights Program.

Cross-posted from an article by Sue Sturgis on Facing South

President Obama plans to be in New Orleans on Aug. 29 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina -- a prime opportunity to put disaster recovery issues back atop the national agenda.

Apologies if this has been posted; did a search and did not find it. From the Feb 22, 2010 edition of The Nation -- I believe it sums up the feelings of many progressive voters very well:

How to Get Our Democracy Back

If You Want Change, You Have to Change Congress
By Lawrence Lessig

We should remember what it felt like one year ago, as the ability to recall it emotionally will pass and it is an emotional memory as much as anything else. It was a moment rare in a democracy's history. The feeling was palpable--to supporters and opponents alike--that something important had happened. America had elected, the young candidate promised, a transformational president. And wrapped in a campaign that had produced the biggest influx of new voters and small-dollar contributions in a generation, the claim seemed credible, almost intoxicating, and just in time.