England for Obama

Thought you liked these two people before? Watch this:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Note 1: Don’t worry if you’re thinking, “I’d love to watch it, but I don’t have an hour”. The interview only takes up 40 minutes of the aforementioned 60.

Note 2: If you’re not distracted by the clock, the theme, erm, noise to 60 Minutes sounds spookily as if it’s about to burst into Zoo Station by U2.

Note 3: It’s a nice touch that the advert playing in the breaks is one helping people to stop smoking. What with that being Barack’s promise to Michelle, should he run for office.

Note 4: Isn’t it nice to see a First Couple who are bright, articulate, thoughtful, measured, compassionate, warm and grounded?

And I’m not going to list this as a ‘Note’, because it’s far too serious: but Barack’s re-commitment to closing Guantamo and ending torture was, for me, the most important thing he said in this interview, and was an utter relief to hear.

Barack Obama’s possible choice of Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State just got a little trickier. Apparently, Bubba is a “lingering concern” in the Obama camp.

Christopher Hitchens laid into Hilary Clinton last night on Hardball:

Love him or loathe him, Hitchens (or “the washed up drunk guy” as one HuffPo comment calls him) is always watchable. And after months of watching American news coverage, it’s really quite surreal hearing a British accent (or, indeed: another British accent) in the mix. Especially when Hitchens says “fuuuule”. Is it possible to find a single British pundit on American TV who doesn’t talk like Lord John Marbury from The West Wing?

*Update* Countdown covered the Bill Clinton issue last night:

(Note: I don’t think Katty Kay really talks like that. I think she just watched a lot of Merchant Ivory films and fooled BBC America into thinking that she’s British.)

As promised:

Sort of.

Starting this Saturday, Barack Obama is going to be broadcasting to the nation - nay, the world - via the medium of this here new-fangled computer thingy. Every week. Think of him as a 21st century FDR, if you will.

Obama’s weekly video addresses are an example of the promised a) transparency and b) new-fangledness (also known as ‘technology’) that the Obama campaign said it would bring to the presidency.

The videos will go out on both YouTube and change.gov - and in fact, his team have already got the ball rolling with this one below.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then he’ll begin. Or rather: transition chief Valerie Jarrett will begin:

Ooh. Looks like Barack Obama is taking that whole “team of rivals” thing seriously.

Here’s the story.

And here.

And here:

*Update* It’s been confirmed that Obama has, indeed, offered Clinton the job - and she’s thinking about it. According to an aide, when she was First Lady, Hillary learned to be an effective “backdoor diplomat”. Who knew that Bubba was into such things?

…and Americans are feeling good. Despite the economy being in what we Brits would call the ‘loo’. Rachel Maddow looks at The Obama Optimism Effect (as well as press coverage of Barack’s every move; and the latest on Joe Lieberman):

In fact, it seems that everyone is feeling that little bit happier now that A Nice Man is leader of the free world. As America In The World reports, Brits’ opinions of the United States have improved since Obama was elected - to the extent that we now apparently like America more than France and Germany. Imagine!

Actually, you don’t have to imagine. Here were the results of the survey:

But she can plough through doors:

(Note: I promise not to give this woman any more oxygen of publicity. Sarah: it’s over. I’m sorry. It’s not me. It’s you.)

This segment from last night’s Daily Show shows how Jon Stewart and his writers may be dealing with a Barack Obama presidency. See, there’s still stuff to find funny! Only now, it’s no longer tragic, also:

Great point about OJ, btw. Indeed, I wonder whether the MSM (that’s ‘mainstream media’, kids!) will be The Daily Show’s main target from now on:

(A headline as inevitable as this one).

Want to get to know the new chief of staff a little better? Take a look at the speech Barack Obama gave in honour of Rahm Emanuel back in 2005. The middle finger gag is great:

The event was a roast for Emanuel. A roast being, according to the Free Online Dictionary, “a facetious tribute, as at a banquet, in which the honoree is alternately praised and insulted.”

Note to Americans: we don’t have a word for ‘roast’ in British English. Probably because all our tributes are naturally facetious. (She said, being facetious.)

(Cheers to Daily Kos)