Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.
A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.
Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.
Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration's online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:
Communication -- Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.
Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.
Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.
We'd also like to hear from you -- what sort of things would you find valuable from WhiteHouse.gov? If you have an idea, use this form to let us know. Like the transition website and the campaign's before that, this online community will continue to be a work in progress as we develop new features and content for you. So thanks in advance for your patience and for your feedback.
Later today, we’ll put up the video and the full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address. There will also be slideshows of the Inaugural events, the Obamas’ move into the White House, and President Obama’s first days in office.
"Our city, the “capital of Silicon Valley,” is known chiefly as America’s continuing birthplace of high technology ideas and products. But we also care passionately about the arts and their creative power for our people and future. Our goal is nothing less than a continuing, growing tide of “artist-engineers” in the tradition of Leonardo da Vinci. This is why San Jose–and my job title is “chief strategist”–has integrated its office of cultural affairs into its office of economic development."
Talk about the spectacle of failed leadership, I'm sure you've been following the circus surrounding our governor here and the brazenness of his corrupt practices and his defiance. In Chicago we see abundant evidence of gross corruption and incompetence of the state, county and city government on a daily basis. These people are clownishly venal and are literally bankrupting our local government,
The collapse of our financial system and the $50 billion rip-off by financier Bernie Madoff underscores the need to develop a new cadre of leaders who have a different set of values and a different mindset about public stewardship and the concept of "value." Clearly, the business leaders, lawyers and politicians who have run the economy - people who are supposed to know what is "valuable" have been either terribly wrong or have perpetrated a massive fraud on the public.
Artists and creative folk, I maintain, among their sets of values and mindsets, have a quality that would have poised a counter-weight to this point of view - namely, an appreciation of intrinsic worth. It seems that what was "valued" so highly and treasured by business, legal and regulators was a mirage - a soap bubble - it seems that what we were told was "valuable" - was, in fact, worthless. Artists, I maintain, create out of a sense of giftedness - they generate, and appreciate, things that seemingly have no worth - yet are extremely valuable. What, after all, is the "value" of the air we breathe, the smile of a young child, the gasp of surprise while watching a great ballet or the feeling of connectedness from listening to a song from another country? But we clearly need leaders who get the value of the intangible and appreciate the intrinsic worth of things and concepts that can't be placed on a balance sheet. Many have argued that a blind trust of the "market" has led the planet to the precipice of ruin.
Would it be fair of me to challenge business school deans and law school deans to defend the curriculum and the values they are instilling in our future business and government leaders? Allan Greenspan admitted he got it wrong. Oops. The University of Chicago is embroiled in some controversy because it wants to establish an institute in honor of Milton Friedman. This seems like a very appropriate time to debate what, exactly, do we mean by "value" and whose values are driving the major economic and political decisions of the country.
Failed political leaders plus a collapsed financial system. What a mess. It seems like the right time for new leaders to come forward and offer their ideas and talents for the public good.
Globe trotting multiple Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman reflected in a recent New York Times column on the disparities he saw traveling from Hong Kong to New York City. Basically, America's infrastructure has fallen to pieces. We've invested in the wrong things.
"...we’ve fallen into a trend of diverting and rewarding the best of our collective I.Q. to people doing financial engineering rather than real engineering. These rocket scientists and engineers were designing complex financial instruments to make money out of money — rather than designing cars, phones, computers, teaching tools, Internet programs and medical equipment that could improve the lives and productivity of millions.
For all these reasons, our present crisis is not just a financial meltdown crying out for a cash injection. We are in much deeper trouble. In fact, we as a country have become General Motors — as a result of our national drift. Look in the mirror: G.M. is us.
That’s why we don’t just need a bailout. We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history. Because of the financial crisis, Barack Obama has the bipartisan support to spend $1 trillion in stimulus. But we must make certain that every bailout dollar, which we’re borrowing from our kids’ future, is spent wisely.
It has to go into training teachers, educating scientists and engineers, paying for research and building the most productivity-enhancing infrastructure — without building white elephants. Generally, I’d like to see fewer government dollars shoveled out and more creative tax incentives to stimulate the private sector to catalyze new industries and new markets. If we allow this money to be spent on pork, it will be the end of us.
America still has the right stuff to thrive. We still have the most creative, diverse, innovative culture and open society — in a world where the ability to imagine and generate new ideas with speed and to implement them through global collaboration is the most important competitive advantage. China may have great airports, but last week it went back to censoring The New York Times and other Western news sites. Censorship restricts your people’s imaginations. That’s really, really dumb. And that’s why for all our missteps, the 21st century is still up for grabs.
John Kennedy led us on a journey to discover the moon. Obama needs to lead us on a journey to rediscover, rebuild and reinvent our own backyard."
Street Artist Arrested 13 Times Creates Obama Iconic Graphics
Why would Barack Obama invite a graffiti artist with a long rap sheet to launch a guerrilla marketing campaign on his behalf? Modern Painters magazine visited Shepard Fairey, who created the Democratic nominee's iconic "Hope" and "Progress" posters, in his Los Angeles studio to find out. Read the story.
Shepard Fairy created the Andre the Giant sticker and "Obey" street art projects. His new muse in Barack Obama. But Fairey is protesting Obama's choice of Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the Inauguration invocation. His statement: "Tomorrow my illustration for Time Magazine’s “Person of The Year” hits the newsstands. While I’m very honored to be validated by a periodical that is nothing short of an American institution, the moment is bittersweet because I’m very disappointed by Obama’s appointment of Rick Warren to deliver his invocation during Obama’s inaugural address. Rick Warren is against gay marriage and reproductive rights, and he does not believe in evolution (maybe he offers himself as proof of lack of evolution). I understand that Obama is trying to appeal to conservatives and evangelicals, but this move is symbolically a slap in the face to many people. Warren is not a uniter, but a divider… he is intolerant in many of his views. I still think Obama is the best choice for president, but I can’t condone Warren’s involvement in Obama’s inauguration, no matter how insignificant it is. While I’m on the subject of gay marriage, I will be donating a chunk of the proceeds from an inauguration poster of Obama I was asked to create to the movement to overturn Prop 8. At first I was considering pulling my inauguration poster, but I think re-directing funds from it to put into a cause I care about is actually more constructive. Plus, I wouldn’t want withdrawing the image to come across as a blanket boycott of Obama. I’m sure I will ultimately disagree with Obama about many things, but I think I will agree with him on more. I think it is important to speak one’s mind, but also to not let the narcissism of petty differences sabotage our unity and progress."
So, if you're a nonprofit advocate and you find yourself begging to a funder and trying to justify why your organization should get a thousand dollars to continue providing for the common good, you can now take some comfort in this new reality. We are all nonprofits now.
Nonprofits that provide educational, health-related, social service, policy and cultural type services typically define themselves as being owned by no body - they act on behalf of the community and no one owns stock and so there are no "profits" from income in excess of expenses. These organizations exist to meet a need unmet by government or business. Nonprofits provide services to people who NEVER pay the full cost of receiving those services. By definition. Some nonprofits do better than others in charging fees, generating revenue from good and services other than what is provided directly to their customers, and getting sponsorships. Bottom line - there is always a gap between the total amount of what is called "earned" income and what it costs to run the organization. Contributions and grants make up the difference. For most nonprofit organizations that provide the type of services I'm thinking about contributions from individuals can be deducted from their income tax obligations - hence the term "tax-deductible contribution."
Well, with the hundreds of billions of dollars the U.S. government has doled out to the financial services sector and now the auto industry, I think we have just obliterated the distinctions between "for profit" and "not for profit" operations in America. Unfortunately, the tax payers are not going to be able to deduct their "contributions" to the corporate sector.
President-Elect Obama has talked about a massive stimulus package to re-build America and put people to work. What role could artists play in this new program. Author, educator and cultural activist Arlene Goldbard says, plenty.
"Artists dedicated to public service can
teach
co-create plays and murals with people young and old
run community darkrooms and workshops
beautify the built environment
carve out space for people to dream, invent and communicate about things that matter to themselves and their communities
assist communities in creating archives of digital stories
create public art that commemorates generative moments in the history of a community
devise choral works and pageants, installations and exhibitions, dances and poetry journals that express and embody community identity and aspiration
create workplace programs that engage workers in participatory management
facilitate processes that help people dream their way into new approaches to community and economic development…."
National leaders in politics, business, research and education, including Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, met on campus today and called for renewing America's commitment to science and technology. Such an effort, they said, may be the best long-term cure for the nation's ailing economy. Read the full story at Princeton's web site.
Take your blood pressure medicine or sit down and breathe deeply before you watch this segment from the December 14 edition of "60 Minutes." This is 12 minutes of education on how real estate speculators, banks, finance companies and the U.S. government all collided in a perfect storm of greed, stupidity and breach of the public trust. It should be played at every community meeting, political gathering, and for every class in political science, finance, law and public policy.
Highly recommended -- The new movie, "Milk," starring Sean Penn as San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to major office in the United States. If you want to see a true story of a VERY different sort of political leader, then you must catch "Milk." The movie traces the political trajectory of one person who confronts bigotry, builds community, inspires others to lead and creates real change on the ground.
There are 38 million people working in creative industries in
America. Creativity is one the key characteristics of the American
spirit, economy and promise.
Read more...
Read the book - "America Needs You!
Why You Should Become
a Creativity Champion"
Read the book "America Needs You!
Why You Should Become
a Creativity Champion"
America needs her artists, cultural workers and creative professionals
to lead in the public sector! This book makes the case for creativity as a national value and the basis for a winning politics and explains
why creative professionals have what it takes to lead and run
for local public office. You're already a leader! Believe it.
Minutes after Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, a new blog was launched on the official home page of the White House!
