• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 12 / 26 / 2010

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Friday, December 24, 2010, 3:34 PM.Joey Kennedy -- The Birmingham News By Joey Kennedy -- The Birmingham News. Cuban cab, 1952 Ford Custom Coup. Birmingham News/Joey Kennedy. Taxi driver Israel of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, greets his passengers.

It's been a busy month for President Barack Obama. Where before the election, he had trouble getting anything much through Congress, during the lame-duck session just completed, he accomplished a year's worth of stuff in a couple weeks: Extending tax cuts and unemployment benefits; getting the Senate to ratify New START; the remarkable repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and medical care for the post-9/11 responders in New York.

For too many people, it doesn't matter how much Obama does. They're simply are not going to support him. But reasonable people have to admit that the president is trying to keep his campaign promises. And, though Sarah Palin would disagree, I really like this "hopey-changey thing." In Sunday's Viewpoints section, Harold Meyerson of The Washington Post ranks Obama alongside other Democratic Party presidents, and Obama does pretty well.

Also Sunday, our editorial board urges the Alabama Legislature to complete the task of ethics reform when it goes into session in March. One of the main fixes has to be the amount of money lobbyists can spend on groups of lawmakers. If anything, the Legislature made the law worse.

I returned from Cuba a couple of weeks ago. It was my ninth visit to the island. This time, two colleagues from Virginia and I spent the week being driven around in a cab: A 1952 Ford Customline Coupe. I talked with the taxi driver, Israel, and he shares his hopes under the new economy in Cuba.

It's a good Viewpoint section. Make sure to pick up a Sunday paper, and you'll have it. Also, merry Christmas to everyone. Have a great day!

Source: http://blog.al.com/jkennedy/2010/12/joey_kennedy_grading_barack_ob.html