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U.S. President Obama's speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations, Sept. 25, 2012, in which he praised the work of Ambassador Stevens in Libya. He defended First Amendment rights in the U.S. of free speech to an audience that was not fully convinced that the "anti-Muslim video" designed from the start as a provocation, produced as a violation of probation rulings by the individual, and being given the distribution channel of a vast internet audience by Google owned YouTube, falls neatly into free speech. The German government is reported to be looking into banning the video from distribution in Germany, and Germany also protects free speech under its constitution. He cited the "voices that rally against bigotry and blasphemy," as the way a First Amendment democracy protects against this type of abuse; which would suggest that Google as one of these voices has the responsibility to treat such content similiar to other extreme content of a pornographic nature or other such provocative material inducing violence, which it routinely excludes from distribution. The ultimate protection of First Amendment rights comes not from the U.S. constitution itself, but from the responsible exericize of wisdom, vigilance and common sense. During the long years of drafting of the Constitution when Madison, Jefferson and others who drafted the document took pains to include every protection so that basic rights would be preserved, George Washington pointed out that one could do this only upto a point, because it was upto the wisdom of future generations to preserve these rights, and this could never be done completely....

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Cohn and Monkovic of the NYT show how the shift of blacks, hispanics, and white collar professionals is doing to the demographics in the eastern, coastal and southern states, and how this will impact 2016 and future presidential elections in the U.S. This includes North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, and Florida. It means the electoral map may have changed by 2016 and 2020, as the less educated voters in rural areas are balanced by a growing minority and white collar vote in the suburbs and major cities of the South.

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A chemical attack on a rebel held area in northern Syria leads to international outrage and protests.

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A Washington Post-ABC News survey conducted in mid April 2011, shows 49 percent of respondents saying they disapprove of Obama's handling of the war- only 44% said they approved. Of self-identified independents 53% said they disapproved of Obama's handling of the war. A survey conducted in March 2011 showed about two thirds of Americans think the war is not worth fighting,

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Will quick exchanges between Kagan and Justice Scalia during a Supreme Court hearing related to campaign financing in which Kagan told Scalia he was wrong, lead to poor relations on the bench, asks one legal expert.

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Over 50% of respondents in a Pew Research center survey conducted in December 2014 view with disapproval president Obama's handling of race relations, only 40% approve. This includes a steep drop among African-Americans of 16 points since the previous polling in summer 2014. Obama's statement that change is "hard and incremental" comes up short for many Americans who look for leadership in race relations. A cautious presidency fails to speak up for ideals it espoused, for human rights overseas and building a better future for minorities at home, losing precious opportunities at every turn.

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Cohen says you canno carve on rotten wood. The democratic transition in Egypt has to be done without Mubarak. For Obama he says a failure in the first foreign policy crisis of his administration would be really stark in 2012.

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The background of Elena Kagan at Harvard Law School and her manner of navigating the internal politics of Harvard and dealing with the University head at the time, Obama economic advisor Lawrence Summers. The picture of an intensely motivated person who put in long hours to build rapport with Harvard Law faculty in her position as Dean of the Law School.

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It may come as a shock to the Egyptian people and freedom loving Arabs and Americans everywhere that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the Mubarak government "stable" and "responding to the legitmate interests of the Egyptian people," on Tuesday January 25, 2011. Vice President Biden said on Jan 27, in a night interview on PBS, that he would not call Mubarak a dictator and did not think he should step down. This Washinton Post editorial is strongly critical of the Obama administration for its statements implying that the 30 year Mubarak regime would continue. It says Mr Obama spoke with Mubarak on Friday night and after speaking to Mubarak stated that he would continue working with Mubarak, and not once mentioning elections. The Washington Post says it is dangerous to assume that the energized and enraged people of Egypt protesting on the streets of Cairo and other cities will back down and carry a dialogue with a regime that has repressed every form of assembly and free expression for three decades. It supports the moderate and democratic platform of leaders of the protests and of Mr El-Baradei. This includes lifting of a hated emergency law that bans peaceful assembly, the right to freely organize political parties, and allowing free democratic elections. The Post calls on the Obama administration to prepare for the peaceful implementation of the opposition platform, and telling the Egyptian army without qualification, that violent repression would rupture the rellationship with the United States....

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A Pew Research poll shows Democratic voters now favor a bold ambitious agenda by large margins. Voters seeking compromise swung sharply going downwards from 69% to 46%. Many are calling for Medicare for All. In the Republican Party the shift is slight from 46% to 44%.

In the House the Congressional Progressive Caucus now has about 90 members. Of the 50 newly elected members who are House Democrats 20 are part of this Caucus pushing for bold action.