Saturday, Barack Obama delivered his first regular weekend address to the nation as president-elect. To be followed by messages from the Oval Office.

Starting with President Roosevelt, these have been a regular feature of some of our chief executives. Pretty consistently on radio. There was nothing special, startling or advanced in this first effort. Just a continuation of campaign speeches from few weeks ago.

So, what will the president using YouTube offer us?




  1. Optional delayed viewing. I haven’t listened to a presidential radio address in 25 years. It’s usually not convenient, and I’m not all that interested. I might check out a Youtube video from time to time, since I don’t have to be sitting in front of the transmission medium at the exact time it’s being delivered.

  2. Hmmm says:

    “So, what will the president using YouTube offer us?”

    Hopefully incentive to improve and build more broadband access.

  3. Gregory D. says:

    With that off center seat, I keep expecting a Daily Show style window to appear at the top left.

  4. Director Bob says:

    Yes. I think it’s great. It allows me to watch it when and where I want. And it certainly reaches out to those of us who get most of our news and communication from the internet versus traditional media. In a small way this represents the sort of “out-of-the-box” thinking our country needs. The real “change” in our country happened long before the campaigns latched on to the word as a slogan. Hopefully we now have a President with the youth, intellect, energy, and clear thinking to accept change and lead us into the future.

  5. chuck says:

    Someone should tell this guy he won the election.
    The next campaign doesn’t start until Jan 21.

  6. madtruckman says:

    im not a obama-maniac by any means. but this is a good thing, i think. people for years have been complaining that washington politicians arent connected with voters and such. this does show that obama does get the ‘new world’ with the internet as its tool. and if it gets one younger voter involved in the political process, is that really a bad thing? i dont think so, even if it is left wing marxist rhetoric (ok, maybe not THAT bad, heheh). i would like to see other washington leaders, say pelosi, reid, and those on the republican side of the aisle also begin to use this media also…

  7. bill says:

    It’s great! It gives him a direct channel without the talking heads editing/interpreting/twisting everything he says.

    Who controls YouTUBE? can they change anything?

  8. bill says:

    I can watch it directly on my iPhone..

  9. comhcinc says:

    i can’t even get the radio addresses around where i live, so this allows me to actually you know hear(see) it.

    times change, glad to see he is willing to keep up with that.

  10. The DON says:

    Sounds like he is proposing a watered down version of communism. I know communism is a loaded keyword, but listen to the last minute again. It’ll be interesting to see if the 6 plus figure salary takers follow this line.

  11. Billy Bob says:

    He could hook up with Ceiling Cat and do some funny videos.

  12. Paddy-O says:

    “So, what will the president using YouTube offer us?”

    More bandwidth usage?

  13. roastedpeanuts says:

    Nuts to youtube, I want a podcast delivered to my computer automatically.

    Now that’s convenience.

  14. Malcolm says:

    You want something “startling” or something new? Why? We just elected this guy to do what he promised. Something “new” would be roundly criticized by you. The American people are pretty skitterish. Reassurement is good. Some people are just looking for ways to criticize because it make them feel big. Guess what, if you’re not part of the solution, you are the problem.

  15. chuck says:

    The idea is good: put out a carefully prepared message every week, which is unfiltered by the media, and doesn’t have to answer any embarrassing questions.

    How long until we hit the first scandal, and Obama decides to skip the message that week?

    If he pre-records the message – say 1 day ahead, and it gets released, and then something happens (that may contradict what was said), will they demand that YouTube remove the video?

    If the re-introduce the Fairness doctrine – would it require YouTube to start censoring any remotely political video?

    Does Obama Girl get equal time?

  16. rectagon says:

    He’s using the wonderful age old technique known as “the weekly sermon”.

  17. MikeN says:

    Yeah, and they should distribute a computer for everyone with free wi-fi so people can watch this. They can make it a Mac Mini or a new Google box and just hang the screen on their bedroom wall.

  18. GregA says:

    #16,

    Latest thinking is to just use the FCC to eliminate the AM radio band, then sell the frequency off to cell phone companys for a new generation of handheld wireless devices. Right now we give that spectrum away for free. We should be charging for it.

    Also, why would youtube have to censor political material? The fairness doctrine would just demand that other opinions have equal access. You are perfectly free to go on youtube and post your screed.

  19. Stars & Bars says:

    Obama first term is actually Bushes 3rd.

    Intelligence Policy to Stay Largely Intact
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122636726473415991.html

    It doesn’t matter what he says, what matters is what he does.

  20. doug says:

    #20. given that the Feds just auctioned off a huge honkin’ chunk of spectrum for handheld devices, and now the white space between TV channels is going for super-Wi-Fi, I think it would be very hard to justify eliminating AM radio for more of the same.

    It will die a natural death over the course of the next 10 years or so, as cars become equipped with internet radio appliances, and anyone who can afford cable modem service can launch their own ‘radio’ station. gramps can get his Paul Harvey over his in-dash iPhone.

    And the fairness doctrine is obsolete – everyone with an opinion can spew it on the internets, including YouTube. If I were Obama, one of the ways I would demonstrate that I know that the media environment had changed was by refusing to revive the fairness doctrine.

    It would really honk off the talk radio right-wingers, who are excited at the prospect of being ‘censored’ in the name of fairness. depriving them of a grievance they so desperately desire would really stick it to them.

  21. deowll says:

    Most media outlets have been very pro democratic, Pro Obama, etc.

    He is still smart not to let them control his converstation with America. To many of them hold views he doesn’t. They also like to spin things to make the story bigger. You can’t trust them.

    He needs to know what common people think about what he is doing.

    I suppose he could drop into a few chat groups/news groups/etc. under another name…

  22. Rick says:

    It at least confirms that SOMEONE in his administration knows what the You Tubes are.

    Thank god for that.

  23. dexton7 says:

    All that I really have to say is this…

    Obama had better not suck as bad as GW Bush (and Mad Dog Cheney). If he turns out to be more of a tyrant than either of those two – then I’m sure that segments of the population will riot and protest as things get worse in America.

    #21 Stars & Bars is right though… Obama’s policies are not much different than Bush’s, or McCain’s, or really any other president that is ‘allowed’ the office.

    If Obama does promote a positive change in America – I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

  24. Erik Blazynski says:

    Building roads and stuff seems like a lot of work. Like really hard labor type work. Who wants to do that? Does he have any desk jobs available?


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