the work goes on, the cause endures...

Edward M. Kennedy

February 22 1932-August 25 2009

The loss of Senator Kennedy has been an incredible shock. He was a party leader and a great Senator, but most importantly he was my Senator, our Senator. It's seems impossible for me to think of a Massachusetts, of a Boston, of a BU and of a BUCD without Senator Kennedy. One of the first things I did with the BUCD as a freshman was make phone calls for Senator Kennedy during the 2006 midterms, and on November 2nd, surrounded by the friends and confetti, I watched him speak, congratulate our new Governor and usher in the first Democratic majority in 12 years.

I don't know how much I can say about the Senator that hasn't already been said. I think that the best I can do is share his own advice, "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die..."

Worth a Thousand Words

A lot has happened in the world of politics this summer: Al Franken was finally able to join the Senate, Sarah Palin decided to defy "politics as usual" by not finishing her term in office, here in Boston the Mayoral race is heating up (personal bias: GO SAM YOON!), not to mention health care, health care, health care! BUCD has also had a fairly eventful summer as well; with the CDA Convention occurring last weekend, the addition of our new faculty adviser Melissa Staz and our beautiful new website. Yet, with all this going on I would like to write about one of my new found summer obsessions the White House Photostream via Flickr (which is where all the photos in this post come from btws).
I started browsing through the Photostream to find a good desktop for my computer after I saw this picture from the Fourth of July:

The pictures on the website range from beautiful images like the one above to a series of silly photos of the White House staff throwing a football around and my favorite of Obama and Reggie Love pounding it while Rahm Emanuel watches awkwardly:

Mainly though my fascination with the White House Photostream stems from the how very awe inspiring and down right presidential Obama looks in the photos. Whether he is speaking in Ghana:

Or, as in the photo I chose for my desktop, he is talking to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office:

It shouldn't be saying much that President Obama looks presidential but after the past eight years with President Bush I guess the image is, to me at least, still fascinating. I don't agree with our President on everything (the administration's views on gay marriage are a pretty large example) but I find the Photostream serves as reminder of the Hope and Change that Obama offered to America. Obviously the pictures aren't substantive policy and looking presidential is a pretty low standard to hold the President to, but paging through them will give you a glimpse into the personality of the White House and what a remarkable change this administration is from the last. The change is one that America voted for and to me that is a hope for the future.