whyroots

I can't claim to be exhaustively familiar with any of the members of the Obama team outside of the big names most of us are familiar with. Unfortunately, a lot of Obama's choices have been either seemingly politically motivated (Clinton/Richardson) or just downright dumb (Geithner/Holder).

From what I've been reading, though, I think one of the more welcomed appointments is Arne Duncan as Education Secretary. Sure, there was that grammatical error made during his introductory remarks -- then again I'm sure there are several in this post -- but what I like about the man is his genuine support for charter schools. The pros and cons of charter schools have been debated all over so I won't go in to why this is a good thing. Perhaps even more importantly though, Duncan has under his belt the major accomplishment of having implemented a system similar to San Francisco's "weighted-student formula under which kids can take their education dollars to any school - public or private" and includes extra weighted funds for students with additional needs like special education, poverty, and English as a second language. These strike me as progressive and non-partisan solutions to restoring the lustre to our nation's most important national resource. 

-- Danish Aziz 

A timeline of George W. Bush's presidency, Pitchfork's best albums, and hip hop in the past eight years

11-07-00 - George W. Bush is elected 43rd President of the United States on a campaign stressing "compassionate conservatism" and the dangers of "nation building." Half the country is upset, but most expect a lame duck presidency. Rap flourishes. 

01-01-01 - Pitchfork names Radiohead's Kid A top album of the year 2000. Rock takes an exciting and experimental (if dark) turn.   

06-05-01 - I graduate from high school. In my valedictory speech I state "George Bush couldn't run a laundromat, let alone a country." 

09-11-01 - Terrorists hijack four planes and attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

01-01-02 - Pitchfork names The Microphones' The Glow, Pt. 2 best album of the year 2001. Static and feedback reign as a nation reels from its first serious blow since Pearl Harbor. 

01-01-03 - Pitchfork names Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights best album of the year 2002, a band that was endlessly compared to Joy Division. This choice speaks to the doleful mood of the country, but Americans (and the rest of the world) were still "with" the President. It was dark but at least we were united.  

03-19-03 - The United States invades Iraq.

12-31-03 - Pitchfork names The Rapture's Echoes best album of the year 2003 proving Bad judgment is endemic. Broken Social Scene release the best album of 2003, but we're told we'd find WMD's in Echoes. To be fair, the rise of dance punk precipitates the dance music revival. 

12-31-04 - Pitchfork names The Arcade Fire's Funeral best album of the year 2004. The war enters its second year, and the nation mourns a second time as deaths (and funerals) continue to mount. 

01-20-05 - Bush sworn in to second term as President of the United States. 

12-31-05 - Pitchfork names Sufjan Stevens' Illinois best album of the year 2005. If our leaders can't save us, perhaps Christian indie folk will. We've seen the ugliness of the coastal elites, so we turn toward the heart of the country. 

12-19-06 - Pitchfork names The Knife's Silent Shout best album of the year 2006. America's not doing it for us, how about the Swedes? 

04-24-07 - Rapper T.I. says "If you want to fix America, you have to start at George Bush and work  your way down -- you can't start at hip-hop and work your way up."

12-19-07 - Pitchfork names Panda Bear's Person Pitch best album of the year 2007. The sub-genres of Freak Folk and Blog House reach their heights as we binge one final time. 

09-16-08 - Markets grind to a halt as the global financial crisis is laid bare.

11-04-08 - Barack Obama is elected 44th President of the United States. 

12-19-08 - Pitchfork names Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut the best album of the year 2008. It's no surprise that after electing the first black president, white people feel okay openly enjoying the whitest music known to man. 2008 also marks the year only a single solid hip hop album is released, Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter III. A failed war and a failed economy launch a preson of color into office, but we're forced to sit back and watch as hip hop -- an American musical invention -- breathes its last breaths.