Welcome to your weekend open thread. It looks to be a fine weekend. There are at least two great local festivals this weekend: the newly revived Brandywine Arts Festival and the Mushroom Festival. I plan on going to the Mushroom festival today.
Obama gave a really eloquent defense of the 1st amendment yesterday in his press conference. Listen to his answer when asked about the NYC Islamic Center.
Greg Sargent at WaPo has a good catch. Comments by Obama yesterday indicate that Elizabeth Warren is likely to be named the head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Wall Street hates her, which is a good thing. Her job is not to worry about Wall Street profits.
Obama was careful to say that no decisions have been made. But he indicated that an announcement is coming, and if you read between the lines of what he said, it sure sounded like a strong hint that he’s leaning towards picking her:
The idea for this agency was Elizabeth Warren’s. She’s a dear friend of mine. She’s somebody I’ve known since I was in law school. And I have been in conversations with her. She is a tremendous advocate for this idea. his is a big task standing up this entire agency. So I’ll have an announcement soon about how we’re going to move forward.
I have had conversations with Elizabeth over these last couple of months. But I’m not going to make an official announcement until it’s ready.
Obama slightly emphasized the word “official,” suggesting the possibility that making it official is all that remains. The White House declined to comment to me when I asked whether Obama was leaning in her direction, beyond saying an announcement is coming. But this is the strongest endorsement of Warren Obama has yet offered in public.
I assume Wall Street is afraid of her because she is good at articulating how Wall Street has been screwing the American people for decades. Go Elizabeth!