Charlie Rose interviews Garry Wills about "Bomb Power", Obama, and America in general: http://eztvlinks.com/charlie-rose-christina-romer-garry-wills/. Wills describes himself as "terribly" disappointed in what Obama has done, describing his appointments of Iraq war supporters, insiders on Wall Street, and insiders (AMA, big pharma, health insurance carriers) for health care. Wills suggests that Obama feels more constrained that he needed to be. Too much a lawyer, and not enough of a leader, suggested Rose. Wills counters—and I must agree—that a good lawyer gets people to do things. Wills thinks that Obama threw away a whole year with largely self-imposed constraints. Congress, nevertheless, remains "supine". Wills notes that the willingness of Congress to bow to the president is in part of the "cult" of the commander-in-chief. Wills notes that the presidency is not a military office, as established long ago by court cases. These are just a few quick notes that I took during the interview. It's not a thorough as the book, but for less than 30 minutes, you can get a solid, thoughtful overview, as well as his thoughts on Obama and more general topics.
Steve Jobs spoke at the 2005 Stanford graduation. In 15 minutes, he shares three stories from his life that prove quite thoughtful and enlightening. If you think that he's gotten all of the breaks, listen to it and consider. Worth your 15 minutes, I think you'll agree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA.
