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The Osgood File The Obamas Make their Pitch for the Olympics, Meeting Again and Again with Iran, Breaking Down the Digital Divide, A Matter of Faith; What Do We Believe? October 2, 2009.




The Obamas Make their Pitch for the Olympics.

In making its pitch to the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen to host the Olympic Games in 2016, the City of Chicago managed to upstage the other competing cities:  a couple of Chicagoans, named "Obama."

The President of the United States...

"I urge you to choose Chicago. I urge you to choose America.  And if you do - if we walk this path together - then I promise you this: the City of Chicago and the United States of America will make the world proud," said President Barack Obama.

And the First Lady...

"When I think of what these Games can mean to people all over the world, I think about people like my dad - people who face seemingly insurmountable challenges, but never let go," said First Lady Michelle Obama.

Any of the world-class cities competing with Chicago for the 2016 Olympic Games - Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, or Tokyo - has what it takes to be a great host city.  

But, Chicago had something else going for it.

"I come as a faithful representative of the American people. And we look forward to welcoming the world to the shores of Lake Michigan and the heartland of our nation in 2016," said President Barack Obama.

The President mentioned his father.

"We're a nation that has always opened its arms to the citizens of the world, including my own father from the African continent - people who have sought something better..." said President Barack Obama.

And the First Lady spoke of her late father, who struggled with MS.

"If he could've witnessed athletes who compete and excel and prove that nothing is more powerful than the human spirit, I know it would've restored in him the same sense of unbridled possibility than he instilled in me," said First Lady Michelle Obama.



Meeting Again and Again with Iran.

At their meeting in Geneva yesterday, Iran promised the other six world powers that it would cooperate fully with international agencies and will engage other nations in discussion of their concerns. 

So far, so good - says President Obama...

"This is a constructive beginning, but hard work lies ahead," said President Barack Obama.

We'll see, says Secretary of State Clinton.

"We want to see concrete actions and positive results - and I think today's meeting opened the door - but let's see what happens," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton thinks he knows what will happen.

"Well, I think it's a significant victory for Iran..." said John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. during the George W. Bush Administration.

President Obama thinks yesterday in Geneva was a good start, if...

"If Iran takes concrete steps and lives up to its obligations, there is a path towards a better relationship with the United States, increased integration for Iran within the international community, and a better future for all Iranians," said President Barack Obama.

Secretary Clinton agrees.

"I will count it as a positive sign when it moves from gestures and engagement to actions and results. That's a necessary pathway, and I think we're on it..." said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

President Obama is aware of its limits, he says.

"We've made it clear that we will do our part to engage the Iranian government on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect, but our patience is not unlimited," said President Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Iran's centrifuges spin, says John Bolton...

"Another triumph of diplomacy - after six hours of meetings, we agree to meet again, sometime by the end of the month.  And perhaps when they meet again by the end of the month, they'll agree to meet again in November,' said John Bolton.



Breaking Down the Digital Divide.

The postwar character of this country - post-World War II, that is - was profoundly influenced by the Interstate Highway System that would connect the country east and west, north and south. 

It would end up taking more than a decade and costing some 300 billion dollars.  Now, a blue ribbon commission is saying the "information superhighway" - broadband - badly needs the same sort of approach to keep the whole country connected. 

CBS News Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg.

"It's really an issue of getting the lines out there, it's maybe getting broadband wireless out there.  It's going to require some investment, and it's going to require some cooperation from these communities, and it's going to take a little time,' said Daniel Sieberg, CBS News Correspondent.

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy has warned that unless something is done, there'll be second-class citizens of the digital age. 

Our CBS News colleague Daniel Sieberg.

"For people who live in metropolitan cities, having broadband access has sort of become second nature - high speed access to everything you want on the web.  But there are still a lot of people who live in rural communities who either have dial-up access or don't have access to the Internet, at all," said Daniel Sieberg.

It's not just for entertainment, says Sieberg.

"What's happening these days is we're increasingly getting our information and our news from the Internet.  And so, if that's not available to everybody, especially in light of some of the financial woes that are hitting the newspaper industry, there's a concern that some people will be left out - that they're going to be uninformed - that they won't have access to the same sort of information that everybody else has," said Daniel Sieberg.

The commission is calling for a system of universal broadband, with liberty and access for all.

"And without it, there ends up being what's known as the 'digital divide' - or this gap between people who have high-speed Internet access and can watch things like videos and get information quickly - and those who don't," said Daniel Sieberg.

A Matter of Faith:  What Do We Believe?

Other people's religious beliefs seem pretty implausible to us - and we know that ours do to them, as well. 

Yet a survey on what we Americans believe in this Sunday's "Parade Magazine" that's the basis of our "Sunday Morning" cover story suggests that we do borrow from one another's beliefs in how we think and act, as you'll hear after this...

Garrett Sarley - the CEO of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts - is asked by Martha Teichner on our "Sunday Morning" broadcast this weekend...

"Now, do you still consider yourself a Christian?" asked Martha Teichner, CBS News Correspondent.

"Yes, I do.  I'm not a practicing Christian.  I'm not a churchgoer in that sense.  But do I consider the Christian religion a true doorway into a connection to the larger consciousness or the greater spirit?  Yes, I do,' said Garrett Sarley.

At the heart of the "Parade Magazine" survey on which Martha's piece is based is the question "What Do We Believe?"

She spoke with Professor Randall Balmer, who teaches American Religious Studies at Barnard College in New York City.

"The survey talks about a quarter of the population describing themselves as not 'religious,' but 'spiritual.'  What does that mean to you?" asked Martha Teichner.

"I think religion for many Americans - or 'spirituality,' which is now the preferred term for a lot of Americans - is very eclectic.  I have this sort of composite character I have in my mind - somebody who considers theirself, say, a good Presbyterian - and yet, does tai chi in the park on Sunday morning - consults the astrological tables in the newspaper - and does yoga when she comes home from work at night.  And sees no sense of contradiction among these various sorts of activities,' said Prof. Randall Ballmer.

More when I see you on the television this "Sunday Morning" on CBS.  This is Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.


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