monday

Public schedule:

1:45 – The President presents the Commander-in-Chief Trophy to the Air Force Academy football team.

3:05 – The President is interviewed by KCNC Denver, WRAL Raleigh, WFAA Dallas and WTHR Indianapolis.

**** you, john king

I’ve already ranted about CNN’s John King recently (here and here) and honestly intended ignoring the creature and focusing on media people with a hint of intelligence. But then I read this post on Mediaite tonight (“CNN’s John King Manages To Out-Crazy Birther Queen Orly Taitz In Wild Interview”).

So, King invited the vile knucklehead that is Orly Taitz on his show, and allowed her spew her racist-fueled venom at the President for 12 minutes. Classy.

For fear of upsetting the birther section of his audience, King said this:

Let’s look again at what he said: “This is the cynic in me, Cornel Belcher, the White House says they don’t worry about this, but every now and then, you start to hear things where I think that somebody, quietly, is trying to at least use a subtle message to rebut this. Listen to these several recent snippets of the President and things around him.”

Then he plays clips of the President saying…. “We’re all Americans” … “this isn’t a Democratic or Republican idea, it’s patriotism” … “this is what America is all about” … “the thing about America that is great is that we’re bold, we’re tough…” …. “we showed the world that all things are possible in the United States of America.”

Let’s get this clear – John King is ‘cynical‘ about the President of the United States using phrases like ….“We’re all Americans”???

Why? Well, how can you avoid the conclusion that King doesn’t view this man – you know, the black guy – as a true American? If he did, why on earth would he be cynical about the President of the United States of America using a phrase like “We’re all Americans”? Did he express such cynicism when, say, George Bush talked about ‘we Americans’? No, of course not. So, what innocent explanation could there possibly be for King to be cynical about President Obama using “we” when he talks about Americans?

Sounds to me like John King just unveiled his inner Orly Taitz.

John King? **** you.

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Twitter: @JohnKingCNN

CNN’s contact page for John King here

John King on Facebook

character

Rick Ungar (Forbes): …What the speech (last week) really did was reinforce what I continue to believe is this president’s most valuable asset – character. It is a trait of Barack Obama’s that is too often forgotten by progressives and conservatives alike … he has shown, time and again, that his decisions reflect a willingness to do what he believes is right while taking the political hits that come with courageous decisions.

This reality was never brought into sharper focus than last December when Obama elected to suffer the slings and arrows fired at him by his own supporters by swallowing hard and agreeing to the extension of the Bush tax credits.

Anyone who truly understood what was at issue in that fight – and the incredibly difficult choices available to the President – understands that Obama chose to pay the political price in order to ensure that millions of Americans who are out of work would continue to get their unemployment benefits. He was willing to take the hit from those who are supposed to be his friends so that he could protect the already suffering middle class from having to pay for the President’s political safety in the guise of the tax increases that were threatened for those who could least afford them.

That took character.

I was angry with progressives for their willingness to put someone else’s money where their mouth is .… it’s awfully easy to demand that the President stay true to his progressive roots and go to the mats with the Republicans as you sip a fine glass of wine with your friends inside a cozy bistro. Meanwhile, as you enjoy the conversation and drinks, you don’t even notice that poor fellow outside the bar who is offering to shovel driveways to make a few bucks so he can put a cheap dinner on the table for his children. He’s the one who lost his job and, if progressives had their way, would have been cut off from the only financial lifeline he had – all so that the liberals could feel more righteous in their willingness to battle the GOP using the snow shoveler’s money – not their own.

That is not progressive behavior – that is elitist behavior.

The wine drinkers were not the ones on the President’s mind last December. It was the cold guy on the outside who was the focus of Obama’s attention – and that is precisely as it should have been.

…I think the majority of Americans will agree with the President’s approach to our financial problems. Why? Because they know that character and clarity counts in a President … (last week’s) speech revealed that Obama has more than enough of both.

Read the full article here

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Thank you for sending me the link cat48, you’re a star – I adored this article

ah, here we go again…

GOPolitico on Friday:

Yep, that was an ugly figure from the Gallup poll, nothing to be happy about there at all.

But what GOPolitico (and just about every ‘mainstream’ media site I looked at) failed to mention was that the most recent polls from Rasmussen (another GOP tool), CNN, Reuters, Fox (!), NBC and Pew had the President on 46, 48, 46, 49, 49 and 47. Needless to say, though, they ignored those figures and focused solely on the latest from Gallup.

Today? The President is up 3 with Gallup, which is quite a leap in one day:

and up 2 with with GOP/Rasmussen:

What has GOPolitico to say about it? Nothing at all. There’s not a mention of the rising approval figures on their site. (And the fact that the President is up to 48 on Rasmussen is really worth reporting – Nate Silver: Rasmussen exhibits “a considerable bias toward Republican candidates”)

No, no, I’m not celebrating these figures at all – even if they are entirely predictable due to several issues beyond the President’s control, including rising gas prices (which, apparently, always have a big effect on Presidential approval figures). And the only polls I really care about are the ones on election day. But still, the dishonest reporting of these polls never, ever ceases to amaze.

in context…..

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of Pepsico

With thanks to the legend that is Blackwaterdog 😉

just for laughs

2009

2010

Thanks for the reminder, obamalia! 😉

flashback … if at first you don’t succeed…..

They got there in the end….

flashback …. first black president?

there are some things money can’t buy…

Politicususa: Sarah Palin rolled into Madison, Wisconsin using a Tea Party rally as an excuse to attack union members, but the wheels promptly fell off of her bandwagon as only 6,500 people showed up for the rally, and reports on the scene say that many of those in attendance were there to protest Palin. Not even the Koch Brothers and their magic buses could draw a crowd for Palin.

The Koch Brothers threw their front group Americans For Prosperity into the effort to hold an anti-union rally in Madison headlined by Palin. All the resources were deployed, Palin fans were begged to attend, Americans For Prosperity had no less than 13 buses lined up, and despite all of this, the crowd never came.

…The Wisconsin stunt was a desperate attempt by Palin to retake the media spotlight that Donald Trump has stolen from her. This was Sarah’s attempt to get back up on the national stage. She sees that GOP primary voters are anti-union, so she is going to be anti-unionest of them all.

CBS: Hundreds of pro-union labor supporters are surrounding smaller groups of conservative Tea Party members attending a rally featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Steve Benen: Former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin – remember her? – headlined a conservative rally in Madison yesterday, apparently hoping to generate support for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s far-right agenda. More interesting than the message, though, was the turnout.

The whole thing was organized by the Koch brother’s right-wing Americans for Prosperity, and Palin spoke behind a podium with a sign that read, “I am AFP.”

But who exactly heard all of this?

…At the height of progressive protests in February and March, tens of thousands braved the elements to condemn the Walker agenda – and wouldn’t leave. Yesterday, Palin led a parade of odd right-wing figures, at an event paid for by powerful billionaires, and about 6,500 people showed up. And of those 6,500, most of those in attendance were there to oppose Palin and her far-right allies, not support them.

It’s a reminder about the changing tide. When Tea Partiers organize a rally and bring one of their highest-profile stars to headline, but are nevertheless outnumbered at their own event, which suffered from poor attendance anyway, it’s not a good sign.

More here