Rise and Shine

Hair-raising …… a year ago: President Obama plays with Katia Wolfsthal, daughter of departing staffer Jon Wolfsthal, July 11, 2012. (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

****

Presidential Daily Schedule (All Times Eastern):

10:15AM: President Obama and VP Biden meet with Senators McCain and Schumer to discuss immigration reform

12:10PM: The President meets with the 1963 Loyola University of Chicago Ramblers championship basketball team

12:45: Jay Carney briefs the press

3:45PM: President Obama and VP Biden meet with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi

4:45PM: VP Biden administers the oath of office at a ceremonial swearing-in for Anthony Foxx at the Department of Transportation

5:30PM: President Obama attends a DNC event, Washington (Closed press)

****

Retweet this if you will get up, stand up for a woman’s right to choose. #standwithTXwomen #TXlege pic.twitter.com/j4FfSWKr8b

— OFA TX (@OFA_TX) July 9, 2013

****

USA Today Editorial: GOP poisons ObamaCare, then claims it’s sick: Our view

Making ObamaCare work was always going to be hard, which is exactly what you’d expect for a complex new program that affects one-sixth of the U.S. economy.

…. That explains — but hardly excuses — Republicans’ latest assault on ObamaCare. Having lost in Congress and in court, they’re now using the most cynical of tactics: trying to make the law fail. Never mind the public inconvenience and human misery that will result.

Their assault is under way on several fronts. The most disturbing is a concerted attempt to keep the public ignorant about how to use the health care exchanges where uninsured people will be able to sign up for coverage beginning Oct. 1.

More here

****

Media Matters: The Sunday Morning Shows Are Still White, Conservative, And Male

In the first six months of 2013, white men dominated the guest lists on the broadcast network Sunday shows and CNN’s State of the Union. MSNBC was the only network achieving notable diversity in its guests, particularly on Melissa Harris-Perry’s show. Republicans and conservatives are hosted significantly more on the broadcast Sunday shows than Democrats and progressives.

…. During the first six months of this year, white men were no less than 58 percent and as high as 66 percent of guests on This Week, Face the Nation, Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday, and State of the Union. Melissa Harris-Perry stands out as having a much more even distribution between white men and women and African-American men and women than all other shows.

More here

****

President Obama talks with Military Aide LTC Owen Ray during his departure ceremony in the Oval Office, July 10 (Photo by Pete Souza)

****

NYT (March 2013): Fifty years ago, as the 25th N.C.A.A. men’s final began at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., basketball fans saw for the first time something they take for granted today. As the two top men’s teams in the country, Loyola of Chicago and Cincinnati, prepared for the opening tip, most of the players on the floor, 7 of 10, were black.

… All-black colleges were not yet welcome in the N.C.A.A. tournament … but the Bearcats, the favorites in the 1963 final, had three black starters … they were hoping to become the first team to win three consecutive national titles.

They faced the Ramblers of Loyola, a Jesuit school that had never been to the tournament. They had four black starters … In the final, Loyola staged one of the most surprising comebacks in tournament history. Trailing by 15 points with less than 12 minutes to go  …. they won, 60-58, with a buzzer-beater at the end of overtime.

… During the regular season, the players on both teams had endured prejudice and humiliation: awkward moments in restaurants and hotel lobbies; hostile crowds hurling garbage and abuse; social isolation on their own campuses.

Jerry Harkness, Loyola’s star and captain, felt pressure from two sides, from the characters who sent him hate mail signed “KKK” and from the neighborhoods and churches of black Chicago.

“We were winning, we were four blacks, and boy, the black community was excited about us,” Harkness said. “We go to a dance: ‘Man you guys are great, you can’t lose now. Please don’t lose’.”

More here

****

Jimmy Carter on Christian Values... http://t.co/15TG6yIHqq

—
A. Deno Vir, MD PhD (@Adenovir) July 11, 2013

****

Dana Milbank: Last week, the administration announced it was delaying by a year the implementation of one of Obamacare’s provisions, the requirement that large employers provide health insurance. You’d think the opposition party, which has spent four years denouncing the health-care reforms, would be delighted by the reprieve. But on Wednesday, Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to condemn the administration — for incomplete enforcement of the law they hate.

President Obama was called a dictator and a socialist for passing Obamacare. Now he’s a dictator and a socialist for postponing it? “The irony of objecting to the delay of a program you’ve been trying to stop is no doubt lost on this room,” observed Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee.

This unqualified opposition is counterproductive for House Republicans. On health care, as on immigration, their approach amounts to a search-and-destroy mission. They could work with Democrats to remove problematic pieces in the health-care law, and they could compromise with Democrats on legislation that would secure the borders. But instead they are devoted to shutting down both.

More here

****

This is MUST WATCH video. In two minutes Sara (@VictorianPrude) exposed Republicans for the cretins they are

****

****

Becca Aaronson: The House voted 96-49 on Wednesday to give final approval to proposed abortion regulations in Texas. House Bill 2, which would ban abortion at 20 weeks and enact some of the strictest regulations in the country on abortion providers and facilities, now heads to the Senate. “If we’re going to ask for more children to come into this world, we should provide for them,” said state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio. She offered an amendment, which lawmakers tabled, that would have extended state benefits to children put into the foster care and adoption system by women who could not access abortion as a result of the legislation. She added, “We know there are going to be lots of cases where the mothers just cannot, even though they may want to, they cannot take care of them.”

During the final vote, a woman screamed from the gallery that she objected to the proceedings. She refused to quiet or leave, and state troopers carried her out of the gallery by her hands and feet.

House Administration Chairman Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, said five women were arrested and taken to jail by state police who were stationed in the House gallery. Several of them sat through the opening prayer and pledges of allegiance to the national and state flags. When the abortion bill came to a final vote in the House, they began shouting, “We will not be silenced,” but the vote proceeded, uninterrupted.

More here

***

On this day….

***

Sara Kliff: In Connecticut, selling Obamacare involves airplanes flying banners across beaches. Oregon may reel in hipsters with branded coffee cups for their lattes. And in neighboring Washington, the effort could get quite intimate: The state is interested in sponsoring portable toilets at concerts. The advertisements, developed with political consultants and communications firms, illustrate the ability of the health-care law’s supporters to pinpoint the precise group they want to sign up for Obamacare — young and healthy Americans who won’t weigh down the system with high medical bills.

Oregon will run a $2.9 million campaign leading up to the October launch of the state’s marketplace, called Cover Oregon. Ads went live Tuesday on television and radio featuring local musicians extolling the benefits of enrolling “every logger and lawyer and stay-at-home dad” in health insurance coverage. The state is finalizing plans for other kinds of outreach, such as putting ads in bus shelters or producing branded coffee cups

More here

***

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visit the La General Hospital in Accra, Ghana, July 11, 2009

****

Julie Rovner: A trade group for Catholic hospitals says a new Obama administration policy on birth control is just fine. That’s in sharp contrast to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which continues to battle against the policy, which exempts churches, synagogues and mosques, but requires other institutions run by religious organizations to cover birth control under employees’ health insurance. Sister Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Health Association, said the administration’s final birth control rule wasn’t what her organization would have preferred for the hospitals and other health facilities it oversees.

SISTER CAROL KEEHAN: But it was a solution that we could make work, because it allows our members not to have to buy, contract for, refer or arrange for contraceptive services.

ROVNER: Under the rule, churches and other houses of worship are exempt. Women who work for Catholic or other religious hospitals, universities and social service agencies will still get the no-cost birth control, but the religious entity won’t have to be involved in providing it. The insurance company or insurance administrator will instead.

More here

***

***

Alec MacGillis: Immigration reform was supposed to be different than health care reform. A few wonks aside, Republicans have never had any real interest in expanding health insurance coverage to those who lack it. But there are plenty of influential figures in the Republican coalition who are motivated to reform immigration laws—whether political tacticians like Karl Rove who can read demographic charts or business owners who want more reliable streams of immigrant labor. But it’s now looking increasingly as if the never-ending Republican war on health care reform could be helping block immigration reform just when it finally had a real chance.

What does this have to do with immigration reform? Well, because of the absolute refusal by congressional Republicans—and many GOP governors and state legislators around the country—to accept the Affordable Care Act as law of the land and reckon with any complications that might arise in its implementation, the Obama administration has been forced to carry off necessary tweaks and adjustments on its own, via regulatory fiat.

Such unilateral tweaks by the administration, in turn, have Republicans decrying what they see as extra-constitutional nigh-dictatorial overreach. And it’s taken no time for declamations against the administration’s regulatory freelancing on Obamacare to turn into general paranoia about what the administration might conspire to do with an immigration law.

More here

****

President Obama remarks to an African boy on the similarity of their ears as he greets diners at a breakfast during his visit to the Presidential Castle in Accra, July 11, 2009

Cape Coast Castle, Ghana, July 11, 2009

****

Have A Dance Like No One’s Watching Day! 😀

****

The Librul Media: Sunday Show guests since 2010

****

****

****

See the complete lists at Roll Call – can’t find a list for 2009, but presumably it was just as comical.

****

And …… this Sunday’s guests include:

ABC’s This Week: Gene Sperling, Kelly Ayotte

NBC’s Meet the Press: Gene Sperling, John Boehner, Rep. Raul Labrador

CBS’s Face the Nation: Dick Durbin, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and …… I’m not making this up …..Lindsey Graham and John McCain

Fox News Sunday: Mitt and Ann Romney. No, seriously.

****

As @BillinPortland said, they only want Sperling on “so they can keep milking the Woodward kerfuffle”. Although, he was good enough to say of his “Milking the Woodward” reference – “sorry for that visual”.

****

Thank you Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) for the Roll Call link

Rise and Shine

Two years ago: VP Biden, joined by daughter Ashley Biden, left, wife Dr. Jill Biden, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, react to a joke made by Jamie Foxx during “The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House,” Feb. 24, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

****

The Sunday shows – guests include:

This Week: Rep Mike Rogers, Rep Eliot Engel, George Will, Christiane Amanpour, Donna Brazile.

Face the Nation: Sen Kelly Ayotte, Sen Tim Kaine, Gov Martin O’Malley, Gov Bob McDonnell, Gov Jan Brewer, Gov John Hickenlooper, Rep Tim Murphy.

Meet the Press: Gov Deval Patrick, Gov Bobby Jindal, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Harold Ford, Peggy Noonan.

State of the Union: Sen John 🙄 McCain, Sen Patrick Leahy, Gov Daniel Malloy, Haley Barbour, Gwen Ifill.

****

MooOOOoooOOOOoorning everyone, it’s a beautiful day! Actually, that’s not true – my fingers, toes and nose are numb. In fact, my fingers are so cold I’m finding it hyyyyard too[[[ooooo tyyyoppye.

Will catch up with newsie things later after I get a bit of work done – that’s if my fingers have defrrrrrosssst]]]]]ed.

Rise and Shine

President Obama visits a pre-kindergarten classroom at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur, Ga., Feb. 14

****

Today:

EST

10:0: President Obama meets with President Giorgio Napolitano of Italy

11:10: Welcomes the 18 recipients of the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal

12:10: Departs the White House

CT

1:10: Arrives Chicago

2:45: Delivers remarks at Hyde Park Academy

4:30: Departs Chicago

EST

8:0: Arrives West Palm Beach, Florida

****

Washington Post: President Obama used his State of the Union address to launch a push for massively expanding pre-K and other early childhood education programs. But he was pretty vague about it. Not anymore. At 6 a.m. today, the administration released its detailed plan for early childhood education….

…. Upon opening the plan for the first time (while on the phone with me) Nobel laureate and early childhood education expert James Heckman exclaimed “Holy smokes!” in approval.

More here

****

****

Eugene Robinson: In his bid to be remembered as a transformational leader, President Obama is following the playbook of an ideological opposite, Margaret Thatcher. First you win the argument, she used to say, then you win the vote.

Obama is gradually winning the argument about what government can and should do. His State of the Union address was an announcement of that fact — and a warning to conservatives that, to remain relevant, they will have to move beyond the premise that government is always the problem and never the solution…..

Full article here

****

****

Steve Benen: Sen. John McCain, as recently as a few days ago, said he would not try to stop an up-or-down vote on Chuck Hagel’s Defense Secretary nomination. And then yesterday, he did the exact opposite.

I’m sure he’ll be coming soon to a Sunday show near you to explain his thinking, but in the meantime, take a look at what McCain told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto after the first-ever instance of a Senate minority blocking a vote on a cabinet nominee:

More here

****

NYT Editorial: For the last four years, Senate Republicans have used the power of the filibuster to block legislation, bottle up nominees to courts and government departments, and strangle federal agencies, even though they are in the minority. On Thursday, they hit a new low. They successfully filibustered Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee for defense secretary, the first time a cabinet nominee for this post has been prevented from receiving an up-or-down vote.

More here

****

****

****

NYT: At a high school near his own neighborhood here, President Obama on Friday will provide new details about an initiative to select 20 communities nationwide as laboratories for better coordination of federal, local, nonprofit and private-sector investments to revitalize long-distressed areas, according to administration officials.

Mr. Obama had announced his proposal to designate the so-called Promise Zones during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but did not provide many details. As part of the effort, he also is seeking tax breaks, for capital investments in the zones and for employers who hire unemployed residents.

More here

****

****

Steve Benen: Two weeks from today, deep, automatic sequestration cuts will kick in, doing real damage to the nation’s economy, military, and public needs. Both Democrats and Republicans say they want to avoid that fate, but only one side seems to be doing anything about the threat.

This week, House Republican leaders, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said they would do literally nothing to resolve the problem until Senate Democrats acted. It was a bizarre posture to take — the House GOP freely admits it doesn’t want to do any work at all to clean up the mess Republican helped make.

More here

****

****

One more time (well, until the next time – probably later today):

President Obama gets a hug from a child at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center, in Decatur, Ga., Feb 14

****

At last, moooOOOooorning! That was a rush job, I’m sure I’m missing lots of stuff, but will catch up later.

Rise and Shine

Random old pic – Pete Souza: “Following remarks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the fiscal cliff negotiations, the President greets a couple of OMB workers as he walked back across on West Executive Avenue as he walked back to the West Wing of the White House. He gave them an elbow-bump, because he had just put Purell on his hands.” (Photo by Pete Souza, Dec. 31, 2012)

****

Sunday: The President has no public events scheduled

Monday: Will participate in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony at the White House

Will spend the rest of the week in Washington, DC and attend meetings at the White House

****

A word from Bobfr:

Letter sent to PBO and VP Biden ….

Dear Mr President,

300+ million guns in the possession of folk in America is way beyond the proverbial ‘horse has left the barn.’ It would be great to ban anyone other than the military & police organizations from owning semi-automatic weapons, but I think you have a much more pragmatic way of addressing that issue and several other gun violence significant challenges.

You and your legal advisers are way more sophisticated than I ever will be so please forgive if you’ve already considered the following.

1. Focus on the ‘well regulated’ clause of the 2nd Amendment and leverage it to issue and enforce substantial reforms via Executive Order – i.e., use the law of the land to maximum extent rather than rely on new legislation (for all the reasons we know how intractable that path currently is);

2. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as every gun being registered and accounted for at all times;

3. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as each person in possession of a gun is properly trained, certified, licensed, free of any criminal record, & insured for liability for unintended or illegal harm they might cause;

4. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as any person owning more than one gun was properly trained, certified and licensed for EACH gun and that their liability insurance covered EACH gun;

5. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as ensuring that each gun owner had their certification and license to possess every gun they own be renewed on an annual basis;

6. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as an accounting of every round of ammunition (as well as the equipment and components for assembling ammunition) a licensed gun owner purchased with limits set on the frequency of purchase no less stringent than the purchase of ‘Sudafed’;

7. ‘Well regulated’ would be reasonably interpreted as any violation of the use of a gun, any conviction for DUI, any conviction for assault of any form, any conviction for use of illegal drugs, and any conviction for any form of violent threat or crime automatically results in confiscation of any gun, ammunition, etc., in possession of the offender.

These pragmatic steps do not infringe on ‘2nd Amendment’ rights. These pragmatic steps do not require anyone to surrender whatever type of gun they have.

These pragmatic steps require any person in possession of one or more guns to prove they are properly trained, licensed and insured – requirements no more onerous than those drivers of automobiles, operators of a vast range of equipment, school bus drivers, etc., must adhere.

All those other activities do not have as their intended consequence killing. Only a gun has that intended consequence.

So, it is merely reasonable that the operator of a gun meet at least as rigorous a set of training, license and insurance responsibilities given that that device has ONLY ONE intended outcome – DEATH.

Thank you

****

NYT: President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week.

Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces — separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers or highly skilled foreigners — which might be easier for reluctant members of their party to accept.

Full article here

****

NYT: As lawmakers take to the Sunday shows to express their opinions on President Obama’s cabinet nominations, Colin L. Powell, the retired general and former secretary of state, will join NBC’s “Meet the Press” to voice his support for Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense.

NBC will also feature a roundtable discussion of Washington’s next debates on the debt ceiling and more with Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark and Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor.

🙄 —-> Senator John McCain and Senator Joe Manchin will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” to share their views on Mr. Obama’s national security picks…..

More here

Meet the Press: Colin Powell, Cory Booker, Haley Barbour, Mike Murphy, Andrea Mitchell

Face the Nation: John McCain, Joe Manchin, Stanley McChrystal, Antonio Villaraigosa, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, John Dickerson, Amy Walter

This Week: Jack Reed, Bob Corker, Richard Haass, Martha Raddatz, Joe Manchin, Jon Huntsman, Al Hunt, Paul Krugman, Peggy Noonan, David Walker, Judy Woodruff

State of the Union: David Keene, Chris Murphy, Joe Manchin, Jon Huntsman, Elijah Cummings, Marsha Blackburn, Jeff Zeleny, Michael Scherer

****

****

MoooOOOoooOOOOoorning!

rise and shine

OFA

****

Today:

12:00: VP Biden attends a campaign event in Santa Barbara, Calif.

12:30: Jay Carney briefs the press.

4:45: PBO welcomes the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride to the White House.

****

ThinkProgress

****

****

Robert Shrum: As he finally claims the nomination that was his all along, but which was so reluctantly yielded to him, Mitt Romney enters his Etch A Sketch period. He may twist the knobs to try and shift his professed beliefs as easily as the aluminum granules on the screen of one of the last century’s most famous toys. But it’s hard for the epic flip-flopper to reframe himself again – or it should be.

Romney is only doing what comes naturally to a man who once said he was “better” on gay rights than Ted Kennedy, but then later donated $25,000 to the homophobic National Organization For Marriage – through a conduit that was designed to hide his contribution. Romney’s public life across two decades has been a ceaselessly revised Etch A Sketch.

More here

****

Quarterback Phillip Sims takes a picture of President Barack Obama as he poses for a photo with members of the BCS National Champion University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team following a ceremony to honor their 14th national championship and their 2011-2012 season, on the South Lawn of the White House, April 19, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

****

****

Washington Post: LORAIN, Ohio — Just a day after President Obama visited this crucial swing state, Mitt Romney spoke at a shuttered drywall company visited four years ago by then-candidate Obama to make the argument that Obama’s record has yet to live up to his lofty rhetoric.

On an empty warehouse floor, Romney laid the blame for the company’s fate squarely on Obama.

…. The company actually shut down in June 2008, months before Obama took office and his economic policies took effect.

…. Romney campaign aides said that Obama hasn’t delivered on the promise to jump-start the economy.

… But in Ohio, the economy is improving.

With an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent in February, Ohio’s jobless stats are lower than the national average of 8.2 percent. The unemployment rate, which peaked at 10.6 percent in December 2009, has steadily fallen since then — it was at 8.6 percent when Obama took office in January 2009.

More here

****

ThinkProgress: If It’s Sunday, It’s Meet The Republican White Men

****

ThinkProgress: Yum! Brands, the owner of fast food brands KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut told Color of Change that they will no longer support the American Legislative Exchange Council, the right-wing front group that, until recently, was a driving force behind state voter suppression and “stand your ground” gun laws. Yum!’s decision means a dozen corporations (plus the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) have now dropped the conservative group.

More here

****

Cagle

****

Cagle

****

****

Morning everyone 😉

rise and shine

3:30 PM: First Lady Michelle Obama welcomes Caroline Kennedy and representatives of other first families and members of the White House Historical Association for a reception in honor of the organization’s 50th Anniversary.

****

NYT: Obama Tries to Speed Response to Shortages in Vital Medicines

President Obama will issue an executive order on Monday that the administration hopes will help resolve a growing number of critical shortages of vital medicines used to treat life-threatening illnesses, among them several forms of cancer and bacterial infections.

The order offers drug manufacturers and wholesalers both a helping hand and a gloved fist in efforts to prevent or resolve shortages that have worsened greatly in recent years, endangering thousands of lives.

It instructs the F.D.A. to do three things: broaden reporting of potential shortages of certain prescription drugs; speed reviews of applications to begin or alter production of these drugs; and provide more information to the Justice Department about possible instances of collusion or price gouging.

Full article here

****

Greg Sargent: ‘GOP tightening election laws across the country’

My pick for read of the morning is this very well reported Los Angeles Times piece detailing what is now an undeniable national trend: Republican legislatures and governors are making it harder for people to vote in multiple states across the country.

When you see these examples piled up in one place, as the L.A. Times has done, you get a clear sense of the national scope and potential impact of all these state-by-state initiatives.

As one expert puts it, the presidential race could hang in the balance: “These laws will have an effect on the margin on who votes. And in a state like Florida, a small difference matters. It could easily decide the outcome.”

See the LA Times report here

****

Read Steve Benen here

****

USA Today: A Republican lawmaker who has criticized the Department of Energy’s $529 million loan guarantee to an electric car company that is manufacturing vehicles overseas has championed U.S.-backed loans to a company headquartered in his home district that does business around the globe.

Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., has called for the House Energy and Commerce’s oversight subcommittee to investigate the DOE decision to award the loan to Fisker Automotive, which is manufacturing its first line of vehicles in Finland.

…. Murphy, however, has backed financing for the Westinghouse Electric, which owns facilities in countries including Sweden, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Spain, Germany and the Ukraine and is headquartered in Murphy’s district. In May, Murphy introduced legislation that would provide loan guarantees up to $450 million to Westinghouse for the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the United States.

…. Murphy has received more than $40,000 in contributions from Westinghouse employees and the company’s political action committee, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Murphy did not respond to a request for comment…..

Full article here

****

Cain campaign up in smoke?

Steve Benen: …. So, what happens now? The Cain campaign is either lying about the candidate’s alleged misconduct or it’s not. And with the two accusers restricted by their settlement agreements from speaking, it’s possible Cain and his team feel like they can weather the storm without new details emerging. We’ll see.

But the larger political storm is just starting to brew. Cain’s reaction to direct questions yesterday – after being asked four times about the allegations, he sighed, glared at a reporter, stayed silent, and refused to respond – signaled to reporters everywhere that the Republican candidate has a real problem on his hands.

As for efforts to blame the “liberal” media, this may have some salience in GOP circles, but it’s not much of a strategy. For one thing, Politico hardly leans to the left. For another, the article was co-authored by a reporter who used to work for National Review. (Part of me wonders if it was members of the Republican establishment who leaked this, just to make Cain go away.)

What’s less clear is whether rank-and-file Republican voters will care. There’s reason to believe they won’t – the GOP has a track record of looking the other way when sexual misconduct allegations affect their own (Vitter, Clarence Thomas, et al).

Full post here

****

****

I went over to the dark side last night to see the reaction to the Cain story – I (literally) laughed out loud when the Teabaggers claimed it was the Obama administration that leaked the story to GOPolitico.

These people just aren’t very bright. I’d imagine there’s nothing the Obama administration would love more than for Cain to win the GOP nomination – because the President wouldn’t have to break in to a sweat to win four more years.

Karl Rove, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney ….. methinks we have our suspects.

PS The single funniest comment on the dark side last night: that the allegations against Cain were “racist” and were probably invented by the “Kenyan’s” thugs. Seriously.

****

Cain is even leading Perry in Texas! (See Texas Tribune)

****

BBC

Crikey, an awful lot of people on this planet were born after me 😳

****

President Obama will have at least three bilateral meetings while in Cannes, France, this week for the G-20, and he plans to end the week with a press conference.

On Thursday, he’ll meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and on Friday he will meet with Argentine President Cristina Kirchner.

The President’s press conference will be on Friday, before he returns to Washington.

****

There are strange goings-on in the comments, be afraid.

ah, so fair and balanced!

14 guests:

Bethany McLean

3 Dems

9 GOP + 1 GOP media stooge

those bedroom slippers……

Thanks for this Ladyhawke. At Jay Carney’s briefing today the major issue of our times – bedroom slippers – was raised.

Ann Compton, White House correspondent for ABC News Radio, asked:

“Twice you answered that you heard the President tell other groups to stop complaining. Can you tell us whether any other groups have been told to “take off their bedroom slippers”? And should anybody in the ballroom that night take offense at the President’s admonishment to “take off their bedroom slippers and start marching”?”

Okay, so Compton was implying that the President has only ever told African Americans (at the Congressional Black Caucus) to take off their bedroom slippers and start marching.

It took literally 10 seconds using the search function on WhiteHouse.gov to find this:

North Carolina State University, September 14, 2011 (23:40 in the original video – here) – speaking to an audience made up of every race, color and creed.

Quality journalism, eh?

***

Sorry, just saw on Twitter that Pragmatic Obots Unite! already posted on this – see here

Truly, some people just keep on embarrassing themselves:

Anthea Butler (associate professor of religion at the University of Pennsylvania): I was perturbed by his rhetorical delivery and statements like “taking off your slippers.” Seriously. Has the president ever asked a white Democratic audience to “take off your slippers?”

Yep Anthea, he has. 😉

axelrod & gibbs