VIDEO: President Obama’s commencement speech at University of Michigan

By GottaLaff

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IMHO: Killer speech.

Organizers Take Steps to Keep Tea Party Rally Clean

By GottaLaff

If the Tea Tantrumers are trying to avoid images like these, these and these, fine and dandy. Personally, I have my doubts about how effective their "steps" will be (Roll Call is subscription only, so the excerpt below is all that was available to us).

From the Department of Too Little Too Late:

Thousands of people are expected to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to attend the April 15 rally against the policies of the Obama administration, and organizers are implementing new steps to ensure the crowd remains civil and its message is not diluted by personal attacks.

Maybe they should have thought of implementing New Rules when it was a New "Movement". Just think of all the spitting, shouting slurs and threats to Congress members they have been prevented.

I guess the blowback is finally catching up to them. Kudos to us for keeping up the pressure, shame on them for their despicable displays, and here's to a genuine effort to rein in the vile hostility.

RNC says "no" to joint statement calling for civility

By GottaLaff

Greg Sargent has two interesting tidbits to share with us.

Tidbit numero uno:

Has anyone else noticed that the Dem efforts to demand that Republican leaders condemn the threats and intimidation have suddenly gone silent today? I’m told Dems made a concerted decision to dial down the noise.

IMHO, they weren't noisy enough. But what do I know?

Tidbit numero dos:

Speaking of threats and intimidation, DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse emails that the DNC sent a letter to RNC chair Michael Steele today asking him to issue a joint statement calling for civility. The RNC declined, Woodhouse says, which makes sense, since GOPers wouldn’t want Dems to set the agenda on this story.

But of course they declined. Politics are much more important than the health and welfare of the country. Better to maintain the boiling hot tone than to show any sign of unity. Benefiting one's party is the priority, not benefiting the nation.

Well, at least the Party of No is consistent...ly wrong.

Obama: National debate is 'coarsening'

By GottaLaff

How charmingly understated, Laffy said dryly:

President Barack Obama said in an interview to be aired Sunday night on “60 Minutes" that he sees “a coarsening of our political dialogue.”

“The truth of the matter is that there has been, I think, a coarsening of our political dialogue,” Obama told Steve Kroft in an interview taped at the White House on Friday evening.

Ya think?

“I will also say that in the era of 24-hour cable news cycles, that the loudest, shrillest voices get the most attention. And so one of the things that I’m trying to figure out is: How can we make sure that civility is interesting?”

Strip naked?