Video- President Obama lunches with Missouri diners

An unlikely lunch date--Alaskan bloggers meet Sarah Palin's lawyer

By GottaLaff

Thomas Van Flein and organizer Liz Behlke

Yesterday I posted Gryphen's version of events, and what a version it was! Today, my sweet pal Celtic Diva has her post up, and has graciously allowed me to share it with you.

Instead, I'll give you a few tease-y excerpts, and send you back to her place for the rest:

First impressions: Thomas Van Flein was charming and had a sense of humor. I was also amused by how he enjoyed the "power" of information. He seemed to get a kick out of watching people's reactions when he'd ask a question he thought would be "unexpected". [...]

After about 15 minutes, I jumped into the deep end of the pool and basically asked Mr. Van Flein why he continues to give the impression that all of the ethics complaints against the Governor have been dismissed when he knows it's not true. [...]

I already expected his reaction and justification, but it was interesting to hear it directly. It's not a surprise that no one seems to take ethics seriously anymore. [...]

Other issues we discussed:

--Trig
--The "pretty" issue
--Jealousy
--Gryphen's and my experiences with the Palinistas this year

To see the details that go with those topics, and to fill in the blanks of the other bits and pieces I gave you, go here.

And go Linda!

Lunching with Obama

By GottaLaff

Via Taegan, Politico reports on a lunch fest pre-Obama Afghanistan speech:

Among those who attended: Joe Klein of Time, Fareed Zakaria or Newsweek, and Tom Friedman of the New York Times.

One out of three ain't bad. I'd love to meet Fareed.

Now let's sit back and wait for the criticisms from the Blechfast Club.

Gasp! Another Obama secret off the record lunch with ...

By GottaLaff



That extremist zealot, Prez O. He's so clearly biased, constantly conducting clandestine meetings with evildoers like Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann and... wait, what? What's this?!

There was a secret off-the-record briefing that included... David Brooks? Disguised as a lunch? Why, I oughta...

And hey, how'd Josh Marshall sneak in? Isn't he a lefty liberal progressive commie ::dun-dun-dun-n-n!:: blogger?

Yes, shockingly, it's true. Today President Obama lunched with, per ABC News:

-Mike Allen, Politico
-David Brooks, New York Times
-Chris Cillizzaa, Washington Post
-Gail Collins, New York Times
-Howard Fineman, Newsweek
-David Gergen, CNN
-Mara Liasson, NPR and Fox News Channel
-Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo.
-John Meacham, Newsweek
-Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
-Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times.

David Brooks is said to be courted regularly by the White House.

Ooo, I hope Davey liked the dozen long-stemmed roses and See's Special Ultra Deluxe Assorted Romantic Chocolates for Budding Lovers.

The inclusion of Josh Marshall, meanwhile, represents the White House's continued effort to reach out to the blogosphere.

Hey Paddy, have you noticed anyone over there reaching out to us yet? No? Me neither. Sigh.

Video- President Obama at Five Guys Burgers & Fries in Washington

Barack and Joe do lunch

Mmm, tater tots.

Lunch with President Obama: Insights

By GottaLaff

A few journalists lunched with Prez O today, and here's what they learned:

• Obama's goals include helping the American people better understand the connection between different ailing sectors; the crisis in financial institutions, for example, to the reluctance of small businesses to hire new workers because, perhaps, the credit crunch is limiting their ability to expand.
• The president is mindful of the criticism he has been too negative in talking about the economy. But he believes being realistic is the best way to keep credibility with the American people.
  
• The White House team, from the top down, believed speed was critical to getting stimulus funds into the economy. The price they knew they would pay, however, is that without any significant Republican support, the debate played straight into the enduring divide between Democrats and Republicans over spending and the role of government.
• One of the officials acknowledged there are many credible voices who take issue with the administration's approach, and noted in dealing with the stress on the financial system and other early decisions, Obama was making a series of "judgment calls" mindful of the fact that any time one acts so quickly it is inevitable some mistakes will be made. The president's take is that if 98 percent of a program is a success, and the need was urgent, then the 2 percent that goes awry is an acceptable tradeoff.
• He believes it is realistic, based on current economic projections, to pledge to cut the record annual federal budget deficit in half by the end of his first term. [There's much more, go look]
• Look for education as a potential issue on which Obama will reach out for bipartisanship that was missing from the stimulus debate.
• He loves "Slumdog Millionaire".
• He enjoys the "baubles" that come with the presidency -- Air Force One, Marine One and Camp David, for example. But he already finds the "bubble" too restricting and wishes it was easier to just take a walk, or attend his daughters' school and sporting events.
• He cherishes family dinner in the White House, where "thorns and roses" is now the favorite family game. Each family member describes the day's highlight, or rose, and the day's worst moment, the thorn. We were told after describing one particularly challenging day at the White House, Malia Obama had this to say to her father the president: "You have a really thorny job."

How does he do it all? And let's hope he always manages to pop that bubble. It's only been a month and he's already well aware that it's easy to succumb.

What am I saying? Michelle will keep him in line.

VIDEO: Bush's Rush (Limbaugh) Hour

By GottaLaff

Georgie Bush had a private birthday party for his fragrant, narcotized little chum Oxy McLimpbaugh yesterday! Weeee! Yes, boys and girls, Rush got a special invitation to go to the Big White House for lunch, at which Georgie surprised his bff with a birthday cake!

Limbaugh noted that while he had salmon over rice, french fries, and a salad for lunch, the President had only a PB&J sandwich.

Did Georgie the Wonder Prez also have chocolate milk with a special flexie straw? Tsk! I hope those two enfants terribles remembered to wash their grubby little paws first. No telling where they've been.

I wonder which of these two schmucks was at the receiving end of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Bill and Barack have a lunch date

By GottaLaff

Gee, I hope they hit it off. They make such a perfect peach of a pair:

Former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama will have a private lunch together in New York City on the anniversary of Sept. 11, according to Clinton Foundation spokesman Matt McKenna.

McKenna says Clinton knew Obama would be coming to town to recognize the anniversary with a joint appearance with Sen. John McCain scheduled at Ground Zero. Clinton invited the Democratic candidate to lunch.

Although Clinton has said he will campaign on behalf of Obama, there are no campaign events or public appearances scheduled for the two men as yet.

You two kids behave yourselves! Curfew's at 4 pm sharp!