Fox Airs Obama's CBC Speech (others don't) during Glenn Beck Show

By GottaLaff

Yesterday we live-streamed the audio (Paddy posted video of the entire speech here) of President Obama's speech. If only I'd known to tune in to ClusterFox!

Oh wait. I avoid that channel like the plague and shun it like nobody's business:

[...] Fox News Channel aired, in its entirety, a speech given by Pres. Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus Phoenix Awards Dinner. While MSNBC remained with "Lockup" and CNN aired a "Larry King Live" from earlier this week, from 9:26pm to 9:51pm, FNC broadcast a tape-playback of the speech. [...]

FOX was the only major U.S. broadcast network not to get an interview with Obama last Sunday.

One story FNC did not mention [...] - Glenn Beck Day in Mt. Vernon, Washington, the FNC host's hometown. [...]

Interestingly, FNC's airing of Obama's speech interrupted the 9pmET weekend re-air of "Glenn Beck" for about 25 minutes.

It's nice to start the day with a good laugh at Blech's expense.

VIDEO- Shannyn Moore on Countdown: "I can't imagine an hour and a half of" Palin

By GottaLaff

Shannyn never disappoints:

Khadafy’s interpreter: "I just can’t take it any more"

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: This post now cross-posted at Alan Colmes' site, Liberaland.

Yesterday I posted a Shallow Thought that snarked about Tag Team Interpreters. Seems I wasn't far off. You know what they say: There are no jokes.

It's from the New York Post, so take it for what it's worth, but I'm inclined to go with this one:

After struggling to turn Khadafy’s insane ramblings at the UN into English for 75 minutes, the Libyan dictator’s personal interpreter got lost in translation.

"I just can’t take it any more," Khadafy’s interpreter shouted into the live microphone – in Arabic.

At that point, the U.N.’s Arabic section chief, Rasha Ajalyaqeen, took over and translated the final 20 minutes of the speech.

"His interpreter just collapsed – this is the first time I have seen this in 25 years," another U.N. Arabic interpreter told The Post.

It takes a particular kind of talent to have that effect on your own guy. Whaddya think, does Khadafy make it into Guinness?

Breaking with protocol, Khadafy brought his own interpreters from Tripoli for Wednesday’s speech rather than use one of the 25 Arabic translators supplied by the United Nations, staff interpreters said.

Maybe the interpreter should have gone through some kind of endurance training. Or maybe he caught sight of his boss's hair and faked it just to have an excuse to leave the room.

Those who have translated for Khadafy in the past said they could empathize with his interpretator’s exasperation. [...]

"He’s not exactly the most lucid speaker," another Arabic interpreter said. "It’s not just that what he’s saying is illogical, but the way he’s saying it is bizarre. However, I think I could have made him sound a lot better."

By comparison, even Sarah Palin could make him sound better.

"Sometimes he mumbles, sometimes he talks to himself," he said.’

I take it back. Sarah could benefit from a session or two with him. She's just. That. Bad. At least Moammar's outfits keep us interested.

Ajalyaqeen, who had to rescue the bealegured interpreter, was given the day off yesterday.

"Ten minutes with Khadafy earns you a lot of annual leave," one interpreter said.

And an hour and a half earns you a gold medal.

Rep. Howard Berman calls out Sarah Palin

By GottaLaff

Hong Wrong Sarah dissed our president in her first Big Outing and got called out:

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has this to say about it:

“In remarks before business leaders in Hong Kong, former Governor Palin urged China to ‘rise responsibly.’ As she continues on the lecture circuit, Ms. Palin would do well to take her own advice. Leaving aside the propriety of criticizing the president while on her first trip to Asia, the assertion that the United States is ignoring areas of disagreement with China is flat wrong. The Strategic and Economic Dialogue launched by the Obama Administration earlier this year has provided the right forum to discuss a wide range of issues involving common interests as well as significant policy differences between Washington and Beijing. And when I met with Chinese leaders in August, they were very open about aspects of trade, human rights and global security on which we still are seeking agreement, but were overwhelmingly positive about the current state of the U.S.-China relationship. I believe this is the direct result of the work that the Obama Administration has done to put this relationship on the right course.”

VIDEO- Sarah Palin's Hong Kong speech “long, humorless and George W. Bush-like”

By GottaLaff



This relatively positive video sure paints a different picture than what you're about to read:

Sarah Palin’s first ever visit to East Asia began with a monologue that invoked the spirit of Margaret Thatcher, sounded “unmistakably” like a pitch for the 2012 presidency and was described by several members of the audience as
“long, humorless and George W Bush-like”.

Described by some as “safe” and by others as “uncomfortable”, the speech called for closer ties between the United States and China, and attacked the recent decision of the Administration of Barack Obama to impose heavy tariffs on imported Chinese tyres.[...]

Several audience members reportedly walked out of Ms Palin’s speech 30 minutes before the end, citing “more important things to do” or describing the talk as “too partisan and too much like a speech at the Republican convention”.

One senior fund manager told The Times that the 80-minute lecture, and the lack of an opportunity to fire any questions at Ms Palin, was a disappointment. “You would think that with her team of speechwriters and a supposedly media-free environment Palin could have afforded to be either funny or thought-provoking, but she was neither,” she said. [...]

Besides its political impact, the speaking engagement is understood to have brought substantial financial relief to Ms Palin, whose recent legal battles have left her with bills of about $500,000. CLSA’s refusal to reveal the fee paid to Ms Palin added to the general mood of secrecy surrounding the event, but it is thought to be in the range of between $170,000 to $220,000.

Need more excuses for all the secrecy? Here ya go:

Questions are prearranged...

A US delegate leaving early with a colleague said: “it was awful, we couldn’t stand it any longer.”

Melvin Goodé, a property consultant who attended Palin’s speech, was interviewed about Palin’s speech by the Wall Street Journal. When asked how he thought she did, he “shrugged his shoulders…[and] said that she generally did all right, given that she ‘wasn’t supposed to know anything about the continent.’”

I'm sure we'll soon be able to read all about how unfair these appraisals were and who's to blame on Death Panel Barbie's Facebook page.

Shallow Thoughts: Moammar Khaddafy edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Shallow Thought:

I swear I saw Khaddafy's interpreters playing tag team. They get exhausted after 5 minutes, and another runs in to relieve him.

That was today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.

I see China from my house! Palin to address U.S.-China relations in Hong Kong speech

By GottaLaff

Because everyone knows what a foreign policy expert Sarah the Also is:

Sarah Palin will deliver an address on the state of U.S.-China relations in a speech in Hong Kong this week.

2012... 2012... 2012....

"We have asked her to address U.S. foreign policy, to discuss her views on governance, healthcare and, of course, China," Jonathan Slone, CLSA's CEO, told Agence France Presse.

Why bother to have her speak? We can provide her views right here at TPC, and for free!

Foreign policy: Always have good binoculars handy on a clear day.

Governance: 3 words-- Quit, quit, quit.

Health care: What's Chinese for death panels?

U.S.-China relations: Stare blankly and ask your dining partners to pass the Moose-goo gai pan.

By the way, her address will be closed to the press.

"She said, 'If I do that with the press in the room, I will have to say different things.' "

And by different things, she means the truth.

There is one more option: To save everyone a lot of time and expense, she could stay home, the investors could put up a big screen and simply project her latest Facebook entry.

DUELING VIDEOS: Crowd cheers public option...boos Baucus plan

By GottaLaff

Jed Lewison over at DKos compares and contrasts the crowd's reaction at President Obama's Maryland speech in which he happens to mention the public option, and ::shudder:: Max Baucus's disastrous bill.

Guess which one made the applause-o'-meter happy:

Video- Hardball: Gov. Dean still positive on the Public Option

This is the attitude I'm going into tonight's speech with. Positive until proven otherwise.

VIDEO-- Obama at AFL-CIO, to GOP: "Where's YOUR Solution To Health Reform?"

By GottaLaff



Finally: Stickin' it to the Rushpublics. President Obama got me all fired up:

President Obama comments on health reform at the AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic in Cincinnati.

He began the speech by commenting on labor in general, as well as the economy, when he switched the subject. "Just in case you were wondering," he says, "we're also going to build an America where health reform delivers more stability and security to every American." He declined to go into detail, advising the crowd to tune in on Wednesday night.

While he remarked that the debates on health reform have been "good," he said that "every debate at some point comes to an end... It's time to act and get this thing done."

Obama also had a challenge to Republicans opposed to health reform: "What are you gonna do? What's your answer? What's your solution? And you know what? They don't have one! Their answer is to do nothing."

My liveblog of the entire speech is here. Video of "fired up" segment here.

VIDEO- Obama to AFL-CIO: "Are You Fired Up?" story

By GottaLaff

Oooo, tell it again! Tell it again!

At a Labor Day picnic, President Obama talks health care reform and recounts his "Fired Up? Ready To Go!" campaign story.

My liveblog of the entire speech, including the "fired up" story, can be found here.

President Obama speaks to AFL-CIO: Liveblog

By GottaLaff

I'll do my best to liveblog the president's speech. My patented, award-winning, internationally renowned quick notes coming right up:

An honest day's pay for an honest day's work.

Remembers Ted Kennedy.

Medicare, Social Security, 40 hour work week, etc. all bear the union label.

Every American owes something to the U.S. labor movement.

Recently, the American Dream is slipping away... Wall St. has different attitude: Wealth over work, greed over responsibility, the right to work undermined rather than strengthened. Worked for those at the top, but not for you or the country.

That culture undermined the middle class, created worse economic crisis of our time. So we commit to rebuild... ensure our great middle class remains as backbone of our economy... not just picnics, a reality.

Some have forgotten just how bad it was 7 months ago.. selective amnesia. So let's just remind them for a second. A financial system on verge of collapse, about 700K workers losing jobs, worse recession of our lifetimes... That's why we took swift action. Passed unprecedented Recovery Acts... and Ohio, it is working.

We've given tax cuts... kept campaign promise.

We're rebuilding America's infrastructure.... Financial system saved from collapse. Home sales up, signs of life in auto industry, business investment starting to stabilize, for first time in 13 mos. growth in manufacturing!

We lost jobs in August, unacceptable. But for second month, lost fewer jobs than month before, fewest in a year. We're moving in right direction, we're on the road to recovery, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

CROWD: YES WE CAN. Obama: Yes we will, yes we are.

We won't let up, not until workers looking for jobs can find them... till we have a full economic recovery...

As we recover, cut deficit, we need to build a new foundation. A reformed financial system, regulations in place so we never have a crisis like this again. I don't wanna bail out any more banks.

Energy reform with green jobs that can't be outsourced. Better job educating sons and daughters. I'll HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TOMORROW FOR OUR CHILDREN... to stay in school, work hard.

[HE'S BEEN GETTING HUGE CHEERS THROUGHOUT]

We need to invest in middle class.. I created a task force for this led by Biden.

Today, another step: I'm naming Ron Bloom to lead efforts to revitalize American Manufacturing. Ensure American competitiveness, create jobs. If you're wondering, we'll also build an America where health care reforms builds more security for every American. For those who have insurance, and those who don't.

Health care: We've been fighting for nearly a century for this, since Teddy Roosevelt. LONG time. Now we're debating the issue. The debate's been good. We've gotta get this right, but every debate comes to an end. Time to act. It's time to ACT and get this thing done. We've never been this close, had such broad agreement. So some special interests are trying to scare the heck out of people.

So I have a question for them... all the lies... WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? WHAT'S YOUR ANSWER? WHAT'S YOUR SOLUTION? And you know what? THEY DON'T HAVE ONE. Their answer is to do nothing. Insurance will rake in profits, discriminate, deny coverage, drop it, etc.... Premiums skyrocket, more families forced into bankruptcy, dying because they have no insurance. I see reform, security for those with insurance. No going w/o coverage.

Competition, choice, including a public option. [cheers] Reforms to preserve Medicare. One that works as well for Americans as it does for insurance industry... They can make a profit, but must be fair and accountable.

Put aside partisanship, saying things that aren't true, pass health reform NOW, this year.

Organized labor has fought longer and harder for this than most. Labor's not the problem it's part of the solution. That's why Solis is working to protect your interests... overturned past admin. policies to stifle labor.

When labor is strong, America's strong. When we stand together, we rise together. That's why first law I signed was Ledbetter Act. Equal pay of equal work.

Some things are worth fighting for: Equal pay, justice on the job, etc... no second class citizens... We all deserve a chance to pursue our happiness. That's the cause of my presidency, and that's the commitment we must fulfill for all of America's working families.

But I'm gonna need you to do it.

Recession is wearing on folks... Bickering in DC never stops... pundits say how this isn't working, that's not working... you start gettin' into a funk... and whenever I see folks in that neg. place, I think back to story during campaign: It's about where the phrase "fired up" comes from.

Nobody could pronounce my name. I went to S.C., Greenville... I sat next to state rep., nobody supported me back then.. State rep said I'll endorse if you come to my home town of Greenwood, S.C. I had a glass of wine, so I right away said OK! It's far from everyplace... so I fly in. I'm exhausted. I'm tired. I get told I have to be in the car at 6:30 a.m. to go to Greenwood. So I wake up and I feel even worse... I stagger to window... it's pouring. I get my paper, there's a bad story about me. I go downstairs, my umbrella breaks. I'm soaked. In the car, I'm sleeping, I'm wet, and I'm mad. We drive forever... hour and half... finally get to Greenwood. Pull up to a park, get out, get wet, go inside... long drive, there's only 20 people inside, and wet!

I'm a pro, shake hands, smile... I hear a voice shouting, "Fired up!" I'm scared, surprised... but nobody else was.. all say, "Fired up! Ready to go!" There's a little woman behind me, little thing.. about 50-60... she smiled, says, "Fired up!" Turns out she's a city council member who is famous for her chant... she chants at every event... "Fired up!" So for next 5 minutes, she keeps chanting... .I'm thinking, she's upstaging me! What to do? But:

After a minute, I'm starting to feel fired up, like I'm ready to go! So I join in! And it makes me feel good! For the rest of the day, I'd say, "Are you fired up?" It goes to show you how ONE VOICE CAN CHANGE A ROOM. And if it can change a room it can change a city.. as state... a nation... the world... Your voice can change the world! Your voice will get health care passed!

Are you fired up? Ready to go? I love ya!

A Speech Can Have an Impact: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My very caring, impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about President Obama's upcoming education speech, and I am more than happy to oblige.

This one really got to me.

Take it away, 42bkdodgr:

A Speech Can Have an Impact

I’m sure many of you have found the uproar from the right wing of the Republican party regarding President Obama upcoming speech to the students of this country about the benefits of getting a good education quite disturbing and disgusting.

In fact, in several states, school districts are blacking out the President’s televised speech and many parents aren‘t allowing their children to go to school that day. I would like to tell you how a speech can have a very positive impact on a student.

I have a friend who is a Holocaust survivor, was in six concentration camps during the war, and lost all of his family, except for a sister. He often speaks of his experiences by giving speeches to high school students; and I would like to tell you about one such event.

He recently spoke at a high school that was in a large black and Hispanic area, that has many gangs. He related to the students his experiences in the concentration camps and how he eventually became a very successful business man. He told them when he came to this country he didn’t speak the language, was basically penniless, hadn’t completed his education, and lost his teenage years; but through hard work and getting an education, he lived the American dream.

He ended his presentation by telling them how lucky they were to live in such a great country where they can accomplish anything they set their minds to through hard work and study. He encouraged them to go home and hug and kiss their parents and siblings and pursue the American dream. Over 100 hundred students, after a six hour presentation, waited outside to thank him for coming to their school.

About a week later, he received a call from one of the parents. She said, “What did you do to my son?” My friend became apprehensive thinking he did something wrong.

The parent said, my son came home kissed me, his father and brother and sister; and all he wants to do now is study and make something of himself. She said, we could never get our son motivated to do his school work; and she went on to thank my friend for the impact he had on her son's life.

I’m sure his presentation had similar impact on other students.

If my friend can have such an impact on a student, you can only imagine the effect the President will have on students when he makes his speech on Tuesday.

The uproar about the President giving the speech is another example, of the hate that is going on in this country. I wonder what effect it will have on students knowing the President is making a speech but they aren’t allowed to hear it; sure sounds like censorship to me.

Great thanks again for a relevant, heartfelt, touching, and thought-provoking piece, 42bkdodgr. We need 100 more like you.

VIDEO: Right Wing Mother Cries About Obama's Speech To Children

By GottaLaff

Paddy and I were on the phone this morning, literally sputtering to each other about the sheer idiocy of the "indoctrination" meme. These extremists are so fundamentally wrong that I find myself thinking my retorts-- so basic in their logic, so painfully obvious, so simple in nature-- must be deficient, that there must be some rebuttal I'm not remembering. But no.

My dad, a renowned doctor in these here parts, once told me, there is no way to win an argument with a neurotic, because they have their own logic. Bingo.

That said, all I can think of when I see this is, "Leave Brittany alone!"



Tim Rutten has a few more things to say about the compounding lunacy:

But there is no similar way to rationalize the bizarre controversy now raging over President Obama's plan to deliver a brief televised address on Tuesday to the nation's grammar school children. [...]

One group is urging parents to demand that their children be excused from watching the president and be sent instead to the school library to read the Founding Fathers. (The theory, one supposes, is that a good dose of the Federalist Papers will inoculate the young against Obama's attempts to subvert the republic through good grades.)

Kathy Miller, president of a statewide school monitoring group in Texas:

"I wish our elected leaders were responsible enough to denounce this kind of wild-eyed paranoia. But the problem is too many of them are actually feeding this kind of nonsense -- like when the governor flirts with secessionists and state Board of Education members say the president sympathizes with terrorists."

Miller has identified precisely the process at work in the healthcare hysteria and, increasingly, elsewhere where the GOP thinks it can shove the Obama administration into a ditch. Republican officials such as the Florida state chairman are playing a dangerous game with an unhinged segment of public opinion that regards Obama not as an elected official with whom they disagree, but as an illegitimate usurper of the presidency.

That paranoid fantasy is what's really behind the "birther" movement and the allegations that the president is -- take your pick -- a secret Marxist or a secret Muslim.

It's the kind of fanciful anxiety that produces comments like this, posted on a conservative website this week: "Barack Obama and his left-wing Chicago machine regime are putting into place laws and institutions which will insure that there will never again be free elections in America."

These are the people who are stockpiling ammunition and keeping their children at home next Tuesday.

Leave Obama alone!

Obama's passive aggessive health care approach?

By GottaLaff

Couple this...

Okay, so the White House is circulating an upbeat polling memo citing a bunch of public surveys showing that public opinion still tilts heavily in Obama’s favor on health care. [...]

But here’s the funny thing: We went back and checked, and virtually every poll cited in this memo also found strong support for the inclusion of a public plan. [...]

The White House memo did cite one poll that didn’t find majority support for the public option: : This MSNBC poll that found only 43% support for it. But that’s the one that generated all that controversy because it didn’t tell respondents that the public plan was a “choice.”

With this:

"The goal is to begin to control the message over the weekend and, in addition, float some trial balloons, see how things play with the public," said one Democratic official who is involved in the prespeech campaign spin. "This is sort of the start of that effort to arm us with information and see how it plays," added the official, referring to themes and talking points provided by the administration to supporters in Washington. [...]

The talking points, however, suggest that Obama will stick to a largely nonconfrontational approach that focuses on reforming health insurance, cutting costs, and helping find insurance for those without it. For example, he is expected to note that in all the reform bills before the House and Senate, there is about "80 percent" agreement on some elements that he also supports. He'll suggest that lawmakers focus on that to begin "pulling together" strands of the bills to produce "a final product that reforms our health insurance system."

The White House is hiding polls that show how popular the public option is, while taking a non-confrontational approach in the Big Speech. Where's the fight? Where's the push that we so badly need? Where's the Obama we voted for? At this point, I am less than enthused.

Yes, I will wait and see... in an unenthusiastic kind of way.

Sidebar: If I used the term "passive aggressive" incorrectly, let me know, but it seemed, in an un-technical sense, to fit here.

VIDEO- John Harwood slams "indoctrination-ers": "You're stupid"

By GottaLaff

John Harwood "showing no mercy" re: The parents who are fretting about "indoctrination" enough to keep their kids home from school for the president's speech:

"I'm not sure they're smart enough to raise those kids..."

How refreshing to hear the truth on the Tee Vee Machine.

Quote-O'-The Day: NBA Indoctrinating Our Kids! edition

By GottaLaff

If President Obama is advocating staying in school, then will the Rushpublic rebuttal be to drop out?

Gibbs noted that Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush delivered addresses to schoolchildren.

Gibbs dismissed any idea that the president's remarks were political, noting that the National Basketball Association has a similar message for students.

"If staying in school is a political message, then somebody should tell the NBA," he said.

The Rushpublics would never dare stand up to a powerful group of players who are bigger and stronger than they are.

And yes, that was an intentional jab at the Dems.

CNN, CBS, NBC ABC To Air Republican Response To Obama’s Health Care Address

By GottaLaff

Earlier, Paddy posted that The Boehner was whining about wanting Tee Vee Machine space for a rebuttal to President Obama's Big Health Care Address.

Moral of the story: Whining works.

Because the Rushpublics just don't get enough air time:

ABC News has decided to air a Republican response to Obama’s big health care address to a joint session of Congress next week, a network spokesperson confirms to us, all but ensuring that the other major networks will follow suit.

The decision will alter the politics of what promises to be a major political event with potentially dramatic consequences for the White House and for reform, and could set off a scramble among Republicans to be selected for the role of delivering that response.

Oh, please make it Ba-ba-ba-Bobby Jindal.

This means the GOP will be able to mount a high profile answer to one of the most important political speeches Obama will ever deliver.

The other networks piled on later.

Did Hong Kong punk Palin?

By GottaLaff

Previously, I posted about Death Panel Barbie's Big Speaking Engagement at a Hong Kong investment forum. That seemed a little like inviting Glenn Beck to a spelling bee. I had even asked what could have possessed them. I mean, D.P. Barbie being paid the big bucks to speak at such a Very Important and Serious Venue was crazy! Far fetched! Ludicrous!

But wait. What have we here?

Think she'll cancel, claiming she had never committed to the engagement to begin with? At least she has a humiliating track record of unreliability and, well, quitting, to back herself up.

If this is what it appears to be, then I only have one word: Suh-nap!

Remind me to send a thank you note to CLSA.

H/t: Mudflats

Sarah Palin to speak at Hong Kong investor forum... but will she show?

By GottaLaff

Sarah the Quitter isn't the most reliable date keeper, now is she? Nor was she a very reliable governor. She continues to turn the phrase, "I just can't quit you" on its head:

According to this story in the Anchorage Daily News, people counting on Palin to be their keynote speaker sometimes get stood up. "Organizers of an Anchorage event that has been billing Sarah Palin for weeks as a star speaker were left scrambling Wednesday after learning that the former governor won't be there for tonight's event and claims to have never been asked," the newspaper reported last Wednesday. "It would be at least the fourth time in recent months that an anticipated Palin speech has fallen through after Palin and her camp disputed they had ever confirmed it. That includes the brouhaha over whether she'd speak at the annual congressional Republican fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C., this summer."

So how insulted would CLSA be if she backed out of this speaking date? Or will she once again claim that she had never committed to it? Why, that could spark an international kerfuffly kerfuffle! You betcha:

CLSA, the Hong Kong-based brokerage, announced today that the hockey mom who quit her job as Alaska governor last month will be the keynote speaker at its annual investor conference in September.

Maybe they could invest in some I.Q. points for her while she's there.

Come to think of it, why exactly did they ask her, of all people, to speak? What possessed them? That is a question for the ages...

The CLSA forum is a big deal, having attracted not only Clinton, Gore and Greenspan in the past but also heavyweights like Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Walt Disney boss Michael Eisner and scientist Craig Venter (who founded the Institute for Genomic Research and led the team that sequenced the human genome). [...]

The press release from CLSA also has this surprising bit of news: The trip to Hong Kong will be Palin's first trip to this part of the world. [...] During last year's campaign, the governor touted her state's proximity to (the Asian part of) Russia as proof of her foreign-policy bona fides, so I'm surprised to read that she has never actually been here.

I'm not.