Obama Summons "Problem Children" to White House to Talk Health Care

By GottaLaff
Oooo, somebody's in trou-ble! President Obama is summoning some very, very naughty Democrats to the White House. They're the ones who have been stubborn about accepting his health care proposal because it doesn't include a public option.

Now that's the kind of bratty I can appreciate.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) and Lynn Woolsey (Calif.); Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairman Mike Honda (Calif.); Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee (Calif.); Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.); Reps. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Lucille Roybal-Allard (Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.); and Dels. Madeleine Bordallo (Guam) and Donna Christensen (Virgin Islands)... be good or you'll be grounded!

The Dems who don't think he's done enough about the price of the plan are Reps. Jason Altmire (Pa.), Melissa Bean (Ill.), Lois Capps (Calif.), Joe Crowley (N.Y.), Ron Kind (Wis.), Allyson Schwartz (Pa.) and Adam Smith (Wash.). They will also be given a talking-to.

Prez O sure has a lot of kids.

House GOP document: We won showdown with President Obama

By GottaLaff

How deluded are these people? Black is white, up is down, Palin is smart:

House Republicans won their televised debate with President Barack Obama last month, according to a GOP document distributed to lawmakers on Thursday. [...]

In the document titled “Recent Public Surveys, Fielded Post Baltimore Retreat,” Republican leaders focused on Obama’s job approval, generic ballot matchups, party brand image and issue handling. [...]

Democrats dispute the Republican claims.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesman Ryan Rudominer said, “No amount of spin and arrogance from these House Republicans, who continue to be caught taking credit for president Obama’s recovery policies they led the fight against, will change the fact that the president took on the entire Republican Conference and walked away the winner.”

Meanwhile, a New York Times/CBS poll released this week shows that Obama has an edge over the GOP in public support.

Oh puh-leeze. GOP: Straws, grasping.

Napolitano offers regular meetings with critical House Republicans

By GottaLaff

This is reminiscent of going back to an abusive lover for more:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is following President Barack Obama’s lead in reaching out to House Republicans.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, met privately with Napolitano Thursday morning and said he was encouraged by her promise during their discussion to meet with Republicans on the committee once a month.

Oh what the heck. Keep reaching out. It's never hurt us before, right, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.)?

Wrong. He called for Napolitano's resignation. He's not reciprocating to her reachy outiness in the least:

“At this time, I don’t see anything that makes me more confident about the safety of our country, our lives, and our property while Napolitano is in charge,” he said in an e-mailed response. “Furthermore, last week President Obama made a big show surrounding his meeting with Republicans and then spent the following week mischaracterizing the discussions. I will not gamble away our nation’s security with more of the administration’s PR stunts.”

This from the party of PR stunts. Kettle? Pot on line one.

King would not discuss calls for Napolitano’s resignation within his conference and instead said he was impressed by her offer to meet one-on-one and continue appearing privately before Republicans once a month.

Peter King as the voice of reason. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Round 3: Obama to address DNC gathering

By GottaLaff

(via)

Round 1: House Republicans.

Round 2: Senate Republicans.

Round 3: The DNC.

The president on Saturday will headline the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting – an annual gathering of political insiders and grassroots activists who make up the core of the national party, CNN has learned.

He sure is making the, er, rounds.

Too bad he never makes an effort to reach out.

Round 2: Obama v. Senate Republicans

By GottaLaff

GObama!


After the president's visit to the House Republicans' Balitmore retreat, I'm not surprised he's up for another round.

As Tommy Christopher said in Blunt 3, Obama, and the GOP themselves, "made the Republican Right Wing Noise Machine look stupid."

Let's hope the next meeting will be equally successful.

In last-minute stunner, Obama changes plans to attend final day of Copenhagen talks

By GottaLaff

I like the sound of this:

A couple of hours ago, the Obama administration announced a startling shift in plans: rather than stop by the Copenhagen climate talks on Dec. 9, Obama will be going on the 18th, the final day of the meeting—a notable increase in commitment (and political exposure) from the administration.

The first week of every COP meeting consists of posturing, speeches, protests, and NGO reports. Everything of significance to the treaty is announced late in the meetings, often on the last day, after a flurry of last-minute negotiations. Coming to Copenhagen at the climax of the talks, specifically to push negotiations “over the top,” as the White House statement says, is a risky move for Obama. He’s got skin in the game now; he’ll look foolish if he rides in at the last minute and fails to broker an agreement.

If he’s willing to stick his neck out like this, Obama must be pretty confident that he can get a deal. [...]

[I]t marks the first time developed countries have collectively committed to a package of climate aid for the developing world.

Momentum is finally on the side of an international agreement.

I'm on pins and needles waiting for Barbie McLipSchmutz's ghost blogger to post a Climate Birther Deather Denialer rant about it!

More here.

Meet undercover Republican "prostitute" who taped ACORN

By GottaLaff

You all remember the duo who posed as a pimp and prostitute and secretly videotaped their visit to ACORN.

We met the pimp, played by James O'Keefe. Now it's time to meet the prostitute, Hannah Giles:

Hannah Giles was in the middle of her guerrilla warfare lecture this weekend at the young conservatives leadership conference when a man in the audience interrupted her.

"We love you!" he cried out. The crowd erupted in applause and whistles.

A lovable "prostitute". How endearing.

At age 20, Giles is a rock star of conservative activism.

My stars and garters, she's attained rock star status! That's quite an accomplishment for someone who dressed as a hooker and teamed up with a sleazebag.

Giles credits the Young America's Foundation -- the group that put on the conference -- with inspiring much of her political action.

She used to be a surfer. Then she went to the Foundation event and saw the shining light of conservatism. She became a convert. You've come a long way, baby.

Now she's giving lectures....

...because she's a successful surfer-turned-Rushpublic-pretend-Lampost Lorelei-rock star.

"Above all, attack, attack, attack," she said, quoting Republican consultant Roger Stone. "Never defend."

Attagirl. Hanging ten never gave her a rush like this!

So what does this Foundation do exactly?

According to spokesman Jason Mattera, the foundation aims to groom high school and college students to be future leaders by exposing them to the conservative philosophies that he said were missing from many classrooms.

Up until now, classrooms have been consumed with teaching Democratic Marxist communist fascist socialism. Whew, it's a good thing the Foundation is all over this or America would be in real trouble!

"We're teaching them about limited government, strong national defense, traditional values and free enterprise," he said. "Young people need to awaken."

Call me crazy, but this sounds like indoctrination. Someone should tell them before it's too late.

The mission-style complex not far from the waterfront is, according to the foundation, "a schoolhouse for Reaganism."

Santa Barbara, tear down this wall!

So who is Hannah the Prostitute hanging out with at Reagan Central?

In addition to Giles, the speakers included former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012; and Lynn Vincent, who co-wrote Sarah Palin's new book. Also in attendance was Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), best known as the man who shouted "You lie!" at President Obama during his address to a joint session of Congress in September.

Someone is missing from that list. I can feel it...

"There is a new spirit alive," said Andrew Breitbart, whose website first broadcast the ACORN videos. He also helped teach the guerrilla warfare lecture.

Breitbart says the next targets are the Apollo Alliance, a coalition that aims for energy independence; and the Service Employees International Union.

Conservatives, he said, were co-opting the tactics used by civil rights leaders and antiwar activists of the 1960s in order to criticize the left. "We have to employ unorthodox tactics," Breitbart said. "We can beat them using their own tricks."

As if to prove Breitbart's point, Giles asked everyone in the room to copy down the words of Saul Alinsky, who is considered the father of community organizing -- and is a great hero of the left.

The Far Right is the new Left. Who'da thunk it?

Veterans Day encounter with Obama: "Sorry for any inconvenience," a terribly polite Secret Service agent whispered in my ear.

By GottaLaff

This is a must-read. It's one of the most heartwarming stories I've read in a very long time, and it involves President Obama, the First Lady, their visit to Arlington National Cemetery, and a bittersweet chance encounter.

Here are a few excerpts that won't even begin to do the story justice:

President Obama simply stuck out his hand and asked for my name as he stepped toward me amid a bone-chilling drizzle in the Gardens of Stone.[...]

What I got was an unexpected look into the eyes of a man who intertwined his roles as commander in chief and consoler in chief on a solemn day filled with remembrance and respect for sacrifices made - and sacrifices yet to be made.

I'm sure the cynics will assume this wasjust anotherObama photoop.[...]

I then told him I'm a reporter for the Daily News - but was just there to visit friends.

"Well, James," he said, looking me in the eye, "just because you're a journalist doesn't mean you can't honor your friends here."

The First Lady smiled and squeezed my hand. I thanked her for coming to Section 60.

Her face opened up into a smile filled with warmth and comfort, a welcome antidote for the weather and sadness around her. She said there was no finer place to be on Veterans Day.[...]

"Sorry for any inconvenience," a terribly polite Secret Service agent whispered in my ear.

Please read the rest here. Then join me in shaking my head slowly at those who continue to say the most offensive things about this president.

H/t: muttlikemeblog

VIDEO: O'Reilly Mocks White House After Olbermann, Maddow Meeting

By GottaLaff

This is one of those videos that I'll post, but I will not watch (Paddy screened it). I seriously can't stomach the MotherFoxers, so I'll leave it to you to fill me in:

VIDEO- Fox no likey: Maddow/Olbermann invited to White House chat with Obama

By GottaLaff

Oh no! The Obama White House has gone all Nixonian on us!



I guess it escapes the ClusterFoxers that Keith and Rachel actually present facts along with their commentary.

On Monday, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow were among several people who attended an off-the-record briefing with Pres. Obama at the White House. Sources tell us other attendees at the two-and-a-half hour chat included Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, Gwen Ifill of PBS and Gloria Borger of CNN. Perhaps not surprisingly, no one from Fox News was in the room. [...]

However, co-anchor Gretchen Carlson didn't have her facts correct when she said, "in this reporter gaggle was Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann who are opinion people over at MSNBC." Maddow and Olbermann were in the off-the-record briefing on Monday not the on-the-record gaggle on Tuesday.

Prez O must be partial to sick puppies.

Right track: Obama to Host Netanyahu, Abbas

By GottaLaff

I'd love nothing more than for First Black President Obama to strut his foreign policy stuff and succeed where nobody else could:

Surprise announcement from the White House: President Obama will host a trilateral meeting on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This meeting will be preceded by bilateral meetings between the president and the two leaders.

"These meetings will continue the efforts of President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Special Envoy George Mitchell to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of negotiations, and to create a positive context for those negotiations so that they can succeed."

MSNBC tweeted:

While this won't be a Peres-Arafat moment, it is a photo-op that indicates the Mideast peace process might be on track again.

As has been hinted at for weeks, the WH has officially added a 3-way meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas to its sked nxt week.

Of course, the big unknown: whether Abbas can speak for all Palestinians.

Democratic Senators Called to White House

By GottaLaff

Gettin' down to business:

ABC News reports that President Obama will be meeting with 16 Democratic senators this afternoon at the White House.

They are: Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mark Warner of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Tom Carper of Delaware, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, and Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Go ahead, guys, come up with something better than a public option. I dare you.

Rahm Emanuel on Dems attacking Dems: “F–king Stupid”

By GottaLaff

There was this private meeting, see, between leaders of liberal groups and Rahm Emanuel. And in this meeting, Rahm said that the Dems shouldn't run health care ads attacking the Blue Dogs any more, see. But Greg Sargent was told that...

[...] Emanuel went quite a bit further than this.

Sources at the meeting tell me that Emanuel really teed off on the Dem-versus-Dem attacks, calling them “f–king stupid.” This was a direct attack on some of the attendees in the room, who are running ads against Dems right now.

Tellingly, Rahm raised the specter of a loss on health care, sources at the meeting say — which suggests that the White House may be less certain about victory than officials allow publicly.

Ruh-roh.

“He started out with, `We’re 13 and 0 going into health care,’” one source at the meeting said, meaning that Rahm was touting the White House’s string of pre-health care legislative victories.

“This momentum is necessary to do all these other things. We have a lot of momentum right now, and any loss spoils that momentum that we’ve built up,” was how the source described the gist of what Rahm said.

We have so much logic, common sense, and great ideas on our side, yet we're not getting the message out. So much energy has been spent on the Rushpublimobs that we've lost our through-line.

As Randi Rhodes said on her radio show a few minutes ago, the media hasn't spent any time explaining the meat of the health care plan at all. It's always about the horse race, or in this case, the horse's asses, but rarely about what people need to know, process, and understand.

Trust us, corporate media, Americans can understand health care reform, if anyone would bother to explain it to them.

Axelrod to Hold Private Messaging Session With House Dems On Selling Reform

By GottaLaff

Do this right, do this right, do this right...

In another sign that the White House will play a very hands-on role during the looming Congressional health care wars of August, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod is set to hold a private messaging session with House Dems tomorrow on the Hill, I’m told.

With a House Dem bill closer to reality, the battle will shift to a new phase: Selling it. [...]

“This meeting is MEMBERS-ONLY,” the email reads, meaning no press and no staff. [...]

As Nancy Pelosi put it today, “insurance companies are out there in full force carpet bombing” in a “shock and awe” campaign.

“We have a month where 256 members will be in their districts with a bill to sell,” a senior Dem aide tells me. “Axelrod is going to talk to them about getting out there and selling it. House Dems are going on the offensive in August.”

Don't blow it, don't blow it, don't blow it....

Keep it simple. Appeal to emotions. Repeat, repeat, repeat. In other words, do everything we begged you to do during the 2008 elections.

Lobbyists Warned to Stay Away from GOP Meeting

By GottaLaff

The L Word:

Top aides to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) called a "last-minute, pre-emptive" strike "with a group of prominent Democratic lobbyists, warning them to advise their clients not to attend a meeting with Senate Republicans set for Thursday," Roll Call reports.

Recounted one lobbyist: "They said, 'Republicans are having this meeting and you need to let all of your clients know if they have someone there, that will be viewed as a hostile act... Going to the Republican meeting will say, 'I'm interested in working with Republicans to stop health care reform.'"

And the last thing we need is hostility in D.C.

Oops. Too late.

VIDEO-- Michael Isikoff: Obama clashes with human rights group in secret meeting today

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

UPDATE: Here's the video. I've changed the blog title to reflect the addition.

Michael Isikoff on Rachel Maddow right now. Liveblogging:

Emanuel, Holder, Axelrod, Greg Craig, Obama clashed with human rights groups in a secret meeting today. The groups complained that Obama was moving too far to the right.

After the military commissions announcement, the WH felt the need to reach out to them and listen to them. The leaders of the groups repeated their criticisms... that Obama's premises about Gitmo, commissions, that he was accepting BushCo's premises.

Obama didn't like that, saying he was left a mess by his predecessor. He said it wasn't helpful to equate him with Bush.

Obama defended his stance of moving forward, not back. His explanation was a little different than usual: Said it was too distracting to his staff, takes too much time, looked at Holder when he said this. But that's the reason for a truth commission. Obama didn't really reject that, but raised the issue of distraction.

RE: a trophy prosecution, to show torture wouldn't be tolerated again. Obama curtly rejected that idea. In other words, he didn't leave it up to Holder, as he'd previously said he would. He is meeting with people and answering on behalf of Holder. What he's saying in public v. private are two different things, something Rachel Maddow is highlighting strongly.

Obama will explain his decisions in a speech tomorrow.

PHOTOS: Larry Summers nods off at credit talks

By GottaLaff

No. No, no. Couldn't he down some coffee and prop his peepers open with toothpicks to avoid embarrassing photo grabs like this:

White House National Economic Council Director Larry Summers (right) rubs his eye while . President Barack Obama speaks to the press after a meeting with executives from the credit card industry at the White House today. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

(Photos by one wide-awake Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

"He DID nod off, doing the head on the hand and then head falling off the hand thing,'' the print press pooler reports. "All other officials in the room appeared fully awake.''

Come on. What is so hard about staying awake during work hou---... .... ZZzzzzzzzzz.

H/t: BuzzFlash

Obama Meets Privately With The Dead

By GottaLaff

No, not the dead... The Dead. Yep, that "The Dead":

The surviving (and formerly feuding) members of the Grateful Dead had a secret impromptu meeting Monday evening with the man they credit with reuniting them: President Obama. [...]

They didn't talk music as much as they did history -- the history of the Oval Office, and the president's desk.

Apparently the band was quite taken with how tidy the president keeps his desk. And how down-to-earth he seemed, according a source who was there.

Down-to-earth, indeed. That's a big part of his (and Michelle's) appeal. That and his tidiness, of course.

Encounter with President Obama, Axelrod, Gibbs, Rahm: An e-mail from Baghdad

By GottaLaff

Ben Smith got an e-mail from an Air Force officer who had the good fortune to meet the whole White House gang:

[...] I have tremendous respect for the president and all his staff. They were nothing but sincere and gracious to all of the troops over here — we’re very thankful that they stopped by. I also love the Chicago roots that many of the president’s team has (most of my family is from around that area) — I miss that city so much!"

He goes on:

Once I found out President Obama would be coming to Baghdad, I immediately started thinking about how I (out of several hundred folks) might get the chance to greet him or his staff members. So I positioned myself along the rope line where I anticipated that folks would be passing by — and I guess I chose correctly.

First person I saw was David Axelrod, so I shouted “Mr. Axelrod!” a couple of times until he looked up and saw where I was, and came over towards me. I cheekily asked him how he thought the Cubs would do this year, because I knew we were both big Cubs fans. He approached me and laughed, stating that “just like every year, I’m hopeful.” That’s when Robert Gibbs, who must’ve heard us, came up, interrupted and said, teasingly, “probably just like every other year.”

A few minutes later, I saw Rahm Emanuel hovering near the rope line and making small talk with people. [...]

I remembered reading somewhere on Politico.com yesterday that today was the Special Election in IL-05 to replace him, so I thought I’d tease him by asking whether or not he’d remembered to return his absentee ballot. He paused for a second, looked at me, and said, “I f***ed up!” I was caught off-guard a little, but his answer at least seemed to fit the caricature of his profile through the media! He then said something about how his wife had remembered and bugged him but that he had forgotten, I believe. [...] I told him before he walked away that he was nothing like the media had portrayed him — not nearly as scary or mean in person!

He went and got David Axelrod and we talked some more about the congressman who had given me my Air Force Academy appointment. Again, both men were very gracious and personable. I thanked them, along with press secretary Gibbs, for stopping by Baghdad to see the troops and they in-turn thanked me for my service. I think Mr. Axelrod could see that I was a little bit nervous and overwhelmed talking to them, and he leaned into me a bit, looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m proud of you.”

Shortly thereafter, President Obama worked the rope line, and sure enough, I managed to shake his hand and get in a mini-conversation about my hometown in Illinois [...]

Definitely wasn’t expecting the opportunity to have this encounter this morning, but I’m flattered to death that they took the time to talk to me. President Obama was very well-received by the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines in attendance.

One word: Howcoolwasthat? And how reassuring to find out that this team was interested and caring enough to not only take some time with this man, but had an unscripted, spontaneous conversation instead of hurrying by with a canned response or unctuous phony folksiness.

Steele away

By GottaLaff

The Steele of disapproval?

Ralph Z. Hallow reports that GOP conservatives are trying to force Michael Steele to call a special meeting to discuss stimulus politics.

The content, though, seems less relevant than the threat that an extraordinary meeting could lead to a no-confidence vote or an ouster.