Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
I just got off a conference call with the Greenberg-Quinlan-Rosner polling outfit and the big take away here is that the response to Obama’s speech was almost the same among Republicans as among Democrats. The phrase I heard was “I have never seen anything like this before.”
Another point is that the talk about the bank and mortgage plans went over extremely well (contra Santelli).
But mainly there an amazing uniformity between Republican and Democratic response to the speech.
Can’t he say “president” properly?
When you watch the pundits after the speech:
Who are you to going believe?
*** Update ***
We’ll just use this for the speech open thread.
I’m watching CNN, and I am not making this up, someone paid to have a commercial state the following (and I paraphrase):
“Congress just spent 800 billion dollars. To get an idea how much that is, imagine if you spent a dollar every day since Jesus was born…”
I stopped what I was doing. I wonder how much it cost to air that commercial- should I start counting a dollar every day since Martin Luther was born? Or was it cheaper than that and I should start counting a dollar every day since Pope John Paul II was born?
*** Update ***
Not the only one to notice this:
Now, there’s a bit about this that renders it disingenuous…which is the whole thing. The American economy is massive – $14.28 trillion, in fact. If you started the day Jesus Christ was born and spent $1 million every day since then, you wouldn’t reach the size of the American economy by the year 10,000. Or 20,000. This is why we don’t measure the size of our economy in Jesus Money, despite the declaration of such in the RNC platform.
To put this in further context – over the course of Jesus’ life, at $1 million a day, and presuming his death at the age of 33 (including leap years), the value of Jesus’ life would have been $12.053 billion.
Microsoft’s yearly revenue last year was $60 billion, meaning they earned five Jesuses in a year.
Apparently the ad said a million a day, and not a dollar a day as I thought I had heard.
Peak Wingnut is a Unicorn, The Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot All In OnePost + Comments (50)
George Packer on David Brooks:
David Brooks is going to be one of the best critics the Obama Administration will have, because his reservations and attacks are based on a world view that’s not only viable and thoughtful but almost always proved right: the view that we human beings overrate our ability to solve problems through the application of reason. The return of liberals to power has driven Brooks back down to his philosophical roots in Burkean caution toward rapid change based on abstract principles (he had lost touch with this inner self during the early Bush years, especially around the invasion of Iraq). Today’s column is just one of many recent examples, prompted by the fact that the Obama White House is taking on massive challenges in the economy, housing, banking, health care, energy, and education—all at once. It is, Brooks writes, “the biggest political experiment of our lifetimes.” Obama should do what Bush never did and make sure he talks to a critic like Brooks at least once every few months.
Why do these guys have to jerk each other off so much? It’s worse than a British boarding school.
I know, Assassin’s Gate was a brilliant book, George Packer is a serious guy, and blah blah blah blah. I don’t care.
Wingnut Daily brings the goods:
A U.S. soldier on active duty in Iraq has called President Obama an “impostor” in a statement in which he affirmed plans to join as plaintiff in a challenge to Obama’s eligibility to be commander in chief.
The statement was publicized by California attorney Orly Taitz who, along with her DefendOurFreedom.us Foundation, is working on a series of legal cases seeking to uncover Obama’s birth records and other documents that would reveal whether he meets the requirements of the U.S. Constitution.
“As an active-duty officer in the United States Army, I have grave concerns about the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama to hold the office of president of the United States,” wrote Scott Easterling in a “to-whom-it-may-concern” letter.
***Taitz told WND she had advised Easterling to obtain legal counsel before making any statements regarding the commander-in-chief, but he insisted on moving forward. His contention is that as an active member of the U.S. military, he is required to follow orders from a sitting president, and he needs – on pain of court-martial – to know that Obama is eligible.
I guess if he needs a lawyer, there is always Andy McCarthy. I was never an officer, and just an NCO, but this strikes me as an effective way to make sure you do not have a long and fruitful military career.
Soon To Be Former Soldier Raises Birth Certificate IssuePost + Comments (127)
For some reason today, I have just been exhausted all day. I slept well last night, woke up at around 6:30, and have just been dragging all day. You know the kind of day- every little task is an ordeal, and all you can think about is a nap. Just no energy whatsoever. Blerg. At any rate, it has been a few days, so, kitties:
I’m going to go make like Noah in the second picture there. Claim your pets, and I’ll be back later.