Ed Henry has a rather breathless and self-indulgent story about his brave battle to make Obama explain why he didn’t freak out about the AIG bonuses more quickly:
The most amazing part of the exchange to me is that I didn’t go into the East Room intending to ask President Obama about AIG.
After frantic preparation for the prime-time newser with several colleagues, especially lead CNN White House producer Tim McCaughan, I had several provocative questions in my pocket.
But none of them had much to do with the financial crisis because I assumed several of my colleagues would exhaust the topic of AIG before my turn came up.
Ed, it wasn’t that bad a question, but it’s not like you just made history either. You asked a slightly frivolous question and got a mild smack down. Move on.
Unabogie
First?
Ed got smacked down because he was being rude and annoying. The idea that we want our President jumping up and down over the Outrage du Jour gave us eight years of President Frat Boy.
No thanks.
Punchy
Never trust a man with 2 first names.
OT:
In another installment of Da Copz aint Yo Friendz, a cautionary tale of DWB. What a fucking asshole.
Radon Chong
It’s like our elite media figures are competing with the wingnuts to see who can write the most breathtaking self-parody. I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this sort of thing this late in the game, but it still blows me away every time that they really are this vapid.
Will Danz
Good Lord, what a freakin’ drama queen.
He’s desperately trying to make himself the center of the story, like so many of these preening media princesses.
I guess we shouldn’t expect much better from a former gossip reporter. But really, you think even HE would be a little embarrassed at his own junior-high theatrics at this point.
John S.
And he has been rewarded for his little pity-party by a lot of comments that will likely spur him to pen another "woe is me" tale about people not recognizing his genius.
One of my favorites is this:
Pretty sad when you have to be reminded how to do your job by an anoymous commenter on the intertubes.
Al Swearengen
My reply to Ed: Get over yourself, princess.
I had several provacative comments in my pocket, but this one seemed to be the one to go with when Ed seems to be ducking the question of just how much of a precious princess he really is.
Dennis-SGMM
"Watch meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"My Republican friends think I’m smart and cute."
Atanarjuat
CNN’s Ed Henry asked one of the only two tough questions posed to President Obama during the recent press conference (the other was asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd).
It only makes sense that Mr. Henry got aggressive with the President when he attempted to dodge the AIG question, and Obama’s cynical retort to Henry’s follow-up question only demonstrated that this journalist did indeed strike a nerve.
In typical fashion, most liberals are deriding Ed Henry for doing his job as a reporter instead of being a gushing, flipper-clapping seal like most of the liberal media. This is why countless articles in the leftist blogosphere are dedicated to tearing down Henry’s character instead of actually debating the merits of the AIG issue that was raised during the presser.
However, people are noticing the shameless interference that liberals are running for President Obama, so I expect that the next press conference will have many more Ed Henrys confronting the Great Teleprompter… er, I mean, the President.
-A
Ash Can
The terms "drama queen" and "princess" came immediately to my mind too. Whatever happened to the old saw of "I don’t make the news, I just report it"? Yeah, yeah, I know. That’s just for actual journalists, as opposed to the attention whores clogging the media these days.
Sorry, Ed. There was only one Hunter S. Thompson, and you ain’t him.
ETA: On the subject of some :decent: questions for the POTUS, the Internet town hall is in progress. These professional hothouse orchids from the corporate media could learn a thing or two from it.
Dennis-SGMM
@Ash Can:
Maybe Henry is confusing "Bozo Journalism" with "Gonzo Journalism." He’s practicing the former because he’s incapable of the latter.
Al Swearengen
Do you conservatard assholes think that screaming "Teleprompter! Teleprompter! Acorn! Acorn!" at voters is the way out of the political forest you find yourself in? You guys and your fucking codewords that no one else gives a shit about…
forked tongue
My Republican friends hailed me by saying essentially "Thanks for doing your job by asking a question that didn’t really deserve an answer, thereby both creating a distraction from the real issues and allowing us to say ‘See? See? He doesn’t answer the tough questions!’"
wasabi gasp
Yeah. Amazing. [cue tape of water skiing squirrel]
Radon Chong
@Atanarjuat: (Sorry everyone, I really don’t mean to feed spoof trolls here, but…) The idea that either Henry or Todd asked "tough" questions at the presser is laughable. They were simple questions, and they were answered accordingly. That said, and here’s the part where I’m not feeding a spoof troll, what would any of you consider to be a genuinely tough question to Obama? Tough enough to actually accomplish our stupid reporters’ goal to "make news," but to also, you know, serve the public good. I’d ask how long his administration planned to continue holding prisoners without charges. You?
Will Danz
@Atanarjuat:
Question for you:
Was everything George W. Bush said in public from memory, and / or spontaneous? Never read, from any medium?
Answer please.
Brian J
It is surprising, but somewhat fortunately, or very fortunately if you want to be cynical, it’s good that some, like Obama, know how to exploit it.
Anyway, I’ll be honest, I dozed off during parts of the press conference on Tuesday, so I am not sure what happened during all parts. If what I am about to ask is dumb, forgive me, but:
1. Still early, so nobody had asked AIG yet. Plus my "sidebar" question now seemed off-point so early in a newser focused on the economic pain in the nation
Is this true? I seem to remember people making it seem as if he had received a few questions about AIG by the time Henry asked his.
2. So I went hard on the AIG question, and took Wolf’s advice and followed on a couple of colleagues who got pushback from the president when they asked about how his budget numbers do not seem to add up
Has he ever considered that there was pushback because the questions were loaded? If someone asked the president why he is such a dick, how do they think he’s going to react? Similarly, unless the document is as comically dishonest as a Bush budget, don’t you think Obama would be slightly annoyed at the suggestion that he’s putting forth nonsense, particularly for a document whose numbers depend on constantly changing variables?
Ella in NM
@Atanarjuat:
Wow.
Based on the shear number of Redumplican daily talking points present in one post, I would suggest you apply a little hydrogen peroxide to your tropical fruit flavored Kool-Aid mustache before you leave your house today. Just dab it on with a cotton ball, wait a few seconds, and your skin will look baby fresh.
There’s not much you can do, however, about that rapidly shrinking chunk of brain matter between your ears that occurs as a result of constant exposure to AM radio waves. Sorry.
Will Danz
@Al Swearengen:
Ha! Well said.
It’s such a pathetic circle jerk at this point. They actually think they’re impressing others besides themselves.
We saw that movie last year. It was called "Obama can’t win, because… [insert latest rightwing circle-jerk talking point]."
JenJen
I mean, honestly. It wasn’t a particularly good question, if you ask me. And, the question was answered succinctly by the President, was it not? For my money, it was the most satisfying answer of the press conference. Heckuvajob, Henry.
Interesting… MSNBC just aired the press conference by Cantor and Crew, and when it ended, Contessa Brewer actually called them out.
"For days we’ve been hearing that the Republicans will offer an alternative budget and economic recovery plan, but the only thing they offered just now was continuing criticism of the President’s plan. We’ll see if they come up with something."
Leo
Ed Henry asked Obama why it had taken "so long" for him to comment on the AIG thing. Why is that a "tough" question? What is so f’ing tough about it? I’m really not getting this.
The Grand Panjandrum
Ed’s risible piece got me laughing early on but this is favorite part and additional data showing us once again that the Villagers really don’t get it:
>
Ed was going to make news? I thought they reported news? Oooohhhh … but the super-secret-question-I-can’t-tell-you-what-it-is-or-I-would-have-to-kill-you-ploy was just icing on the cake.
Speaking of Gonzo journalism, I sure do miss Doc Thompson. Who other than Matt Taibbi can inform and entertain these days?
Napoleon
@Dennis-SGMM:
FTW!
different church-lady
Somewhere along the line, reporters got the idea that they were the story, rather than people who report on things.
More village bubble-ism: "Dear reader: I had such an interesting day at the office…"
Mazacote Yorquest
Atanarjuat, name one person of either party who could’ve handled the question and answer session, explaining the economic issues of growth, debt, and budget priorities, better than Obama did (without a teleprompter, as he did during the Q & A). Ed Henry’s question was fair, and the only reason he got a follow-up was because Obama, unlike Bush, allowed them. That’s called confidence and openness. Obama’s smackdown was also fair, as Henry acknowledged.
Also, please explain how reading slowly and awkwardly from a text on a lectern is more improvised and less staged than reading from a teleprompter.
Also, tell me how important it is to criticize teleprompter use when the speaker is writing more of the material than previous occupants of the office did or could.
If you think Chuck Todd’s inane, jumbled attempt at a question was "tough" (as opposed to one’s about veterans, defense procurement, AIG, and deficits), then you’re hopeless. Obama swatted that one pretty easily.
comrade akaoni
Ed’s account of the exchange with Obama reads like the B-team high school cheerleader getting up the nerve to talk to the captian of the football team…
This guy made it to White House corrispondant? What a joke…
schrodinger's cat
@radon chung
Questions for Obama
1. What steps is the Treasury Department and your administration taking so that we don’t get banks and financial institutions that become "too big to fail" in the future.
2. What is your administration’s stand on Kashmir?
Dennis-SGMM
@JenJen:
The Republicans’ alternative budget and recovery plan are secret because they’re so cool that Obama would steal both from them.
Anyone who says that both are just as much vaporware as the Republican re-branding is just a dirty old liberal.
Ed Drone
"The other was asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd?" Now I KNOW attaboynut is a spoof. I always knew he was a troll, but this proves that his heart isn’t really in it. He’s just playing the game, seeing how many responses he can get. He can’t honestly think that Todd’s question was a tough question, inasmuch as it was asinine and indicative of Todd’s elite viewpoint — Jesus Christ on a pancake! "Sacrifice?" The whole fucking problem is that the entire economy has been stretched out on the altar and had its throat cut. Our sacrifice might better be called, "bleeding out."
Attaboynut is truly a troll, and a spoof, and worthy of much hilarity, but never worthy of a straight answer. I shall ignore and shun him henceforth.
Ed
The Moar You Know
Who the hell is Ed Henry and why should I give a damn?
Danton
I think the DC press’ current modus operandi is summed up by Ed Henry’s unwitting statement that he entered the East Room with "several provocative questions."
Mazacote Yorquest
@different church-lady:
I NEVER thought this would happen to me…my long, hard questions certainly got a rise out of him…etc.
forked tongue
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that the teleprompter thing gets hauled out not because they think it’s true, or relevant, or will convince anyone not already convinced. They haul it out to piss off liberals, which has become very nearly their only satisfaction in life. Let’s try not to play.
Mnemosyne
In other words, you linked two unrelated topics together and were surprised when only one was answered since there was no good reason to link them together, so you had to ask about the second one again?
No wonder the other reporters in the room laughed at him.
JenJen
Holy crap… MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer is still bitching about Cantor’s press conference:
"I mean, we kept hearing how important this announcement would be, we cut away from the President’s town hall to cover it, and all we heard was that they don’t like the President! We’ve heard all of this before. And today, they get our undivided attention, and all they do is repeat the same criticism. I didn’t hear any ideas."
"Old wine, new bottle," said the other MSNBC correspondent. :-)
Andrew
I’m beginning to think that reporters aren’t the brightest folks in the world.
Dennis-SGMM
@Mnemosyne:
"I could see that the breaks were beating the boys so I reared back and won one for the Wolfer."
argh
Don’t ya’ll people understand the troll dynamic at all? Quit engaging it and it will shrivel away.
dmsilev
@JenJen:
Re: the GOP press conference.
You were missing a letter, so I fixed it for you.
-dms
schrodinger's cat
This teleprompter meme is stupid, I am sure Bush had access to a teleprompter, but I don’t remember a single memorable speech by the ex-President.
Dennis-SGMM
@schrodinger’s cat:
I thought the bit about gynecologists being unable to practice their love with women was pretty memorable.
MikeJ
See the flat panels on mic stands to the left and right of Bush in this pic?
http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/ArtAndPhoto-Fronts/COVER/080501/g-pol-080501-bush-mission-hmed-4a.hmedium.jpg
Atanarjuat
@Will Danz:
The record clearly shows that President George W. Bush always spoke forthrightly and with great conviction. If a teleprompter was present, it was the traditional glass type that is understated in its presence and unobtrusive to the audience. President Bush would only glance at such devices occasionally.
Moreover, I don’t recall Bush using twin large plasma flatscreen TV’s for teleprompters as Obama did this past Tuesday night. I can only imagine these things getting bigger and bigger as Obama relies more and more on the Teleprompter to "clarify" his communications to the American Public.
-A
Comrade Jake
Last night on Olbermann’s show, Eugene Robinson compared this to someone in the NBA getting tomahawk-360-dunked on by Kobe Bryant, getting knocked down in the process, only to get up and join the crowd in the cheers.
Ash Can
@JenJen:
LOL! That’s golden. Cantor and his clique of Heathers had better be careful or they’ll find themselves on the wrong end of the media narrative from hell.
JL
@JenJen: CNN did not break away from the townhall meeting. Supposedly the republican house members were to release their own budget. From your post, can I conclude that Cantor didn’t deliver.
vishnu schizt
Shorter Atanarjizz:
mE say TeLEpromPTeer JOkei, HE hE, ME No TinG fRom InteRnETZ, He hE, Me Go now ShiT Meself. ObAma SToopiD!
Atanarjuat
@Ed Drone:
Sorry you feel that way, Ed. In times of upheaval and great national crisis, questions of personal sacrifice are very relevant.
If that simple statement makes one a "spoofy" troll, then I’d say your values are completely inverse to what’s needed to get our country moving forward again.
-Country First (and always).
shortstop
This is amusing.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
I’ve got a tough one — I’d like to know why the Obama Administration keeps propping up ugly Bush decisions about "state secrets," detainees, etc. Because I’m frustrated by greenwald’s conversational style, I’m glad for Ed Bayton, who’s been covering these issues with more light than heat (but is angry, nonetheless):
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/02/obama_maintains_bush_position.php
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/02/obama_continues_bush_email_pos.php
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/02/obama_invokes_state_secrets_pr.php
No "mainline" media group has shone a spotlight on these acts. No outrage, no calls that "Obama is just like Bush!" from any of the Usual Suspects.
Instead, we get "gotcha" questioning. We get riled-up "controversies" about AIG et. al. that add no light, no solutions, and barely any real dialogue to the conversation about the real economic problems we’re undergoing.
This is why so many liberal/progressives laugh at the idea we own the media, or that they are pals of ours. I was, and am, a strong Obama supporter, but I’d like to see answers to these important questions, and a lot less posturing by the media.
They act like this is a game, man. WTF?
JL
@Atanarjuat:
His vocabulary is so limited, what do you expect. "They’re with us or agin us" "Fight them there" "Dead or Alive" Former President Bush reminded me of old GunSmoke shows.
schrodinger's cat
@Dennis-SGMM
You are kidding right? He didn’t actually say that.
Comrade Jake
Oh and, before responding to Atanasshat, just remember: he guaranteed a McCain victory. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed by a long shot.
The Other Steve
It’s interesting how he refers to the response. Saying his Republican friends said "You go Ed!", and his Democratic friends saying "How’d you like that smack down?"
Under Bush he would have been concerned with the Republicans and ignored the Democrats.
Oh wait, that’s just what he did.
JL
@Atanarjuat: The only person in the audience that did not realize that folks are sacrificing already was Chuck Todd.
Radon Chong
@schrodinger’s cat: Oh he said it all right.
JenJen
@JL: Yes. Cantor and Crew didn’t release a damned thing. All they did was repeat "The President’s budget is the worst thing that ever happened in the history of America."
Seriously. Over and over. Each one took to the microphones to say exactly that. No new budget, no plan, not even so much as an outline. They used the entire press conference to say "OBAMA BAD."
It was embarrassing. I’m surprised that Contessa Brewer was so vocal about it, honestly.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
I’m starting to think that I should give up on being part of this excellent commentariat, change my name, and become a spoof troll. I’d just spout some meaningless drivel, spice it up with "teleprompter" and "birth certificate", then sit back and enjoy.
Atanarjuat
@Mazacote Yorquest:
But that’s just it, Mazacote. It became rather obvious to those of us who are not Obama acolytes that the AIG and sacrifice questions from Henry and Todd, respectively, were not topics that the President had given much thought to — hence the sermonizing, dodging, and ultimate uncalled-for snark.
I surmise that as Obama’s approval ratings start to slip into the lower 50’s or even 40’s, you’ll eventually start to see through Obama’s smarmy, know-it-all mask that’s actually hiding a yawning abyss of inexperience and shallow understanding of how the nation actually works.
-A
Atanarjuat
@Comrade Jake:
Oh and, before taking Comrade Jake’s advice, just remember: he’s my personal stalker and obsessed with my every post on Balloon-Juice.
-A
Aaron
Henry explains his goal:
Mission accomplished!
Now STFU you whiny bitch.
JenJen
@Atanarjuat:
Fascinating. You should have been watching more David Letterman the last eight years.
It’s not too late, though… he has a new segment called "Teleprompter, No Teleprompter?"
You decide!
Will Danz
@Atanarjuat:
Two possibilities:
1) You’re a brilliant satire of a rightwinger. I don’t post here much, so I don’t know.
2) You’re the most pathetic Kool-Aid drinker I’ve ever run into. Really, you’re talking about the TYPE of teleprompter now?
…Yes, the record that exists only in fevered Limbaugh-fed dreams like your own. Bush was, and remains, a national joke for his toxic mix of mumbling incoherency, joyless frat-boy sniggers, and truly sad little imitation of a Hollywood "cowboy."
(All this assuming you’re a for-real rightwing troll, which is iffy.)
Laura W
Ed might prefer "companion".
(Eugene Robinson, KO last night.)
Ash Can
@JenJen:
She must have been plenty miffed at having been punked. She probably figured that by cutting away from a popular president responding to questions submitted by the public to what turned out to be a bunch of buffoons standing around picking their noses, she likely lost a load of viewers to any networks that didn’t fall for the Republicans’ BS.
anonevent
@Will Danz: I believed he was a troll until he stated that Chuck Todd asked a tough question. Then I knew it was a farce.
Ash Can
@Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon): Hey, for all we know, you’re already doing this. We know that Atanarjuat is a spoof; we just don’t know who’s doing the honors.
Mike in NC
Fixed
Bad Horse's Filly
Agerwhatnot is like a fly in the potato salad, it arrives and the picnic is spoiled.
Mike in NC
The real question the wingnuts need to ask is this: is Obama’s teleprompter made in China (making it a Communist teleprompter) or Europe (therefore a Socialist teleprompter)? It sure as hell ain’t made in the USofA.
bcinaz
Wow, Obama must have made a huge impression on Ed Henry. It must really be something to have President Obama look at you with his STFU face and speak to you as if you were a child. He’s been thinking about it now for two days.
Do you think this little experience will cause him to ask smarter more relevant questions, or will he still just want to Make News?
T Paine
I just want to second forked tongue’s exhortation to ignore the tired teleprompter bullsh*t henceforth, so that we can instead prepare for the coming right-wing meme that ridicules Obama for using a microphone. Or for wearing shoes.
vishnu schizt
@Atanarjuat: Oh A-jizz, come on I love you man. You are one talented mo fo, and easily the leading spoof in here. Secretly I think you are either John, Tim or Doug ’cause you can generate more beligerent posts than anyone else. To be honest I am a lazy ass m’fer and you are an easy target. Nothing personal, I mean I really don’t have much to say so I aim my few posts at you. Well that and you are a thread destroyer of no equal and that kinda pisses me off. But frankly I am awed by your talent. So cheers mate.
SenyorDave
Once and for all, who the FUCK cares whether he uses a teleprompter?
He’s already held two coherent, informative press conferences in two months. He is not using a teleprompter for the answers to the questions, and that is the important part of a press conference, not the prepared remarks.
It took Bush 8 years to hold four press conferences.
Joshua Norton
He may have had teleprompters, but being able to read them was always an iffy prospect.
Actually, Edhenry’s article makes me miss Jeff Gannon.
Joshua Norton
And why stop at asking lame policy questions? He could have asked something like “what did you think about the resolution of Starbuck’s character on the BSG finale?” or “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood, Chuck?” and have accomplished the same thing.
Tsulagi
@Atanarjuat:
You got that right, Country Firster. Here’s just a few of his deep thoughts spoken with conviction…
That was just before he was first inaugurated. You know, to give the the public confidence he’d been reading and comprehended his new job. Months later while in the big chair…
Continuing that strategery…
Then while signing a defense bill to show he was a man on a mission and up to the job…
Mission Accomplished.
mp1900
Remember (YouTube link) "peeance freeance" ?
schrodinger's cat
what is made in USofA these days any way?
chuck
I miss Brick Oven Bill. This new guy is just an ass.
JenJen
@Ash Can: Contessa Brewer update: She’s still ranting and raving about that non-news conference by Cantor. It’s a refreshing thing to see. I’m thinking Tweety will have something to say about this tonight, as well.
They just replayed Cantor saying, "Yes, we do have a plan, and yes we have ideas." Then he launches into a full-throated assault on the President’s budget.
Brewer really has a point here. MSNBC interrupted the President’s town hall to carry Cantor’s shtick live, and he failed to deliver. He used the time to attack, and did not, as advertised, present the alternative, DETAILED Republican plan to the Administration’s budget.
Instead, Cantor essentially said, "I hold in my hand a budget…"
Legalize
Funny, the most amazing part to me is that the President "made you his companion" on national television, in front of millions of people most of whom immediately commenced to laughing at you, and 2 days later you’re telling us all about how your Republican friends think you’re really not a simpering little weenie who just got posterized by someone who is (a) smarter than you and (b) who doesn’t give a fuck about your little reindeer games.
But that’s just me.
Mazacote Yorquest
"If a teleprompter was present, it was the traditional glass type that is understated in its presence and unobtrusive to the audience."
Well played, spoof troll. Well played. You got me– I bow before your satire. I won’t get baited again, but make no mistake– you got me good.
Legalize
Contessa makes me think of Kent Brockman for some reason:
"We now go live to — a picture of a goat nursing at a bottle. Great. That’s it; I quit. Get the weekend guy, I don’t care."
Atanarjuat
@Tsulagi:
Yes, Tsulagi, I agree with you — President George W. Bush is a human being who is as imperfect as the rest of us, and also made occasional blunders in his many speeches. However, unlike jeering leftists, I don’t hold such minor things against President Bush, especially considering that he helped to keep America safe after 9/11.
Not surprisingly, when Obama lets slip the occasional gaffe or two, liberals are quick to say "but, but, but Bush!" Just as you just did, Tsulagi.
Exactly as you just you did.
By the way:
http://deadenders.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/alfred_e_obama_mad_magazine_cover_a.png
Heh.
-A
P.S. Now that Obama favors large screen plasma TV’s for teleprompter duty, I guess we can start using the term, "Plasmaprompter" instead. That’s definitely change liberals can believe in!
Atanarjuat
@Mazacote Yorquest:
No thanks, Mazacote. I gave you a serious response in comment #58, and you come back with a "spoof troll" ad hominem in response.
That’s pretty weak sauce. And also a clear sign that you had nothing of substance with which to rebut, so you lunged for the low-hanging fruit everyone else here has been dangling.
How laughable.
-A
Zifnab
@Atanarjuat:
Truth hurts, my friend. Put a band-aid on it and walk it off.
Adrienne
God I love how conservatives just love to skip to Bush keeping us safe after 9/11 as if 9/11 occurred on someone else’s watch. The cognitive dissonance it takes to defend this man is strikingly alarming to me.
He presided over the WORST terrorist attack EVAH on American soil and not only does he get a free pass but we have to listen to assholes like Attaboy brag about how he kept us safe?! Give me a fucking break. DIAF you asshole.
TenguPhule
Anthrax & Washington Sniper, Asshat.
TenguPhule
"I don’t know. I don’t really think about him very much. I’m not that concerned."
-George Bush, referring to Osama Bin Laden six months after 9/11
Saucy Knave
Ok, I am firmly convinced that Analjaunt is a parody troll. He let just enough light in to make it known.
Good one, though.
Joshua Norton
On 9/11, not so much.
JenJen
@Legalize: FTW.
Atanarjuat
@TenguPhule:
The anthrax attacks occurred back-to-back with 9/11, TenguFool — about a week apart. The country was still reeling in shock and EVERYONE was unprepared for a terrorist attack through the MAIL. Even those supposedly "wiser" and more "intelligent" than Bush were completely caught off guard.
As for the "DC sniper," that was a serial murderer case, two criminals who went on a shooting spree until they were caught by law enforcement. But I’m sure that liberals like you expected George W. Bush to get in his squad car and go on patrol, right?
Somehow, I think that in the case of either the anthrax attacks or the DC sniper case, had Al Gore been president, the outrage and resentment you’ve shown toward Bush would have been magically transformed to understanding and sympathy. All it takes is for the "R" to become a "D" after the name, and it’s all good in Leftist La-La Land.
-A
P.S. Thank you and everyone else who’s hijacked this thread away from that of Ed Henry — who was only doing his job — into more Republican bashing and further examples of Bush Derangement Syndrome.
JenJen
Norah O’Donnell is carrying the Contessa Brewer mantle, really grilling Mike Pence right now.
Pence is doing the full-on "I hold in my hand this budget…" shtick, complete with blue-embossed prop. O’Donnell is giving him the business, honestly, saying, "How can you say ‘this calls for debate’ when you can’t debate the President’s plan by contrasting it with your own? I don’t see any plan."
Pence: "Well (holds up prop) this is a very broad outline, and next week you’ll get the full details." He threw in a handful of "The Democrat Plan, The Democrat Party" lines, too, for good partisan measure.
O’Donnell wasn’t impressed, and then asked Pence if he attended the Britney Spears Concert! Love it.
Mnemosyne
Depends on who you mean by "the usual suspects." Both Greenwald and Digby have been baying about it, along with Jane Hamsher and other excitable types.
If by "the usual suspects" you mean the mainstream media, I’m not sure why you expected them to cover Obama doing the same things Bush did when they didn’t bother to cover them when Bush was doing them.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Oh.My.God. I am in love. Who is this davenoon and who do I have to cut to get him?
Ed Henry goes to Jack in the Box.
TenguPhule
And both are failures on Bush’s part. His ‘term’ started from Jan 20 2001.
TenguPhule
Oh cry me some bullshit you lying asshole.
Mailbombs ring any bells?
Hell, they did a movie with Steven Seagall involving turning planes into guided missiles in the 90s.
Nobody could have expected only if you were a fucking idiot.
Legalize
Awesome. I expect every Dem opperative on television between now and Monday morning talking about how the GOPers would rather attend a Brittney Spears concert than focus on a credible alternative to the President’s "terrible plan."
One would think that if the President’s plan is so awful, then the GOPers would be working around the clock to come up with a nation-saving alternative instead of attending Brittney Spears concerts.
The President has been working hard to come up with a plan to get the economy moving again, and all the GOPers have time for is Brittney Spears concerts.
And etc.
Ash Can
@JenJen: Reading your commentary, then perusing the GOS and the links it’s coming up with, this shit is just getting funnier and funnier. It turns out Politico ran like mad with the GOP’s buildup of today’s time-waster, announcing that House Republicans today were going to unveil today "a big, TV-friendly stack of budget blueprints." (That Politico story is two pages’ worth of GOP hype, mind you.)
Well, OK, I guess that "stack" bit was a little overblown. But there are charts!! And they really do exist!! Also!!! (Do click on that link. It will make you laugh.)
Atanarjuat
@TenguPhule:
That’s why I said of Bush, "he helped to keep America safe after 9/11."
I know that the liberal version of the dictionary is likely missing a lot of terms, such as "humility" and "self-reliance," but I’m sure the word "after" must be in there somewhere. I used that word for a reason. Think about it a while, it might eventually come to you.
It continues to be an endless source of amusement for me how liberals feel so butthurt that President George W. Bush kept America safe after 9/11. That’s why he was re-elected, too. The nerve of the guy!
-A
Atanarjuat
@TenguPhule:
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what liberals resort to when things like the historical record, and even actual reason, finally eludes their grasp.
I’ve been looking for any evidence of Democrats warning, immediately in the aftermath of 9/11, that biological weapon "mailbombs" may be next. If you have such proof, especially with a Bush administration ignoring such dire warnings, I’ll be more than glad to amend my view of the historical record.
Otherwise, your invective-filled diatribe is no substitute, and is not impressing anyone.
-A
John S.
That’s rubbish.
‘Twas my "Protect America Rock" that I keep on my front lawn. Since I put that baby out there, we haven’t suffered one terrorist attack on domestic soil!
If only I had put it out there on 9/10…
Tsulagi
@Atanarjuat:
Occasional blunders? OK, you’re right, CFirster, they weren’t 24/7. He only made blunders during the hours he wasn’t asleep.
And you’re also correct, that retarded spoiled brat is now properly in the dust bin. So let’s take a quick look at one of the current and future brightest stars for the I-see-Teleprompters! crowd. Winky wows…
Like, OMG God!
I have a feeling a lot of people on Earth also have to daily help her find the doors. However, say what you will, she knows her geography…
If you think her knowledge is limited to Alaskan proximity, think again…
And like the previous Decider who knew his role was to “execute” the laws, the Lipsticked One knows her Constitution and the VP’s role she coveted…
Yep, and just like Decider George said, she can’t be fooled again. Well, unless it’s some evildoer Canadian she thinks is President Sarkozy…
Though depicting Palin’s prowess with the Rooskies, likely won’t be too many sales of that documentary with the The Base’s wetsuited family values set. It’s hetero.
geg6
@Ash Can:
From the reports on this I’m reading all across the Intertoobz, seems the entire press pool is feeling they got punked. It’s frickin’ hilarious. From HuffPo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/26/gop-budget-proposal-massi_n_179598.html
House Republican leaders called a press conference Thursday to unveil their "alternative budget." While it was thin on specifics, it does include one major policy proposal: a huge tax cut for the wealthy.
Under the Republican plan, the top marginal tax rate would be slashed from 35 to 25 percent, facilitating a dramatic transfer of wealth up the economic scale. Anyone making more than a $100,000 would pay the top rate; those under would pay 10 percent.
"Two nights ago, the president said, ‘We haven’t seen a budget yet out of Republicans.’ Well, it’s just not true, because here it is, Mr. President," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), waving a blue document in the air.
"Today we’re introducing a detailed road-to-recovery plan," he told the reporters. Other than the tax proposal, however, the plan was absent any details. Instead, it hammered the Democratic budget as too expensive.
Reporters — mainstream, liberal and conservative — greeted the Republican document with a collective scoff.
Read the whole thing. What clowns.
JL
@vishnu schizt: I always thought that he was Doug. He’s just too outrageous to be a troll.
Laura W
@JL: Agreed, and many things point to that if you pay a tiny bit of attention.
And yet many regulars who also know that continue to play with him and piss in his wind. I just do not get the payoff for either side of the equation, (page hits? for what purpose?) But I’ve said that a dozen times or more by now and no one cares what the hell I think anyway.
Guess it’s entertaining someone or it wouldn’t continue on a near-daily basis.
JenJen
@Ash Can:
Oh. My. God. There are no words.
Laura W
@JenJen: I scanned your comments briefly on Contessa earlier. She went to TOWN a few min ago on some spudhead nearly screaming "REHASH!" at him, and is re-visiting it now with Mark Whathisname. She is one pissed off woman today. Uh oh…it’s cuz the Rethug staffers dissed her! …accusing her of not knowing the diff b/n a blueprint and a budget.
Anyway, looks like it’s a tense day all around for many of us. I’ve been super pissy since I got up. You’ll like this…I decided to vent some of my pissy spleen on a neighbor boy for keeping his adorable, quiet, sweetest little girl puppy outside in the rain on a 4′ chain nearly f/t, as best I can tell, with only a wet, crappy, muddy old igloo with no pad or blankets on the bottom as shelter. I asked him if he wanted to find her a new home. That was my smooth lead-in. From there it devolved into me asking him if she ever got attention! water while outside! exercise! He says: "She’s got a doghouse! What business is it of yours?" I told him I believed IF PEOPLE HAVE ANIMALS THEY SHOULD CARE FOR THEM, SORRY! (not)
I hate people. Especially people who keep dogs on fucking chains outside and ignore them. Breaks my heart.
Thanks. Had to share that with a fellow dog rescuer.
Ash Can
@geg6:
@JenJen:
And just when we thought it couldn’t get any funnier, Finger-pointing! Buck-passing! Face-slapping! Bus-underthrowing!
I tell ya, popcorn and days like this were made for each other.
TenguPhule
Except that he didn’t. And he failed on 9/11 too.
JenJen
@Laura W: Sorry I missed your comment earlier!
I’m surprised you didn’t tell the little neighbor that it is absolutely your fucking business, frankly. Asshole.
People make me ill, especially when they mistreat animals just in plain sight, and then ask why it’s "your business" when you call them on their shit. Grrrr.
Let’s hope Friday is a Happier Day for me, you, and Contessa Brewer!