As President Obama leads the country with great aplomb (even by some "Birther" standards) against threats both foreign and domestic, Republicans and their media enablers are doing a heckuva job trying to convince voters that he's more lucky than good.
Fortunately, their best efforts don't seem to be enough.
With friends like this, America hardly needs enemies.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Attorney General Eric Holder; Roundtable: David Brooks (New York Times), E.J. Dionne (Washington Post), Katty Kay (BBC America) and Author Wes Moore.
Face the Nation: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT); Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL); Commandant of the US Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen.
This Week: Attorney General Eric Holder; Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (9/11); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Shelby Steele (Hoover Institution), Robin Wright (US Institute of Peace) and John Podesta (Center for American Progress).
Fox News Sunday: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT); Rep. Peter King (R-NY); Roundtable: Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Mara Liasson (NPR/FNC), Psychopath Liz Cheney and Juan Williams (NPR/FNC).
State of the Union: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL); Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL);Amy Walter (The Hotline); Chris Cillizza (Washington Post); Reliable Sources: John Aravosis (AmericaBlog.com); Republican Strategist David Frum; Lauren Ashburn (Ex-USA Today); Jon Meachem (Newsweek).
The Chris Matthews Show: Joe Klein (TIME); Kathleen Parker (Washington Post); Cynthia Tucker (Atlanta Journal-Constitution); John Heilemann (New York Magazine).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Martin Wolf (Financial Times); Counter-Terrorism Expert Richard Clarke; London School of Economics Professor Irshad Manji; Author Bernard-Henri Levy.
Primetime viewing:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on American citizens who have traveled abroad for terrorist training in order to attack the US or its allies (preview); a working interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (preview); and, a report on the trend of Americans walking away from homes worth less than their mortgages (preview).
On Comedy Central:
Jon Stewart and Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac looked at what New Orleans did to invoke God's wrath.
The Daily Show
Monday: Historian/Author Jack Rakove ("Revolutionaries")
Tuesday: Author Sebastian Junger ("War")
Wednesday: Director Michael Patrick King ("Sex and the City 2")
Thursday: Author Ian Bremmer ("The End of the Free Market")
And Stephen Colbert named the Rev. George Rekers – who is not, and never has been, gay – the "Alpha Dog of the Week."
The Colbert Report
Monday: Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R)
Tuesday: Author Hampton Sides ("Hellhound on his Trail")
Wednesday: Co-Author Deepak Chopra ("The Shadow Effect")
Thursday: Band The Hold Steady ("Heaven is Whenever")
On a related note...
Teabaggers are up in arms (or legs, as it were) over reports that President Obama called them by the very name they coined for themselves.
Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter, in his book "The Promise: President Obama, Year One," to be released May 18, quotes the president as saying that Republican opposition to the economic stimulus package "helped create the tea-baggers and empowered that whole wing of the Republican Party where it now controls the agenda for the Republicans," according to a Washington Post report on the book.
"Tea-bagging" has been used as a derogatory term for the Tea Party movement because of its sexual connotations.
Tea Party sympathizers were quick to respond. "It is insulting to have him lecture on civility while being the least civil participant," Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform said in a written statement. "Obama, get out of the gutter, wash your mouth out with soap and grow up."
While Norquist is busy telling the President to grow up, the people he's defending are preparing to relive the glory of their youth. Or something.
An event described as the "Woodstock" of tea parties is planned for Sept. 11 at the Monona County Fairgrounds in Onawa in western Iowa. [...]
The event will have a "Take back our country" theme, Halverson said. Although the activities will occur on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, he said organizers don’t plan to spend the day reflecting on those events.
And speaking of parties...
Sarah Palin attended the TIME 100 dinner – at which she was inexplicably honored – and served up these heaping bowls of gibberish:
"One thing we can all agree on, though, is how much we respect and want to protect the freedom of the press and we have that in common, so at the end of the day, I think as long as we're protecting that and not abusing the right-we have to be writing truth-then we'll get along just fine tonight."
"I want to make a toast to all at this press event who agree with Thomas Jefferson, who said that our liberty depends on the freedom of the press. So I want to lift a glass to those who defend that freedom. Our finest, the men and women in uniform who defend that freedom, our Constitution, and our exceptional way of life in America."
I love the smell of gibberish in the morning. Smells like... quitting time.
- Trix
