Grist For The Fact-Checkers' Mill?

Jodi Kantor of the NY Times is getting a hefty advance for a book about the Obamas.

So what does the market want, and what is Ms. Kantor likely to produce - a big wet smooch for the Obama or a riskier attempt to deliver some real dirt?  And is the AP standing by with eleven fact-checkers?

It could not be determined whether Ms. Kantor has secured the Obamas’ cooperation, but the fact that her story featured an extensive interview with them in the Oval Office seemed to indicate that she is going into the project with a good working relationship with them.

I am not going to assume that just becausee she works for the Times that Ms. Kantor will be irredeemably in the tank for the Obamas (although it's the money bet!). 

Right now Times reporters seem to picture themselves as foot soldiers in a struggle between Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin on one side and Truth, Justice, and Obama on the other.  However, it is possible that attitudes will change and the public will develop a mood for a "How did we elect this guy" type of expose.  Of course, in that environment there will also be Times dead-enders clamoring for a "Remember why we elected this guy" puffer, so who knows? 

There is also the slight chance that Ms. Kantor has something like a reporter's instinct for a cover-up and will feel some personal or professional pride in getting at the truth behind the Obama facade.  Obama's biography is his brand, and it has been tightly controlled - maybe Ms. Kantor will rise to the challenge.  She may even be aided and abetted in this by Team Obama.  By 2012 Obama will be able to run on his record, not his resume; maybe over the next few years the brand managers won't be afraid to let the truth trickle out with a whimper, not a bang.

I poked at this a few weeks back, earning some kind words from Jack Cashill, so let me try for a quick reprise.  As a minor point illustrating Obama's brand and biography management, let's poke at a seemingly innocuous question - did Obama go off to Bali by himself to work on Dreams From My Fathers just a few months after his wedding and honeymoon, or did the happy couple go off together?

In May of 2008 the Times was clear about the story of a blissful couple heading to Bali so the hubby could work on the book, and they had a source who ought to have known:

His half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, said he eventually retreated to Bali for several months with his wife, Michelle, “to find a peaceful sanctuary where there were no phones.” He showed drafts to a few close relatives including his grandmother, of whom Ms. Soetoro-Ng said, “It probably made her a little nervous, having the family written about, just because you don’t do that in Kansas.”

So in May of 2008, with an election looming, Obama's half-sister told us about the happy couple.

But Ms. Kantor had a different story a few weeks back in her NY Times Magazine article on the Obama marriage:

For the moment, he was enmeshed in writing his memoir, “Dreams From My Father.” He had retreated to Bali for several weeks to work on the manuscript and was still preoccupied with it after his return. “Barack was just really involved in the book. [Michelle] and I would do lots of shopping and movies,” Yvonne Davila, still a close friend, remembered.

“Barack doesn’t belong to you,” she told me she warned Michelle.

Robert Draper, writing in GQ, told a similar version of Barack Alone, wrestling with his demons for forty days and forty nights in Bali.  Hmm, the once-happy couple is now a feckless hubby running off to Bali (and mom!) just a few months into his marriage, unable to endure the cold weather of Chicago or the cold looks from Michelle as the book goes unwritten.  A darker tale!  But the election is over, so it's all good.

And it is clearly not a big deal in itself.  However, it is symptomatic of some larger points.  We know very little about the true biography of a President who was elected on the basis of his biography, and, perhaps because the gloss is so pretty and so historic, the press has not shown much inclination to seek the truth.

I have no idea whether Ms. Kantor is interested in doing some real research and I am sure she is not currently interested in switching sides in the Palin Wars.

However, I do have a seemingly simple biographical question that the Obama campaign choked on for most of 2008 - when did Barack Obama meet Bill Ayers, and when did he meet Bill Ayers' father?

Ahh!  As an Earnest Lib, Ms. Kantor knows this question is fraught!  On the other hand, if a reporter's instincts still flicker within her, she might wonder at the evolution of the Obama explanation and  marvel at the absurdity of their current version of the truth.  I wrote this a few weeks back:

The current cover-up is that [Obama and Ayers] first met in early 1995 at the founding of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. 

But just a reminder, this is from "Dreams" - Obama is describing his frantic efforts in the spring of 1988, prior to leaving for Harvard Law School:

"The months passed at a breathless pace, with constant reminders of all the things left undone.  We worked with a citywide coalition in support of school reform."

That coalition was coordinated by Bill Ayers, who assumed the leadership role by inexhaustibly attending every meeting.  Yet he never met Barack, the charismatic young black man about whom everyone spoke so highly.  And years later, after Ayers had sweated for a year on the creation of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge he left the selection of the chairman to others, who - coincidence! - picked Barack.  Ayers then agreed to turn his baby over to a total stranger who had no background in education reform. 

Sure.  That is a loose end that will be picked at by some big time reporters (or historians) eventually.

Maybe Ms. Kantor wants to see whether there is a story here.  Or she can pass and eventually be scooped by someone else.  Whatever.

Comments

[Sunzeneise]

Too bad someone doesn't source their visa records. (And, while they're there Obama's mother's visa record.) Wouldn't they answer the question?

[bad]

I predict a love story. "Journalists" are a dime a dozen and she isn't about to bet her job on some piffle like "Jounalistic integrity" which is actally an oxymoron...accent on moron.

[MayBee]

Wow, it's been what--months?--since journalist Richard Wolffe's love story about Barack was released.

And literally days since HBO ran the documentary about the wonderfulness of the elections.
So it is indeed the right time for a journalist to write a book about the Obamas.

We just can't get enough "information" about them.

[bad]

Additionally, if Cantor sucks up sufficiently, she might get a job in the administration....

[Sue]

Maybe Ms. Kantor could clear up when Obama first met his brother Mark. In 1988, in Nairobi, or a couple of years ago as he now claims? Seems Dreams really was a dream.

[bunky]

Feelings, nothing more than feelings......

[Sue]

From an AP article that doesn't mention the 1988 meeting in Nairobi:

"I don't know him well. I met him for the first time a couple of years ago," Obama told CNN. "He stopped by with his wife for about five minutes during the trip."

From Dreams:

"'So, Mark,' I said, turning to my brother, 'I hear you're at Berkeley.'

"'Stanford,' he corrected. His voice was deep, his accent perfectly American. 'I'm in my last year of the physics program there.'"

"I asked him how it felt being back for the summer.

"'Fine,' he said. 'It's nice to see my mom and dad, of course. … As for the rest of Kenya, I don't feel much of an attachment. Just another poor African country.'

"'You don't ever think about settling here?'

"Mark took a sip from his Coke. 'No,' he said. 'I mean, there's not much work for a physicist, is there, in a country where the average person doesn't have a telephone.'

"I should have stopped then, but something -- the certainty in this brother's voice, maybe, or our rough resemblance, like looking into a foggy mirror -- made me want to push harder. I asked, "Don't you ever feel like you might be losing something?'

"Mark put down his knife and fork, and for the first time that afternoon his eyes looked straight into mine.

"'I understand what you're getting at,' he said flatly. 'You think that somehow I'm cut off from my roots, that sort of thing.' He wiped his mouth and dropped the napkin onto his plate. 'Well, you're right. At a certain point, I made a decision not think about who my real father was. He was dead to me even when he was still alive. I knew that he was a drunk and showed no concern for his wife or children. That was enough.'

"'It made you mad.'

"'Not mad. Just numb.'

"'And that doesn't bother you? Being numb, I mean?'

"'Towards him, no. Other things move me. Beethoven's symphonies. Shakespeare's sonnets. I know -- it's not what an African is supposed to care about. But who's to tell me what I should and shouldn't care about? Understand, I'm not ashamed of being half Kenyan. I just don't ask myself a lot of questions about what it all means. About who I really am.' He shrugged. 'I don't know. Maybe I should. I can acknowledge the possibility that if looked more carefully at myself, I would …'

"For the briefest moment I sensed Mark hesitate, like a rock climber losing his footing. Then, almost immediately, he regained his composure and waved for the check.

"'Who knows?' he said. 'What's certain is that I don't need the stress. Life's hard enough without all that excess baggage.'

"… Outside we exchanged addresses and promised to write, with a dishonesty that made my heart ache."

Must have been a different Mark. There is dishonesty on display here, but I don' think it is the dishonesty Obama supposedly wrote about in Dreams.

[MayBee]

It was certainly coldness being on display in the Ed Henry interview.
"I don't know him well...He stopped by for about five minutes". Ouch.

[matt]

with the garbage they feed us as news, just imagine...it will be the Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction.

[verner]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted you all to know, that I've just sent a donation to NASS in Peter's memory for $600.

Good job JOMers!!!!

Smooch Smooch XXXOOO

[bunky]

Sometimes when we touch..........

[Thomas Collins]

For some reason the Bali thing and when Ayers wrote the book doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. What I really would like to know is who lead the Das Kapital study group in which Obama no doubt participated at Columbia. Finding out that Ayers lead the group would to me be a juicier tidbit than Ayers confirming that he wrote the book or that Obama was really in Bali with a Sufi esoteric.

[Thomas Collins]

Perhaps my lack of interest in Bali and the book Ayers wrote or the one Kantor is writing is that Obama is such a pedestrian member of the Gramscian polity that this stuff has already worn thin for me. If we were going to have to put up with a leftist Prezzo, it should have been Alexander Cockburn! At least Cockburn would have told the Green-Loonies to put their solar panels up where the sun don't shine!

[centralcal]

Excellent, Verner!

[MayBee]

Thomas Collins- I am less interested in the what of specific details than the why in why Obama lies about these things. Or hides his history in general.

[centralcal]

Where's Clarice been? Is she traveling?

[Sue]

MayBee,

It is like he is distancing himself from his family. On purpose.

[bad]

Congratulations, Verner. PUK is smiling.

[clarice]

I'm here-- I had oral surgery yesterday and haven't posted as much the past 2 days.

[Neo]

what rhetorical and substantive changes are needed ... but ... attributed the defeats to local factors

These guys don't drink their own Kool-Aid ?

[Porchlight]

Thank you, verner!

[Porchlight]

This is long but totally hilarious. Gotta read it all the way through. It's a comment from HotAir, but it's mostly cut-and-paste from a discussion at Slate where a bunch of people are making fun of Palin's book:

****************************

Here’s a gem of discussion from the non-stop Palin ripfest over at Slate:

Sentence, actual
by KevClark64
11/18/2009, 1:09 PM

Under “Sentence, actual” how about this beauty:

“The apartment was small, with slanting floors and irregular heat and a buzzer downstairs that didn’t work, so that visitors had to call ahead from a pay phone at the corner gas station, where a black Doberman the size of a wolf paced through the night in vigilant patrol, its jaws clamped around an empty beer bottle.”

Wow! That wouldn’t make it through freshman English class, and I mean high school, not college. What’s the sentence about anyway? The apartment? The gas station? The Doberman? How about sticking with one complete thought before going on to three more? Just goes to show that some people should stick with politics and give up any presumptions of being a writer.

Easy Translation
by LeRoy_Was_Here
11/18/2009, 1:23 PM

The black Doberman belonged to Sarah, because she didn’t want no stinkin’ liberal visitors, and that’s why they made sure the buzzer downstairs didn’t work, too, and, oh, the Doberman was always carrying around an empty beer bottle, because Sarah and Todd had trained it to get rid of all their beer bottles after they were done with drinkin’ ‘em, on account of they didn’t want their place lookin’ like a buncha white trash lived there!

See how easy that was?

And the floors were all slanting towards the right, of course.

HooHoo!
by reJoinder
11/18/2009, 1:45 PM

That’s great, all it needed was the lead-in “It was a dark and stormy night.” Great stuff!

I remember well the breathless, run-on sentences of my High School days…:)

The Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Contest
by LeRoy_Was_Here
11/18/2009, 1:46 PM

That sentence by Sarah Palin could be entered into the annual Bulwer-Lytton bad writing contest.

It could have a chance at winning a honorable mention, at any rate.

Re: Sentence, actual
by KevClark64
11/18/2009, 1:50 PM
I probably should have mentioned that the sentence quoted above was not written by Sarah Palin. It’s taken from the first paragraph of Dreams from My Father, written by Barack Obama.

LibTired on November 18, 2009 at 2:33 PM

**************************

[caro]

Hope you feel better, Clarice.

[caro]

And,verner,thanks for all your work representing us.

[caro]

Porch, that is hilarious!

[MayBee]

Genius, Porch.

I've been thinking lately that someone should post a blog: Obama or Palin
with quotes from each of them. And not the made-up quotes Plouffe put in his mouth in his book about Obama.

I bet people couldn't tell the difference.

[Jane]

That's fabulous Porch. I wonder what happened next.

[bio mom]

What a novel idea to write a book about the Obamas!! Why didn't someone think of that earlier??

[Sue]

LOL.

[srp]

I am definitely most interested in "DOTUS--The College Years." It's outrageous that we don't know what the president's courses were, what his GPA was, with whom he was hanging, what influenced him, etc. We at least have myths about the Clintons, we know a lot about Bush and Gore and Kerry, yet a guy whose written two autobiographies is still a mystery on the basic facts. Amazing.

[pops]

I can't wait for Barack to write his memoir about writing his memoir.....

But anyway. A complete idiot defense attorney just got big face licks from Shepard Smith for saying dumb stuff like New York courts have great security because even this idiot has to go through the metal detector.

Yes, what could a suicide bomber like more then a crowd of idiots standing in line waiting to go through a metal detector. I am sure he'll throw a few extra nails and beebes in his explosive belt for this fool.

[pops]

Sorry but Shepard Smith really needs to go. Now he claimed Somalia pirates have never hurt anyone. This guy must be on drugs or trying to get fired.

Somali pirates kill Yemeni fisherman
Monday, March 30, 2009 Security forces in Mukalla city of Hadramout governorate said that a fisherman body aboard a boat arrived on Sunday at the port of the governorate, the Security Information Center of Interior Ministry reported Sunday.

The fisherman named Sahl Juma`an al-Sani (45) has been killed few days ago in the Somali territorial waters as Somali pirates were trying to seize the boat.

[pops]

Here's another one Shep...you fool.

Somali pirates kill Syrian captain
Updated: 2009-09-25 11:14

MOGADISHU: Somali pirates boarded a Panama-flagged ship heading for Mogadishu on Thursday and killed its Syrian captain after he refused to turn the vessel away from the port, officials said.

[Old Lurker]

You mixing those magic dentist pain pills with wine, Clarice?

[Pofarmer]

Shep would be right at home following Kieth Olbermann.

[PD]

My copy of Going Rogue arrived today so I immediately checked to find whether there's any evidence of a "cover up" of the ghostwriting issue.

Negative. Right there in the acknowledgments (in the back of the book), she mentions Lynn Vincent and thanks her for her help in getting the words on paper.

Not, mind you, that I think having a collaborator is necessarily a bad thing in itself. But I notice libs are flinging "it's ghostwritten!" around and implying that this is something Sarah's trying to hide. As usual, she's transparent about it and they're fools.

[bunky]

Hello, is that me you're looking for?

[cathyf]

Too, funny, Porch! You know, I read the sentence and thought that it's pretty good writing -- wryly amusing, paints a vivid picture. Of course we know that Bill Ayers is a talented writer, so no surprise there!

[peter]

Brava, Porchlight. Since you posed nude for a comic strip, you really have gotten clever.

Ras is at -14 today. Excellent post by Victor David Hansen at the NRO Corner today.

[Janet]

From Sweetness&Light LUN About Obama's half brother...

"Isn’t it odd how the Associated Press buries the information (in their penultimate paragraph) that Mr. Obama’s brother says that their father beat him and Mr. Ndesandjo’s mother?...

It’s almost as if the AP and the rest of the media don’t want their readers to know about it. Even though the AP themselves reported on Mr. Ndesandjo’s “semi-autobiographical” book back on November 4th.

Do you think they would be this discreet with similar news involving the Palin family?"

[centralcal]

Porch - add me to the chorus - that comment thread is priceless!

[clarice]

I'm feeling fine, thanks. Not mixing wine with happy pille either..In fact only took one happy pill in two days. Everything's healing like magic. Cause I am one tough old bird.

[centralcal]

Clarice: sorry to hear about the oral surgery.

[clarice]

cc--It wasn't bad at all--It sounds gruesome (dental implant) and it's a multistep thing but I am now officially the possessor of a bionic tooth..well at least a titanium post embedded in my jaw.

*******
AP:WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's choice for a top job with the Treasury Department is having tax problems. A congressional report says Obama's nominee for undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, Lael Brainard, was late in paying real estate taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The report by the Senate Finance Committee staff also challenges the accuracy of a deduction Brainard claimed for running an office from her home. ***

Another day, another tax cheat nominee for Treasury..This is ridiculous.

[clarice]

oBAMA'S ALREADY SAYING HE MIGHT NOT RUN AGAIN--OH THE WEEPING AND WAILING AND TEETH GNASHING THAT WOULD CAUSE.

[DrJ]

well at least a titanium post embedded in my jaw.

They use metal for this? Does it have any effect on CAT (or other medical) scans? I'd think they would interfere, or heat, or get pulled pretty hard in a magnetic field.

[centralcal]

Clarice: I have had oral surgery (no pain at all - found teeth cleaning by hygiengist to be worse), but no implants (yet . . .).

My office windows face across a greenbelt into the office of a Periodontist who specializes in implants and every patient walks out looking fine. A few doors down is a regular dentist and I can't tell you how many patients come out holding hankies to their faces or are helped to their cars by an assistant. Tee hee - go figure.

[clarice]

In an interview with CNN in China, President Obama opened the possibility to not running for re-election in 2012 -- something that no president has done since Lyndon Johnson.

Here's what he said:

"You know, if - if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll - I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry.

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting re-elected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant," the president also said.

LUN

[clarice]

DrJ I have no idea about CAT scans etc..I am sure if it is a problem the Dr will tell me..
I can't say I experienced much more pain than I have with a more extensive type of regular dental procedure..say having a crown fitted.In fact, having a wisdom tooth extracted was a lot worse, but then it was done elsewhere by a less skilled dentist.

[peter]

Clarice, that's just the teleprompter talking. It's jet lagged. Obama wants to run.

[hit and run]

clarice:
In an interview with CNN in China, President Obama opened the possibility to not running for re-election in 2012

Good thing he's not Palin.

He's always done this -- but only when he was moving on to the next bigger, better thing.

And without a natural bigger, better thing*...

Sue's Conspiracy Theory picks up momentum at an alarming rate.

---------------
*Ban Ki Moon's first term is up in Dec 31, 2011.

[centralcal]

Clarice: I read your Obama quotes a couple of times. All I could think was, not only does he talk about himself constantly, he now admits to talking TO himself constantly.

[clarice]

The UN's too small, Hit--now that there's water on the moon--he can aim for the universe.(Of course he'll have to get amnesty for aliens first.)

[Pofarmer]

Obama just lame ducked himself?

Worlds Dumbest Politician?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Clarice:

First thanks for note on our disabled military. I'm going to follow up.

As to metal detectors: My left leg from 1987 to 2005 had 5 metal titanium pins in it and these have since been replaced with a full knee replacement, titanium.

They gave me a card to carry with me that says I'm a "metal implant patient," signed and laminated by my orthopod. I show this any time I have problems with a metal detector.

However, I was told by two different doctors that titanium does NOT set off the metal detectors. Don't believe it. I set the one off at the National Archives in Washington, DC and got a 44 magnum pointed right between my eyes as a result. Scared the daylights out of me.

I have also had trouble at the airport, but only once out of many flights. I can't explain it. But, if there is any consolation, I once set off the metal detector at the San Diego airport with my underwire bra. Some are set much more sensitive than others, it seems.

[clarice]

Well this is a tiny pin--much smaller than a knee--though the first day when the anesthesia wore off it felt like a steel beam. LOL

[Sue]

Sue's Conspiracy Theory picks up momentum at an alarming rate.

You guys just remember where you heard it first when it turns out I was right. Barack Hussein Obama...mmmmmm...mmmmmm..mmmmmm

[Pofarmer]

Sue's Conspiracy Theory picks up momentum at an alarming rate.

You guys just remember where you heard it first when it turns out I was right. Barack Hussein Obama...mmmmmm...mmmmmm..mmmmmm

Can somebody help me out here?

[DrJ]

I have no idea about CAT scans etc..I am sure if it is a problem the Dr will tell me.

Do ask him. I recall serving on a panel that reviewed a proposal seeking to improve metal dental implants. There was a fellow panelist who pointed out all the issues with medical devices that use metals. He pushed strongly for ceramics.

I don't recall the details, and I'm not supposed to remember them anyway (confidentiality)!

[Ranger]

Well, I figured Barry would bail if the Dems lost a lot of seats in the House in 2010, because then the job would get hard, and he always gives up when the job gets hard. But this is really astonishing. He has overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. He doesn't bother himself at all with the actual crafting of policy. And the job is still too hard for him.

[srp]

BO has kind of skated through all of his jobs to date, "moving on" to a higher one without any visible accomplishments. The Presidency seems to be the first time he's being forced to stand for something and take responsibility for it and he doesn't like it...I could see him deciding he'd rather move to a role where he can go back to self-righteously flaunting his wonderfulness. Mediating and organizing and conferencing, y'know.

[peter]

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting re-elected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant," the president also said.

Translation: I can ruin this country irreversibly, so my work for Soros will be done, and you can put in someone else.

[bgates]

There are two reasons Obama might not be concerned with how many voters support him before an election. One is that he doesn't care what the result of the election is. The other is that the voters don't determine the result of the election.

[Ranger]

Barry is showing us the difference between a leader and an ideolog.

A leader identifies hard choices and convinces people to follow them in making the tougher right one, rather than the easier wrong one.

An ideolog simply believes what he is doing is right, and if the people disagree, then they are "too stupid" to appriciate the ideolog's vision, or "too weak" to live up to the ideolog's potential. (Then they take their toys and go home if you are lucky. Most societies in the world are not so lucky.)

[jimmyk]

I have also had trouble at the airport, but only once out of many flights. I can't explain it.

They can vary the sensitivity of the detectors.

A few years ago my daughter (then 6) was a flower girl in a wedding. She got her hair done in some fashion that involved a lot of bobby pins. On the way back from the wedding she set off the airport metal detector, and the security person said that either she would have to take out the bobby pins (thus undoing the do) or they'd have to pat her down. She said, "Pat me down!"

[anduril]

"ideolog" - i get it: as in "idiotic as a log." :-)

[Sue]

Po,

Can somebody help me out here?

You're better off not knowing. I was being a little ridiculous with my conspiracy theories.

[Pofarmer]

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting re-elected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant,"

Was there ever a better line to bring out the torches and pitchforks?

[Dave (in MA)]

Kantor should be happy she doesn't have the same agent as James Lileks. His post today revealed that his agent stole 100% of the proceeds from his last book. Kantor's represented by Cheney.

[anduril]

Here's a link to John Crudele's NYP column: China spanking Obama is health care's only cure.

There's absolutely nothing in the column that you don't already know, but he says it with panache:

Keep those figures in mind this week because President Obama is about to be humiliated by the Chinese.

...

But there's a big difference: China has money to burn.

The US, meanwhile, has already burned its money — not only on excessively expensive health care, but on wars, economic stimuli, pork barrel politics, wasteful government programs and. . . well, a lot of other things.

...

So, as President Obama visits China to meet with President Hu this week, it'll be like the student going to the principal's office for a tongue lashing.

And while the photo opportunities will probably show nothing but smiling faces, our new, inexperienced president will undoubtedly be taken to the woodshed over his — and our country's — profligate spending.

The lecture, in fact, already started last weekend when the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission chided the US for not keeping an eye on our banking industry.

And President Obama will have to sit there and take it.

...

The cat's out of the bag.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke revealed yesterday that the job situation in this country is worse than the 10.2 percent unemployment rate indicates.

He said people — and keep this to yourself, lest it get around — are underemployed.

...

In case you haven't noticed the pattern, for a long time Washington has been putting out economic data that needs to be lowered at a later date.

I'm not necessarily saying this is suspicious; just convenient.

That's enough to make even someone as dumb as Barry start wondering what he signed up for. Make no mistake about it--most Americans probably don't realize what's going on here, but the rest of the world does.

[daddy]

"I had oral surgery yesterday and haven't posted as much the past 2 days."

Clarice,

The new book of unpublished Mark Twain essays has one on his first visit to a Dental Office; "Happy Memories of the Dental Chair." Haven't got to it yet, but if it's good, will post some highlights.

[peter]

Great post, Anduril. Does China have any Linux computers?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

BO has kind of skated through all of his jobs to date, "moving on" to a higher one without any visible accomplishments. The Presidency seems to be the first time he's being forced to stand for something and take responsibility for it and he doesn't like it...I could see him deciding he'd rather move to a role where he can go back to self-righteously flaunting his wonderfulness. Mediating and organizing and conferencing, y'know.

Obama is already saying he might not seek reelection if he thinks he has accomplished all there is to be accomplished, or some such b.s.

Stark contrast to Sarah Palin, whose life is a constant whirlwind of action and making things happen.

Obama would get tired just reading about Sarah's legislative agenda, her life, and her duties as politician, mom, wife, and all around get it doner.

He'd need to take a vacation from exhaustion just reading the first 100 pages.

[clarice]

Thanks, daddy. My son loved Spanish language literature but not English language stuff except for Twain who made him laugh outloud. I do think he's great fun to read.

[clarice]

Dave, that's terrible news about Lileks.

[Rob Crawford]

Yes, what could a suicide bomber like more then a crowd of idiots standing in line waiting to go through a metal detector. I am sure he'll throw a few extra nails and beebes in his explosive belt for this fool.

And even at that, the suicide bomber's point is made. He's got his news coverage, his dead and wounded, his houris (or raisins).

And if there's a second one, waiting for the paramedics, firemen, and police, or to charge through the blast zone to strike at the court room?

Or a third?

That would take fewer people than were involved in the 1993 WTC attack, and would likely send the Obama administration into paralysis as they try to figure out what to do with KSM et. al.

[matt]

exactly how many half brothers and sisters does Dear Leader now have? Kenyan? Indonesian? Chinese? Anglo? Kendonesian? He's within 6 degrees of separation from himself.

And are all of them of the same caliber as the ones we've seen so far? Where's Billy, dammit?

His next book will be entitled "Dreams of My Siblings and Devil Take the Hindmost"

[Rick Ballard]

How does a suicide bomber damage the image of the US abroad more than the Chief Magistrate of the United States' declaration that a devout muslim, following his (and others of his cult) interpretation of the words of their prophet, will be expeditiously found guilty and executed? It seems to me that the islamofascists already have their "prize" from this idiocy. It would make more sense for them to kill friends and family members of the jury in the hope of forcing a mistrial than to going the car/suicide bomb route.

[centralcal]

I miss alot of news at JOM during the week when I am at work, so, please forgive me if you guys have discussed this already...

I just noticed the threads are all longer (they used to be only 50 comments per page) - how long has this been the case?

[MayBee]

Wasn't the Blind Sheik trial going on when 9/11 happened?

[daddy]

Clarice (or anyone else who knows how)

How do you find out if someone is logging in or posting from a foreign location? I ask because on almost any story in the Anchorage Daily News (ADN) we constantly get tons of comments negative to Sarah or Conservatives etc. I have a hard time believing it is simply so many local in-state folks, and would like to know if it's possible to find out if it's teams of out of state posters dedicated to hammering the right so that folks will imagine thats the popular sentiment.

If there is anyway to track that, I'd be interested in trying to figure it out.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[windansea]

OT Chinese blogger

Zhao, who writes a popular blog and twitters under the name Hecaitou, said the visit made him miss Bush who "couldn't speak with flowery language and even made grammatical mistakes but spoke as plainly as an American farmer."

Obama, by contrast, speaks "with sweet but empty words."

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Pgs 206-207 made me laugh out loud:

Palin is talking about the final push on the gasline. She talks about meetings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, members of Congress, with the WH and national security officials and then says:

I hit the same topics in detail with reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Time, the Associated Press, Investor's Business Daily, and Forbes. (Perhaps this is why I was so shocked during the VP campaign when Katie Couric wondered which papers and magazines I read. Maybe I should have asked her what SHE reads. She didn't sound very informed on our energy issues.)

[TieDye]

Reply to bunky, at 1:59 PM, 11/18/09:

Perhaps Obama confused this half-brother 'Mark' with one of Frank Marshall Davis' children - a son named 'Mark' who uses an unpronouncable Hawaiian name as his surname. I mean, Obie may be mixed up - because there are some who think Davis was his father. Though if Davis' son is Obama's half-brother, they would have met well before 1988.
Sheesh! Every time I hear Obama's name, life gets more confusing!

[Janet]

centralcal- I just noticed the longer threads today

[Pofarmer]

Allahpundit has turned into such a douche.

[sylvia]

Palin was smart not to answer the question of what she reads. Because if she had answered and said, well such and such magazines, the next question Couric would have asked is "did you read this XYZ article last week in this such and such magazine and what was your opinion on it?"

And then if Palin had not read that particular issue or article, Olbermann would be on the next day saying Palin lied about what she read and that she didn't read. That's the real reason behind that. It was a gotcha, when did you stop beating your wife question. I don't know if Palin could explain that though. Not now anyway, might be too late.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Daddy, it will be difficult unless you can get the ADN to co-operate, but if you can find out the poster's IP address, it's reasonably easy to get a location from it. Here's one example.

It can be fooled — for example, when I worked at Sun, it would show my location as Santa Clara CA, because that's where Sun's net connected to The Internet — but it's usually pretty accurate.

[anduril]

Does China have any Linux computers?

Interesting question, peter. There was a big hullabaloo about Red Flag (as opposed to Red Hat) Linux in China a few years ago, and how the regime there was going with Linux over MS. I didn't follow that, but a quick Google turned up this: How Microsoft beat Linux in China and what it means for freedom, justice, and the price of software

[Porchlight]

Glad you guys liked that Slate comment thread! I can't take any credit, I just copied it from HotAir commenter LibTired.

The funny thing is that anyone who has read Cashill's detective work on Dreams would immediately recognize that sentence. Did the Slate libs not do their patriotic duty and read Barack's Little Book? Shame on them!

OT, these longer threads are cool...

[sylvia]

And another thing on Palin. I think it's funny watching the left crow about the "lies" in Palins book. I watched the Olbie and the other shows, asnd I gave it a chance, but the "lies" they came up with are pathetic. Even with the 11 fact checkers.

First of all, it's about something about whether she did or didn't want to go on SNL. There are emails supporting both sides. So a reasonable person could conclude that maybe at first she didn't and then later she changed her mind and decided she wanted to. So either way it could fit. Big deal. So it's not a "lie".

Then there are conversations with Nicole Wallace where Palin says one thing and Wallace says it didn't happen. And so now Palin is the liar. Well did anyone think that Wallace may be the liar because she wants to save her career? Where's the proof, it's one gal's word against another.

So if that's the best they got, it's laughable. But the left is still acting like they found gold anyway. They have to I guess.

[Pofarmer]

I wonder, anybody got a clue as to the final number at the Palin book signing today?

Also, is there a link to all her appearances? If there's one within an hour, I'd like to go.

[Porchlight]

Pofarmer, I think it's still going on - it was supposed to start at 6 pm local time which I think is Central. So it's happening right now. Maybe we'll get a tally later.

There should be a list of the appearances on Palin's FB page. I saw one there yesterday that went thru Thanksgiving, then I saw another today that had December appearances, but no link. If no one minds the cut and paste I'll find it and post it.

[Porchlight]

Pofarmer - here's that link, from HarperCollins:

Sarah Palin Book Tour

Closest one to me is Ft. Hood...that would be something to see.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I don't know about the whole day, Pofarmer, but I read this morning that they were lining up in the freezing rain at 4:30 AM, 1500 strong, in Detroit.

I'm almost done with the book. It was alittle hard to get into in the early pages, but now I can't put it down. Although she tires me out just thinking about her hectic schedule and all the things she juggles plus the infighting in Alaska is horrible.

She says about midway through that had there been tea parties back in 2007 and 2008 she would have led the first one as whenever she was fighting the legislature or other gov't or gas officials, she'd take to the townhalls and go straight to the people with her message and her vision.

If Obama put in one-tenth of what she does in a single day, he'd need a vacation every week.

[atg]

Fact checkers. How did PUK die? Clarice tried to fool us into believing some retired FBI agency was going to check for us, but we've heard nothing.

[Pofarmer]

I've got the book sitting on my desk, need to open it and get busy. Looks like the closest signings to me are Springfield, MO, or Souix City, Iowa. Both 3 hours or so.

[Porchlight]

atq,

Go away.

[centralcal]

O/T - I am not a fan of Lindsay Graham and more often than not want him voted off the island, however, he was simply outstanding today questioning AG Holder.

Sue, about those conspiracy theories you have - I am thinking Obama, Holder, D. Patrick are all kinda like the Boys From Brazil.

[daddy]

Thanks Charlie for that answer.

And good steer by the way on the Folger Editions of Shakespeare. Just finished a history of the First Folio and came to realize the importance of Folger and his collections to that.