Showing Up

The eternally cautious Ms. Clinton ducks a controversy on her global listening tour:

SEOUL, Feb. 20 -- Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new campaign and message: The United States wants to listen.

To that end, on her first overseas trip as secretary of state, Clinton is talking a lot. Her schedule is packed with so many town halls, ceremonial events, television shows and meetings with community leaders that it has the feel of a presidential visit -- or even a presidential campaign.

Before departing tropical Indonesia on Thursday for snowbound Seoul, Clinton carved out an hour to chat with the Muslim nation's president. But she also appeared on a highly popular youth television show, "Dahsyat" ("Awesome"), met with a group of Indonesian journalists, answered questions on a radio program and went on a campaign-style walk through a lower-middle-class neighborhood, where she studied recycling efforts as hordes of Indonesians gathered around her. "I love your hat," she called out to a man in a New York Yankees baseball cap.

"There is a hunger for the United States to be present again," Clinton told reporters as she flew to Seoul. "Showing up is not all of life -- but it counts for a lot."

Showing up "counts for a lot"?  C'mon!  Ninety percent of life is just showing up.  Or maybe ninety-nine percent.  Or do I hear "eighty"?

William Safire tackled this back in 1989 when President Bush and Goveror Cuomo were scuffling over this:

A DISPUTE WAS BEGUN in this space recently between President Bush and Gov. Mario (pronounced Marry-o) Cuomo about the accurate quotation of the philosopher Woody Allen.

The President quoted him as saying, ''Ninety percent of life is just showing up.'' (His speechwriters later assured me that Mr. Bush has used that reference frequently; it's one of those things that get stuck in a public speaker's head and he never needs prompting to use it.) The Governor, in his equally frequent usage over the years, says, ''Most of life is just a matter of showing up,'' and the expression in a self-help best seller is ''Eighty percent of success is showing up.''

Readers were promised that clarification of this seminal thought would be sought from the author; Mr. Allen has responded to my query.

''The quote you refer to,'' Mr. Allen writes, ''is a quote of mine which occurred during an interview while we were discussing advice to young writers, and more specifically young playwrights.

''My observation was that once a person actually completed a play or a novel he was well on his way to getting it produced or published, as opposed to a vast majority of people who tell me their ambition is to write, but who strike out on the very first level and indeed never write the play or book.

''In the midst of the conversation, as I'm now trying to recall it, I did say that 80 percent of success is showing up.''

Why that particular percentage? ''The figure seems high to me today,'' Mr. Allen says, ''but I know it was more than 60 and the extra syllable in 70 ruins the rhythm of the quote, so I think we should let it stand at 80.''

Looks like Hillary is as bold and decisive as Mario Cuomo, the Hamlet on the Hudson.

[END OF THREAD]

Comments

[BumperStickerist]

Memo to Hillary:

I'm fairly certain the United States Navy showed up in Indonesia to assist Indonesians after the tsunami.

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=16663

google "diplomad tsunami" for more cites

And, last I checked, the US Navy is part of the United States.

-

[kim]

'The US wants to listen...To that end Clinton is talking a lot'

Why do I get this picture of a horse's head in Kessler's bed?
================================

[kim]

Turn down the sound. Listen carefully. Can you hear the distant sound of hysterical shrieks of laughter? That's me.
===================================

[MayBee]

Good recall, BumperStickerist.
I remember when our unprecedented efforts in the Tsunami zone were going to show Islamic people in the area how much we care.

[Thomas Collins]

I wonder if HRC is going to be listening to folks from Poland and the Czech Republic about her Prez's hedging on missile defense, or to the Israelis on her Prez's Persia policy.

[narciso]

That was a rhetoricsl question, right T.C.

[bad]

Weren't a bunch of students claiming they should get an A for showing up to class?

I blame Hillary.

[kim]

I remember reading a comment from a military wife in Hawaii, hours after the tsunami struck; the Navy was already on its way. I also remember that Indonesia invited us to leave early for fear we might be too influential among the rural Muslim population we were helping. That's gratitude for you.

Absence of the US 'good cop' is going to make the heart grow fonder. Bush's eight years of world-wide civil order, relatively, is already being missed. But hush is the word. Hegemony by any other name smells just as bad, to some.
================================================

[Danube of Thought]

I think she needs to head for Kyrgystan to see if she can get that base reopened. Fat chance.

[bad]

Market down another $175 today, so far

[Thomas Collins]

Yes, narciso, it was rhetorical. On the other hand, my most likely vain hope springs eternal that Zero will quickly grow up to the realities of international politics and the interests of the US.

I suspect that HRC's listening tour is actually primarily part of the permanent campaign back home. It gets comforting stories and pictures in the MSM about how folks abroad are nice to us now. Of course, I wouldn't give a hoot if folks abroad are nasty to us if they supply troops to Afghanistan and cooperate in undermining the Persian nuke program.

[clarice]

narciso..in case you haven't airline tickets yet, I emailed you a good buy on them.

[hit and run]

In addition to the navy, I seem to recall a couple of prominent Americans who showed up prominently in response to the tsunsmi.

Uncanny as this may sound, their last names were Bush and Clinton.

[PaulL]

The listening tour worked for Rodham in New York. She's not that bright so she's sticking with what she knows from before. Is the rest of the world as gullible as New Yorkers?

[narciso]

Rather disgusting, we take "Hambali" of their hands, the Bali bomber, send him to some 'secret prison' which Brian Ross, carelessly burns, so he's now at Gitmo, and
will probably be freed under Obama, and she gets the credit

[Danube of Thought]

LUN for an extremely unfavorable review of the first month of Obama's foreign policy.

[PeterUK]

This is most odd.During the first term ,politicians usually barge about on the domestic scene.It is only in the second term the cCivil Service works out ways to send them abroad to get them out of the way.Obama has barely got off a plane since inauguration and Hilary has been shunted off to really important places.

[PeterUK]

and I can't stand the "smug git" picture in "Check This".

[matt]

I think the relief effort after the tsunami got us @ 50 Indonesians saying thank you. But we did the right thing, as we always have. That's good enough for me.

[Tina]

Completely OT, but just to demonstrate that MSM are Obama Cultists:

Rick Moran (ABC) had this to say in an interview with TVNewser (LUN):

"In some ways Barack Obama is the first president since George Washington to be taking a step down into the oval office. From visionary leader of a giant movement, now he's got an executive position that he has to perform in, in a way, and I think the coverage reflects that," he said.

[JM Hanes]

Most folks scoffed at Hillary's "listening tour" in upstate New York too. A big part of "public" diplomacy really is just showing up, versus manning a phone in DC a la Colin Powell. I rather doubt that the Kyrgystan fiasco should be laid at Mme Secretary's door. If anybody could recognize a palm greasing opportunity, I'd think it would be Hillary, and as I recall, Bill has had a pretty cushy relationship with the Kyrgyrs (or whatever they would be called).

I suspect Hillary will be pretty solid on Israel too. I get the impression that while there's a lot of private money to be made as an Arabist, the purely political calculus would tend to favor the Jewish vote. If she doesn't run for President again, I can certainly see her running for Gov. of New York. Politics is the family business, and while Bill is enjoying la vida rica way to much to run for office again, & Chelsea's turn is coming up. Unlike Caroline Kennedy et cousin/cousines, she has a real future in politics. She's got better mentors to start with, and the townhalls she did for her mother were great on the job training in a controlled environment. The reviews suggest she'll do fine when the training wheels come off.

Before Teddy Kennedy returned to center stage via the Kerry campaign, I would never have believed anyone would take him seriously as the face of the Democratic party again. That appears to have been Kerry's singular achievement. Ironically, after marketing the Camelot mythology for so much of his life, Teddy himself has screwed the pooch over and over again. If he and Caroline had thrown themselves behind Hillary, Hillary would probably be the President -- and Caroline would be the Senator from New York right now.

[matt]

wow..the man has been in office 3 weeks and they're comparing him to Washington...what a bunch of deluded suck ups.

[JM Hanes]

Meant to say that I think HIllary's biggest problem is/will be Obama. He's the worst of two worlds: he's a control freak trying to manage by committee.

[clarice]

I think you are right jmh but I must say after reading Melanie Phillips and watching the market I am getting really depressed at this nincompoop's actions. OTOH he does seem to be reviving his opponents and fast.

[Jane]

Would some of you smart people go over to FWDAJ and answer Roger:

More info on the RAT:

(1) All Inspectors General are Presidential appointees, and serve at the President’s whim. There is nothing unprecedented about it… that’s the way it’s been since IGs were created in the ’70s. The only difference now is that, with the amendment to the IG act from last fall, appointees are explicitly selected without regard of political affiliation (yeah, right), and the president can no longer fire them without giving a written report to Congress. (Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, and Carter had more leeway.)

(2) Bearing the preceding in mind, this means that the RAT board basically restores a limited version of the power over IGs to the presidency that all presidents had from 1978 to 2008, only restricted to this specific IG.

(3) The members of the RAT board will be other IGs or vice-secretaries appointed by Obama in other, related departments. So worrying about the president appointing the board’s chair is kinda silly… he effectively owns them all.

(4) The RAT wasn’t slipped in as suggested in the linked article… the idea was initially floated by Daniel Inouye back in mid-January, and has been part of both the Senate and House versions of the stimulus package from the beginning.

So I take back what I said about the RAT. It’s pretty much a non-issue

All I could muster was to quote JMH. He deserves a better reply.

LUN

[Jane]

Oooh that didn't come out right. Your quote is brilliant JMH, but I'm not sure I even addressed the question.

[Captain Hate]

Good recall, BumperStickerist.
I remember when our unprecedented efforts in the Tsunami zone were going to show Islamic people in the area how much we care.

I remember that. I also remember how some UN douchetool was badmouthing the amount of charitable giving that the US provided since it wasn't funneled through the UN's graft machine to support meetings of stuffed shirts whose agendas definitely don't include providing relief to the victims; conveniently ignoring the Navy vessels in place providing real support. But that's ok, Zero is a citizen of the world and will be forcing us to polish the UN's knobs in the future.

[kim]

Melanie Phillips has written similarly scathing commentary about the climate fools.
================================

[bgates]

OT, it's hard to work an iPhone with gloves on, and Dubya's pissed.

[narciso]

Why is he spending so much on IG's and why are they not answerable to Congress, if it's to root out corruption, (bwaa ha ha)
sorry, it's to find people who are actually doing the right thing, like the CIA interrogations teams, or aggressive officers
in the Stans, or people that won't follow the collaborationist agenda at stake. Can one be blamed for being that cynical, with everything that has gone before.

[clarice]

Jane, Volokh's Jonathan Adler suggests as well that this is a tempest in a York teapot:

http://volokh.com/posts/1235085071.shtml

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Why do I get this picture of a horse's head in Kessler's bed?

Why do I get the picture of a horse's other end?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

the man has been in office 3 weeks and they're comparing him to Washington

Cut off from the real United States, ornamental, but with no actual productive possibilities?

Or did you mean President Washington?

[bgates]

Also, age and cold are turning 41 into some kind of Mongol tribal elder, but the hat works for him. The Court looks like it's remaking "Weekend at Bernie's" with Ginsberg as the title character.

[hit and run]

I love Gibbs. Really.

I mean, holy smokes…http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19083.html>WH lashes out at CNBC's Santelli

Seriously? Gibbs wants to pick a fight with Santelli?

No. Really?

More Gibbs!

[bgates]

I’m not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives or in what house he lives

First, I'm going to guess that it's not in a mansion paid for buy a slum lord who's now in federal prison, second, I'm sure some enterprising young Kossack will have an address and phone number for Mr Santelli online any minute now, and third, Gibbs wouldn't have to ask these kinds of questions if we'd hurry up and have the government install GPS tracking devices in our cars.

[Porchlight]

I'm sure some enterprising young Kossack will have an address and phone number for Mr Santelli online any minute now

That was the first thing I thought of when I read what Gibbs had said. It's practically a direct invitation to stalk. Someone is telling Gibbs to be aggressive and mention the opposition by name - Axelrod, probably.

[PeterUK]

Yes these irresponsible revelation have got to stop.

[centralcal]

Porch: I saw a clip of Gibbs and he was really evil when he said he didn't know where Santelli lives or what house he lives in.

These people are getting scarier every day.

[Pofarmer]

This administration is coming off, as, well, patently communist. The attack by Gibbs on Santelli and "derivatives traders was waaaayyyyyy over the top.

[centralcal]

Pofarmer: Agreed. They are all coming off like Chicago thugs from some B movie AND communists.

[Topsecretk9]

Insty has the perfect response to Gibbs sarcastically saying Santelli should read the presidents plane before criticizing it...

Which is rich, since that’s more than anyone in Congress did before voting last week . . .

[Pagar]

It fits in better with the discussion on the last thread, but that thread seems to have died.

There was a report on Marketwatch (powered by CBS) a few minutes ago talking about investor lawsuits over modified mortgages. It pointed out that congress has had, since 5 Feb, a bill designed to limit investor lawsuits. It said the same bill was introduced last year but was not enacted because of opposition from the Bush Administration. The way I read it, passage would be automatic this year. I have not been able to find the report again, but it was there.

There is also a report that Obama will host a fiscal responsibility conference next week. Somehow, I just don't think the words (fiscal responsibility) mean the same to the Democrats as they do to others.

[boris]

These people are getting scarier every day.

More likely "getting scared".

Outside in the cold distance

A wild cat did growl

Two riders were approaching

And the wind began to howl

Knock knock ...

Who's there ?

Secret service, we're here to confiscate your guitar.

[PeterUK]

Know thine enemy.Another political hack.

[ben]

Attacking Santelli is not that smart, just gives him a lot more visibility. Gibbs could be the poster boy for the Chicago Tea Party. But let's remember, Obama is all about bringing people together, ending attack politics, etc.

[Danube of Thought]

OK, I won't lay the Kyrgystan fiasco at the door of the Secretary of State. Where should I lay it?

[bgates]

Yahoo headline pair of the day:
"White House Insists It's Not Trying to Take Over Failing Banks";

"Nationalizing Banks May Be Unavoidable".

[ben]

"OK, I won't lay the Kyrgystan fiasco at the door of the Secretary of State. Where should I lay it?"

All negatives belongeth to Bush, all positives belongeth to me.

- The Messiah

[glasater]

The article from the HuffPo re:Gibbs V. Santelli is especially telling calling Santelli a "derivatives" trader.

He is currently no such thing. He is a reporter and here is Santelli's bio.

[Danube of Thought]

"...we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race."

Let's have a show of hands: How many think they don't hear enough talk about race?

[Danube of Thought]

The HuffPo has been embarrassed enough. LUN

[RichatUF]

Pofarmer-

That was really smart, just where does the Obama Administration think that they'll sell all the US government debt to fund his projects? Hell now that I think about it, Santelli's spot on the floor is the US Treasuries pits.

Good job Gibbs.

I also seem to remember some sort of boomlet when Ari Fleisher made some "intemperate" comment regarding something so Hollyweird D-lister said. It was creeping fascism then.

[clarice]

Gee, DoT, you sure know how to clear the room.

[Porchlight]

OT from yesterday, sorry if already mentioned:

New executive order: White House Office of Urban Affairs

Expressly designed for ACORN, no doubt.

This is the 9th of 10 total executive orders so far, by the count on the WH website, but Gerstein's article in the Politico earlier this week showed that three of the orders were mysteriously not announced until they were noticed in the Federal Register and Politico called the WH about it.

Politico: The White House's Missing Documents

10 EOs in his first month. Remember how they howled about Bush's EOs? Bush signed 2 in his first month and 5 in his second month, per Wikipedia's list.

[Porchlight]

Oops, I should amend my comment above. Bush signed 2 EOs in January and 5 in February. We're not done with February yet, so Barry is +3 and counting on Bush so far.

[matt]

OHobo is simply reversing a number of Bush's executive orders. The stimulus package was to a large extent payback to his supporters....

[Porchlight]

Most of O's orders thus far are not reversals as far as I can tell, but it's not easy to sort them out. For example, Wiki lists ten EOs signed by Obama, but their list doesn't match the White House's, and the last one is dated 2/6. Per the WH there have been two more since then. So there may be more than ten.

I don't think it's that big a deal, just pointing out that the left used to use "look at all the executive orders!" as a hammer against Bush.

[Pofarmer]

Obama is all about bringing people together,

He may very well succeed at that, just not in the way that he thought.

[Sue]

Porch,

Well, by all accounts, that was then, this is now. Do I get extra credit for using so many commas?

[Pofarmer]

Most of O's orders thus far are not reversals as far as I can tell,

You've got to take into account cabinet actions to, like reneging on the drilling leases by the dept of Interior head who's name escapes me and I ain't gonna look up.

[Sue]

Since I have some of the smartest people in the world posting here, instead of looking it up on google and giving them the traffic, what is a "derivative" trader?

[Uncle BigBad]

Tina

I believe that was Terry Moran, not Rick.

[Danube of Thought]

"A financial security such as an option or future whose value is derived in part from the value and characteristics of another security, the underlying asset."

Derivatives are used to mimimize risk--"hedging"--of a decline in the value of the underlying asset. I believe the mortgage-backed securities that are at the heart of this mess are classified as derivatives. In any event the very term has now become one of opprobrium, much as "junk bond" did in the eighties, despite the enormous good that was done through junk-bond financing. Simply attaching the notion of derivative trading to Santelli's name is sufficient to smear him in the eyes of the booboisie.

[boris]

Take the limit of the goods traded over the increment of time between drinks as all our money goes to president Zero.

[Sue]

Thanks.

[PeterUK]

"what is a "derivative" trader?"

The way things are going,dead meat.

[Porchlight]

Do I get extra credit for using so many commas?

Yes - actually double extra credit for using "by all accounts" in two consecutive threads. :)

But seriously, friends, we must all practice our Obama-ese in order to better understand our Maximum Leader's great intentions for this country. Please review Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" if you need a refresher.

[Pofarmer]

I was wondering how long it would take for the administration to start demonizing Wall Street Traders. Obviously, not long.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

An example of a typical hedged derivative.

Let's say you want to buy a nice house but you don't want to pay too much for it. So you get a very nice man to buy the lot next door at market price while you get a large discount on your mansion. Later when the heat's off and you'd like a little privacy you buy part of his lot partially repaying the nice man who, unfortunately has not only subsequently been sent to prison but has also suffered serious injury when an unknown assailant pushed him under an oncoming bus.

So you have 'derived' a nice cash benefit and you now have a place to put a 'hedge' to keep your lousy criminal neighbor out.

[PeterUK]

"I was wondering how long it would take for the administration to start demonizing Wall Street Traders. Obviously, not long."

The Politicians are doing the same here,,the buggers are past masters at avoiding the blame and taking credit.A couple of months and they will have slithered from under.

[bad]

Tapper has a thread about Santelli. Read the comments. Some of the peeps are unhinged.... and really stupid. LUN

[Sue]

Ignatz,

Nice analogy. Like algebra, I understand it better when an example is given. Not to say I actually understand it. But I get the premise of what it means.

[Pagar]

better understand our Maximum Leader's great intentions for this country.

This link contains All one needs to know about Obama's intentions for this country:

Venezuela's Elected Dictatorship

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, February 18, 2009 4:20 PM PT
Tyranny: Sunday's referendum in Venezuela was hailed as a "victory" for the Chavez regime and extolled as participatory democracy. In reality, it was a farce undermining a multiparty state.
So why does the U.S. praise it?

[Pagar]

Trying that link again!

Venezuela's Elected Dictatorship

Preview says this one works.

[Pofarmer]

You know I used to think that Rick Ballard's "Commie Bastard" comments were overwrought. I now see they were not. I would like to sincerely apologize to Mr. Ballard.

[vnjagvet]

Another bad day on Wall Street. The SM has gone down from 9,625 to 7,366 since November 4. Vote of confidence on WonderZero? I think not.

By way of comparison, from the all time high in October 9, 2007 of 14,164 until the election in 2008 (all of which had a democratic house and senate, and a republican executive), a 13 month period, there was a 32% drop.

[PeterUK]

Obama’s 3 Big Lies
His Plan to Destroy the GOP

Dear fellow American:

Let me tell you the real reason Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid pushed through the biggest spending bill in history – without proper debate, without Republican input, and without any public scrutiny at all.

Simply, they are trying to turn the United States into a one-party country and to put the Republican Party out of business once and for all.

The massive appropriation called a stimulus – some $787 billion of your money – is really a political war chest for the Democrats.

They want to change the face of American politics forever, and they want to use your taxpayer money to do it.

They want to use billions from our treasury to reward their political friends – and have huge amounts of cash to dole out before the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Some people have wondered why, if the country is in dire need of emergency “stimulus,” most of the money appropriated by this law will not even be spent this year.

Instead, spending will go on for five to 10 years.

There is no mystery here, as the answer is simple: These billions in taxpayer funds will fund the Democratic political machine for many years to come.

Chicago Machine Takes over Washington

You must remember – the media won’t tell you this – that Barack Obama is a product of the corrupt political machine in Chicago headed by Mayor Richard Daley.

Chicago is run as a one-party city. The Democratic political machine and the government are one in the same.

Just like we saw recently in Congress, there is no real debate in Chicago. Deals are brokered in the back rooms among the ward leaders, the mayor and their cronies.

What the political machine decides, the public has to accept it. The city council serves simply as a rubber stamp – much the same way the Congress just acted for Obama.

And public money in Chicago is used to protect and serve the interests of the machine.

Obama – as I will reveal to you with the stimulus plan – is simply replicating the Chicago machine in Washington.

It is a frightening thought because our freedoms depend on a vibrant two-party system.

But that’s what you believe, not what Obama and his crew believe.

Barack Obama and his Chicago gang, which includes his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, also a congressman from the Chicago machine, have a starkly different view.

They want a one-party system headed by a strong man.

The Real Purpose: Abolish the GOP

Newsmax

[hit and run]

Sue:
Like algebra, I understand it better when an example is given. Not to say I actually understand it.

My freshman year in college, my roommate and I had algebra together. The professor was rather, uh, eccentric. And hard to follow.

My poor roommate was really struggling to keep up with the professor. During one class, he got lost and gave up -- so he spent the entire class drawing and then providing a detailed description of and operating instructions for ... a rocket.

The title of his work? "Rocket Science is Easier Than This Class"

And damn if his work wasn't brilliant, detailed, informative, and while it was entirely made up, it was very, very persuasive.

Of course, had he really payed attention, put his mind to it and stuck with it, he could have gotten it.

But where's the fun in that?

[Neo]

Already the European press is picking up on the fact that the liberal Obama Administration style is to pay lip service to every issue under consideration and emphasize a willingness to discuss each and every element. This is what Washington now considers good foreign policy. The operational theme is to flood the diplomatic process with talk and pass that off as foreign political accomplishment. It isn't!

There is an important difference between maintaining friendly relations with other countries and actually obfuscating the issues through platitudinous exposition. That might work on the campaign trail, but is easily seen through by professionals in foreign policy. If George W. Bush came to be considered a "cowboy," Barack H. Obama is in danger of being viewed as a "snake oil salesman."

[Sue]

Hit,

I respectfully disagree. Some of us just don't think in abstract no matter how plain it is to the next person.

[bad]

O/T I watched Clinton on Greta last night as he pretended to be supportive of Obama.

I say "pretended" because Bubba is the best liar in the world, or close...

But he looked like someone who was lying his ass off while supporting and complimenting Obama.

Which is weird cause Bubba is a great liar.

I think he was trying to leave the impression of saying the right thing but not meaning it at all and wanted everyone to know he was lying.

Either that or all the scrotum talk was too stimulating for him...

[narciso]

Peter, that becomes clearer by the day, some days the Santelli boomlet, and the House Republicans vote against the stimulus,
give me reassurance, some days less so, The idea of taxing persons by their mileage, on top of regulating C0 2, leaving out his other disastrous policies

[hit and run]

Sue:
I respectfully disagree. Some of us just don't think in abstract no matter how plain it is to the next person.

Oh, I won't disagree. I took calculus twice and got a D both times. I even *tried* the second time.

(I do think my roommate was being creatively lazy in algebra, though...he could have gotten it)

[Porchlight]

bad, that's funny, I was just wondering today what ol' Bill thinks of the latest developments. If anyone can pull off that trick it's Bill. Making Obama fans think he's supportive, and rhetorically winking to the Obama non-fans, that is. He is a master.

[Pagar]

PUK, you beat me to posting that one. IMO, It is probably one of the best ones Newsmax has done lately.

They want a one-party system headed by a strong man.

Which is the same system Venezuela and Cuba has.

[Rick Ballard]

Can we run down Gibbs home address and phone? I'll bet he lives on a two way street.

[PeterUK]

Pagar,
Sorry about that.
"They want a one-party system headed by a strong man."

They have furkled up with the "strong man".With that viperous crew about him,Obama needs to watch his back if he "Goes forth on the Rialto".

[Ann]

Call me names, tell me I am crazy, but I love Ann Coulter even when I don't always agree with her.

Must see T.V.: Joyless Behar interviews Ann on Larry King

I was so cheering her on throughout this interview and loving every minute of it. Have some fun tonight and watch it.

Since we have all seen what a fine and loving family the Palin family is, I would disagree with the last part. But her overall point based on studies and statistics is correct, IMO.

[Steve]

Great post here!!

Would you like to have a Link Exchange with our blog COMMON CENTS where we blog about the issues of the day???

http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

[Danube of Thought]

Amazing response at Jake Tapper re the Santelli thing. I looked in over there a half hour ago and there were over 500 posts.

[clarice]

I think Santelli hit a home run and even that nitwit Gibbs knows it.

[bad]

DoT, Tapper had a couple of threads on the mortgage bailout and the porkulus bill that were just as big and just as rambunctious. Lots of folks against both financial losers and crazy lefties telling them they were selfish. And accusing them of being republicans.

If you aren't singing praises to dear leader, you are reviled- and called a republican. Tapper gets accused all the time for NEVER being mean to Bush and ALWAYS being mean to Obama.

[Pagar]

Larry King is still alive? Holy cow, who knew?

[Danube of Thought]

Thanks for the tips, Bad. Tapper is turning out to be a real pleasure, and from an unexpected quarter. Kind of like a reverse "strange new respect" phenomenon.

[Boatbuilder]

In spite of the cost, I am enjoying the specter of watching these people having to defend their actions. They have no idea. Nobody except those they could dismiss as "right wing stooges" has ever questioned anything they have said or done. Now they have to respond, and they are lashing out.
Does anybody seriously think that Santelli--or Jake Tapper--is a tool of the right? I only hope that the country wakes up before we're too far gone.

[Sue]

Jindal is refusing part of the stimulus money. $98 million to be exact.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/20/sweet-jindal-rejects-98-million-in-stimulus-money-for-louisiana/>Hot Air

[narciso]

That was one Ingraham's signature lines, turning his title into a question 'Is Larry King Alive" which I've borrowed from time to time, the answer is who knows, it could be animatronic for all we know. Gibbs is clearly clueless, as he doesn't even 'know
what he doesn't know' taking on Santelli, is not a fair fight for Gibbs. There's some one competent out there in their media department, right

[glenda]

hello lovelies...
Here's hoping more Tappers and Santellis show up and actually question this crew of pinkos that has taken over the government.
Does anyone in the White HOuse Press Corps have the cajones to investigate Obama's actual bonafides? You speak out against a policy and Gibbs comes out blasting--smearing and sneering....
What the liberals hallucinated about Bush and Cheney is actually true about the "0"-(that's zero) administration. Where's that Tea Party going to be?

Oh, and good news, my SIL(double-lung transplantee) came home today! Praise God!

[hit and run]

Gibbs really needs to stay at a Holiday Inn Express soon.

It couldn't hurt.