Biden is a bozo.

OK, Biden misspoke - we hope - but can you imagine if a Republican had done this - 

The Milli-Vanilli President

Big Hollywood shares this:

I’ve been searching for the video of Obama accidentally reading Irish PM Brian Cowen’s speech yesterday. He even thanks himself at the end! Apparently his teleprompter went loopy.

If this were GWB, the video would be everywhere, yet I can’t find a clip on the Internet of a public press conference that took place yesterday. It will come out, but this is amazing.

Thank Sky News for doing its job:

Mr Cowen stopped, turned to the president and said: “That’s your speech.”

A laughing Mr Obama returned to the podium to take over but it seems the script had finally been switched and the US president ended up thanking himself for inviting everyone to the party.

Mr Obama is an accomplished orator but is becoming known in America as the “teleprompt president” over his reliance on the machine when he gives a speech.

Be afraid everyone, be very afraid.

I am.

Seriously, though, mistakes happen, but after 8 years of the media, Jon Stewart, the Left, academia, etc. seizing upon every gaffe of George W. Bush to assert that Bush was stupid and incompetent, the official silence over Obama gaffes from the usual sources is deafening. Also, if this isn't the main topic for a week's worth of late night comedians and Comedy Central, then it's time to retire the tired claim that conservatives shouldn't be offended when their figures get skewered because "it's all in fun."

This is from the White House Press Secretary?


White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs opines:

Question: "One quick followup: Former Vice President Cheney was on State of the Union yesterday. He had a lot -- a lot of criticism of this White House.

"To boil it down, on national security, he said the president's policies were making the country less safe. And on the economy, he was charging that the president is taking advantage of the financial crisis to vastly expand the government in all kinds of ways -- health, education, energy.

"How do you respond to those kind of allegations from the former vice president?"

Gibbs: "Well, I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy ... so they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.

I do not recall any Republican White House Press Secretary speaking about a "Democrat cabal." I can well imagine the uproar if that kind of language had ever been used by a Republican.

There was at least this follow-up question:

Question: "It was a really hard-hitting, kind of sarcastic, response you had. This is a former vice president of the United States. Is that the attitude? Is that the sanctioned tone for the former vice president of the United States from this White House?"

Gibbs: "Sometimes I ask forgiveness, rather than for permission ... but no, I hope my sarcasm didn't mask the seriousness of the answer ...

Of course, if it was a Republican administration, there would be calls for his firing.

Beyond liberal hypocrisy, Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO makes this substantive point:

I'm confident in saying neither Rush Limbaugh nor Dick Cheney mind association with the other. But that doesn't change the inappropriateness of Robert Gibbs's reaction — "cabal"? — yesterday to a question about Cheney's weekend CNN interview. At some point, this administration — when it takes a break from talking about bipartisanship — ought to consider that Barack Obama is Rush Limbaugh's and Dick Cheney's —every American's — president, too.

If we say "Obama is my president", then it works the other way around also. I think Bush instinctively understood this, but Obama doesn't.

Well of course he's tired; this is the longest he's ever had to work at a job.

Villainous Company points out that Obama's lame "we're so overwhelmed and tired" excuse for snubbing Great Britain goes back a long way. The Telegraph reports the wonderful news that Obama didn't intentionally insult our most important ally, he negligently snubbed England because he was tired and overwhelmed:

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama's inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.

Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama's inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to "even fake an interest in foreign policy".

A British official conceded that the furore surrounding the apparent snub to Mr Brown had come as a shock to the White House. "I think it's right to say that their focus is elsewhere, on domestic affairs. A number of our US interlocutors said they couldn't quite understand the British concerns and didn't get what that was all about."

The American source said: "Obama is overwhelmed. There is a zero sum tension between his ability to attend to the economic issues and his ability to be a proactive sculptor of the national security agenda.

Imagine that, Obama didn't understand "the sheer volume of business that crosses the President's desk"; proving that criticizing is easier than doing. But, then, why should we be surprised at the surprise of a guy who has never actually had to work at a job where he had any responsibility for showing up and working.

And this bit from the Telegraph article is really special:

The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment." The apparent lack of attention to detail by the Obama administration is indicative of what many believe to be Mr Obama's determination to do too much too quickly.

Perhaps the official needs a nap before he wrecks the United States' relationship with its most loyal ally.

Remember when all those leftists did a "we're sorry World" video campaign after Bush was elected in 2004? Maybe we need a conservative "we're sorry Britain" campaign.

Back in May of 2007, Jim Geraghty at NRO's The Campaign Spot was writing about our affirmative action president:

Sundry Commentary on The Obama "Tired" Excuse

Two comments from my co-bloggers last night...

"You know, really soon, Obama's excuse that he was tired... is going to get tired."

"Do you get the feeling that if Obama becomes president, we're going to need somebody to handle the night shift? Picture it, somebody awakens him at 2 a.m. with some foreign crisis and by dawn we've accidently invaded Paraguay."

Meanwhile, over on Powerline, Paul Mirengoff and John Hinderaker start asking inconvenient questions for Obama, like, "Hey, even if he was tired, did he really think that a tornado killed ten thousand people? Or that an entire country's cars could get 45 miles per gallon?"

If this guy doesn't toughen up, these are going to be an amusing and destructive four years.

Can you imagine Bush or McCain whining about not getting enough rest?

There are narratives and there are narratives

Where's Obama during the Midwestern ice storm? More importantly, why isn't the media hanging this around Obama's neck, given what they did during the Bush administration?

Being the fruit of the vine which is Obama

Can you imagine Bush/a Republican getting away/doing this?

Tipping her hand

This merits a "did I actually say that out loud?" moment by Nancy Pelosi:



Let's be honest - for a change - abortion policy is more about reducing government cost by eliminating as many children of the poor and needy as possible than it is about "choice." That's why moms get a choice to kill their babies but dads don't get a choice to sign off of their paternal obligations. It is of more than accidental significance that while one policy is "pro-choice" and the other is "anti-choice," both policies result in fewer babies that need to be supported by governmental policies.

Similarly, I've heard people express support for abortion on the grounds that it reduces the criminal and dependent population. File that idea under the heading of "too many of you, just enough of me."

So, what Pelosi said is clearly the subtext of abortion policy, but if any Republican had said it, it would immediately generate charges of racism.