2012 Presidential Election

“It does appear this year that the ghosts of presidents past have been haunting the current race for the future leader of the country,” MSNBC's Chris Jansing noted as she opened up a segment featuring Center for American Progress's Daniella Gibbs Leger and Republican Strategist Joe Watkins about how both President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney, but chiefly Romney, have invoked other presidents in their campaign rhetoric. Jansing seemed perplexed at Romney campaigning by invoking the liberal Clinton — saying Obama discarded the Clintonian pronouncement that the “era of big government is over” — but she wasn't equally incredulous at Obama citing the late conservative President Ronald Reagan to boost his call for tax hikes for the rich. What's more, not once did Jansing highlight recent revelations that Obama has altered WhiteHouse.gov presidents biographies to gratuitously insert himself into them, even though that news item was covered earlier this week by the Bible-for-liberal journalists, the New York Times: Footnotes added to presidential biographies on the White House Web site that connect past presidents’ achievements to President Obama’s initiatives incited controversy Tuesday in conservative circles online over how far the Obama administration would go to promote its policies. Rory Cooper was searching for a detail about Calvin Coolidge, when he stumbled upon something unusual — a footnote likening Coolidge’s first public radio address to Mr. Obama’s use of technology in social media to engage the public. “I thought it was funny,” said Mr. Cooper, a spokesman for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, of his initial reaction in an interview on Tuesday. But his amusement faded when he found similar references tacked on to the biographies of Ronald Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson. He posted his observation in a message on Twitter, and it was quickly picked up by conservatives, who used the hashtag #ObamaInHistory to mock the White House for plugging its policies on the biography pages of every president since Coolidge, except Gerald R. Ford . The White House added the footnotes on Monday in a section titled, “Did You Know?” under the official biographies, which were written by the historian Michael Beschloss and the journalist Hugh Sidey. A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal operations told The New York Times and other news outlets on Tuesday that no biographies had been altered, and emphasized that the White House was simply adopting a promotion technique widely used on the Web. Of course, WhiteHouse.gov is a government-run,

(John Hinderaker) We know for sure that Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, because it was announced in a local newspaper. But we also now know that for sixteen years, his literary agent circulated a bio that said he was born in Kenya. That statement must have come from Obama himself; or, at a bare minimum, it certainly was known to him. So: why? Why would Obama put it out that he was born in Kenya if he was actually born in Hawaii? Over at PJ Media, CEO Roger Simon , a mystery writer by trade, put his mind to the puzzle and came up with an intriguing theory. Perhaps Obama had a tangible incentive to pass himself off as African, rather than merely African-American. Perhaps the explanation goes back to his college and law school days, which remain weirdly shrouded in mystery, deemed off-limits by liberal reporters and editors. Perhaps Obama took advantage of a scholarship–or, I would add, an affirmative action opportunity–that was available only to those born in Africa. Perhaps, in other words, Obama was like Elizabeth Warren, dishonestly checking a diversity box to get ahead. There would be no down-side at all, up until the moment when Obama decided he might run for president. Check out Roger’s piece. It is, at a minimum, a thought-provoking theory. STEVE adds: Darn, you have to get up pretty early in the morning–and I was up at 4:30 am local time out here in Los Angeles to catch an early flight–to beat John to a story.  As Abbott once said to Costello–”That’s a great idea–I was just about to think it myself!”  I also was going to flag Roger Simon’s piece, which I am sure has the bead on the real story.  So the question is: will the mainstream media follow up on this with the same fervor they did over Mitt Romney’s high school bullying?  Even Mister Magoo could spot this story.  But I suspect even hard-of-hearing Magoo won’t need a hearing aid to hear the media crickets chirping on this one. P.S. Fabulous time last night at the California Club at the second annual Friends of Ronald Reagan dinner, featuring former Governor Pete Wilson, Chris Cox, and . . . moi.

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The Mystery of Obama’s Birth

On Thursday's Kathy show on Bravo!, host and left-wing comedienne Kathy Griffin called Elisabeth Hasselbeck by two vulgar words after playing a clip of the right-leaning co-host of ABC's The View in which Hasselbeck challenged President Obama to explain the distinction between his own view on how the federal government should treat same-sex marriage as opposed to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's position. Griffin used the “B” word early on, and toward the end appeared to use the “C” word which was bleeped out by censors while attacking Hasselbeck. The Bravo! host, an outspoken advocate for the gay rights movement, omitted Hasselbeck setting up her question by noting that “you (Obama) and I (Hasselbeck) share the view, in terms of rights for gay couples and gay marriage.” (Video of Griffin's tirade, and a longer clip of Hasselbeck's question in context are below)

(Paul Mirengoff) Great religious prophets, when they create a new religion, usually treat the greatest prophets of pre-existing great religions as their precursors. In this way, they gain credibility while putting the earlier prophets in their place. Barack Obama is trying to do something like this when it comes to previous presidents, as Seth Mendel of Commentary discovered when he visited a White House website that provides biographies of former presidents. Mandel found that Team Obama has added bullet points bragging about Obama’s accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford). For example: On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc. On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations. In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule. I’m not sure why the White House left out Gerald Ford. It could easily have said: During his college days, Gerald Ford was an outstanding football player, winning All-American honors at the University of Michigan. President Obama is a terrific pick-up basketball player with the sweetest left-handed jump shot you ever did see. And why did the White House go back only as far as Coolidge? Here a few more presidents he could have compared himself to: Woodrow Wilson believed in a “living Constitution” because he opposed limited government, separation of powers, and checks and balances. President Obama also believes in a living Constitution, and is none too fond of limited government, separation of powers, and checks and balances. William Howard Taft was our fattest president and at times had trouble with stairs. President Obama is our most svelte president and he literally bounds up stairs, at least when the cameras are rolling. Abraham Lincoln guided the North to victory in the Civil War, making many difficult decisions along the way. In the struggle against misguided people who may want to harm us, President Obama made the excruciatingly difficult decision to take out Osama bin Laden.

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A giant stands on the shoulders of dwarfs

As NewsBusters reported Sunday, Newsweek/Daily Beast senior contributor Michelle Goldberg called Ann Romney “insufferable” on MSNBC this morning. Seconds later, she also compared the wife of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary). As Mark Finkelstein previously noted, Goldberg began her Romney attack on Up with Chris Hayes by saying, “It can't only be me that maybe initially saw Ann Romney as maybe a sympathetic or neutral figure but who is increasingly seeing her as someone who is kind of insufferable because of the way she's milking this thing.” This “thing” as Goldberg put it is motherhood. What an awful “thing” for a mother to “milk” the week of Mother's Day. “You know, yes, motherhood is beautiful,” Goldberg continued. “I found that phrase 'the crown of motherhood' really kind of creepy, not just because of its, like, somewhat you know, I mean, it’s kind of usually really authoritarian societies that give out like The Cross of Motherhood, that give awards for big families. You know, Stalin did it, Hitler did it.” Here's what Mrs. Romney wrote at USA Today Thursday that somehow reminded Goldberg of Hitler and Stalin: Cherish your mothers. The ones who wiped your tears, who were at every ball game or ballet recital. The ones who believed in you, even when nobody else did, even when maybe you didn't believe in yourself. Women wear many hats in their lives. Daughter, sister, student, breadwinner. But no matter where we are or what we're doing, one hat that moms never take off is the crown of motherhood. There is no crown more glorious. There apparently are many crowns far more glorious to Goldberg who found this passage reminiscent of Hitler and Stalin. And this is the kind of person that in 2012 not only gets print space at Newsweek/Daily Beast, but also air time on MSNBC. Sickening, isn't it? (H/T Mediaite )

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Newsweek Contributor Compares Ann Romney to Hitler and Stalin on MSNBC

Shark jumped. Bridges burned. Bread toasted. Are you kidding me? I get that Andrew Sullivan is a man with an agenda and I completely support his right to make his opinions heard. I also understand that Newsweek – like any other publication – is in business to make a profit and that frequently involves pushing the envelope in terms of catching Read this post

The media's victory lap for President Obama's flipflop on same-sex marriage is starting to get downright disgraceful. The cover of Monday's issue of New Yorker magazine features an animated picture of the White House with rainbow columns:

Is Eliot Spitzer – a man who had to resign as New York's governor due to a sex scandal involving hookers – someone that should be invited on a serious political talk show to discuss the sanctity of marriage? As the answer is certainly “No,” consider the delicious irony of Spitzer appearing on ABC's This Week Sunday avowing as it pertains to same-sex marriage, “The president is saying, as I said as governor, others have said around the nation, two people should be able to enter a civil relationship of love that goes on forever” (video follows with transcript and commentary): ELIOT SPITZER: The fact is, civil rights and the discussion of civil rights does not stop merely because we have economic issues to think about as well. Of course, economics will dictate at the end of the day November's outcome. But the notion that we would stall on civil rights issues that are of enormous magnitude and how we define ourselves as a society is wrong. And I think as a subsidiary point to that, the public has got to understand there are two components of marriage. One is the civil, defined by government; the other is the religious, where denominations, of course, have the right to recognize or not. None of this has to do with whether a denomination recognizes same-sex marriage. The president is saying, as I said as governor, others have said around the nation, two people should be able to enter a civil relationship of love that goes on forever. I'm sorry, but that's so preposterous, it warrants a third look: “The president is saying, as I said as governor, others have said around the nation, two people should be able to enter a civil relationship of love that goes on forever.” One has to wonder how prostitutes funded with taxpayer dollars fit into “a civil relationship of love that goes on forever.” Maybe ABC should have invited one of Spitzer's former prostitutes Ashley Dupre on to offer her views on marriage as well. (H/T NBer beresford)

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Disgraced Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer Discusses Sanctity of Marriage on ABC’s This Week

As NewsBusters reported Friday, MSNBC's Tamron Hall threw a hissy fit when her conservative guest, the Washington Examiner's Tim Carney, called her network's coverage of the Washington Post's hit piece on Mitt Romney “ridiculous” and “absurd.” On CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday, host Howard Kurtz came down strongly on her asking, “Does Hall only want guests who agree with her handling of every story?” (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary): As the “Media Monitor” segment of the program began, Kurtz said, “MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall got really ticked off the other day and cut off a guest’s mike. But all the Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney did was challenge her coverage of the report on Mitt Romney’s bullying incident back in prep school.” A clip of the angry exchange was aired followed by Kurtz saying, “I’m sorry, it was Tamron Hall who was being insulting by silencing him. Carney was perfectly entitled to say that, in his opinion, the story was being hyped.” Kurtz concluded by asking, “Does Hall only want guests who agree with her handling of every story?” Actually, Howie, that's what every MSNBC anchor wants. Unfortunately for their viewers, management agrees with this philosophy and typically accedes to such demands. Is Kurtz really just starting to get this? (H/T @ imau2fan )

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CNN’s Howard Kurtz Slams MSNBC’s Tamron Hall for ‘Insulting’ Treatment of Conservative Tim Carney

As NewsBusters reported last week, eleven out of twelve regular contributors to the syndicated Chris Matthews Show thought Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won't be able to take control and drive the political debate in the next six months leading to Election Day. On this weekend's program, only one of the twelve regulars thought President Obama's recent flipflop on same-sex marriage hurts him politically (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well let’s take a look at the Matthews Meter, because I think you've touched already on your position. Twelve of our regulars including Howard, Gloria and Andrew. Is President Obama’s gay marriage position now, which is firmly set, a net plus or a net minus politically? Well seven of you say it's a net plus, which is really positive I think for this group. One says a net minus but four say it's a wash. For the record, these are the twelve regular contributors: David Brooks, New York Times Gloria Borger, CNN Helene Cooper, New York Times (not pictured) Howard Fineman, Huffington Post John Heilemann, New York magazine Katty Kay, BBC Joe Klein, Time magazine Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal (not pictured) Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic These folks really have a pulse of the American electorate, don't they? *****Update: Gallup finds twice a many people are less likely than more likely to vote for Obama as a result of his same-sex marriage flipflop.

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Only One ‘Chris Matthews Show’ Regular Thinks Obama’s Gay Marriage Flipflop Hurts Him Politically