Correspondents from the Guardian, Der Spiegel and El País report from around the region on reaction to protests in Egypt Here’s another set of interviews with reporters from a group of media organisations who have teamed up with the Guardian to provide comprehensive coverage of the seismic events in Egypt and the shockwaves they are sending through the region. Today, we hear from correspondents with El País and Der Spiegel, as well as Guardian journalists. Jordan: Martin Chulov of the Guardian in Amman “There is a mood to give the king and the new government a bit more time … People will watch to see whether the king does have the capacity to push the reforms that he’s promising because if he doesn’t the situation here will turn very quickly. So far, so calm. The atmosphere doesn’t seem to be nearly as ripe as it was in Tunis or in Egypt but people do share similar frustrations. For now they are quietly confident that they can achieve what they want without taking to the street and forcing revolution.” Egypt: Enric González of El País in Cairo “Things are much quieter than yesterday when we were sometimes running for our lives and the situation was chaotic in the square … The majority of regular people who are not going to the square are watching TV very anxiously. They cannot buy tomatoes or eggs and they can’t go to work and they are waiting for something to happen. They want some normality. The Tiananmen [square] option is still open, although it’s very unlikely. Inside the regime, they are probably trying to cook up a solution that allows some normality for a country that cannot wait much longer.” Egypt: Volkhard Windfuhr of Der Spiegel in Cairo “There is a general sigh of relief [from protesters that protests today have been non-violent]. People feel that the so-far silent unarmed majority has now become the victors. They really gave a heavy blow — maybe a fatal blow — to an oppressive regime. That’s the feeling, although there are still obstacles to overcome … The army knows it will no longer be the only backbone of Egypt once the political reforms are put into effect — not in the way they have been — but I do think the vast majority of Egyptians are certain that the army will not play a negative role in the days to come.” Yemen: Tom Finn of the Guardian in Sana’a “People here are very aware of what’s happening in Egypt and are following the news very closely. But while people watch it, they don’t really seem to draw parallels with Yemen. The people I have spoken to don’t see any similarities between Mubarak and Saleh. I think there’s a lot more support for Saleh in Yemen than there is for Mubarak in Egypt.” Egypt Middle East Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
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The humble unlock screen gets ever fancier, and Nokia Bubbles is one of the fanciest we’ve seen yet. Like a variety of aftermarket lock screens it enables you to control your media player or initiate calls before you even unlock your handset, but does so in an interesting way. You just grab the bubble for what you want and drop it on what you want to do. A simple unlock entails dragging the key onto the lock, and if you have a missed call you can grab that person’s bubble and drag it to a phone to call them right back. Grab the music bubble to go straight to the music player and, well, you get the picture. Okay, so it’s not quite as much fun as playing Puzzle Bobble , but it is ever so slightly more useful. Check it out in the video below, or go ahead and give it a download if you’re on Symbian . [Thanks, pyry] Continue reading Nokia Bubbles lets you intelligently unlock your N8 in a pop Nokia Bubbles lets you intelligently unlock your N8 in a pop originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nokia, Microsoft announcing partnership next week, possibly involving Windows Phone 7?
February 4, 2011 No Comment
As Nokia comes up on Capital Markets Day next Friday — an event where the company has historically unveiled interesting things and launched important initiatives — rumors are once again swirling that they’re going to be announcing a major platform shift by way of a competitor. Both Android and Windows Mobile have come up in the past on multiple occasions, owing in no small part to the fact that Nokia’s had an outward appearance of spinning its platform wheels on the backs of Symbian and Maemo for far, far too long, but so far, nothing’s materialized. This time around, it’s said that Microsoft will be the partner announced on the 11th — and though Nokia’s uptake of Windows Phone 7 would be the obvious strategic shift, it’s important to note that these companies have actually partnered before with pretty trivial consequences for the market; it’s entirely possible they could be ramping up to do that again, sharing apps and services between Windows Phone 7 and Symbian / MeeGo . We doubt it, but it’s within the realm of reason. But turning our attention back to the major platform shift, there are a couple factors that add a little more credibility to the rumor this time. First off, the elephant in the room: recently-appointed CEO Stephen Elop comes from Microsoft on good terms and has clearly been given marching orders to take Nokia in a new, more profitable direction; the Symbian Foundation’s gutting happened on Elop’s watch, for example, and he just hinted a few days ago that joining an existing ecosystem could make sense . More importantly, though, we’ve got a trusted source of our own who’s now saying that the tide has turned and this appears to be happening at Capital Markets Day — and that one of Nokia’s existing platforms will be dropped as a direct result. It’s hard to pick which one that’d be: Symbian, though terribly out-of-date, is still wildly popular in Europe and emerging markets, while MeeGo is technically promising but has yet to make any impact in the market whatsoever. On the flipside, noted Microsoft pundit Mary Jo Foley doesn’t put a lot of stock in this latest round of rumors. So, here’s the question: can Nokia become another Samsung, LG, or HTC, betting its hopes and dreams on its chops as a hardware manufacturer alone? Historically, Nokia has been defined as much (if not more) by its platforms than by its hardware, which lacks Samsung’s capability for end-to-end in-house sourcing. Regardless of what happens next Friday, this should all make for a very interesting MWC indeed. Nokia, Microsoft announcing partnership next week, possibly involving Windows Phone 7? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Stephen Colbert Defends Pappa Bear O’Reilly Against the ‘Pinhead’ Bloggers
February 4, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Apparently someone wasn’t too happy with some of the “pinhead” bloggers who took him to task for saying that the tides were proof of the existence of God . It’s a good thing Bill-O had Stephen Colbert there to defend him. COLBERT: Worse yet… worse yet the leftie blogosphere has ridiculed Bill by pointing out that the moon causes the tides and that we’ve known that for centuries. Well it’s humble pie time, people who took ninth grade science. Father O’Reilly, take ‘em to Sunday school. O’REILLY: How’d the moon get here? Look, you pinheads who attacked me for this, you guys are just desperate. How’d the moon get here? How’d the sun get there? How’d it get there? Can you explain that to me? How come we have that and Mars doesn’t have it? (inaudible) How come? Why not? How’d it get here? COLBERT: Boom! Take that gravity huggers! Huh? How come we have the moon and Mars doesn’t? Except for the two that it has? How’d the sun get there? Where does it go at night? How’d the moon get there? Why does the cow jump over it? What time is it? How come I have two faucets? Hot comes out of one; cold comes out of the other; never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. You can’t explain that. In fact, where does Bill O’Reilly come from? He’s on my TV, he’s off my TV. Then he’s back. Where’d he come from? Sometimes he’s on the radio and I’m watching him on the TIVO at the same time. You can’t explain that. I don’t want to give away all of the punchlines, so just watch the rest. Mediaite has O’Reilly’s entire response to his critics here — Bill O’Reilly Responds To ‘Pinhead’ Critics By Asking ‘How’d The Moon Get There?’ . Needless to say they were a lot kinder to him than Colbert was.
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• Egypt braced for ‘Day of Departure’ rally in Cairo • Flashpoints could occur after Friday prayers • US and Egypt reportedly in talks on replacing Mubarak • Mubarak warns: ‘If I resign today there will be chaos’ 8.17am: My colleagues Jack Shenker, Peter Beaumont and Mustafa Khalili in Cairo have filed their first report of the day. They say Cairo is holding its breath for what may be the “Day of Departure” for Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president. Egyptian protesters trying to topple the 30-year reign of Mubarak have called on their supporters to fill every square in the capital on Friday. With internet once again reconnected and mobile phone services largely resumed, organisers have once again been able to mobilise the hundreds of thousands who have flooded the capital on several days during the 11-day crisis. The reporters say Mubarak’s comments to ABC TV that he was fed up and wanted to resign ( see 7.32am ), may embolden the opposition, “which feels it is close to toppling him, amid a rapid draining away of international support for the president”. In anticipation of further violence, soldiers were this morning for the first time carrying riot equipment and setting up checkpoints at key installations and bridges. Those camped out inside the square refused to bow to regime pressure as they prepared for their biggest push yet. “Things are relatively quiet now; we have basically created a liberated republic within the heart of Egypt,” said Karim Medhat Ennarah. “We have our own makeshift hospitals, our own security services who direct efforts to protect the square, our own food supply chains. People are exhausted but exhilarated.” Our reporters also noted that 24 journalists were detained in 24 hours yesterday, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and human rights activists were also targeted. I’ll post the link to the full story as soon as we get it. In the meantime, click here for all the coverage of Egypt in today’s paper . 7.55am: @NadiaE tweets : Getting ready to go to Tahrir. I hope to make today my first in a democratic Egypt. #jan25 #egypt 7.41am: The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood reports: The demonstration in Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, is expected to be very big today, surpassing the 100,000-plus who came out on to the streets on Tuesday. There have been signs that the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a strong presence in the city, has been organising for today’s protest. A vehicle with speakers has been exhorting people to make a stand, and anti-regime activists have been visiting the mosques calling on people to join the protest. “Tomorrow will be big,” said Ahmed Mohammed, 27, a government employee who was protesting yesterday. “We have demands. They are old demands, but nobody listened until now.” The demonstration is expected to begin after Friday prayers and converge, to begin with, on Alexandria’s seafront. The mood, which was buoyant on Tuesday, has steadily turned more aggressive and edgy as pro- and anti-regime protesters have staged furious verbal confrontations and western journalists have been accused of being Israeli spies. But, although Alexandria was the scene of bloodshed and violent clashes last Friday, it has not since seen street battles like those in and around Tahrir Square in Cairo. There is still a strong army presence guarding key buildings in Alexandria, and tanks could be heard moving through the streets in the early hours of this morning. Police made a reappearance yesterday, but restricted their role to directing traffic. Ebtisam Muhammed, a 22-year-old anthropology graduate, feared that the protests were now being manipulated by “dark forces”. “They’re doing this to bring the temple down,” she said. 7.32am: Anti-government protesters are today hoping they can force Mubarak from office, on a day they have dubbed “departure Friday” or the “Day of Departure”. Fridays after midday prayers are traditionally an explosive point in Middle Eastern countries, with masses taking to the streets after attendance at mosques. Last night the New York Times reported that the White House, the state department and the Pentagon have been involved in discussions that include an option in which Mubarak would given way to a transitional government headed by the Egyptian vice-president, Omar Suleiman. Even though Mr Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr Suleiman, backed by Lt Gen Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defence minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform. The proposal also calls for the transitional government to invite members from a broad range of opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to begin work to open up the country’s electoral system in an effort to bring about free and fair elections in September, the officials said. Senior administration officials said that the proposal was one of several options under discussion with high-level Egyptian officials around Mr Mubarak in an effort to persuade the president to step down now. They cautioned that the outcome depended on several factors, not least Egypt’s own constitutional protocols and the mood of the protesters on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Some officials said there was not yet any indication that either Mr Suleiman or the Egyptian military was willing to abandon Mr Mubarak. Mubarak was defiant yesterday, the Guardian’s team reported , insisting he intended to remain in office until the autumn election, and even going so far as to suggest he wanted to relinquish power. He said that while he was fed up after six decades of public service and wanted to leave, he feared that an early departure would lead to chaos. In his first major interview since protests began, Mubarak told America’s ABC News: “I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go.” Mubarak expressed no sense of betrayal over Barack Obama’s call on Tuesday for him to begin the transition to democracy “now”. But there was a hint of resentment when he said Obama did not understand Egyptian culture and the trouble that would ensue if he left office immediately. “If I resign today, there will be chaos,” he told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour. You can follow all the latest from our team in Egypt here. Egypt Middle East Adam Gabbatt Paul Owen guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Hardball’s Chris Matthews has finally started paying attention to the fact that Glenn Beck’s show is nothing but fear mongering and incoherent rants and touting nonsensical conspiracy theories. Media Matter’s Eric Boehlert and The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson discuss some of Beck’s latest wingnuttery with the uprisings in the Middle East. They also spent a little time discussing neocon Frank Gaffney who’s been spreading panic about the Muslim Brotherhood taking over our government that John wrote about yesterday . Maybe Matthews will finally quit having him on as a guest on Hardball after this. Best line in the segment by Eugene Robinson after Matthews asks him if Beck has any sense of history: ROBINSON: This is the stuff normally you would prescribe medication. Ain’t that the truth? Full transcript via Lexis Nexis . MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. As the crisis continues in Egypt and may continue on for quite a while, if you listen to Dr. Brzezinski, the right wing, led by Glenn Beck, continues to traffic in conspiracy theories. Why not? They have more to do with scaring this country than getting the truth out of what`s happening over there. So what are they up to this time? Well, Eric Boehlert is a senior fellow with Media Matters, and Eugene Robinson`s a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for “The Washington Post.” Gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. And I sometimes — I`m not surprised by right or left-wing argument in this country. Sometimes the rhetoric is rather wholesome. Now, catch Glenn Beckon Tuesday night, this diatribe about the Caliphate. He starts talking about ancient Babylon. See if you can follow this. I did. Let`s listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GLENN BECK, HOST, FOX NEWS “GLENN BECK”: Iraq is really important, especially to the Shi`ites, especially to the 12ers who are in charge of this country right now because what is in Iraq? There`s one place that we told our bombers not to bomb. Does anybody know what it was? Two wars in Iraq, we said, No bombing there. Ancient Babylon. Ancient Babylon. Why? Because the Bible tells us that that is the seat right here of power of a global evil empire. Well, that`s also where the 12th imam from Iran is supposedly going to show up! Everybody on this side wants ancient Babylon for their caliphate! (END VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEWS: You know, before we go any further, I have rarely heard anything like this on television in my life, but the — well, let me just ask our guests. Eric, the — what is he saying about the decision by our bombing fleet, our bombers, those who are directed and their civilians who control our military under both Bushes, President Bush, Herbert Walker, and then, of course, George W. Bush — that they somehow decided, as part of some global caliphate they`re envisioning and hoping to move along — they told our bombing people when they put these sorties together, Don`t hit ancient Babylon because that`s going to be the center of evil — ERIC BOEHLERT, MEDIAMATTERS.ORG: Right. MATTHEWS: — the power — it`s going to be the seat right there of power of a global evil empire. He (INAUDIBLE) are the Bushes involved — what in hell is this man talking about? (LAUGHTER) MATTHEWS: Your thoughts. Wide-open question. BOEHLERT: Well, that seems to be one of the hurdles. He`s now rewriting history backwards, and now he`s sort of dragging the Bushes into it, with previous wars in the territory. Look, I mean, Glenn Beck has for years now at Fox, he`s dug himself this sort of conspiratorial hole and he`s just going to keep digging, I mean, regardless. And so now — MATTHEWS: You`re so smart. (INAUDIBLE) because people who believe in these grand conspiracies — BOEHLERT: Yes. MATTHEWS: — they`ll end up saying, It wasn`t just the Dallas police and it wasn`t just the CIA and it wasn`t just the FBI, it wasn`t just Nixon and Johnson, it was the Irish mafia around Kennedy. Everybody was involved! The Secret Service — because once you start going into this — BOEHLERT: Right. Right. Right. MATTHEWS: — conspiratorial mind, you have to make — you have to come up with an explanation why somebody didn`t catch somebody. BOEHLERT: And, so, now every — MATTHEWS: And the reason they didn`t catch him is because they`re in on it. BOEHLERT: And so now, miraculously, every piece of breaking news fits perfectly into his grand plan. I mean, he wasn`t talking about Egypt two months ago. But if you listen to him now, of course, it makes perfect sense — MATTHEWS: OK. BOEHLERT: — because he was warning about this — this leftist Islamist revolution. It`s not just going to happen in America now. It`s apparently going to spread worldwide. So — MATTHEWS: OK. Gene, I want to give you another piece of cake from this — strange cake, in fact. EUGENE ROBINSON, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. MATTHEWS: Now, here`s the story, just as a setup to this, so we all remember, so we don`t forget piece by piece what Beck is building here. Beck has, for a while now, said the president is a socialist and a communist. That`s very important to understand who he`s — because there`s no more common term in the world right now. ROBINSON: Right. MATTHEWS: And socialists had a lot to do — they were part of the — the modern Israel — ROBINSON: Mm-hmm. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: — Labor Party, of course, all the heroes were — were socialists. But he has this strange new theory now. Socialists, who he identifies with the president, communists, who he identifies with our president, are the ones behind all this. Here he is. They`re behind the trouble in Egypt. Here he is on the radio today talking about the caliphate and the socialists and communists, who are of course the Obama people, working together with extreme Islam. Let`s listen to this latest. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, “THE GLENN BECK PROGRAM”) GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, “THE GLENN BECK PROGRAM”: I want the left to know I plant my flag in this soil. Groups from the hard-core socialist and communist left and extreme Islam will work together, because they are both a common enemy of Israel and the Jew. Islam wants a caliphate. Communists wants a communist new world order. They will work together and they will destabilize, because they both want chaos. (END AUDIO CLIP) MATTHEWS: Gene Robinson. ROBINSON: It — this makes absolutely no sense on any level. It makes no sense on any level. MATTHEWS: Where this Community Party meeting these days? ROBINSON: Well, don`t you know how — (LAUGHTER) ROBINSON: — the communists and the Islamists have always worked together? Except the fact that they`re always trying to kill each other. MATTHEWS: And the socialists, too. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: You know who hates — you know who hates — who hates the socialists the most? The communists. ROBINSON: Yes. MATTHEWS: Doesn`t this guy have any sense of history? (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: And socialists were a big part of building the modern Israel. What is he talking about? (CROSSTALK) ROBINSON: This is the stuff normally you would prescribe medication. (LAUGHTER) ROBINSON: He — he — no, I`m serious. And — and, normally, it does nobody any good. Glenn Beck says this. He says that. He says this crazy — (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: Yes, but why is he saying it now? (CROSSTALK) ROBINSON: Well — MATTHEWS: Is this to get Obama`s — (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: — way? ROBINSON: Well, here`s what bothers me. I think frankly it is a case that he`s dug the conspiracy hole so deep that he just has to keep digging. But here`s what upsets me about it is, watch those pictures from Cairo, and it — it makes you anxious. It causes anxiety among a lot of people because — and why not? These are anxious times. And so here`s this guy who is just compounding people`s anxiety with these loopy conspiratorial theories. MATTHEWS: Yes. ROBINSON: And I just think it`s — if you have that sort of platform, you have that sort of — sort of megaphone that he has, that you have — MATTHEWS: Yes. ROBINSON: — that I have with a column, there`s a certain responsibility that comes with that. And if you don`t recognize that, you`re just a jerk, you know? (CROSSTALK) (LAUGHTER) MATTHEWS: Well, Eric — ROBINSON: And he`s just a jerk. MATTHEWS: — you guys have been studying this guy for a long time. BOEHLERT: Yes. MATTHEWS: Before we move on to Frank Gaffney, another guy who is getting into the full moon category, what — what is he trying to — is there a logic here? Or is it just as Gene suggests? He has just gotten deeper and deeper? BOEHLERT: Yes. MATTHEWS: You`ve said this. Is it just you get so far into these conspiracy theories in blaming everything center — anything left-of-center that`s evil in the world, you blame everything on them and you tie it all together with Barack Obama is a socialist, he`s a communist, that he`s — he`s in with the Muslim Brotherhood? They are all working together against you. That`s paranoid talk. BOEHLERT: Yes. MATTHEWS: That is paranoid talk, definitionally. (CROSSTALK) BOEHLERT: Yes. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: Your thoughts. BOEHLERT: And, so, as Gene was saying, the underlying fear is, what you see in Cairo is coming to the States, where that — MATTHEWS: Yes. BOEHLERT: Beck has been talking about the coming insurrection. And it`s coming from the left. And now we`re being told that it`s going to look like Cairo. And so this is part of — this is just part of the conspiracy. And, frankly, I think it`s basically a programming — it`s a rating shtick for Beck. I mean, Beck is at heart a radio guy. He came up in radio. They are haunted by the idea of falling ratings. January was his worst ratings month ever at FOX News. He — he — he always needs a shtick. And so Egypt is the new one. The caliphate is the new one. And if you look at the numbers, the people are saying — even some of his viewers are saying, OK, wait. Can you explain this again? Where are we going with all of this stuff? (CROSSTALK) (LAUGHTER) BOEHLERT: Where is this going? MATTHEWS: Well, it goes to the unitary theory, which really most crazy people go. They want one simple theory of everything that scares them. (CROSSTALK) ROBINSON: Yes. MATTHEWS: Let`s go to Frank Gaffney. I don`t know what he`s up to. Frank Gaffney believes we`re about to go into Sharia law in this country. He`s convinced we`re all going to be getting our hands cut off, our heads cut off, whatever else. Here he is speaking out this week on FOX, this week, of course, to warm — to warn us that the Muslim Brotherhood is taking over this administration. Let`s listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FOX NEWS CHANNEL) FRANK GAFFNEY, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY: What is going on here in part is that the Obama administration`s policies are being viewed through and actually articulated and now implemented through influence operations that the Muslim Brotherhood itself is running in our own country. You cannot possibly get your strategy right, you cannot execute it effectively if you don`t know that the enemy is actually giving you advice on how to proceed. (END VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEWS: What`s he talking about, Gene? ROBINSON: I have no — again, I have no idea. This, it — it just makes no sense. MATTHEWS: He says that Napolitano, the secretary of homeland defense, is getting advice from these people, from the Muslim Brotherhood? ROBINSON: Well, it would — it would be not just the secretary of homeland defense. It would be also you, I guess, and — MATTHEWS: Yes. ROBINSON: — and — and the media in general getting advice from the Muslim Brotherhood? I just — it — it — you know, Sharia — let me just state for the record Sharia law is not coming to the United States. MATTHEWS: You know, when I was a kid — (CROSSTALK) ROBINSON: I would bet a lot of money on that. MATTHEWS: I`m about your age, Gene and — and Eric. When I was kid, we saw “The Invisible Man,” because after you have seen “The Invisible Man” at a drive-in theater with your dad, the first thing you would do when you would go home, when mom was away, you would reach under the bed and make sure he`s not there, right? (LAUGHTER) MATTHEWS: I mean, that`s what this is about, isn`t it? The invisible man is coming to get you. You`ve got to check under the bed. You`ve got to make sure there`s no possible space in your bedroom he could be. (LAUGHTER) MATTHEWS: Isn`t this what it`s about, pure, utter fear-mongering? BOEHLERT: Yes. MATTHEWS: Eric, last thought. BOEHLERT: Yes. And Frank Gaffney is — it`s not just in the Obama administration. He`s been claiming the conservative movement, CPAC, one of the controversies they`re having this year is they have been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. So — (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: Oh, those red — those red SOBs over there at CPAC. (LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK) BOEHLERT: Apparently, the Muslim Brotherhood has the — the entire Beltway wired. (LAUGHTER) MATTHEWS: We have got trouble in River City. Thank you, Eric Boehlert. Thanks very much. You`re doing great — great work over there. Eugene Robinson, as always.
Continue reading …Time’s Halperin Raves: Obama Has Level of ‘Sophistication and Skill’ That Not One Republican Can Duplicate
February 3, 2011 No Comment
It's rare when Chris Matthews is outdone in his praise of Barack Obama but Time's Mark Halperin, on Thursday's Hardball, managed to top the MSNBC host as he delivered a rave review of Barack Obama's performance at the National Prayer Breakfast. After playing a clip of the speech, Matthews merely offered a “That's pretty good” but the Game Change co-author did him one better, going as far to warn any GOP candidate considering a presidential run in 2012 to study the address because it had “a level of sophistication and skill that not one Republican on the field right now can duplicate.” (video, audio and transcript after the jump) (MP3 audio) The following exchange was aired on the February 3 edition of MSNBC's Hardball: (Begin clip) BARACK OBAMA: And let me tell you, these past two years, they have deepened my faith. The presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray. Abe Lincoln said, as many of may know, “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go. (End clip) CHRIS MATTHEWS: That's pretty good. Anyway we're back. That was President Obama today at the National Prayer Breakfast, he's talking about his faith. He's also not shying away from a philosophical fight about what government can do to help people, as some Republicans think about running against him. Is President Obama already running himself? Is he off and running? We're joined right now by MSNBC's political analyst Richard Wolffe and Tim magazine's Mark Halperin. Gentlemen, it's great to have both of you. Mark, of course, is an MSNBC political analyst. I want to start with Rich and then go to Mark. Just, I'm – you guys are the experts. What's up here? RICHARD WOLFFE: Well about this time a year, every year, he does a personal speech. A lot of this stuff is personal He goes to churches and maybe the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day. Obviously this was a prayer breakfast, but he's showing he's fluent in the language of faith. And he's showing that there is some kind of underlying value philosophy through his whole political career. He talked about civil rights, importance of religion there and how inspirational that was for him. But this is about him doing what he finds a very reluctant thing, which is to go personal and public. MATTHEWS: Well what do you think? Do you think we should have a president explain his religion to people? Should we have a religious test? WOLFFE: That's what, that's what people expect. No, that's what people expect. MATTHEWS: Okay let me go to Mark. Are you comfortable with it? Where a president has to, defensively or offensively, talk about what he believes in terms of religion? MARK HALPERIN: If it's what he believes in and that's what the President does. Anyone who's thinking of running for president against this guy should go watch that speech. It was more than just about faith. As Richard said, it was his philosophy, it was brilliant performance. This guy has game. If you want to add, make a long list – what are all the reasons Barack Obama is favored for being re-elected? Forget the Electoral College, forget the unemployment rate and earnings and all that. That performance has a level of sophistication and skill that not one Republican on the field right now can duplicate. —Geoffrey Dickens is the Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here
Continue reading …For Second Day in a Row, Mitchell Pitches for Gun Control: ‘Somebody’s Got to Listen in Washington’
February 3, 2011 No Comment
Andrea Mitchell, for a second day in a row , pushed for more gun control on her MSNBC show as she encouraged Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, “You and Mike Bloomberg…have all been yelling and screaming,” about more restrictive anti-gun measures, “Somebody's got to listen in Washington.” Initially invited on Thursday's Andrea Mitchell Reports to discuss the Obama administration's push for more green jobs, Nutter wasn't allowed to finish the segment without Mitchell pressing him: “As a big city mayor, what are you saying to the White House about waiting for this gun control speech we keep hearing about?” On yesterday's show Mitchell expressed disappointment, to
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Click here to view this media In news that will surprise no one, Senate Dems voted unanimously to defeat the GOP attempt to repeal the health care bill. This one will be decided in the courts: Senate Democrats remained united on Wednesday in killing a Republican effort to repeal the health care bill signed into law last March. As expected, no Democrats voted against a procedural motion that effectively defeated a GOP amendment — sponsored by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and tacked on to an unrelated aviation bill — to repeal the health legislation. All Republicans voted together in favor of the McConnell-sponsored amendment. The vote was 47-51. The House passed the repeal measure last month. But the defeat of the equivalent legislation in the Senate means that the ultimate fate of the health care bill will likely not be settled until the Supreme Court hears an expected constitutional challenge to the law — particularly its mandate that most Americans buy insurance. The high court would likely hear the case in its next term, which begins in October of 2011, although some would like to see the matter addressed sooner. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., urged the court today to expedite the ruling. As John Thune and Orrin Hatch told Greta Van Susteren last night, Republicans aren’t giving up or going away on this. Indeed, they intend to try a piecemeal approach of a death by a thousand cuts. They also clearly are pinning most of their hopes on a Supreme Court decision.
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