Click here to view this media What Tim Pawlenty is finding out–or maybe he already knew–is that the GOP has descended into a John Birch/John Galt party because of the FOXation of the party and some of its members reveling in racism. Mother Jones: During his recent swing through New Hampshire for CNN’s presidential debate, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty courted more than a hundred Republicans at a house party in the town of North Conway. But the Pawlenty campaign’s choice of a host for the event, which was arranged by the candidate’s regional field manager in the Granite State, was nothing if not controversial. The party took place at the home of Ray Shakir, a local Republican activist and retired construction executive, who calls President Obama a “jungle alien,” Hillary Clinton “Osama’s dream girl,” and once labeled certain disabled children “uneducatable” and thus undeserving of taxpayer-funded schooling. In an interview, Shakir says Pawlenty addressed tough issues at the house party, such as cutting subsidies for corn ethanol and implementing right-to-work legislation, which would allow employees to opt out of union membership but still receive union-won benefits. Shakir praises Pawlenty as “a real nice guy, very gregarious,” adding, “at this point in the game, Tim Pawlenty is my choice for president.” The Breitbarts of wingnutopia can scream the word racism as much and as loud as they want in an attempt to cheapen its meaning, but it doesn’t change the fact that that’s exactly what the party has embraced. We saw it during the August Townhall meeting during the health care debate and Pawlenty is actively courting them on his presidential run. Check out some of the other insane things Shakir has said in the past: You can call me a birther if you want.” Shakir claims the long-form birth certificate recently released by the Obama administration is merely a clever forgery. (The Pawlenty campaign did not respond to a request for comment.) Moving to other issues, Shakir called human-caused climate change “bullshit” and accused liberals of “trying to destroy this country.” “They’re brainwashing people,” he says Shakir has a history of rhetorical flamethrowing. He’s referred to President Obama as “Borat Hussein O’Bummer” and suggested he is “a radical, subversive, con-artist fraud.” — In response to a special education official who said there was “no such thing as an uneducatable person,” Shakir told a gym full of citizens: “I would dispute that fact. There are certainly individuals that are uneducateable. I am simply suggesting to you and everybody else that there should be a line drawn where the taxpayer is responsible to educate certain people.” Shakir’s statement drew a chorus of boos, calls to resign, and even a comparison to Hitler. To which Shakir responded, “If you don’t like it, that’s the way it is. You people are divorced from reality.” Andy Kroll asks a question in his great piece that he really doesn’t answer: Q) But why did the Pawlenty campaign, running on a “Time for Truth” message, turn to Shakir, an activist whose eyebrow-raising comments on a range of topics fly in the face of that theme? enlarge A) Because that’s who the GOP of today are. Simple.
Continue reading …Click here to view this media What Tim Pawlenty is finding out–or maybe he already knew–is that the GOP has descended into a John Birch/John Galt party because of the FOXation of the party and some of its members reveling in racism. Mother Jones: During his recent swing through New Hampshire for CNN’s presidential debate, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty courted more than a hundred Republicans at a house party in the town of North Conway. But the Pawlenty campaign’s choice of a host for the event, which was arranged by the candidate’s regional field manager in the Granite State, was nothing if not controversial. The party took place at the home of Ray Shakir, a local Republican activist and retired construction executive, who calls President Obama a “jungle alien,” Hillary Clinton “Osama’s dream girl,” and once labeled certain disabled children “uneducatable” and thus undeserving of taxpayer-funded schooling. In an interview, Shakir says Pawlenty addressed tough issues at the house party, such as cutting subsidies for corn ethanol and implementing right-to-work legislation, which would allow employees to opt out of union membership but still receive union-won benefits. Shakir praises Pawlenty as “a real nice guy, very gregarious,” adding, “at this point in the game, Tim Pawlenty is my choice for president.” The Breitbarts of wingnutopia can scream the word racism as much and as loud as they want in an attempt to cheapen its meaning, but it doesn’t change the fact that that’s exactly what the party has embraced. We saw it during the August Townhall meeting during the health care debate and Pawlenty is actively courting them on his presidential run. Check out some of the other insane things Shakir has said in the past: You can call me a birther if you want.” Shakir claims the long-form birth certificate recently released by the Obama administration is merely a clever forgery. (The Pawlenty campaign did not respond to a request for comment.) Moving to other issues, Shakir called human-caused climate change “bullshit” and accused liberals of “trying to destroy this country.” “They’re brainwashing people,” he says Shakir has a history of rhetorical flamethrowing. He’s referred to President Obama as “Borat Hussein O’Bummer” and suggested he is “a radical, subversive, con-artist fraud.” — In response to a special education official who said there was “no such thing as an uneducatable person,” Shakir told a gym full of citizens: “I would dispute that fact. There are certainly individuals that are uneducateable. I am simply suggesting to you and everybody else that there should be a line drawn where the taxpayer is responsible to educate certain people.” Shakir’s statement drew a chorus of boos, calls to resign, and even a comparison to Hitler. To which Shakir responded, “If you don’t like it, that’s the way it is. You people are divorced from reality.” Andy Kroll asks a question in his great piece that he really doesn’t answer: Q) But why did the Pawlenty campaign, running on a “Time for Truth” message, turn to Shakir, an activist whose eyebrow-raising comments on a range of topics fly in the face of that theme? enlarge A) Because that’s who the GOP of today are. Simple.
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Rockets hit Misrata as infantry backed by artillery attack eastern approach to city, wrong-footing rebels Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have defied Nato warnings , reportedly killing a woman and wounding two children in rocket strikes on Misrata and launching a big attack to the east of the city. The rocket attack in Habara , between the port and city centre, was the first time artillery has inflicted casualties in Misrata since rebel troops pushed government forces out of the city on 12 May. Infantry forces backed by artillery launched a surprise attack on Kararimat, the eastern end of the enclave. The Hikma hospital reported 11 dead and 41 wounded from the attack. Radio Misrata said the rebel frontline had held off the assaults, which continued into the late afternoon. The rebels, who were expecting Gaddafi’s forces to attack from the west, were wrong-footed by the assault. “Gaddafi brought his troops around and attacked from the other side,” said Adel Ibrahim of Radio Misrata. “Now they are hitting civilian areas. One woman is killed, her children are hurt.” The attacks represent an act of defiance from the Gaddafi regime, three days after Nato dropped thousands of leaflets over government lines featuring pictures of an Apache helicopter and warning of attacks if civilian areas were shelled. Nato has been wrestling with the problem of how to respond to continued rocket strikes on the enclave, with British commanders reportedly saying that the Apaches are too vulnerable to risk attacking by day. No Apache strikes have been reported since Friday’s attacks, but Nato bombers flew over Misrata earlier in the day, followed by 23 explosions to the west of the city. Ibrahim echoed a common complaint heard across the city as the death toll mounts. “Where is Nato?’ he said. “It seems they are on holiday.” Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Nato Chris Stephen guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rockets hit Misrata as infantry backed by artillery attack eastern approach to city, wrong-footing rebels Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have defied Nato warnings , reportedly killing a woman and wounding two children in rocket strikes on Misrata and launching a big attack to the east of the city. The rocket attack in Habara , between the port and city centre, was the first time artillery has inflicted casualties in Misrata since rebel troops pushed government forces out of the city on 12 May. Infantry forces backed by artillery launched a surprise attack on Kararimat, the eastern end of the enclave. The Hikma hospital reported 11 dead and 41 wounded from the attack. Radio Misrata said the rebel frontline had held off the assaults, which continued into the late afternoon. The rebels, who were expecting Gaddafi’s forces to attack from the west, were wrong-footed by the assault. “Gaddafi brought his troops around and attacked from the other side,” said Adel Ibrahim of Radio Misrata. “Now they are hitting civilian areas. One woman is killed, her children are hurt.” The attacks represent an act of defiance from the Gaddafi regime, three days after Nato dropped thousands of leaflets over government lines featuring pictures of an Apache helicopter and warning of attacks if civilian areas were shelled. Nato has been wrestling with the problem of how to respond to continued rocket strikes on the enclave, with British commanders reportedly saying that the Apaches are too vulnerable to risk attacking by day. No Apache strikes have been reported since Friday’s attacks, but Nato bombers flew over Misrata earlier in the day, followed by 23 explosions to the west of the city. Ibrahim echoed a common complaint heard across the city as the death toll mounts. “Where is Nato?’ he said. “It seems they are on holiday.” Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Nato Chris Stephen guardian.co.uk
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Angela Merkel seeks peace with European Central Bank over Greek debt crisis Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has sued for peace with the European Central Bank (ECB) following weeks of feuding over how to rescue Greece from the devastating debt crisis threatening the future of the euro single currency. Merkel announced on Friday that the decisions on a new three-year bailout package for Greece, which is tipped to run to about €120bn (£106bn), would need to be agreed with the ECB. At a Berlin summit with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel softened her terms for the new Greek bailout, urged a quick decision on Greece, stressed that any participation by private creditors in the rescue should be voluntary and insisted that a new package with Greece would be reached together with the ECB. Merkel’s climbdown was welcomed by the financial markets, as the prospect of Greece suffering a catastrophic disorderly default receded. The euro rallied strongly, gaining more than one cent against the dollar. Europe’s major stock markets also closed higher as traders took a more positive view of the Greek situation. The German media, though, promptly predicted that Merkel’s olive branch could cost her politically at home. “For the German government, this is a remarkable shift,” said the liberal Sueddeutsche Zeitung. “The chancellor has backed off from a central German demand,” said the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine. In a research note, JP Morgan said Berlin seemed to be dropping its insistence on a bond swap by Greece’s private creditors, the central factor that the ECB feared would cause Greece to be declared in sovereign default. The Berlin summit came at the end of a week of intense political and market turbulence with riots on the streets of Athens, a Greek government on the brink of collapse and bad-tempered disarray among EU leaders. Despite the apparent progress, it remained to be seen how the second Greek bailout in a year would be structured. Sarkozy, who has been on the ECB side of the argument, characteristically claimed a “breakthrough” in Berlin and said France and Germany were united on all essential points on Greece. Merkel has become increasingly isolated in the last fortnight over Germany’s insistence that Greece’s private creditors – the banks, pension funds and insurance companies holding much of the insolvent country’s €340bn of debt – have to take “haircuts” or sizeable losses on their investments as part of the new deal to rescue Greece. The Germans wanted the creditors to swap maturing Greek bonds for new seven-year paper bonds on a scale that would be “quantifiable and substantial.” The ECB, supported by the European Commission, France and Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, head of the group of 17 eurozone countries, had warned that Berlin’s policy could trigger calamity. The ratings agencies would declare Greece in default, bringing down the Greek banks and unleashing financial failure across the European banking sector. The ECB recommended a rollover of Greek debt, with the banks pledging to buy new Greek paper as current loans are repaid, avoiding a “credit event” or a Greek default. It now seems that this option will prevail and a deal will be reached much more quickly following Merkel’s concessions. Merkel emphasised that any involvement by private creditors would be “explicitly voluntary”. A German parliament resolution last week underpinning her negotiating mandate in the EU stipulated the government could only agree to a new bailout “if an appropriate involvement of private creditors is included”. The Germans hoped this would amount to a quarter of the slated €120bn, but the contribution could now be merely symbolic. As she has consistently done throughout the 18-month crisis, Merkel had been playing for time, initially hoping to put off a new bailout until September. After the summit in Berlin, she said: “It’s not about September. It’s about the quickest possible solution.” Finance ministers from the eurozone and the EU meet in Luxembourg on Sunday and Monday and could now hammer out a bailout deal to be blessed by a European summit on Thursday. Greece became the first eurozone country to require a bailout in May last year when the Europeans put together a €110bn package. That has failed amid escalating turmoil in Greece and growing resistance to the swingeing austerity programmes that were the price for the rescue. George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, will visit Luxembourg on Monday for talks with EU leaders who are anxious that the entire rescue scenario could still unravel because of his inability to deliver on a radical privatisation programme, spending cuts, and tax increases. Merkel’s remarks came as the IMF warned that debt-ridden European countries were “playing with fire” unless they took immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits. The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies. The IMF also revised downwards its forecast for US growth, estimating GDP would grow a tepid 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012 compared with an expected 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent growth, respectively, two months ago. European debt crisis European banks Europe Currencies Economics Global economy Greece Germany Angela Merkel Nicolas Sarkozy Euro Euro European Union Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
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Angela Merkel seeks peace with European Central Bank over Greek debt crisis Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has sued for peace with the European Central Bank (ECB) following weeks of feuding over how to rescue Greece from the devastating debt crisis threatening the future of the euro single currency. Merkel announced on Friday that the decisions on a new three-year bailout package for Greece, which is tipped to run to about €120bn (£106bn), would need to be agreed with the ECB. At a Berlin summit with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel softened her terms for the new Greek bailout, urged a quick decision on Greece, stressed that any participation by private creditors in the rescue should be voluntary and insisted that a new package with Greece would be reached together with the ECB. Merkel’s climbdown was welcomed by the financial markets, as the prospect of Greece suffering a catastrophic disorderly default receded. The euro rallied strongly, gaining more than one cent against the dollar. Europe’s major stock markets also closed higher as traders took a more positive view of the Greek situation. The German media, though, promptly predicted that Merkel’s olive branch could cost her politically at home. “For the German government, this is a remarkable shift,” said the liberal Sueddeutsche Zeitung. “The chancellor has backed off from a central German demand,” said the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine. In a research note, JP Morgan said Berlin seemed to be dropping its insistence on a bond swap by Greece’s private creditors, the central factor that the ECB feared would cause Greece to be declared in sovereign default. The Berlin summit came at the end of a week of intense political and market turbulence with riots on the streets of Athens, a Greek government on the brink of collapse and bad-tempered disarray among EU leaders. Despite the apparent progress, it remained to be seen how the second Greek bailout in a year would be structured. Sarkozy, who has been on the ECB side of the argument, characteristically claimed a “breakthrough” in Berlin and said France and Germany were united on all essential points on Greece. Merkel has become increasingly isolated in the last fortnight over Germany’s insistence that Greece’s private creditors – the banks, pension funds and insurance companies holding much of the insolvent country’s €340bn of debt – have to take “haircuts” or sizeable losses on their investments as part of the new deal to rescue Greece. The Germans wanted the creditors to swap maturing Greek bonds for new seven-year paper bonds on a scale that would be “quantifiable and substantial.” The ECB, supported by the European Commission, France and Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, head of the group of 17 eurozone countries, had warned that Berlin’s policy could trigger calamity. The ratings agencies would declare Greece in default, bringing down the Greek banks and unleashing financial failure across the European banking sector. The ECB recommended a rollover of Greek debt, with the banks pledging to buy new Greek paper as current loans are repaid, avoiding a “credit event” or a Greek default. It now seems that this option will prevail and a deal will be reached much more quickly following Merkel’s concessions. Merkel emphasised that any involvement by private creditors would be “explicitly voluntary”. A German parliament resolution last week underpinning her negotiating mandate in the EU stipulated the government could only agree to a new bailout “if an appropriate involvement of private creditors is included”. The Germans hoped this would amount to a quarter of the slated €120bn, but the contribution could now be merely symbolic. As she has consistently done throughout the 18-month crisis, Merkel had been playing for time, initially hoping to put off a new bailout until September. After the summit in Berlin, she said: “It’s not about September. It’s about the quickest possible solution.” Finance ministers from the eurozone and the EU meet in Luxembourg on Sunday and Monday and could now hammer out a bailout deal to be blessed by a European summit on Thursday. Greece became the first eurozone country to require a bailout in May last year when the Europeans put together a €110bn package. That has failed amid escalating turmoil in Greece and growing resistance to the swingeing austerity programmes that were the price for the rescue. George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, will visit Luxembourg on Monday for talks with EU leaders who are anxious that the entire rescue scenario could still unravel because of his inability to deliver on a radical privatisation programme, spending cuts, and tax increases. Merkel’s remarks came as the IMF warned that debt-ridden European countries were “playing with fire” unless they took immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits. The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies. The IMF also revised downwards its forecast for US growth, estimating GDP would grow a tepid 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012 compared with an expected 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent growth, respectively, two months ago. European debt crisis European banks Europe Currencies Economics Global economy Greece Germany Angela Merkel Nicolas Sarkozy Euro Euro European Union Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
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Progress made on technical issues, but non government groups criticise slow and convoluted pace of negotiations Two weeks of tense global climate talks wrapped up on Friday, with countries insisting they had made progress on technical issues but accepting they were still nowhere near agreement in the three key areas of finance, greenhouse gas emission cuts and the future of the Kyoto protocol. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN climate secretariat, defended the UN against charges by non-governmental groups that the talks were painfully slow and convoluted, saying the economic crisis in Europe and elsewhere was making it harder to make progress. “Climate [change talks] are the most important negotiations the world has ever seen, but governments, business and civil society cannot solve it [climate] in one meeting. Countries are being very creative, exploring all options,” she said at the close of the conference in Bonn . Figueres warned that there could a gap between commitment periods for the Kyoto Protocol, the only global treaty legally binding rich countries to cut emissions – the first phase of which ends in 2012 . “Governments can double their efforts and come forward with middle ground solutions and options which are acceptable to all sides,” she said. The EU, which was challenged to lead negotiations by committing itself to a second round of Kyoto , said developing countries had to prove they had met all agreements made in Copenhagen and Cancún last year. “We are ready for an international deal … but we need everyone aboard. A second commitment period on its own is not going to cut it. We need to see more progress [in other areas],” said Jozsef Feiler, EU spokesperson. Non-governmental groups said they were deeply frustrated at the snail pace of negotiations and whole days lost while countries debated the agenda of the talks. Bolivia, which was isolated at the end of the Cancún talks when it insisted on deeper emission cuts , said it was worried at the lack of ambition. “There have been some small advances in technical issues, but no advance at all in the key issue of pledges for emission reductions. If there are no new pledges [soon], we face a very difficult situation,” said Pablo Solon, ambassador to the UN in New York. “The developed countries are not moving. The problem we face is that we are on a path to [warming of] 4-5C. That is the reality. That worries us very much. The problem is the lack of ambition,” he said Quamrul Chowdhury, a negotiator with the G77 group of developing countries, said that the talks were like the end of a long cricket test match with both sides playing for a draw. “No-one wants to lose anything at this stage.” “Europe should use its power to secure a second commitment period of Kyoto, even if only as a stop-gap before the creation of an entirely new global deal,” said Mohamed Adow, senior adviser on global advocacy for Christian Aid. Global climate talks Carbon emissions Climate change Germany United Nations John Vidal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …London 2012: Two-thirds miss out on Olympics tickets in first-round lottery
June 17, 2011 No Comment
Organisers outline plans for the next batch of Olympics tickets, which go on sale on a first come, first served basis on 24 June Two-thirds of applicants for London 2012 tickets have been left empty handed in the face of “huge demand”, it emerged as organisers outlined details of the sale of the next batch of 2.3m tickets. A total of 21 events have sold out altogether, with only limited availability for others. There will be only 40,000 athletics tickets available, mainly at high prices, when the second phase opens at 6am on 24 June to the 1.2 million applicants who received nothing in the first phase on a first come, first served basis. Around 1.7m of the remaining 2.3m tickets are for the football tournament, which is taking place at large stadiums around the country. Of the 600,000 remaining for other events, the next most are for volleyball and hockey. There will be a further 1m tickets on sale next year to the general public once venue layouts have been finalised. The London 2012 chairman, Sebastian Coe, said he “empathised with and understands the level of disappointment” but said that the commitment to low pricing had helped drive huge demand. “I don’t know if it’s unprecedented, but I would be hard pushed to give you an example of such a demand for any sporting event anywhere in the world in my lifetime,” he said. Although the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) has to work within the framework laid down by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding ticket allocation, there is likely to be further anger at the distribution of tickets for the biggest events. It has emerged that the men’s 100m final attracted 1.3m applications, but only 30,000 of the 80,000 seats at the stadium will be sold to the British public. The rest of the stadium will be made up of a further 30,000 tickets given to sponsors, hospitality, international sales and international sporting federations, and the rest to the media and IOC officials. Of the 30,000 available to the public, 21,000 went in the first round – half in the more expensive A, B and C categories and half in the D and E categories – and the remaining 9,000 will go on sale next year. Paul Deighton, the Locog chief executive, said that 16m of the 22m ticket applications were for the bottom two price categories. “It all comes back to the number of people who wanted tickets. There were a lot of really affordable tickets and that generated enormous demand,” he said. “The sheer level of demand has left more people disappointed than we would want and we are committed to fixing that as best we can.” There were 1.3m applications for the men’s 100m final, 5m in total for the athletics and 2m for the opening ceremony, including 1.5m who hoped for a £20.12 seat. A total of 1.9 million people applied for 22m tickets in the first phase of the sales process, with 700,000 of them securing a total of 3m tickets. More than 1,500 ballots were held for oversubscribed sessions. “We are determined to do everything we possibly can to get tickets to those people who missed out in the first application,” insisted Coe. He set a target of getting at least two-thirds of the original 1.9 million applicants a ticket by the start of the Games if they wanted one. The ticketing process had come in for criticism from consumer groups including Which? and many applicants for apparently favouring those who could afford to bid for lots of highly priced tickets in lots of sessions. Organisers were also criticised for withdrawing money from the accounts of successful applicants weeks before they learned which tickets they had received. But Deighton said the figures did not bear out the worst fears of consumer groups. He said the average successful application was for four tickets costing £275. Eighty percent of applicants applied for between one and five sessions, with just 5% applying for more than five and “a fraction of 1%” applying for the maximum of 20. “The 3m tickets that were sold will mostly go to different people. Between 2.5 million and 2.7 million people will get to use those tickets,” he said. “We don’t have a situation where there was a small number of people who got a large number of tickets to the detriment of people who didn’t get any.” Unsuccessful applicants will have a 10-day window from 24 June to apply for the 2.3m tickets available in the second round. They will be available on a first come, first served basis. On 8 July, the 700,000 successful applicants will also be offered another chance to buy what is left. Deighton also hinted that Locog, which expects to bring in £400m of its £500m ticket revenue target by the end of the second phase, would have limited the number of sessions and tickets that could have been applied for if it had known the extent of the demand. In the second phase applicants will be restricted to up to six tickets in up to three sessions – apart from those for football, volleyball and the race walk where there are lots of tickets left. “Learning from the demand we had in the first session, we have pared down the event and ticket numbers in this first come, first served second session,” he said. The remaining tickets, expected to total around 1m across all price points and sessions, will start to go on sale from December this year. A ticket exchange service for those who can no longer use their tickets will be set up early next year and organisers will also release tickets that will allow access to the Olympic Park but not to any of the venues. Olympic Games 2012 London Owen Gibson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …NBC/WSJ Poll: Americans Still Blame George Bush a Great Deal for Economic Woes
June 17, 2011 No CommentRemember the above video segment? Scarborough: “Is Bush An ‘Idiot’?” It brought back memories of Paul O’Neil’s feeling about the Bush Tax Cuts: Paul O’Neill on the Bush tax cut: ‘I would not have done it’ A new WSJ/NBC poll was just released and to my surprise six out of ten people still blame Bush for the hole this country is in. A third reason is that the American public isn’t blaming Obama for the current economy, with more than six in 10 respondents still saying he inherited the country’s economic problems from his Oval Office predecessor. Also, while a combined 47 percent believe George W. Bush and his administration are “solely responsible” or “mainly responsible” for the current economy, just 34 percent in the poll say the same of Obama and his administration. But that doesn’t mean the public is satisfied with the president’s economic performance. Just 41 percent approve of his handling of the economy, versus 50 percent who approve of his handling of foreign policy and 54 percent who approve of his handling of the war in Afghanistan. I have been very critical of the way the Obama administration has discussed the economic problems brought upon us by Conservative ideology and power so it’s nice to see that many Americans haven’t forgotten the Bush years, no matter how long he stays tucked away in the basement. Obama is still very vulnerable on this issue big time if things don’t improve and since the stimulus was not as progressive as it should have been, many Americans don’t believe they’ve seen tangible results from it. And only 34 percent think the economic stimulus that Obama signed into law in 2009 has helped improve the economy or will improve it in the future. High unemployment does that to people.
Continue reading …ABC Devotes 15 Minutes to Softball Obama Profile, Highlights Questions From Drew Brees, D-Wade
June 17, 2011 No Comment
Good Morning America's Robin Roberts on Friday conducted a softball, light-hearted interview with Barack Obama, devoting 15 minutes to the President. She even included questions from sports celebrities such as Drew Brees. During the two part segment, which was billed as a look at Obama on Father's Day, Roberts only bothered with four policy questions, instead choosing to highlight the queries from NFL quarterback Brees and NBA star Dwyane Wade. Relaying audience questions, she investigated, “…Many of you wanted to know how the President would handle a big birthday next month, his daughter Malia is turning 13. You are about to hit the teenage years.” [See video below. MP3 audio here .] The Anthony Weiner scandal warranted only two questions, the same number given to requests of advice from celebrities. At one point, Roberts introduced, “Quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and he had a very good question and it's one that all parents deal with and that's about balance, Drew Brees.” The GMA anchor followed up with Wade of the Miami Heat. The multi-millionaire needed help with this question: ” Hello, Mr. President. I recently received full custody of my two sons. What is the best advice you can give to a single dad? ” What political/policy questions Roberts did pose were relatively mild. Of Weiner, she wondered, “There are many people that are asking why is it that some men in positions of power and authority are engaging in such reckless behavior?” The anchor didn't ask if the controversy harms the Democratic Party. She also labeled the story a “distraction” and insisted “people want to talk about other topics.” One of the very few tough questions came when Roberts speculated, “The thought [from Republican presidential candidates] was that you made a bad situation worse. How do you respond to that?” By this time four years ago, during the 2008 presidential campaign, GMA had given Democratic candidates (Hillary Clinton and John Edwards) 64 minutes in special town hall shows. They offered none for Republicans. Now, four years later, no Republicans have received a town hall and Barack Obama is the subject of a lengthy, fawning Father's Day interview. A transcript of the first segment, which aired at 7:07am on June 17, follows: ABC GRAPHIC: President Obama One-on-One: Taking on the Republicans ROBERTS: A short time after that announcement, I had a chance to sit down with our exclusive interview with President Obama. We were there to talk about fatherhood, his own experience and his hopes for America's dads and he made some news of his own. But before we got to that, of course, I got his thoughts on the Anthony Weiner scandal and his response to Republican attacks on his handling of the economy. There are many people that are asking why is it that some men in positions of power and authority are engaging in such reckless behavior? OBAMA: Well, you know, keep in mind that obviously the vast majority of folks are, you know, doing the right thing and focused on their work. And I wish Representative Weiner and his lovely wife well. Obviously it's been a tough incident for him, but I'm confident that they'll refocus and he'll refocus, and they'll end up being able to bounce back. ROBERTS: This is something that you were hoping to see, that he would step aside. OBAMA: Well, I think it was just important for him to be able to focus on his family and what's most important I think for all of us and that is how do the people we love, you know, how do we interacting with them and this gives him some time to do that. ROBERTS: It became a distraction and people want to talk about other topics such as the economy, the struggling economy, which was a hot button topic at the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire earlier this week, and you were a top target. TIM PAWLENTY: This president is a declinist. NEWT GINGRICH: We need a new president in the Obama depression. ROBERTS: The thought was that you made a bad situation worse. How do you respond to that? OBAMA: You know, there will be time for campaigning. I'll let those guys sort out what they want to say. What I know is that an economy that was shrinking is now growing but we've got to grow it faster and, so, the steps we've already taken in terms of payroll tax cut, making sure that we provide tax incentives to businesses to build plants and put people to work, that those steps we've got to sustain. ROBERTS: The payroll tax cut, will we have that again next year? OBAMA: Whatever incentives we can provide to businesses to hire more people, the better off we're going to be. And so I'll be working with leaders in both parties hopefully to make the right decisions for the American people. ROBERTS: Political battles ahead. But just before Father's Day we also came to the White House to talk about fatherhood, with a dad who grew up barely knowing his own father. We ask you to weigh in with questions, both on Twitter and video and many of you wanted to know how the President would handle a big birthday next month, his daughter Malia is turning 13. You are about to hit the teenage years. OBAMA: Oh, yeah. ROBERTS: And there were a lot of questions from viewers saying, are you prepared for what's about to come? OBAMA: Malia and Sasha, for whatever reasons, and I think Michelle gets the lion's share of the credit. They're smart. They're funny, but most importantly they're kind. They're respectful. They're responsible. They're well behaved. I could not ask for better kids. I'm not anticipating complete mayhem for the next four or five year, but I understand teenage-hood is complicated. I should also point out that I have men with guns that surround them often and a great incentive for running for re-election is that it means they never get in the car with a boy who had a beer and that's a pretty good thing. ROBERTS: Still that young man, knock, knock, knock, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. OBAMA: It's a little intimidating. ROBERTS: Just a wee bit. OBAMA: I might invite over to the Oval Office, ask him for his GPA, find out what his intentions are in terms of career. ROBERTS: Very important. Very important. I know. OBAMA: Malia, Sasha, if you're watching this, I'm just joking. ROBERTS: Sure you are. Another question, what if the President had a son? I know you and Reggie have coached a little basketball. But this is a little league dad who has a very interesting question for you. SANFORD BROWN:
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