Though I’m guessing Fox will win the night with their decision not to pick up President Obama’s prime time presser on health care tonight, it doesn’t make it any less important for the administration. The audience will still be quite large across all networks and people will be watching. This is a make or break moment for the President and his health care agenda. A failure to pass…

June 23rd, 2009 // comments (0)

President Obama Orchestrates Q&A With Huffington Post Blogger

As I noted in a Facebook update earlier, imagine for a second, if you will, if President Bush orchestrated a presser question with a blogger from Red State or Free Republic. Do you think the response would be different? Not that there’s much of a response to this at all. But there should be. The President took another question from The Huffington Post today.

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This is an openly partisan (in the President’s favor, of course) news outlet…

June 17th, 2009 // comments (0)

What’s With The Media Silence On Walpin?

Odds are you have no idea who Gerald Walpin is. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. The network newscasts have almost completely ignored this story. The mainstream outlets have had a rabid appetite for stories about a few firings under the previous President that may have been politically motivated, but this story isn’t attracting their attention. So why was IG Gerald Walpin fired? Well, if you ask him, he says he’s being ‘targeted’ for political reasons.

The

…

June 3rd, 2009 // comments (0)

All Access: NBC Goes Behind-The-Scenes At The White House

NBC News went behind-the-scenes at the White House last week and they’re playing back the captured video all week long. Sure, the administration put on their best faces for the cameras and controlled the message. But there’s some great insight to be gained from this footage. Below, spread out across several videos, you’ll see the lions share of the coverage. From Axlerod’s office to the daily activities of Rahm Emanuel and the assistants to the President, it’s some compelling stuff.…

May 26th, 2009 // comments (0)

Sonya Sotomayor Gets The Nod, Republicans Ready For Battle

Just a few hours ago, the sirens went up and Obama announced he would nominate Sonya Sotomayor for the open Supreme Court slot. In those few hours, the arguments for and against are already quite apparent. Obama supporters and those on the left seem to like the pick. They paint Sotomayor as a bright, accomplished jurist destined for the nation’s highest court. Detractors are already digging up money quotes sure to be repeated during the confirmation process. Weighing the debate…

May 22nd, 2009 // comments (0)

Obama Administration Sidesteps Media, Produces In-House TV Report

Another day in the ‘most open administration‘ ever.

The ‘report’ is above. Click play and watch away.

Let’s start this discussion with a flashback. It’s 2005, the Bush administration is producing reports on the war in Iraq and the media is ripping them to pieces for it. And it wasn’t just the Iraq war being featured in government-produced news segments, there were reports on administration policies, farm prices and a bevy of other subjects. NBC, one of…

May 13th, 2009 // comments (1)

Now White House Wants To Delay Detainee Photo Release

It looks like the President has changed his mind about releasing ‘thousands’ of new detainee photos before the end of the month. Generals Odierno, McKiernan and Petraeus have all argued Obama’s move to release the controversial snapshots (some of which are said to feature detainees who appear to have been beaten) would endanger troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In truth, the tidal wave of retaliation would go much further than the Middle East.

I’ve never understood the…

May 8th, 2009 // comments (0)

President Obama To Give Speech In Egypt

President Obama originally promised this would happen in the first 100 days of his Presidency but I imagine the ‘economic issues kept us busy’ argument will be his defense of not keeping that promise. Regardless, the President is heading to Egypt to deliver a speech to the Muslim world. No details have been released as to the setting of the speech but I’m guessing the security will be incredibly thick, rightfully so.

President Obama will leave Egypt to…

May 5th, 2009 // comments (0)

President Obama, Joe Biden Take A Break To Dine In ‘Hell’

No, seriously, Obama and Biden grabbed a burger from Ray’s Hell Burger. This is clearly an attempt to show the lead figures of the Obama administration in the roles of ‘regular guys’. But it wasn’t just any regular lunch. First, Secret Service officials cleared the burger joint out. Then, Obama bought the press corps whatever they wanted for lunch.

Before downing his burger, Obama slipped a $5 in the tip jar.

Yeah, it’s that slow of a…

May 5th, 2009 // comments (0)

Is President Obama Considering Al Gore For The Supreme Court?

Henrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker is salivating over the possibility of a Justice Gore. But would President Obama even consider Al Gore for the open Supreme Court slot? No. Even Hertzberg admits ‘it ain’t gonna happen’.

Let me give you three reasons why…

First, Al Gore is too old. President Obama wants to appoint justices who will last decades on the court. He wants to have influence of the direction of this country long after he leaves…

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

Justice Souter Retires: Obama Gets Supreme Court Pick

NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term.

The vacancy will give President Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction.

I’ll have much more on this and the pick that is to come… tomorrow AM.

April 30th, 2009 // comments (0)

H1N1 Update: Member Of President’s Team Has Swine Flu – Update: False Alarm

First we hear that a man who greeted President Obama in Mexico died the next day from the swine flu virus, now this. The unnamed agent passed the disease along to several members of his family, all of which are being treated and are, by all accounts, going to be just fine. Still, it’s a bit shocking that the President of the United States has come in contact with not one, but two people with this still incredibly rare…

April 29th, 2009 // comments (0)

President Obama Picks Fight With Tea Party Protesters

100 days in to an administration that promised ‘post-partisanship’ and we have a President taking potshots at Fox News and tea party protesters? This is just asinine.

“Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I’m not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around, Obama said, “let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over

…

April 28th, 2009 // comments (0)

The Phone Call: Obama Congratulates Arlen Specter

White House Website: (President Barack Obama speaks by phone to Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania on
April 28, 2009 about the Senator’s decision to become a member of the
Democratic Party. White House Photo, Pete Souza)

April 27th, 2009 // comments (0)

Fox Not Airing Obama Prime-Time Address

I’ve never watched the Fox show ‘Lie To Me’ but the network has just chose the drama over Obama. The President is set to address the nation in yet another prime-time address this week. The reason: Obama wants to give himself a report card to mark his first 100 days in the White House. This will be the President’s third prime-time address in only 100 days. Before you starting screaming ‘partisan network’ at the top of your lungs, remember…