Month: January 2012
A Humorous POTUS
The announcement he made’s without precedent,
But he qualifies as a South Carolina resident.
It sure would be fun
If he really could run —
We’d support Stephen Colbert for president!
Colbert Contemplates Run for President
I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for president of the United States of America of South Carolina.
— Comedian Stephen Colbert, announcing on “The Colbert Report” that he is exploring a presidential run in South Carolina. He made it legal by handing control of his super PAC to Jon Stewart in the opening segment of Thursday night’s show, reported by Politico.
As If He Knows, Cain Says Perry ‘Not Deep’
He wasn’t deep on any of the issues.
— Herman Cain, in an interview with Don Imus, explaining why Rick Perry’s presidential campaign hasn’t fared very well.
McCain Laments Creation of Super PACs
I predict to you that there will be huge scandals associated with this huge flood of money.
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by the AP, noting that the Supreme Court ruling that led to formation of super PACs was “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen.”
McCain Flip-Flops on Attacking Romney
These attacks on, quote, Bain Capital is really kind of anathema to everything that we believe in.
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by CBS News, this morning about attacks on Mitt Romney’s track record in business.
As head of his investment company he presided over the acquisition of companies that laid off thousands of workers.
— McCain, quoted by the New York Times, taking a different view four years ago.
Gingrich Goes Negative on Mitt – And Reveals His Own Shortcomings
Yes, this video put together by the Newt Gingrich team does show a greatest hits list of Romney bloopers (although there are more that didn’t make this cut, such as when he pretended to be goosed by waitresses in a diner, or when he claimed in front of unemployed people to understand their plight because he is unemployed too, or more, more, more). But the most revealing line in it, to me, is the premise underlying it: that Romney will never win in a debate with the presumably much smarter and better spoken Obama — and that this is what matters most.
I think Gingrich honestly believes that governing is all about what words you choose and the mental abstractions you amuse yourself and those listening in awe with. There is no sound more lovely to Gingrich than that of his own voice, but a president needs traits other than pontification and bloviation. He, or one day, she, needs judgment and sanity and a willingness to be, as we so often think of Obama when the subject of Congress comes up, the adult in the room. Million dollar credit lines at Tiffany and trophy wives and egos that don’t fit through the door equip someone to be president no better than does constantly saying stupid things in public.
So yeah, Mitt’s an idiot. But Gingrich doesn’t even get why he’s no upgrade.
Americans Say Standard of Living Improving
31
Measure of Gallup’s Standard of Living Index in December, the highest since June and up slightly from the 30 of December 2010. Fifty-five percent of upper-income and 47% of lower- and middle-income Americans said their standard of living was “getting better” in December.
Boring But Important: Obama Sheds Business Ally Chief of Staff for Old School Liberal
There was an important development in the 2012 presidential election this week, but it had nothing to do with Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, or Ron Paul. And truthfully, its importance goes far beyond the perpetual campaign.
White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley resigned. Chris Cillizza described Daley’s departure in his Washington Post blog, The Fix.
Aide: ‘Business refused to make nice regardless of what Daley did. Wall Street was just never going to be there.’
Brought in to rebuild the White House’s relationship with the business community and Congress, Daley leaves the job as Obama seems to have found his stride by explicitly running against Congress and, to a lesser extent, the business community.
“What he learned was that business refused to make nice regardless of what he did,” said one former White House aide of Daley. “Wall Street was just never going to be there.”
The departure* comes at the same time as the release of a new book, The Obamas, by New York Times reporter Jill Kantor. The book, which I have not read, is said to show that Michelle Obama had philosophical differences with Pres. Obama’s first chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and that the president might have been better off listening to her than him.
