Chris Matthews and Pissant Criticism

I wrote about this yesterday because it struck me as ridiculous that the RNC apprently still thinks it's campaign season and continues to come out with almost daily inane messages trying to knock President Obama down a peg. Maybe to get him down to a 60% approval rating. I'd leave it alone but I can't help submitting this Chris Matthews video where he nails Bush, the RNC, and Michael Steele.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

"Pissant criticism." BANG! "Nincompoop anti-intellectualism." POW! Chris is fun to watch when he gets his dander up.

Commenter Annette also wrote about Air Force One and that any plane the President is on is AF1. My response was that calling the gulfstream they took to New York City "Air Force One" was a deliberate attempt to confuse their non-thinking, knuckledragging followers into picturing the large jet that the President usually uses to invoke outrage of waste. I wasn't wrong.



They even used the AF1 flyover photo-op that was criticized by most and caused the resignation of the director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera. Keep it up, you classy Republicans.

Seriously?

RNC: "As President Obama prepares to wing into Manhattan's theater district on Air Force One to take in a Broadway show, GM is preparing to file bankruptcy and families across America continue to struggle to pay their bills," the GOP said. "Have a great Saturday evening -- even if you're not jetting off somewhere at taxpayer expense."

I'm waiting for them to figure out the cost of security and gas every time President Obama decides to go out to lunch for a burger.

Hey, douchebags, he's the fucking President. Security is what is required especially in light of right wing extremism and domestic terrorism. I'm too lazy to do it, but it's only a matter of time before someone exposes this latest hypocrisy and finds a story of former President Bush taking Air Force One to a rodeo and tractor pull or some monster truck rally. Besides the fact that the RNC got their facts wrong again (as usual):

The president and first lady Michelle Obama flew to New York from Washington on what a White House press pool report called a Gulfstream-type plane, rather than one of the larger craft that serve as Air Force One, Politico reported.

The Obamas also reportedly paid for their own tickets and dinner. When the hypocrites figure out how much taxpayer money was spent on Bush's 900 vacation days with Air Force One flying to Crawford, TX practically every weekend, then maybe they'll see a little perspective. Until then, they should remember that Obama is president, he won the election and unless they have something of substance to say, they should just shut the fuck up.

Lady Liberty Open Again

Being a child of New York City, when I was younger I had the amazing experience of walking to the top of the Statue of Liberty and peering out the windows of her crown.

Climbing inside the statue and seeing the infrastructure that holds her up is an event, the feeling that you're walking through history, the feeling of being one of the millions that have explored what's behind the flowing robes, yet feeling like you're seeing something not many others have in the grand scheme of things - like exploring a mysterious cave.

My only regret is that the arm of the statue remained closed to tourists ironically after the 1916 Black Tom explosion sabotage/terrorist attack. I've always wanted to stand on the platform of the torch.

The statue spelunking all ended with 9/11 and the continued fearmongering thereafter during the Bush administration that had kept the Statue of Liberty closed to tourists ever since*. Well not anymore.

The Statue of Liberty’s crown, which was closed after the 9/11 attacks, will reopen to the public on July 4, the White House announced on Friday morning. The decision, by the Obama administration, is a reversal of the previous policy.

Under the Bush administration, the Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service, had insisted that visitors could not be permitted because the crown — reachable only by a very narrow, 12-story-high spiral staircase with a low guardrail — did not meet modern fire, building and safety codes.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is to formally announce the decision at a news conference at 9 a.m. on Ellis Island. In a phone interview on Friday morning, Darren Boch, a spokesman for the National Park Service, confirmed that the crown will reopen, but said that operational details would be forthcoming from the Interior Department.

You don't know how happy this makes me. As a New Yorker, there's always been an underlying pall of dejection in the city since 9/11 due to arguably necessary but onerous limits instilled in the name of national security. This is a first step, albeit a small one, in restoring a sense of normalcy back to our home town.

And as an added bonus, once the crown is reopened we'll all have a chance to get a closer look at future Air Force One flyovers.
_____________________________

* Liberty Island was reopened 100 days after 9/11, and only the pedestal was reopened to tourists after a renovation to improve fire safety codes and security in August of 2004.

I'm Back!... Wha'd I Miss?

So after some fun in the sun and 95%* completely tuned out to 24/7 cable chatter (which I highly recommend to anyone on a semi-regular basis), I come back to find that Arlen Specter has the Swine Flu?, Air Force One flew over New York City, President Obama completes his first 100 days in office and has a news conference (love it!), and the GOP is becoming the 21st Century Whig Party faster than Norm Coleman can file another suit. I should go away more often.

On Specter - when I first heard about this I thought it's obviously a huge blow to the GOP but I still have my reservations. Just because you can switch your party affilation on your voter registration card doesn't mean that you can switch your vote or your thought process overnight. Arlen Specter calling himself a Democrat might be more of a thorn in the side of the Democratic party rather than a help. That's a powerful 60th vote and he knows it. I don't think Harry Reid's "deal" that Specter can keep his seniority is going to be very helpful either. Reid steps in shit again. Thanks, Harry.

Swine Flu - Seriously? I mean, I know it's an important issue... but so was Avian Bird Flu. How many of us were affected by that again? Come on, people. Stop those Spring Break Cancun vacations and grinding on the dance floor with someone who is coughing in your face. Wash your hands and move on.

Air Force One Flyover Outrage - I get it... just enough for the people in the area to be concerned. I'm sure no one north of Canal Street knew anything about it until the outrage, the UNMITIGATED GALL, I TELL YOU!, to have an Air Force One photo-op and not tell anyone. Except local law enforcement. And certain public officials. But it almost seems comical that certain New York politicians who didn't know were using the opportunity for their own photo-op. Couldn't they just release a statement?

Besides the fact that we have three major airports in the area; JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. I have planes flying over my head all the time. I live 10 minutes away from LaGuardia and they land a couple of miles away. Everyone needs to take a breath and calm down. Did we all of a sudden stop taking our shoes off at the airport? Have we stopped the racial profiling at the TSA security gate?

President Obama's First 100 Days - The President had another news conference. (Did anyone else notice he didn't call on Fox for a question? Heh.) Isn't it nice to know what's going on on a regular basis and hearing it from the horse's mouth rather than the previous clown having what, like 10 news conferences in his 8 years? Obama's going after the Most Presidential News Conferences record like Tiger Woods is tracking down most PGA Majors won. 100 days down, 2,820 days to go. Suck it, Rove.

GOP Implosion - ...Huzzah!

*****************************************
*I caught about 10 minutes of the news conference.

T Minus 143 Days

"It's totally wiped out... It's devastating - it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground."

- From Air Force One above New Orleans, August 31, 2005