Oh! It Was a Joke!

Silly me, thinking that only a sociopath would joke about his wife's emergency landing experience.

The Los Angeles Times story that relayed Romney's airplane remark to the world was based off a pool report written by the New York Times's Ashley Parker. When we asked Parker this morning whether it seemed as if Romney made the mark in jest, she left no doubt. "Romney was joking," she e-mailed. Parker told us that while the pool report didn't explicitly indicate that Romney was joking, it was self-evident that he was. "The pool report provided the full transcript of his comments on Ann's plane scare," she said, "and it was clear from the context that he was not being serious." 

The Blaze hears the same thing from William Everitt, who attended the Saturday night Beverly Hills fund-raiser where the remark happened:

"Basically he was retelling the story and when he said ‘I don’t know why they don’t have roll down windows on airplanes,’ he looked at the audience and everyone laughed,” Everitt told TheBlaze. “It was a clearly delivered joke … There were 1,000 people there that will tell you the same thing.”

Yeah. He was joking. Everyone was laughing. Except I don't think it was. There was no stiff line reading by the Romneybot. There was no laugher. And if it was an obvious joke, it would have been reported as such in the first place. Judge for yourself.


(Cross-posted on ABLC)

Dumber Than Palin?

...I didn't think that was possible.

I knew Mitt Romney wasn't very quick on his feet, and hopefully most of America will see that once the debates with President Obama roll around. But while I vehemently disagree with his policies and ideology, I would have expected that Mitt Romney was at least a smart man out of his element in politics who will say anything because he has no moral compass. I didn't realize that he is a nitwit.

While the problems that arose with Ann Romney's airplane are nothing to make fun of, the following Mitt quote is one for the ages:

“I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don’t think she knows just how worried some of us were,” Romney said. “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly, there’s no — and you can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem."

Mitt Romney doesn't know why we can't open windows on high flying aircraft. ...This guy is running for president. Maybe he really does watch Jersey Shore.

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

Leslie Nielsen Dies at 84

NY Times: Leslie Nielsen, the Canadian-born actor who in middle age tossed aside three decades of credibility in dramatic and romantic roles to make a new, far more successful career as a comic actor in films like “Airplane!” and the “Naked Gun” series, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.

The Pelosi Plane Fiasco

I'm watching C-Span today and am amazed that the Republicans in the House, especially this little pissant Patrick McHenry from North Carolina, are whining about this story.

Republicans are taking issue with the size of the plane Pelosi would need to fly in to reach her hometown of San Francisco without refueling. There are three Air Force airplanes that have the fuel capacity to make the trip nonstop, with the largest being a C-32 plane, a military version of the Boeing 757-200.

This is in response to story in the Washington Times published February 1, entitled “Speaker pursues military flights,” which claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had been “pressing the Bush administration for routine access to military aircraft for domestic flights, such as trips back to her San Francisco district.” Former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) also used military aircraft to travel to his district. However, the Times reported, Pelosi is “demanding permanent access to a large military jet for herself, her staff, other Members and supporters.”

Here are the facts as checked by Think Progress:

1) The House Sergeant at Arms, not Pelosi, initiated inquiries into the use of military aircraft. House Sergeant at Arms Wilson Livingood, who has served in his position since 1995, released a statement today clarifying the facts. He writes, “In December 2006, I advised Speaker Pelosi that the US Air Force had made an airplane available to Speaker Hastert for security and communications purposes following September 11, 2001.” Additionally, Livingood writes, “I offered to call the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense to seek clarification of the guidelines [which governed Speaker Hastert’s use of a plane].”

2) A larger plane was requested because Hastert’s plane required refueling to travel cross-country. The Washington Times says a larger plane was requested to accomodate Pelosi, “her staff, other Members and supporters.” That’s not true. In fact, the plane used by Speaker Hastert was too small for Pelosi since it “needs to refuel every 2,000 miles and could not make the nonstop haul to California. ‘The Air Force determined that [Pelosi’s] safety would be best ensured by using a plane that has the fuel capacity to go coast-to-coast,’” a Pelosi spokesperson said.

Well, guess what?

The White House on Thursday defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi against Republican criticism that her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane is an extravagance.
"This is a silly story and I think it's been unfair to the speaker," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

I especially love Barney Frank's comment, no doubt in reference to Shorty McHenry.

UPDATE: "The Pelosi smear: Stupid -- but kind of entertaining" by Eric Boehlert