President Obama Beat NFL in Ratings

President Obama's speech Thursday on jobs to a joint session of Congress outscored the NFL season opener in the Nielsen TV ratings. The President's jobs speech was watched by an estimated 31.4 million viewers while the New Orleans Saints/Green Bay Packers NFL season opener drew about 27.2 million.

(Via Washington Times)

President Obama's Joint Session - The American Jobs Act

In case you missed it.

Frustrated

Okay, I had to sleep on this one - I purposely avoided any news on my television machine this morning and averted my eyes from any headlines online and in print as to not cloud my judgment or contaminate my thoughts. I wanted to take a step back after a pseudo-rant in a post outlining yesterday's events, venting on Twitter and debating with Twitter friends, and try to explain how I feel about them.

Last night I received an e-mail from Obama for America titled, "Frustrated."

Today I asked for a joint session of Congress where I will lay out a clear plan to get Americans back to work. Next week, I will deliver the details of the plan and call on lawmakers to pass it.

Whether they will do the job they were elected to do is ultimately up to them...

...It's been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on.

I know that you're frustrated by that. I am, too.

He then asked me to stand with him, which I did, and asked for a donation, which I didn't give.

You see, the President is right. I am frustrated. But this time there's more than a little frustration to go around on both sides. And I'm not normally a "both sides" guy.

Earlier in the day, the White House announced that they were finally making a highly anticipated speech to lay out a jobs plan for the struggling economy. For months, the petulant Boehner and the rest of the spoiled brats in the GOP cried, "Where are the jobs?" like a playground taunt. They swept into office in November of 2010 on the issue of "jobs, jobs, jobs" and have done absolutely nothing on that front, pivoting on a dime and making deficit reduction during a horrific recession their primary goal and doing anything and everything, including holding the debt ceiling hostage and causing a downgrade of the American economy by S & P in the process.

So here was the announcement. And the White House chose the first day that Congress is back in session. It's also the same date as the scheduled GOP Primary Debate at the Reagan Library. Now don't misunderstand. This wasn't a decision made willy-nilly. This wasn't some random "idiot staffer" throwing a dart at a calendar, as one tweeter tried to suggest. These things are known well in advance and coordination with 535 members of Congress, with major news outlets and networks are all planned. And I thought it was a brilliant strategy politically. Put the GOP between a rock and a hard place - make them choose. Do you care more about one of your many upcoming GOP debates, or are you being a serious party and really care about jobs for America despite your actions to the contrary? Perfect plan.

And then the unbelievable happened. Boehner refused the President of the United States his request for a joint session. He showed his hand - a jobs plan that he has been wailing about for months could wait another day.

FUCK YOU, BOEHNER! I thought. If you don't think this is of the utmost importance, fine. Let the President take his address to the American people from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Show the dichotomy, plain for all of America to see. A president who cares about the unemployed against the GOP whose primary stated goal is making Obama a one-term president. Except the president wasn't so resolute.

The Obama email was time stamped at 10:38pm, about an hour after another "compromise" in which the President chose a specific date, September 7th, for an important joint session of Congress to address the nation's job issue, and Speaker of the House John Boehner refused the date, an unprecedented move and one that was most likely motivated more by a GOP primary debate conflict that same night rather than the House schedule, along with some Rush Limbaugh advice. Boehner suggested one night later, September 8th. So the two men talked. And the "compromise?" Or what passes for "compromise" nowadays? President Obama will give his address to a joint session of Congress on September 8th. All within a couple of hours, President Obama acquiesced yet again to Boehner and the GOP. And then he asked me for money.

And within minutes, there was the spin. On one side: "Obama caved again." On the other: "Obama is the only adult in the room." My initial reaction was the former, not the latter. Every once in a while when you're the only adult in the room, the spoiled brat needs a spanking. I'm still waiting for that spanking. And. It's. Fucking. Frustrating.

Now logically, sure, it makes sense that people would come to the defense of the President with the "adult" angle. The Party of No proves their moniker once again. The rancorous GOP shows they refuse to agree with the President about anything to show their extremist base they won't budge. John Boehner is at fault for putting party and politics ahead of the country. I get it. But I'm sorry, I can't turn on a dime that quickly. I can't call the choosing of the initial date great political strategy and within hours dismiss it as, eh, it's just a date. And I'm not going to let other people use that excuse either. Because it wasn't just a date. It was chosen specifically by the White House as a shot across the bow and before the battle began, there was a retreat.

And let's not pretend that it's insignificant. In the grand scheme of things, a specific date isn't the issue. It's about a continuing, troubling pattern of capitulation. There is no such thing as compromise anymore. There is no 50/50 meeting of the minds. From the public option, to the threat of government shutdown in the budget deal, to the threat of government default in the debt ceiling hostage negotiations, there has been no meeting in the middle. How many times will the President draw a line in the sand and then walk away from it? Unfortunately, optics matter. Spin matters. And to me, this just looks bad. That is why I'm frustrated. And I'm allowed to be frustrated.

I'll vote for President Obama. I'll contribute to his campaign. I'll work at the local campaign office when I can. I'll proudly wear my Obama t-shirt and display my lawn sign. But I'm allowed to be pissed off every once in a while.

So now the date is set for Thursday, September 8th, coinciding with the NFL season opener. I don't have to remind readers here that the majority of the country doesn't follow politics like we do. They're not wonks or cable news junkies and probably couldn't name the Secretary of State if asked. But they loves them some football. How many potential viewers will be lost by this move? I have a feeling it will be a significant number. Yes, we'll watch it because that's what we do. But on Friday, ask the average Joe Six Pack if he watched President Obama's joint session of Congress. See what answer you get.

My good friend and co-blogger Jennifer wrote a post last night using a "ball in the dirt" baseball analogy and comparing the President to a catcher controlling a ball thrown in the dirt to induce the batter to swing at a bad pitch and miss or ground out weakly. And that's a good analogy. But the problem is that in this situation, President Obama wasn't the catcher. He was the pitcher. He pitched a plan, a date for the speech. But batter Boehner didn't swing at it. He took the pitch for a ball. He then beared down at the plate and it was the perfect opportunity for Obama to throw one in high and tight; give him a little chin music. Instead, Obama didn't even challenge him.

Boehner walked.

It's All In The Timing - UPDATED

For months now, all we've been hearing from the Republican Party is a mocking tone led by Speaker of the House, John "Big Gavel" Boehner. "Where are the jobs?" Boehner would ask/mock/yell any time he took a podium within earshot of network microphones. All you need to do is take a look at Boehner's tweets to see that his constant harping about any Obama plan and the damage that it would do, adding the modifying "job killing" phrase to every other sentence and even a couple of bills, and the transparency is obvious. Nevermind that the GOP ran on "jobs, jobs, jobs" in 2010 and as of this writing, the Republican led House of Representatives has not passed one single jobs bill.

And for weeks now, there's been nothing but whining and moaning from the GOP on wanting an economic and jobs plan from President Obama, regardless of the fact that it's the House that ultimately controls the pursestrings and creates and passes economic legislation.

Well, they wanted a jobs plan and now President Obama is going to give it to them. So it happens that they requested a joint session of Congress to reveal said plan on the same night as a Republican primary debate at the Reagan Library on September 7th. ...Oops.

While it may be a thumb in the eye to the GOP, the fact of the matter is that September 7th is also the first day that Congress is back in session after a five week recess. Yes, they were off for the entire month of August while some whined about the President's 10 day vacation. So it makes absolute sense to make the address on the first day of school. Is it also a 'fuck you' to Republicans who've been badgering him about a jobs plan for months? Probably, although they'd never admit to it. But now the White House has put the GOP in a tough spot. If they're so eager to hear the President's plan, they'll have to decide to agree to the joint session and prioritize what's important. They'll have to deal with the optics of a real President giving an important address regarding the nation's most pressing issue while the wannabes squawk about their one idea yet again: deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy as job creation.

But so far, all we've heard is more whining.

ADDING... Gawker has called this move "the most gratuitously -- and joyously! -- dickish move of his presidency." Well, when in Rome...

UPDATE I (6:55pm): Well, now we know where John Boehner and the GOP's priorities lie.

House Speaker John Boehner announced Wednesday that he would reject a request from President Obama for a national address before a joint-session of Congress.

So much for the jobs crisis, huh?

UPDATE II (9:35pm): I'm disgusted.

President Barack Obama agreed late Wednesday to delay a planned jobs speech to a joint session of Congress by one day after House Speaker John Boehner objected to the date the White House originally sought.

That one day delay, September 8th, is opening night of the NFL. As a regular reader of this blog just said to me, "Fucking clueless. Even I will be watching the game. If he loses the election, it won't be because of the economy. The base will just see him as a capitulator. I hear it every fucking day."

I have to admit I'm feeling the frustration as well. It's obvious this particular Congress doesn't give a shit about even the appearance of giving this particular president a modicum of respect. And if I'm being honest, if Obama doesn't demand it, why should the GOP bother when they know they can roll him?

I'm fucking disgusted.

ADDING... Look, overall I think I'm just venting my increasing frustration with the lack of respect shown to the President from the other side. I'm tired of Boehner and Cantor and the GOP thinking they are on equal footing with the President of the United States. Never in the history of this country has such hubris been displayed by the opposition party against the Commander in Chief. Refusing a joint session of Congress to a sitting president has never happened. But what I'm projecting is what I think most of the country is projecting; the majority of the country that aren't political junkies and view this peripherally.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope the general population looks at this scenario and will see and realize that the GOP will say no to everything the President suggests, even a date for a jobs speech the GOP have been badgering for, for months. I hope they realize that the GOP is unreasonable and can't even acquiesce to a date requested by their President. I hope this is more Obama ju-jitsu and hope that the polls reflect that. I pray to the FSM that I'm wrong.

But I still can't shake my original point: why did the White House pick this particular date if they weren't going to stick to it? It looks wishy-washy and politically it'll be spun as such. There would be no controversy had they chosen Tuesday night (most if not all of Congress would be back in DC by then) or Thursday night even though they'd be fighting for ratings against opening night of the football season. So again, why did they choose the same night as the GOP debate?

Framing the Health Care Debate

We've been listening to what classifies as health care [air quotes] debates [end air quotes] nonstop from the talking heads on the television machine for months and there's one thing that's been driving me absolutely insane. Not one, single, solitary person has categorized the public option as a compromised position.

Whether it be a Democrat (save Anthony Weiner) or Republican politician being interviewed, a round table pundit, or a cable studio desk jockey, every time the public option is mentioned, it's framed as what the left wants. Actually, no. What the left would like is a single payer plan. HR676. Medicare for all.

This framing has shifted the overall center of the sad notion of "bipartishanship" from a public option to some half-assed scheme of co-ops, triggers or what's become apparent, a Max Baucus Bill that has taken a month to be crapped out of the wrinkly asses of the Gang of Six. When will the mainstream media correct the fantastically stupid notion that independents and moderates don't want a public option? When explained and polled, 77% are in favor of a public option. 80% of AARP members are in favor of it. Even 60% of Republicans are in favor of it. When did 77% become the "liberal left"? That looks like a majority to me.

In anticipation of tonight address to a joint session of Congress, I'm hoping President Obama will actually frame the debate correctly. I'm also hoping against hope that he'll call out by name, those that have been fear mongering with the egregious death panel lies, the "government-run" health care misinformation, and the protecters of the health insurance industry.

Enough is enough. There's no problem with disagreeing with certain positions on this debate, but when you have to resort to flat out making shit up like pulling the plug on grandma or inclusion of illegal aliens as the first step toward evil Obama Socialism, you just lose credibility with the 77% of the population that knows bullshit when they hear it.

Will President Obama Address Congress?

Bob Cesca writes a quick post:

Today on The Ed Show, Jonathan Alter predicted that the president will deliver a rousing address to a joint session of Congress about healthcare reform sometime in the next six weeks or so.

Here's what I wrote back on July 2:

Maybe even do one of those big Hollywood movie style presidential speeches, like the one at the end of The Contender in which President Jeff Bridges calls out that slippery douche Congressman Gary Oldman in front of a joint session.

If this health care battle has a joint session in its future, I doubt whatever the President decides to say will change any minds, for or against a public option. Overall, the American public is still in favor of a public option (I don't believe the new controversial NBC/WSJ poll for a second). Those who want it, those who need it, are still going to be in favor of it. Those who have been misinformed, well, we all know they're too stubborn to learn the truth and know any better. Besides, when you bring a gun to a health care debate, I'm guessing you might have another agenda.

Whether President Obama is heard by the American public if he does decide to call a joint session of Congress is most likely irrelevant. It's whether he's heard by the members in the chamber that's important, and all too often we've seen something that is universally important to all the citizens of this country, something as important as helping your fellow man through accessible health care, spun by the politicians and pundits within minutes of it's conclusion to blue and red, to liberal and conservative, to truth and fiction.

Here's that final scene from The Contender that Bob mentioned.



I watch these political movies over and over again and always hope for a moment like this in real life instead of the screen, where the sham of "my good friend on the other side of the aisle" is dropped like so much dead weight around our necks, where truth triumphs over political convenience, where liars are called liars.

I hope it happens in my lifetime.

The Future of the Republican Party? ...Seriously?

Circumstances prevented me from watching President Obama's address to joint Congress live last night. I was about an hour behind so I purposely stayed away from the Internets until I watched the full speech for fear of spoilers. As usual, I was not disappointed in another Obama speech full of The Awesomeness™.

Then I waited with trepidation for the Republican Party response from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the "rising star" of the GOP and one being touted for a presidential run in 2012. Jindal was on Meet The Press the previous Sunday and although he typically regurgitated Republican talking points, he seemed well put together, able to speak off the cuff and is obviously an intelligent individual. What I witnessed last night however, was a completely different Bobby Jindal. I include the entire speech for those who missed it.





Who is this man and what did they do with Bobby Jindal? Surely, this isn't the rising star with the hopes of the GOP squarely on his shoulders in 2012, is it? ...Really?

His sing-song approach was a little disconcerting - was he trying to sell me a used car recovered from the 9th Ward? I was inadvertently shot back to my youth and half expected Jindal to break into song and take us to the Magic Kingdom where Republicans know what they're talking about, but then I realized there were no hand puppets... at least within camera shot. Or maybe Jindal is a hand puppet...

Then my jaw hit the floor when I heard the following line:

"Today in Washington, some are promising that government will rescue us from the economic storms raging all around us.
Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina -- we have our doubts."

Wait... did I hear that right? Was Jindal telling us we can't trust government and using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the incompetence of the Bush administration's rescue efforts as a gauge? Was he telling us, by using Hurricane Fucking Katrina as an example, that citizens have to deal with disaster on their own? And in seemingly the next breath, asking us to trust the Republican Party? Government shouldn't be trusted and that is why the GOP is the correct choice for 2010 - we don't give you hope. With us, you know you'll be fucked from the beginning, so there'll be no surprises!

Then he told us a story about Sheriff Harry Lee and the volunteer rescue boat operation, featuring the evil government bureaucrat who insisted on seeing the insurance and registration for the boats before allowing them to rescue New Orleans' drowning victims. I found this story a little hard to believe until I realized that, yeah, maybe it was true - after all, who was running the government back in 2005? After hearing that story, do you think RNC Chairman Michael Steele was staring blankly at his television in a "What the fuck?" haze? Yeah, me neither. He was probably pumping his fist, Arsenio Hall style, and barking up a storm, thinking this speech was "off the hook!"

But this childish, pathetic excuse for a speech turned sour in my book when Jindal insisted on using the latest GOP talking points of an imaginary "'magnetic levitation' line from Las Vegas to Disneyland," categorized as wasteful spending the replacement of the government fleet of cars, which would create manufacturing jobs to produce the energy efficient cars and reduce our oil dependence, and pointed to "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.'" Well, perhaps down by the bayou, volcano monitoring may be thought of as wasteful spending, but I'm sure citizens of Hawaii and Washington state appreciate it. Had the shoe been on the other foot and a GOP led country was blindsided by a volcano eruption that turned a Hawaiian town into a 21st century Pompeii, they could just pull out the Katrina textbook and say, "Well, no one could have anticipated the eruption of the volcano." Not to mention the fact that Jindal was pointing to 0.00018% of the entire plan, the very thing President Obama warned against in his address to the nation's governors as well as during the Fiscal Responsibility Summit.

So this is what we have to deal with in 2012? We've seen what we're going to get with Sarah "Position Flexible Also" Palin. And the latest Michael Steele Foot in Mouth Disease moment regarding civil unions makes me wonder what the GOP was thinking. But for the time being until this all dies down, Bobby Jindal has to take the gumbo. The Republican Party's sad attempt to show that they're inclusionary and exotic with the choices of Palin, Steele and Jindal as a substitute for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Oscar winners for Slumdog Millionaire don't mean a thing if their ideology is skewing further right than ever.

Heh. Slumdog Millionaire. Yeah, that's right! I said it.


ADDING... Instant classic!

Palin/Jindal 2012!!

Guest-posted by Fraulein

I'm still gathering my thoughts for a longer post about last night's speech by President Obama, but in the meantime I wanted to parachute in here with a couple of quick thoughts:

1. Did our President kick some Republican ass last night or what? and

2. As far as Bobby Jindal is concerned, I for one was quite impressed with his performance, in that, as a public speaker, he makes Sarah Palin look positively eloquent. If this chicken-fried dipshit represents the best of the Republican party, they are beyond hosed. They are DONE. I can't wait to see this guy run for VP on the ticket with Palin. Go Bobby go!

UPDATE: I figured out who he reminds me of.