October 2009 Archives
Old Crow Medicine Show
New Orleans needs your help (commongroundrelief.org)
Craig and Helen Thomas Sign Books
Sunday, Nov. 1 at 2:30 PM ET
Newseum, Washington DC
So far, only the Revolutionary and Vietnam wars outpace Iraq and Afghanistan. Predictions are that our current wars will eventually be our longest in history.
"In accordance with the principles of double-think it does not matter if the war is not real. For when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, but it is meant to be continuous." -- George Orwell
America's Longest Wars (Congress.org)
Craig and Helen Thomas Sign Books
Sunday, Nov. 1 at 2:30 PM ET
Newseum, Washington DC
Congress prevails over Capitol police in charity football game. "The Longest Yard" began in 2005 as a way to raise money for the Capitol Police Memorial Fund. In this year's game, the Mean Machine, made up of Members of Congress and former professional football players, beat the Capitol police Guards team 32-26. It was the first victory for the Members squad in the four times the game has been played. Produced by Andrew Satter, CQ-Roll Call Group.
Spending more than $20 million of his own money, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is coming back, giving hope to Democrats for at least a mixed result in two key races next week, including the Virginia governor race where the Republican is poised for a rout.
Corzine is finally getting traction after trailing for weeks, aided by an avalanche of negative ads against GOP foe Chris Christie. Check out this Corzine ad, which not so subtly shows unflattering video of the hefty Christie tumbling out of an SUV, pointedly saying he "threw his weight around" to avoid penalties for traffic violations.
Implying your opponent is a fat law breaker? Now that's what we call winning ugly.
- NJ Poll: Corzine with small lead over challenger
- VA Poll: McDonnell's edge over Deeds grows stronger
George W. Bush's "motivational" speech this week was surely less provocative than anything Dick Cheney has done. While Cheney has chosen to lead the GOP partisan assaults on President Obama, his former boss kept quiet until recently, and opted for a non-controversial approach in his lecture circuit debut in Ft. Worth:
- Of cleaning up after his dog on a neighborhood walk, Bush said, "Man, my life has changed!"
- "The marketplace works. It is fair. It is equitable. It is a fair form of democracy."
- "It's so simple in life to chase popularity, but popularity is fleeting."
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| George W. Bush's Motivational Speech | ||||
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Craig and Helen Thomas talk to radio host Jim Bohannon
Listen Here
I always knew George W. Bush had to be a fan of "24," the TV show that some call "torture porn." And now one of the actors, Carlos Bernard, confirms that Bush once told him, "All I can do is watch that show of yours." Bernard notes, "I was like, you don't have anything better to do?"
Here's hoping Bush wasn't actually getting ideas from the anti-terror thriller. But I can well imagine he and Dick Cheney cheering rogue U.S. agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, as he blew off whining bureaucrats to torture suspects. In one episode Bauer even sawed off the head of a bad guy.
"He grabbed me at a baseball game in the U.S. A big guy came up to me and said, 'Excuse me, the President would like to speak with you.' I went over, and it was George W. Bush, and he said 'Hey Carlos, when are you coming out of that coma? All I can do is watch that show of yours. Are you coming back?' I was like, you don't have anything better to do?" - "24" actor Carlos Bernard (Daily Express, 10/28)
The New Jersey and Virginia governor races are not polling well for Democrats. Traditionally, the media hypes these off-year elections as leading indicators of the next cycle, the mid-term congressional races -- and, inevitably, the president gets the blame or credit for how his party does. If Republicans win next week, they'll get a media boost just in time for the holidays.
Virginia Gov: GOP Up by 17 pts
NJ Gov: Dem Incumbent Down by 4
Craig and Helen Thomas take calls on the radio tonight
10 PM ET (call 1-866-505-4626)
The Jim Bohannon Show
Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24. Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months (CBS, Mark Knoller)
CNN.com Commentary by Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford
- Brace yourself: The worst is yet to come
- Forget your privacy: You are a public servant
- Open up: The people have a right to know
- Have courage: Even if it hurts
- Give us vision: It's your legacy
Craig and Helen talk presidential history with CNN's Rich Sanchez
Lessons for Obama (Thomas/Crawford, CNN.com)
Craig and Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC re: WH obsession with GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe ("Countdown," 10/23)
It's not like this president is the first to target unfriendly media. Video Trail Mix looks back at other presidential media wars.
Craig and Helen Thomas talk to CNN's Rick Sanchez about their new book, "Listen Up, Mr. President."
Dick Cheney says Barack Obama is "dithering," but the President has already doubled the Bush Administration's troop levels in Afghanistan. In a fresh round of attacks last night, the former vice president said Obama "seems afraid" to again double the number of troops to the nation.
"President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete the mission." -- Dick Cheney (10/21/09)
If Cheney thinks nearly 100,000 troops are needed in Afghanistan, why did he leave office with roughly one-third of that number in the field? Perhaps he thinks the president he served was also "dithering" and "afraid."
The Bush White House ran a war in Afghanistan nearly its entire two terms in power. Obama, rightly or wrongly, has ramped up the fighting far more than George W. Bush ever did -- and Cheney calls this president afraid because he refuses to rush another 40,000 into combat?
Cheney bullying Obama to do what his former boss never would do seems to ring quite hollow.
UPDATE: Gibbs Takes on Cheney
Craig and Helen Thomas on CNN Newsroom
with Rick Sanchez 3:45 PM ET Today (10/22)
How To Add Your Comment on Trail Mix
Craig and Keith Olbermann discuss the FOX debate (MSNBC, 10/20)
Picture album for "Listen Up" launch party with Craig and Helen Thomas at Lebanese Amb. Antoine Chedid's residence in DC (10/19/09). TV NEWSER: Newsers Turn Out For Helen Thomas-Craig Crawford Book Party. POLITICO: Thomas, Crawford Feted.
Click pics to enlarge (Photo credit: daleblank.com)
More coverage this weekend on C-SPAN Book TV
Craig on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann"
Tonight (10/20) MSNBC 8:30 PM ET
Craig and Helen Thomas on MSNBC "Morning Joe" (10/19)
Trail Mixers blueINdallas and EdVB joined Craig, Helen Thomas, family and friends for a Saturday cookout at TM headquarters.
(photo credit: TM Official Photographer DaleBlank.com)
Big Book box and gourmet cookies by Harvard Sweet Boutique
Craig and Helen on "Morning Joe"
MSNBC Monday (10/19) 8:15 AM ET... and Craig on "The Joe Scarborough Show"
WABC-NYC Radio Monday (10/19) 10 AM ET
Sign Up Alert for Future Appearances
Craig and Helen speak and sign books at the National Archives (10/16/09)
(Click pics to enlarge, Photo credits:
DaleBlank.com, Bruce Guthrie)
Produced by CQ-Roll Call's Andrew Satter
Meet Up with Craig and Helen Thomas
National Archives, Washington DC
Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:00 PM ET
More events
Get ready for the next load from the "socialized medicine" crowd -- that mandating health insurance is fascist. Right, like requiring automobile insurance is the second coming of Adolph Hitler. Without a mandate, combined with subsidies for those who can't afford it, there is no path to universal insurance. And a public option that competes with private industry reduces the need for publicly financed coverage. Otherwise, subsidized emergency room care - which we currently have -- costs taxpayers even more.
If ever calling an opponent's bluff seemed in order, President Obama ought to double down against the insurance industry. After being asked to the White House poker table, they've now turned on him, threatening to raise premiums if his health overhaul becomes law.
Perhaps it was naïve for Obama to ever think the insurance industry would play along. But at least he tried.
Insurance lobbyists think they have the upper hand. But Obama is a crafty closer, so we'll see if he can turn the tables, now that industry insiders have shown their cards.
If I had to place a bet, I'd say insurance bosses have unwittingly boosted the chances for what they most fear - a public health insurance option.
With so much focus on women lawmakers who are not backing a public health insurance option -- Senators Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Olympia Snowe of Maine, among others -- there are women in Congress favoring it, and some are putting a personal stamp on the debate, CQ-Roll Call's Tricia Miller reports.
Lawmakers Debate Afghanistan Strategy
Key Senate lawmakers differed Sunday in their views on whether more U.S. troops are necessary in Afghanistan, with one pointing out it is imperative to consider the "whole package" in terms of strategy in the troubled region.
John McCain is griping all over the air waves these days despite saying he has "complete respect" for those he is griping about. Here is a man who claims to be the great protector of our troops despite arguing for sending ever more Americans to their deaths since the Bosnian crisis. For him to act as though he is some sort of soothsayer - and for the media to treat him as such - is truly laughable.
Craig tells the I-MAN about his Mom selling high school ring for top-dollar gold prices (FOXBusiness, 10/9/09)
Not even a Nobel Prize can replace learning on the job, Helen Thomas tells CNN host Campbell Brown. (10/09/09)
Now on Amazon
Craig's just-released book
with Helen Thomas
Meet up with Helen Thomas
This Weekend in San Francisco
How weird to win a Nobel for peace when you're contemplating more war. And yet, President Obama has won the coveted award at a time when he must choose whether to grant a military request for more troops in Afghanistan.
Will winning the Nobel affect Obama's troop decision for Afghanistan? Surely it strengthens the hand of Vice President Joe Biden and others who are arguing for a drawdown.
- Is it premature to give Barack Obama the Nobel peace prize? (The Economist)
- Obama could face party revolt on Afghanistan (Los Angeles Times)
I-MAN tells fans he'll survive cancer if they buy the new book by Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford (FOXBusiness, 10/8/09).
Listen Here for Craig and Helen together
on Air America's "Nicole Sandler Show"Craig and Helen on CNN Friday
with Campbell Brown 8:00 PM ET
Meet Up with Craig and Helen for a Signed Book
Medicare became law only because a fiercely determined Lyndon Johnson got to the White House after more than two decades of mastering Washington's hard-knocks inside game.
President Obama, a state legislator just five years ago, seeks the next major health care expansion without Johnson's insidery skill. He most certainly tops Johnson in mastery of outside game -- TV appearances and public speeches -- but his grass roots supporters, many of them young people who think they'll live forever, are not personally invested in the health care debate. What will make the difference, it seems, is whether Obama can find an inside game that gets the job done. If not, we might conclude that only an insider like Johnson who forcefully demands change can really make change.
Craig on "Imus in the Morning"
Thursday (10/8) 8:30 AM ET
Listen Live: WABC-AM (NYC)
(TV simulcast on FOXBusiness)Craig and Helen Thomas on "Campbell Brown"
On their new book: Listen Up, Mr. President
Tonight on CNN 8:00 PM ET
Gen. Stanley McChrystal is no Douglas MacArthur when it comes to defying his Commander-in-Chief, but when the top U.S. military leader in Afghanistan recently spoke out of turn he sparked a White House reaction that gives me a chance to repeat one of my favorite presidential quotes.
Harry Truman had just fired Gen. MacArthur for publicly disagreeing with his policy against expanding the Korean War into China.
Truman elaborated on the decision for reporters in his typically blunt fashion:
"I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail."
The McChrystal Debate
Helen Thomas this morning on NBC "Today"Craig's new book with Helen now on Amazon
Now on Amazon
Craig's just-released book
with Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas to appear on NBC "Today Show" Tuesday (10/6) at 8:19 AM ET
Mr. President,
• Beware your war powers. Remember how weakened Johnson was by Vietnam, Reagan by Iran-Contra, and Bush by Iraq. If we learned anything in the debacle that the Iraq War turned out to be, it would be that the nation's founders were absolutely correct in giving Congress the sole power to declare war.
• Go for a walk. Reagan escaped to his mountaintop ranch, Bush (41) fished from a speedboat, Lincoln chopped wood, and Roosevelt collected stamps.
• Watch your image. Avoid entanglements with crazed rabbits (Carter), vomiting on the Japanese prime minister (Bush 43), or weighing 300 pounds (Taft). The latter once sent a telegram saying, "Went on a horse ride today; feeling good." The reply: "How's the horse?" Don't smoke (Obama). But if you must, admit it.
• Get a laugh whenever you can. "Honey, I forgot to duck," quipped Reagan (quoting Jack Dempsey) after he was shot in an assassination attempt. As the doctors prepared him for surgery, he said, I hope you're all Republicans."
• Be above us, yet among us. This is perhaps your toughest challenge. Roosevelt was raised in wealth, yet he had a knack for speaking the citizens' language. Don't take the common touch too far: it is unlikely that the average American would make a good president.
• Read the Constitution, even though "a dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier" (George W. Bush). Don't overreach like Lincoln when he suspended habeus corpus, or Nixon, when he locked the press up in a room.
• "Oh, the vision thing." Your job is not a to-do list for making appointments and passing laws: you must inspire us to the future. Bush Senior, a lifelong bureaucrat, did not get it. Lincoln and Kennedy did. Obama does, though now must make his vision real.
Cheers,
Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford
Helen Thomas presses Robert Gibbs on whether President Obama is giving up on a public health insurance option. (firedoglake.com, 10/1)
Don Imus talks to Neil Cavuto about his FBN debut Monday
Craig is scheduled to appear in studio on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8:30 AM ET to talk about his new book, "Listen Up, Mr. President"
Craig and Keith Olbermann discuss SC Sen. Lindsey Graham's harsh words about TV showman Glenn Beck (MSNBC, 10/01)
In a sign that President Obama's foes are succeeding, the White House is going viral to combat them. Normally, you'd think a direct response wouldn't be worth the risk of elevating bogus claims. But on whitehouse.gov the Administration is using Internet tools to counterattack.
Obama aides singled out what they called "Fox lies" -- and show host Glenn Beck -- in a post about the Olympics flap. Working with the Democratic National Committee, they are distributing internet videos accusing Republicans of "scaremongering."
During the presidential campaign, the Obama team was effective at countering smears and rumors on the Web. But they've held back since taking office. Although the Administration will probably get some flak for directly responding on its official site, Obama staffers must realize they have no choice but to join the fray.
Craig on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann"
Tonight (10/01) MSNBC 8:50 PM ET
Topic: Glenn Beck