Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’

Check out the entertaining email exchange I had with Kristoffer Engebretson, who had the unmitigated gall to lecture me on journalism and what constitutes a story. Evidently, his idea of what constitutes the story has changed dramatically since he decided that an ex-Republican housewife expressing her thoughts at a “listening session” was the makings of a big expose on Republican plants.

Last night I received this email invitation from President Obama’s “Organizing for America” (a mailing list that I stunningly have not been removed from since I was recently outed as a Republican town hall plant):

Heather –

I wanted to send you an urgent invitation to an important health care event with Rep. Steve Kagen tomorrow, Wednesday, August 26th.

He’ll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback on the need for reform. Whether you ask a question or show your support with a sign, attending this event is a powerful way to show where you stand and thank those in Congress who are fighting for reform.

I hope you can join us. Here are the details:

What: Health Care Event with
Rep. Steve Kagen

Where: UW Green Bay – Phoenix Room
2420 Nicolet Drive
Green Bay, WI 54311

When: Wednesday, August 26th
Arrival Time: 5:00 p.m.
Start Time: 6:00 p.m.

RSVP

Please arrive as early as possible to the event, and make sure that the most powerful voices in this debate are those calling for real reform, not angrily clamoring for the status quo.

RSVP here:

http://wi.barackobama.com/GreenBayTH

Thanks,

Dan

Dan Grandone
Wisconsin State Director
Organizing for America

P.S. — Before the event, please print off a flyer to display and make sure that your support is visible.

Assuming Kristoffer Engebretson would find evidence of people being influenced to attend these events (the only question he had for me, and one he repeated 6 times in hopes that my answer in the negative would change), I forwarded him the email, adding “Here you go, Kristoffer. You’ve got your story; I’ll look forward to seeing how you expose all the plants at this event tomorrow…”

My sarcasm is obvious, which is why I was so surprised that he responded. His response, however, is even more surprising:

Heather,
It’s a rally for pro health care reform and pro public option. This is not a listening session. There will be no question and answer format. There will only be speakers.
The people who will be there (from both sides) will be voicing how they feel loud and clear. And I know people from both sides will be going, check out our story from today.

By the way, an email asking people to show their support is not a story. Emails like this on both sides of this issue have been going out since the begining of the debate. It’s a way of letting people know what’s going on.

But if you have any concrete evidence showing the liberals are paying people to come or are trying to sabotage the event, please let me know. That would be a story.

Kristoffer Engebretson
NBC 26 Reporter

I couldn’t resist straightening him out on the facts. Again. (Why do I keep finding myself in the position of having to teach this journalist the basics of journalism?):

Kristoffer,

Nowhere in the “Organizing for America” invitation does it say anything about a “rally”. What it does clearly state: “He’ll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback on the need for reform. Whether you ask a question or show your support with a sign, attending this event is a powerful way to show where you stand and thank those in Congress who are fighting for reform.” Sound like a listening session to me. What’s interesting to me is how you know that it is a rally, and that there will be no question and answer format. I’d also love to have you explain how the Congressman plans to gather feedback when “there will only be speakers.”

And don’t you dare lecture me on journalism and what qualifies as a story. You’re right, emails like this are not a story; they’re nothing more than American Democracy at work. An ex-Republican housewife designing websites out of her home and networking online with potential clients wasn’t a story either, but you used spit and duct tape to patch together one Google search performed by another news crew, one screen shot, a portion of a private conversation between myself and a member of that other news crew, and my response to a question that was never aired, and made it a story anyway.

Now I’m actually handing you proof of a situation where people are being “influenced” to go (you remember that question? After all, you asked me that 6 times), and now all of the sudden you’re telling me it’s not a story.

Stunning. But then, you’re not one to allow the facts to get in the way, are you?

Heather Blish
Just a Mom From Down the Street

I’ll let you know if he responds.

Update: he did, and it’s a hoot! Read the second installment here.

flag@whitehouse.gov delivery status notification

The Politico is reporting that the White House has disabled flag@whitehouse.com:

“Following a furor over how the data would be used, the White House has shut down an electronic tip box — flag@whitehouse.gov — that was set up to receive information on “fishy” claims about President Barack Obama’s health plan.

E-mails to that address now bounce back with the message: “The email address you just sent a message to is no longer in service. We are now accepting your feedback about health insurance reform via: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck.” ” Source: White House disables e-tip box – Mike Allen – POLITICO.com

When the White House first launched this email address 2 weeks ago and began urging the American people to report on each other, it launched an open and widespread email rebellion akin to the Boston Tea Party. American citizens responded by spamming the address, “self-reporting” (writing letters to White House reporting themselves as guilty of spreading “fishy” emails or videos or of standing in opposition to Obamacare), and most amusingly, sending fish or fishing-related articles to the White House email address.

The email address was plagued by controversy from the very beginning, raising real privacy and Constitutional concerns. As ABC reported on August 5th:

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is sending a letter to the White House today asking the president to “cease this program immediately” — or to explain how Americans’ privacy will be protected if e-mails are forwarded to the White House as requested.

“I am not aware of any precedent for a President asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy’ or otherwise inimical to the White House’s political interests,” Cornyn writes” Source: GOP Senator: White House Encroaching on First Amendment – Rick Klein – ABCNews.com

It also created some serious legal issues:

“The White House is in bit of a conundrum because of this privacy statute that prohibits the White House from collecting data and storing it on people who disagree with it,” Judge Andrew Napolitano, a FOX News analyst, said Friday.

“There’s also a statute that requires the White House to retain all communications that it receives. It can’t try to rewrite history by pretending it didn’t receive anything,” he said.

“If the White House deletes anything, it violates one statute. If the White House collects data on the free speech, it violates another statute.” Source: White House Move to Collect ‘Fishy’ Info May Be Illegal, Critics Say – FoxNews.com

The White House has failed repeatedly to answer questions about what it intended to do with the information it received.

This piece by Michelle Malkin today is brilliant, and uses humor to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Obama administration in dealing with the surge of protests over the health care debate.

“The White House press office is now Miss Manners’ office. President Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs took to the television airwaves this week to criticize congressional town hall protesters for “yelling.” Gibbs’ underling, Bill Barton, chastised voters not to “disrupt” and “scream.” Instead, he advised America to engage in a “spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it.”

What constitutes “spirited?” How do they define “vigorous?” When does forceful dissent become intolerable disruption? Herewith, the Obama Etiquette Czar’s Official Rules for Patriotic Protest. Keep this guide with you at all times to avoid being flagged by the Democrat politeness monitors.” Source: Michelle Malkin » The Etiquette Czar’s Rules for Patriotic Protest

Malkin advises:

“*No shouting. Congressional representatives cannot sell Obamacare with mobs of unruly senior citizens and small business owners interrupting to press them on specific sections of the bill. Limit your objections to a library whisper (30dB or less) and only challenge your lawmakers with hushed, dulcet tones. Otherwise, you will scare them and they will be forced to hide behind teleconference calls, sick children at hospitals, or union bosses.”

Read the rest of Malkin’s guide to avoid being flagged if you plan to speak out in opposition to HR3200. It’s hysterical, but the reality it illustrates is frightening.

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In one amazing move, President Obama offends gays, social, and fiscal conservatives…

“President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday offering limited benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees failed to quell growing anger in the gay community that gay rights issues were getting short shrift at the White House.

In fact, Obama’s promise to offer ancillary employee benefits – such as long-term-care insurance and the right to use sick leave to care for domestic partners – while still denying more valuable benefits, such as health insurance and retirement funds, may have further agitated gay and lesbian activists who were already fuming over other perceived snubs.

Obama said he also favors extending health and retirement benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees but that such a move is currently prohibited by the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which passed in 1996.

“Are they kidding us? Domestic partnership benefits WITHOUT health insurance because of DOMA?” gay fundraiser and activist David Mixner told POLITICO in an e-mail. “It is like rubbing salt in the wound.”" Source: President Obama fails to quell gay uproar | Reuters

Go to the source for more…

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Strike two for President Obama on healthcare…

“President Obama says he will not place caps malpractice awards: “Now, I recognize that it will be hard to make some of these changes if doctors feel like they’re constantly looking over their shoulders for fear of lawsuits. I recognize that. (Applause.) Don’t get too excited yet. Now, I understand some doctors may feel the need to order more tests and treatments to avoid being legally vulnerable. That’s a real issue. (Applause.) Now, just hold on to your horses here, guys. (Laughter.) I want to be honest with you. I’m not advocating caps on malpractice awards — (boos from some in audience) — (laughter) — which I personally believe can be unfair to people who’ve been wrongfully harmed.”" Source: RealClearPolitics – Video – Obama Booed At AMA Over Malpractice Remarks

Go to the source for the video…

Did President Obama pack the audience? Warner Todd Huston says yes…

“One of Obama’s first questions from the audience wasn’t from a mere concerned citizen, but from a former Democratic Party candidate for Congress that wants a socialist, single payer system to be implemented raising the suspicion that the administration knew exactly who was going to ask questions and what they were going to ask.

This questioner can be seen in a CNN video covering the Greenbay event. The woman is identified as “Paulette Guerin” and labeled as an “attendee” of the meeting on the CNN segment. In fact CNN got the spelling of the woman’s last name wrong, it’s not Guerin, but Garin. Additionally this “attendee” is far from just the average Wisconsin citizen just out for the day to hear the president’s ideas. Paulette Garin is far more than just another one of the folks.

Garin was a recent Democrat candidate for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. Not only that but Garin is a proponent of a single payer plan, as Obama was when he was a Senator from Illinois. In fact, Garin says right on her webpage that Obama is a proponent of the single payer plan and she urges fellow Wisconsinites to flood Congress with calls to implement the single payer system.” Source: Dem. Shill as ‘Attendee’ in Obama’s Healthcare Townhall Audience — Where’s Media Finger Wagging? | NewsBusters.org

Go to the source and read the entire article…

Apparently His Imperial Majesty Barack Obama must have a private bathroom regardless of the cost…

“8:36 AM — So exactly just how much trouble did the Green Bay School District go to, to meet the demands of the White House in accomodating President Obama’s visit to Green Bay Southwest High School last Thursday? Milwaukee talk show host Mark Belling reported on Friday that:

(1) Obama requested that the floor of Southwest High School’s hardwood basketball floor be covered — in a rug. Southwest administrators were able to find a carpet from another high school.

(2) Southwest High School painted the gym prior to Obama’s visit. Administrators claim that the gym was going to be painted anyway.

(3) Obama requested and was granted a private bathroom at the High School for the purpose of his visit. Southwest administrators apparently renovated a storage room that had at one time been a bathroom solely for Obama’s visit.

I spoke with Green Bay School Superintendent Greg Maass let Saturday afternoon and asked him about each. His answers:

(1) Yes, The White House requested a tarp (not a carpet says Maass) and one was borrowed from the Oconto Falls School District.

(2) One portion of one wall was painted approximately 8 feet up from the floor. Maass says yes this was done at the request of the White House, but contends the wall was due to be painted this summer (Really? a certain portion of the wall was due to be painted a certain color???)

(3) The most explosive contention was one Maass said he knew the least about; that the White House requested a private bathroom for President Obama and that a storage room that previously served as a bathroom was renovated into a private bathroom for the President. Maass said his understanding was the room was “simply cleaned up a bit” but said he really did not know the extent of the work done. Maass said he would work to get all of this information and appear on my show tomorrow morning at 10 am.

I’m going to request to see any paperwork pertaining to this project and request to view the room, take pictures and post them on the web. Much is being made of the cost of this to the school district. It might not be much. I think more interesting is this question: Does President Obama request a private bathroom at every venue he visits? And ditto on the interior decorating requests. I realize all presidential visits are highly choreographed, but Obama seems to send this nonsense to new heights.” Source: AM 1360 WTAQ | wtaq.com

Seriously, folks — it looks like our ‘man of the people’ is really Marie Antoinette reincarnated. First food tasters, now private bathrooms at the expense of a school district that’s bleeding money. Maybe he’s got a serious case of stage fright [men, you KNOW what I mean] or just needed a private place to have a smoke before talking about nationalized healthcare? In any case it looks like the president firmly believes that socialism is good enough for everybody else — President Obama is just another limousine liberal…

The “Barie Obaminette” picture was done by the goddess of political Photoshop, Carol of ‘No Sheeples Here‘…

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