That Said ...

... I thought this was funny. No one can make a subtle dig at the GOP like President Obama. Never forget, the Grand Old Petty Party really did try to defund the President's Telepromptr:

Political Theater

Tweeting from tonight’s White House Correspondent’s Assn. dinner is Newsweek’s Karen Tumulty:

And this is what’s wrong with America. The Villagers are so infatuated with the political creature they created, so insulated by their own self-importance, that they don’t even recognize the revulsion America feels toward Donald Trump.

The White House Correspondents Assn. dinner has made more than one political observer uncomfortable, but it doesn’t matter. Politics today feels like nothing more than a made for TV movie: scripted, cast and paid for by our corporate sponsor.

A New White House

... and a new WhiteHouse.gov website, which now includes a blog.

Check it out, they want to hear from you.

Cold As Ice

President Bush never took advice, and I knew some day he’d pay the price. And that happened in 2006 when Stephen Colbert appeared at the White House Correspondents Assn. Dinner.

I believe that moment galvanized us on the left like no other. Finally, after all the lies, the torture, the Katrina-sized fuck-ups, someone finally had the balls to call Bush and his Beltway media enablers on their shit. To their faces. With humor.

It was a moment I will never forget. Mr. Beale and I just stared at the television and said “oh. my. God.” over and over again.

Bush closed the door and left the world behind. It took a comedian to bust it wide open again. I think this was the first time Beltway insiders and White House sycophants saw the depth of the anger we on the left had toward the President and the media that failed to do their jobs. They couldn’t hide from it and even though they later claimed Colbert’s act bombed, he started a movement which can’t be underestimated.

Things started to turn around after that. Democrats won the November mid-terms, and the left was able to push back in a way we’d been unable to do before. Thank you, Stephen Colbert.

April, 2006: President Bush sits in stunned silence as he’s roasted by Stephen Colbert:

Would The Last One Out Please Turn Off The Lights?

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow plans to resign, as will several other “high level” staffers. No exit dates were announced, but Karl Rove said he resigned Monday because “Josh Bolton told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president's term in January 2009.”

If Karl Rove is to be believed (no irony in that statement), then these resignations should be coming in the next two weeks.

Frankly, I’m glad to see Tony Snow go. It’s become increasingly painful to watch him physically deteriorate from the podium in the White House Press Room.

MSM Report: End Of An Era

UPI has dumped its only White House Correspondent, Richard Tomkins, starting in August.

Why should we care? Well, partly because UPI is the once-vaunted news agency where Helen Thomas made her mark for 57 years, until quitting when the Moonies bought UPI in 2000. Also, it’s worth noting the shift in focus this represents for the agency:

UPI officials said the cuts were part of a restructuring that will focus more of its reporting on defense intelligence, security threats, and energy conflicts, according to Editor in Chief Michael Marshall.

The change is the latest in a long-running effort to keep the once leading news source profitable and in business since its 2000 takeover by News World Communications, which is owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and also operates The Washington Times.
...
The new approach will target defense intelligence, energy and resource conflicts, and security techniques and strategy, he said. That change will mean 11 positions in the Washington office will be eliminated and the news organization will seek "a network of correspondents around the world" to help with the international coverage.

Hmmm. Security threats, defense intelligence, resource and energy conflicts. Sounds really scary, huh?

Maybe that’s the point. I’ve been thinking the news media’s sole purpose these days has been to scare the crap out of everyone. It’s getting a little tiresome.

Fear sells, but I ain't buying.