It probably seemed, at first, like an amusing idea of an April Fools' Day prank. Car and Driver magazine "reported" that President Obama told Chevrolet and Dodge this week that they would only be eligible for federal aid if they pulled out of NASCAR events. The move, the "article" said, would save more than $250 million.The prank caused quite an uproar, the magazine apologized, and editors later acknowledged the joke went "too far." The parody piece has since been pulled from the Car and Driver website.
The funny part, as it turns out, is seeing who fell for the prank.
In her April 1 column, Ann Coulter fell for a fake April Fools' Day article by Car and Driver magazine that claimed that President Obama has ordered General Motors and Chrysler to cease their participation in NASCAR because it is an "unnecessary expenditure." Coulter wrote, "If Obama can tell GM and Chrysler that their participation in NASCAR is an 'unnecessary expenditure,' isn't having public schools force students to follow Muslim rituals, recite Islamic prayers and plan 'jihads' also an 'unnecessary expenditure'?"
Oddly enough, Rush Limbaugh said yesterday that no one would fall for the NASCAR joke. Oops.
For what it's worth, Coulter's column has not yet been corrected. That's not necessarily a surprise -- the whole point of Coulter pieces is to deceive the reading audience -- but it arguably makes the embarrassment slightly worse.
Jason Linkins concluded, "Naturally, one wonders if this revelation will even matter to Coulter, since an Obama-hates-NASCAR message is something she can just go right on asserting in her credibility-free haunts without fear of being called out for it."
Sully's Quote For The Day IV
"Now we've met, will you please keep in touch?" - her Majesty the Queen, to Michelle Obama.
The usual suspects are crowing about an alleged breach of protocol - although as Ed Morrissey points out, the Queen started it by putting her hand around Michelle's back affectionately. The Times of London explains:
A breach of protocol? Hardly. Buckingham Palace was very relaxed today about the incident, and attitudes there have changed significantly since the days of Mr Keating and his lese-majesty. And no, they don’t issue instructions to people about not touching the Queen. “This was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation between The Queen and Michelle Obama,” said a Palace spokeswoman.
What they don't quite understand is how Michelle Obama's informality and realness was a huge hit, even among the royals. London was agog. This is an America Britons actually relate to in the 21st century. Her best moment came at a London school for girls. I'll let the Telegraph explain the rest:
Fighting tears at one point, she described her audience as "the future leaders of Great Britain and this world". She said: "Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. "For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would standing here as the first African-American First Lady. "I was not raised with wealth or resources or any social standing to speak of." She spoke of the importance of love, strong values, education and a "whole lotta hard work" as she described her childhood, and said: "You too, with these values, can control your own destiny, you too can pave the way. "I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them. "I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity. "Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude. "We are counting on you, we are counting on every single one of you to be the best that you can be." Mrs Obama provoked hysteria at the school as she arrived, as more than 300 onlookers lined the street nearby.
Yes, the Telegraph is the Tory paper. Not all conservatives look at the Obamas and feel revulsion.
(Photo: Students from the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Language School in London hug US First Lady Michelle Obama during a visit to the school on April 2, 2009. Michelle Obama dared touch Queen Elizabeth II, but the US first lady has made such an impact in Britain that she was spared the media savaging that has gone with previous breaches of royal protocol. The pair met at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. The British monarch put her arm around the waist of President's Barack Obama's wife. The much taller first lady responded by putting an arm around the queen. By Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty.)
- A different view from Aravosis on Eric Cantor's buddy, Rush Limbaugh, opines about "anal poisoning"
Limbaugh not getting any love from Stewart. (h/t sgw)
- 24 hours before the #2 Republican in the House, Eric Cantor, says publicly that Rush Limbaugh is the person he looks to for ideas on how to solve the economic crisis,
Rush Limbaugh is the person he looks to for ideas on how to solve the economic crisis, Cantor's buddy Limbaugh says the following about Gordon Brown's kind words about Barack Obama in London. Mind you, they were at a summit to address the economic crisis:"The slobbering... this guy... Folks I'm telling you, he, if he keeps this up throughout the G20, Gordon Brown will come down with anal poisoning and may die from it."
Yes yes, Limbaugh is an idiot, so who cares? Well, when you have the number two Republican in the US House of Representatives praising this idiot as the man with ideas, then we should all be concerned. It's not like the Republicans are a permanent minority party, yet.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Rush Limbaugh Leaves New York | ||||
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Aravosis: Finally, a true leader
AMERICAblog reader Mark caught this one on Jake Tapper's blog this morning.According to sources inside the room, President Obama just played peacemaker in a spat between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China....No souls involved.
"China tends to have a problem endorsing the documents of organizations like the OECD that they're not a party to," the senior administration official said.
But Mr. Obama, according to this account, stepped between the two men, urging them to try to find consensus, and giving them a "pep talk" about the importance of working together.
The senior adminstration official said that Mr. Obama pulled Mr. Sarkozy aside, took him to a corner, "and discussed possible alternatives," the senior official said.
Once they arrived at one, President Obama "sent a message to the Chinese" that a counter-offer was on the table. The Chinese spent some time considering the offer. But they took a few minutes.
So Mr. Obama, with the assistance of translators, suggested that he and Mr. Hu have a conversation as well. They, too went to the corner to talk. After a few minutes, Mr. Obama called upon Mr. Sarkozy to join them.
"Translators and sherpas in tow, they reached an agreement," the official said. "There was a multiple shaking of hands."
- The Catholic Church disagrees. Sudbay: Chicago's Cardinal: It's an "extreme embarrassment" that Obama is speaking at Notre Dame
Okay, most people would think protecting child molesters and harboring Nazi apologists would be extremely embarrassing for an organization. But, most people aren't leaders of the Catholic Church, which has incredibly misplaced priorities:
Cardinal Francis George is urging Catholics "to call, to e-mail, to write letters" about the "extreme embarrassment" the University of Notre Dame has caused by inviting President Barack Obama to speak at its commencement next month.
But George acknowledged, at a weekend conference on human dignity and infertility, that the South Bend university is "not going to disinvite the president ... no matter what you do."
The Catholic Cardinals and Archbishops kissed George Bush's ass for eight years. They never held him accountable. Ever.
The cardinal should be telling people to call, to email, to write letters to Congress to pass the budget so the U.S. can get the economy moving again. That sounds like a better use of time and resources when people are losing their jobs and their homes.
Except for those crazy Catholics fanatics like Bill Donohue, no one else really cares. In fact, I checked with one of the most devout Catholics I know, my mother, Rita, who was adamant:
I think it's great. There isn't any reason he shouldn't. The church should put more time into helping people and get over it. I'm just happy that Notre Dame isn't stopping him.
I trust my mother's instincts on this more than any Catholic bishop.
Sully: What The Hell Just Happened On Wall Street?
The econiverse is skeptical of today's mark-to-market decision and rally. James Kwak:
Today the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted - by one vote - to relax accounting standards for certain types of securities, giving banks greater discretion in determining what price to carry them at on their balance sheets. The new rules were sought by the American Bankers Association, and not surprisingly will allow banks to increase their reported profits and strengthen their balance sheets by allowing them to increase the reported values of their toxic assets...I don’t know any of the back-room dealing, but it seems like the banking industry is taking advantage of the confusion to push through a change it wants, because it will make it easier for banks to massage their balance sheets and harder for investors to see what is really going on.
A reader adds:
The traders just got a big rock of crack. This is called a bear market bubble, and it's going to do damage. The fact that stocks still went up significantly in spite of rather horrifying unemployment numbers coming out the same day tells you: a big rock of crack.One can never know for sure why the stock market does what it does on a daily basis—it could just be excitement about those Sizzling G-20 Wives—but the fact that financial stocks are up more than the overall market would seem to indicate that there's something to the FASB-did-it explanation.
There is of course something very weird about this. Investors seem to be saying: Banks now have permission to lie to us more, so let's bid up their stock prices! Then again, if investors are that dumb, maybe it makes sense for accountants to pay less attention to market prices in valuing the assets on banks' books.
Unbelievable the amount of spurious silliness being spewed about mark-to-market today. People have their facts wrong -- most financial services mark a small percentage of their assets to market today; GE Capital is at 2% -- and we are giving banks a pass in terms of how they report losses and value goofy assets.
Sudbay: Governor Sanford is being pummeled by South Carolinians
Our friend, South Carolinian Alvin McEwen, passed along a post he wrote about the media backlash underway against the state's Governor, Mark Sanford, for his politicking with stimulus money:To put it nicely, Governor Sanford is being destroyed, annihilated, and figuratively tarred and feathered for his stance against taking stimulus money to help education.Today's editorial in The State is titled "The state of South Carolina vs. Gov. Mark Sanford: A chorus of opposition":
I don't think that I have ever seen an editorial page take such as vocal position. Other than one letter to the editor and a some comments, Sanford has absolutely NO support.
And as well he shouldn't. He was elected to be the guardian of the citizens of South Carolina. And how can you be a guardian if you choose your political future over the needs of those you are elected to serve.THAT FAVORITE conservative punching bag, The New York Times, handed Gov. Mark Sanford a fabulous gift Monday when it chastised him for refusing to request $700 million in federal stimulus funding that our state so clearly needs. That let the governor frame this as his battle against “the left-leaning media.” But that ignores the near-unanimity of media opinion here in South Carolina — from the conservative Upstate to the hometown paper that has been Mr. Sanford’s most consistent supporter.The Governor is at war with his constituents just to score cheap political points with the hard-core GOP nuts who will pick the party's presidential nominee in 2012. The people of South Carolina are onto Sanford.
The Aiken Standard begged the governor to request the funds. The Rock Hill Herald’s opinion editor, James Werrell, wrote that “anyone who would consider turning down federal help in getting this state back on its feet should be tarred and feathered.” The Anderson Independent-Mail argued that “Not accepting the money does nothing for South Carolina except perhaps enhance the governor’s image as the conservative’s conservative in the national arena with regard to fiscal matters.”
And on and on across the state, editorial pages echo most of the state’s Republican officeholders and the public (in the past week, our letters to the editor have been running 4-to-1 against the governor’s position).
Sanford's actions also fit into the general theme that there's not really an economic crisis. It's a pervasive attitude among Republicans. If it's not a real crisis, it's okay to play political games. That's what Sanford is doing.
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