'Another embarrassing foreign policy gaffe'

President Barack Obama did the right thing when he condemned the storming of the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday. The sovereign soil was violated "by thugs acting at the behest of the Iranian regime."

There was some concern, seeing as how the president "has been notoriously slow in the past to criticise the brutal actions of the Iranian government after initially extending the hand of friendship to it."

Unfortunately, his comments were marred by yet "another embarrassing foreign policy gaffe while doing so.

"In a press conference this evening, the president referred in stumbling fashion to the 'English Embassy' in Iran instead of the British Embassy. (See video below.) In case the president is unaware, England forms part of Great Britain, which also includes Scotland and Wales, though not Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. There is no such thing as an 'English' embassy anywhere in the world, and there hasn’t been one for several centuries."

Can you imagine what kind of jokes David Letterman would have been telling over, and over, and over, and over, and over again had George W. Bush said that? Can you imagine the embarrassing YouTube video that would have been released to the world had a GOP candidate said that during an editorial board meeting of some newspaper?

This error doesn’t rate as “disastrous,” but it does prove -- again -- two things: 1.) the so-called “greatest orator,” ain’t; and, 2.) the president has never seemed to care one bit about our long-standing, "special" relationship with Britain.

The president had a golden opportunity...and he managed to snag defeat from the jaws of victory -- again.

(h/t: The Foundry)

A little fun at their expense...

"The Last Dictator Standing"

Robert Mugabe and Saddam Hussein -- in better times...

South African fast food chicken outlet, Nando’s, has hit a home run with a new, holiday-themed ad campaign. This time it has taken its hunger for parodying current events to the world of dictators, with a new YouTube video (below) featuring a man who bears a striking resemblance to long-standing Zimbabwean commander-in-chief, Robert Mugabe. The ad features “Mugabe” sitting at a dinner table alone reminiscing about the good times he had with his “friends” — all deceased dictators. The star-studded cast features Uganda’s Idi Amin Dada, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and South Africa’s P.W Botha.

Brilliant!

No class.

Snarkiness or cowardice?

The Roots, aka: the house band for NBC’s late night gabfest, “The Jimmy Fallon Show,” decided to take the classy route and play a welcome tune for Congresswoman (and presidential candidate) Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn). The Roots, led by their drummer, nicknamed “questlove,” decided the best way to class things up would be to knock out very recognizable – and lengthy – selection of notes from the group Fishbone’s song, “Lyin’ Ass Bitch.” (See video below...)

From Questlove's Twitter account (screenshot): with malice aforethought...

On Twitter today, Ahmir Khalib Thompson (his real name), seemed to take great pride in his act of “snarkiness” – as he and some of his supporters said. To their credit, a good number of Roots and Fallon fans, as well as self-identified Democrats/liberals, indicated that Questlove owed Bachmann an apology. Some even called for his firing. (Fallon later Tweeted that Questlove was “grounded,” but it’s difficult to know exactly what the former “Saturday Night Live” star was trying to say about his drummer. Was the musician suspended, fired or being kidded with?) There's been no official word on the matter from NBC...yet.

Ahmir Khalib Thompson and President Barack Obama...

Regardless, the incident has put the kind of spotlight on Fallon and his show that isn’t the kind anyone wants. Sure, the Bachmann haters are going to eat this up with a spoon, but this one classless and cowardly act (what’s the matter, Mr. Questlove, couldn’t say it to her face?) is going to be the thing people talk about and think of when Fallon’s show is mentioned. Not Fallon and his remarkable talent.

As Burns & Haberman write in Politico today, "It's not clear exactly why Questlove went this route. But it's safe to say that had Hillary Clinton walked onto the Fallon set - or any other talk show's set - to 'Lyin' Ass Bitch,' there would be an outcry from the left. And Bachmann would be within her rights to complain on this."

Everyone knows the entertainment industry is dominated by the Left, but this was about more than politics. This was about what happens when the adults in the room let down their guard and the immature kid takes control.

Bottom line: no class.

He's lost that lovin' feeling...

Looks like Tingles' man-crush is history...

(See video below...)

Oh, well...better late than never?

What do they want?

Whatever they want...

Occupy San Francisco released a declaration this week. Read and decide for yourself -- are they living in reality?

A Declaration from the Occupation
OccupySF / November 15th, 2011

We the People denounce the illegal police actions and evictions against our occupations.

We the People assert our right to peacefully assemble to exercise our right to free speech, and to petition for redress of our grievances.

We reject and repudiate the deliberately complex and prohibitively expensive permit process – a measure in place to curb exercises of this nature and discourage free assembly.

We find it particularly despicable and repugnant that there is a coordinated effort by local and federal officials to neutralize our movement and prevent us from exercising our rights. Let it be known that any action, interdiction, infiltration or other attempts to destabilize, disperse or displace us will be seen as an act against ALL of us. Supporting Occupations and community members will respond in nonviolent solidarity actions.

We stand in solidarity with all Occupiers in the Occupy Wall Street movement everywhere. This movement is bigger than each of us and bigger than our individual Occupations. You cannot evict an idea once that idea is rooted in the hearts and minds of the People.

We invite the 99% to feel empowered to stand up and do heroic things for themselves, for each other, for those that can’t fight for themselves and for those yet to come into this world.

We invite our communities to open dialogues on the pressing issues of mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, and social and economic injustice as an entree into a greater conversation of the gravely important matters affecting us.

We are the 99% and we are here. We will not be silenced, we will not be removed, and we will not be remiss in our moral calling and natural right to a more just and equitable society.

In other words: gimme, gimme, gimme...

Scenes from a protest

Tonight, the City of Oakland anxiously awaits another night filled with Occupy Oakland protests.

The question is, will it remain peaceful or will anarchist-driven violence and vandalism prevail as it did following two previous Occupy related-events?

The photo and videos were shot in Frank Ogawa Plaza, just outside city hall, which had been the site of the Occupy encampment -- twice raided by Oakland PD.

For now, there are the speeches and the placards-- young and old -- making their views known under the watchful eyes of the news media and the police.

When Nancy Pelosi has lost Jon Stewart...

...she's lost.

Within a week's time, her conduct in office has been the focus of "60 Minutes" and she's made a fool of herself on "The Daily Show." Not bad. Not bad at all.

Regarding the latter, former House Speaker and current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., attacked Republicans for their opposition to debt ceiling increases, but defended President Obama for voting against a debt-ceiling increase when he was in the Senate, during an interview with Jon Stewart. Her effort to reconcile the two positions drove The Daily Show host to distraction. You can see the video below. (Note Stewart's face palm...)

Classic...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Portraits in Crassness

When is a revelation not really a revelation?

When it's about the lack of class that was the hallmark of the late-U.S. Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D-Mass.) and his trusty sidekick, Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Their boorishness was the stuff of legends.

Kennedy and Dodd, who gained a bit of notoriety for their infamous "Waitress Sandwich" (aka: alleged sexual assault), have a new story being told about their sex prowls. This time, it comes from actress/author Carrie Fisher.

In today's edition of The Hill, piece notes Fisher's claims that Kennedy asked her some pretty frank questions while dining out with the star and Dodd:

According to published excerpts from Fisher’s new book, “Shockaholic,” the entertainer, best known for her role as Princess Leia, was fresh out of her first stint in rehab and on a date with a then single Dodd back in 1985. Kennedy joined the pair at dinner in D.C..

Fisher writes, “Suddenly, Senator Kennedy, seated directly across from me, looked at me with his alert, aristocratic eyes and asked me a most surprising question. 'So,' he said, clearly amused, 'do you think you’ll be having sex with Chris at the end of your date?’”

The celeb adds, “Chris Dodd looked at me with an unusual grin hanging on his very flushed face.”

While Fisher writes that she calmly quipped to Kennedy, “Funnily enough, I won’t be having sex with Chris tonight…No that probably won’t happen…Thanks for asking, though,” the author claims that the rather candid line of questioning didn’t end there.

Fisher continues in her latest tome: “’Would you have sex with Chris in a hot tub?' Senator Kennedy asked me, perhaps as a way to say good night?”

“’I'm no good in water,’ I told him.”

I guess we shouldn't be surprised when pigs act like pigs...

Carrie Fisher and...Ted Kennedy?

Meet the old boss, same as the new boss

"Rediscovered 2004 Senate ad shows Obama pitching similar rhetorical themes"

A great find by Neil Munro over at The Daily Caller (see video below):

A rediscovered video from Barack Obama’s 2004 Senate race shows him road-testing his current rhetorical techniques, pitching far-left policies, and depicting business and the marketplace as negative forces.

“We all have a set of mutual obligations towards each other — we are our brother’s keeper, we are our sister’s keeper — and that those mutual obligations have to express themselves through government policies,” he said at the tail end of a soft-focus, five-minute autobiographical video entitled “Introducing Barack Obama” that he released during his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate.

They’re “the kind of values that I’ve been trying to promote through my career,” he says.

Obama won the primary in a landslide. He easily won the 2004 election against a weak GOP opponent, after his main GOP rival quit the race when a Democratic-appointed judge unsealed damaging divorce testimony.

The 2004 video also showcases several recurring features of Obama’s speeches — his use of the passive tense to glide past controversial issues, his passive-aggressive portrayal of himself as the reasonable moderate among extremists, and his promises of benefits without costs.

The video features several segments of Obama pitching himself in an African-American church, complete with a minister’s Sunday cadence. “I believe we can provide homes to the homeless, food to hungry, clothes to the naked,” he preaches while an organist backs him up.

He cites his work as a “political organizer” working with several churches to ameliorate the impact of steel-industry shutdowns. But doesn’t offer any examples where his work, or entrepreneurs’ work, helped attract or create new jobs. However, he does say that his organizing work registered more people to vote for the Democratic Party.

He cites his attendance at Trinity United Church of Christ without mentioning the controversial pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

He mentions his work in the state assembly to further regulate police forces, and he brings up his career as a “civil rights” lawyer.

He uses the passive tense to mention his 1996 race for a state Senate seat. That passive-voice phrase — “seven years ago, this opportunity came up to serve in the General Assembly in Illinois” — avoids any mention of the sharp-elbowed tactics that he used to snatch the seat from a veteran, female African-American Democratic incumbent.

He also displayed a personal interest in what he saw as Arab discrimination in post-9/11 America.

“If there is an Arab American somewhere getting rounded up by [Attorney General] John Ashcroft, without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties even if I am not an immigrant,” he declares, three years after the 9/11 attacks. Ashcroft was not “rounding up” Arab immigrants in 2004, but was actually resisting efforts by police agencies to expand surveillance.

You can hope all you want, but some things never change...

The worm turns

The hypocrite gets his...

From Real Clear Politics:

As Moore was leaving the Occupy Denver protest to go to a book signing he was confronted by a correspondent at KCNC-TV, the local CBS affiliate. The reporter asked if his rumored wealth made him part of the one percent the "Occupy" movement was protesting against. "I do very well," he replied, "Because I do well, I want taxes raised on people who do well, including mine." But when asked how he is helping the protesters with his $50 million, Moore said, "I don't have $50 million," before growing exasperated and telling the reporter, "You're just punk media is all you are. You lie. You lie to people. Stop lying to people. Stop lying." When asked again, "Are you not part of the one percent?" he replied, "Just don't lie, OK?"

"Occupy South Park"

The always sharp "South Park," in its take on the Occupy movement, zings multi-millionaire propagandist Michael Moore.

Frankly, I think their depiction of him was too kind.

If you want to see the entire episode, go here. Otherwise, check out the part with Michael Moore below...

1%
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PARKEric Cartman,Wendy Testaburger,more...

(h/t: Althouse)

Shutdown

"Shut it down! Shut it down! Shut it down!"

"Shut it down!" is the cry today throughout downtown Oakland, Calif., as Occupy Oakland protesters take to the streets throughout the city's business district during a one-day general strike.

As marchers make their way through the center of Oakland's finance/business district, the Occupiers stop at most every bank along the way and call for higher taxes on "the 1 percent," the abolition of capitalism, the shutdown of financial institutions...and more (the list of grievances and villains is extensive).

Protesters surround a local Chase branch...

In the clip below, protesters make a stop at the local Bank of America branch and demand it be "shut down."

Protests are expected to continue into the night.

LATE ADD: Below - the windows of the same Bank of America branch in the above video.

UPDATE: Several incidents of vandalism did occur, with broken windows at the Chase Bank at 20th and Webster in Downtown Oakland and the Bank of America branch at Kaiser Center, and spray paint to several buidlings including the Whole Foods at 27th and Oakland Ave.

(h/t: CALIFORNIA BEAT)

Occupy...hilarity

Stephen Colbert takes a hard look at Occupy Wall Street.

You can imagine the results....

(Extra special bonus points for the appropriate send-up of Che Guevara, Colbert mocking OWS' "twinkling hand signals," and the protest being represented by a spokeswoman named, "Ketchup.")

Enjoy the video below...

The Colbert Report
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