'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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