House of Eratosthenes

Now that 43 Americans have taken the oath of office for United States President — or is it 44? I’m confused — we have an occasion for some thinking today, since the current officeholder has broken form with his predecessors and appeared on a late-night comedy show.

I’m hoping we have a few years left before the sitting President is hosting a late-night comedy show. Or filling in for Art Bell.

The thinking has to do with how to report such an unprecedented phenomenon. But you don’t have to do too much thinking, to think, hey, maybe this is unprecedented for a reason.

Mary Kate Cary, opinion section, US News and World Report:

The morning shows were abuzz with reviews of President Obama’s performance last night on Jay Leno’s show. I still say he shouldn’t have done it. Here are the reasons this was a bad idea from the start:

The risky nature of unscripted, be-funny-right-now late-night television played against him. Overall, the president was his usual charming self. But sure enough, in an effort to be funny, the president slipped. Everyone cringed when he made a self-deprecating joke at the expense of the kids in the Special Olympics. Before the show even aired, he found himself apologizing to the head of the Special Olympics from Air Force One, and the White House put out a printed apology shortly afterward. Completely avoidable, and now it’s getting played over and over on cable.

Leno also asked the president about his confidence in Secretary Geithner, and his off-the-cuff response is being replayed endlessly as a “heck of a job, Brownie” non-endorsement. It’s adding fuel to the fire at Geithner’s feet, which is probably not what the White House wanted going in to the weekend talk shows. Again, completely avoidable.

The fact that the president didn’t control the questions, Jay Leno did. Although the White House intended that the interview would allow the president to explain to the American people his proposals for getting the economy moving again, he spent roughly half of his time answering Leno’s questions about the AIG bonuses instead. In fact, Leno asked a great question to which the president didn’t seem to have an answer: In reference to the bill that passed the House imposing a 90 percent tax on AIG executives who kept their bonuses, Leno said, “It’s frightening to me as an American that Congress could decide that ‘I don’t like that group—let’s pass a law and tax them at 90 percent’ … It seems a little scary to me as a taxpayer that they can just decide that.”

Great question, one that no one seems to have asked so far. What is preventing Congress from imposing a 90 percent tax the rest of us, if they so chose? Apparently it’s not going to be President Obama. He responded with a vague answer that started with something about not letting the horse out of the barn and ended with calling for tax hikes on the rich.

The appearance diminished the office of the president. First the president had to cool his heels backstage while Jay Leno went through his usual comedy monologue. When Leno ended it with his usual “Stay with us, _____ is up next,” it was not “Britney Spears” or “Ryan Seacrest” up next, but “The President of the United States.” When the show returned, we all waited through an extended bit on silly items found at the Dollar Store. As my sixth grader would say, awkward.

The president was introduced like any starlet or movie producer. There was nothing different from any other guest, except that Kevin Eubanks and his band played a rock-and-roll version of “Hail to the Chief” when the President came onstage.

Even if the president had it the ball out of the park, his appearance on Leno did nothing in terms of building respect for the office of the presidency. And now that’s he’s done it, what’s next … Letterman? The Daily Show? It’ll be hard to say no to everyone else, now that the precedent has been set.

It was a win for Leno, but not for the president. So much for making television history.

McClatchy News Service, on the same subject…I hope you’re sitting down. Get ready for a major tone shift. I mean major. Measured with the Richter scale.

President Barack Obama, offering salve for economic uncertainty, reached out Thursday to an unusual assortment of Californians: Talk-show host Jay Leno, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and an 8-year-old asking him to save teachers’ jobs.

In a town hall gathering and in private meetings with the governor and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Obama promised help — and money — to rebuild California’s infrastructure and revitalize its economy.

He also offered public words of support for California’s sacrifice as voters prepare to decide a package of fiscal reform measures that the Legislature put on the May ballot to help close a $40 billion budget deficit.

And Obama had a poignant conversation with Los Angeles third-grader Ethan Lopez.

The boy, in a crisp white shirt and necktie, provided the emotive moment at the town hall Obama hosted with Schwarzenegger in the gymnasium of the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in downtown Los Angeles.

“Hi, my name is Ethan,” he told the president when called on for the last question of the forum. “President Obama, our school is in big trouble. Because (of) our budget cuts, 25 of our teachers already have been fired.”

Offering the president a card from his classmates, the boy asked for help in stopping pink slips resulting from budget cuts in the Los Angeles public school system.

“Ethan, we’re going to do everything we can to protect our teachers,” said Obama, who said federal money is headed to California to modernize schools, fight overcrowding and save jobs. He added: “We are going to make sure that we invest in that as well, because I want you to get a first-class education.”

In his appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” later Thursday, Obama mixed light-hearted banter with serious discussion about his goals for America’s economic recovery.

“The important thing over the next several months is making sure that we don’t lurch from thing to thing, but we try to make steady progress, build a foundation for long-term economic growth,” he said.

At the town hall meeting, Obama promised that state communities will be receiving $145 million to address the mortgage meltdown and begin “transforming abandoned streets lined with empty houses back into thriving neighborhoods.”

Obama’s appearance with Schwarzenegger came a day after the Republican governor appeared in the Central Valley to tout 57 projects he said are in line to receive $625 million in funding under Obama’s stimulus plan.

On Thursday, Schwarzenegger said California alone stands to receive as much as $50 billion under the $787 billion national economic stimulus package. In introducing the president, Schwarzenegger said the pair “are partners in the fight to put people back to work.”

Obama called the governor “somebody who has turned out to be just an outstanding partner.”

It was far different rhetoric than during the presidential campaign, when Schwarzenegger, a supporter of Republican John McCain, joked about Obama’s “scrawny little arms.” On Thursday, the body-builder-turned-governor was delighted to share the stage with the new president.

It goes on from there. And no, not a single word about the Special Olympics thing. You figured that out already, right?

I think I’m putting more stock in that good-lookin’ brunette. It’s not because I’m down on PresBO — although I am. Geez, I never dreamed my fatigue would be setting in this fast.

Her piece is just plain more sincere, more honest, more responsible. More thoughtful. That’s obvious, right? Even to you hopey-changey people? No? Still wanna argue that point? Yeah, go ahead…put off that really hard work until another day. Hard to be humble when you spent all last year fainting and crying.

Of course, the McClatchy piece, it could be said, was more saturated with good old-fashioned hard data. Depending on what you consider to be hard data. A weepy human-interest story about a little boy named Ethan, who the smart money is going to say was just another plant…well, it did happen, so that’s hard data. And there are all these facts and figures about the money Obama is getting ready to provide. Whoops, though, no, Obama wouldn’t be providing it. He’d be making it available after taking it away from other people who provided it. Many of whom live in this troubled state of California. I guess I’m veering off here into what could be called inconvenient hard data.

But one thing impresses me about these stories more than anything else…the righteously jaundiced ones like the top one, as well as the borderline-pornographic pro-Obama biased ones, like the second one from McClatchy.

No matter which way they lean, I can’t resist the impulse to read ’em a second time, taking special care to substitute “President Palin” every time I see in print the name “President Obama.”

Try it with me…

President Sarah Palin, offering salve for economic uncertainty, reached out Thursday to an unusual assortment of Californians: Talk-show host Jay Leno, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and an 8-year-old asking him to save teachers’ jobs.

In a town hall gathering and in private meetings with the governor and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Palin promised help — and tax cuts — to rebuild California’s infrastructure and revitalize its economy.

She also offered public words of support for California’s sacrifice as voters prepare to decide a package of fiscal reform measures that the Legislature put on the May ballot to help close a $40 billion budget deficit.

And Palin had a poignant conversation with Los Angeles third-grader Ethan Lopez.
:
“Ethan, we’re going to do everything we can to protect your education,” said Palin, who said massive tax cuts are headed to California to modernize schools, fight overcrowding and save jobs. She added: “We are going to make it easier for concerned parents to provide high-quality home schooling, and make sure that we get the federal government out of the way, because I want you to get a first-class education.”

In her appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” later Thursday, Palin mixed light-hearted banter with serious discussion about her goals for America’s economic recovery.

“The important thing over the next several months is making sure that we stop the bleeding, stop the reckless spending, and stand up for fiscal responsibility, to build a foundation for long-term economic growth,” she said.

At the town hall meeting, Palin promised that the federal government would be reducing overall spending by $145 million to address the mortgage meltdown and begin “transforming abandoned streets lined with empty houses back into thriving neighborhoods.”

You get the point. I had to modify the policies somewhat…had to…because whenever Obama says something that sounds good, it has to do with spending money that isn’t really his, which isn’t what Palin is all about. And when I say “whenever” I mean it in the absolutist, inflexible sense…as in, he hasn’t got anything else good to say about his own policies. He forced someone else to get them paid-fer. Right? Is that an exaggeration? Would Obamafans sign on to that one? I don’t think they’d enjoy doing it, but they’d pretty much have to. Or not. As noted previously, they do have that tender-ego thing going on.

But leaving that aside — how would McClatchy write that one up? Heh heh. Oh, my, Mary Kate Cary of U.S. News World and Report…you think you can huff and puff away about diminishing the office of the President of the United States by appearing on late night comedy. I’m pretty sure McClatchy, Associated Press, MSNBC, CNN, and a whole parade of dead-tree-newspublishing cabals could give you a run for your money if President Palin made the same appearance. There would, of course, be an obligatory line or two about how desperate the President was to use this appearance to deflect criticism, and distract from criticism, that she is quite plain and simply in over her head. There would be another snippet about how miserably she failed in this effort. And then the gloves would come off. They’d be howling for impeachment papers to be drawn up after Madame President let loose with the very first “You Betcha.” Unstatesmanlike and unbecoming! Diminishing our stature to our allies around the world! Making us look like a nation of gun toting middle-school-educated rednecks! Grrr!

They sure as snot wouldn’t be saying anything about President Palin offering a salve for the nation’s economy. I’ll bet you a Wagyu steak on that one.

Morgan, let me put it this way.

You marry a woman from Yakutsk in Russia and the two of you move there for a few years. Four years on the two of you have a child. That child is a natural born US citizen because you had last been in the United States just four years ago, and so could run for President of the US when of age. That is what the relevant law says. That is all the relevant laws say when you get right down to it, not considering the fact the second and subsequent citizenship laws were made necessary by the fact certain people think a law must specific and cannot be applicable if expressed generally.
- mythusmage | 03/22/2009 @ 00:14

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What Does Article II Say About Appearing on Leno?Friday, March 20th, 2009

What Does Article II Say About Appearing on Leno?
Friday, March 20th, 2009