MediaMatters' Eric Boehlert catches the AP in some serious hackery regarding the cost of President-elect Obama's inauguration celebration.

MM:

It's hard to find journalism more shoddy than this, courtesy of the AP's Matt Apuzzo [emphasis added]:

The price tag for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration gala is expected to break records, with some estimates reaching as high as $150 million. Despite the bleak economy, however, Democrats who called on President George W. Bush to be frugal four years ago are issuing no such demands now that an inaugural weekend of rock concerts and star-studded parties has begun.

Where does that jaw-dropping number of $150 million come from? The AP never says. It doesn't quote anybody, it doesn't point to any facts. There's no nothing. The AP builds an entire story around how much Obama's inauguration might cost (why stop at $150 million?), yet never substantiates the what-if estimates.

As we said, journalism doesn't get much worse than that.

Nope, it really doesn't. The Villagers never get tired of the left-right false equivalency, huh?

Check out Eric's in-depth examination over the phony controversy.

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After David Gregory reads a quote from John Boehner bashing the Democrats' plan to clean up George Bush's mess and get the economy going again, Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel forcefully defends the proposal and beats back the bogus criticism.

NBC:

MR. GREGORY: But an additional $700 billion?

MR. EMANUEL: President Obama's been very clear, you cannot have a strong economy that does not have a strong middle class. And the, the approach has been to provide the middle class with a tax cut, and also to start getting the economy moving again by making critical investments. That's why we want to create three and a half million jobs.

MR. GREGORY: Right.

MR. EMANUEL: The--it is no doubt you have to couple it, which has been very clear, which is why the President-elect Obama has called for an--a summit on fiscal responsibility to change the way we spend money, to do it in a more efficient way, to get rid of waste and fraud, but also to deal with the challenges that for too long have been kicked down the road.

Rahm Emanuel was Obama's first and perhaps wisest choice. Chief of Staff requires a certain skill set and Rahm fills the role perfectly. It's no wonder that GOPers went berserk when it was announced.

Full transcript below the fold.

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Building upon the movement that started on a cold January morning in Illinois almost two years ago, Barack Obama today announced the creation of "Organizing for America," a grassroots organization that will help ordinary citizens get involved in the legislation-making process.

USA Today:

While President-elect Barack Obama continues on his train trip to Washington, his transition team has just released a video in which he announces the creation of "Organizing for America."

"I'm asking people like you who fought for change during the campaign to continue fighting for change in your communities," Obama says.

The goal is to take those who volunteered during the president-elect's campaign and organize them to "work for change" in communities.

Is this guy serious about changing the way this country works, or what? Check out BarackObama.com and get involved. The election of the 44th President of the United States was but only the first step. Now the real work begins.

Keeping with his campaign pledge of running the most open and accessible government in American history, President-elect Obama will hold the first White House open house January 21st, the day after he is officially sworn in.

AP:

Barack Obama plans to open his White House doors to the public on his first full day of his presidency, Jan. 21.

Obama aides on Friday announced plans to have an open house at his new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The idea is to keep Obama's administration the "most open and accessible" in history by inviting hundreds of supporters inside and encouraging them to stay involved.

Call me a government geek, but there is something about this that I just love. You can fill out an application here.

It was really hard to excerpt the original Politico article this story came from, simply because it was filled with so much damn stupid. Apparently Rep. Steve King thinks it's "bizarre" for President-elect Obama to use his full name during the swearing-in ceremony, presumably because his middle name is "Hussein" rather than some good ol' American name like "Arnold."

Politico:

He doesn’t like the fact that the president-elect will be sworn in using that middle name during Tuesday’s Inauguration.

After telling the Associated Press last year that Obama’s middle name was among the reasons Islamic terrorists would rejoice over his election, King says he’s since been careful to avoid using it. Thus he found Obama’s decision to allow it be mentioned on the steps of the Capitol “bizarre” and “a double-standard.”

“Is that reserved just for him, not his critics?” King asked.

How can someone this oblivious/dumb/racist (take your pick) get elected to Congress? The problem is not saying Barack Hussein Obama --the problem is when you stress Hussein and use it to imply that, because of his name, he is somehow un-American. I know wingnuts like to pretend that that's not their intention, but come on. We saw it over and over and over during the campaign.

This is just a whole lot of awesomeness. Long story short, Tennesse Democrats decided to mess around with state Republicans and voted to elect the first GOP speaker of the statehouse in almost forty years. Watch the frantic elephant stampede in all it's glory above and read all the pissypants quotes below.

Tennessean:

New Tennessee Speaker of the House Kent Williams "lied" to fellow Republicans Tuesday by ignoring the party's choice for the job and joining with 49 Democrats in voting for himself, new state Rep. Joe Carr said.

"There is history in Tennessee politics for this kind of shenanigans," Carr, a newly elected Republican from the Lascassas community northeast of Murfreesboro, said during a phone interview.

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Carr was one of 49 Republicans voting in the minority for Rep. Jason Mumpower of Bristol to be the next speaker.

"I don't think we should be surprised," he said of the vote. "What caught us off guard is that someone went back on their word. Then he votes for himself to do the very thing he said he wouldn't do, which is self-serving politics."

Born in communist Cuba, Rick Sanchez knows a thing or two about media censorship. So when Joe the Plumber Middle East War Correspondent starts babbling on about how the media shouldn't be permitted to cover war, Rick goes off. Listen to Sanchez read Joe's gibberish as if he were a 2nd grader. Too funny.

CNN Transcripts:

Meanwhile, something else to take note of today. I want to share with you the thoughts of Samuel Wurzelbacher -- you know, "Joe the Plumber" -- now Joe the war correspondent. Yes, he's been in Israel filing reports.

And here's his analysis, as reported by the Associated Press. You're going to love this: "I don't think journalists should be anywhere around war. I mean you guys report where our troops are at. You report what's happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I think it's asinine. I think media should be abolished from, you know, reporting, war is hell."

There you have it.

Samuel, let me talk to you directly....

This isn't the first time Sanchez has squared off against Joe. See here for their first encounter.

Full transcript below the fold:

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CNN:

It was one of the best-known lines President Bush ever uttered, just a few months after the September 11 attacks. Who can forget what he said about catching Osama bin Laden? Listen.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't care, dead or alive, either way. I mean, I -- it doesn't matter to me.

BROWN: That was Bush the cowboy with a pledge to the American people. At the time, it felt as though, frankly, there was no bigger priority. But it is now eight years later. Listen to President Bush talk about bin Laden now at end of his presidency, a chastened cowboy at best.

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...back all the way up to a whopping 34% approval rating. It's gotta suck to know that 2/3 of the country absolutely despises you and just wants you to leave already.

Gallup:

A new USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Jan. 9-11, finds 34% of Americans approving of the overall job George W. Bush is doing as president and 61% disapproving. Those ratings are a shade better than what Bush has received for most of the past year, and may represent the kind of lame-duck approval bounce Gallup has seen for other presidents.

Pathetic. President-elect Obama, on the other hand, is starting off pretty strongly. Let's hope he can keep it up.

In news that surprises exactly no one, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted nearly unanimously in favor of appointing Hillary Clinton to be the next Secretary of State. The only thing left is a full Senate vote, expected to take place shortly after President-elect Obama is sworn in next Tuesday. The lone holdout on the committee to vote against HRC? Diaper David Vitter of Louisiana.

AP (via HuffPo):

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for Hillary Rodham Clinton to become the next secretary of State, endorsing President-elect Barack Obama's promise to take U.S. foreign policy in a new direction.

The 16-1 committee vote paves the way for a full Senate vote after Obama takes office on Jan. 20. Clinton is not expected to hit any major roadblocks, with Republicans and Democrats alike praising her acumen on the issues.

But concerns about her husband's charitable fundraising overseas remain. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who was among several Republicans who raised the issue at her confirmation hearing earlier this week, cast the lone opposing vote.