President Obama was in my hometown of San Francisco Friday for a fundraising dinner and apparently was in a feisty mood. While teabaggers greeted him at the entrance of the hotel, Obama took the time to address his dinner crowd with some of the most partisan words I've ever heard from him:

But I know this is a Democratic event. And I want to talk to all of you just for a second. You know, there are going to be some fierce arguments over the next couple of weeks about health care. There should be. This is big. But understand that the bill you least like of the five bills that got passed would all provide billions of people who don’t have coverage, coverage. Would all prevent insurance companies from barring you from getting health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Would all set up an exchange so that small businesses could compete and get the same deal that big businesses do for their employees. Would all provide subsidies to people who don’t have health insurance and give them a measure of security. All of them.

So as we’re going at it -- and we’re going to be going at it –- I just want all of you to understand: We are going to get this done. We are going to get this done.

Now, to the non-Democrats who may be watching today -– I want everybody to know we believe in a strong and loyal opposition. I believe in a two-party system where ideas are tested and assumptions are challenged -- because that’s how we can move this country forward. But what I reject is when some folks decide to sit on the sidelines and root for failure on health care or on energy or on our economy. What I reject is when some folks say we should go back to the past policies when it was those very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

Another way of putting it is when, you know, I'm busy and Nancy busy with our mop cleaning up somebody else’s mess –- we don’t want somebody sitting back saying, you're not holding the mop the right way. Why don’t you grab a mop, why don’t you help clean up. You're not mopping fast enough. That's a socialist mop. Grab a mop –- let’s get to work.

I think all of us in Washington have a greater purpose. We have a higher calling. And let me tell you, as long as I have the privilege of holding this office, I will do my very best to live up to my responsibilities to our country, to our children, to the future that we hold in common

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NicolasC at DailyKos says this is a phrase worth repeating to the whingeing Republicans:

Obama's come up with political gold to counter any attempt to pass a Republican mess off as his own, or criticize him for not cleaning it up fast enough. And we need to repeat it ad infinitum and scream it from rooftops. This needs to become the political catchphrase of the next year.[..]

Andrew Sullivan, over at the Daily Dish, knows gold when he sees it:

It's an inspired three-word challenge to the GOP. Devastating, actually - because it both reminds people of the damage the GOP did while not seeming to dwell on the past or to score partisan points (while actually doing both).

Now, understand here, I'm not trying to head off legitimate, substantive criticism of the president or his policies, be they from the left or the right. There's plenty of that and no three-word catch slogan could or should diminish those. But as a counter to the brain-dead, disingenuous, hypocritical, and often baseless criticism from the people whose messes he is cleaning, it doesn't get any better than this.

As one of Andrew Sullivan's readers put it:

If a Republican president had come up with this slogan, it would immediately have been put up as the main headline on Drudge (red font & siren optional), which inevitably leads to the main topic of conversation on conservative radio. Every damn Republican representative would be working every interview around those three words and the national narrative would be created ... unfortunately these are the Dems we're talking about, so the only people who will ever hear this are the ones politically interested enough to read blogs such as yours.

Sadly, (s)he's probably right. Unless we start hammering these words in now any time we see hypocritical and brain-dead talking points.

Republicans, you want to help this country? Then STFU and...GRAB A MOP!

Steven Pearlstein writes an excellent column in the Washington Post that says what most of the media will never say. Republicans lie every chance they get to try and destroy health care reform. The title of his piece is: Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform

The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems...

It's not too long so read it for yourself.

Want to win a DVD of "Good Night, and Good Luck"? Here's the homepage for "Good Night and Good Luck."

C&L is having a contest, giving away 3 copies to the winners. (I have them in my hands) Here's the scoop...

Movies are America. The best picture of 2005, for my money, was actually "Good Night, and Good Luck." Why? Let me mention some names: Judy Miller, Bob Woodward, Steno Sue, Deborah Howell, Chris Matthews, Timmeh Russert, not to mention Fox "News." Need I go on? They should all take a lesson from Stretch.

Journalism hit a new low last year and George Clooney's film encapsulated the greatest danger to our democracy to come down the political pike since Murrow took on McCarthy. The politicization of lazy journalists who would rather court access, read Republican press releases, or back the boys in power, rather than actually do their jobs.

This is your chance to do their job for them. I wish Murrow could personally deliver this line to George W. Bush today: "Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts." There are many more Murrow-isms below.

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it. - Edward R. Murrow

When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained. - Edward R. Murrow

If we were to do the Second Coming of Christ in color for a full hour, there would be a considerable number of stations which would decline to carry it on the grounds that a Western or a quiz show would be more profitable. - Edward R. Murrow

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar. - Edward R. Murrow

Take a second to listen to Murrow himself say the famous words he delivered to Senator Joseph McCarthy on the air, the same words David Strathairn delivered so brilliantly in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Now, pick a subject, like Senator Russ Feingold's censure motion, or Bush's NSA illegal, warrantless wiretaps, even Iraq, Abramoff, whatever you want, then write a sentence or two that Murrow himself might have delivered on your topic. As you see from Murrow's example above, it doesn't have to be long to pack a punch. Post your entry in the comment section below and John and I will take it from there.

guest posted by Taylor Marsh