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A pretty good barometer of Republicans' utter desperation these days is just how farflung from reality their attempts to characterize President Obama are getting to be.

Newt Gingrich, who's clearly preparing for a 2012 White House run, was interviewed yesterday on Fox by Greta Van Susteren. Gingrich has been trying desperately to smear Obama as a weak leader, while cozying up to the GOP's tea-bagging populist wing.

So he hit on a way to hit both sweet spots in one swell foop: Smear Obama as an incipient authoritarian.

The subject was Obama's press conference earlier this week. First in the order, of course, he had to blame Obama's popularity on the media: "I think the Washington White House press corps has taken such a pathetic dive with this president that they ought to just be part of his PR firm!"

But then he there was this exchange:

Van Susteren: Well, you know, Fox News Channel got, quote, punished -- Fox News Channel didn't get a question the other night -- Major Garrett, our White House correspondent -- because the Fox broadcast, not the Fox News Channel, but the Fox broadcast decided not to air the press conference.

Gingrich: Right. Which should tell all of you about the abuse of power inherent in this administration. They now control General Motors, they basically control Chrysler, they control Citibank, they control AIG, and they are prepared to punish people.

I think that's very dangerous, to have a president who thinks he should get up in the morning and punish Americans. You know, appease foreigners, bow to the Saudi king, embrace the Venezuelan dictator, and punish Americans? I think that's a very dangerous attitude.

Gingrich is clearly counting on the public to be like Fox News anchors: They have a convenient case amnesia about the previous eight years of wiretapping, screw-the-public Republican rule.

But notice the underlying meme here: Obama is an incipient dictator who will punish his enemies and rule with an iron fist. Which, of course, is exactly what we're hearing from the growing militia contingent.

And then conservatives get all bent out of shape when someone like the DHS accidentally points out the growing similarities between them and right-wing extremists. Huh. Gee, wonder how that could happen.

For some reason, the White House feels comfortable accusing Congress of not working hard enough.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Tuesday that Senate Democrats "put off a lot of work" when they left town last week without passing several pending bills.
"They've been in session for a long time, and some very critical pieces of legislation got put off for yet another recess," Fratto said.

This, of course, is hilarious, given the source.

"The Daily Show" turned its attention Wednesday [Aug. 17, 2007] to presidential vacations, commenting briefly on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to President Bush in Kennebunkport before asking "Senior Western White House Correspondent" Samantha Bee about Bush's return to Crawford, TX.
"This place is abuzz with expectation," said Bee excitedly. "It's no longer a question of if the president will break the record, but when."

"Most vacation days taken by a sitting president," Bee explained when Jon Stewart asked what record she meant. "People said that Reagan's 436 would stand forever, but right now, as you can see, this president stands on 423, meaning his record should fall less than two weeks from today. And they said it shouldn't be done."

Does the president's spokesman really want to complain about lawmakers who "put off a lot of work"?

Just for the schadenfreude-liciousness of it all...

Add me to the growing list of those who are having great difficulty understanding McClellan's motives. I spent two years as a White House reporter, much of it during McClellan's reign. At no time did Scott ever indicate, either publicly or privately, he had the misgivings he expressed in this book.

What I hear about the book does not sound like the Scott McClellan I knew for two years. I can say without fear of contradiction, that I knew Scott better than any other White House correspondent or Washington reporter.

In my book, "The Great Media War: A Battlefield Report" I discussed McClellan's handling of the White House press operation. At every turn, I gave Scott the benefit of the doubt for the devastating communication failures that plagued the Bush administration. It now appears that Scott did not deserve such allowances. By his own admission, McClellan either perpetrated a fraud behind the podium or has done so with this book. Whichever the case, Scott McClellan's credibility is zero.

If anyone knows about having zero credibility, it's Jeff Gannon.

Meanwhile, Bush's eCampaign Re-election Director: "McClellan savaged for saying what everyone knows to be true"

The Huffington Post:

MSNBC announced a slate of changes this afternoon, leading with their new election-themed show: "Race For The White House" with David Gregory. The NBC White House correspondent has been a utility player at NBC/MSNBC for some time, regularly stepping in as a guest host — and demonstrating his range — on the "Today Show" and "Meet The Press." Gregory also took over the timeslot left vacant by Don Imus last April, temporarily stepping in to the breach before the network began trying out different hosts in that timeslot. The show will premiere on March 17th. Read on...

He's no Rachel Maddow, but perhaps MSNBC believes she needs more camera time before she's ready for her own show. Gregory has blamed the blogs for the polarization of American politics and is hit and miss in the reality based, hard hitting journalism arena so we'll have to keep an eye on him. This is a real missed opportunity for MSNBC.

There’s just something amusing about the president’s penchant for vacations. As governor of Texas, Bush enjoyed an inordinate amount of “down time,” and he brought that style to the White House. When he’s at “work,” Bush leaves plenty of time for exercise and likes to knock off early. More importantly, he likes to get away from “work” more than anyone I’ve ever seen.

The amusing part of this, I suppose, is that one might assume that the president would have plenty to do. There is a war going on, and there are a variety of crises (economic, diplomatic, strategic) that demand real leadership. But Bush just loves to get away. (via TP)

President Bush tries to set an example for Americans whenever he can, in terms of physical fitness, faith, optimism and a certain overall moral rectitude. He also sets an excellent example on taking vacation.

On Thursday, Bush left for a weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, and his family’s summer compound, Walker’s Point. On Monday, he heads to his Crawford retreat, where he has spent all or part of 418 days of his presidency, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS News White House correspondent and meticulous record-keeper.… Bush’s August sojourn will be his 65th trip to Crawford, according to Knoller.

The Houston Chronicle added, “The presidential vacation-time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, Bush is going to beat that easily.”

It’s an interesting contrast with what the typical American worker faces.

AttyTood:

Why in the name of God are four working journalists among those attending this state dinner -- not as reporters with a notebook or a camera but as guests munching on Dover sole and dancing into the night with America's own brand of dukes and earls?[..]

In the last few weeks, the sight of journalists yucking it up with celebrities and the people that they cover at annual events like the White House Correspondents' Association dinner (the one where President Bush famously joked about not being able to find weapons of mass destruction) has caused a growing uproar. Last week, the New York Times said its staffers will no longer attend such dinners...

I think there needs to be a debate about whether journalists should attend these fancy state dinners as well. The reason should be obvious. Reporters -- whether they work in Washington, D.C. or a small mountain town in Washington State -- ought to be the voice of the kind of people who don't get invited to white-tie affairs, the handymen and school teachers, not the politicians and billionaires.

Considering that Colbert's speech here at C&L was the second most linked to post of 2006, I think it's safe to say that we're not expecting a similar reaction from this year's Correspondents' Dinner.

WaPo :

The White House press corps last week found itself embroiled in controversy -- a controversy over its efforts to avoid controversy at an event whose guests include President Bush.
Stung by criticism that comedian Stephen Colbert went too far last year in his remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner, the group announced last week that it had lined up a different kind of entertainer for its next dinner on April 21: impersonator Rich Little.

[..]The group's president, C-SPAN's Steve Scully, issued a statement saying: "The White House Correspondents' Association never dictates or censors the content of a press dinner entertainer's act . . . My advice to [Little's agency] when we booked [him] in December was to follow the time-honored Washington motto [of] the Gridiron Dinner: 'Singe, but never burn.' "

Admittedly, it's an old story, and Olbermann has already named them the "Worst Person(s) in the World" for this, but I want to put this out to you. Who do you think would have been a worthy successor to Stephen Colbert for the White House Correspondents' Dinner?

"White House correspondent Matt Cooper was promoted to Political Editor of Time.com, Time's deputy managing editor Steve Koepp announced. The internal memo follows."

Cooper knows what the blogosphere is all about so I doubt he'll be playing the James Brady game and I think he'll do a great job. We can only hope that he keeps Joe Klein's ramblings to a minimum.

On "Anderson Cooper 360," Suzanne Malveaux, CNN's White House correspondent, is reporting that Tony Snow will accept the job to replace Scott McClellan as the new White House press secretary. The announcement might come in a few days or as early as tomorrow.
Neal Gabler, the man Bill O'Reilly wants fired from "Fox News Watch," had this to say on Saturday about Tony:

"It would be a change in job title, but not description."

As a cancer survivor I wish him well.

CBS White House correspondent John Roberts has apologized for saying this during today's gaggle time:

Roberts: "Scott, you said that- or the President said, repeatedly. that Harriet Miers was the best person for the job. So does that mean Alito is sloppy seconds, or what?

Roberts: "I apologize to anyone who took offense to my poor choice of words. I can assure you I meant none."