Watching Morning Joe today. They started with Libya and talk was all about arming the rebels and why Libya and not elsewhere. Listening to the discussion I noticed that there was something missing.
I had my doubts whenever Joe Scarborough’s op-ed, would get the play it normally does. Considering that the opening segment is repeated at 8 a.m. you would think that they would make it a point to bring up the hosts op-ed on the subject of the day first. Instead during Mika’s must read op-eds it was mentioned late as they instead talks of the anniversary of the Reagan Assassination attempt, leaving just enough time to give Joe’s piece two minutes
Sarkozy clearly hopes the Libyan adventure will make him popular, too. Nobody finds this surprising. At a conference in Brussels over the weekend, I watched a French participant boast of France’s leading role in the Libyan air campaign. A minute later, he heartily agreed that the war was a ploy to help Sarkozy get re-elected. The two emotions—pride in French leadership and cynicism about Sarkozy’s real motives—were not, it seems, mutually exclusive.
And of course the goal is to have this underwritten by the US while he gets the supposed electoral benefits.
Do not expect the MSM to give Anne’s take any play at all.
My wife is starting a new job, we will be getting new insurance because of it. We are REQUIRED to provide not only our marriage certificate but the long form copies of the birth certificates of both of our children.
Having to produce a birth certificate is not an irregular occurrence for the average person so when Trump says this to the general public, they understand it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, It’s my opinion that the president is born in Hawaii, I believe that the reason for withholding permission for the certificate was to keep this alive as a club to beat people with, but I’m starting to think it is backfiring. The whole idea that something is being hidden is so embedded in the public’s mind that it establishes an idea of “otherness” that is going to hurt come re-election time. This is the law of unintended consequences.
I’m also thinking that the willingness of Trump to say aloud what a lot of other people are thinking but not saying is going to help a lot with people who aren’t involved every day. This is the 2nd time Trump has done this and both times its paid off.
Do I think he will win the nomination? No, will he make things interesting in terms of the MSM? Yup.
Update: On Morning Joe just now Joe Scarborough nailed it pointing out that the liberal audience of the View applauded when Trump said this. If the White House doesn’t see that this is trouble then they ought to. And the attempt to describe Trump as “going birther”, Mika’s disgust and the exiling of the segment to the “News you can’t use” segment doesn’t change the fact that an awful lot of people saw him say it and heard that applause.
Update 2: In comments Haiku Guy nails it big time.
What Trump is doing
Is giving us permission
To ask the question.
Listen to the crowd reaction beginning at the 2:08 mark, as Donald Trump vigorously and repeatedly states “I want him to show the birth certificate.” The crowd claps loudly to Trump’s words. (It seems an unlikely time for the producers to have flashed an applause light, so it is fair to assume the crowd reaction was spontaneous.)
Update 6: Now a memorandum thread. Since Robert Stacy McCain is sick today I’ll steal his line to Hit DaTipJar and encourage you all to check out my Radio Show this Saturday at 10 a.m. on WCRN AM 830 you can listen online here.
Update 7: Treacher at the Daily caller hits both of my points:
That’s why I don’t put any stock in the Birther stuff. If it were true, wouldn’t Hillary’s people have dug it up and used it?
and
But what’s really revealing here is that not only is he not laughed off the stage, but he gets a couple of applause breaks for it. Hey, Barry, when you start to lose the hens who’ll actually sit through a taping of The View…
Watching Morning Joe twist in circles continues to be an awful lot of fun.
I know somedisagree but why should we let the left off the hook for this kind of thing. All it does is enable them the next time they come after conservatives. Additionally the insistence of “limited war” against Gaddafi is nonsense.
He also referred to the French and Europe as the “JV” team.
There is a conflict here in one sense, If this was going to be done it needed to be done faster and a vote could have been asked of congress. I believe when the president spoke the words “Gaddafi must go” he did so without considering what that meant for the US. There is also the possibility that this was done as a sop to Egypt who fought a war with Gaddafi in the past.
In the meanwhile I intend to continue to tweak the left, in the end I hope this will all work out. As for the president regardless if the move was right or wrong or late we are committed and we have to stand behind the fight. In the words of a particular Giant: “I hope we win.”
Ladd Ehlinger Jr. explains the rules to candidates everywhere. There are two points of his ten that should be in the front of the mind of any political campaign.:
1. It’s a Marketing Campaign, Stupid
Just because the common nomenclature is “political campaign,” it doesn’t change the fact that you are embarking on a short-term marketing campaign.
Your stand on the issues matter little if no one knows who you are. Obviously, you can use your stand on the issues to help increase name recognition. But this is only one small component of the big picture. You are running a marketing campaign so people will investigate your stand on the issues. Don’t put the cart before the horse.
And yes I’m biased on this next one:
Special Tip: Never distinguish between Bloggers and “Real Media.” There is no demarcation anymore, unless you are running for head caveman in the Neanderthal era. Social media is the new battleground, and you have to take that hill, too.
