AP Laments Impending Tsunami: 'Hello to Gridlock ... and Goodbye to Recovery?'

Recovery? What recovery? If there was a recovery Democrats wouldn't be facing a massive bloodbath today. It's difficult to distinguish who's more out of touch: the Democrats or their media hand-maidens. Today will be a repudiation of both, although it's doubtful either will get the message. They'll blame anyone and anything other than themselves.

Texas Next for Anti-Illegals Legislation

Let's hope this is a growing trend. Naturally the Associated Press shows their rank bias with this headline:

Texas lawmaker to introduce anti-immigration bill

Nothing in the story says the proposed legislation is anti-immigration. They're opposed to illegal immigration.

A Texas lawmaker says she plans to push for a law similar to Arizona's get-tough immigration measure.

San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle report Wednesday that Republican Rep. Debbie Riddle of Tomball says she will introduce the measure in the January legislative session.

The new Arizona law would require local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status — and make it a crime for immigrants to lack registration documents.

Riddle says if the federal government did its job "Arizona wouldn't have to take this action, and neither would Texas."

Curiously it will be a crime according to ObamaCare legislation to not have health insurance. It's illegal to drive without a license or insurance. So why are Democrats so opposed to these common-sense laws? Well, because they want to legalize all the illegals so they'll vote for them.

Let's hope this trend spreads to other border states. I have little hope for California, but maybe New Mexico can get in on the act, though that's doubtful as long as Guillermo Richardson is governor.

What will really get the ball rolling is if northern states overrun by illegals sign on.

Are you listening, Governor Christie?

Unprecedented Lack of Transparency

Much to my surprise, the geniuses at the Associated Press noticed something most everyone else did months ago. The so-called "transparent" White House had taken the late Friday document dumps to unprecedented levels. This isn't the change I thought I believed in.

President Barack Obama entered the White House promising a new era of openness in government, but when it comes to bad news, his administration often uses one of the oldest tricks in the public relations playbook: putting it out when the fewest people are likely to notice.

Former White House environmental adviser Van Jones' resignation over controversial comments hit the trifecta of below-the-radar timing: The White House announced the departure overnight on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, when few journalists were on duty and few Americans awake, much less paying attention to the news.

As with past administrations, Friday looks like a popular day to "take out the trash," as presidential aides on the TV drama "The West Wing" matter-of-factly called it. Along with weekends, holidays and the dark of night, the final stretch of the work week, when many news consumers tune out, is a common time for the government to release news unlikely to benefit the president.

Among recent examples: On Friday, Nov. 13, the Obama administration announced it would put the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on trial in civilian court in New York. It also disclosed the resignation of the top White House lawyer, who had taken blame for some of the problems surrounding the administration's planned closing of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The following Friday, Nov. 20, saw the Justice Department quietly notifying a court that it intended to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against a Blackwater Worldwide security guard involved in a 2007 Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead. The court filing was sealed from public view and submitted without ceremony, in contrast to the Monday last December when the charges were announced. Then, the Justice Department held a noon news conference and put out a lengthy press release.

On previous Fridays, the White House acknowledged it may not be able to close the Guantanamo prison by January as the president promised, announced Obama was imposing punitive tariffs on car and light-truck tires from China, and disclosed that Obama had waived conflict-of-interest rules for several aides.

"It's a time-honored practice where the president's trying to talk about what he wants to talk about and push the subjects that maybe he doesn't want to talk as much about into a time when people aren't paying as much attention," said Dee Dee Myers, press secretary during Clinton's first two years in office and a consultant for "The West Wing" "trash day" episode.

If Friday is a prime day to dump potentially unfavorable news in Washington, 5 p.m. is the witching hour.

The day before Halloween, the Obama administration slipped out news on several ongoing issues, much of it in late afternoon or evening. It included developments on warrantless wiretapping, terror interrogations, the CIA leak case, the reliability of the government's stimulus job creation figures, lobbyists and other visitors to the White House, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's failure to detect disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme for years.

"The president has taken and will continue to take wide-ranging and unprecedented steps to fulfill his campaign promise to give Americans firsthand access to information about their government at whitehouse.gov," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, when asked whether dropping important news late on Fridays, when few news consumers are paying attention, squares with the president's promise of transparency. "The First Amendment to the Constitution ensures that the media is independently responsible for how and when that information is covered."

And these mealy-mouthed twits wonder why even the media and the left is abandoning them.

"If it's a really bad story it will have it owns legs and you're probably not accomplishing all that much," Davis said. "Sometimes all you're accomplishing is irritating reporters."

Actually what's "irritating" these reporters is the blogosphere keeps running circles around them and perhaps they realize their obeisance to this White House is why their credibility is in tatters.

No Army of 'Fact-Checkers' for AP's Stimulus Watch

Media bias? What media bias? A week after unleashing 11 so-called "fact-checkers" to dissect Sarah Palin's book, today the Associated Press unveils an item called STIMULUS WATCH: Did White House overplay job data?

The government watchdog overseeing economic stimulus spending said Thursday that, in its rush to take credit for saving hundreds of thousands of jobs, the Obama administration was overly confident in its job-counting and did not acknowledge significant errors in the figures.

Numbers released last month identified more than 640,000 jobs linked to stimulus projects around the country. Despite warning signs that the numbers were flawed, the White House said the public could have confidence in them and they proved the administration was on track save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year.

Since then, tens of thousands of problems have been documented, from the substantive to the clerical. Republicans have been able to use those flaws to attack what so far is the signature domestic policy of Obama's presidency.

I love the newspeak from the first paragraph. Lying is now overly confident.

So now with tens of thousands of documented problems, one would imagine a battalion of "fact-checkers" would be poring through the unmentioned website that posted all the phony numbers, right?

Uh, no. This report has one lonely reporter. Nobody else. It seems having 11 people rush through a couple book chapters of someone not currently in office is more important than devoting the time to exposing why the "signature domestic policy of Obama's presidency" is riddled with (to put it gently) misinformation.

The criticism has resonated, even though economic data shows that overall government efforts, from President George W. Bush's bank bailout to President Barak Obama's stimulus, have improved the economy. Fewer than 1 in 10 Americans think the stimulus has created any jobs so far, according to a CBS News poll this week.

Seems the reporter also forgot to run spellcheck. They can't even get Barack correct.

They actually already have a correction to someone's name at the bottom, but not Obama's.

(This version CORRECTS it was Devaney, not Deseve, who said: "I like that statement.") )

Layoffs Begin at AP: 'Fact-Checkers' Hardest Hit

The Associated Press let the world know they had redundant reportorial resources the other day when they devoted 11 reporters to "fact-check" Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue. Well, wouldn't it be a terrible shame if some of them were among the AP's latest job casualties?

Layoffs are underway Tuesday at The Associated Press, stemming from the news cooperative's year-ago announcement that it would cut staffing costs by 10%.

The job losses at The AP come after the U.S. unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 10.2% in October, and as the newspaper industry--the news cooperative's main source of income--is mired in a financial squeeze amid sharp declines in circulation and advertising.

Tony Winton, president of the News Media Guild, a union that represents editorial employees at The AP, said the layoffs occurring at the news cooperative are scattered throughout the U.S., but that he doesn't yet have a count of the number of workers being let go.

"They have to notify us of the details at some point, but we're literally the last people in line for the information," Winton said. "They'll tell the employees first, and there are meetings taking place this afternoon to deliver the news."

Tom Curley, The AP's chief executive, announced the plan to cut 10% of its staff a year ago, when the staff had roughly 4,000 people, signaling a reduction of about 400 people.

One figures when Palin follows up her current blockbuster with another, AP will only be able to devote 10 reporters to "fact-checking" it.

In other newspaper news, it looks like we've got an investigation into union thuggery.

Good times, my friends, good times.

AP Buries Inconvenient Results of Latest Healthcare Poll

The headline that is being picked up by every newspaper on the planet is this:

AP POLL: Tax the rich to pay for health bill

Of course that's no surprise since "the rich" are the scapegoats for everything in our budding socialist utopia. Why take responsibility for yourself when some "rich" person can pay for you, right?

Of course what the Associated Press does not even mention in their story is probably the most relevant part:

In general, do you support, oppose or neither support nor oppose the health care reform plans being discussed in Congress? (IF SUPPORT/OPPOSE Is that strongly support/oppose or somewhat support/oppose?

To no surprise that's opposed by 43-41%. Eleven percent neither support or oppose and 4% "don't know."

Also conveniently left out of their story is the response to whether people should be penalized if they do not buy the government-run health care: Sixty-four percent oppose. Why do you suppose that was left out?

Also left out was of the respondents, 37% are unemployed or retired. No wonder they want someone to pick up the tab.

Forty-two percent think they economy will get worse if this scam is shoved down our throats, while 28% think it will improve. Again, this is left out of the story.

Also, over the past five years, 86% of respondents said the care they received from physician or hospital was excellent or good, only 2% said it was poor. This was left out of the AP story. So why do we have to blow up the entire system?

Another question left out:

How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right – just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time?

A total of 24% said all or most of the time. And we're going to trust them?

You can go here and click the top link (a PDF) for the questions.

It's a shame the Associated Press leaves out so many relevant results of their own survey. Although entirely unsurprising.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Update: As was pointed out in the comments the AP changed the headline on this story and reworked it. How convenient. They have 11 people fact-checking Sarah Palin's book but evidently not enough people checking their own stories. Tom Blumer at NewsBusters saved an image. Click to enlarge.



Sweetness and Light dissects this AP propaganda and who's behind it.

Healer-in-Chief Now 'National Consoler'

Apparently the AP's cub reporter Ben Feller doesn't ralize what a laughingstock he is. It was bad enough he came up with the absurd healer-in-chief bit this morning. Now he's morphed Dear Leader into the national consoler. Really.

You can't make this crap up.

Stepping for the first time into the role of national consoler, President Barack Obama plans to honor the 13 people slain in a shooting rampage here by remembering what they left behind, offering personal stories about the lives they touched and the service they provided to their country.

Obama still was working on his speech as he flew to Texas on Tuesday for a memorial service five days after the shooting that left 13 dead and 29 wounded on the bustling Army post. Military families and civilians alike gathered for the ceremony, some wearing red, white and blue ribbons in honor of those slain.

Notice now how this outbreak of Sudden Jihadi Syndrome is merely a "shooting rampage" and not an Islamist terror act. Heck, the word Muslim doesn't even exist in the story.

One can only imagine Obama will compare the sacrifices of the slain soldiers to community service.

AP Rejoices: 'Obama pressed into role as national healer'

On Saturday opponents of ObamaCare were referred to as teabagging extremists by the national healer.

“Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit” Democratic voters “and it will encourage the extremists.”

Today the national healer will bring us all together.

Presidents get elected to run the nation. Some days that means knowing how to heal it.

For the first time since winning the White House, President Barack Obama faces such a moment Tuesday at Fort Hood. After a shooting that left 13 people dead and 29 wounded on the bustling Texas Army post, it is Obama's job to offer some comfort, if not answers.

Maybe I'm misconstruing this sappy, syrupy nonsense, but I'd much prefer there be no need for healing. Of course, had the folks in charge done their jobs, the Fort Hood massacre never would have occurred.

It is his time to take on the healer-in-chief role that can help shape a presidency at a time of national tragedy.

Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, governed during the worst terrorist attack on American soil, the most crippling natural disaster in U.S. history, a space shuttle explosion, a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, a tornado that wiped away a Kansas town, a bridge collapse in Minnesota, Midwestern flooding and California wildfires. Each response affected his standing, for better or worse, in a country that expects its president to be empathetic and clearly in charge.

Funny, but after virtually all the above some in the media and most of the angry left blamed Bush, be it for 9/11, Katrina, whatever. It didn't matter. There was a calamity, it was time to score political points. I certainly don't recall any chatter about him being a national healer.

History is full of other examples. Bill Clinton helped rebuild his troubled presidency with the way he reacted to the Oklahoma City bombings.

Yes, Clinton's first reaction was to blame Rush Limbaugh. National healing and all that.

In this case, Obama has sought his own balance.

He has promised a full investigation of the Fort Hood shootings but has said little about it as police search for a motive. He has praised religious diversity in the military, trying to offer calm as questions loom about whether the alleged shooter had ties to extremist Islamic ideology. And he has delayed a trip to Asia to attend the memorial service.

Uh, there aren't any questions this maniac had ties to extremist Islamic ideology. We knew all about it but chose to live in deep denial.

But enough about the dead, the wounded, the grieving. We have to make this all about Obama. After all, he's making the ultimate sacrifice here: He's delaying a trip to Asia.

What more can one man do?

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Associated Press: The Original 'Birthers'

Hmmm. Very interesting headline we've got here.

Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate

Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations.

The allegations that horrified fellow Republicans and caused his once-promising candidacy to implode in four short days have given Obama a clear lead as Republicans struggled to fetch an alternative.

Ryan’s campaign began to crumble on Monday following the release of embarrassing records from his divorce. In the records, his ex-wife, Boston Public actress Jeri Ryan, said her former husband took her to kinky sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans.

That's a newspaper in Kenya using Associated Press as a source.

I've never been one into this birth certificate business, but it's curious how a paper in Kenya would say he was born there. Just saying.

H/T

Media Bias? What Media Bias? AP Laughably Claims Obama Has 'Silent Majority' on Health Care

An absolutely disgusting piece of propaganda disguised as news from Obama's stenographers at the Associated Press. When I opened up Yahoo this morning, I was greeted by this absurd story.

Fired up? Ready to go? You might not know it from the way President Barack Obama's grass-roots supporters have been largely drowned out in the raucous debate over his health care plan.

As we asked yesterday, is it mandatory for these liberal media morons to use raucous in every story? Was it raucous every time Code Pink or some arm of the Democratic Party interrupted hearings on Capitol Hill during the Bush administration?

Anyway, back to this drivel.

Yes, they're behind him, officials say — volunteering in their communities and contacting lawmakers in Congress. But some Obama organizers are calling their forces a "silent majority," embracing Republican terminology of long ago. And if the final legislation doesn't include a government run plan to compete with private insurers, they may be invisible, too.

While opponents of the health care revamp have largely controlled the image war with rowdy town halls and a huge march on Washington last month, Obama supporters have been mobilizing across the country as well, tapping into the unprecedented network his presidential campaign built last year.

Wait a minute. A huge march on Washington? Why was it every media outlet did their best to downplay that huge march?

"We're building a long-term organization with leaders in the community who are trained. It was successful in the election and it will be successful again," says Jeremy Bird, deputy director of Organizing for America.

Want to see what Organizing for America is all about? Behold:



The Associated Press, of course, finds nothing wrong with this disgusting propaganda.

OFA, the pro-Obama effort annexed to the Democratic National Committee, says it has enlisted more than 2 million people in active support of the plan since the beginning of the summer. It recently completed a 19-stop cross country bus tour, and leaders say they have held over 18,000 health care events in all 50 states and 435 congressional districts.

The intensity of such efforts is difficult to gauge, particularly when compared to the angry town hall meetings across the country over the summer and the "tea party" march that drew tens of thousands to Washington. A flood of questions at one recent OFA meeting in New York suggested it's far easier to ramp up the campaign to defeat the plan, even if proponents are turning out in the large numbers OFA claims.

Let's face it. Obama and the Democrats have been unable to sell their radical plan to annex 1/6th of the American economy and their only recourse is to shove it down our throats. To see a supposedly unbiased "news" organization prostitute itself to promote this is just shameful.

Almost as bad as a "news" network having kids dance to Obama's tune.

Even some kids can see this.

Slow News Day: AP Runs With 'Secrets of Michelle Obama's Arms'

Yes, I've just been dying to know how America's Supermodel managed to keep those toned guns.

I don't know about you, but from the photos I've seen of late her arms aren't what she needs to be working on, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

At last, the secret to first lady Michelle Obama's sculpted arms? Tricep pushdowns and hammer curls.

So says Cornell McClellan, Mrs. Obama's longtime personal trainer, who described the workout routine of his famous client in the October issue of Women's Health magazine. She began working with McClellan in 1997 at his Chicago fitness studio.

"She's truly committed herself to the importance of health and fitness," he says.

McClellan said that at the end of an intense routine of cardio workouts and weight training, Mrs. Obama finishes with the "arm-shaping superset" of tricep pushdowns and hammer curls to tone one of the most commented-upon pair of arms in the world. Mrs. Obama often wears sleeveless outfits.

How to get arms like Mrs. Obama's?

Perform one set of tricep pushdowns using a straight bar attached to the high pulley of a cable station and then, without resting, follow with a set of hammer curls using dumbbells. Immediately repeat the entire process until two or three sets of both exercises have been completed.

Groundbreaking stuff. Where we would be without such handy tips?

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Obama 'Braces' for Staged Town Hall

Does Associated Press White House stenographer Jennifer Loven really believe the president is going to face any unscripted questions from "boisterous" protesters? As with virtually all presidential appearance, participants will be carefully screened, questions will not be spontaneous and, knowing this bunch, each and every question will be a softball.

Is there any doubt?

A day before facing a potentially boisterous town hall in New Hampshire, President Barack Obama praised the spirited debate over his health care plans on Monday and predicted "sensible and reasoned arguments" would ultimately prevail in Congress.

Obama plans to pivot his message somewhat on Tuesday, addressing people who already have insurance through their employers and highlighting how his proposals would affect them. The White House is retooling its message amid polling that shows Americans — especially those who have coverage — are skeptical of Democratic proposals to expand to cover many of the 50 million or more uninsured.

Wait a minute. I thought it was an alleged 47 million uninsured? When were another three million (or more) added? Is Loven just making it up?

"We are having a vigorous debate in the United States, and I think that's a healthy thing," he said, repeating that thought three times. But, he said, the dynamic will change once the recess ends and the lawmakers — and the debate — return to Washington.

"I suspect that once we get into the fall and people look at the actual legislation that's being proposed, that more sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge. And we're going to get this passed," he said.

How about letting us look at the legislation now? How about having Congress actually read it? How about giving the public 30 days at minimum to debate the "actual legislation" rather than stuffing it down our throats, especially when 57% of un-Americans aren't down with the plan?

Smoke, meet mirror.

These people don't want any debate, they don't want to hear and "sensible and reasoned" arguments. It's their way or nothing. Why else would they be so desperate to shut down any discussion?

Michelle Malkin links. Thanks!

Actual AP Headline: Obama gives nation a pep talk: 'We don't give up'

Good grief, can they get any more in the tank for this guy?

The most beneficent Dear Leader comes to shower the huddled masses with cash and assuage their feelings of pain.

My, wherever were we without him? And if the headline isn't bad enough, they have a photo of The One bathed in cash.

Obama gives nation a pep talk: 'We don't give up'

Promising new jobs and money, President Barack Obama on Wednesday told a hurting Midwestern region that its recovery will be like America's: tough but certain. Obama's second visit as president to a northern Indiana area mired in unemployment reflected political reality. People appreciate hope and the presence of the president, but they want jobs. So Obama came bearing all of those in what amounted to a national economic pep talk.

"Even in the hardest times, against the toughest odds, we have never surrendered," Obama told a crowd on the steamy factory floor of Monaco RV, whose previous owner went bankrupt. "We don't give up. We don't surrender our fates to chance. We have always endured."

Who writes this drivel for him?

Update: It's getting worse. Check out this gem:

Analysis: Obama lets NKorea's Kim save face

The Obama administration let North Korean leader Kim Jong Il save face by releasing two jailed Americans to former President Bill Clinton. The payoff — maybe not right away — is likely to be renewed dialogue with Pyongyang about its nuclear weapons program.

Unreal.

Flying Pig Alert: AP Factchecks Obama

It's almost difficult to believe, but the Associated Press is no longer running cover for the Liar-in-Chief.

I skipped Obama's presser last night since I hate being lied to. And for good reason, apparently.

Read the whole thing, but here are a couple of snippets.

OBAMA: "I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."

THE FACTS: The facts are in dispute between black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the white police sergeant who arrested him at his Cambridge, Mass., home when officers went there to investigate a reported break-in. But this much is clear: Gates wasn't arrested for being in his own home, as Obama implies, but for allegedly being belligerent when the sergeant demanded his identification. The president did mention that the professor was charged with disorderly conduct. Charges were dropped.

In case Obama actually wants the facts, he can read this. Some very inconvenient facts, I might add.

Then this:

OBAMA: "You haven't seen me out there blaming the Republicans."

THE FACTS: Obama did so in his opening statement, saying, "I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill.' Another Republican senator said that defeating health reform is about 'breaking' me."

To paraphrase LBJ, if Obama's lost the Associated Press, he's lost middle America.

H/T Ace of Spades.

Tale of Two Club Gitmo Polls

Well, this is rather interesting. Just Monday we saw a USA Today/Gallup poll that said America were overwhelmingly opposed to closing Club Gitmo.

Americans are strongly opposed to shutting the doors of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and moving terrorism suspects to detention centers in the U.S., according to a recent poll.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released Tuesday found that those surveyed oppose the closing of Guantanamo by more than 2-1.

By more than 3-1, respondents oppose moving the detainees to prisons within the U.S., according to the poll.

Sixty-five percent of Americans polled said they do not support closing Guantanamo and sending its detainees to U.S. prisons while just 32 percent said they did support the idea.

Naturally this didn't receive much notice since it doesn't meet the Obama media template.

Well, now here comes a poll today claiming numbers completely at odds.

On Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo prison, 47 percent approve, while 47 percent disapprove. Again, the country is divided on partisan lines, with most Republicans disapproving and most Democrats approving. Independents are evenly divided.

Now which poll do you think will be touted more by Obama's adoring media horde?

The latter poll, reported by the Associated Press, is an Associated Press/GfK poll.

Nothing like AP creating their own news.

So rather than hearing Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to closing Guantanamo Bay, every news outlet in the country using AP reports will tell us we're evenly divided.

Nope, no media bias here.

AP Identifies Corrupt Democrat as a Republican

C'mon, people, basic facts here.

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed a Democratic congressman in a corruption probe, the first concrete indication that a long-simmering Justice Department investigation of a top lobbying firm also has the potential to seriously damage congressional careers.

On Friday, Rep. Pete Visclosky, R-Ind., acknowledged the grand jury has demanded documents from his office, certain employees and his campaign committees.

Just one minor problem. Visclosky is a Democrat.

On the upside, they're also closing in on the corrupt John Murtha, who's properly identified.

The probe focuses on the PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm that specialized in securing federal contracts for defense firms from Visclosky, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and others on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee that Murtha chairs.

In his hometown of Johnstown, Pa., Murtha brushed aside questions Friday about one Pennsylvania defense contractor for whom he obtained $14.7 million in the last two years in congressionally directed funds called "earmarks." The Navy suspended the contractor a month ago for alleged fraud.

Murtha grew defensive when asked about the suspension at a news conference he held at a defense trade show.

"What's that got to do with me?" he asked. "What do you think, I'm supposed to oversee these companies? That's not my job. That's the Defense Department's job."

Testy, isn't he?

Here's a screen shot, just in case some of those layers upon layers of editors and fact-checkers return from happy hour and notice the mistake. Click to enlarge.

Aw, Aren't They Cute? The Obamas Take a Walk

Must have been a very slow news night for AP writer Chrstine Simmons if this is passing for news.

The first couple took full advantage of the cool spring night.

After a date night out on Saturday evening, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama decided to take a stroll when their motorcade arrived back at the White House.

So they began walking on the driveway of the White House South Lawn while holding hands. First they passed the West Wing, then their children's swing set. They kept walking, swinging their hands together.

There were no Secret Service agents right behind them — the agents stood off, in one of the rare moments that the Obamas had private space outside the White House walls.

As the Obamas walked behind shrubbery and out of sight, the unscripted moment left reporters guessing where they were going. To the vegetable garden? The basketball court? No final word, but they eventually came back the same way from where they started, rounding out their 8-minute walk.

Pulitzer worthy stuff, I tell you.

Rumor has it they later brushed their teeth and went to bed.

Update: Here's some video. The TV talking head marvels at how they can ignore cameras that are apparently hundreds of feet away. It's because they have mystical abilities, don't you know.

Poor Ringo Still Gets No Respect

From the geniuses at the Associated Press:

Paul McCartney and Ringo Star reunite on stage

On the upside, at least the reporter got his name right.

McClatchy Paper Hawking Photos of Bogus Atlantic Swimmer

Wow, this is pretty cheesy.

We noted Wednesday how the AP was duped by the bogus tale of of Jennifer Figge, the aquatic version of Rosie Ruiz.

Well, even though the McClatchy-owned Raleigh News & Observer ran a correction, they're still hawking photos of this woman on their website.

Weak. Very weak.

John In Carolina has more.

AP Duped By Atlantic Swimmer Hoax

It's a good thing they have those layers of editors and fact checkers in order to prevent embarrassing episodes like this.

Over the weekend, in between depressing news about the economy and the continued sagas of Michael Phelps and Alex Rodrgiuez, an inspirational story appeared on the Associated Press news wire. It detailed American Jennifer Figge's accomplishment in becoming the first woman to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. Many media outlets (including Yahoo!) jumped on the story that seemed almost too good to be true. That's because it was.

The AP originally reported that Figge swam from the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa to Trinidad (2,100 miles) in 25 days while escorted by a boat. She was said to have rested every night and hopped back in the water in the morning.

"Figge woke most days around 7 a.m., eating pasta and baked potatoes while she and the crew assessed the weather. Her longest stint in the water was about eight hours, and her shortest was 21 minutes."

There were problems with the story from the start. A few of the less-important ones included the fact that Cape Verde is at least 2,400 miles, not 2,100, from Trinidad. And the African islands are about 500 miles off the western coast of the continent, meaning Figge had a huge head start on her trip across the Atlantic. (It'd be like somebody saying they ran across America after starting in Cincinnati.)

Those are trivial though. The real issue stemmed from the fact that swimming 2,100 miles in 25 days is impossible. (Some newspapers picked up on this.) It's infinitely more impossible when somebody only spends 21 minutes swimming during one of those 25 days. Michael Phelps swimming his fastest would take about 20 days to cover that distance. And that's his fastest pace, sustained for three weeks, without ever stopping. Impossible.

Yet, somehow, the AP ran the story even though a few seconds of thought and a pocket calculator was enough to disprove it.

Typical journalistic laziness that's been on display far too long.

Finally they ran a correction.

In stories on Feb. 1, 7 and 8, about Jennifer Figge's long-distance swim in the Atlantic, The Associated Press reported erroneously that she had swum across the ocean. Figge swam only a fraction of the 2,100-mile journey. The rest of the time, she rested on her crew's westward-sailing catamaran. Her spokesman, David Higdon, told The AP on Tuesday that her total swimming distance has not been calculated yet, but that due to ocean hazards including inclement weather, he estimates she swam about 250 miles.

She's the Rosie Ruiz of long-distance swimmers.

If anything, Figge has a future in the Democrat Party.

In an interview yesterday with the AP, Figge avoids discussing the validity of her swim and instead says she "never intended to swim the Atlantic." That may be so, but she didn't do much to prevent most American news outlets from reporting that she did.

She meant well, of course. Let's not quibble about the results.

Ace and Michelle Malkin link. Thanks!

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