Obama Issues A "Major" Smackdown On Iran

Fox News' Major Garrett's question today was meant to knock the President for not being strong enough with the events occurring in Iran. Barack however, saw this one coming a mile away, and puts this fastball way back into the seats.

Bush Couldn't Fill The Room For Last Presser

Although I found many of George Bush's statements amusing yesterday, not enough of the Washington press corp could even bother to attend. Even though the room is relatively nice and new, most journalists who cover Bush know they won't get much out of the President's scripted sessions. Despite it being the last presser for #43, it was the job of interns to make the room appear to be more popular than it was.

From ThinkProgress:

When the White House announced President Bush’s final press conference yesterday, it sent a bulletin to reporters declaring “one correspondent per organization” and “standing room only for non-seat holders.” But as the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank points out, not enough reporters attended for the presser to make it “standing room only”:

Further complicating his last-minute legacy rehabilitation: Nobody seems to be paying attention. The White House had high expectations for yesterday’s final, historic news conference. “ONE CORRESPONDENT PER ORGANIZATION,” proclaimed the bulletin sent to reporters. “STANDING ROOM ONLY FOR NON-SEAT HOLDERS.” But when the appointed hour of 9:15 a.m. arrived, the last two rows in the seven-row briefing room were empty, and a press aide told White House interns to fill those seats.

Of course, everyone now is focusing on what President Obama is going to do, not the irrelevant couch warmer that is merely trying to build a fictitious legacy for the history books. The White House may have had high expectations for yesterday's main event over there, but like everything else concerning expectations and President Bush, it fell well short.

Bush Speaks His Last Press Conference, Lies Continue

George Bush gave his Q & A session for the press at the White House this morning. To no one's surprise, it was full of false assertions, half-truths and outright lies. He went on for quite a long time and responded to many, dare I say harsh questions from the assembled press. He tried to be cute and affable, repeating his infamous "misunderestimating" word and as has been the case for the last couple of months, looking to conjure up a legacy that just isn't there. Lovers of truth and accountability must have cringed through the whole thing, but there was one part that really got me going, his revisionist history of what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

From ThinkProgress:

During his final press conference this morning, Bush defended his response to Katrina. He said he has “thought long and hard about Katrina” and admitted that “things [could] have been done better” but denied any problem with the federal response to the disaster, insisting, “Don’t tell me the federal response was slow!”[...]

The federal response to Katrina was nothing short of a disaster. A 2006 report compiled by House Republicans slammed what it called “a failure of leadership,” saying that the federal government’s “blinding lack of situational awareness and disjointed decision making needlessly compounded and prolonged Katrina’s horror.” The report specifically blamed Bush, noting that “earlier presidential involvement could have speeded the response” because the president alone could have cut through bureaucratic resistance.

There is no question that the federal response was slow — deadly slow. Katrina made landfall on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, and the New Orleans levees were breached that morning. Despite the numerous warnings he had received about the storm’s severity, Bush spent that Monday traveling to Arizona and California to promote his Medicare drug bill. It was characteristic of the entire federal response.

And TP lists just a few of the disgraces, such as the late arrival of the National Guard, FEMA's late arrival, the fact that Michael Brown was there in the first place and how he mishandled his job, how long it took to evacuate the wretched SuperDome and Bush's lackadaisical response in general.

The days, weeks, months and yes, years after have been horrendous for the area. Nearly two thousand died from the breached levees, some from Klanish behavior, many from neglect and who knows how many have been affected in the long term from the toxic brew of water that people had to wade through and whether it is in the drinking water now. Hurricane Katrina was a national disgrace and defined the Bush Presidency from there on out. For him to try and wave a magic wand and make it look different is nothing short of a pathetic response from a callous and cold man.

Bush's Last Press Conference

So few of them held over the last eight years, but at long last we are at the last of them. View a great display of bull below:

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Obama Gives His First Press Conference As Prez-Elect

Shortly before 3pm Eastern time in Chicago, President-elect Obama came out to give his first news conference. It was meant to focus on the economy, only straying with a question about the potential first puppy and schools for Malia and Sasha in D.C. It was relatively short, but Obama made a lot of clear points about what he will do, what he wants seen done and the most important fact that he isn't President for another seventy-three days and nine hours (though he wasn't that specific on the amount of time).

From RawStory:

The president-elect said he would like to see Congress pass another financial rescue package "sooner rather than later," but he promised that it would be his top priority if nothing is completed before Inauguration Day.

Obama emphasized that he was working with President Bush, who he noted would still be in charge for the next few months.

"I am not president, and I won't be until January 20th," Obama said.

Obama offered no clues about whom he would appoint to top cabinet posts like Treasury Secretary.

The transition team will "move with all deliberate haste," in vetting appointees, he said. "But i want to emphasize deliberate as well as haste."

You can see that he is raring to go, but can only cheer from the sidelines until he is officially in office. That doesn't mean his cheering doesn't have significant influence, but anything Congress can come up with now to actually help the middle class would be vetoed by the current President. Having Gov. Granholm (think auto industry) and Paul Volcker immediately behind him with Emanuel and VP-elect Biden along with the rest of the economic transistion team was meant to give him gravitas and it delivered. President Obama will be ready to deliver for our country the moment he takes the oath of office.

Obama Does Q & A With The Media, Affirms His Middle Class Tax Cuts

Unlike Sarah Palin, Barack Obama is not afraid of talking to the media and having a back and forth conversation. While McCain keeps his VP under wraps and away from the prying questions of the press, Obama and Biden are out there talking about how to fix our economy...while McCain and Palin are promising more of the same disastrous policies that the Bush Administration helped bring upon us.