1.) At least he got the ‘Medal of Honor’ part right — The Greatest Orator in the History of the Spoken Word has done it again, as TheDC’s C.J. Ciaramella reports: “President Obama got his Medal of Honor recipients mixed up today, accidentally referring to a posthumous recipient as alive. Speaking in upstate New York to troops at Fort Drum Thursday, the president was remembering the times he spent with the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division. ‘Throughout my service, first as a senator and then as a presidential candidate and then as a president, I’ve always run into you guys,’ Obama said. ‘And for some reason it’s always in some rough spots… When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.’ Jared Monti was killed in Afghanistan on June 21, 2006. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, September 17, 2009.” Hey, Obama’s a really busy guy. It’s not like he has time to double-check himself when he makes a specific point of saying a Medal of Honor recipient is alive. What’s the big deal? It’s not like he contradicted Schoolhouse Rock on Paul Revere or something. It’s not like he’s a Republican.
2.) Obama says words to gay people — When he’s not busy dishonoring the memory of our fallen warriors, Obama likes to say words to gay people that make them think he wants to let them marry each other, without actually saying so. TheDC’s Neil Munro writes: “Campaigner-in-chief President Barack Obama scooped up yet more donations at two New York fundraisers Thursday night, and successfully navigated demands by New York gays and lesbians to endorse pending legislation that would grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The main event was a fundraiser at New York’s Sheraton hotel, where roughly 600 gays and lesbians applauded the president as he broadly hinted his support for their priorities, including for changes in marriage rules. ‘Discrimination because of somebody’s sexual orientation or gender identity ran counter to who we are as a people, and it’s a violation of the basic tenets on which this nation was founded,’ he told the mostly male crowd. ‘I believe that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country,’ he said, prompting the crowd to give him a standing ovation, whoops and hollers of approval.” Notice a missing word in Obama’s speech? Here it is: “marriage.” See, this way Obama makes gays think he’s willing to give them what they want so they’ll give him money, but then when opponents of gay marriage call him on it, he can say, “I was talking about civil unions.” It’s too bad gay rights activists have to learn the same lesson as the rest of Obama’s supporters: He’s just not that into you.
3.) Time magazine still not so sure about this whole ‘Constitution’ deal — You probably think that just because a bunch of dead white guys wrote down some boring words on a piece of parchment or whatever, way back in the olden times of powdered wigs and wooden teeth, that means we all have to follow those words. That’s why you’re too stupid to write for Time! TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports: “On Thursday on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe,’ Time magazine editor Richard Stengel presented the cover of his new July 4 issue, which features the U.S. Constitution going through a paper shredder and asks if the document still matters. According to Stengel, it does, but not as much anymore. ‘Yes, of course it still matters but in some ways it matters less than people think. People all the time are debating what’s constitutional and what’s unconstitutional. To me the Constitution is a guardrail. It’s for when we are going off the road and it gets us back on. It’s not a traffic cop that keeps us going down the center.'” Okay, so maybe Stengel doesn’t do much driving. Or thinking, for that matter. But you get his point: The rules only count when you don’t have to shred them to get what you want. Compounding the embarrassment for Stengel: He used to be the CEO of the National Constitution Center! Too bad he never got around to actually reading it. (For more on this, see John J. Pitney, Jr. and Aaron Worthing.)
4.) Weiner still cooking up cash — That whole Weinergate thing happened so fast, the Democrats’ fundraising machine still hasn’t had a chance to catch up. C.J. Ciaramella reports: “Anthony Weiner may be gone, but you can still donate to the erstwhile congressman’s re-election campaign, if you’re kinky like that. ActBlue, an online clearing house for Democrat fundraising, still has active donation sites for Weiner, and his official Web site still has a contribution page, where fans can support Weiner, ‘Fighter, Reformer, New Yorker.’ So far, Weiner’s ActBlue page has raised $146,372 for the congressman’s non-existent re-election campaign. How much of this was raised after Weiner’s Twitter indiscretions came to light isn’t clear, but at least some of it was. An ActBlue page called ‘Breitbart Has Won NOTHING: Donations for Weiner‘ has raised a fearsome $35 from two contributors.” It should be a lot more — after all, this is THE EVIL BREITBART we’re talking about — but they probably got pranked or hacked or whatever it is.
5.) Bieber bum-rushed — Get ready to feel even older than you felt before you read this. TheDC’s Laura Donovan writes: “Baby, baby, baby, NO! ABC News is reporting that pop prince Justin Bieber was knocked over while meeting fans outside Macy’s in Herald Square. The 17-year-old singer, who attended an event to launch his new cologne, stepped outside Macy’s to acknowledge those who could not go inside the event. Witnesses said an unknown male hopped over a barrier and pushed Bieber to the ground. Surely to the relief of ‘Beliebers,’ the teenage pop sensation escaped the incident unscathed.” Whew! Glad the lil’ feller is okay. And now we know whatever happened to Lance Bass.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “All the Freepers are twitterfreeping right about now. Lean in. Closer. Lick me.”