1.) #ObamaPanics? — FDR used radio to deliver his “fireside chats.” JFK used television to show off his great head of hair. And yesterday, President Obama continued the tradition of U.S. presidents using new communications tech to distract people from what’s really going on. His innovation? A “Twitter town hall”! People sent him questions in 140 characters or less — #AskObama! — and he tried to answer each one in 140 minutes or less. (Hey, remember when he said ATMs are taking jobs away from hardworking Americans? Then why is he letting Twitter take jobs away from people who raise carrier pigeons?) This Twitter town hall was unprecedented and historic and stuff, and certainly not boring. Nor was it a sign that Obama is struggling and desperately trying to connect with The Kids These Days, despite what silly old Major Garrett says. According to TheDC’s Jeff Poor, Garrett said a bunch of dumb stuff on The Laura Ingraham Show yesterday, including this: “Last year we had ‘Recovery Summer.’ Well, you can’t have two recovery summers in a row. I think the great issue when it comes to the economy is that, do most Americans even listen to the president anymore? … If people aren’t listening to you on that core message, it doesn’t matter what you say anymore. And I think the president is dangerously close to losing that connection with the American people on what he knows about the economy and what he can predict about the economy. And presidents who can’t lead on the economy tend to be replaced. And I think today’s Twitter town hall is evidence of a low-level degree of anxiety bordering on panic within the Chicago reelection headquarters because back in 2008 and 2007, I watched this develop on the ground. There was a sense that, ‘Oh, social media created the energy.’ No, social media harnessed and built it out. It made it exponential. But it didn’t create it in the first place, and you see a lot of sort of feverish attempts to engage social media as if that’s the means by which to create energy.” Well, that’s just crazy. What could be more enthralling than Obama answering questions people send him on Twitter? Come on, you can feel the excitement, #JustAdmitItAlready.
2.) ACORN still sprouting leaves — You might think that just because Congress defunded ACORN, that means ACORN no longer receives federal funding. Ha! TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports: “In spite of a law aimed at de-funding the controversial organization, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is still receiving taxpayer money through an offshoot group. Legal watchdog group Judicial Watch discovered that the Obama administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a $79,819 grant to an ACORN offshoot, Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA). Though HUD intended the grant to be for AHCOA to ‘educate the public and housing providers about their rights and obligations under federal, state, and local fair housing laws,’ the government website listing federal expenditures labels the recipient of the grant ‘ACORN HOUSING CORPORATION, INC.’ Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told The Daily Caller this newly discovered grant appears to be in violation of an October 2009 law President Obama signed banning all funding of ‘ACORN and any ACORN-related affiliate…’ ‘If President Obama is serious about the ACORN funding ban he signed in 2009, he’ll try to get to the bottom of this,’ Fitton said.” There’s Obama’s answer, then: He’s not, so he won’t.
3.) Class-warfare targets talk back — In case you haven’t noticed, the President of the United States doesn’t like capitalism very much. Lately he’s taken to whining about “corporate jets.” Because if YOUR life sucks, Average Joe, why should anybody ELSE be successful? Grab your pitchforks and torches, people! But now the evil bourgeoisie are talking back, as TheDC’s Caroline May reports: “Much has been made of President Barack Obama’s repeated demonizing of corporate jets and the people who fly on them in his June 29th press conference. While pundits and politicians haggle over whether alterations in the depreciation schedule of corporate jets will actually have an impact on the deficit, those in the general aviation trenches are furious. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPO) President Craig Fuller told The Daily Caller that Obama’s comments have cast a pall over the industry, causing many who were considering buying a plane to back away from making a purchase. ‘The industry has suffered terribly in the last two and a half years and it has just started to recover. Most of the signs were starting to look good,’ said Fuller.” Obama wants to improve the economy, as long as nobody makes too much money. How dare these capitalist pigs complain about being reminded of their crimes against the state? Where do they get off, providing a service that people want for a price they’re willing to pay? How dare they generate thousands of jobs? What is this, Nazi Germany? In other news, Air Force One runs on rainbows and unicorn dreams, and is maintained by frolicking pixies.
4.) Is Sarah Palin running for president or not? — Nobody seems to know, as TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports: “Her most die hard volunteers are busy organizing independently for what they believe is a certain bid for the White House in 2012. But where has Sarah Palin been? Aside from recently traveling to Iowa for a movie premiere and taking a bus trip across the country, the former governor of Alaska isn’t doing much to signify she’s gearing up for a run — at least, not in the open. And when it comes to press coverage, she’s losing the spotlight to Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, who recently joined the presidential race… Still, a volunteer network of supporters — who say they are confident Palin will pull the trigger on a 2012 run — are making sure Iowa isn’t forgetting about her. They don’t buy the growing notion that she’s likely not getting in the race.” She’s probably worried that everyone will find out Trig’s not really her son. Right, Andrew Sullivan?
5.) CNN gives Eliot Spitzer more time to spend with whoever he’s paying to do so — It’s the end of an era: CNN just cancelled Eliot Spitzer’s show, Whatever Eliot Spitzer’s Show Was Called. How’s he taking the bad news? TheDC’s Ameena Schelling reports: “The news comes only four months after a substantial reinvention of Spitzer’s show, which was introduced nine months ago as ‘Parker Spitzer,’ featuring co-hosts Spitzer and columnist Kathleen Parker. It was reformatted with Spitzer as the sole host after Parker left the program in late February. CNN is still ‘in discussions with Eliot Spitzer about an alternative role’ with the network, executive vice president Ken Jautz said in a memo to CNN staff. Spitzer’s own statement, however, which was provided to TV Newser via his publicist, indicates that the politician sees his time at the network coming to an end. ‘We engaged serious people in conversations about national and global issues in a way that was informative and challenging,’ Spitzer said. ‘I believe that we provided diverse and valuable perspectives during the show’s tenure. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CNN.'” Part of the purpose of TheDC Morning is to make fun of the news. But how do you improve on this joke: the governor of New York gets caught in a prostitution sting, and then a struggling cable news channel looks at him and says, “This is the guy who’ll save us!” That’s hilarious. How bad did things get for Spitzer at CNN? He couldn’t even beat KEITH OLBERMANN. Ouch.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “For those who think God does not exist, tell me why. Why do you believe God does not exist?”