1.) A vote for Obama is a vote for higher taxes — Problem solved, America: Obama said a bunch more words! TheDC’s Neil Munro reports: “President Barack Obama is urging a debt-ceiling deal with Hill Republicans. Despite the government’s $1.5 trillion current deficit, $14 trillion federal debt and $100 trillion promise of future spending for retirees, the president is pushing Congress to spend still more. ‘Let’s get this [deficit and debt] problem off the table … [and] with a solid fiscal situation, we will then be in a position to make the kind of investments that I think are going to be necessary to win the future,’ he told reporters gathered for a White House press conference Monday morning.” Investments! Win the Future! Now it all makes sense. And as Bryan Preston at the PJ Tatler notes, Obama made an astonishing admission when asked about new taxes: “So, when you hear folks saying ‘Well, the president shouldn’t want massive job-killing tax increases when the economy is this weak.’ Nobody’s looking to raise taxes right now. We’re talking about potentially 2013 and the out years.” Okay, so we’re supposed to vote for him, and THEN he’ll raise our taxes. Obama 2012: Win the Massive Job-Killing Tax Increases! Oh, and he also said some stuff about pulling off Band-Aids and eating your peas. He is History’s Greatest Communicator.
2.) The U.S. invaded Iraq because of 9/11, says… Leon Panetta? — Yep. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports: “During his first visit to Iraq as defense secretary, Leon Panetta seemed to link America’s presence in the country to the 9/11 attacks. ‘The reason you guys are here is because on 9/11 the United States got attacked,’ Panetta said to American troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad Monday, as reported by the Washington Post. ‘And 3,000 Americans — 3,000 not just Americans, 3,000 human beings, innocent human beings — got killed because of al-Qaeda. And we’ve been fighting as a result of that.'” Panetta then, you know, clarified: “I wasn’t saying, you know, the invasion — or going into the issues or the justification of that. It was more the fact that we really had to deal with al-Qaeda here, they developed a presence here and that tied in.” Oh. Well, thanks for clearing that up. Guess all that “No Blood for Oil” stuff was just libs being silly geese.
3.) Michelle Obama gets fries to go with that shake — If you turn food into a political issue, you should expect your own eating habits to be scrutinized. And so it is with our wonderful First Lady. The Washington Post reports: “Michelle Obama ordered a whopper of a meal at the newly opened Washington diner Shake Shack during lunch on Monday. A Washington Post journalist on the scene confirmed the first lady, who’s made a cause out of child nutrition, ordered a ShackBurger, fries, chocolate shake and a Diet Coke while the street and sidewalk in front of the usually-packed Shake Shack were closed by security during her visit. According to nutritional information on Shake Shack’s Web site, the meal amounted to 1,700 calories.” That can’t be right. It was a DIET Coke! Well, Mrs. Obama has every right to eat whatever she wants, whenever she wants. And we have every right to mock her for it the next time she tries to tell us how to live our lives.
4.) Bob Beckel behaves like a total Bob Beckel — Now that Glenn Beck’s show on Fox News Channel has ended, they’ve debuted their new 5 o’clock show, titled simply “The Five.” The debut episode featured the always thoughtful and understated Bob Beckel, and he was at his most Bobbeckelish. TheDC’s Jeff Poor has a good question: “Americans for Tax Reform founder and president Grover Norquist has made some enemies over the years for his conservative politics, but does he deserve to be called a terrorist? On the Monday debut of Fox News Channel’s ‘The Five,’ co-panelist Andrea Tantaros pointed out the difficulties Speaker of the House John Boehner faces with his own caucus in the debt ceiling debate. Tantaros explained that there are some that refuse to raise the debt ceiling, regardless of what kind of deal Boehner and Obama negotiate… Beckel responded, saying Norquist personifies the opposition Boehner is facing and that the ATR president should face punishment. ‘Do all of you not think that it’s just a little bit difficult for Boehner when people say nothing, absolutely nothing?’ Beckel said. ‘Grover Norquist — that little dumpy guy down on K Street — now there’s a guy who ought to be sent to Gitmo as a terrorist for being a national security threat to the United States.'” As co-panelist Greg Gutfeld noted, Beckel has finally found a legitimate use for Gitmo: imprisoning people who disagree with Bob Beckel.
5.) One, two, three, four, Mila Kunis loves Marine Corps — TheDC’s Amanda Seitz reports: “With the help of a simple YouTube video, U.S. Marine Sgt. Scott Moore’s dream of spending an evening with Hollywood starlet Mila Kunis is one step closer to reality. Currently deployed in Afghanistan, Moore posted a video on YouTube requesting the presence of Kunis at the November 18 Marine Corps Ball in Greenville, North Carolina. ‘Hi Mila, I just want to take a moment out of my day to invite you to the Marine Corps Ball with yours truly,’ the uniformed sergeant said with an Afghanistan base in the background.” And when she was told about the invitation during an interview with Fox411 in NYC, she said yes! Sure, she’s got a new movie to promote, and she was basically blackmailed into it by co-star Justin Timberlake. But still. She sure is purty.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “All these people who host these talk shows. Then they go on someone else’s talk show. When they go home, then what? Interview the doorman?”