Posts Tagged ‘White House’

Bob Maistros

“We have some work to do in Egypt in terms of our relationships with the Hebrews.”  Pharoah Ramsses, speech at the dedication of the Pyramids, ca. 1600 BC.

“Here in the Hunnic Empire, we still need to tweak our associations with the Romans.”  Attila, State of the Empire Address, 450.

"Human rights? Hu, me?"

“We have a ways to go in Mongolia in terms of our treatment of conquered peoples.”  Genghis Khan, proclamation, 1200.

“We might have to make some adjustments in Spain in terms of our dealings with heretics.”  Torquemada, ecclesiastical conference, 1492.

“We in England may have to take a second look at our policies in terms of taxation of the colonists.”  King George III, address to Parliament, 1775.

“It may be that we in France need to widen our confectionary choices for the peasantry.”  Marie Antoinette, royal audience, 1791.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Franken

Let’s dispense with the cheap shot first: The Salahis were not invited to the White House Summit on Jobs.

Unfortunately, neither were the unemployed, not in any meaningful way. True, there is no shortage of concerned speeches, including one by the Concerned-Speechmaker-in-Chief, addressing a collection of economists and other academics, and politicians , of course, along with representatives from business, mainly small.

Give me an 'E'!

They are all hand-wringing over the outrage of an economy turning upward while the downtrodden unemployed get more numerous and more desperate.

But all they do is nibble around the edges with platitudes instead of offering real solutions, which would be laws and policies that force the prosperous who are prospering again to share their prosperity with those they have victimized. Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Maistros

WASHINGTON D.C. – Detailed reports are emerging about a publicity-and-power-seeking mystery couple from Chicago that managed to capitalize on a series of lapses in judgment and breakdowns in procedures to talk their way past various checkpoints and safeguards and into the White House. 

Nope, not them.

The couple was first admitted to the presidential mansion last January despite a near-total lack of credentials. Background checks have revealed that the pair launched their plot to gain access to the corridors of power beginning almost immediately upon his controversial selection to a high-profile government position five years ago, after a relatively brief tenure in a similar job at a lower level.  

The checks indicate little prior record of real accomplishment on his part and a work history that labels him as a loner, far out of step with his colleagues or the mainstream; she served in a public relations position, the visibility and remuneration of which appear to have been related to the high profile they managed to generate.  Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Franken

I’m sorry. I can’t contain myself. I have to write about this:

It is probably not true that when President Obama announces Tuesday he’ll be ordering thousands more Americans to Afghanistan, the first two to go will be the couple that crashed the White House State Dinner. But there are probably some people here who would applaud the idea.

Giving the Secret Service heartburn.

Let’s face it, Tareq and Michaele Salahi have left a lot of powerful figures bent out of shape and looking for some way to punish them for their embarrassing stunt Tuesday night. There’s even talk of legal action.

What will the charge be…Ruining Thanksgiving For Secret Service Officials? Or maybe Pulling Off a PR Coup? Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Franken

What possibly could the Fox News executive and President Obama’s press secretary have to talk about? Surely they weren’t negotiating some sort of truce to end the silly War of Petulance the president’s peeps have declared on Fox. Say it ain’t so.

No more feud?

Were they describing some sort of quid pro quo? Did the administration offer to recognize that news media have the right to be critical of a president no matter how little he is used to it? Did the Fox guy offer to lighten up, to be a little less shrill about FNC’s biases? Does this mean there will be no more ” Tea Parties”? Let’s hope not.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Franken

You’ve heard this before. It doesn’t matter whether those of us who fancy ourselves politically informed are right or wrong when we pontificate. No one really pays close enough attention to remember, and certainly we don’t. It’s a great gig.

Well, I hope you’re sitting down, because this pundit-wannabe is about to utter something that would otherwise knock you off your feet: “I might have been wrong.”

Over-playing their hand?

There. I said it. I feel much better now. Except I may end up being wrong about being wrong.

Right now you’re probably asking yourself “What in heaven’s name is he talking about?” It’s a fair question and it deserves an answer. Finally. Read the rest of this entry »