Obama Gets the Bad Guy

The biggest and best news in a very long time: Osama bin Laden is dead.

It was 7:45 pm Pacific time, I was watching 60 minutes when a breaking news bulletin cut in: the president was about to make an announcement. The first thing I thought (and I heard many others did as well) was that it had something to do with Libya. But the news was stunning: US Special Forces had found and killed Osama bin Laden.

It's been nearly 10 years since 9/11/2001, and the hunt for Bin Laden went from an all-consuming passion to eventually being a joke, and even a movie: Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?

The mystery is over, bin Laden was not in a cave somewhere, he was living in a suburb of of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad in a fortified mansion.

Reuters graphic 

President Obama gave the order to go after bin Laden on Friday, April 29 just before leaving for Alabama to  tour the tornado damaged areas and offer support to residents

The president's statement:

The full text of the president's statement can be read here:

Keith Olbermann's blog provided some great insight, including the mind-boggling realization that Obama had given the order to go after bin Laden the day before the White House Correspondents' Dinner and the mission was in play while he was at the dinner:

"This was the President, via C-SPAN, captured byThe New York Observer, during the jokes about bin Laden during The White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday Night. The proverbial 1000-word screencap:"

The man can certainly multi-task, summarized here in some of my favorite tweets by some of my favorite Tweeples:

rishinNOLA Terrence 

Obama worked in Alabama on the disaster there. He knocked them out at the WHCD. Took out Bin Ladin. All in the same weekend. He's the Man.

markknoller Mark Knoller 

Pres Obama made decision to undertake raid operation at 8:20am Friday, 4/29, before leaving for Alabama.

thinkprogress ThinkProgress 

AMAZING: Firefighters get the news in Times Square (via @nytimes)

FRwritings ©Frankie J™ 

USA!! - USA!! - USA!! - USA!! #OBAMA KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN!!

ChicoDelainky ChicoDelainky 

"On 9/11, Americans were running from the White House. Tonight they are running to it"~ Chico Delainky

There was a great deal of celebration on hearing the news, as hundreds of people gathered at the White House:

Although not everyone was happy about the news, at least not happy that it was President Obama who got the bad guy, and that the news broke in during the last few minutes of Celebrity Apprentice on the east coast:

Drudge is such a grump...

And the response to Trump and the Birthers from some Progressives with a sense of humor:

And lastly, a bit of humor from Twitter, a brand new Twitter account from the Ghost of Osama:

GhostOsama Osama Bin Laden 

Well this sucks...I accidentally enabled location on my tweets.

Trump the Chump

Saturday night at the White House Correspondent's Dinner - AKA the Nerd Prom, Donald Trump was the subject of many fine jokes, but Mr. Trump did not seem to find them all that funny.

Side shots of him on C-Span and MSNBC's cameras showed a man who initially smiled as the president began to make jokes about him, but as the night wore on, and the jokes became sharper; delivered during an outstanding performance by Seth Meyers, Trump appeared to be less than amused.


Some of my favorite lines:

Obama:  (from AP) Regarding Trump's decision to fire actor Busey instead of rock singer Meat Loaf from the Celebrity Apprentice earlier this month, Obama quipped: "These are the types of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir."

Meyers: "Donald Trump often talks about running as a Republican, which is surprising, I just assumed he was running as a joke."


and... “Donald Trump said recently he has a great relationship with the blacks, though unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I bet he’s mistaken.”


The next day Trump wasted no time telling anyone who would listen that the event was "inapproriate and calling Seth Meyers, "a stutterer" thereby showing that The Donald is not much of a good sport.

Blogs and media were awash in coverage, here are some with additional information:

The Political Carnival:
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2011/05/01/donald-trump-pouts-whines-and-reacts-to-president-obamas-jokes/

Daily Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/01/971878/-Obama-Eats-Trump-For-Dinner

Politico:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54037.html

Trump also decided to blast David Letterman for his jokes about The Donald, and oddly, speaking about himself in the 3rd person:

From the New York Post, "I was disappointed to hear the statements you made about me last night on your show that I was a 'racist,' " Trump wrote to Letterman. "In actuality, nothing could be further from the truth and there is nobody who is less of a racist than Donald Trump."

Read more here:

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/trump_lashes_back_at_dave_vN4dvVfHg1DVauAooqOaKO

Full video:

President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mzJhvC-8E&feature=youtu.be

Seth Meyers remarks at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YGITlxfT6s&feature=youtu.be

Twitter was full of great tweets about Trump's seemingly ill-advised decision to attend the event and his subsequent pouting about being the butt of many a joke:

ChicoDelainky ChicoDelainky 

If you're going to dish it out, Donald, then you better learn to take it, & that goes for the fox you have on your head as well!

(I actually thought it was a weasel, but you know, potato, potatoh...)

LaMiaVerita LaMiaVerita 

And the White House Correspondents Dinner? "Many a true word is spoken in jest." You can quote me. ..

whisper1111 mike fogelsanger 

trump to star in new reality show "celebrity laughingstock"

One more note about nasty Donald (the press seems to think he is fair game, which seems reasonable given his endless attention-seeking stunts for media attention):

Former Employee Says Trump Harassed Gay, Female Workers

http://www.wisconsingazette.com/breaking-news/former-employee-says-trump-harassed-gay-female-workers.html

Yikes! And....euwwwww....
















Mr. Trump, you have been exposed to be the chump we always suspected you were. But I had a great time watching the event, I laughed enough for both of us. Hee!

Racism is not entertaining Mr. Trump

I felt both sadness and outrage yesterday when the president released his birth certificate.

I think it was best put by Baratunde Thurston in his moving video:
http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2011/04/video-with-president-obamas-birth-certificate-klansman-trump-reminds-blacks-they-will-never-be-american/

Now Trump is questioning Obama's educational achievements. How low will this Carnival Barker sink?

Perhaps his sinking ratings may stop his race bating antics, as pointed out by Joshua Green in The Atlantic, rating have begun to slide as shown by this chart from Mr. Green's article:

One can only hope that poor ratings (which equal less money for the never-ending greedy Trump) will catch the attention of The Donald and shut him up.

Of course, they may make him decide to run for president after all. Who will be on Celebrity Apprentice after this spectacle? Trump has become toxic.

Some people think that Trump running for president would be a good thing (especially if you are a comedian), but I do not think I can bear to listen to Trump through an entire presidential election cycle. Yes, Obama would clean his clock in any debate, but the pain Trump inflicts is just too hard to take, especially after the hateful rhetoric stirred up by Palin in 2008.

It seems that Republicans cannot debate the president on FACTS or real issues, so instead they resort to cheap shots at his past using manufactured concerns.

I don't find any of this entertaining.

Boycott NBC and Trump

Donald Trump's racist birther accusations have been debunked, the White House has released the president's "long form" birth certificate.

As the president said, "We do not have time for this kind of silliness." Thank you, Mr. President, for being, once again, the adult in this national conversation.


As Think Progress reports, "acclaimed historian and author Douglas Brinkley pinned the blame for the reemergence of birtherism on NBC Entertainment for giving real estate mogul Donald Trump a primetime platform."


Brinkley also calls for what seems to be an appropriate response, to boycott NBC and the sponsors of Celebrity Apprentice until The Donald is fired. Giving a "primetime platform" (and paying him at the same time) to Trump is unacceptable. 


To express your concerns about Trump's continued support by NBC, you can contact them here:
NBC 1-212-664-4444 
NBC Entertainment:
 Rebecca Marks, Executive Vice President, Publicity
818-777-3030
Rebecca.Marks@nbcuni.com


Change.org has a petition you can sign: 
http://www.change.org/petitions/dont-support-donald-trump-and-boycott-the-sponsors-of-nbcs-the-celebrity-apprentice-3


This petition targets the major sponsors and supporters of Celebrity Apprentice:
CEO, Enterprise Rental Car Company(Andrew C. Taylor)

• The Walt Disney Company(Robert Iger)
• The Clorox Company(Donald R. Knauss)
• Director, Business Communications, Bristol-Myers Squibb(Laura Hortas)
• CEO, Groupon Inc.(Andrew Mason)
• Executive VP, Publicity, NBC Entertainment(Rebecca Market)
• CEO, Sprint-Nextel Wireless(Dan Hesse)

  
  
  

  I will not be watching NBC or purchasing any of the above sponsors products until Trump hears, "You're Fired."