Remember when Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, or Nancy Reagan presented an Oscar? Me neither. #oscars
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) February 25, 2013
Apparently, @reignofapril you have a reading problem. Let me help. I asked if people remembered an appearance. Waiting for your apology.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) February 25, 2013
The left can't produce a video of Laura Bush presenting because it doesn't EXIST bit.ly/XwGUkr
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) February 25, 2013
Sorry, Dana, but former FLOTUS Laura Bush was a presenter at the 2002 Oscars.
Twitter user @PumpsandBumps tells the truth about Bush's role in the 2002 Oscars:
Will someone remind these @dloesch that Laura Bush was a presenter at the 74th Academy Awards? #thanks
— Miss Hill (@PumpsandBumps) February 25, 2013
Right-wing media are falsely suggesting that First Lady Michelle Obama's Academy Awards appearance is unprecedented, ignoring that former presidents and former First Lady Laura Bush have previously participated in the ceremony. In fact, former presidents and former First Lady Laura Bush have participated in Academy Awards ceremonies. In 2002, Bush appeared at the Oscars in a taped appearance. From the Chicago Tribune:
The documentary history montage was put together by director Penelope Spheeris, whose remarkable "Decline of Western Civilization" rock documentaries likely have never been even close to nominated.
And the show's marvelous "What do the movies mean to you?" opening segment was done by director Errol Morris, whose groundbreaking work, from "Thin Blue Line" through "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control," has also been criminally neglected.
It was bracing to see people from Laura Bush to Jerry Brown to Mikhail Gorbachev interviewed, and mind-bending to hear film titles such as Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill" and William Castle's "The Tingler" mentioned on usually sacrosanct Oscar airspace.
In 1981, President Reagan taped an appearance for the Oscars. From The New York Times:
But now that Mr. Reagan has moved on to another profession, he's been invited to appear on the Academy Awards program on March 30.
The President will remain in the White House and tape a brief greeting to the audience at the Oscar ceremonies, and his words will be televised early in the awards show.
''President Reagan was once a member of our industry and it seemed fitting for him to join us,'' said Norman Jewison, producer of this year's show.
The Times also noted that former President Franklin D. Roosevelt "spoke to an Oscar audience by radio in 1941."
The far right-wing loves to lie and smear any member of the Obama family (or any Democrat/liberal/alleged "RINO").
Rosen's close proximity to the Obama team is why David Axelrod and Jim Messina were so quick to toss her under the bus; their surrogates are working overtime to push as much distance between the President and Rosen as possible.
Rosen herself set the bar for how such attacks as hers are to be judged: In 2008 she condemned such attacks on Michelle Obama.
Democrats have been throwing up every deflection they can to keep voters's eyes off the record-high, worse-than-Carter gas prices, the sluggish economy, and scandals like Fast and Furious and Solyndra. With so many narratives in the air, they were bound to mess up the storyline.
Loesch continues lying her butt off with this next post on Big Journalism:
The blowback from Democrat strategist Hilary Rosen's remarks against stay-at-home moms reached a fever pitch this morning, kicking the Obama campaign into massive damage control mode. Last night David Axelrod and Jim Messina threw Rosen under the bus--and this afternoon Michelle Obama joined them.
If equality were the issue, the First Lady would not have gone on Dave Letterman's show (he never apologized for calling Palin a "slutty flight attendant"); the Obama Super PAC would have returned the $1 million from Bill Maher, who called Palin a "twat" on television and a "cunt" on stage.
Dana, you and your surrogates on the right have lost, plain and simple.
WASHINGTON -- Ann Romney maybelieve that focusing exclusively on raising children counts as work, and the majority of A mericans may agree with her, but that's not how the federal government sees it.
As far as Uncle Sam is concerned, if you're poor, deciding to stay at home and rear your children is not an option. Thanks to welfare reform, recipients of federal benefits must prove to a caseworker that they have performed, over the course of a week, a certain number of hours of "work activity." That number changes from state to state, and each state has discretion as to how narrowly work is defined, but federal law lists 12 broad categories that are covered.
Raising children is not among them
.
According to a 2006 Congressional Research Service report, the dozen activities that fulfill the work requirement are:
(1) unsubsidized employment
(2) subsidized private sector employment
(3) subsidized public sector employment
(4) work experience
(5) on-the-job training
(6) job search and job readiness assistance
(7) community services programs
(8) vocational educational training
(9) job skills training directly related to employment
(10) education directly related to employment (for those without a high school degree or equivalent)
(11) satisfactory attendance at a secondary school
(12) provision of child care to a participant of a community service program
The only child-care related activity on the list is the last one, which would allow someone to care for someone else's child if that person were off volunteering. But lest beneficiaries get carried away with their charitable activity, it does not apply to married couples in some states. Connecticut, for instance, specifically prevents counting as "work" an instance in which one parent watches a child while the other parent volunteers.
Regardless of their political affiliations, raising children is an admirable thing.
Michelle Obama and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, both of whom that Loesch criticizes on a regular basis, have condemned Rosen's remarks.
Disappointed in @hilaryr 's comments. As a mother of 3 there’s no doubt that raising children is work.
— D Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) April 12, 2012
Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected. –mo
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) April 12, 2012
UPDATE: Hilary Rosen will appear on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to discuss her apology to Ann Romney. And Rosen has more dignity than the Righties that are smearing her for telling the truth about Ann and Mitt Romney.
The Obamas threw an epic Halloween bash in 2009 and we’re only just now discovering how over-the-top the bash was — and how complicit media was in keeping the White House’s secret. After all, White House staff was “concerned” that the extravagant bash would appear tone-deaf to unemployed Americans, hundreds of thousands of whom are leaving the workforce entirely as new jobs are scarce and businesses are stretched thin. But is the story what it seems?
If media reports are to be believed, the Halloween bash was “staged“/thrown by Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Security for the event would cost the public, but (I assume) comparatively no more than the cost of the annual Easter egg roll or other observances.
The point of the question isn’t to excuse the Obamas’ past irresponsibility in presentation; they lead one of the most tone-deaf administrations (Camelot style in a Carter economy, after all). The point is that this event, from my understanding, was for, and attended predominately by, military members and their families. This party is easier to justify, and features a better guest list, than the previous devil-may-care variety. I don’t want to discourage Hollywood from doing something nice for our soldiers when 99% of the movies they make about them portray them as monsters. The last time Johnny Depp dabbled in politics he called the country a “big dumb puppy.” A good deed like footing the bill (assumedly sans Secret Service, other security) for a bash thrown in honor of military families deserves some positive reinforcement by way of kudos, if this report is true.
There is still the pesky question of why the White House and media in attendance kept all of this quiet.
The White House press corps was allowed to report on more modest festivities earlier that day for Washington-area school children, but did not release details of the more glamorous festivities that occurred later for what was the Obamas’ first Halloween in office in 2009.
The blame will be put on you — instead of where it belongs: on an administration that has thrown, at the public’s expense, so many parties, taken so many vacations, and has been so decidedly opaque (for the most “transparent administration ever”). The White House owns the expectation is has created by precedence. Hollywood directors, actors, and their deeds are irrelevant to the discussion, but they will be used as deflection and later, an ally.
Who else owns the expectation? The media. The public has to play the guessing game, citizen journalists have to assume the responsibility of hunting down fact, because MSM either cannot or will not themselves.
Loesch's article is just more falsehood-based Obama-hating red meat to her readers.
Of course, it is just your standard misplaced lies about "Obama spending money foolishly while Bush spent it wisely" perpetrated by the right-wing media liars club. They also scream about vacations taken by either Barack and/or Michelle Obama, while ignoring Ronald Reagan's, both Bush 41 and Bush 43's, and even Bill Clinton's vacations. In fact, Bush 43 took more vacations than Obama has ever done. They also attack the First Lady Michelle for being what a typical First Lady's job is. Answer to all these asinine personal attacks on the Obama Family: the fact that they are Black, intelligent, and members of the Democratic Party.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Saturday doled out presidential M&Ms and dried fruit mixes to more than 2,000 trick-or-treaters, marking their Halloween at a White House event partly aimed at honoring military families.
Dressed as superheroes, pirates, fairies and skeletons, the kids came in with their parents from Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C., lining up at the orange lit White House.
The Obamas smiled, chatted and passed out cellophane goody bags that were also filled with a sweet dough butter cookie made by White House pastry chef Bill Yosses and a National Park Foundation Ranger activity book. Mrs. Obama wore furry cat ears and a leopard-patterned top.
Over the years, the winter holidays have been the ones to get the full treatment at the White House, with Christmas trees and tinsel all around.
The Obamas are not the first, though, to show Halloween spirit.
President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush hosted 500 children on Halloween in 1989, loading them up with fun loot but also teaching them about the dangers of drugs. The kids came decked out in costumes; some Secret Service agents came dressed as clowns.
In the Clintons' first year in the White House, the Great Pumpkin returned. A huge orange jack-o'-lantern was formed around the front entrance to the White House, with the front door to the mansion serving as the middle tooth. The first couple's daughter, Chelsea, was 13 at the time and the house was stuffed with pumpkins.
During the Nixon administration, first daughter Tricia hosted parties for underprivileged children, according to the White House Historical Association. And plenty of other first families got festive for Halloween.
No telling what kind of goblins might pop up this year, although stories of ghosts – especially Abraham Lincoln's – are woven into White House history.
A Reuters article from October 31st, 2009 has what really happened:
The White House glowed pumpkin orange on Saturday when the Obama family turned 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue into Halloween central, complete with a giant stuffed spider dangling from a web above its front door. More than 2,000 local area children and their families were invited for the traditional trick-or-treat event. The Obamas spent about 30 minutes handing out cellophane bagfulls of boxed red, white and blue M&M’s. The boxes bore the presidential seal. Also tucked in was a home-baked orange-glazed cookie and, in a nod to Michelle Obama’s efforts to promote healthy food, dried apricots and cranberries. The president didn’t wear a costume for his first Halloween in the White House. Michelle Obama went as a cat woman, complete with leopard-print top and furry ears on a headband. Daughters Malia and Sasha were there for the fun, but were not stuck with any candy line duties. The scene was worthy of a Hollywood extravaganza. Bubble machines blanketed the North Portico, the ceremonial entrance to the White House. Pumpkins, some carved and candle lighted, lined the marble steps. Behind Obama stood a white-helmeted storm trooper character from “Star Wars,” along with the film’s Chewbacca, the hairy, apelike “wookie.”
CNN, which is Loesch's current employer, also has more details (article published on Halloween 2009):
WASHINGTON (CNN)– President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are celebrating their first Halloween at the White House by inviting Washington area students and military families to trick or treat. According to the White House, up to 2,000 kids between the ages of 6 and 14 years old are expected on the grounds of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday evening.
Just a couple days ago, The Huffington Post reported that the Obama Adminstration held an Alice In Wonderland-themed party in 2009.
President Obama threw a star-studded, "Alice In Wonderland"-themed Halloween party at the White House in 2009, New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor writes in her new book, "The Obamas."The party, parts of which were posted on the White House website and reported by Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, saw the State Dining Room transformed into a Tim Burton-inspired fantasyland. It resembled the world of the filmmaker's impending Disney-distributed adaptation of the famous Lewis Carroll story, which was released in March 2010.
Kantor writes (via the NY Post) that Burton made up the room "in his signature creepy-comic style... He had turned the room into the Mad Hatter's tea party, with a long table set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies... Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar. Burton's own Mad Hatter, the actor Johnny Depp, presided over the scene in full costume, standing up on a table to welcome everyone in character." George Lucas, the book says, sent over the original Chewbacca costume for the occasion. Kantor also writes that the President and First Lady's daughters, Malia and Sasha, and their friends were entertained with a magic show in the East Room.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this item said that the White House attempted to keep the appearance of Burton and Depp from the press. Their attendance was reported at the time by a Tennessee paper and a Depp fan website.
Why does CNN continue to put this massive liar on the air?
Double standards alert: Breitbart flunky and pretend Independent Conservative who's really a Republican cheerleader Dana Loesch defended the booing of Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, solely because they were Democrats. Had they been Republicans, they would be cheering them loudly. Then again, most, but not all, NASCAR fans are Republicans or Republican-leaning Independents. She whined about how "Conservatives get victimized and booed for their beliefs, while the Democrats get cheered and seldom ever booed." That's not even close to true.
Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden appeared at the last
NASCAR race of the season to serve as co-grand marshals and shout
“Gentlemen, start your engines!” The appearance was part of the Joining
Forces initiative and yesterday, according to the White House, FLOTUS
was joined by “5,000 active duty and retired military personnel and
families and thousands of NASCAR fans” and was loudly booed when her
name was announced over the loud speakers.
At an event with such an apparently unifying theme, the
crowd’s reaction was an ugly reminder of how personally some have taken
the political divisions in our country.
It’s not a recent occurrence, and to my memory, this is the first
time that a Democrat has been publicly booed. I certainly don’t recall
progressive media condemning how Sarah Palin was booed at a hockey game
in Philadelphia.
I’ve always said that respect for public office is a two-way street,
and the ultimate failure of this is when the individual holding said
office doesn’t themselves demonstrate respect for it.
Is it really a surprise that after three-and-a-half years of being demonized by the party of the President and First Lady (when they aren’t doing the demonizingthemselves) that Americans would issue a frosty reception? This is the same President that called Americans “bitter clingers” [their emphasis]:
And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns
or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or
anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain
their frustrations.
Yes, 300+ criminal acts of “expression.” And the people screaming the loudest over the NASCAR booing are the people who support and endorse this.
Remember, it was the Obama administration which placed the Tea Party on the DHS watch list for domestic terrorism, which to me sounds like bad manners
to label someone as a potential domestic terrorist simply for
disagreeing with your policies or carrying a military-authorized Gadsen
flag.
I haven’t seen a blip about these “bad manners” from the progressives
attempting to excoriate conservatives and the NASCAR audience (five
thousand of which were military and military families) over the First
Lady’s reception.
Dana Loesch, in an article too stupid for words, defended classless
conservatives who booed Michelle Obama at a NASCAR event honoring
veterans by rambling on about a bunch of unrelated things.
Loesch is indeed one of the stupidest RW hack bloggers in American, right there with Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Pamela Geller, and St. Louis's own Jim Hoft (aka Gateway Pundit) and Adam Sharp (Sharpelbows.com).
Cape Girardeau-born sewer-mouth racist loudmouth Rush Limbaugh said that "she deserved to be booed for her 'uppityness'."
From the 11.21.2011 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
Back in late September of this year, Loesch misleadingly declared that "there was no booing of the LGBTQ soldier."
This
morning while on the Political Buzz panel for CNN we discussed the
reported “booing” of the gay soldier who asked about DADT at last
night’s debate. Considering the amount of print devoted to painting
the entire crowd out to be bloodthirsty haters with zero regard for
military service, it’s no wonder that it would become a question the
next day.
Unfortunately for the progressives writing the spin
(who forget that it was their idol Bill Clinton who enacted DADT in the
first place), the entire story of the debate audience booing is a lie.
Sara
Rumpf was in the debate audience and what she witnessed was vastly
different than the account the outlets linked above are reporting:
I
want to put this on the record now about an incident that happened at
tonight’s Republican debate. It’s important that the truth is shared,
because I have already seen liberal bloggers and some people on Twitter
completely distorting what happened.
The debate included video
questions that were submitted on YouTube, and one came from a soldier
serving in Iraq who is gay and asked about the candidates’ opinions on
don’t ask don’t tell. There was audible booing after his
question…however, please note that it was not the crowd booing. It was
only one or two people.
Frankly, I don’t care where you stand on
DADT, you don’t boo a soldier in the battlefield, period. The audience
at last night’s debate believe this which is why they verbally took
apart the men who yelled. Conservatives police their side.
If
progressives want to talk about bigotry, let’s talk about the unfiltered
racist hatred they dumped on Twitter the night Troy Davis was delivered
justice. Look at Michelle Malkin’s Twitter stream for that. I’m waiting
for progressives to clean up their house.
Dear Dana, they DID boo the soldier, you lying moron! And no, Conservatives do NOT police their side.
There is indeed double standards from this hack blogger who goes on CNN to lie on national TV on a regular basis.
On tonight's John King, USA, Dana Loesch was complaining about the breastfeeding promotion as a "nanny state tactic." She was on her anti-Obama high horse. Her counterpart Leigh Ann O'Connor, defended the use of breastfeeding supplies for women.
KING: A new change in tax law offers a benefit to mothers who breast feed and has some conservatives complaining of a new nanny state. Here's Republican Congresswoman, a Tea Party favorite, Michele Bachmann on "The Laura Ingraham Show".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: I have given birth to five babies and I breast fed every single one of these babies, but to think that government has to go out and buy my breast pump for my babies (INAUDIBLE) you want to talk about the nanny state. I think you just got --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Literally --
BACHMANN: -- new definition of the nanny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: First lady Michele Obama told a group of reporters last week she wants to aggressively promote breastfeeding as a way to reduce childhood obesity. It's not the first time she's focused on this issue. Here she is talking a few months ago at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: And because it's important to prevent obesity early, we're also working to promote breast feeding, especially in the black community -- where 40 percent of our babies never get breast fed even in the first weeks of life. And we know that babies that are breastfed are less likely to be obese as children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Smart advocacy or too much lecturing, interference from the White House.
Joining me from St. Louis, radio talk show host, Dana Loesch. She's the editor in chief of the conservative "Big Journalism" blog. And in New York, lactation consultant Leigh Anne O'Connor.
Dana, to you first -- is Michelle Obama trying to create a nanny state in your view?
DANA LOESCH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I kind of have to answer yes and no with this. And I don't think it's necessarily Michelle Obama that's trying to do this. I don't necessarily think it's the first lady, but rather some of the actions that the administration has taken.
Look, I am all for breast feeding. I myself breast my children until they were well passed a year. And I think it's fantastic and advocacy for that. I'm a very vocal support it.
But at the same time, from a conservative perspective, I have to question what the White House is doing, because breast pumps actually fall under medical devices, which as you know, under the health care law, those devices are going to be hit with a massive excise tax. So, don't make something tax deductible that you're taxing, just don't tax it. That's sort of the first criticism I think I have over it.
But the second thing and this I don't think necessarily pertains to the first lady, but the way that the White House is kind of positioning itself towards this -- as far as breast feeding is concerned, I realize that the White House is trying to exert some influence over businesses to offer, to be more breast-feeding friendly -- again, fantastic. But I don't think it is the government's role to direct business in that. Leave that choice up to the individual businesses, to the parents, to the individual, period.
KING: Leigh Anne, what do you think? Should this -- should the first lady be encouraging this? She's not an elected official or government employee per se, but she's the president's wife. When she speaks, one assumes she is speaking on behalf of the president. At Dana noted, there are some other government actions involved as well.
LEIGH ANNE O'CONNOR, LACTACTION CONSULTANT: Well, we know that breast feeding is important, and one of the biggest barriers to continued breast feeding is working. So if we support these women by giving them -- by letting their flexible spending dollars be used for this equipment, we're not paying for breast pumps. What we're doing is giving women -- letting women use their pre-tax dollars to have this equipment cared for and then they can continue breast feeding. And that's what we want.
It would -- the difference is, how much does it cost for these tax breaks versus the $13 billion that it would cost us in health care because women aren't breast feeding?
KING: Let me look -- let me actually lay out for anyone watching you who hasn't heard the change in the tax code. Let's show what it does. This is an IRS announcement from one week ago, "Recognizes breastfeeding supplies as medical expenses worthy of reimbursement through those flexible spending accounts." Some of you probably get through your employer, health saving accounts, you set money aside tax-free and you can use it on health care expenses. It recognizes breastfeeding supplies as a worthy medical expense. It also authorizes breastfeeding supplies to be itemized as a deduction when you deduct your medical expense if you reach the threshold on your taxes.
I want you to listen to Congresswoman Bachmann. She was on "Good Morning America" this morning talking about her take on the change in the tax code.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: My quarrel isn't necessarily with the whole topic. I've given birth to five children myself. I strongly believe in breastfeeding. But I think what this points up again is that the tax code is used by government as social engineering.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: If you follow that argument, Dana, am I fair to say -- if you take away deductions for breastfeeding devices, we should also take them away deductions for home ownership? Because that's, you know, if that's social engineering, it's social engineering, too, isn't it?
LOESCH: Well, you are talking to someone who thinks -- who subscribes to the Jimmy McMillan theory that things are already too high as is. I won't go in the full effect of that. But you get where I'm going with it.
I just -- I look at deduction -- again, breastfeeding is fantastic but the government, it's already kind of making it a little bit difficult for moms anyway with all of the excessive taxation. And we have 19 new taxes with the health care law. These excise taxes -- I think this is going to cost businesses in excess of over $20 billion a year, which is going to skyrocket, not only the cost of these breast pumps which I used when I was a nursing mother -- but also a lot of other related accessories to motherhood.
So, I just -- I think it's kind of a weird way that the administration is going about it. And again, with the businesses -- if businesses want to attract better employees and more employees by offering perks like breastfeeding rooms and pumps and all of that stuff, then if they want to make a smart business move, they should be allowed to make that decision for themselves without necessarily the government kind of exerting influence over that.
KING: How about that argument, Leigh Anne, that this should be the power of the marketplace, that a competitive business wants to hire you away from where you work right now and say, hey, come here, look what I will do to you to make your life better? O'CONNOR: Well, I think it's important that companies do get a tax break for offering breastfeeding rooms and breastfeeding supplies and time off for mothers to express their milk. It makes a huge difference. There's a huge return on investment on creating these opportunities for women and for their families, and you're going to retain employees.
It's -- and businesses don't know this until maybe somebody says, hey, this is -- this is important. This is going to make a difference locally and globally.
KING: Dana Loesch, Leigh Anne O'Connor, appreciate your time on this important debate tonight. We'll see you both at another time.
When we come back --
O'CONNOR: Thank you.
KING: Thank you both.
UPDATE: From Media Matters on her 1st CNN appearance as an official CNN contributor.
Recently-minted CNN contributor Dana Loesch claimed that breast pumps will be subject to the "massive excise tax" on medical devices under the health care reform law. In fact, the law exempts medical devices that are "generally purchased by the general public at retail for individual use."
From the 02.17.2011 edition of CNN's John King, USA.
