President Barack Obama can't even get his snark straight.
In an attempt at the cutting cleverness that escaped him during his debate with Mitt Romney, his campaign aired a TV ad hitting the Republican for his alleged hostility to Big Bird.
"Mitt Romney knows it's not Wall Street you have to worry about," the ominous voice-over declares. "It's 'Sesame Street.'"
The problem with the widely panned spot is that it plays less like a spoof of Mitt Romney than a parody of one of the Obama team's own negative ads. It's as dishonest, over the top and - for lack of a better word - stupid.
Like much of the Obama campaign since the Drubbing in Denver, the ad exhibited all the thoughtfulness and care you would expect of people laboring in trying circumstances, augmented by their own panic.
The president of the United States himself - the man who once pledged to elevate our politics and make the oceans recede - has made Big Bird a recurring feature of his stump speeches. He also cites Elmo and Oscar as other characters who need to "watch out." (The president apparently cares nothing about the fate of Mr. Snuffleupagus, who never rates a mention.)
Obama told an adoring throng at one of his events that Romney "said he'd bring down our deficit by going after what has been the biggest driver of our debt and deficits over the last decade - public television, PBS."
On "Sesame Street," they would tell you Obama's statement is spelled U-N-T-R-U-E.
Stipulating "I love Big Bird," Romney said he would stop the subsidy to PBS, not because it is a big expenditure in the scheme of things, but because he doesn't want to spend on unnecessary items we must "borrow money from China to pay for."
This hasn't stopped the president from portraying Romney as the most malignant threat to the 8-foot-tall flightless canary since Sid and Sam Sleaze tried to capture him for their carnival in the 1985 movie "Follow That Bird."
Romney's point is unremarkable. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets more than $400 million a year from the federal government. If this is an essential expenditure at a time of $1 trillion deficits and a $16 trillion debt, what is nonessential?
Besides, if the line item for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting were zeroed out tomorrow, it wouldn't ruffle a feather on Big Bird. Very little of the money makes it his way. Only about 8 percent of the annual budget of Sesame Workshop, which produces the show, comes from the government. It has operating revenue of more than $130 million a year, and makes about $50 million annually on merchandising alone. Sales of the Elmo Take Along Buddy ($15) and the Count Von Count Beanbag ($8) add up.
On CNN the other day, Sherrie Westin, executive vice president of the Sesame Workshop, cited all the organization's private funding and declared that, even without government help, "'Sesame Street' will be here."
Someone should load that up in the president's teleprompter so he's sure to read it. Then, he might at least hesitate before whipping up a crowd - like the one in Cleveland recently - into chants of "Save Big Bird!"
To the extent it isn't purely cynical, the president's "Sesame Street" offensive is an extreme example of the belief that civil society is all but helpless without the guidance and succor of government. As if private actors can't be trusted to keep a popular children's program featuring iconic puppets on the air, or to preserve the "PBS NewsHour," or to find a way to broadcast "Downton Abbey" in the United States.
What really boggles the mind, though, is that the president is touring the country a few weeks before a consequential national election talking about a fictional bird. To paraphrase Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings, "Have you no sense of self-respect, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of self-respect?"
Now that Obama has had the reins for over four years and is running amok destroying our nation, I am still confused why he was voted in for the second time.
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I am writing this letter to thank and to acknowledge the great and swift job that the Wayne Township Fire Department did, as well as the ambulance, in responding to a medical emergency in our household on May 15.
It is worth mentioning that more Americans were killed by the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11, than were killed by the recent terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
I hate dog movies. In dog movies, the good, loyal, lovable dog always dies at the end and I end up sitting there in the dark with big tears streaming down my cheeks.
I’ve not kept it a secret that I find people who dress their dogs in clothes to be, to put it nicely, somewhat more than just eccentric. And many friendly, helpful readers out there have not kept it a secret that they really wish I would not express my views about dogs dressed as humans.
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Grilling is a simple way to feed your family well this summer. Start with a lean meat and a healthful marinade and then allow the grill to strip away additional fat for a heart-healthy and waist-friendly final result. Plus, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, which adds flavor without additional calories and fat.
Commentary
Discussion
Obama's birdbrained attack
By Rich Lowry CNHI
President Barack Obama can't even get his snark straight.
In an attempt at the cutting cleverness that escaped him during his debate with Mitt Romney, his campaign aired a TV ad hitting the Republican for his alleged hostility to Big Bird.
"Mitt Romney knows it's not Wall Street you have to worry about," the ominous voice-over declares. "It's 'Sesame Street.'"
The problem with the widely panned spot is that it plays less like a spoof of Mitt Romney than a parody of one of the Obama team's own negative ads. It's as dishonest, over the top and - for lack of a better word - stupid.
Like much of the Obama campaign since the Drubbing in Denver, the ad exhibited all the thoughtfulness and care you would expect of people laboring in trying circumstances, augmented by their own panic.
The president of the United States himself - the man who once pledged to elevate our politics and make the oceans recede - has made Big Bird a recurring feature of his stump speeches. He also cites Elmo and Oscar as other characters who need to "watch out." (The president apparently cares nothing about the fate of Mr. Snuffleupagus, who never rates a mention.)
Obama told an adoring throng at one of his events that Romney "said he'd bring down our deficit by going after what has been the biggest driver of our debt and deficits over the last decade - public television, PBS."
On "Sesame Street," they would tell you Obama's statement is spelled U-N-T-R-U-E.
Stipulating "I love Big Bird," Romney said he would stop the subsidy to PBS, not because it is a big expenditure in the scheme of things, but because he doesn't want to spend on unnecessary items we must "borrow money from China to pay for."
This hasn't stopped the president from portraying Romney as the most malignant threat to the 8-foot-tall flightless canary since Sid and Sam Sleaze tried to capture him for their carnival in the 1985 movie "Follow That Bird."
Romney's point is unremarkable. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets more than $400 million a year from the federal government. If this is an essential expenditure at a time of $1 trillion deficits and a $16 trillion debt, what is nonessential?
Besides, if the line item for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting were zeroed out tomorrow, it wouldn't ruffle a feather on Big Bird. Very little of the money makes it his way. Only about 8 percent of the annual budget of Sesame Workshop, which produces the show, comes from the government. It has operating revenue of more than $130 million a year, and makes about $50 million annually on merchandising alone. Sales of the Elmo Take Along Buddy ($15) and the Count Von Count Beanbag ($8) add up.
On CNN the other day, Sherrie Westin, executive vice president of the Sesame Workshop, cited all the organization's private funding and declared that, even without government help, "'Sesame Street' will be here."
Someone should load that up in the president's teleprompter so he's sure to read it. Then, he might at least hesitate before whipping up a crowd - like the one in Cleveland recently - into chants of "Save Big Bird!"
To the extent it isn't purely cynical, the president's "Sesame Street" offensive is an extreme example of the belief that civil society is all but helpless without the guidance and succor of government. As if private actors can't be trusted to keep a popular children's program featuring iconic puppets on the air, or to preserve the "PBS NewsHour," or to find a way to broadcast "Downton Abbey" in the United States.
What really boggles the mind, though, is that the president is touring the country a few weeks before a consequential national election talking about a fictional bird. To paraphrase Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy hearings, "Have you no sense of self-respect, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of self-respect?"
(c) 2012 by King Features Syndicate
Every year you hear people saying, “If only it would get cold enough and snow enough in the winter. Then we wouldn’t have so many bugs.”
May 24, 2013
Democrats do not live the way they vote.
Now that Obama has had the reins for over four years and is running amok destroying our nation, I am still confused why he was voted in for the second time.
May 24, 2013
President Barack Obama believes in the public sector. He thinks it should be made ever more expansive and entrusted with ever more complicated tasks. Its unions should be powerful. It should be hailed by all the great and good, and attract the nation’s best and brightest.
May 24, 2013
I am writing this letter to thank and to acknowledge the great and swift job that the Wayne Township Fire Department did, as well as the ambulance, in responding to a medical emergency in our household on May 15.
May 23, 2013
It is worth mentioning that more Americans were killed by the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11, than were killed by the recent terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
May 23, 2013
I hate dog movies. In dog movies, the good, loyal, lovable dog always dies at the end and I end up sitting there in the dark with big tears streaming down my cheeks.
May 21, 2013
Mr. President, the buck stops with you.
President Truman set that standard, with these very words posted on a sign on his Oval Office desk.
But now, with over a thousand days left in this second Obama administration, we find a Nixonian stench emerging from the “W. House.”
May 21, 2013
Rarely has the White House briefing room so resembled the main ballroom at a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
May 21, 2013
I’ve not kept it a secret that I find people who dress their dogs in clothes to be, to put it nicely, somewhat more than just eccentric. And many friendly, helpful readers out there have not kept it a secret that they really wish I would not express my views about dogs dressed as humans.
May 17, 2013
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
May 17, 2013
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An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
Complete Report:
Part I: Are We Prepared? | Part II: Disaster Dollars
Part III: Lessons Learned | Part IV: Warning Signs
Part V: The Big One
Grilling is a simple way to feed your family well this summer. Start with a lean meat and a healthful marinade and then allow the grill to strip away additional fat for a heart-healthy and waist-friendly final result. Plus, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, which adds flavor without additional calories and fat.
May 24, 2013 1 Photo
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