Very O/T but Pelosi and other Dem leaders are now calling on Weiner to resign..

[ObamaKerryDem]

Curious to see what everyone here's thoughts are--if any--on this. Love Nancy Pelosi but she is wrong on this, IMO. Weiner broke no laws and it really has nothing to do with his representation. It should be up to the NY voters. They will vote next year and can even petition for a special election if they are so outraged that they can't bear to wait until then (though recent polls of his district would suggest otherwise..). America is way too hung up on the personal lives of its politicos, in my view!:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/democratic-leaders-call-on-anthony-weiner-to-resign/2011/06/11/AGptcSQH_blog.html

If Weiner has to go, I want to see people like Vitter go, too. Such a double standard!

I get the pressure Pelosi and others are feeling to respond to this, I do. But I disagree.

[Blaukraut]

1. I'm conflicted about this

Morally or personally speaking, I'm pissed at Weiner for being stupid and arrogant. Stupid for doing what he did, and arrogant for lying about it and thinking he wouldn't get found out. Is that (non-politically speaking) reason to resign? Not as long as he is cleared in the ethics investigation. Beyond that, the only other people who can, and should, judge him, are his wife and his constituents.

That said, however:

Strictly politically speaking, I think he should resign. The Republicans will hang him around the other Dem congresspeople's necks if he doesn't. The media will eventually let go of the new chew toy, but he will be brought back into the news cycles in ads near the election. He is a distraction we cannot afford right now.

Of course if Democrats played like the Republicans, Vitter would be used against his fellow Republicans politically, as well, but unfortunately our side just doesn't seem to have the necessary level of hypocrisy and hubris to do that. So yeah, it's unfair, but that's how it is.

[wisteria]

3. I just don't see how the Repubs could hold his actions against other Congress people's necks.

And, I really don't think most people are that outraged by this. And, the only ones who are wouldn't vote for a Democrat anyway. Just my opinion, but we continue to stick by the old rules and I don't see us gaining by doing so.

[wisteria]

2. I agree with you. Benjamin Franklin wouldn't of been able to serve this country

with the Repubs, fellow Dems and the media hounding him. I am not saying Weiner is an equal to Franklin,but everyone-and I repeat-everyone has things they do that they wouldn't want to be made public. No one is perfect. This is another case of Dem's not wanting to deal with or unable to deal with the news hounds and just wanting to see the problem go away. They did this to Kerry, with the Iraq comment-even though he wasn't wrong and he just misspoke. And, these actions make me less likely to give any money to Dems right now.

[karynnj]

8. I would not equate Weiner to either of your comparisions

Kerry's is the worse - He did nothing unethical, immoral or illegal - and every single Democrat knew that. There was NO suggestion even from the Republicans that he should resign - or even give up chairing the committee he then had. He was a respected member of the Senate. ( Of course, there were those that used this to make it clear that some powers in the party absolutely did not want him running for President.) In addition, Kerry did not lie and did everything he could to end the story quickly - and , in fact, the refrain, "stuck in Traq" likely did not hurt Democrats.

Ben Franklin is more easily seen as the Bill Clinton of his day - brilliant, charismatic and with certain problems.

Weiner does not have the charisma or the brilliance to balance out the negative he now is.

[Mass]

9. I have to agree with wisteria,

The facts are not the same, but the dynamic is the same. Trying to exclude an ambitious liberal Democrat by getting the media and the RW blog amplifying a non important story (Kerry skipped a word, Wiener has private issues that may seem creepy, but those are private issues). Then continue talking about this when it should even be finished and keep the story alive. And then, unavoidably, the leading Democrats push the guy aside of any important position, or if they can justify it, call for him to resign (let be sure that if they could have find a rational for that, they would have called for Kerry's resignation. They just could not, but they made sure that he could not pretend to a leadership position. There even was calls on Chris Dodd to take the SFRC leadership). Exactly the same dynamic.

It took five years to Kerry to come back. It has only been a few months since people have started to consider he could be a SoS without making fun of the idea. So I am not going to accept it for Weiner because it means I will have to accept it for anybody else whatever their level of culpability. And who will be the next and what phony scandal will be fabricated. We have people who want to kill Medicaid and Medicare (including in our party, and nobody cares because of this story. Frankly, I find McCaskill and her spending cap way more problematic because it could affect our lives. Wiener affects only himself and his wife (I feel sorry for her).

[karynnj]

11. I agree that the media frenzy is similar, but still disgree

Kerry did not chair the SFRC in 2006 - he chaired the Small Business Committee. There were NO calls that he lose that. The attempt to say that Kerry had no leadership role started long before the botched joke - likely minutes after he lost the election. That was a power struggle within the Democratic party. There was a whisper campaign that Reid was unhappy that Kerry was taking more of a leadership role than he should that made a Daily Kos diary in early 2005. (Ignoring that he was after all the elected nominee of the party and the last standard bearer. There was also the "Hey John" website, later sourced to close to some Democrats in the Senate, hitting him for not giving enough money to 2006 candidates. )

After Biden left, Dodd was the next in line to take the SFRC chair. He turned it down to keep the Banking committee chair - likely because banking reform was going to be a major issue and would likely be the only thing that could remove the negative people had of him as too close to the banks. That did not succeed, but it likely is what made Kerry the next in line for SFRC. (There were negative comments from unnamed important Democrats that Russ Feingold was not acceptable. I read nothing in the mainstream or left suggesting Kerry was unacceptable.

In late 2008, Kerry was the odds on favorite of the media as the potential Secretary of State - until stories of it going to Clinton surfaced. Before that, Most pundits predicted Kerry and spoke of Kerry's experience. It was ONLY then that there were stories that Kerry was not the choice because he was seen as not strong enough. (It does not take a genius to know that it was Clinton allies - still angry about the endorsement that were spreading that to the media. )

Even by early 2008, about a year after the joke, it was considered significant that Kerry endorsed Obama. Obama almost immediately had Kerry speaking out - countering Bill Clinton - in an elder statesmanlike way showing the dignity that Clinton, at that point lacked. Even after Obama's convention, Kerry was still extensively used as an advocate for Obama - even on the MTP before the election. (No serious MA politician primaried Kerry in 2008 - and O'Rielly didn't really mention the joke even though he was willing to briefly speak of the SBVT. Even as to O'reilly getting on the ballot, it was seen as revenge for endorsing against HRC.)

The joke and the media did hurt Kerry's chance of getting the 2008 nomination, but that was a long shot to begin with. You could argue that ironically it might have preserved his career because he could not have run for Senate if he ran for President. Had Kerry stayed in the race, he would have competed with both Edwards and Obama for the non- Clinton vote. Obama would have had nothing to lose running - even if the odds would have been even lower if Kerry were in. I suspect that, even more ironically, the joke kept Clinton from getting the nomination. (and NOT because Kerry supporters saw a very negative side of her when she stabbed Kerry in the back)

Had Kerry run, Kerry would have benefited from being in the debates, but in terms of the actual votes, he would have likely pulled more from Obama (where a large part of the people for him went) than from Hillary. This was Hillary's nomination to lose. She started with probably as much as 30 percent of Democratic voters solidly behind her. If the opposition split the remainder with no one candidate getting more than half, she had to gain only a small portion of the remainder to be unstoppable.

It is true that some Democrats distanced themselves from Kerry's comments, but none questioned his fitness as a Senator. In addition, many did defend him, including some running for office. When he announced he did not intend to run, both Ted Kennedy, who officially supported him until he opted out, and Reid both gave speeches praising Kerry, as a Senator, person, and former nominee. That was roughly 3 months after the joke.

[karynnj]

12. Looking for Kennedy and Reid's comments, I found something more significant

After Kennedy and Reid spoke, DeMint was the first Republican to speak. Before speaking on what he intended to speak on, he said that he too was honored to serve with Senator Kerry and noted that he appreciated the comments made.

Here is a Senate record:

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I know how difficult of a decision this is for Senator Kerry to make. And today, I say to the people of the country how proud all of us in Massachusetts are of JOHN KERRY, and his outstanding service in the United States Senate for our State and for our country. Throughout his career, he has been a true hero in every sense of the word.

He has been my colleague since 1984, and I have deeply valued the opportunity to work side-by-side with him, but most of all I'm proud to call him my friend. Over the years, Vicki and I have grown so close to JOHN and his wonderful wife Teresa and his loving daughters Vanessa and Alexandra. They are a special family, and their friendship is one we cherish.

We heard just a few moments ago why he was able to galvanize the country, and earn such tremendous support, in the 2004 Presidential campaign. The eloquence, the passion, the insight, the knowledge of history, and awareness of public events--these qualities we saw on display just moments ago in this Chamber--these are the qualities that characterize and define the career of JOHN KERRY.

Now JOHN has decided to continue to devote his passion, his interest, and his energies toward bringing our troops home from Iraq safely, and how fortunate they are to know that he will devote all of his energies to that cause over the next months--hopefully not years. All of us in Massachusetts look forward to his continued service in the United States Senate for years to come and to his voice and his vote working here for the working people of Massachusetts, for their jobs, for their health care, for the education of their children, for the betterment of their environment, and for their hope for a better quality of life. He's been there for us in the past on so many of these critical concerns, and we take comfort in knowing he'll be there for all of us in the future as well.

I know this has been a difficult time for JOHN. I congratulate him on an outstanding presentation this afternoon, and for his courage and determination. I congratulate him for continuing to want to make a very important difference on the overarching and overriding issue of our time, and that is how we can remedy this catastrophic mistake of Iraq and bring our servicemen home safely.

I'm grateful to be able to call JOHN KERRY my colleague and friend, and look forward to working with him for years to come.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have had the good fortune in my lifetime, my adult life, to see people for whom I have developed a tremendous respect and admiration, and certainly one of those people is JOHN KERRY. Why? Why would I say that about JOHN KERRY? Why would I say that as I have traveled through life he is one of those people who has meant so much to me in being a role model for the things that I do and the things that I think the American people should focus on?

He has a tremendous educational background--Yale, Boston College. He was a prosecutor. He was a war hero. A war hero--multiple awards, fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, for heroism. We saw someone last night stand in the House Chamber whom the President directed, who received the Silver Star, and that is wonderful.

We all looked at him with admiration. John Kerry has had a Silver Star, multiple Purple Hearts--I repeat, multiple awards for bravery. He is a political activist, someone who at great sacrifice decided to do gallant things after his heroic efforts in Vietnam. He came home and continued being a hero politically. The people of Massachusetts elected him to Lieutenant Governor, a job I also had,

GPO's PDF

and I have some understanding about that job. He came to Congress the year I did. In 1982, we both came here. He is a cancer survivor. His wife is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. Teresa Heinz is a real fighter in her own way. I knew her before the Presidential election, but I got to know her very well during the Presidential election, and I like her so much.

John Kerry was my nominee for President of the United States. I worked hard for John Kerry. I believed in John Kerry. I believed John Kerry would change the direction of this country and the world. I still believe that. John Kerry came within a few votes of being President of the United States in one of the dirtiest, most negative, unfair campaigns I have ever witnessed. I am not going to go into all the things they did to John Kerry other than to say that to try to take away from this man, his gallantry as a warfighter, was beyond the pale, but they did it.

John Kerry and I have shared heartache together. We have done it recently. I will always have admiration and respect for John Kerry. The mere fact that he announced he is not running for President speaks well of this gallant man, this heroic man, because he could run for President. He has money in the bank, so to speak. He knows people all over America. He has the best e-mail addresses in the country. He has chosen that this is not the time. But I will continue to look to John Kerry for his leadership in foreign affairs. He is a man who knows this world. Listen to the speech he just gave on the conflict in Iraq , a textbook address about the ills of the present status of what we are doing in Iraq . He will approach whatever he does with a sense of morality. He will proceed to be one of the leaders, as he has been for decades, on the environment. He has a book coming out soon with his wife, and I am sure it will lay out things he has believed in for so long, such as health care. He is the chairman of the Small Business Committee.

So I say to John Kerry: I love you, John Kerry. I am so sorry things didn't work out for our country, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I will always care about you greatly and remember the times we have spent together. We have a lot more to do for Massachusetts, Nevada, and the country.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina is recognized.

Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, before I engage in my business, I also would like to say to Senator Kerry that I, too, am honored to serve with you, and I appreciate the remarks that have been made about you today.

So, unlike any of the cases mentioned, though we all know how sickening the media frenzy was and how much it likely hurt Senator Kerry and his family, Kerry had strong support from his peers. The words of Kennedy and Reid - two men who were the Democratic leaders in the Senate in different ways - show respect for him as a leader and as a person.

[Inuca]

18. Oh Karyn, please

don't make me like the abominable DeMint even a tiny, tiny bit :-)

[wisteria]

15. Max Cleland was the only one I remember defending him from the misspoken comment.

A couple of other pundits defended him, but one or two commented that he was speaking the truth and actually validated the mis-stated comment.

My comments were not meant to compare Kerry to Weiner-but to make a point about the media. I see no social value in what they have been reporting on Weiner just as I saw no value in the lies they spread about Senator Kerry's comment. These types of stories are nothing more than distractions and are timed and used to sway the public away from larger and more important matters. And, as for the Democratic leadership, it is once again another example where they do exactly what the media and the RW want them to do. Maybe if they just didn't comment on the controversy for once and stuck together- they wouldn't be a victim to the media's - RW voyeurism. I can't help noticing the different treatment Republican indiscretions and unusual behavior is afforded by the media and Democrats. When Repubs don't have any ideas or plans they play these gotcha games and the media plays right along,with Democrats jumping right on the attack wagon.

[karynnj]

20. Many Democrats defended Kerry - including your own Senator Casey

“John Kerry is not only a great leader for the Democratic party and a great U.S. senator, but he’s a patriot,” Casey said after a morning political rally in Allentown. “He said he botched a joke and I think that is the beginning and the end of it. He was talking about the president and I think he has every right to criticize this president.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/131553/casey-defends-kerry/kathryn-jean-lopezh

There were some who distanced themselves - but even Hillary whose words uniquely inflamed people who liked Kerry attacked the words, not the character or work ethic of Kerry. Schumer was likewise disgusting - changing the timeline to suggest that he forced Kerry off the campaign trail.

[wisteria]

23. I had forgotten about Casey's support, but it was the leadership in our party

who I remember turning against him. Their knives stung and left me with a very cynical view of our leadership.

[karynnj]

25. The only ones I remember who were negative were Hillary, Schumer, and Harold Ford

Of them, Hillary was the worst, saying it was "inappropriate" - a word that implies that it was more than a guy with a bad cold, exhausted and working night and day skipping a two letter pro-noun in a joke written for him that he was reading from a note card. But - even that required making inferences - and many on DU (mainly Hillary supporters) did not see it.

In retrospect, I think it backfired. It will forever color how some Democrats think of her - but likely not many. The real reason I think it backfired is that if Kerry were in the mix, he would have been in the top three. I suspect that Edwards, who never polled much more than 10 to 12% would have fallen out. I think Obama would still have done well, but some of his support is likely to have preferred Kerry - as more experienced and leading the call to set a deadline in Iraq. I suspect that he would have gotten some of the Clinton vote, as some were seeking experience. But I think Hillary had a core that was solid for her that could have been as much as 30% of Democrats. I also think there was about 40 plus percent that were ABH.

Hillary was very likely to win. All she needed was that the ABH vote split between two or more strong opponents and to win some of the remaining 30%. This would let her win a series of states - reaffirming the "inevitable" meme. Not to mention, remember the glow of nearly any candidate celebrating a primary win. It looks good - and that is part of what creates momentum.

I think what happened to Kerry in 2006 was that the right went after him, and he saw that the party did not really do everything they could to have his back - partly because he was not their biggest worry - winning the 2006 races was. I suspect it reminded him, his daughters and Teresa exactly what they would face if he won - and I'm sure 2004 hurt.

One thing that made Hillary's action worse is that she waited until about 3 or 4 days later, when it already was dying down - resurrecting it. This was AFTER internal polls showed that the Democrats were surging. It had no negative impact. (I wonder if the constant repeat of "stuck in Iraq" didn't backfire on the Republicans. So, she knew resurrecting it would not hurt the party - just Kerry.

[Inuca]

17. But he DID make it public

himslef because of the medium he was using. The man is a fool. Sorry. Truly. And now heis going into reahab. I probably/certainly eat too much ice cream, should I find that special rehab place for that?

[wisteria]

24. I don't think that is fair. I truly believe this is an addiction like many other compulsive/

obsessive disorders. I certainly would never make fun of those who suffer from addictions.

[Inuca]

26. Maybe you are right

maybe it's just too far removed from my own nature for me to be able to understand. OTOH I do think that there is way too much of a tendency to find excuses and remove blame for all kind of unacceptable behavior. What applies in this case, I have no idea. The reason I started by saying that you may be right is that it is completely incomprehensible to me how smart men can do such undescribably idiotic things (Clinton and SPitzer also come to mind).

[wisteria]

29. All of their behaviors were not normal.n/t

[MBS]

4. The 17-year-old thing is the last straw

(even if that encounter was not necessarily sexual, it was utterly inappropriate, especially for a member of Congress) Politically, he just HAS to go. His behavior was bizarre (and creepy) to start with, but the way he's handled the aftermath is, if anything, even worse : completely juvenile, and utterly devoid of any class . He's now a huge liability for the Dems.
Yeah, unfair for Vitter to still be in there, but I'm really glad that Pelosi et al have called for Weiner's resignation.
His goose is cooked, and I hope the Dems are lining up a strong replacement candidate for the primaries right now.

[wisteria]

5. How was it inappropriate? The behavior with the 17 year old?

My daughter has met with politicians and has had conversations with them-when she was even younger than 17. Now, they weren't conducted by twitter or whatever, but that was a couple of years ago before net conversations took over. I wasn't right there to hear what was said, but I trusted that the conversations were political in nature. Is it now inappropriate to speak with future voters?

[karynnj]

6. I understand why she wants this

Weiner did violate something - not the law, but a standard of what is expected of a public official. But, so did Vitter.

There have been Republicans forced out. Larry Craig of Idaho and Ensign of Nevada.

I suspect the line that defines who is pushed out and who is allowed to stay actually has less to do with the gravity of what they did but an analysis of whether this hurts the party. In Vitter's case he was lucky that when his story broke there was a Democratic governor. I suspect that had Rory Reid won in Nevada, Ensign would still be an ethics plaqued Senator. The Republicans knew they would lose a seat if they pushed Vitter out.

Weiner will likely be replaces by a Democrat in his district - and that district will likely not withstand redistricting.

I can guess what Pelosi fears - many think that 2006 was a Republican debacle because of Foley - as much as Iraq. (I suspect it was far more Iraq). Weiner has let this story take over the last two weeks. He gave Breitbart, who has lied and distorted other things, some credibility on this - and the right is arguing as if Breibart was a real investigative journalist. Weiner is hurting the party - and it is still not clear he has completely leveled with the leadership.

It appears that Weiner was never a good team player and he lied to the leadership for over a week as they defended him. From some accounts, he is NOT well liked by his fellow Democrats. He is also not the liberal champion that he was morphing into - likely to help himself win the mayor nomination. If he had a district that adored him - like Rangel does or if he were either well liked by the other Democrats in Congress or an important leader there, he might be thought worth fighting for - but it is not clear that a special election - likely electing a Democrat - for a disappearing district might be better for the Democrats than keeping Weiner - and letting the story continue.

[wisteria]

16. Craig lasted out his term. But, the media frenzy was never the same

for Ensign as it has been for Weiner. The story had no legs and it was only until it was obvious to Republicans that Ensign was corrupt did they move to have him resign. How long did that take-a year or more?

[Mass]

7. I tend to agree with you.

What Weiner did is creepy, but as far as I am concerned, I am as bothered by the very voyeuristic aspect of the media as by his behavior. As long as he did not have this sexually charged exchange with a kid, this is just a creepy behaviour that should have stayed private. The lying is more of a problem, but frankly, I can understand it given the media behavior (I am not condoning it) and their sense of entitlement.

What I find more objectionable are the media revealing private things about his wife, things that do not concern us and have absolutely nothing to do with this story. They claim to be concerned about his wife, but they insist in reporting on non stories. Frankly a behavior that we have seen too often, and it does not matter whether he did anything wrong or not. They would have reported anyway.

Even worse is Fox giving the identity of the 17 year old, not even knowing if something happened. Oh, they did not give her name, but they reported from in front of her house. Who are they kidding?

Some people are giving them a pass (including the Post and Fox) because Weiner did something that is untoward. They did the same thing when reporting on DSK. Yes, he probably is guilty, but the reporting was absolutely horrible and did not care hurting innocent people (including the alledged victim) by information they revealed that did nothing for our information.

Frankly, rather than speaking of Wiener, I think it would be more important to speak about the media.

[wisteria]

10. I agree with you. More than being angry at what Weiner did, I am angry at the behavior of the media.

Time and time again, they get away with making unfounded suggestions and accusations about people-destroying lives-just to prove how powerful they are and how well they can manipulate public opinion. If Weiner has to go, so be it, but I think it is unfair that he doesn't even get an opportunity to redeam himself and he has been tired and convicted by the media over a matter most people don't even understand fully.

And, I will add, it is par for the course for the Dem leadership to behave as they have. The Republicans know they can count of our leadership to do their bidding.

[JI7]

13. i would like to see JK defend Weiner

not really defend him or what he did as much as just call out the media on what they report. why are they focusing so much on this when there is Vitter who did something illegal.

why do they jump on non issues like birthers , swiftboaters and give those people atttention .

they think covering charlie sheen is more important than what is going on in afghanistan, iraq, the jobs issues etc.

[wisteria]

14. It doesn't take as much effort to cover sleaze and lies.

Reporting on important issues that really matter is hard work.

[karynnj]

19. I don't

So far, he has not commented either way. He is speaking of important issues, whether Massachusetts' tornado, Afghanistan or the infrastructure bank - and the Bruins. If he spoke of Weiner, he would be contributing to the stories on Weiner. Not to mention, just as in his Senate speech on the Clinton impeachment vote, I suspect that he likely would criticize what Weiner did, before arguing anything else. Which part do you think the media would repeat? He has spoken of the how bad the media is in the past. (In fact, when "the Donald" was playing with running, my first thought was Kerry telling kids at Emerson that the way the media was going in handling politics, we could look forward to a President Jessica Simpson.)

The difference between the birthers and the swifboaters is that Obama really was born in Hawaii and Kerry was a war hero. Here, Weiner did send sexually explicit photos to women he did not know including some from the Congressional gym. As to Vitter, there was a HUGE amount of coverage there and I would bet that if you survey people - now, I think 5 years later - and ask them the first thing they know about Vitter, it would involve diapers. I suspect there would now be a lot of I don't knows, but that would not have been the case when it came out.

[ObamaKerryDem]

21. I tend to agree..

..as curious as I may be about JK's thoughts on this, I am glad he has, so far at least, managed not to have gotten dragged into it. It's bad enough that Leader Pelosi, DNC Chair Wasserman-Schultz and now President Obama himself have had to get involved, though I suppose it was pretty much inevitable. Like you and others have already pointed out, the more party leaders comment on this (whether it's their free choice or not), the longer this story will have legs. I just want it to go away! Such a sideshow distraction, though I still don't think Weiner should resign. I really feel it should be between him and his constituents (and his wife). I see where Leader Pelosi (and now President Obama) are coming from on this. From their position especially, it IS an unpleasant distraction especially now that we are officially in the 2012 season, more or less. I think this will have faded far into the background by the time the race really kicks up, but it's still an (annoying) distraction. But I still don't think he should resign. To resign, I feel, would be to not only grant Breitbart and his ilk a victory, but to further encourage a double standard. Only when Vitter and people like him resign should Weiner--barring anything more serious coming to light, like the exchange with the 17 year old--which I admittedly had not heard about before making my original post--being something illicit, etc, IMO.

But the "President Jessica Simpson" comment..LOL!! I hadn't heard him say that before--any video? Priceless! :D

BTW JK seems to have gotten more directly active on Facebook recently--either him or someone authorized to post as him. Either way, I think it's really neat. He seems to have abandoned his Twitter, though! :( lol

[karynnj]

22. No video, but thanks to Luftmensch067, there is a transcript

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=273&topic_id=86176&mesg_id=86794

(I was a little wrong, the joke about the media was:

And for those of you who want to be journalists, you really do have a choice. The very top, the very brightest, the A students will go to the New York Times and the Washington Post. The B and C students, will start on smaller papers and work their way up. But the D and F students who are really attractive, you're gonna make millions in TV news.

(I guess he did not suspect then that he could represent MA with a former Cosmo centerfold)

The Simpson comment, which I really think he used variations of that year was - "But I digress. In ten years, young people will be electing their own candidates. I have 3 words for people who think this is a good idea-President Jessica Simpson."


(The whole thread is fun.)

[ObamaKerryDem]

27. LOL--he has such a great sense of humor!! :)

Thank you so much for this link and thank you, Luftmensch067, for the transcript! :thumbsup:

[ObamaKerryDem]

28. OMG, he's hilarious! :p

"President Liebergott asked me if I wanted some music played as I was introduced. I said no. Although 2 years ago I did spend $200 million hoping just once to hear hail to the chief.

It really is an honor for me to be here. I heard you had a great choice of commencement speakers. I was told you wanted a wealthy guy with a full head of hair who is all over T.V. and who desperately wants to be president. But Donald Trump wasn't available.

Rule #1...anyone can grow up and be president. That's what I keep telling myself every night.
Remember the 12 3 rule: never propose marriage after 12 beers or after 3 a.m. Look what happened to Britney Spears

Tonight the president gives a major speech on immigration. That's what I love about Washington-a president who has difficulty speaking English complaining about people who have difficulty speaking English."

And he was ahead of the curb with the Donald Trump reference! :D