I still haven’t quarantined the virus for a full reboot, butt I saw this and just had to post it, before it turns into another big speculation-fest. Big Guy is not, repeat NOT leaving the Democrat party for the Tea Party:
We all know why the Mad Hatter is not running on the Tea Party ticket: He’s a Democrat and he’s already got a job.
And besides, we have our own “tea” party here every afternoon.
Don’t panic! It doesn’t have anything to do with my recent investigative reporting, butt I seem to have picked up a virus. Raj says it’s a common enough bug, butt it requires a little down time and chicken soup.
So, I won’t be posting for a day or so while I fight off this fever. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Hugs & ♥s
DATELINE “DC”: Cub Reporter MOTUS Reporting
Appropriate Background Sound Effects
The interweb is buzzing with speculation following the release here on MOTUS’ blog, of an unauthorized video of President Obama in an unguarded moment. The video, obtained from a secret source, appears to show Big Guy secretly enjoying what some have suggested might be, a “Monica rope line” moment with old law school chum, Gregory “Greggers” Dingens. That little post appears to have triggered a firestorm of reporting, analysis and speculation that has lit up the interweb from HillBuzz, to iOwnTheWorld to RIGHTNETWORK. Where’s Drudge on this?
![crossfire_304155_1[486456]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfH1qSaHDIdnH1zcWyU1LtiuoYfD2TFKgYNvkLuVfVvc8lN9zNUtdRFLOaWHcOqZR_8gyMM4F0EdYQNeWIHkDQqj6Ox_Pub0FOBzjOjNjCE6Cdnluud3DgY858_t95AYZLoBCaFGmOUsy/s1600-h/crossfire_304155_1%5B486456%5D%5B4%5D.jpg "crossfire_304155_1[486456]")
Sources tell this cub reporter that Greggers is a former defensive tackle, from Notre Dame. I don’t know about that, but he sure is a big bruiser. I had my mole, Little Mo, dig into this and he found Greggers player profile from the Fighting Irish Monogram Club website:
Greg Dingens '86, who played defensive tackle under Gerry Faust, joined the Monogram Club Board of Directors in 2008. The three-time Academic All-American and 1986 Byron Kanaley Award winner graduated magna cum laude and earned Phi Beta Kappa honors at Notre Dame. He received post-graduate scholarships from the NCAA and the National Football Foundation. Dingens, who graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1992, has spent his entire career in Chicago. He currently is a partner and the head of investment banking at Monroe Securities Inc., a boutique investment bank which covers the community banking sector, and a general partner of Siena Capital Partners I., L.P., a private investment fund that invests in community banks.
So I asked myself, “What’s a nice, Catholic, investment banker from Chicago doing at a UN delegate’s reception sponsored by Big Guy?” We know how Big Guy feels about Wall Street investment bankers, although there may be a loophole here, because Monroe Securities is located on North Riverside Plaza, not Wall Street.
Then I remembered Big Guy, Mo, JoeyB, Harry Reid, Fancy Nancy and the rest of the Team celebrating the latest Senate legislative “colonoscopy”: Creating Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The celebration started Thursday, just hours before the big UN reception. A nosey cub reporter might ask, “could there be a connection?” Let’s have a look.
The “Creating Small Business Jobs Act of 2010” aka “Mini-TARP” provides, among other goodies, a $30 billion lending fund for small business. Ok, are you still with me? The $30 billion will be administered by “Toxic-Tax-Cheat Timmy” Geitner, and will be awarded to community banks “...deemed strong by regulators.”
Community banks...community banks...I know I just saw something about that...Oh, yes:
Greggers “...currently is a partner and the head of investment banking at Monroe Securities Inc., a boutique investment bank which covers the community banking sector...”
So let me see if there might be some dots to connect:
Damn! Dead-end: a cub reporter’s nightmare! Oh well, I wouldn’t have been able to connect the dots anyway, since it’s above my pay grade.
Back to you Walter.
Footnote: Here are a couple more dots I found that can’t be connected either.
After such a busy week, we’re laying low this weekend. In advance of hitting the campaign trail, we’re inspecting all of our containment systems. Some of them seem to have stretched beyond the “failsafe” specs and are in need of some seam reinforcement.
Butt that reminds me: did you get a chance to hear BO’s introduction of MO at Bill’s Global Initiative?
President Barack Obama gushed with pride here Thursday as he introduced first lady Michelle Obama for her speech at the Clinton Global Initiative, telling the crowd that she’s the “moral center” that guides him through the noise of Washington and reminds him why he's there;
Well, I guess that’s one way to put it.
Assuming that’s the case, maybe we’ve identified part of the problem. I could see about having Raj reprogram both of their GPSs.
Big Guy wasn’t done yet, going on to praise Lady M as “a partner to me, and the best mother that I know.” Not to nitpick, but given what I’ve heard about Big Guy’s mom, that’s not exactly high praise.
Anyway, the Bill shill was probably the high point of the week. The UN assembly was a little vexing, with the Mad Iranian going off again like a looney tune, dissing the U.S. right after Big Guy graciously extended his hand in a gesture of outreach.
Plus, BO was already off his good mood because the economy improvements he ordered hadn’t arrived yet, and he was counting on them to help with the upcoming elections. Unemployment: unexpectedly up again last week. GDP growth rate, unexpectedly slowing – when Big Guy specifically ordered it to speed up. There’s gonna’ be a lot of “homework” assignments on Monday.
But there is some good news: August existing home sales were up! August was only the second lowest month in 15 years. July was the lowest.
Not that anyone around here is worried about the elections. Although Clarice’s Pieces today has our team all wee-weed up about November and 2012.
We just have to redouble our efforts to get the votes out. And if If Doug Ross is right about this:
Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Steve Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid. The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability…
all we have to do is get a hold of that Steve Caddle and get him to train the rest of our SEIU volunteers.
OMG, you won’t believe this, but Gerard posted my “Breaking News” video from the UN reception at the American History Museum on, get ready, you won’t believe this...RIGHTNETWORK!!!!!!!
Really...no sh*t kidding...
ALL THAT’S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
I
I’m the featured post when you click on the FLAGGED section...Featured!!, for a little while anyway. So, as you can see, it’s my big chance to break out into the big time, so I need your help. Please go to my story on RIGHTNETWORK and “Like” the crap out of it. And get all your friends and relatives to do the same.
This must be what it’s like to campaign for coveted Golden FLOTUS votes, butt there’s no statue.
I am soooooo excited.
I confess, I had some reservations about having lunch on a farm. When people talk about farm-to-table eating they generally envision the table being a little further upwind from the chicken coops.
But as it turned out there was nothing to worry about. This is a trophy farm. You know, kind of a Martha Stewart kind of place? Although we did wear WON of our favorite “farm” frocks and had our share of photo-ops with free range chickens.
and real farm fields:
...as well as adorable little children:
But everything worked out great, the Blue Hill restaurant at Stone Barns Farm is way upwind. We had to catch a ride to get there:
Trolley ride to the Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns Farm
If you think “Blue Hill” sounds familiar, it’s because the Blue Hill Restaurant – not at the farm - is the New York restaurant that Lady M and Big Guy went to for their first post-ordination inauguration date night. So you know it’s special.
Stone Barns Farm is where they actually raise some of the organic stuff they serve at Blue Hill that makes it so special: veggies, chickens and god-only-knows what else – I think maybe snails.
MO was delighted to greet some of her old friends from last year’s UN General Assembly spouses luncheon.
In case you’re concerned that Chantal is having a bad hair day due to the humidity at the farm, don’t worry. She always wears it that way: and it’s not a wighat! Honest.
The First Ladies of the world (FLOW) all pretended to have a good time ogling tomatoes and chickens. Of course half of the First Ladies of the world are all too familiar with raising chickens – in fact, many of them could’ve shown MO how to slaughter one if she really wanted to get up close and personal with the food she was eating.
And I’m pretty sure that at least one of them could have done it halal style.
The food was obviously fabulous, because Lady M brought 3 of her own personal chefs to see to it. Here’s our menu, complete with wine selections:
Starter:
Summer Fruit And Vegetables
White House sun golds, homemade yogurt, purslane
Wine Pairing:
Lieb Cellars Pinot Blanc (Long Island, NY) 2008
Appetizer:
This Morning's Farm Egg
5 late summer beans from the White House & Our House
Wine Pairing:
Red Hook Winery Chardonnay 'Jamesport Vineyard,' North Fork Long Island, 2008
Main
Stone Barns Pastured Chicken
White House herbs, eggplant, ratatouille
Wine Pairing
Copain Pinot Noit 'Wentzel Vineyard' Anderson Valley, California 2007
Dessert
Sacher Cake
Red Jacket apricots, White House sorbet
Not really much to eat there, which explains all the wine. And the large snack bag that MO packed for the trip.
Oddly, for our farm-to-table-meal, which is all about eating local, we brought a lot of stuff with us all the way from the Big White organic garden. Which, by my calculation, is about 275 miles away from the Stone Barns. Butt, since we had to fly our chefs up anyway, it’s not like there was any impact on our carbon footprint. I think there’s a locavore loophole for that. Besides, the meal wouldn’t have been anywhere near as special without those 5 beans.
By the way, you’ll be pleased to know that Stone Barns grows spinach at the farm year round, and it sells for only $10/lb! Well, no one said it would be cheap to get rid of our fat behinds. Of course, if you’re not fortunate enough to live near the farm, or their fabulous New York Blue Hill restaurant, you can still get conventional spinach in the grocery store too, usually for around $3 for a big bag.
Someone (it might have been that other Michelle) once asked, what is it with Democrats and leafy greens? Remember Big Guy’s stump speech to the farmers in Iowa:
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”
Of course, the Fox trolls immediately had to point out that there isn’t a Whole Foods Market anywhere in the entire state of Iowa. As if that somehow negated BO’s point.
But sure enough, that’s all it took for other critics of Big Guy to start referring to this as “typical liberal arugulance.” How juvenile.
Poster Art by Tennyson H/T Michelle Malkin
As is the protocol for these events, Lady M gave a little welcome speech before lunch was served. She explained all about our “No kids’ fat behind” program, her organic garden and why it’s so important to all the little children in America. Then, since MO likes to personalize these little talks, she shared a personal story about how wee-won Sasha had been a tomatophobe until she was won over by an heirloom tomato, pesto, basil, mozzarella sandwich. Seriously, what is it about leafy green herbs?
But the highlight of her remarks was this little insight into who really runs the Big White:
"The most important people in the President and my family’s life, are the people who feed us.”
Who would’ve guessed? Axe-man, Rhambo, Summers, Rohmer, Orszag: nobody will miss them. But our chefs? They can name their own price.
You’re probably wondering what we put in this year’s goodie basket that Lady M presented to the FLOWs. In keeping with our theme this year, it was chock full of good-for-you vegetables: All from Lady M’s toxic organic garden.
The goodies included jars of pickled stuff: sun gold tomatoes, cucumbers, chocolate bell peppers (not really chocolate at all, just brown), carrots, and – here’s a stroke of genius – okra! And all the jars have Lady M’s personal signature. There is absolutely no truth to the silly right wing rumor that the ladies had to pick their own vegetables.
That’s what we have illegal immigrants and comedians for.
OK – I think the coast is clear. The O’s have turned in for the night after a very busy week of speechifying and high level diplomacy.
I’ve got to post this up quick, so I didn’t have time to edit this at all. It’s very rough, but at least you’ll be able to see the frock that Lady M wore to the Natural History Museum party (private, closed press, heads of state – but a few of the O’s old Harvard classmates seem to have snuck in too).
As always, MO chose a flattering gown for the occasion. It was a red dress (sleeveless, of course) with a deep V-neck, with a huge sparkly brooch, right where the bazooms would be, if we had any.
You might wish to note how Big Guy seems to have established a real “guy” rapport with an even bigger guy - who he may or may not remember from Harvard. They seem to have a lot in common, which you can tell by the way they both seem to like touching people. So they were probably friends in school.
Anyway, here’s what I was able to snatch off my hard drive, I apologize for the poor quality but I really wasn’t even supposed to be there, let alone recording.
Yesterday was a big day, both fashion wise and speechifying wise. First, Big Guy’s speech to the UN General Assembly:
A fashionable blue rose between two appropriate, but dowdy, tweed suits
In his remarks, BO made certain that all his visiting foreign guests felt at home. He told them that since Wall Street was responsible for the worldwide financial collapse, he wouldn’t rest until it was fixed. And I guess he’s going to focus on that, now that he’s plugged the damn hole.
He even went out of his way to welcome Mahmoud the Mad Iranian (MMI), saying we “... seek a resolution to our differences with Iran, and the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.” It didn’t take the Mad Iranian long to slam it shut though. When he spoke later in the afternoon he accused the U.S. of staging the 9/11 attacks in order to reverse the declining economy and protect Israel. Two reasons that seem anti-intuitive to me, but then I don’t understand how the Arab mind works.
Oh, and he also took the opportunity to deny the holocaust again. But he does believe in global warming.
Our little President at the General Assembly
I better update my Facebook, since it looks like MMI has un-friended Big Guy.
But the real event – both fashion and worldwide peace-wise – was in the afternoon at the sixth annual meeting of former President Clinton’s ego-massaging Clinton Global Initiative. The CGI gathers prominent individuals in politics, business, science, academics, religion and entertainment to discuss global issues such as climate change and the reconstruction of Haiti.
I was apparently wrong about MO’s solar cookstove give-away.
Instead, she used the opportunity to address prominent individuals to promote her “military family initiative.” She complained to the assembled group that vets are shortchanged on jobs and civilians don’t understand the military. For a change, global initiatives start at home.
Here are some important excerpts:
U.S. service members receive some of the best technical and management training and experience in the world, but when they return to civilian life, they are often overlooked as job candidates because employers don't give them credit for their skills.
Actually, I believe many Americans revere our military personnel, and actually give returning vets preferential treatment, but then we can’t expect MO to know about that. Her background is in community relations, not human resources.
yet (military personnel) shoulder more responsibility than many CEOs...
Never having had experience in the military or as a CEO (unless you count Mommy-in-Chief) I wonder how she knows this? Maybe Big Guy...no, never mind.
Yet the fact is that right now, more than 150,000 recent veterans are still struggling to find jobs.
Uh, so are millions of other Americans. Bush’s recession, remember?
But employers too often view a resume with multiple jobs as a red flag rather than as a fact of military life...A problem for many veterans is getting their military resumes translated into terms civilians can understand and appreciate.
Huh? I wonder who is writing Lady M’s speeches these days?
And while most folks share my respect and admiration for their service, a lot of folks have no idea what that service actually entails. Many still don't know the full power of their human potential.
I tell you what, if you are a professional political speech writer, why don’t you send me your resume. I’ll pass it on to Lady M.
Finally,
I will do my part to connect you with advocates, with experts and with resources throughout the government, from the Department of Labor to the Defense Department to the VA. If you have questions about how a veteran's or spouse's skills fit with the jobs you have, we will help you find the answers. If your staff wants to better understand the challenges that vets and military spouses face and how to address them, we will connect you to the right people.
This isn’t even as good as some of our Public Service Announcements.
Big Guy kicked off this very important speech by introducing Lady M:
I am not just here today to sing President Clinton's praises or to commend all of you for the terrific work that all of you have done, although I am grateful for that.
I am here to play an even more important role. And that is to introduce my better half, my extraordinary wife and America's extraordinary first lady, Michele Obama.
Butt, the Prez was just getting warmed up:
"Bill Clinton understands where I am coming from here. He knows what it is like to be married to someone who is smarter, somebody who is better looking, somebody who is just all around a little more impressive than you are."
"This is not news to people.Since Michele and I first started dating 22 years ago, pretty much everybody I know who has met her at some point comes up to me and says, 'You know, Barack, you're great and all that. I like you. But your wife, she's really something'. And, I, of course agree.
And so, of course, do we.
I can’t help but wonder though: do either of these two actually read their speeches before they’re loaded onto TOTUS anymore?
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