Ana Marie Cox

Humble Pooler Powerless in the Face Obama's INCREDIBLE COOL

Obama visited a food bank today:

"The number of people who are getting food this year is up 33%. It gives a sense times are tough - and I think that on Thanksgiving it's [important] for us [to] remember there's a need for support.
 
"These folks were already oftentimes having a tough time, and it gets tougher now." He encouraged all Americans of means to help out however they could. "This is part of what Thanksgiving should be all about," he said.
 
Asked why he'd brought his daughters along, he replied: "I want them to learn the importance of how fortunate they are and to make sure they're giving back."
 
Then the family walked into the basement auditorium of the school, where about 200 kids from several grades were seated on the floor. When the Obamas walked onto the stage just [before] noon, the kids went nuts, leaping to their feet and cheering. "How's everybody doing?" he asked, coming down off the stage to mingle and inquire about their Thanksgiving plans.
 
He inquired about their collective menus, starting with turkey. "How about macaroni and cheese? How about green beans? How about sweet potato pie? How about cranberry sauce?" With each question, his audience erupted in more cheers.
 
He warmed the hearts of the teachers by delivering an earnest little homily/pep talk about working hard and paying attention. If they diligently pursued their reading and math et al, "There's nothing you can't do. You guys might end being the President some day." Still more cheers.

Yeah, yeah, WE GET IT, the guy is THE MAN. Wipe your chin, America, you're drooling.

More seriously, if the presidency continues in to be this fucking heartwarming, I am probably going to have to find a new line of work.

Full report after the jump.

UPDATE: It's a pool report, so there typos. You should direct your corrections to Tom DeFrank.

Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Bloggers

The first thing I upon reading the letter below did was to write back and tell them I AM A BAD ROLE MODEL. If anyone should be looked up to, it's these girls. Just as an example of how far ahead of me they are, btw? When I was in high school, my friends and I had a similar fan club, but we were just really into Saturday Night Live. It wasn't even during one of SNL's "good" years! I did have a poster for the National Archives' 50th anniversary on my bedroom wall, though.

"Stuck in a Republican State," indeed. I think, of course, that they are awesome.

to askamc
date Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 11:26 AM
subject To: Ana Marie Cox From the Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow Fan Club!!!!!!!!!

Dear Ana Marie Cox,

We just wanted to let you know that we watch you on The Rachel Maddow Show and Keith's show and think you're awesome. You're one of our favorite guests on Rachel's show and wish you were on more often. Our teacher told us that when we have role models, we should let them know - so, we're letting you know! Which means your picture has earned a place on our bedroom walls.

We thought you were in your late 20's but read your bio and were surprised to find out you're in your 30's - you look much younger. We see that you went to high school in Lincoln, Nebraska.

We are in 8th grade and have formed The First and Probably Only Omaha/Dundee Neighborhood Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow Fan Club because we are obsessed with them and their shows. We watch their shows individually every night, but have our meetings every Friday night when we get together and watch together. There are 5 girls, 4 boys, and one dog in our club - us girls, however, are going rogue to write you.

[Yes, they included the winking Sarah pic. BRILLIANT.]

We are super interested in news, politics, and journalism and hope to go into those fields when we are older. We are in the pre-International Baccalaureate Program at our middle school - and off for Thanksgiving vacation for 5 days - YES!

We don't mean to bother you - just wanted to let you know that we respect you, think you're cool, intelligent, and a good role model for us. We hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.

Respectfully Yours,

The First and Probably Only Omaha/Dundee Neighborhood Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow Fan Club (the female side)

Stuck in a Republican State
BFFs Forever
The Female Side of Our Club

Rachel
(Rachel Maddow Wannabe)
 Alex
(Rachel Maddow Wannabe)
 Katherine
(Future President of the USA)
Anna
Delaney
Jessie
(the dog)

Vote Much?

I'm not sure how I got on their list, but one of my morning news spam emails is the "Family Security Newsletter," which I swear to God I assumed had to do with, you know, security, until I read it and realized it was about protecting the family from GODLESS HEATHEN LIBERALS and not burglars or whatever. It's a round up of links to conservative columnists and whatnot and I mostly just delete without reading but yesterday two things caught my eye. First:

Because YES I DO WANT TO GET TO KNOW THE PIRATE MENACE. (Awesome clip art, too!)

And this:

Which might as well be titled: "GETTING TO KNOW THE BLACK VOTE MENACE."

Christians -- God love 'em. Because I'm kinda pissed at them myself right now.

Pity the Poor Pooler

Things are rough all over:

From: Thomma, Steve
To: Ben Finkenbinder
Sent: Mon Nov 24 10:53:46 2008
Subject: pool 2

Motorcade rolled from Hyde Park at 9:11 am CST, pulled into service entrance of the hotel at 9:19 am CST.

It's noteworthy that the press seats at the news conference have been divided into a White Sox section - to the South - and a Cubs section - to the North of the ballroom.
But in a crime against nature, your pooler - a genuine White Sox fan, a man who attended his first twi-night double header at the Old Comiskey in 1963, who sat behind third base for the 50th anniversary All Star Game there in '83, who knew Bill Veeck and the wonders of Disco Demolition night, who saw the great Ozzie play before he managed - has been assigned a seat in the Cubs section.

Steve Thomma
McClatchy Newspapers

This Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You

They Should Just Develop a Macro for This

Obama pool report:

From: Carol Lee
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 9:28 AM
To: Katherine Hogan; Ben Finkenbinder
Subject: Pool report #2 - 11/21/08

 

President-elect Obama lef his Hyde Park home in his motorcade at 9:08am. He arrived at transition headquarters in downtown at 9:21am.
People along the downtown streets cheered and waved as the motorcade went by. One woman was jumping up and down. Another man was videotaping the motorcade as it rounded a corner toward headquarters.

Carol Lee

Politico

Also? Videotaping a motorcade? Like videotaping someone watching C-SPAN. Which I assume is happening somewhere right now.

I Have No Deadlines Today

So I'm just going to watch this for a few hours.

Which is what I do everyday but today is an especially GOOD day to do it...

I Have No Deadlines Today

So I'm just going to watch this for a few hours.

Which is what I do everyday but today is an especially GOOD day to do it...

Shack Attack

From the "60 Minutes" interview (I don't know why it hasn't gotten national attention), on Obama's Washington apartment:

Kroft: Did you ever stay there?
Michelle Obama: I visited, but I didn't sleep there.
Mr. Obama: She insisted on a hotel room.
Michelle Obama: I saw it. I saw it long enough to know that I wasn't gonna stay there.
Mr. Obama: Yeah
Kroft: It is one bedroom? Studio?
Mr. Obama: Yeah, it was sort of a one bedroom. It had kind of the vintage, college dorm, pizza…
Kroft: Community organizer, right?, feel to it.
Michelle Obama: It reminded me of a little better version of the apartment you were in when we first started dating. That was a dump too.
Mr. Obama: Right near Harold's Chicken Shack.

There's going to be a lot that the American people learn about "other side" (South) of Chicago because of Obama; the fact that one of them is Harold's -- home of the heart attack on a plate (fried chicken, topped with fries, drenched in hot sauce, ketchup, AND bbq sauce, all sitting on two slices of white bread, there to soak up the grease) -- is kind of a mixed blessing. Mixed as in "awesome."

The Real Question: Mac or PC?