Sarah Palin's sweet comeuppance continues! After being left as carrion by Fox News, the station that once gently coddled her, the Alaskan governor is trapped in her icy home state with a bunch of gotcha journalists wondering WHAT THE FUCK WENT WRONG!!?!??!?!!
Sure, Wednesday's New York Times may have been devoured at the newsstand, but what about this week's Time? The "commemorative issue" is said to be flying off the shelves at newsstands, Barnes & Noble, and airport Hudson News shops. (And that's before the commemorative book hits shelves.)
Fine — America is getting its hands on as much Obama as they can. But also: This is the first issue of Time in months that we have opted not to leave on our office desk and cherry pick articles to read online; this Obama issue we're carting around in our bag like a over-achieving high schooler loaded up on AP courses. And if we're doing it, you know it's a trend to adopt. Or at least hang on your wall.
If you had doubts that we as a nation have no idea where to go with the news that we've just elected our first African-American president, at least feel secure in the knowledge that we're in good company.
The British don't really know what to do with us either, and have been reduced to speculating what kind of puppy Obama is going to get Sasha and Malia:
Reports suggest that because daughter Malia has allergies, the Obamas may be considering a "hypoallergenic" breed that sheds less hair.
Options could include a labradoodle - a cross between a Labrador and a poodle - a schnoodle (schnauzer and poodle), or a cockapoo (cocker spaniel and poodle).
Malia, however, is rumoured to favour a goldendoodle - a poodle crossed with a golden retriever.
What about the puggles? Will no one think of the half pug/half beagle mixes???
It's begun people: A couple on Wednesday already named their child Obama, and, along with Michelle, that name is booming in Kenya right now.
Obama has been elevated to rock star status in the east African nation which has named a beer, "Senator," after him and where "Obama: The Musical" opened last weekend.
No word yet on how the name Hussein is fairing…that's more something people have to grow into.
Now that the election is over and both Tina Fey and Sarah Palin have ended their runs playing the potential future Vice President, what's in the cards for the two women? Both are hilarious — one intentionally, one unintentionally — and both are beautiful and (arguably) talented. So who will stand a better chance for success in life after the presidential election?
So it's already been decided by members of the press who the new movers and shakers are going to be once Obama takes office and is in a position to delegate power. But now in an effort to jump-start some favoritism, the press is actually acquiring some new blood to make up their White House correspondents and win some points with the new guy in charge.
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Robert Gibbs one of Barack Obama's top aides and confidants, is practically a shoe-in for the position of White House Press Secretary. A logical choice, since Gibbs has been the face of the Obama campaign for most of the ride, including the parts where irate press members weren't allowed to witness Obama's first meeting with Hillary Clinton after the primaries.
Stoic and calm, Gibbs is "viewed favorably by reporters because Gibbs has unquestioned authority, access and institutional memory." Also, his myriad press talk show appearances since being named Senior Strategist for Communications and Message back in July show the man to have a low b.s. tolerance, which is awesome.
After the jump, Robert Gibbs setting the record straight on Fox and Friends about Obama's bracelet comment on the first debate.
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It must have cost the New York Times some extra dough to print so many copies of their historic Obama cover. Especially in ink: for the third time in the history of the paper, the largest font possible, 96-point type, was used to create the headline. The other two times were September 11th, and Nixon's resignation.
If they are really strapped for cash (and we know they are) the New York Times should stock up a couple extra copies and sell them on Ebay, where a 10-paper bid for the Nov. 5th cover just sold for $750. If only everyday was Election Day, there wouldn't be an industry-wide financial crisis right now.
Can't decide how I feel about this article that speculates the "Black Power Brokers" that Obama may or may not help once he takes office.
On the only hand: yes they can! On the other, why does it always have to be a race thing, guys?
For more than a decade, Mr. Obama has cultivated ties with a growing circle of black power brokers who are poised — and eager — to wield greater national influence. Some of these insiders stand to gain new status in an Obama administration, and many more in law firms, big corporations and on Wall Street. They believe that their proximity to the president-elect will burnish their reputations, much in the way that white elites always have leveraged connections in business and politics.
"Much in the way that white elites?" I thought we just called them "elites," no racial prefix. Guess things are really going to be changing around here.
It's official: Rham Emanuel has accepted Barack Obama's offer to become his chief of staff, according to MSNBC's "source very close to Rham Emanuel." So what about "partisan" Emanuel can Republicans glob on to immediately to paint Obama's first appointment as evidence of the Democratic president-elect's incompetence?
• He swears, saying "fuck" a lot. Read: He's an angry, angry man! This is especially important because the GOP will be called racist if they try to make Obama out to be an angry black man.
• Emanuel is a ballet dancer. Read: He's a fairy and won't be able to stand up to terrorists!
• He sends out Christmas cards to members of the press corps, featuring his three children very prominently. Read: He's a liberal Christian, the worst kind! Except … he's Jewish.
• His brother is Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood superagent and inspiration for Entourage's Ari Gold character. Read: Rham comes from a family of egomaniacs and Hollywood liberal elite! Oh, wait, that argument didn't work against Obama?
People are freaking out that the Chicago Reader cover featuring Barack Obama was heralded with the words, "Don't Screw This Up." Because it's racist? Because only black people can screw things up, you see. Not like that last guy in office…wait, this argument makes no sense! Says editor Allison True:
But no matter how jubilant some of us may feel about his election, the media's role isn't to cheerlead for elected officials. We serve our readers: we're observers and reporters and commentators. We were addressing Obama as the person — not the black person — whom we've handed an important new job and letting him know that even though we put him there, we'll be watching. Would you expect anything else?
Don't worry guys! The Reader had a cover for John McCain ready too, just in case!
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Jay McInerney, he of Bright Lights, Big City, Rielle Hunter, and Gossip Girl cameos, has found a new reason to melt his cynics heart. Barack Obama represents a new era of tolerance and inclusion, says McInerney, and he's just so happy Middle America has gotten on-board with the coastal states on this one:
While we were celebrating here in New York, we should have raised our glasses to the voters in Virginia and Florida and Ohio because they were the ones who decided to change course, and who decided the election. We should feel very glad to have them back. After all, a liberal elite can't run a democracy by itself. Perhaps they were responding as much to the frightening meltdown of the economy as they were to anything else; at any rate the Democrats in Washington would do well to treat them better than the Republicans did during their ascendancy.
Yeah Jay. You and your BFF Brett Easton Ellis did a really great job depicting how all-inclusive and magical LA and New York was in the 80s. Too bad the American Psycho era ended when all the Patrick Batemans of the world lost their jobs on Wall Street.
Just sayin': Jay McInerney made a career out of books depicting the hedonism and excess of the East Coast wealthy. Let's not pretend that those aren't the same people who voted for Reagan.
Were you still debating whether Chris Matthews is in the tank for Barack Obama? Then find a new hobby, jerk, because the writing's on the stall. But then Matthews went overboard this morning, on colleague Joe Scarborough's Morning Joe, and pretty much nominated himself the new president's press secretary.
"The worst thing you can do in journalism is try to figure out motive. There's no way to determine it," Matthews said. Not only is this statement patently false — figuring out motive is pretty important, like George Bush's motives for invading Iraq — but Matthews followed it up with this: "I want to do everything I can to make this thing work … this new presidency work." Yes, that is Matthews the journalist speaking. CONTINUED »
The New York Times printed an extra 35% percent of papers yesterday, to deal with the expected increase in demand after Obama won the presidency. But even that wasn't enough, as people lined up around the block for the most monumental moment in American history since 9/11, and later the Times reprinted 75,000 copies.
So people could immediately put the issues in a plastic bag and post them on Ebay. Ah, change.
Le Presidente Francaise (shut up, elementary French was 9 years ago) Nicolas Sarkozy is a very lucky man. He's sort of like the French James Bond: he's suave, a little cocky, and is boning a (NWS) model.
Unfortunately, Sarkozy doesn't seem to have the, how do you say, "International politics" of 007. As evidenced by the fact that he still thinks Barack Obama beat out Hillary Clinton for the Presidential race. I mean he did, but that was months ago:
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Neilsen Ratings for Last Night So ABC Wins the day with 13.1 million, but altogether 78.6 million watched Obama own it. Those are better numbers than any of the debates, and the best ratings sweep since the Super Bowl. And that requires whole armies of contenders battling each other.
Created by Patrick Moberg, the same guy who fell in love with that girl on the train that one time but then it didn't work out.
The Obama family — let's call them the "First Family" now — will, all politics aside, bring a new light to the White House. There haven't been young children running through those hallowed halls since John F. Kennedy was president, and they are a positive portrayal of the black family that will inspire Americans of all races and backgrounds. But what of Michelle? Her detractors loved to say that she's not First Lady material. She is now.
That doesn't mean that she'll be anything like her predecessors. She was raised on the South Side of Chicago, she's 6 feet tall, and she has a BA from Princeton and a JD from Harvard. Also, she seems to prefer Narcisco Rodriguez to Oscar De La Renta, a favorite of first ladies for decades and decades. If you're only looking at resumes, Michelle is most like a certain ex-opponent of her husband's. But unlike Hillary Clinton, our newest first lady has said numerous times that she has no interest in involving herself politically in Barack's administration. Nevertheless, she will probably have a great deal to offer in the 4-8 years she spends in the White House. Besides the obvious, how else will she differ from the ladies below?
It's official. Congressman Rahm Emanuel has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be his chief of staff.
The chatter first began this morning after ABC News reported on the then-rumored job change, and picked up speed after Rahm's office confirmed that Obama had extended his hand to Emanuel, an Illinois-based Congressman who previously worked in Bill Clinton's White House as a top advisor. (He also worked on Clinton's first presidential campaign.)
Within minutes of hearing the news that Barack Obama would be the next President of the United States, my mind went to a dark place: "Take that, Elisabeth Hasselbeck!" I couldn't wait to turn on The View this morning and watch the show's resident crazy cry in shame and weep for the state of our nation. Unfortunately, she threw us for a loop and acted like a classy, intelligent human being. Who knew?
Bonus footage includes Sherri Shepherd crying tears of joy in response to last night's election results. It's quite sweet, actually.
Full video after the jump.
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Editorial Director
