Obama on TV in 2010

So you remember seeing the President in some strange places this past year? (Yeah, me too) So here's your 2010 review of the year the President gave an interview to everyone!

Let the Retrospective Begin...

We've been busy putting together a 6 hour recap of the year in politics. However, I've been putting something very special together. These audio pieces are a recap of the weird, unusual, and darn right funny stories we covered this year.

Do the names Basil Marceaux, Kristin Davis, or Jimmy McMillian mean anything to you? If so, you're gonna want to take a listen.

POTUS Retro...Coming Soon

POTUS Retrospective 2010

The Readout's been on hiatus for a past couple of weeks. Primarily because the staff here at POTUS is scrambling to put together our year-end special. I've got my own special Retro pieces which I will post here very soon, but don't forget to join us New Year's Eve as we recount some of the biggest news stories of the year. I guarantee you won't hear anything like it anywhere else!

Sarah Palin Takes a Shot at Michelle Obama

If it’s Monday, it’s time for your weekly recap of "Sarah Palin’s Alaska." This week, Sarah loaded most of the family into a big RV and went rafting, camping, dog-sledding, even panning for gold, as well as enjoying all the treats of the great outdoors. Willow invited her boyfriend along, which her parents were none too happy with. Sarah Palin and her youngest daughter Piper served some food at their friend Peggy’s pie shop. Oh yeah, and Sarah Palin took a shot at First Lady Michelle Obama. I’m guessing that dessert reference was aimed at Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity.

JibJab's Year in Review

Your Weekend Readout

In case you missed it on Saturday, here's a piece of the Readout...

Farewell Larry King

TSA Pat Down Choir

Late night hosts have had a field day joking about the new TSA pat down procedures and body scanners, but despite all the heat the agency’s been taking, they’re now offering musical entertainment as well. The LAX TSA Choir is a group of 17 singers and musicians, all of them officers of the Transportation Security Administration, and have been surprising passengers with performances of holiday music and other tunes in the midst of one of the nation's busiest airports. The LAX choir is one of just two — the other is at the airport in Austin — made up entirely of TSA workers, according to TSA spokesman Greg Soule.

Elmo Visits the White House

The White House is promoting the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act with a little help from Elmo. The “Sesame Street” character visited the kitchen at 1600 Penn. this week to star in a video on the White House blog with assistant chef Sam Kass.

The Michael Steele Puppet is Back!

See Jon Stewart's exclusive interview with RNC Chair Michael Steele (as a Sesame Street puppet)

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Your Wednesday Readout

Eric Clapton Should be US Special Envoy to North Korea

Perhaps they would chill out with the nukes if he was!
CNN reports...no joke:

One of the diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks reveals that North Korean officials suggested the U.S. government make arrangements for rock icon Eric Clapton to perform in Pyongyang as a way of building "good will" between the countries.

The suggestion was relayed to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, through an intermediary whose name was redacted from the document.

"Arranging an Eric Clapton concert in Pyongyang could also be useful, [the intermediary] said, given Kim Jong-Il's second son's devotion to the rock legend," the cable begins. "As Kim Jong-Il's second son, Kim Jong-chol, is reported to be a great fan, the performance could be an opportunity to build good will."

Representatives for Clapton did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

Memo to North Korea...Clapton is English, not American.

Bon Jovi, Presidential Adviser

via Mediaite:

President Obama signed an executive order Tuesday, creating a 25 member White House Council for Community Solutions. Among the members hand-picked by the president: eBay president and CEO John Donahue, Starbucks executive vice president Paula Boggs, and–obviously–rocker Jon Bon Jovi.

How’d that happen, you ask?

According to CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian, it’s not about Bon Jovi’s ability to “rock the house.”

Rather, it’s due to his creation of the Jon Bon Jovi Foundation, which “focuses on fighting poverty and homelessness and provides for low income people.” But of course, he also rocks the house.

(NOTE: I only picked this video because of the hair...gotta love the hair)

HGTV Going Inside the White House...

HGTV is planning on running its Spectacular White House Christmas 2010 this week and taking viewers inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden make cameos in the one-hour segment. Also appearing on the show are White House chef Cristeta Comerford, pastry chef Bill Yosses, chief usher Stephen Rochon and florist Laura Dowling.

"We're very eager to see it all come together," Dowling tells the HGTV's Genevieve Gorder in the holiday special. "There's a lot of planning that goes into this."

According to Politico, "The show spotlights the work of more than 100 volunteers who were brought in to decorate 1600 Penn., and also shows a step-by-step account of the mansion's holiday transformation. (A White House electrician had to remove the Blue Room chandelier to make way for the massive Christmas tree.)

And over at the vice president's residence, the special features a rare cameo by the veep's social secretary, Carlos Elizondo, who kept the decorating "on track.""

Today's Readout

Good day Readout fans! Here's my convo with Joe from today if you missed it. On my radar...the new No Labels movement. What's this thing all about? Also, Julian Assange's Ok Cupid profile! Enjoy...

No Labels...the NEW Moderate Movement

With the launch of the brand new "No Labels" movement on Monday. The Washington Post asked an interesting question. Can this new million moderate march change the tone of politics in Washington?

via 44:

Headed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a veritable 'who's who' of moderate politicians are participating in the No Labels launch in New York City. Among the participants are: retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Republican-turned-independent Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

No Labels is the latest in a lengthy list of groups preaching moderation and reason as a cure to crippling partisanship. Some have had, well, moderate success, but others have crashed and burned. Here's a sample:

Unity08: Launched to much fanfare in the lead-up to the 2008 presidential campaign with the promise of a bipartisan presidential ticket, this group ultimately fizzled out after its founders left to start an unsuccessful "Draft Michael Bloomberg" movement. However, Unity08 claimed some degree of success with the candidacy of Barack Obama, whose campaign adopted unity as its primary theme.

Shadow Convention 2000: The brainchild of conservative-turned-liberal media star Arianna Huffington, the so-called "citizens' intervention in American politics" hosted its own 2000 convention in Philadelphia. The event was headlined by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was booed when he offered praise for his former campaign rival, George W. Bush.

Although...every great movement needs a theme song. And No Labels has Akon?!

Today's Readout

My apologies for the lack of audio/video on the blog lately. I've been trying a couple of different methods and think I've finally done it!

So, here's today's Readout. Don't forget to listen for me everyday on "The Morning Briefing" and 12:50p ET on "The Press Pool."

The National Christmas Tree

Later tonight, POTUS will join THE POTUS to light the National Christmas Tree!

Join us tonight for an exclusive event, the 2010 National Christmas Tree lighting LIVE from President's Park in Washington, DC. Tim Farley and I will be LIVE from the ellipse as the First Family participate in this annual tradition.

President Barack Obama will read a message of peace, while the first lady is slated to read the classic poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The first daughters will be there, too, helping their parents light the tree.

And like any POTUS event, this is sure to be star-studded. Celebrity performers include Maroon 5, 10-year-old singing prodigy Jackie Evancho, blues legend B.B. King, rapper Common, singer Sara Bareilles and Jim James of the rock band My Morning Jacket.

The broadcast begins tonight at 5pm ET!

Sarah Palin is Fascinating

If you had the opportunity to talk with someone dubbed one of the year’s most fascinating people, what would you ask them? Barbara Walter’s “Most Fascinating People” debuts this week and yesterday, ABC released a sneak peek into her conversation with Sarah Palin. So which clip did they preview yesterday? The one about “Dancing with the Stars” of course. With husband Todd at her side, Palin also denied Tea Party support was the reason her daughter Bristol made it so far in the competition.

via Gawker TV

Seth Myers Headed to the Correspondent's Dinner

A page from Mike Allen's Playbook today:

EXCLUSIVE – “REALLY!?!" – White House Correspondents’ Association President David Jackson of USA Today and Vice President Caren Bohan of Reuters will announce today that the entertainer for the scholarship dinner on April 30 will be … SETH MEYERS, “Saturday Night Live” head writer, and anchor of “Weekend Update.” Bio http://bit.ly/hWwLJ5 YouTube (Michael Phelps bit) http://bit.ly/dSaqYr

Michelle Obama Salutes the Troops

Michelle Obama made a brief appearance on "VH1 Divas Salute the Troops" on Sunday night, paying special tribute to the troops and the USO.

Divas |Divas Photos |Divas Video |Celebrity News

Baldwin Running? "Bull#@%$"

via USAToday:

Actor Alec Baldwin didn't mince words when asked if he's running for Congress.

"That's bull----," the 30 Rock star said after the Kennedy Center Honors program, according to a report today in The Hill, a newspaper.

Baldwin has flirted with the idea of elected office before, once contemplating taking on Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman. Baldwin's name came up again this year, this time in connection with a House seat in Long Island.

Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop has a narrow lead over Republican Randy Altschuler in the New York district, the last race still undecided from the 2010 congressional elections.

Sarah Palin's Alaska...Week 4

We’re halfway through TLC’s run of "Sarah Palin’s Alaska," and if you follow Palin on Twitter, she gave a pretty big hint that she was going to kill something this episode. Palin tweeted on Sunday, “Unless you’ve never worn leather shoes, sat upon a leather couch, or eaten a piece of meat, save your condemnation of tonitht’s episode. I remain proudly intolerant of anti-hunting hypocrisy. :)” In the episode, Sarah, her father Chuck and a family friend head to bear county for a hunting trip. But they weren’t looking for bears--there main goal was to take down a Caribou.

Barkley v Obama Coming to a Court Near You