Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer Cartoons

Ego much? Obama talked about himself nearly four times as often as Trump in first SOTU speech

President Trump talked long on Tuesday night, “the third-longest State of the Union in the past 50 years, according to The New York Times. But he rarely talked about himself -- unlike his predecessor.

President Obama’s first State of the Union speech in 2010 featured the president saying some version of “I” or “me” nearly 100 times. That was nearly four times more than Trump managed -- 98 personal references to a mere 26.

For all the media have attacked Trump about his ego, it was Obama who earned regular criticism for being self-referential in his speeches. His first 41 speeches showed this tendency was off the charts -- mentioning himself nearly 1,200 times – 1,198 to be exact.

For all the media have attacked Trump about his ego, it was Obama who earned regular criticism for being self-referential in his speeches. His first 41 speeches showed this tendency was off the charts -- mentioning himself nearly 1,200 times – 1,198 to be exact.

Obama’s 2010 speech was littered with “I” or a contraction in some form or another -- 88 times, with another 10 “me.” Here’s a typical example: “But when I ran for president, I promised I wouldn't just do what was popular, I would do what was necessary.” That’s four in one sentence. Trump mustered two in one sentence just once. Obama managed several sentences with multiple “I” comments.
Journalists have been quick to skewer Trump over his ego. Vanity Fair recently asked, “WILL TRUMP’S BRUISED EGO LAUNCH A NUCLEAR WAR?” Politico said Trump’s ego made him prey for Putin. And though former interim DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile said Obama had a “titanic ego,” that theme was rare in media.
But looking at the numbers, in the battle of egos, apparently Obama’s trumps even Trump’s.

Super Bowl fans should stand for the anthem -- wherever they are, South Carolina governor says

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, left, and kneeling New England Patriots players.

 Blls comment: "I'm not a part time American, so I will not be watching the game anyway" :-)

This Sunday won't just be Super Bowl Sunday, according to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. It will also be a day to stand for the national anthem.

So McMaster has declared the day “Stand for the Flag Super Bowl Sunday.”

McMaster, a Republican, issued a proclamation to that effect Tuesday as the world waits to see whether players from the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles will take a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner” this weekend.
“Standing for the national anthem recognizes and honors the sacrifice of generations of men and women who have chosen to serve in the United States Armed Forces,” McMaster said. “I ask that all South Carolinians show the world our state’s resolute commitment to supporting our troops by standing for the national anthem wherever you watch the Super Bowl with your loved ones this Sunday.”
The governor’s decision was quickly blasted on social media, according to South Carolina newspaper the State. Some took exception with the policy, while others criticized McMaster for not doing more for veterans.
A South Carolina restaurant was also feeling the heat after deciding to have an “Honor Bowl” in lieu of airing the Super Bowl.
David McCraw, an Air Force veteran and owner of the Palmetto Restaurant and Ale House in Greenville, told Fox News on Tuesday he is still boycotting the NFL.
“My feelings are basically the same as they always were,” McCraw said. “I find it disrespectful to the people who fought for this country — their coffins are draped in this flag.”
McMaster’s proclamation comes as a tumultuous NFL season winds down. It was a year that saw President Donald Trump reignite the national anthem controversy, suggesting that NFL players should be fired if they participate in national anthem protests.
NBC Sports Executive Producer Fred Guadelli said earlier this month that the network would show kneelers on air.
“When you are covering a live event, you are covering what’s happening,” he said at a Television Critics Association event.
The game between the Patriots and Eagles is set for Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Illinois Dem mocks Trump's SOTU: 'Whoever translated it for him from Russian did a good job'

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez mockingly praised President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, saying in a statement that it was “clear and well-delivered,” and that “[w]hoever translated it for him from Russian did a good job.”

The Illinois Democrat, who has announced he will retire from Congress at the end of his current term, is testing the waters for a 2020 presidential run, Fox News reported.

In his statement, Gutierrez – who has previously called Trump a “major criminal” who wants to destroy families and pollute the environment -- specifically criticized Trump’s immigration policy.
“If you look at how the President has treated Puerto Rico, you have to conclude that he just doesn’t care and probably thinks of Puerto Rico as just another s---hole country,” Gutierrez wrote.

“If you look at how the President has treated Puerto Rico, you have to conclude that he just doesn’t care and probably thinks of Puerto Rico as just another s---hole country.”

The longtime congressman -- whose 4th Congressional District is composed of parts of Chicago and its suburbs -- added that the “White House agenda is to gut legal immigration in exchange for allowing some of the Dreamers to live here” and that Trump’s speech “did nothing to bring the pro- and anti-immigrant sides closer together.”
Earlier in January, Gutierrez suggested he would support a deal funding Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico if the White House offered protections for so-called Dreamers.
"I'll go down there with bricks and mortar," Gutierrez said last week, adding that he found the idea of the wall offensive.
But after Trump’s State of the Union address, Gutierrez struck a less conciliatory note.
“I was hoping to get through my life without having to witness an outwardly, explicitly racist American President, but my luck ran out,” he said in the statement.

State of the Union: Trump extends ‘open hand’ to Dems, but is met with glum stares, scant applause

President Trump says his administration is protecting religious liberty, making sure veterans are being taken care of, ending the war on clean coal and working to reduce the price of prescription drugs, rewrite bad trade deals and permanently fix the nation's infrastructure.

President Trump appealed for unity in his first State of the Union speech, declaring a "new American moment" even as many glum Democrats in the audience sat on their hands and refused to acknowledge economic gains or calls to honor veterans.

While Trump held firm on his demands for border security and used the grand setting to tout his first-year accomplishments, his call for bipartisanship on the thorny immigration debate met with stonefaced stares from top Democrats such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"Tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties -- Democrats and Republicans -- to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed," he said.
It remains unclear whether Democrats are ready to deal on immigration, but the issue could hang over a looming Feb. 8 deadline to pass a new spending bill. With that in mind, Trump used his hour and 20-minute speech to signal a willingness to make bipartisan deals on second-year-agenda priorities like immigration as well as infrastructure.
“Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve,” the president said.

The president described his recent offer on immigration as a "fair compromise" for both sides. The White House is pushing a plan to broaden eligibility for the DACA program – which gives a reprieve to illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and which Trump is planning to end absent a legislative solution – in exchange for border wall funding and other big changes.

"Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve."

He described his offer of a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DACA recipients, or DREAMers.
“We presented the Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise -- one where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs and must have,” he said.
Even as he pushed for an immigration deal, the president didn’t stray from messaging aimed at his base. Trump said his “highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, and my constant concern is for America's children, America's struggling workers, and America's forgotten communities.”
“Americans are dreamers too,” he said.
He also called on Congress to "finally close the deadly loopholes" that have allowed MS-13 to flourish inside the country.
TRUMP HONORS PARENTS OF MS-13 VICTIMS: 'AMERICA IS GRIEVING FOR YOU'
The president tackled national security toward the end of the speech, specifically warning that North Korea's “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles” could “very soon” threaten the United States.
“We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening,” he said. “Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this dangerous position.”
During the speech, the president recognized the parents of Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who died over the summer after being injured while imprisoned in North Korea, who attended Tuesday’s address.
Vowing to fight terrorism, the president said he ordered Defense Secretary James Mattis to reexamine the military’s detention policy toward terrorists and keep open the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay.
The president called for bipartisan cooperation on infrastructure, saying "together, we can reclaim our great building heritage." He said every federal dollar for infrastructure projects should be “leveraged” by partnering with state and local governments and private sector investors for projects.
"We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways and waterways all across our land, and we will do it with American heart, and American hands, and American grit," Trump said.

“This is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.”

- President Trump

Like other presidents before him, Trump used the address to tout first-year accomplishments like the GOP tax cut bill, regulation rollbacks, the elimination of ObamaCare’s individual mandate and gains made over the last year against the Islamic State.
Insisting that the “era of economic surrender is over,” Trump reiterated his campaign promises to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones. And he celebrated the stock market gains during his first year in office.
“The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value,” he said. “That is great news for Americans' 401k, retirement, pension, and college savings accounts.”
“This is our new American moment,” Trump said. “There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.”
He began his speech by praising heroes during natural disasters and tragedies over the last year, including during the summer shooting of Republican lawmakers at a baseball practice.
“With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this House -- a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work three and a half months later: the legend from Louisiana, Congressman Steve Scalise,” Trump said.
Earlier Tuesday, during a pre-speech lunch with television anchors, Trump -- who does not shy away from conflict with his detractors -- said “unity is really what I'm striving for, to bring the country together."
"If I could unite this country, I would consider it a tremendous success,” Trump said. “I would love to be able to bring back our country in a great form of unity, without a major event - very tough to do. I would like to do it without a major event, because that major event is usually a bad thing.”
The address comes after a year of partisan clashes in Washington over health care, the 'travel ban,' regulations and more.
Ahead of the speech, leaders were bracing for potential conflicts.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered a stern warning to House Democrats attending the speech during a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday, imploring them to play nice.
Pelosi advised Democrats against a walk-out, with sources in the room saying Pelosi told members “if you want to walk out, don’t come” and to let Trump be “his slobbering self.”
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore traditional Kente cloth in protest of Trump's reported comments about immigration from “s---hole countries.”
During the speech, some caucus members declined to stand even to honor a 12-year-old guest of the first family who was recognized for gathering flags for veterans' graves.
Trump praised Preston Sharp, a boy from California, who started a movement to place flags at the graves of fallen service members.
“Preston's reverence for those who have served our nation reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem,” he said.
Trump's comments were aimed at the NFL football players who have been kneeling during the national anthem as a protest against police shootings of African-Americans.
Democrats tapped Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., the grandson of Sen. Robert Kennedy, to deliver the party’s official response to Trump. In remarks before a small audience in Massachusetts, Kennedy said many in the country have spent Trump’s first year in office “anxious, angry, afraid.”
REP. KENNEDY SLAMS 'BULLIES' IN RESPONSE TO TRUMP'S STATE OF THE UNION
“Folks, it would be easy to dismiss this past year as chaos,” he said. “As partisanship, as politics. But it's far, far bigger than that. This administration isn't just targeting the laws that protect us, they're targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection.”
Trump, though, struck a positive and optimistic note in his speech, ending his address to Congress by saying: “Americans fill the world with art and music. They push the bounds of science and discovery.”
“And they forever remind us of what we should never forget: The people dreamed this country," Trump continued. "The people built this country. And it is the people who are making America great again."
Fox News’  Judson Berger, Joseph Weber, Chad Pergram, John Roberts and Bret Baier contributed to this report.
The president extended an "open hand" to members of both parties to "protect our citizens, of every background, color, and creed," in an apparent reference to DACA and immigration talks.

Obama State of the Union Cartoons (Remember)

Ex-CIA and Democrat: Democrats should own mistakes, reach out to Trump voters in State of the Union response

As President Trump prepares to deliver his first State of the Union address, Democrats have selected Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., to deliver the party’s response. If history is any guide, Kennedy will criticize President Trump and promote the Democratic Party instead.

Yet doing so would represent a missed opportunity. Since Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016, the party hasn’t fully understood or accepted the plight of America’s working class and their desire for change. Case in point: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recently slammed the $1,000 bonuses some companies were offering their workers following the Trump tax cuts.

“Crumbs,” she called the amount. Never mind that $1,000 is more than the average weekly pay for the men and women at America’s factories.
Kennedy’s speech needs to tackle this ignorance head on, blasting the Democratic Party out of its elitist moorings, and chart a course back to victory. To do so, he needs to offer Americans something different. Something bold. Something totally unexpected.
Here’s what I hope he says.
“Good Evening. Tonight I stand before you as a humbled man from a humbled party.
A little over a year ago, my fellow Democrats and I ran spirited campaigns across the country to lead our great nation into the 21^st century. When the dust settled, however, it became clear that America had chosen a different path.

America’s greatness is not at risk because of Russia, China, or North Korea. Rather, it is the partisanship that has rooted in the hearts and minds of our leaders.

The most obvious disappointment was losing the presidency. But that loss hides the more painful truth: my party now has the fewest number of elected officials since the 1920s.
There’s no other way to say it. We somehow lost the confidence of our fellow Americans.
For the past year, I have spent considerable time listening to the people of Massachusetts and states beyond to understand exactly what happened. Tonight I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned, because those voices – your voices – tell the important story of the state of our union.
In virtually every conversation I’ve had, I’ve walked away with the clear message that many Americans are hurting – and angry. In Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, many of your steel mills and manufacturing plants have shut down. The same is true of furniture and clothing companies in North Carolina. The reason? Global trade deals, especially with China.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In the 1990s, politicians in Washington promised you that, in exchange for your shuttered mills and plants, new jobs would come along. Better, safer jobs. But it turns out that their promises were wrong. Studies now show that many communities have been devastated by these trade deals and have yet to recover.
In the Pacific Northwest and Appalachia, your struggles are similar. The timber mills and mines that powered your rural cities have largely closed, hammered by environmental regulations and a fight against global warming. Some of those rules were important and necessary. Others were not. Regardless, your government took away too much, and gave too little in return.
Rather than acknowledge their mistakes, some politicians – including Democrats – have attacked you and your suffering. They dismissed you as deplorables who cling to your guns and your God. That is unforgivable. I am sorry.
To add further insult to injury, many of these same politicians have failed you in protecting the nation from foreign threats. Take China as an example. For the past 20 years, our intelligence community has repeatedly warned that Beijing was stealing or hacking hundreds of billions of dollars in American technology for their own benefit.
The result? A communist nation – unmoored by decency or a commitment to basic freedoms – has robbed us of the very jobs and ingenuity we need to thrive in the 21^st century. To this day, the Chinese have never paid a price for their treachery.
Meanwhile, your leadership launched an unnecessary war in Iraq, costing over $6 trillion dollars and ending the lives of thousands of your loved ones. These politicians also emboldened a group of Islamic radicals that later morphed into what we now call ISIS.
And even that fight they couldn’t get right. While ISIS is now on the run, their ideology is not. Since the attacks on 9/11, the world has desperately needed global leadership to name and explain the religious beliefs that underpin terrorism – specifically a brand of Islam called Salafism. Instead, they simply say Islam is a religion of peace.
These are just a small sample of the many issues that you shared with me in frustration. And yet time and again, you also shared a willingness to find solutions. To compromise. To get America back to work. In fact, that’s what struck me the most. People on both sides of the aisle want Washington to stop the fighting and start governing again.
But somehow, that message isn’t reaching many of my colleagues.
And that’s perhaps the most important issue of our time. America’s greatness is not at risk because of Russia, China, or North Korea. Rather, it is the partisanship that has rooted in the hearts and minds of our leaders.
In the years since my grandfather and great uncles helped defeat the Soviet Union, race to the moon, and pass the Civil Rights Act, our politicians have seemingly lost their desire to find common cause and embrace common goals. Instead, they’ve locked on to America’s darkest forces – the activists, the lobbyists – who have demanded political purity… or else.
Sadly, this partisanship has crept into our society as a whole. Think about how we speak to each other without concern for decency or kindness. We use words like “libtard” or “Trumpsters.” None of it appeals to our better angels. None of it elevates our families, our friendships, or our politics.
And that gets to the most important reason for why I’m here tonight. How do we fix what ails us? Can we fix what ails us?
The answer, I’m happy to say, is yes. For all of the troubles we have – and it’s clear that we have many – we also remain an exceptional nation.
Renewing the American spirit will not come easy. And it’s up to you to decide whether President Trump remains the best person to accomplish that goal. But as for the Democrats, we owe it to you to offer a new covenant in recognition of where we’ve fallen short.
Tonight I give you a new path forward. I offer you Our American Oath.
Our oath consists of 10 priorities that I’ve heard many of you express as the most important to you and your families. Democrats and Republicans alike. In the days ahead, I’ll be sharing more about these priorities with you. But, for tonight, let me tell you what I believe to be most critical.
First, renewal starts with fixing our broken political system. That means a constitutional amendment for term limits and a lifetime ban on elected officials serving as lobbyists. Say what you will about President Trump, but I share his desire to drain America’s swamp.
As a demonstration of my seriousness, I’m calling on Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer to step down from their leadership posts. The country cannot move forward with officials who think that a government shutdown is in our best interest, or that a $1,000 bonus is a meaningless crumb.
I also call on Republican leadership to step down as well. We need a clean start.
With new blood, Congress can offer a new approach with President Trump. I believe we should meet at Camp David for a five-day summit, plotting how we can best work together. The most important priority for Democrats would be getting a commitment and timeline for advancing term limits and a ban on lobbyists.
Next, our focus would be on how to best support America’s working class. Part of that is collaborating with the Trump administration on the renegotiation of NAFTA and changes to the World Trade Organization. We’re also eager to prioritize inner cities and rural communities as we craft a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Third, we want to work with the president on doubling down on our support for the solar, wind, and natural gas industries. The wars of the Bush and Obama administrations were fought over oil. That has to stop, and we can do it with renewable, homegrown energy.
And that speaks to the wholesale change needed in our foreign policies. Though ultimately the domain of the president, Congress needs to work hand in glove with him on bringing the nation together in the face of global threats.
Most important of these is China and Russia. It’s time to acknowledge that we are in a new Cold War with these nations, both of which have the resources and conviction to wreck global peace, prosperity, and freedom. We’ll need our diplomats, spies, and military leaders to help guide us through this long struggle. And we’ll need our president to make it resolutely clear that he will stand against Chinese and Russian aggression.
Additionally, our fight against terrorism should include tough measures against the radical Salafi ideology that pours from Saudi Arabia. We’ll need to rework the Muslim ban, as the issue will not be solved by targeting a few countries but rather by countering a global ideology.
There are of course other issues to be discussed – reforming immigration, education and entitlements in particular – and I suspect that we’ll have disagreements. But if each side is flexible, progress can be made.
Beyond the debates of policy, a productive summit in and of itself would show our fellow Americans that we can lower the temperature of the nation’s heated politics. We would show America that it still has leaders that can focus on solving problems and facing threats, not spewing personal insults on Twitter or shouting obscenities in meetings.
At the end of the day, that’s the kind of leadership that you’ll see from me and other Democrats who embrace Our American Oath. Through actions of integrity and fortitude, we will inspire each other to make America the more perfect union that our founding fathers and mothers intended some 230 years ago.
With that, I wish you a good night and safe journey wherever this message finds you. May God keep and protect you, and may His Divine Providence bless all of us with an abundance of strength and compassion.”

FBI's McCabe, now stepping down, suspected in leak against White House

Andrew McCabe, who is abruptly stepping down today as the FBI's deputy director, has been the target of criticism by President Trump. But he was also involved in an incident with the White House early last year that raised questions about whether he and the bureau were trying to damage the president.

In an excerpt from my new book "Media Madness: Donald Trump, The Press and the War Over the Truth," I describe events that unfolded last year, beginning with a conversation between McCabe and the then-White House chief of staff: 

Reince Priebus was chairing a 7:30 a.m. intelligence meeting when one of the participants, Andrew McCabe, asked to speak to him privately.
McCabe, the deputy FBI director, closed the door and told Priebus: “We want you to know that everything in this New York Times story is bull--.”
The Times had quoted unnamed sources in reporting that Trump campaign aides and associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials. CNN had carried a similar report.
Priebus pointed to the three televisions on his office wall: “Here’s my problem, they’re going 24/7. Can the FBI say what you just told me?”
McCabe said he would have to check. Priebus thought he might come out of this a freaking hero.
A few hours later, McCabe told him the bureau couldn’t start the practice of commenting on newspaper stories or it would never end.
“Give me a break,” Priebus said. “I’m getting crushed all over the place, and you won’t say publicly what you told me privately?”
James Comey called later. “We really can’t do anything about it,” the FBI director told him. But Comey said he’d be willing to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee that the charges were bogus; he was sure its members would repeat that for the cameras.
Now, a week later, CNN was airing a breaking news story naming Priebus. According to “multiple U.S. officials,” the network said, “the FBI rejected a White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump’s associates and Russians known to U.S. intelligence.”
Priebus was stunned by the implication that he was pressuring law enforcement. Had he been set up? Why was the FBI leaking this information when one of its top officials had initiated the conversation?
Comey assured Priebus that afternoon that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but the story reverberated for days. “Is Reince Priebus Lying About the FBI?” Slate asked. “Reince Priebus Should Resign,” a Boston Globe columnist demanded. The damage was done.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.