Leave it to Greg to find the diamond in the coal. But of course, as he notes, it will be ignored and the meme will win the day.

6. Will your vote for a congressional candidate be made in order to send a message that you SUPPORT Barack Obama, be made in order to send a message that you OPPOSE Barack Obama,or will you NOT be sending a message about Barack Obama with your vote?

Sept. 1-2 2010

Message that you support Obama 20%
Message that you oppose Obama 24%
Not sending a message 54%
Don’t plan to vote (vol.) 2%
No opinion 1%

Here’s where reporting the “news” as opposed to memes would come in. Via Media Matters, who strives to keep the bullshit corralled.

Hey, I’m just telling you what the daily tracking poll numbers at Gallup tells us:

-Aug. 30, 2009: 51 percent

-Sept. 1, 2010: 47 percent

I realize that Sean Hannity on Fox News last night announced that Obama had just suffered the worst August for any president ever. And I realize much of the Beltway press has echoed that sentiment, and in fact has spent much of this year pushing its beloved narrative about how Obama’s polling numbers are  ”falling” fast, and that his presidency is in rapid decline.

But is it true?

Just because the mainstream media and the GOP Noise Machine are (surprise!) in heated agreement about that point, and have been for months, does that make it true? I realize pointing out the fact that Obama has lost four points in his Gallup polling numbers over the last 52 weeks won’t do much to discourage that narrative, and who knows, maybe he’s about to take a big hit in the Gallup poll and week from now he’ll be down nine points vs. one year ago.

But it’s it’s always useful to address the facts. And the facts according to Gallup’s daily tracking poll are that in the last 12 months Obama’s approval rating has declined four points. That, in a poll that has margin of error of 3 points.

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But it won’t count because only us DFH’s are talking about it. No mention by Wingers, it never happened. Oh look, wonder how easy it was for Media Matters to find this?

In 2004, Bush appeared on daytime talk show Dr. Phil. In 2004, President Bush and his wife appeared on Phil McGraw’s daytime talk show, Dr. Phil. The Washington Post reported on September 29, 2004, that “[w]ith ‘Family First’ the title of McGraw’s most recent book, he has promised both candidates the questions would be limited to family-oriented topics” and noted that the segment would air during the afternoon hours.

Probably as easy as it was for me to find this and the video. Teh Googlez is amazing.

Dr. Phil McGraw, accompanied by his wife Robin, sat down with President and Laura Bush in the living room of the first couple’s Crawford, Texas, ranch for Wednesday’s installment of the Dr. Phil daytime TV show.

The hour, which emitted a warm-and-fuzzy feeling, dealt with such family matters as whether children should be spanked – now-22-year-old twin daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush were not – while it consciously sidestepped such harsh campaign issues as Iraq and the economy.

He wasn’t the only one refuting Fox’s b.s. meme.

Problem is, no matter how much it is bullshit, their megaphone will convince that 38% that is just butt stupid.

Just kills me how they try and project this bizzarro world where everything is upside down. This does fit right in with the “not a manly man” meme that Greg predicted though.

There is no winning this game.

That my friends is the headline from some winger site called “Gateway Pundit” (not gonna link). I saw this early this am and wondered how long before the meme hit the mainstream. See above, that would be from the first hour of Beck’s radio show. Then I wondered how long until Media Matters debunked it? Within an hour of Beck’s bs. Unlike most other winger sites, Media Matters actually has links and evidence to prove what it says. I know. Another one to add to the Without Precedent — Except For All The Other Times list.

Obama commemorations similar to Bush’s

Obama delivered speech at Normandy for D-Day 65^th anniversary in 2009. President Obama traveled to Normandy for a June 6, 2009 ceremony honoring the 65^th anniversary of D-Day. He delivered a speech honoring the troops, saying in part, that victory “came down to the men who landed here – those who now rest in this place for eternity, and those who are with us today. Perhaps more than any other reason, you, the veterans of that landing, are why we still remember what happened on D-Day. You are why we come back.”

Bush administration commemorated D-Day in 2001 and 2004, but spent others in meetings and at least one concert. White House archives of June 6 for each year President Bush was in office only show Bush commemorating D-Day in 2001 and 2004. In 2001, Bush dedicated a D-Day memorial in Virginia, and in 2004, he went to Normandy to mark the 60^th anniversary of D-Day. There are no “news” references to D-Day in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, or 2008.

On 2005 D-Day anniversary, Bush hosted a concert celebrating Black Music Month and did not recognize the holiday. While Hoft and Fox criticized Obama for attending a “party” instead of recognizing the anniversary of D-Day, on June 6, 2005, Bush held a concert at the White House celebrating Black Music Month. According to the White House archives, Bush also did not commemorate the D-Day anniversary.

Steve Benen did us all a world of favor! I’m only going to post part of it, so go read the rest here. Consider making the complete post over at his place a nice little liberal viral email and spread the word.

Monday is, of course, Memorial Day, and President Obama will honor the day at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery outside Chicago, while Vice President Biden appears at Arlington National Cemetery. This, apparently, has caused a stir in some circles.

Glenn Beck told his minions this week that that the president “has decided not to honor our troops on Memorial Day,” which isn’t even close to true. The deranged media personality, apparently referring to Obama’s decision not to be at Arlington, added, “Maybe this has happened before. I don’t recall it. ”

In reality, this isn’t especially unusual.

Obama is not the first president to miss the Arlington ceremony. Ronald Reagan spoke at West Point one year, and went to his California ranch another year. George H.W. Bush, a war veteran, did not go at all. Bill Clinton, who did not serve in Vietnam and had a rocky time with the military, went to Arlington all eight years, and George W. Bush, who also avoided combat service in Vietnam, attended from 2003 onward.

Obama’s plans, in other words, are generating some criticism, but there’s really not much new here. The president’s Memorial Day schedule is a “story,” despite being fairly routine.

Which, as it turns out, one of the defining trends of the political discourse over the last 16 months. Several months ago, Atrios noted, “When Dems are president, perfectly normally ways of doing things are rebranded as somehow odd.”

Ain’t that the truth.

He goes on to list the various “scandals” that have dogged this administration, but this comment caught my eye-

This is Obama’s own fault. Were he less careful about giving his critics something to complain about, they’d have REAL attacks to make on him, rather than this invented stuff.

It’s their job to warn America about what a dangerous scoundral Obama is. If Obama finally did something to prove them right, Republicans wouldn’t have to make things up. I’m sure this is all part of his evil plot to destroy America, by making Republicans look like blustering fools.

Ain’t it the truth.

How they equate Anarchists with Liberals/Progressives I don’t know… but they do. Aren’t they always whining about how we love “Mommy Government”? Yep, totally makes sense that we’d join up with a “movement” that wants no government, no authority. I detest how these little idjits reflect on us by default. But we will be hearing about this tomorrow.

SANTA CRUZ – A large group of protesters demonstrating at a May Day rally for worker’s and immigrant rights downtown broke off into a riot vandalizing about a dozen businesses around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, police said.

Many in the group were carrying makeshift torches as they marched, breaking storefront windows and writing “anarchist graffiti” on buildings, according to Capt. Steve Clark. Many businesses sustained multiple broken windows including very large storefront windows at Urban Outfitters and The Rittenhouse building. Police believe at least 15 businesses suffered damage.

The violence was initiated from a group holding a rally at the town clock for May Day. Windows at Jamba Juice and Velvet Underground were left shattered and graffiti including anarchy signs were tagged onto buildings.
Because of the size and violent demeanor of the crowd, Santa Cruz police asked for help from all agencies in the county to break up the riot. At one point, protesters lit a fire on the porch of Caffe Pergolesi and blocked access to firefighters, officers said. Police were able to clear out the demonstrators before more damage was caused.

(snip)

“The damage that was caused was without purpose,” Clark said. “It was senseless violence that victimized a community who cannot afford to be victimized in this manner. This did nothing to add credit to whatever they believed their cause was.”

Don’t even get me started on the so called “anarchists”. Stupid little punk ass whiners, thinking they’re all that with their (gasp) black clothes and even MOHAWKS!!! How utterly original. Bet you guys even get high and plot to take over the world? Make loud aggressive music on shoddy instruments? Who woulda thunk.

I’m sure all this aggression comes from the huge spanking I gave some little snotty git at Comcast today, but hey, I won. You don’t want to mess with a woman who once wore a dress made out of black stockings and pink baby diaper safety pins, ya little shits.

TODAY – May 02, 2010

Obama visits gulf ecological disaster

—>The president reassures crews as he tries to prevent the oil spill from turning into his Katrina.<--- ‘All hands on deck’

The arrows are added to get you right to the point. No, No, No, No, NO! Ugh.