POTUS today at the gNOp spanking: "Quit? No! I'm havin' fun!"

[Clio the Leo]

Obama Does 'Question Time.' It Rocked.
Katie Connolly

As many regular Gaggle readers know, I grew up in Australia. One of my favorite parts of political culture there is Question Time, where the prime minister stands before the House of Representatives and takes whatever questions they dare throw at him. (I say "him" because there's never been a female P.M.) It's boisterous, it's feisty, it's full of blunt accusations, smart quips, and, believe it or not, reasoned explanations for policy decisions. I love it. Today, when the president took questions from the House Republican caucus in Baltimore, I watched the closest thing I've ever seen to Question Time in the United States. And it was awesome.

The president clearly enjoyed himself. When Rep. Mike Pence mentioned the president might be running out of time, the president retorted "No, I'm havin' fun!" Indeed, it was a good time for the president. He spent around 90 minutes forcefully and comprehensively refuting GOP talking points about his agenda and his methods, and he bluntly called Republicans out for being obstructionist.

<snip>

In the original plan, only the president's opening remarks were going to be televised, but the White House later negotiated for cameras to be present for the entire event. (Evidently a smart move on their part...) Republicans appear to be regretting this decision, telling NBC's Luke Russert that allowing cameras for the Q&A was a mistake. The only conceivable reason for the GOP, which has taken to decrying Obama for breaking his promise to have C-Span cameras present at congressional negotiations, to regret the decision is because Obama wiped the floor with them. The White House, so I'm told, wants to hold these sessions often, perhaps monthly. It's starting to look unlikely that they'll be televised again. And that would be truly sad. This sort of genuine debate actually has a chance, against all odds, of changing the tone in D.C. To have the president spar with his critics face to face on a regular basis really could advance political discourse in this town, and might—just might—start to restore the public's faith that Congress can be smart and dynamic, not just a bunch of old guys with their heads in the sand.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/01/29/obama-s-does-question-time-it-rocked.aspx

[Cha]

1. The repugs are between a rock and

a hard place..if they don't do it anymore..they'll be dubbed chickenshits(I know they already are) and if they do it they'll be lunchmeat.

[applegrove]

2. Yup.

[NYC Liberal]

3. In the future, they'll just make unreasonable demands such that

when Obama says "Yeah, no, not agreeing to that," they can say "Well the negotiations for the event fell through...oh well"

[Cha]

7. They can do whatever but everyone

will know the real reason..it's right there on video~

[mopinko]

4. question time in the u.s.=my dream come true.

i must have posted 100 times how much i would love to have it here. in fact, i posted it about it just yesterday. i had no idea they were planning this.
i loved it. really, really loved it. he is so good at it.

[babylonsister]

5. I read Pence stopped the last question. He knew they were screwn.

:evilgrin:

[NYC_SKP]

6. "You know, I'm having fun!", then, "This is Great!". Pence: "So are we."

:rofl:

snip:

And I would just say that we have to think about tone. It's not just on your side, by the way -- it's on our side, as well. This is part of what's happened in our politics, where we demonize the other side so much that when it comes to actually getting things done, it becomes tough to do.

Mike.

CONGRESSMAN PENCE: Dr. Tom Price from Georgia, and then we'll have one more after that if your time permits, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: You know, I'm having fun. (Laughter.)

CONGRESSMAN PENCE: Okay.

THE PRESIDENT: This is great. (Applause.)

CONGRESSMAN PENCE: So are we.

end snip.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

8. great to see a Democrat with balls, wish he would show them more often

wish I could have seen this


When Rep. Mike Pence mentioned the president might be running out of time, the president retorted "No, I'm havin' fun!" .

was it on MSNBC's re broadcast ?