Day: January 25, 2010

Obama Brings Teleprompter To Elementary School Speech

Obama Brings Teleprompter To Elementary School Speech — President Obama spoke to sixth graders at Graham Road Elementary in Virginia on Jan. 19. He brought his teleprompter.

Really.

His speech starts: “Hello, everybody. You guys look really cute in those chairs.”

A transcript can be found here.

The White House spin is that the teleprompters were there for comments to  journalists. You know, that really doesn’t make it any better.

Here’s a video of part of the speech. You decide if he’s reading from a teleprompter or speaking from memory.

 

Obama Brings Teleprompter To Elementary School Speech

 

Was Rendell’s Haitian Rescue A Glory-Grab, After All?

PaWaterCooler.Com is reporting that Gov. Rendell flew to Haiti to deliver medical supplies and rescue 54 orphans after a woman who is a former U.S. attorney for Western Pennsylvania did  the work in organizing the effort.

Mary Beth Buchanan spent four days, according to PaWaterCooler, obtaining clearance for the children to enter the United States, medical supplies,  physicians to escort the children and  an airplane cleared to land in Haiti.

The only thing she failed to get was the airplane, in lieu of which came an interrogation from a senior consultant for UPMC — a major health facility headquartered in Pittsburgh — regarding the details  of her mission. The supplies Ms. Buchanan had gathered were the ones carried to Haiti by Rendell.

Ms. Buchanan is openly mulling a challenge to incumbent Congressman Jason Altmire (D-Pa4). Altmire is an ally of Rendell and has close connections with UPMC where he was a former acting vice president.

Luzerne County Commissioner Enters GOP Lt. Gov Race

One steps out, one steps in.

Nine days after former Erie County Executive Rick Schenker announced that the was quitting the crowded race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen Anthony Urban took his seat at the table.

Urban, 57, made his announcement Saturday. He is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.

Also in the race for the GOP nomination are:

Carol Aichele (Chester County Commissioner)
Bruce L. Castor Jr. (ex-Montco D.A.)
James F. Cawley (Bucks County Commissioner)
Russ Diamond (founder of  PACleanSweep)
Dominic D. “Nick” DiFrancesco II (Dauphin County Commissioner)
John H. Eichelberger, Jr. (state senator representing the 30th District)
James R. Matthews (Montco Commissioner, last GOP Lt. Gov candidate, Chris Matthews’ brother)
Frank L. Rizzo Jr. (Philly councilman, son of legendary mayor)
Mike Turzai (state representative for the 28th District)
Joseph P. Watkins (pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, the oldest African American Lutheran Church in Philadelphia)

Seeking the Democratic nod are:

Michael F. “Mike” Gerber (state representative for the 148th District)
Valerie McDonald Roberts (Allegheny County recorder of deeds)
Jonathan A. Saidel (former Philadelphia city controller)
Josh Shapiro (state representative for the 153rd District)
Doris Smith-Ribner (former Commonwealth Court judge)

The primary election is May 18.