Obama on Michael Jackson: A crossover racial figure who created 'comfort level' for African American public figures

Pop star icon Michael Jackson is the only thing people around the world want to talk about today.

And President Obama couldn't help notice that he no longer has the megaphone. Even in Moscow, where he was meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin on such hot-button issues as nuclear arms, fans created a makeshift shrine to Jackson in front of the U.S. Embassy, leaving photographs, Orthodox Christian icons, votive candles and personal messages.

So the president offered a round of interviews with American journalists, opining on nuclear weapons. Still,  the journalists wanted to talk about was Michael Jackson. So Obama complied, sounding a bit, well, rueful about having to wait out the international outpouring of love.

With ABC's Jake Tapper, Obama joked that the only way he would get on television would be to discuss Jackson. He explained it this way: “Michael Jackson, like Elvis, like Sinatra, when somebody who’s captivated the imagination of the country for that long passes away, people pay attention and I assume at some point people will start focusing again on things like nuclear weapons.”

Asked by NBC's Chuck Todd about the Rev. Al Sharpton's assertion that Jackson, whose popularity crossed racial lines, paved the way for mainstream acceptance of top-name African American talents like  Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods and himself, Obama said:

What I do believe is that black sports figures and black entertainers helped to create a comfort level with African Americans that had an impact historically dating back to people like Sidney Poitier or Louie Armstrong, up through Michael Jackson. So I would say that he's part of a long line of black entertainers that had an impact on the culture.

And seeking to explain the international fascination for Jackson that was robbing the White House of its usual dominance on the international stage, Obama told CBS: "There are certain figures in our popular culture that just capture peoples' imagination, and in death they become even larger. I have to admit that it's also fed by a 24/7 media that is insatiable." 

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Comparing Jackson's passing to that of Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Frank Sinatra, Obama said: "It's not surprising people are mourning the loss." 

At the end of its interview with the president, as if to confirm Obama's instincts, CBS urged readers to click on a link "for complete coverage of Michael Jackson's death and today's memorial."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: AFP / Getty Images

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Sarah Palin reclaims her inner fisherwoman: 'Politically, if I die, I die. So be it.'

The governor of Alaska went fishing Monday, wearing those waders with suspenders that fishermen fancy, accompanied by her baby, Trig,  daughter Piper and her husband, First Dude for a Few More Weeks Todd Palin. Oh, and she alerted the media.

What a spectacle -- the stars of America's cable news personalities from Fox, NBC, CNN, ABC meeting the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on the shores of Kanakanak Beach in Dillingham, Alaska, while the governor brushed salmon slime off her suspenders and blasted the media, bloggers and anyone who would dare question her politically bizarre decision to quit in the middle of her first term.

To Fox, she expressed bitterness at those who peppered her with ethics accusations, saying  that their ridiculous charges had nearly bankrupted her family and brought Alaska's government to a grinding halt. "The critics want to put you on a course of personal bankruptcy so you can't afford to serve," she said, calling the attacks "bull crap."

She was coy about her plans for 2012, musing that it was difficult to know what the political future would hold, let alone the next salmon run. But she was quick to criticize President Obama. As she led reporters in a boat across Bristol Bay, she opined, "Average, hard-working Americans need to be able to get out there, unrestrained, and fight for what is right. Fight for energy independence and national security, fight for a smaller government instead of this big government overgrowth that Obama is ushering in."

As the Ticket noted over the weekend, Palin has a tendency to sound like former President Richard Nixon, who intoned in the middle of the Watergate scandal, "I am not a crook." Three days after resigning as governor of Alaska, effective at month's end, Palin told CNN,  "I am not a quitter. I am a fighter."

She told ABC she's pleased with her decision, damn the consequences. “I’m extremely happy," she said. "Politically speaking, if I die, I die. So be it.”

And when NBC's Andrea Mitchell said that some would say she didn't finish the job, Palin's voice rose. "You're not listening to me as to why I wouldn't be able to finish that final year in office without it costing the state millions of dollars and countless hours of wasted time," she snapped.

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Noting that "everything changed" last August when Republican presidential candidate John McCain asked her to be his running mate, Palin said she had no regrets about accepting the nomination. "Not in the least," she said. "It was a great honor to stand by a great American hero. I would have done all that again in a heartbeat."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: A previous Palin fishing trip.  Credit: Associated Press

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Joe Biden update: He'll swear in Al Franken today as senator; no joke!

Well, this morning -- perhaps even as you read this -- Vice President Joe Biden is meeting at his secret observatory in Washington with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Of course, with President Obama out of the country as a decoy in Russia having breakfast with Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, the Biden-Clinton breakfast is, like all the vice president's many private meetings, closed to the media.

So we can only speculate on the agenda, most likely that the former first lady from Chicago/Chappaqua is giving the former senator from Delaware some good jokes for Biden's noon gig on Capitol Hill.

At that very special hour, according to Biden's White House schedule, the vice president will have the unique and special honor of swearing into senatorhood the new senator from Minnesota, likely the very first "Saturday Night Live" cast member to join that elite club of dark blue suits (and a couple of red ones).

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with the 315-vote-margin senator-elect and was clearly blown away by the fellow who will be the Democrats' important 60th vote as long as the other 59 continue breathing.

In his most enthusiastic remarks, even for someone from somewhere as uptown as Searchlight, Reid announced that Franken's coming would not by itself solve all of the nation's problems. For Reid's full text click here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press (Clinton and Biden, right, practice not laughing).

Henry Waxman says restless legs syndrome doesn't exist, but then...

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), looking hale and hearty after a recent hospitalization, was on C-SPAN this week describing his groggy arrival at the medical institution when someone noticed his leg jerking and asked if he had restless legs syndrome.

The obstreperous Waxman said he knew that such an ailment is yet another example of America's greedy pharmaceutical companies creating a new disease to market new medicines for Americans to buy and swallow and pump into themselves.

The phone-in program then took the next call from the Independent Line and Waxman was surprised to learn something he didn't know. Watch his reaction.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Video courtesy of C-SPAN.

Official peroration of Harry Reid upon Al Franken's Senate arrival

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is quite pleased with the arrival of his party's 60th vote that gives his party a filibuster-proof majority as long as nobody dies or Arlen Specter doesn't change his mind again this week.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on the long state recount, giving the Democrat a victory margin of 315 votes out of 2.9 million over incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

But as great as the newly elected former Saturday Night Live comedian is already, the Nevada Democrat says the nation's plethora of problems cannot be solved by Al Franken alone. "We will need more than just his presence to effectively address all of our nation's challenges," Reid said Monday. (If you don't believe it, see full text below.)

-- Andrew Malcolm

Statement by Sen. Harry Reid upon the arrival of Al Franken in the United States Senate on the 6th day of the seventh month in the Year of our Nationhood 233

I am pleased to welcome Senator-elect Al Franken to the United States Senate. Senator-elect Franken ran a hard-fought, issues-based campaign and I know he will work hard for the people of Minnesota. But don't take my word for it. This is what former Republican Congressman Vin Weber had to say about our newest senator: "When people find out he's a smart guy who is serious about issues and a hard worker, they will be very pleasantly surprised."

Much has been made of the expectations of Al Franken joining the United States. I expect Al to work hard for the people of Minnesota, who have gone far too long without full representation. I expect him to help deliver the change this country demands as we work to strengthen our economy, ensure all Americans can access and afford quality healthcare, and make our country more energy independent.

I am confident Senator-elect Franken will make a difference, but we will need more than just his presence to effectively address all of our nations challenges.

The challenges we face are not Democratic or Republican in nature. They are America's challenges and they are too great to be solved by partisanship. Moving America forward will still require the cooperation and collaboration of Democrats and Republicans alike. The last eight years have shown us that the American people want us to work together. Democrats aren't looking at Senator Franken's election as an opportunity to ram legislation through the Senate.

In turn Senate Republicans must understand that Senator-elect Franken's election does not abdicate them from the responsibility of governing. That is why we have and will continue to offer Senate Republicans a seat at the table. It is up to them to decide whether they will sit down and work for the common good or continue to be the Party of No.

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