Michelle Obama Hula-Hooping our way to health

First, the buff first arms. Then the First Lady's White House playground. Then the First Lady's White House victory garden. Then the First Lady's patronage of farmer's markets for things that grow in the filthy ground or hang on trees where birds perch and do things.

It's a given that too many Americans are obese. They don't exercise enough. The good news is their flabby thighs are hidden by their drooping stomachs.

Now, today First Lady Michelle Obama had a Healthy Kids Fair on the sunny White House South Lawn. Will this healthy stuff ever stop with these people?

Yes, of course, it's a political show. Playing with kids at a scheduled time that allows TV studio editors to process the video in time for the afternoon/evening newscasts is part of American public life now, regardless of party. (Think the Bushes' adorable T-ball games at the White House.)

But M.O.'s enthusiasm is almost contagious, making some American adults at least contemplate getting up out of their La-Z-Boys to move their enlarged bodies slightly. And not just toward the fridge.

Yes, it might be a shock to the old ticker to work a little. So try walking early in the morning before your brain figures out what's going on.

Never mind sitting on your enlarged keister reading books, this first lady seems determined to drive Americans, including her burger-loving, cigarette-smoking husband, to at least feel guilty about all those fries and other gunk they swallow into their bodies.

As she often does in her public remarks (think Copenhagen), the president's wife falls back on her own life for story material. We learn today that in her childhood they got pizza once each year or semester, one or the other -- and then only if the children had received good grades.

We also learn Mrs. Obama loves french fries. Very much. Extremely much. But that she knows she can't eat them every day. She doesn't explain why not. Apparently, she thinks it's bad somehow.

Mrs. Obama also says that her two daughters have no TV time on school days, which forces them to find activities other than sitting. Actually moving around, the way neighborhood youngsters did back in the neolithic pre-TV times of the 1940s and before.

And Sasha and Malia Obama only get a few hours of TV on the weekend -- presumably not Fox News either because, according to other White House denizens, watching that channel can cause bad things to happen to the human brain.

Today's Kids Fair is actually a rather charming event. (See news video below.) So put your Whopper down for a sec and scan what the First Mother had to say.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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First Lady Michelle Obama's remarks at the Healthy Kids Fair, as provided by the White House
MRS. OBAMA:  Well, hello!

CHILDREN:  Hello!

MRS. OBAMA:  It's good to see everybody.  Perfect weather, right?

CHILDREN:  Yes!

MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you so much. I am thrilled to have you all here today at the White House. And I....

Joe Biden gambles on rescuing Nevada's Harry Reid

The question hanging over Democrats as the 2010 midterm elections loom: Has the economic stimulus stimulated, well, anything?

The answer is particularly important in Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s reelection could depend on whether the state's battered tourism and construction economy has healed.

VP Joe Biden tried to tackle the issue today in Reno, where he addressed the few Nevadans who can still afford a $2,400-a-plate breakfast with him and Reid. (We're still unsure whether all that cash bought the donor-diners pancakes or eggs.)

And it's a real "bargain" given the $30-grand tab per couple to dine with President Obama last night in San Francisco, as The Ticket described here earlier today.

Earlier this year, Obama flew in for a Reid fundraiser in Las Vegas. But state polls still show unfavorable ratings among Silver State voters. In his remarks today, Biden ticked off some promising economic signs, including the Dow topping 10,000 and a stabilizing housing market (well, in parts of the country that are not Nevada).

“This didn’t happen by accident,” the VP said, according to the White House pool report. “It’s because of the policies the president and I and this guy put together. Are they all perfect? No. Are we out of the woods? No. But we’re in a different place.”

Meanwhile, Republicans used the Reno fundraiser to pummel Obama, Biden, Reid, the stimulus package, Democrats and pancakes (OK, we’re kidding on that last one). It came in a tough one-minute radio ad listenable right here. 

And get this: Republican collects goods for food bank while fat-cat Democrats eat expensive breakfast. Sue Lowden, one of Reid’s potential GOP challengers, passed out coffee and doughnuts this morning – and her grub was free – while collecting canned goods for a food bank and talking about the desperate need for job creation.

So the economic stimulus has, at the very least, stimulated criticism of Reid. Though top state Republicans, including Gov. Jim Gibbons and Sen. John Ensign, initially dismissed the $860+-billion package as pork, the GOP has recently found the spending useful to undermine Reid’s repeated claim that Nevadans shouldn’t throw away his longtime D.C. clout.

To make yet another food reference, the Republican argument pretty much goes like this: If Reid really is such a powerful fellow in charge of the U.S. Senate, why hasn’t the guy brought home more bacon after four long terms?

There remain less than 13 more months to argue that one out.

-- Ashley Powers

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Nevada full of running Reids--Harry, Rory, both in trouble

This week in Nevada, you couldn’t go anywhere without being reminded that a Reid is running for office.

Papa Harry, the Senate majority leader and a top Republican target, aired his first two commercials. “Hard Work” is a fairly traditional reminder of his up-from-Searchlight youth: Dad was a miner, Mom did laundry for a brothel and Harry hitchhiked to high school.

“Nevada Jobs,” is a little more unusual: Jim Murren, the CEO of MGM Mirage, talks about....

how Reid rescued the CityCenter project from bankruptcy. It sort of reminds us of a reality-show confessional, though more staid than those on “The Real World: Las Vegas.”

The underlying message: Nevada, I’m a mover and shaker. You want to go all South Dakota and give that up? Not the best idea, not in this economy.

Harry also announced that he’s raised $12 million, so expect a lot more commercials. Recent polls show the him in deep, deep trouble. So Vice President Joe Biden flies in Friday to help Harry in the Reno area.

Sue Lowden, former head of the state GOP, could beat him right now. Danny Tarkanian, son of a famous basketball coach, could beat him. We’re sure Garth Brooks could beat Reid, too, though his status as a Nevadan is about as shaky as John Chachas'.

Then there’s son Rory, who's widely considered smart and thoughtful, but apparently inherited his dad's (lack of) charisma and terrible polling.  As of Wednesday, Rory is officially running for governor and testing Nevadans’ taste for dynasties. Already, he's blamed unpopular GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons for not securing enough stimulus money, to which a Gibbons aide essentially retorted: It’s your dad’s fault! 
This could get real ugly for every Reid involved.

-- Ashley Powers

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Joe Biden heading to Reno -- and this time it's no joke

 
So Joe Biden is heading to Reno next week to eat pancakes with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. You can join them for (up to) $2,400, and since we made up the part about pancakes, you might get eggs instead.

Something else about the breakfast fundraiser is nagging us, though. It feels like we’ve read about Biden visiting the Biggest Little City in the World before. In the Wall Street Journal? No. And not the New York Times …

Aha! The Onion. Of course.

In a particularly prescient July story, the self-proclaimed America’s Finest News Source (which, for the uninformed, both makes up the news and makes the made-up stuff funny) wrote that Biden had requested to become the special envoy to Reno.

As The Onion wrote, the VP had, apparently, already "made significant headway with a local dignitary named Candi" and asked for a weekend of, ahem, diplomatic immunity near several of Nevada’s legal brothels.

Funny thing: In real life, Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite BunnyRanch near Reno, is rather politically active. That won’t help Joe and Harry’s breakfast, though; Hof’s a Ron Paul kind of guy.

-- Ashley Powers

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Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Michelle Obama's Chicago Olympics pep rally

Are you ready? Well, you better be

The Big Gun has arrived.

Michelle Obama, the First Cheerleader in Chief, is in Copenhagen now working the International Olympic Committee to pick Chicago and her Southside neighborhood for the 2016 summer games.

Until recently, chiefs of state or their spouses did not normally lobby the IOC, which votes Friday among Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Tokyo and the windy midwestern city named for a smelly Indian onion that has a stunning lakefront and ample parking on numerous freeways.

It's all very exciting if you're into political handshaking and planning what you'll be doing about seven years from now. Mrs. Obama has conferred with former British prime minister Tony Blair about how he successfully lobbied committee members for London and 2012 a while back. Russia's former KGB chief Vladimir Putin somehow succeeded in telling IOC members to pick Sochi for 2014.

Obama's husband will drop healthcare, war and  everything else Thursday to fly overnight to....

Biden's Recovery.gov site gets overhauled

Remember the $18 million the government spent a couple of months ago on redesigning and maintaining Recovery.gov? Well, the new version of the Obama administration's website for tracking stimulus spending launched on Monday.

Smartronix Inc., the Maryland-based design contractor, delivered a solid revision to the interface and backend four months ahead of schedule. We were admittedly skeptical of the expenditure, but the new digs look good and pack a bunch of really cool features.

Is it "$9.5 million cool?" Well, you be the judge.

The home page is a dataholic's dream. It's stacked with spending summaries and slick maps that show where cash is being spent. You can pretty easily sort by category and drill down to see a map of spending in individual neighborhoods.

But it's still not perfect. The search function is practically worthless. If you're looking for a particular program, have fun wading through the mess.

However, the Recovery.gov project is certainly a big step toward organizing the piles of public information about government spending that has long floated elusively.

In the last year, Recovery.gov has had more site overhauls than Facebook, Digg or Twitter. And the government is slated to spend an additional $8.5 million on the site over the next five years.

-- Mark Milian

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Image courtesy of Recovery.gov

Breaking: Sarah Palin book so exciting publisher jumps release date; only 50 days to wait!

You Sarah Palin fans/haters who thought you had until next spring to buy and then read at least the first part of Sarah Palin's book need to change your plans. Pronto!

Grab your lawn chair and get down to the local bookstore immediately.

The book is so delicious and revealing -- according to the publisher, who might just have a stake in ginning up excitement over this -- they are moving up the publication date.

"Going Rogue: An American Life" will now go on sale on Nov. 17.

So everyone can get copies as Thanksgiving presents.

Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham says the ex-governor obviously invested herself deeply -- and also quite quickly -- in penning the 400-page volume, and it contains "fascinating details."

Some of which, no doubt, will not be so fascinating to some within the failed campaign of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who picked her as the first GOP female on a presidential ticket in an obvious bid for the Arctic vote.

Many in the mainstream media will also be eager to see how the Republican hockey mom praises them for their objective portrayals of her -- and, indeed, her entire family -- all last fall.

First stop on the book promotion tour, no doubt: CBS to chat with David L. and Katie C.

Harper's says it's ordered a whopping advance printing of 1.5 million copies. But that still means that more than 300 million Americans will have to share copies.

Or perhaps they'll print more.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press

New Joe 'You lie!' Wilson video: He explains his outburst, seeks $$$

Well, now it's Joe Wilson's turn to try to make money off the outburst over his outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress last night.

This morning  right here The Ticket reported that because he shouted "You lie!" when Obama claimed his healthcare reforms would not cover illegal immigrants, opponents of the 62-year-old South Carolina Republican mobilized overnight and claim to have raised way more than $100,000 to help defeat him next year.

We also included the shout video there and other reactions, including efforts to support the sudden-nobody-turned-somebody who became God's gift to Thursday cable news yakkers. The redoubtable Don Surber has a photo over here of what the new Joe Wilson T-shirt looks like.

Wilson apologized, of course, for his inappropriate behavior while maintaining opposition to the president's plans.

And he's just now posted his own video explanation of the incident (see below) and -- you'll never guess what else -- an appeal for money over here to counter the appeal for money by people seeking to counter his membership in the House. At this point Wilson would probably accept even Confederate dollars.

As always with videos and TV news, feel free to heckle the speaker back.

But then you might have to apologize too.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's heckling of Obama sparks fundraising flood to his Democratic opponent

In eight years of George W. Bush's presidency -- despite huge differences on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and contentious debates over torture policy, No Child Left Behind and immigration reform -- no elected official ever heckled the president of the United States when he addressed a joint session of Congress.

But last night, as President Obama was making the case for his healthcare reform initiative, 62-year-old South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson called the president a liar. To his face.

It happened when Obama was rebutting the myths about healthcare reform, including the shibboleth that the package will allow benefits for illegal immigrants. Obama assured the viewing audience that the rumors were false.

"You lie!" shouted Wilson.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked stunned. First Lady Michelle Obama, watching from the gallery, shook her head back and forth. And Republicans like Arizona's John McCain, calling the heckling "totally disrespectful," immediately called on Wilson to apologize.

Wilson did call the White House to apologize. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, reportedly livid over the breach of civility, took the call. Then Wilson put out a statement saying, "This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility."

But the apology did not stop a flood of donations to Wilson's likely Democratic opponent in 2010: Rob Miller, a Marine Corps and Iraq war veteran who lost to Wilson by 8 points last year and is eager for a rematch. Miller quickly put out a statement saying Wilson's behavior "exemplifies everything that is wrong in Washington. Instead of engaging in childish name-calling and disrespecting our commander-in-chief, Joe Wilson should be working towards a bipartisan solution."

"Joe Wilson" quickly became the most searched term on Google. Ditto Twitter. And soon enough, the money started pouring in. ActBlue, which bills itself as the clearinghouse for Democratic action, says it has raised more than $100,000 for Miller, and counting.

Of course, some conservatives are hailing Wilson as a great hero. Red State is urging backers to pony up to Wilson's campaign. They're also flogging Utah Republican Robert F. Bennett for applauding when the president bashed politicians (former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's name was not mentioned but you could kind of hear it in the air) who inspire fear over mythical Obama death panels.

And throughout the speech, House GOP leader Eric Cantor texted on his BlackBerry, and several Republicans waved sheets of paper at the president, offering reform suggestions.

Meanwhile, Wilson's official House website has been overwhelmed. "Due to exceptionally high traffic, this site is temporarily unavailable," says a notice. "Please come back shortly."

-- Johanna Neuman

Top photo: Rep. Joe Wilson. Credit: Reuters. Bottom photo: Republicans wave ideas. Credit: Getty Images.

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Sotomayor's first words in first Supreme Court argument

The case involved Hillary Clinton (the movie), the future of campaign finance reform and the sanctity of the 1st Amendment guarantee of free speech. Just the usual fodder for a Supreme Court tasked with being the last appeal for all causes, from all corners.

There were a few firsts.

Elena Kagan made her first argument at the high court as solicitor general, presenting the government's case that the movie was a campaign ad and therefore subject to regulation by the nation's campaign finance laws.

She was facing off against a former solicitor general, Theodore Olson, who was arguing that those laws violate the 1st Amendment rights of corporations and unions by banning them from political speech. "Why is it easier to dance naked, burn a flag or wear a T-shirt profanely opposing the draft," Olson said in July at the conservative Federalist Society, "than it is to advocate the election or defeat of a president? That cannot be right."

The case is so pivotal -- and so potentially tumultuous to decades of campaign finance law -- that the justices returned from their summer recess three weeks early to hear arguments.

And the case could be decided by two justices appointed by George W. Bush -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. -- who may have to choose between personal views and court precedents.

But no matter all of that.

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina justice and the first high court appointment by President Obama, spoke her first words. And the world took note.

By all accounts, she jumped right into questioning. She appeared skeptical of arguments by Citizens United that the conservative group's 90-minute campaign-era movie about Clinton ("Not a musical comedy," observed Justice Stephen Breyer) was protected speech. And she questioned Olson about why he had abandoned a former argument -- that Citizens United was not really a corporation -- for a more sweeping one, that campaign funding restrictions discriminate against corporations.

Upbraided by several Republican senators during her confirmation hearings about the importance of respecting court precedents, she asked Olson why he seemed so intent on toppling it in this case. Her first words:

Mr. Olson, are you giving up on your earlier arguments that there are ways to avoid the constitutional question to resolve this case? I know that we asked for further briefing on this particular issue of overturning two of our Court's precedents. But are you giving up on your earlier arguments that there are statutory interpretations that would avoid the constitutional question?

His answer: No.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Getty Images

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