Top 5 Flubs of First 100 Days  

Obama celebrates his 100th day in office today, so in honor of that DWTDBs would like to commemorate the event with the top 5 Obama flubs:

Number 5
Obama Cannot Nominate Anyone Who Paid Their Taxes

President Obama admitted he made a "mistake" in his handling of Tom Daschle's Cabinet nomination, telling FOX News on Tuesday that he takes full responsibility for a process that ended in Daschle withdrawing his name amid tax problems. 02-03-09

He also nominated Timothy Geithner, Nancy Killefer, and Hilda Solis. Killefer's and Solis' problems were relative small, but tax cheat Geithner would go on to run the economy carte blanche with the authority of a little line from TARP "NECESSARY ACTIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation, the following: Designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Federal Government, and such institutions shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Federal Government as may be required."



Number 4
Released Guantanamo Detainees Return to Terrorism

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the U.S. hasn’t done a good job sorting out who should be released from the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Obama says in a broadcast interview that some of the people released from the facility in Cuba have rejoined terrorist groups. He also says U.S. officials have not always been effective in determining which prisoners will be a danger once they are let go.

The current proposal has Obama placing the terrorists in American jails where they will be granted American rights. There has even been talk of having to release some of them onto American soil because no other country will have them.

Number 3
Obama White House Stages 9-11 Re-enactment

Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and a 747 from the presidential fleet to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD, the Federal Aviation Administration's James Johnston said the agency was aware of "the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes" in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out.

Causing thousands of New Yorkers to relive the horror of 9-11 is definitely worth $328,000, isn't it?

Number 2
Obama Chooses His Brackets

Duke Coach Mike Krzyazewski didn’t care for President Obama’s picks for the Final Four after he was told that his team wasn’t chosen. Coach K said that Obama should focus more on the economy than brackets. Obama replied by saying that Duke wasn’t picked because they have no inside game.
Here is what Coach K said to the AP about Obama’s bracket, "Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets.” Of course, I think the coach might have a different reaction if Obama would have chosen his team instead of hated rival North Carolina to win it all . 03-19-09

There is a kind of a sub-flub to go along with this that he only got one team right.

And the award for Number 1 Flub of the First 100 Days goes to:
Obama Bowls Like He is in the Special Olympics

And then, fatally, he visibly relaxed. The arms waved around more, he made camp little asides to the rapturous audience. Leno asked, laughing, about the bowling alley he inherited at the White House, first built as a birthday present for Truman in 1947, upgraded by the Nixons — paid for by friends — in 1969, and upgraded again by Bush.

"I imagine the bowling alley has just been burned and closed down?" Leno asked.

"No, no," Obama protested, "I have been practising bowling, I bowled" — fluttering his eyelashes with mock modesty, to audience whoops, "a 129."

"Oh no, that's very good, yeah," Leno said sarcastically, "that's very good — Mr President."

"Like Special Olympics or something ..." Obama said, laughing.
Replaying the clip — as people did endlessly today — it sounded more a response to Leno's mock patronising fulsome praise than his own bowling skills. But the cameras also caught a nanosecond flicker of shock on the faces of both men, knowing that the damage was done. 03-19-09

Really! One would think that the most liberal senator, now the most liberal President would be a little more caught up on PC things to say on a talk show. Then again, I don't think guests on the Tonight Show get a teleprompter.

Honorable Mention goes to this teleprompter failure at a recent speech to the National Academy of Science:



Mr. President, if I may offer you some advice, and since you are asking for ideas that will work: "Have a Plan B. Buy some notecards."

One more thought - If Bush was learning how to be President from Cheney, then it appears that Obama is indeed learning from Biden.