The Fireside chat for July 3, 2010 (VIDEO)

As part of the explosion of Recovery Act projects this summer and as a move towards a clean energy future, the President announces nearly $2 billion in conditional commitments to key solar companies.

The President's Speech on Immigration for July 1, 2010 (VIDEO)

The key graph:

In sum, the system is broken. And everybody knows it. Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special-interest wrangling -– and to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics.

Just a few years ago, when I was a senator, we forged a bipartisan coalition in favor of comprehensive reform. Under the leadership of Senator Kennedy, who had been a longtime champion of immigration reform, and Senator John McCain, we worked across the aisle to help pass a bipartisan bill through the Senate. But that effort eventually came apart. And now, under the pressures of partisanship and election-year politics, many of the 11 Republican senators who voted for reform in the past have now backed away from their previous support.

Into this breach, states like Arizona have decided to take matters into their own hands. Given the levels of frustration across the country, this is understandable. But it is also ill conceived. And it’s not just that the law Arizona passed is divisive -– although it has fanned the flames of an already contentious debate. Laws like Arizona’s put huge pressures on local law enforcement to enforce rules that ultimately are unenforceable. It puts pressure on already hard-strapped state and local budgets. It makes it difficult for people here illegally to report crimes -– driving a wedge between communities and law enforcement, making our streets more dangerous and the jobs of our police officers more difficult.

And you don’t have to take my word for this. You can speak to the police chiefs and others from law enforcement here today who will tell you the same thing.

These laws also have the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents, making them subject to possible stops or questioning because of what they look like or how they sound. And as other states and localities go their own ways, we face the prospect that different rules for immigration will apply in different parts of the country -– a patchwork of local immigration rules where we all know one clear national standard is needed.

The President's Town Hall in Racine, Wisconsin of June 30, 2010 (VIDEO)

This wasn’t a bad town hall. Not a must see by any means, outside of the hard elbow the President threw at on John Boehner, which he’s still smarting about given his public comments today.

The Town Hall portion was a bit of a let down, in that everyone was just so glad to see him that no one asked any tough questions. The one kid seemed to have one, but it bordered on incomprehensible. “I saw an interview where you said that you wanted the civilians to be just as strong and well-funded as our military. What are your plans to go about constructing such a thing?” Huh?!?




Sometimes I get the feeling that, the President is just waiting for a Republican plant to get into one of these Town Halls and throw him some heat. Every time someone asks him something close to tough, the crowd boos, and the President has to shush them down. “No. No. That’s okay,” he’ll say. As if to say he’s got this. I’m sure he’s ready with an answer, but the question never comes.

Jon Stewart interviews the Axe (VIDEO)

I feel...mixed about this interview, but am leaning toward a solid B for both Jon and David Axelrod.

A lot of the questions asked came off at times plain-ass ig'nant. (Was Congress even mentioned in the interview? Apparently, the President can enact our Progressive/Liberal Agenda through Executive fiat. I did not know that.)

Still, Stewart got to ask a bunch of questions that I know he's wanted to ask for a long time, ones that had clearly been bugging him. He got in some good hard shots.

At the same time, Axelrod answered them...but answered them quickly in the middle of long lists of Administration Accomplishments. One telling exchange between Axe and Jon was over Bagram Air Base. Jon wanted to know why it had been excluded from habeas corpus proceedings, and Axe said: 1) that the Courts will decide (intimating that the President has and will follow the Courts decisions), and 2) intimating that when your ass is in charge of National Security, you're perspective does change a little.

Favorite question? What's worse? Dealing with intractable Conservatives or Pie-in-the-sky, Nothing's ever good enough Liberals? (My words, not Jon's).

And yes, Jon. There are people in between that.


Part 1:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Axelrod Unedited Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Part 2:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Axelrod Unedited Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Part 3: (This is the part that wasn't aired, and contains the good stuff.)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Axelrod Unedited Interview Pt. 3
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party