This blog has been very critical of President Obama’s policies. That being said, I would like to take this opportunity to praise our First Lady, Michelle Obama, for her appearance on Larry King last night.

Michelle Obama is obviously a very beautiful woman but last night during her appearance on CNN’s Larry King, when asked about Sarah Palin, she displayed the best grace and dignity that Americans have come to associate with all First Ladies.

CNN titled this video “Michelle Obama Mum on Palin.” I think that title is misleading. Michelle Obama spoke plainly, saying that she doesn’t know Sarah Palin and went on to say that she respects the voices of women in politics.

My hat is off to you, Mrs. Obama.

Oof. That’s gonna leave a mark…

Washington (CNN) – Americans are giving Barack Obama a split decision on his first year in office, according to a new national poll.

Forty-eight percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday say Obama’s presidency has been a failure so far, with 47 percent saying Obama has been a success. The poll’s January 12 release comes just 8 days before Obama marks one year in the White House.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about accuracy and polls. I don’t see how the White House can go after CNN though.

Rasmussen’s Daily Tracking poll still has Obama in the negative double digits as well.

Not only does Cafferty call out Obama on the C-Span lie, he hopes voters remember this in November. Have we entered bizarro land?

A glimpse at the cable news ratings for January 6th via Drudge.

CABLE NEWS RACE
WEDS., JAN 6, 2010

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,919,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,611,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,609,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,182,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,154,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 2,005,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,085,000
CNNHN GRACE 983,000
MSNBC MADDOW 983,000
CNNHN BEHAR 689,000
CNN KING 656,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 615,000
CNN COOPER 590,000

It’s not a good time to be Anderson Cooper.

Erick Erickson of Red State and James “the Ragin’ Cajun” Carville went on CNN yesterday to debate Obama’s reaction to the terror attempt on Flight 253 over Detroit.

Erickson won.

MSNBC didn’t cover the Detroit bombing attempt as the story broke on Christmas night. I didn’t know this because at the time I was watching FOX News, the non-news network which was providing comprehensive updates by the minute.

Mediaite covered MSNBC’s non-coverage as the news didn’t break:

“Tonight, the White House is calling an attempt to detonate a bomb aboard Northwest Flight 253 an attempted terror attack, by a man who himself claims to have been sent by al Qaeda — and MSNBC is showing “Disappearance at the Dairy Queen.” Fox and CNN are on the story with updated information and ongoing.”

“On CNN, Ed Henry is reporting from Hawaii, where President Obama’s vacation was just seriously interrupted; Fox has a counterterrorist expert on the phone talking about the incident and the potential ramifications. On MSNBC, Christina Brown broke in for about a minute with a quick report, before taking the audience back to their program. Now, Fox is interviewing a passenger, who was sitting in front of Abdulmutallab, who says that the security was pretty tight.“

Read it all.

I’m so disappointed. Here I was getting all this “news” about the situation in Detroit by watching FOX when I could have been watching “Disappearance at the Dairy Queen” on MSNBC.

Who got the most write-in votes in last month’s New York City mayoral election? One guess.

“Charles Montgomery Burns, better known as Mr. Burns in the hit animated TV series “The Simpsons”, got the most votes of any write-in candidate during last month’s mayoral election in New York City. According to records released by the New York City Board of Elections, the cartoon billionaire received 27 write-in votes out of the 299 that were cast.”

“Burns wasn’t the only fictional character to get votes in the race. Mad Magazine icon Alfred E. Newman, Fantastic Four arch-villain Victor Von Doom, Mickey Mouse, and Sleeping Beauty also received write-in votes.”

Anderson Cooper’s CNN program, 360 Degrees, is sinking fast.

“Anderson Cooper is fading in the ratings.”

“The respected CNN anchor has seen his numbers slip significantly through the past year. His 10 p.m. show, “Anderson Cooper 360,” has declined 62% in total viewers and 70% in adults 25-54 from November 2008, according to Nielsen figures.”

“Last month, in Cooper’s time slot, Fox News’ “On the Record” attracted an average viewership of 1.9 million while “360″ averaged 672,000; repeats of MSNBC’s “Countdown” and HLN’s Nancy Grace show averaged 655,000 and 458,000, respectively.”

The RCP blog points to the departure of Lou Dobbs from CNN as part of the problem:

“After Dobbs announced his resignation on air on Wednesday November 11, CNN suffered a 25% decline among all viewers in Dobbs’ 7pm time slot, and a 26% decline among adults 25-54.”

“Meanwhile – surprise, surprise – CNN’s competition in the 7pm slot at FOX News, The FOX Report with Shephard Smith, scored its highest rated month of the year in November with more than 2.1 million total viewers and just over 500,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo.”

So bad that lefty journalist Jack Cafferty of CNN is asking his readers “What Can President Obama Learn From Sarah Palin?”

“With President Obama now below 50 percent approval for the first time, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd suggests the president could learn “a thing or three” from Sarah Palin.”

“Dowd writes that with the former V-P candidate back on the trail for her book tour, she clearly hasn’t boned up on anything and “she still has that Yoda-like syntax.”

“Meanwhile – it’s clear Sarah Palin is saying something people want to hear. She sold 300,000 copies of her memoir on the day of its release – one of the best openings ever for a nonfiction book, easily topping people like Hillary Clinton.”

“As for President Obama – the Gallup Daily Tracking poll puts his approval rating at 49 percent – the first time he’s dropped below 50 percent since taking office.”

“Here’s my question to you: What can President Obama learn from Sarah Palin?”

Here are a few of the choice quotes Jack Cafferty featured on the air and my responses:

Audrey from British Columbia:
He could learn that by being ignorant, vapid, divisive and stupid that the media will follow you around and make out that you are bigger and better than you really are. Sarah Palin is a “media phenom” and nothing else – just the fact that you have this question on your program should state the obvious to you.

ME:
You’re right Audrey. It’s too bad that the media doesn’t follow Obama around making him out to be bigger than he is. President Obama certainly isn’t a “media phenom.”

Chad from Alaska:
How to be a quitter in the middle of a term.

ME:
Good point Chad. At least Obama finished a single term as a US Senator before running for president. Oh wait.. He didn’t do that, did he?

Lisa says:
How to make bumper sticker catch-phrases sound like policy to 26% of the nation.

ME:
Lisa, do you mean empty catch-phrases like “Yes We Can?”

Thomas from Texas:
Not to wear shorts on the cover of news magazines if you are to be taken seriously as a politician.

ME:
Thomas, did no one at CNN tell you that Sarah Palin didn’t choose to have that photo on the cover of Newsweek? No, of course they didn’t.

Just a reminder… CNN is in last place among cable news networks.

Any wonder why?

Maybe it had something to do with shots being fired at his home. I thought liberals didn’t like guns.

Dobbs actually addresses the shots fired at his home in this interview with O’Reilly.