Free Republic

In scandal after scandal in the Obama administration, President Obama has said he didn’t know about the problems until he heard it on the news. But the president changed his tune about his supposed ignorance at a Democratic fundraiser near Seattle on Tuesday night. Mr. Obama told supporters that he doesn’t watch the news because, “Whatever they’re reporting about, usually I know.” That contrasts with the explanations that the president and his aides have given from scandals in the past few years ranging from long wait times and deaths at the VA, to the IRS targeting tea party groups, to...

WASHINGTON — President Obama had to laugh. He had just been asked how he deals with criticism, and something about the question just struck him as funny. Maybe it is because criticism is one thing he sees no shortage of these days. Addressing an audience largely made up of African-American boys and young men, Mr. Obama turned serious and gave a long, thoughtful answer about how, over the years, he has learned to focus on what is important to him and keep fixed on “the north star that steers you” no matter what others may say. “And then I just...

President Obama has already seen (at least some of) “Game of Thrones” season four, even though the season doesn’t premiere until April 6. But when you are the president of the United States you get all kinds of good stuff like a mansion and people letting you win at basketball and early access to softcore HBO shows. In the April issue of Vanity Fair, “Game of Thrones” co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss confirmed to writer Jim Windolf that the president gets early screeners of the episodes:

For some, Animal Planet’s annual “Puppy Bowl” is more sacred than the Super Bowl. CNN summed it up in a nutshell: . . . the sublime result of pairing a bunch of wiggly puppies — 66, in fact — with squeaky toys and a mini-stadium set. Add a “rufferee” and a kitty-filled halftime, and every floppy tackle or slobbered-on football inspires an unintelligible burst of baby talk and giggles. That’s the power of puppies! Maybe it’s not for everyone, but those who love it want to keep politics out, and who can blame them? This year, Michelle Obama had to...

Obama’s love of TV is in keeping with childhood. By his own admission, Obama watched an enormous amount of television while growing up with his TV-loving grandfather in Hawaii. According to Obama’s memoir, he watched TV – cartoons, reruns, then sitcoms – pretty much from the moment he came home until the moment he went to bed at night. His grandfather was a big fan of Johnny Carson, and even after Obama went off to Occidental College, he continued in his grandfather’s footsteps. He would often get together with friends to watch Johnny Carson’s opening monologue on The Tonight Show....

Viacom networks MTV, BET and CMT are giving an hour of free air time to President Obama less than three weeks before the midterm elections. The so-called “A Conversation with President Obama” will be live and commercial-free on six Viacom networks at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The networks will not give equal time to a Republican before the election, according to a spokeswoman. MTV denies that the Obama hour of TV is political, despite the timing, weeks before the midterm elections.