8:02 PM … On balance, I think Obama’s response — across the board — to the flu crisis has been very strong, both substantively and symbolically. But the aggressive push to de-brand it as “swine flu” just kind of rubs me the wrong way. Isn’t that a secondary priority? Can the Pork Council back off? (I’ll explain more on this later.)
8:05 PM … ‘Torture’ verboten as a practice but not a word.
8:07 PM … How many Hundred Dayses are there in a presidency?
8:11 PM … In terms of what the president can do, which is considerable, a pretty decent answer on Swine Flu.
8:15 PM … Man, this guy’s sort of relentlessly presidential. Maybe we can one totally disconnected or incoherent sentence just for old time’s sake?
8:16 PM … Ahh, my old pal Jake Tapper. Asks the torture question, gets a pretty solid answer.
8:20 PM … Ahhh, but what about the Cheney memos? Obama: Yep, I read’em. Cheney’s just jerking your chain.
8:22 PM … Chuck Todd, good two syllable name. Could we invade and secure Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal if the Taliban defeat the Pakistani army. Was actually a slightly weird answer. I think he just said he’s not concerned that the Taliban is going to ‘immediately’ take over the country. Hopefully, that’s not going to happen one way or another.
8:26 PM … What about Iraq blowing up? (I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot recently. The other news keeps coming so fast and furious so I haven’t had a chance to really dig into the story. But the major mass casualty attacks really do seem to be becoming pretty frequent.)
8:28 PM … Chip Reid: Does Specter switch make you officially a tyrant? Obama: No, but Arlen won’t have to be as whipped by GOP goons. So he’ll be a better senator … Congress is a co-equal branch of government. And the senate is more equal than others.
