In a fitting show of solidarity for International Women’s Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made light of the brutal 2008 battle Clinton conducted to defeat Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

As Michelle Obama launched a State Department commemoration of International Women’s Day, she briefly stumbled over Clinton’s job title. “Let me thank my dear friend, Senator – Secretary Clinton. I almost said, ‘President Clinton,’ ” said the first lady to laughter and applause. “But let me thank you for that kind introduction, and most of all thank you for your friendship, thank you for your support, and thank you for your indispensable advice in getting me through this first year and helping me figure out how to get my family settled in our new life in D.C.”

The exchange stood as another rebuke to a favored theme of the Beltway pundit set: that tensions between the Obamas and the Secretary of State still run high.

Proof that tentions have eased… at least until the “President Clinton” crack. But of course Hillary laughed. Why wouldn’t she have? Mockery is the sincerest form of flattery.

I’ll bet that little joke even earned a MOAC (Mother Of All Cackles) from Hillary, which is Clinton’s signature “laughter through wanting to rip your eyes out” move:

The Obamas are just asking for it now:

Considering the government we have, maybe “Come see the stupid” should be our new state motto. It might at least attract the curious who like to idiot-watch on vacation.

Here’s another waste of money from Michigan’s government that is so dumb and irresponsible that it’s hard to know where to begin:

Michigan’s forthcoming Web-based platform that will help students and their families make college and career connections might initially sound like another Facebook knockoff.

But the state, which purchased the portal for $1.15 million, insists that the Michigan College Access Portal (MiCAP) is not a clone of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other popular social media sites. In fact, ConnectEDU, the Boston-based company building the portal, refuses to even call it a social network.

“It’s a purpose network,” said ConnectEDU President and CEO Craig Powell. “We leverage concepts of social networking, but for a defined purpose of education and career transitioning. This could not be replicated in a Facebook environment. It’s tough to explain without seeing it.”

A “purpose network” is a social network being sold to gullible government buffoons who are shopping with somebody else’s money.

And in a state that’s ravaged by unemployment, Michigan government couldn’t even find an in-state firm to design the portal? We’re pushing a 15% unemployment rate and the state is outsourcing jobs?

The irony being that Governor Granholm has offered millions in tax breaks to bring Massachusetts firms to Michigan, and now Michigan is outsourcing work back to Massachusetts. Go figure.

I imagine that the Michigan government had no choice but to outsource this project, because if they told Michigan taxpayers about this idea at taxpayers’ expense, we’d have said, “Why don’t you just use Facebook, you morons?”

Obama intends to lobby wavering House Democrats to vote for a Senate version of the legislation and to support the subsequent reconciliation process, which Republicans have characterized as an unjustified use of majority power. Among the rewards Obama is ready to offer, White House officials said, are election-year visits to competitive congressional districts.

Given the fate of those Democrats Obama has personally campaigned for so far, this is a little like Typhoid Mary saying, “If you’re not feeling well, give me a call and I’ll come over and sneeze on you.” Some Missouri Democrats obviously had that on their minds as well, because they stayed clear of Obama during his visit.

And if all else fails, Obama is relying on “feats of strength” to intimidate members of Congress who might be on the fence, as evidenced below in St. Louis yesterday, where Obama had a spirited hand grip contest with Claire McCaskill:

McCaskill won, in case it isn’t obvious.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14″ – PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT – XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID – 14″ LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.
The required date of delivery is March 22, 2010.
[...]
Place of Delivery:
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
c/o: Gary Pawlak, Special Agent
500 West Madison Street – Suite 1414
Chicago, IL 60661

Well, how else did we expect the Obamas to keep the fat kids away from the school vending machines?

(h/t The Voice of Reason)

Al Gore is determined to win a second Nobel Peace Prize one way or another:

The internet is among a record 237 individuals and organisations nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The number of nominations surpasses last year’s record of 205 nominations.

The internet’s nomination has been championed by the Italian version of Wired magazine for helping advance “dialogue, debate and consensus”.

Sure, Al Gore’s creation has allowed humanity to instantaneously expose and thwart crimes in all parts of the world, but it’s also been used to help organize terrorist attacks, lure kids into abductions and to convince idiots to send their life savings to Nigeria. However, if Yasser Arafat, Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter are deserving of a Peace Prize, the internet is too.

In actuality, the internet is simply a tool, and as such amounts to nothing without users. Giving a peace prize to the internet would be like giving the “Auto Mechanic of the Year” award to a monkey wrench.

If the internet wins, we may hear the following introduction at the award ceremony: “Congratulations on your Peace Prize, Internet. While the rest of us were laughing at your ‘i can has cheezburger’ cat pictures, mocking you with weird nicknames like ‘Intarwebs,’ falling for hoax emails and forwarding them in a panic to everybody in our address books, downloading naked photos of Alyssa Milano and laughing at viral YouTube videos on company time, you were off saving the world. A high-speed salute!”