MSNBC’s Halperin Suspended for Comment About Obama; Geithner May Leave Treasury

I had not planned to post again today but this email was too good to pass up from the co-author of the book dealing with the last campaign:

Halperin and co-author John Heilemann had incredible access to most of the 2008 campaigns for their book Game Change, which is being made into a movie, but didn’t get much inside stuff from the Obama camp. With the two journalists now working on a sequel for 2012—sold for a reported $5 million—Halperin’s locker-room epithet won’t be terribly helpful in terms of his relations with the White House and Obama reelection campaign.

This could make their next book of the 2012 campaign a must read for everyone but Obama.  White House Press Secretary already complained about Halperin's comments the day after Obama went after Republicans calling them "girls" which was no complement.  The thin skinned Obama strikes again!

MSNBC’s Halperin Suspended for Comment 

Howard Kurtz, June 30, 2011 

Time columnist apologizes for dickish description of Obama as the White House calls comments “inappropriate.” 

Barack Obama has been called plenty of names on television, as cable fans know all too well.
But I don’t think anyone has called the president of the United States a dick—at least until now.
Mark Halperin, the Time magazine columnist and MSNBC contributor, was assessing Obama’s performance at a news conference when he delivered this opinion Thursday morning on Morning Joe:  

“I thought he was a dick yesterday.”

Yup. He went there. 

Host Joe Scarborough was not pleased, saying: “Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing?” But the program has a new executive producer who didn’t react by hitting the seven-second delay button. 

Now I would be a dick if I didn’t point out that Halperin quickly tried to make amends: “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology. I shouldn't have said it. I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that.” 

But as more than one wit has pointed out, playing off the title of the best-seller co-authored by Halperin, that was a game changer. Two hours after Morning Joe went off the air, MSNBC suspended him.

Read More at:  The Daily Beast

Also learned from the email that Treasury Secretary Geithner wants out at Treasury:

Geithner May Leave Treasury: Report

Tim Geithner has one foot out the door, just waiting for the ceiling to rise. That’s the debt ceiling—and the Treasury secretary has reportedly signaled to the White House that he’s thinking of leaving his post once Congress agrees to increase the national debt limit. The nation is expected to run out of headroom by Aug. 2. Geithner, 49, would be the last member of Obama’s starting economic team to exit. That’s perhaps surprising, as rumors of his imminent demise were circulating in the early months of the president’s term, but Geithner has now survived all of his comrades. A veteran of the IMF, his close ties to the banking world have been seen as both an asset and a liability.   

Source:  The Daily Beast