TMZ is reporting that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is being stalked by Pradeep Manukonda.  Zuckerberg has filed a restraining order, yet Pradeep continues to write to Zuckerberg and Zuckerberg family members leading Zuckerberg to request a restraining order from the Palo Alto Police.   Palo Alto law enforcement has informed TMZ of several visits by Manukonda to Facebook offices in Palo Alto.

Facebook has been criticized for its lack of privacy standards by internet users for years.   Zuckerberg has stated that if he had to do Facebook again, he would make all user information public.  Perhaps, Zuckerberg should rethink his ideals on privacy, which has been a major concern of voters as the Internet has grown and expanded.

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President Obama made news on Wednesday, but not for any legislative agenda, policy, or more “change we can (might, maybe, possibly, one day) believes in”, but for his appearance on the Daily Show with John Stewart.   The appearance was to encourage the “younger viewers” who watch the Daily Show and voted heavily for Barack Obama in 2008 to return to vote again on November 2.   However, the appearance was rather odd and left you wondering why Obama was on TV rather than out campaigning for fellow Democrats who are hurting in their republican heavy districts.  It makes you wonder how massive the devastation will be to the Democratic Party on Wednesday morning, and the way we should interpret the results.

David Broder offered this in Thursday’s Washington Post:

What this means to me is that the voters are withholding any real verdict on their party preference. The polling says that the ratings they give the parties individually have rarely been weaker. Large majorities of Republicans express doubts about the GOP. As do large majorities of Democrats about their own party.

Part of the problem appears to be that President Obama has already accepted the fate of next Tuesday’s results, and has looked forward to Election 2012, where his name will appear at the top of the ballot.  On the Daily Show the product that Obama is peddling is his own, which is why Obama was so fervent about defending the legislative record during the current congress, as well as his choices of advisors.  Why else would Obama appear on a TV Show that is ultimately a return home to his “college” base of voters who heard the heavens open, the music of the choir, and the angels appear (thanks Hilary) during the 2008 Presidential Election?  Election 2012 has begun a week early!

The other notable problem has been the inability to deliver a message.   On the Daily Show, Obama stated that some of his legislative victories people do not even know about?  How is that even possible?   The reality is quite sobering when the Republican Party has completely owned the social media messaging, whereas the Democratic Party has rarely used its power to broadcast 24/7 directly to the American people as effectively.  Curiously, the President who won his election based on the power of social media has been eclipsed by a half term Governor from Alaska who tweets about [insert ANY subject] and it becomes breaking news.   So, it makes you wonder how badly the Obama Administration has dropped the ball when it comes to message delivery.

Regardless of the election results, it will be pivotal that the administration begins to control the message once again if it plans to get any legislative measures passed.  Obama needs to not only become more vocal about agenda, but begin to LISTEN to the voters that elected him.  The American people are still waiting for change!  Jon Stewart asked President Obama at the beginning of his show whether or not we were truly the “ones we the people we were waiting for?” Let’s hope for the next generation we were!

The Daily Show Episode:

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Chris Cilliza from the Washington Post gives a very interesting take on the mythology of the October surprise.   Do they really matter?

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As if being on a reality show was not enough, Blago has to comment on Senator Reid’s gafee?

From AP:

CHICAGO – Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Monday that it was stupid for him to tell Esquire magazine that he’s “blacker than Barack Obama” and that he doesn’t believe it anyway.

In an interview on WLS Radio in Chicago, Blagojevich explained he was speaking metaphorically to the reporter whose story appears in the February issue of the magazine. He said his comments were made out of frustration with the way blacks and others who are struggling are treated by government.

“It’s a stupid metaphor to say I’m blacker than Barack Obama, that I apologize for,” he said. “It’s not appropriate for me, a white person, to stand out somehow and claim to be a black person, that’s just wrong … I was expressing frustration that the policies of this new administration still haven’t really been focusing on the great deal of inequities we have in our society.”

In the article, Blagojevich refers to the president as “this guy,” and says Obama was elected based simply on hope.

“What the (expletive)? Everything he’s saying’s on the teleprompter,” Blagojevich told the magazine for a story that hits newsstands Jan. 19.
“I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived,” Blagojevich said. “I saw it all growing up.”
On the radio program, Blagojevich talked more about his childhood and how he saw the riots in Chicago in the late 1960s and the “white flight” from the city. He did not compare his childhood to that of Obama’s or any other black person.

Still, “I’ve always had a strong affinity for the African-American community,” he stressed, adding that when he was governor he appointed several more blacks to “important” posts than any of his predecessors.

The White House refused to comment.

The twice-elected Democrat was impeached and removed from office last year after federal prosecutors arrested him on corruption charges that included trying to sell Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat. He has pleaded not guilty.

Blagojevich continues to accuse prosecutors of persecuting him for routine political deals. One of those deals, he said, was the possibility of naming Attorney General Lisa Madigan to Obama’s Senate seat in exchange for cooperation on important programs from her powerful father, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

He used an infamously coarse word to refer to the attorney general.
“If I can get this, how much do I love the people of Illinois to make that (expletive) senator?’” Blagojevich said.

Blagojevich is appearing on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” this spring and his trial is expected to start later this year.

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This is the one story that could remove Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) from the headlines.   It is being reported by the NY Times that former Governor Sarah Palin has signed a multi year contract with Fox News.  Palin will appear as a contributor to its already existing programming, and will occasionally host specials for the network.

The New York Times speculates that part of the reason that Palin resigned as the Governor of Alaska, was to pursue opportunities with media outlets such as television and radio.  Clearly she has found a “friendly” home with Fox.

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The dialog on the morning talk shows was all about Harry Reid, and MSNBC was no exception. At issue is the release of the book, “Game Change,” by John Heilmann and Mark Halperin, and the controversial comment made by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). Reid made comments about Barack Obama as being “light- skinned and having no “negro dialect”.

Unlike Republican’s lack of support for former Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) in 2002, which lead to his removal as senate majority leader the Democrats seem to be supportive of Senator Reid. Both Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Barbara Lee (Leader of the CDC) were supportive of Reid on Monday. Jonathon Capehart of the Washington Post supported Reid on “Way To Early” Whether or not, Reid will be able to sustain a continued poor approval rating or his Majority Leader Status after the election remains to be seen.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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(Defend Your Vote US Headquarters in New York)  Taking the bull by the horns Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began to reach out to world leaders to restablish diplomatic ties with countires often ignored by the Bush Administration.  According to CNN the calls were introductory as the Obama Administraiton reviews policy.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright(1997-2001) who appeared Friday on CNN Morning revealed to Kiran Chetry that she agreed wtih Secretary Clinton’s views on diplomacy. 

 
Meanwhile, Clinton has been jerred by many on the right for her branding of the term,  “Smart Power”.  

“But “smart power,” he said, has the life expectancy of Gerald Ford’s WIN buttons, considered one of the biggest government public relations blunders ever. Ford attempted to “Whip Inflation Now” by having millions of red-and-white buttons printed up with the “WIN” slogan on them.” 
                                                                             – Rob Frankel on Fox News

I guess he failed to realize that the un-branded ‘Dumb Power’ utilized by the Bush Administration really didn’t work!

– AC

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According to Mark Silva at Swamp Politics, and just announced on MSNBC, Sarah Palin is shopping around her memoirs.  It appears that with 11 Million Dollars, the not so affluent Palin family could be moving on up to the East Side.  I wonder if it will be called,  ”You Betcha?”

– AC

—

by Mark Silva

Sarah Palin shopping for a book deal?

$11 million for the story of the hockey-mom from Alaska who ran for vice president?

Michael Muskal of the Los Angeles Times writes that Robert Barnett of the Washington legal world, the book deal czar, is working with Palin. Barnett sealed the book deals for both Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.

Barnett has declined to comment, our colleague notes. “But a variety of published sources, including the Hollywood Reporter, said that Barnett was on board in helping to sell a Palin book….

“Presumably, the book would tell her side of the 2008 presidential election, when the GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, plucked Palin out of relative obscurity and offered her the vice presidential spot. Though she was a darling of conservatives and ignited the Republican base whenever she appeared in public, Palin has made it known that she had a difficult time with McCain’s strategists.”

Palin, whose family is not wealthy, could earn a great deal from such a book. In recent months, “reports of her wanting as much as $11 million for her memoirs have surfaced, though she could get far less,” Muskal notes.

Former First Lady Laura Bush just sold her memoirs for less than $2 million. But she was a librarian. Imagine what a pit-bull turned hockey mom with a little lipstick can fetch.

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Enough Said…

Something Deep to Ponder…

http://www.whitehouse.gov

– AC

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From Sydney to Kenya, the world watches on as Obama is made the 44th President of th United States, in what hopes to be a new era.

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