All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Conservatives were up in arms last week over a video showing New Jersey elementary school students singing songs praising President Obama -- evidence, critics suggested, that children were being indoctrinated in school.
The video was used as the basis for a Republican fundraising appeal, with Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele calling it "the type of propaganda you would see in Stalin's Russia or Kim Jong Il's North Korea."

Now a new video has surfaced showing children praising the president, and it is once again generating anger. The clip shows part of a PTA program at Sand Hill-Venable Elementary School in Ashville, North Carolina from February in which students were "paying tribute to various American heroes," the Mountain Express reports. You can watch the video, which was (obviously) put together by a critic of the program, above.

The video quickly made the rounds on conservative blogs and Fox News, where one anchor compared it to a campaign commercial.

As a result, the school district has reportedly been "inundated" with calls over the video, according to the Citizen-Times, with some callers issuing death threats and suggesting the school is brainwashing students.

Read full post…

Before throwing the first pitch at the 80th All-Star Game in St. Louis Tuesday night, President Obama will star in a video dedicated to honoring 30 Americans recognized by the MLB and People magazine for outstanding community service, Sports Illustrated reports.

The seven minute video will also feature former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, speaking about volunteer work. The video is said to mark the first time all living U.S. presidents will participate at a sporting event and will be aired right before Mr. Obama steps on the mound.

Named the "All-Stars Among Us," the video will pay tribute to the people from each of baseball's 30 teams, who have had a significant effect on their communities.

The MLB association has been concerned with promoting community service all season long and hopes that the presidential video will help in "boosting morale" of the people affected by the economic crisis.

USA Today reports that Bob DuPuy, MLB chief operating officer, said, "Given what's happened this year and given the mood of the country, hopefully he will play some small part in boosting morale. There is no question that having the president adds to the significance of the event and no doubt will appeal to baseball and non-baseball fans."

After throwing the ceremonial pitch, Mr. Obama is expected to head up to the announcer's booth to join Fox Sports announcers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver for a possible interview, sometime between the third and fifth inning, SI also reports.

Read full post…

Our 100 Days Webcast with Katie Couric features average Americans weighing in on President Obama's initial months in office. The homemade videos were submitted through this site and Katie's Facebook page .

The colorful assortment of messages range from the laudatory to the irreverent to the sharply critical and address issues such as gay rights, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and gun control.

Read full post…

Minutes after noon as Barack Obama took the oath of office, the much talked about online video coverage of the event almost ground to a halt.

Just as massive crowds filled the National Mall in Washington, millions of users flocked to online video feeds. Maybe we're not as far into the Internet Age as we thought, because for the 20 or so minutes surrounding the big moment, it was hard, if not impossible, to watch the inaugural festivities.

Read full post…

In an annual tradition, the Bush White House today released a holiday video from the first pets – terriers Barney and Miss Beazley, and cat Willard. This year, the video took an Olympic theme with cameos by Michael Phelps, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and more.

You can watch the whole video below: