Video: The television event of a lifetime

In which the first president to appear in studio on a daytime talk show uses the opportunity to, er, lament the 24/7 news cycle. (Dubya appeared on Dr. Phil in 2004 in a bit taped at the ranch.) They yakked about Afghanistan, l’affaire Sherrod, jobs “created or saved,” you name it. And yet, journey over to the show’s website and you’ll find that it’s the dopey clip below that’s being showcased. Can’t say I blame ‘em, though: Here’s an example of a hard-hitting query he had to contend with during the “serious” part of the interview.

“You’ve really done a lot, I think,” Joy Behar, who now has her own talk show on HLN, said. “You’ve signed 200 plus laws since you’re in office, financial reform has taken place, you’ve got health care, two women on the supreme court…and yet the right wing, through Fox News and other outlets, seem to be hijacking the narrative. Where on your side is the narrative? Where is your attack dog to come out and tell the American people, listen, this is what we did?”

No wonder Reuters’s big takeaway was The One talking about America’s “mojo.” Apart from the big scoop about him not knowing who Snooki is — I know, he mentioned her during the Correspondents’ Dinner, but all that proves is that TOTUS has heard of her — the most buzzworthy thing to come out of this was Obama calling blacks in America a “mongrel people,” a description he quickly extended to whites as well. (The Daily Beast has the clip.) He’s right on both counts and he plainly didn’t mean it derisively, but since the left would be wetting its pants over this same soundbite had it come from a conservative, expect plenty of righties to rub his and their faces in it for the next 48 hours or so. Exit question one: Has The One’s pandering to young voters by talking about his iPod perhaps gone a bit too far if Meggie Mac’s rolling her eyes at it? Exit question two: Where does the White House communications team go from here? Rolling out the START treaty on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”?

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