No, We Can't: Meet the Pessimist in Chief

'He wasn't thinking,' says superintendent

(NEWSER) - Rhode Island school officials are investigating the actions of a teacher who hung an effigy of President Obama by its heels in front of his high school classroom. The foot-long doll was apparently hung in protest against Obama's support for the mass firing of teachers at the failing school. "It was obviously imprudent, very ill-conceived and nothing to fool around with," said schools Superintendent Frances Gallo, who checked out the classroom after hearing rumors about the effigy. More»

The principal lesson from the first year? 'Negroes aren't magic'

(NEWSER) - Jon Stewart marked the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s presidency—or the first 364 days, 23 hours—on last night's Daily Show , offering up a complicated math equation for how Obama could have dropped 18 points in the polls in a single year. From Gitmo to health care to the Nobel Prize ("somehow it's a minus"), "Add it all up, negative 24 points. Thank God for Bo, the Portuguese Water Dog," Stewart said. "Without those 6 points, Obama would be screwed." More»

Obama has traded basketball for golf

(NEWSER) - The old Obama played hoops—and he did it quite well. So why do we keep seeing him on golf courses? Since he took office, the one-time "Baller-in-Chief" has played basketball about seven times, compared to 25 rounds of golf. The White House has remained mum on what's behind the change, and won't say why the televised games on the court have turned into secretive, no-press-allowed sessions on the course—but that hasn't stopped critics from analyzing, and bashing, his game. More»

Voters think Hillary Clinton would be swell, though

(NEWSER) - With a blockbuster memoir and national tour, Sarah Palin is again grabbing headlines. But does she have what it takes for a 2012 presidential bid? The answer is a resounding “no,” according a CNN and Opinion Research poll. Only 28% believe she’s qualified for the nation’s top job, and 70% say she isn’t.

• Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is viewed as quite presidential: 67% of poll respondents say the secretary of state is fit to be president, while 32% disagree.

Time for leader of free world to stop acting like a candidate: Cohen

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama has been in office for nearly a year, but for Richard Cohen, he's still "the candidate-in-full," unaware that he is already president. Watching Obama alongside Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy last week, the Washington Post columnist perceived "a faux Cuban missile crisis"—and a president dangerously eroding his own authority. If the US has known about Iran's second site for years, why issue an ultimatum it surely won't meet? More»