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Great Moments In Public Radio

KZYX, Wednesday, June 22, 2011. Takes On The World, with Jeffrey Blankfort.

Blankfort: I happen to be on the mailing list for President Barack Obama! I got an email from him the other day! He wrote… What did he write? Here it is. “Friend!” “Friend!” This is from the president! From his e-mail! “I have set aside time for core supporters like you to join me for dinner. My predecessor's former dinner guest list was with lobbyists and special interests. We didn't get here doing that and we are not going to start now. We are running a different kind of campaign. We don't take money from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. We never have and we never will. We rely on everyday Americans giving whatever they can afford. And we want to spend time with a few of you. So you if you make a donation today you will be automatically entered for a chance to be one of the core supporters who sit down with me for dinner. Please donate $5 or more today.” And there's a website. “We will pay for your flight and the dinner. All you need to bring is your store of new ideas about how we can continue to make this a better country for all Americans. This won't be a formal affair. It will be a casual meal among friends — the kind I don't get to have as often as I'd like anymore. I hope you'll consider joining me.” Then, a little later, I got this email: “Friend, I've worked for President Obama for almost five years now and I've never actually sat down for dinner with him. That's why I'm excited about — and maybe a little jealous of — the opportunity you have to join the President for dinner! He's going to sit down and swap stories over a meal with four core supporters and you could be one of them. You should really give this a shot. Donate $5 or more today to be automatically entered for a chance to have dinner with the president!” And then there's the big donate box on the website. “This is not going to be a formal affair or banquet with hundreds of guests. It's just you and three other supporters of President Obama! Sitting down together with an evening among friends! It's not often you get to talk to the President one-on-one about your hopes for the country and your ideas for this campaign. So I hope you'll put your name in the running. Donate $5 or more today and you'll be automatically entered for your chance at getting a seat at the table.” And then there's the website barackobama.com “Good luck! Signed Juliana — Juliana Smoot.” Then just the other day I got an email from Joe Biden! He said, “Friend!” Gee, a friend of Joe Biden! “The President and I have a routine. We get together for lunch almost every Friday. But all I get is lunch! You could be one of the four supporters who have dinner with him soon! Donate $5 or more today to have your name automatically put in the hat here.” And they have the website, barackobama.com. “I am reminded every week that sitting down for a meal with the President of the United States without TV cameras or big crowds is something only a few people will ever get to do. You're not going to want to miss this chance. I wish you luck. Signed, Joe.” Wow! I saw a story just the other day about how President Barack Obama has rewarded his 200 largest donors from his last campaign. And that every time he has an event these days it costs $25,000 to have dinner with him. So here for only $5 I can have a chance to have dinner with him. But how big a fool does the President of the United States and those running his campaign — how big a fool do they think the people are? I mean, they obviously figure if they run Michele Bachmann or somebody like that, Jim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and so forth, folks will vote for Obama. But what an insult it is to send this kind of email out. With all the huge amounts of money this administration has been spending on Wall Street — the bailing out of Wall Street, the forgetting about people who've lost their homes. The foreclosures going on every day, and this state being among the leaders around the country in foreclosures. And him charging $25,000 per couple for dinners with the president. And then pretending that we're just plain folks and he wants to just sit down and talk with us and Joe Biden, who probably never saw this email of course, who thinks we're just plain folks who are going to send in our $5 so we can have a chance to sit down with the president. Oh — we have a call. Maybe that's the President!

Caller: “Yeah, hello. It's Memo [Parker]. I'm not the President but we're the same color.”

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