McCain Battles With Former White House Spokesman Jay Carney Over ISIS Plan

Mediaite sets the stage:

Jay Carney, on his very first night working for CNN, ended up sparring with Senator John McCain over President Obama‘s ISIS speech, in which McCain repeatedly took shots at Carney for not telling the truth, saying at least once that “facts are stubborn things.” The second McCain appeared on CNN, he immediately got combative with Carney. McCain said that Obama unilaterally decided, against advisement from his national security team, not to train Syrian rebels. In addition, he said not leaving a residual force in Iraq was a huge mistake on Obama’s part. Carney disputed McCain’s claims, but the senator said, “Again, Mr. Carney, you are saying facts that are patently false.” They kept talking over each other and arguing, with McCain continuing to insist that Carney has his facts wrong.

Press Secretary Jay Carney Resigns

NBC News reports:

President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance Friday to announce that his chief spokesman Jay Carney is leaving his post behind the podium. Obama called Carney one of his closest advisers and friends at the White House in remarks to the press in the White House briefing room. Deputy Josh Earnest will take over the job as the president's press secretary. "Today the flak jacket is officially passed to a new generation," he said of Earnest.

Carney, 49, took the job in January 2011.

White House Applauds AZ Veto

Just a little more fuel for the outrage bonfire. Via The Hill:

The White House said Friday it supports Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's decision to veto a bill that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay and lesbian customers. "The president does believe that Gov. Brewer did the right thing by vetoing this bill," Carney said. On Wednesday, Brewer announced that she would veto the bill, which narrowly passed the state legislature. "I call them as I see them, despite the cheers or the boos from the crowd," Brewer said in a statement, adding the legislation "could result in unintended and negative consequences."

Quote Of The Day - Tommy Christopher

"First of all, I don’t if you’re aware of this, but when I had a heart attack three years ago, I was uninsured, and I haven’t been able to get insurance ever since then. Listening to all the pressure on the president to negotiate, a lot of it from inside this room, it made me think, is there a chance the president would be willing to delay Obamacare for a year if Republicans were to agree to delay heart attacks for a year?" - Mediaite reporter Tommy Christopher, speaking to White House spokesman Jay Carney at today's press briefing.

Carney's response: "Tommy, you know the president’s position is that we need to implement the Affordable Care Act, and that when it comes to the millions of Americans across the country who have had a very hard time getting access to affordable health insurance, we need to focus on those folks and continue the business of implementing the Affordable Care Act so that on Jan. 1 those Americans will be able to purchase insurance, quality insurance at affordable rates for the first time."

Christopher then told Carney that he was able to enroll on the healthcare exchange site, but he's not yet selected a plan.

ABC Reporter Grills White House Press Secretary Jay Carney About Russia

Chris Johnson reports at Washington Blade:

Under questioning from ABC News’ Jon Karl, Carney said Obama has made clear that he opposes anti-gay laws in other countries that persecute LGBT people. “The president absolutely opposes and has made clear in other countries laws that discriminate against individuals, whether for race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation,” Carney said.

Pressed by Karl on whether that specifically includes the anti-gay law in Russia that makes pro-LGBT propaganda a crime, Carney replied, “Yes. Sure, yes.” In response to another question from Karl on whether the president is concerned about the persecution of LGBT athletes during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Carney referred to Obama’s remarks from earlier in the week.

“What I think the president made clear the other night is that it is in Russia’s interest to ensure that the Olympics are a success,” Carney said. “And that’s certainly true of other host countries when they have the privilege of hosting an Olympics. And he would expect them to take the necessary measures to ensure their success.”

When asked by another reporter if the president would support a boycott of the Olympics, Carney said, "That's a conversation we're not having."

Jay Carney: Obama Is Not Nixon

White House Praises Jason Collins

House Of Cards At The Nerd Prom

With cameos from John McCain, Michael Bloomberg, Steny Hoyer, Jay Carney, Charlie Rose, and many others.