****
By our very own Donna, the Video Queen …. just lovely:
****
Completely thrilled to get emails from these two people the last few days –
First, the father of this beautiful Irish girl:
And second, Megan Smolenyak, the genealogist who traced then-candidate Obama’s roots back to Moneygall (see her website here).
Thank you both:
****
Horrific as it might be to have to listen to the half-termer’s excruciating voice, it’s worth the torture just to watch the CNN presenter’s face at the end of this clip:
Thank you Hachikō!
****
I’m in the mood for making another video – what songs do you suggest I use? If you suggest Ted Nugent – 😯 – you’re banned for life.
****
See you tomorrow 😉
The Obama Diary 
http://www.freep.com/article/20110602/NEWS15/110602043/Barack-Obama-visit-Toledo-touts-auto-industry-turnaround?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
The president goes to Toledo. Holy Toledo!
Here’s a good intro to Obama’s Toledo visit. Some of the comments are lamebrain and familiar, but the story is good and complete.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2011/06/02/President-to-visit-Jeep-in-North-Toledo.html#rfocus
http://www.nhtsa.gov/About NHTSA/Press Releases/2011/Consumer Advisory: Motorists Should Check Tires in Hot Weather to Improve Safety
Remember to check your tires…
Hey, uhm, Democrats. You haz bully pulpit too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/barack-obama-democrats-henry-waxman_n_870619.html
***WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats challenged President Barack Obama to more forcefully use his bully pulpit during their White House meeting Thursday, but Obama signaled he would not change course in upcoming battles with Republicans, people who attended the meeting told The Huffington Post.
The challenge — on behalf of the many Democrats who have long complained that Obama is not making enough use of his White House megaphone — was principally delivered by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), according to the attendees. Waxman, lawmakers said, called for stronger action across the board, rather than on a particular issue.***
***”He said, ‘There’s a difference between me and a member of Congress,'” another lawmaker said, paraphrasing the president as saying: “When I say something the markets react, all of society reacts, other countries react. I’ve got to be careful with what I say. I can’t just say it for brinkmanship. I’ve got to say it in a way so that I get what I want said, but I don’t upset markets and so on.”
“He said it like this,” the Democrat elaborated: “‘When Eric Cantor says something, Eric Cantor says something. When I say something, markets and countries and people react in a way where it could cause us more problems than we have now.'”
Another member of Congress said Obama included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the Cantor category as someone who is free to say partisan things, adding that members believe that Obama at least heard them.***
Hi GB. Is there another link to that story other than HuffPo? I would love to post on Twitter, but I don’t do HuffPo links.
PBO is right. There’s a saying “If America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.” Living in this hyperactive media world, everything PBO says or does or hints or doesn’t say/do/hint is scrutinized under an extra high resolution microscope (even if I think their microscope is blurry as heck)
Sorry. I don’t do Huff either but wanted to credit the author. I found it on W.E.E.SEE YOU in this thread.
http://weeseeyou.com/2011/06/02/thursday-afternoon-thread-6/#disqus_thread
Maybe the author of the article has his/her own website and you can find the post there.
I thought the exact same thing. All these Dems standing around, mum as a cucumber. Something happened to their tongues? Something preventing them from stepping forward? They all expect President Obama to do it all, to shout from the rooftops, to do their work for them. As usual, President Obama had to remind them that he is the President and cannot go out and scream without the whole world reacting. But Democratic Congresspeople can. HINT HINT!
Yep. The next time they go on TV, use that time to thrash Republicans, not the president.
and I would add: They all expect President Obama to be the one who’ll take all the political risks and they’ll stay back to see where the wind is blowing…
Tell the truth dotster. Let them get off their lazy butts and get to work! I am sick of “let Obama do it”. Yes We Can means WE CAN, not Obama can by himself. This president has not had the support of his own party.
Wow. Did the president have to explain this to Congressional members. Don’t they know their roles as surrogates? Why should this president have to be the one to carry the burden.
It’s like a teacher constantly having to teach his kindergartners. Sheesh.
They don’t want to face the consequences. They don’t want any GOP backlash. They really do want Obama to do all the hard work. You see how they buckled on the tax cuts and the budget? they were too scared of what might happen in elections. Why can’t they select a dozen or so Dems who are safe and are good at doing interviews? I refuse to believe that Obama is the only good speaker in the Dem party.
Exactly, as you point out, why can’t they figure this out? It annoys me that they always want the president to hold their hands.
Equally as disturbing to me is how quickly they are willing to jump in front a camera to complain about the president not leading on a certain issue, i.e. health care, etc.
Sigh.
africa,
You got it right, they (congress) sit back and look for PBO to do the heavy lifting, rather than being effective surrogates for PBO in terms of being the ones to be on the attack against the repub lies and hypocrisy’s.
Except Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Excuse the sexism, but she’s got more balls than the rest of ’em put together. LOVE HER!!!
These people are not use to working…they have worked more over the past two and a half years than they have worked in their entire political career. It is a shame PBO has to remind them what their job is!
They believe that President Obama heard them, but did they hear President Obama? These people expect the President to do it all and all they want to do is sit back and enjoy the ride on his coattails.
Exactly!!
I think I will peruse those sites of the congress and senate members that were posted here a few days ago to light up their tails, i.e., telling them to give our President some cover so he can feel like he has the support of his own party. I’ll start with the dems, but also plan to eventually hit up the repugs about their lowdown ways.
Heard them say what? I see Dems have also fallen for the bully pulpit memo. If that’s all it took then every President would have passed their agenda.
There is nothing stopping people like Waxman and Hoyer from proposing a jobs bill. Even if Republicans shoot it down the point has been made but here they are pretending that nothing can be done unless the President delivers more rhetoric.
It may be hoping too much that when Obama wins a second term he gets a lot of these folks in check.
Words fail me. They just fail me. All I can keep saying is: Lord have mercy. Have mercy, Lord. http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2011/06/02/video-cnn-anchor’s-deadpan-reaction-to-sarah-palin’s-version-of-paul-revere’s-midnight-ride/
BTW, if you’re like me and can’t stand the sound of that woman’s screeching, here’s a transcript of her word soup:
Re Paul Revere:
Lord have mercy.
This write-up does a better job ‘splainin’ her idiotic rantings: http://www.politicususa.com/en/sarah-palin-paul-revere
Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. And every U.S. news network is following and recording every minute of this nonsense. What in the world???
Not only is Palin stupid, the media is too. It is a waste of time to follow this woman.
I’ll say one thing she’s smart about. The way she plays the media. Not hard mind you (see balloon boy) but credit where it’s due. The cool high school media kids are obsessed with her and she knows it.
LMAO! I hope she runs 3rd party. It would be soooo entertaining.
Thanks for the transcript, Hachiko – I was sitting here thinking whether I had the capacity to actually watch video of this vile woman and hear her screeching voice.
Excuse me, but what the HELL were Palin talking about? No wonder she doesn’t do interviews.
What the HELL were Palin talking about?
It was really quite clear. What she meant was, well, err, um, eh, uh ….. dunno 😯
Thank you Chipsticks, I understand that a hell of alot better than what Palin was saying.
Don’t bother trying to understand her. She’s full of darkness, and anything she says is just feeding that darkness. I haven’t seen or heard anything from her that advances humanity – even in the face of tragedy.
In Palin I think I have witnessed evil. If not evil, the next closest thing. Darkness is my description of her as well Theo67.
hachiko thank you for that link. looks like someone caught her in yet another tough ( 😉 )”got ya” question.
She is beyond pitiful
She is beyond pitiful!
What does she mean? Wha.. wha.. whaaaaaat????!!!! She went to 6 different colleges for a “journalism” degree and she can’t compose a proper sentence with the appropriate amount of sentence structure. What the heck is wrong with her? Crying out loud – immigrants from other countries whose first language isn’t english speak and write better english. If I were her, I would look myself in the mirror after uttering such nonsense and be ASHAMED. But hey, shame is only for those who have a conscience.
LORD HAVE MERCY. OH LORD PLEASE HAVE MERCY. When I watched this clip I couldn’t help thinking, “what a site/embarrassment she would be if she was at Westminister on May 25th speaking before the Parliment…Have mercy, Lord.
Believe me, she would never get that honor. Even the Chinese only invited her to speak so they could laugh at her. She’s a joke. A bad one.
All I can say is ‘rocks meet Failin, failin meet rocks, your long lost relative’. Dumb as a bucket of rocks she is.
I’m glad the President is going to Ohio to talk about the economy, but most importantly to highlight the success of the auto bailout. Especially in Ohio which was hit hard by the possibility of the automobile industries collapse. Now they’re getting back on their feet and I hope they realize who facilitated this huge comeback and turn Ohio blue for PBO and Dems in 2012.
Goodnight TOD family, Rev. Al is hosting the ED show. It’s pretty good.
Thank you for this info Me4obama. First the Wanda Sykes interview on Pierce Morgan – Wanda was fantastic by the way; in her defense of PBO, minorities, the middle class and gays.
Yowza! Rev. Al is telling the truth! 🙂
Goodnight Me4obama. Have merry dreams.
Looks like a full day coming up tomorrow. Goodnight Chips and TODers. Sleep tight :-).
G’night. 🙂
Goodnight, TOD family! Goodnight, Chip!
G’night. Sleep tight. 🙂
Guys, I’m trying to find the video or comments of the father of the little Irish girl.. Chipsticks where did you post the father comments?
Oh there was no video or comments. I’m guessing the father and Megan emailed Chipsticks privately. Chips is this right?
Ah yes, UT, both of them emailed me – so sorry, I should have made that clear (rather than leaving the impression they commented here). The little girl’s father, who is a complete gentleman, was looking for help in finding the photos of his daughter, and the very lovely Megan emailed a thanks for the coverage of the Irish visit. I was completely thrilled when she told me she got to meet both the President and First Lady on the trip, the very least she deserved for her fantastic work.
I’m sooooo happy that your wonderful creation “The Obama Diary” is getting soooooo much great traffic and positive views. In my mind, the folks at the White House have recieved our emails about what a wonderful haven this slice of heaven is. Hopefully they’re checking out the site as happy lurkers but can’t comment for Federal reasons. 😉
I just loved the joyful face of that little girl.
Happy to hear that chips! I’m thrilled for you too! Word of TOD keeps spreading. 😀
Chip, you must give us all more information at least on what he felt about the day and his daughter being held by the President…
I hope he won’t mind me quoting some of his email:
“When (my four-year-old daughter) heard President Obama was coming my wife decided to bring her to College Green, not thinking that she would actualy get to meet the man. Unfortunately we are Irish and cannot give this man our vote, but he has the attention of this small island and our support.”
Aww…. bless his heart. Gosh if people around the world were allowed to vote; PBO would win in 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024….. until Malia or one of the Bidens could take over. Oh what a blissful world that would be. 🙂
LOL. UT, wouldnt that be just awesome???? A girl can dream, not so?
What a gentleman! And to him i say, you (Ireland) has our attention and our support.
Hi Michele, as I said to UT: both of them emailed me. The little girl’s father, who is a complete gentleman, was looking for help in finding the photos of his daughter, and the very lovely Megan emailed a thanks for the coverage of the Irish visit. I was completely thrilled when she told me she got to meet both the President and First Lady on the trip, the very least she deserved for her fantastic work.
Thank you for sharing..
Thank you.. and I know with all those tech savvy people in thw WH they are reading what we think and post. I make it a point to check the blog stats everyday and numbers mean everything…
I was looking for the comments, too. Thanks for asking! 🙂
Re Palin:
That “One Nation” bus has got to be the UGLIEST thing evah. Driving all over but going no where, guzzling gas like a drunken hippo, polluting the darn country with exhaust fumes, noisy engine, burnt tires, blaring horn, muffler not working well…air conditioner sputtering in the hot humid weather…stuffy unclean smell inside…red white and blue paint covering up the rust that is just below the surface… Dirty old bus!
G’nite everyone! Looking forward to tomorrow’s postings. Thank you again Chipsticks 🙂
The photograph with his little girl and our President is one of my favorites from the entire Ireland visit. Please convey how beautiful his little lass is, she absolutely stole my heart.
I will Sue, although I’m guessing he might read your comment, he’s become a TOD fan!
Yay! we got another one 😀
ps: that sounded kinda creepy. But I mean it in the safest way possible.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/164509-obama-democrats-talk-jobs-as-impasse-over-cuts-hardens
The hills report of today’s meeting at the white house. Very concise!
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0611/by_fiat_aa01b1e2-f39f-4ec6-a077-52d96c33d5c4.html
READ!
Explains the President Obama trip to the Chrysler plant in Toledo tomorrow.
Hey Chipsticks. No Ted Nugent ( the guy sounds crazy stone cold sober… in his songs he must sound like a mental patient)
You could try:
1. Bob Dylan: Times they are a’changing
2. Brooks & Dunn: Only in America
3. Bruce Springsteen : Born in the USA, The Rising
4. Citizen Cope: Son’s gonna rise
5. Lupe Fiasco: All Black Everything, Letting Go, State Run Radio
6. Pearl Jam: Just Breathe
7. Rufus: Hallelujah
Woah, excellent UT, I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t know some of them. Going to bed now, will check them all out tomorrow. Thank you UT, love ya.
You’re welcome Chipsticks aka Chica 😉
If I think of more I’ll just post ’em
Coldplay: Fix you
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: Your Guardian Angel
Kanye West: Champion
Adele: Hometown Glory
Five For Fighting: The Riddle
Kanye West feat. Chris Martin(Coldplay): Homecoming
Santogold: Creator
The Black Keys: Lies
Black Eyed Peas feat Papa Roach: Anxiety
Stereophinics: Maybe Tomorrow
Rehab: What Do You Want From Me
Rob Thomas: Little Wonders
Five: OOh Child Things Are Gonna Get Easier
Chad Kroeger: Hero
Fort Minor: Remeber The Name
James Taylor: Shower The People With Love
Linkin Park: Leave Out All The Rest
Rod Stewart: Sailing
The Beatles: There are just too many beatles songs to choose from. So I’ll let you decide Chips
Lamb: My Angel Gabriel
Lupe Fiasco: Superstar
If I think of more Chips; I’ll let you know. 😉
Beware guys, Lupe Fiasco is very anti-President Obama…
Jumped on the wagon to gain notoriety and push his music sales…
Had no idea who he was until he came on The Colbert Report few weeks ago looking to get a ‘Colbert’ bump…
Does not vote, but has a lot of opinions especially as it concerns President Obama…
Has a very feminine laugh and the first thought that came to mind was: what a b*t^h…
Oh, that young girl is so beautiful. What a treasure that her father got in touch with you. I hope the family hangs on to that photo for generations!!
I’m also very glad to see in other web sites that Megan Smolenyak got a hug from PBO. That’s a very cherished moment, for sure.
Thank you, dear Chica Chips!!
It’s hard to have that wonderful little girl discussed in the same thread as the Grand Wizard Palin.
The joy on that little girl’s face – is precious. It makes me smile every time I look at it. I’m glad she was able to meet our President and First Lady. She will remember it for the rest of her life! And she’s a cutie!
Hello to all of our family here. I am been out all day with one of my neighbors trying to be of help. Enjoying the comments. Oh, I forgot to say to Chipsticks that I wrote to the President and First Lady about how much we on this site enjoyed their trip through the wonderful site here. I gave the name. I hope someone is reading our site. I will continue to mentioned Chipsticks’ hard work here to our POTUS. I believe that they have someone in the WH reading the well worthwhile blogs. So I will say goodnight to our wonderful Chipsticks and all of our family here. Thanks again, Chipsticks.
Good night wonderful Chipsticks and TOD family. All of you make this such a great place. I don’t know what I would do without all you great people and the information you all share. I am so glad to hear about the 2 special snails Chipsticks received. She is getting recognized for the great work she is doing. This is why we love her so much.
Good night all!
Good Morning Chipsticks,
Thank you so much for allowing me this forum to post videos and just comment about this amazing President.
I think you are such an inspiration to all of us.
I read this in an e-mail someone one gave me and I just wanted to share it:
Be thankful for what you have.
Be creative. Be innovative.
Think differently and positively.
When life gives you 100 reasons to cry,
show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.
Face your past without regret.
Handle your present with confidence.
Prepare for the future without fear.
Keep the faith and drop the fear.
It’s a beautiful thing to see a person smiling.
But even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason
for that smile.
Faith is not about everything turning out OK;
Faith is about being OK no matter how things turn out.
Enjoy this beautiful day with a heart full of gratitude.
Have a great day! 🙂
I truly think the the Democrats in Congress act like some of the famous sports teams. The high ranging sports teams who have a Star player they stand around and watch him perform and don’t help him win. THEY LET THE STAR DO ALL THE WORK AND PAT HIM ON THE BACK WHEN HE MAKES A GREAT PLAY. The Democrat congress members do that with our President they love it when he does it all and give as little support as possible. It would them do well to remember the word “TEAM” means we all help any way we can to reach the goal A WIN for the country.
Republicans all over the news this morning, no democrats! Will they ever learn?
good morning Jovie
until the DemoWIMPS demand equal airtime;the MSM won’t give them any
What is sad is, the housecfems want the president to do it all himself. They are lazy!
Republicans are busting there butts to get there message out, all you see this morning are republicans.
It’s like they are multiplying on Capitol hill!
yes and I’ve never seen anything like that
the Republicans stand together all the damn time and defend their own so why can’t the Wimps learn how to do that?
The President needs all the support he can get