handwriting

President Barack Obama signs a hand as he greets people along a rope line at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 30, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

96-3 …..

Steve Benen: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg believes her nomination would probably be defeated if it came up today. She’s correct:

Ginsburg said that to practice for her Senate confirmation hearings, White House staffers in mock hearings grilled her on her work for the ACLU. During those mock hearings she told them: “There’s nothing you can do to get me to bad mouth the ACLU.”

Such grilling, though, did not happen, she said. She was confirmed 96-3. “Today, my ACLU connection would probably disqualify me,” she said.

Ginsburg was the former director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, which would seem to make her a left-wing radical in the eyes of the Republican Party.

And yet, in 1993, Ginsburg was confirmed by the Senate on a 96-to-3 vote. That’s not a typo …. Note that plenty of Republican senators whose names will sound familiar – Chuck Grassley, Kay Bailey Hutchison, John McCain, Mitch McConnell – all voted for her nomination. (Then note that in 2010, Elena Kagan confirmed on a 63-to-37 vote – and Grassley, Hutchison, McCain, and McConnell all voted against her.)

….The political center of gravity has moved rather dramatically in a very short period of time.

Full post here – more at Think Progress

american legion

American Legion National Commander Jimmie Foster greets President Obama at the 2011 American Legion National Convention at the Minneapolis Convention Center

supermodel

Raw Story: American University professor Allan Lichtman is on a winning streak spanning nearly three decades …. Lichtman created a formula that has correctly predicted the winner of each election since 1984, beginning with the reelection of President Ronald Reagan. The formula that predicted Obama’s 2008 win is again showing that the incumbent president will win the election, despite the term-low approval rating Obama has been maintaining for past weeks.

“Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose,” Lichtman said.

His model … relies on 13 “keys” that gauge the performance of the sitting president’s party. If six or more of these aspects are in the party’s favor, the candidate they present will win. Nine of the keys fall in Obama’s favor, Lichtman said – more than enough for reelection.

Created in 1981 and first tested against the 1984 election, Lichtman’s model hasn’t failed yet. Even in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush was riding a wave of popularity and widely expected to win, Lichtman thought otherwise.

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Thank you Esmerelda 😉

minneapolis

President Obama greets people as he arrives at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, August 30

‘it’s not power they want but a vessel for their resentments’

Michael Tomasky has a good article on The Daily Beast about Ron Paul and the type of people who support him. A couple of lines stood out:

Some people take great comfort in backing candidates they know will never win – they prefer, on some deep level, to fall short and be angry about it. It encases their loserdom in a carapace of purity and righteousness. I had a friend, a hard-core leftist …. who liked to say: “Vote for the loser, he’ll never let you down.” ….

…. the paradox of Ron Paul is that if he gained any actual power, most of his base would desert him, because it’s not power they want but a vessel for their resentments.

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Never mind Ron Paul supporters, what a truly perfect description for the ‘pure’ left! (Although, of course, the two groups have a habit of overlapping).

so, hurricane irene was no big deal?

Billy Stinson is comforted by Lisa Morrissette while he sits next to a pile of debris that was once his cottage in Nags Head, North Carolina.

The President’s opponents – on the right and left – should tell that to the loved ones of these people who died as a result of Hurricane Irene:

Connecticut: Shane Seaver (46), Charlotte Levine (89).

Delaware: Christopher Valentine (25), Jean Baptista (25).

Florida: Frederick Fernandez (55), James Palmer (55).

Maryland: Anne Bell (85).

Massachusetts: An as yet unnamed public works employee in Southbridge was electrocuted by a downed power line.

New Jersey: Michael Kenwood, Celena Sylvestri (20), Ronald Dawkins (47), Scott Palecek (39), Jorge Hernandez (25). There were two more fatalities but the victims have not yet been named.

New York: Rozalia Gluck (82), Sharon Stein (68), Joseph Rocco (68), Jose Sierra (68), Mikita Fox (23), Danine Swamp. There were two more fatalities but the victims have not yet been named.

North Carolina: Ricky Webb (63), Katherine Morales Cruz (15), Tim Avery (50), Jose Manuel Farabia Corona (21), Sabrina Anne Jones (26), Melton Robinson Jr.

Pennsylvania: Michael Scerarko (44), Patricia O’Neill (64). There were three more fatalities but the victims have not yet been named.

Vermont: Michael Garofano Sr, Michael Garofano Jr (25, missing). There were two more fatalities but the victims have not yet been named.

Virginia: Zahir Robinson (11), James Blackwell (67), William P. Washington (57). There was one more fatality but the victim has not yet been named.

And more are missing or in critical condition in hospital.

And this isn’t counting the damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Yep, no big deal.

Details here at MSNBC

the tom joyner interview

TOM JOYNER: On the line right now is the president of the United States, Barack Obama. Good morning, Big Chief….. Okay. Let’s talk about, first of all, the MLK dedication. They’re going to reschedule it.  You don’t have a time or date yet?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We don’t have a date yet. But those who’ve had a chance to see the monument, it is a moving and powerful thing. When you think about how this is a man who didn’t have a title, didn’t have a rank in the military, but just led a nation in rediscovering its ideals and its values, and to have him staring out across the water towards the Jefferson Monument is a reminder of what’s possible in this country. So I know those who’ve already seen it have just been moved to tears by its presence, and it’s going to be an extraordinary legacy for this country for many years to come……

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PRESIDENT OBAMA: … Congress needs to act. If Congress does not act, then I’m going to be going on the road and talking to folks, and this next election very well may end up being a referendum on whose vision of America is better. Because the fact of the matter is, is that the American people voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for dysfunctional government. And if they see one side not willing to work with the other to move the country forward, then that’s what elections are all about. So we’re going to be in a struggle for probably the next 16, 17 months.

TOM JOYNER: And I’m going to be right there in the foxhole struggling with you.

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Read the full transcript from Tom Joyner’s interview with the President here

Thank you Collegekay 😉

You can hear the audio here

Thank you Zizi 😉

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Tom Joyner: We all have plans, schedules and agendas, and our ego – the human side of us – makes us think sometimes that what WE have to do takes precedence over everything else.

For the past month, my mind has been on two main issues: The MLK Memorial and march led by Rev. Al, and what I could do to get black leadership on the same page regarding re-electing President Obama. The latter issue consumed me. I found myself fixating on the fact that some people that I’ve followed, supported, leaned on and socialized with could not see look beyond their own agendas and look at the big picture. To me, the big picture was Election Day 2012.

….. to Black America, I just want to remind us that we also need to be a shining example of pulling together, not only in the face of the literal storms that come, but the storms of unemployment, high gas prices, wars and anything else that comes our way. Struggle is not new us; neither is depending on one another to overcome the obstacles.

In 2012, we will get yet another chance to pull together, but if we wait until November to start, and are distracted by those who believe that the president isn’t black enough,  it will be too late.

Full post here

Thank you bjw

minnesota bound

President Obama departs the White House aboard Marine One on August 30. The President is scheduled to deliver remarks at the American Legion Annual Conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center later today

oh yeah, funny

“It isn’t every day that we have an earthquake in the United States.”

As of August 30, there have been 2,901 earthquakes in the United States in 2011 (USGS).

So, yes, there is an earthquake every day in the United States.

🙄