wednesday

A quiet day for the President 😕

I’ll be away from my computing machine for a few hours today, so there were won’t be many updates, but I’ll catch up with everything later – see you then 😉

gotham hall

First Lady Michelle Obama introduces President Barack Obama at a DNC fundraiser at Gotham Hall, September 20

“This is like our date night,” Michelle Obama said. She thanked organizers for the “intimate” 400-person dinner, at which singer Alicia Keys performed for donors who anted up at least $2,500 each. “Who knows what will happen?”

The first lady said people often ask her if the presidency is taking a toll on her husband. “The only difference I can think of is the salt is starting to catch up with the pepper” in his hair, she said. “I think it’s quite sexy.”

As she spoke about meeting her husband decades ago in Chicago, she said: “That’s the same man who won me over all those nights ago.”

When President Obama himself took the stage later, he declared that he was “in a New York state of mind” but he also seemed to be in an affectionate state of mind.

“She’s not bad. Do you notice how she’s getting cuter,” Obama said. “She is remarkable.”

He called the event “the closest we get to a date,” though he said could perhaps arrange a real date “in about 14 months.”

“This is not my idea of a date night,” he added later. “Normally our dates don’t end with me being before 400 of our closest friends.

****

Wow, that tweet must have hurt for Mark Knoller to type 😆

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk off stage after attending a DNC fundraiser at Gotham Hall

‘know hope’

More at Mediaite

Andrew Sullivan: DADT is dead …. The video above tells you all you need to know .….. I remain intensely grateful for the Obama administration in getting this done and for the military itself which was far more mature about this than so many posturing politicians. This is truly a new day – one so many of us dreamed of but which has now come to pass.

Know hope.

****

President Obama: Today, the discriminatory law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is finally and formally repealed.  As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love.  As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.

I was proud to sign the Repeal Act into law last December because I knew that it would enhance our national security, increase our military readiness, and bring us closer to the principles of equality and fairness that define us as Americans.  Today’s achievement is a tribute to all the patriots who fought and marched for change; to Members of Congress, from both parties, who voted for repeal; to our civilian and military leaders who ensured a smooth transition; and to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who showed that they were ready to move forward together, as one team, to meet the missions we ask of them.

For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America’s promise to all our citizens.  Our armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans.  Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation’s founding ideals.

From an earlier thread today:

meanwhile, out in the real world….

Washington Post: Republicans in Washington have little love for President Obama’s jobs plan and his proposal to pay for it. But the president may find a warmer reception from Republicans governing on the local level.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors – a bipartisan national group for mayors of major cities – has openly embraced the American Jobs Act, with key Republican mayors offering high praise for the president’s infrastructure spending plan. And the group has come to Washington this week to press that point upon Congress, the White House, and the supercommittee.

Mick Cornett, the GOP mayor of Oklahoma City, welcomes the infrastructure spending that Obama has proposed in his jobs bill, explaining that mayors witness the impact of such investments on the ground level. “Mayors see up close the deferred maintenance that’s going on in nation’s cities … it’s just a ticking time bomb. We also know that it puts people to work,” he says.

Obama’s jobs plan proposes new infrastructure spending on everything from rebuilding schools to an infrastructure finance bank – all of which Cornett supports. “We need to be working on all of these really big picture items that are generational.”

….Cornett is skeptical that Obama’s jobs plan will be able to pass. But he credits the Obama administration for being far more receptive than the previous White House to hearing out the concerns of city leaders on the local level …. “There are a lot of things that government doesn’t do well. One of things that government does do well is build stuff,” he concludes.

Full article here

‘president obama using new media like a boss!’

Eclectablog (The People’s View): This ad just came up on my iPhone Pandora app. It was complete with the President’s voice exhorting me to call Congress to urge them to pass his jobs bill. “Learn about it, fight for it!” That’s how you use social media/new media, kids. That’s how you win the future. FTW.

😉

The People’s View

meat and one veg?

Michele Bachmann looks at hanging beef carcasses during a plant tour at Amend Packing Co. in Des Moines, Iowa, Sept. 20

read it and weep, gop

Link

Thanks Loriah 😉

help?

Hiya people, hoping you might be able to help me out here.

There’ve been a whole bunch of MSM stories recently about Hollywood turning its back on the President, but apart from the odd tulip like Mr Damon I really can’t find much evidence.

If you’ve come across any stories/links on the issue – especially ones that help debunk it! – would you mind leaving them in the comments? I’m just curious about the meme and want to look in to it a little.

Thank you, you legends 😉

well, would ya look at who’s leading!

Link

From Donna:

Now look at what the TOD Family has gone and done…

I’m on top of the leaderboard in dollar amount of donations and number of donations. BUT…I’m starting to get a little concerned about the #2 person in the number of donations column (which is the part of this contest that I think I might have a legitimate shot at winning because with the dollar amount it only takes one or two BIG donations to throw you out of that field).

Seems this person is not raising very much money but is adding 30 donations at a clip. They just broke into the top 20 with $329.15 with “64″ donations. Obviously they are getting people to donate in $5.00 or less increments instead of one specific dollar amount (I didn’t think about asking people to do this).

He/She seems to have found a way to legitimately game the contest. Oh well, I’ll just have to work that much harder.

If you still would like to donate please know that you can give multiple donations (for instance $10.00 can be broken up into two $5.00 donations).

I hate to ask any more of the TOD Family but you’ve gotten me so close that now I’m starting to taste it 🙂

Thanks again for all you have done!

****

Donate here – do it for our Donna!

new york, tuesday afternoon

The UN ‘family’ photo:

… with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

President Obama takes his seat for a meeting with leaders for the Open Government Partnership

President Obama watches a video presentation at the start of the Open Government Partnership Event:

Thank you Ladyhawke

…. with Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan