Thank you Tulips – in time I will be able to clean all the cranberry juice from my monitor đ
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One more push – the deadline is midnight tonight:
Please vote for the kids at Desertflowerâs school in the Pepsi Challenge (see todayâs Rise and Shine post for more info).
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website â registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
President Obama arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport
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President Obama’s limousine is seen under a tent outside a private residence as he speaks at a campaign event in New York
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Another gentle reminder:
Please vote for the kids at Desertflowerâs school â the deadline is midnight tonight (see today’s Rise and Shine post for more info).
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website â registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
Or, Text 73774and type in the message code 109320.
Charles Pierce: It is gradually dawning on people that Newt Gingrich is not the flavor-of-the-month/week/day/hour, and is very likely going to be the Other Guy for as long as there is a contest for the Republican nomination. It’s certainly becoming clear to Willard Romney, who yesterday got pissy with a Fox News anchor and lapsed into that unattractive part of his personality that can best be described as his Flog-the-Scrimey-Help modeâŚ. Willard, you’ve got a problem.
If Newt Gingrich really thinks he can win, then Newt Gingrich will do absolutely anything to accomplish that. He has no conscience in these matters, and he has no soul to speak of. He believes that the rules governing ordinary mortals in matters like public prevarication and gross public deceit do not apply to himâŚ.
⌠This is no longer a campaign. It is Newt Gingrich’s last chance to define himself in history as the grandiose figure he sees when he looks in the mirror ⌠If anyone thinks he’s likely to abandon that great quest just because he’s fundamentally unprincipled, and because the image itself is a tinpot fraud, they’re fooling themselvesâŚ.
Osborneink: The Occupation movement has a large contingent – not quite half – that is passionately opposed to endorsing the president of the United States for reelection …. this portion has managed to make the president into a source of division within the broader progressive movement. The Occupation was supposed to break our silos, but we are still talking past one another and thatâs got to stop.
Youâve probably heard by now that black Americans are not taking part in the OccupationâŚ.
âŚ. I canât help thinking back to Jane Hamsher, whose participation in the XL Keystone protests actually hurt their credibility in the African American âsphere. Iâm also reminded of how John Lewis got shunned in Atlanta, giving that cityâs mayor room to deny the Occupation legitimacy. Puritan gatekeeping gets you nothing.
Joan Walsh and Glenn Greenwald and David Sirota, et al – what Iâve come to call the Salonites – donât seem to understand the topic of race privilege, much less class. Recognition that race is a cultural construct does not blunt the cumulative effect of constant attacks on the character and intelligence of the first African American president.
Put simply, the Bill Maher – Michael Moore set has alienated a huge Democratic demographic…..
First Lady Michelle Obama meets with members of the board of Partnership for a Healthier America, an organization working to end childhood obesity, at the Omni Hotel in Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2011. Mrs. Obama later delivered the keynote address at the PHAâs inaugural Building a Healthier Future Summit. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama waves as he boards Air Force One before leaving Scranton International Airport
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A gentle reminder:
Please vote for the kids at Desertflowerâs school – the deadline is midnight tonight (see post below for more info).
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website â registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
Or, Text 73774and type in the message code 109320.
The kids at Desertflower’s school are trying to raise money for a new sound system. If the school can get in the top 15 of a challenge Pepsi are running, then the sound system will be paid for by Pepsi. They are currently at 19.
The challenge ends at midnight tonight – so please vote for Desertflower’s school!
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website – registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
Or, Text 73774 and type in the message code 109320.
Desertflower: “I hope everyone will take a minute to push for this for these great kids ⌠they all work too hard NOT to be heard. They have a voice too đ Thanks family.”
Marketwatch: Growth in private-sector payrolls sharply accelerated in November, led by the service-producing sector and small businesses, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday.
Employment in the private sector rose by 206,000 jobs in November – the largest gain since last December and almost twice the average increase in recent months. The October level was revised up to 130,000 from a prior estimate of 110,000.
⌠While economists have noted a divergence between estimates from ADP and the government, markets look to ADPâs report on private-sector payrolls to provide some guidance on the U.S. Labor Departmentâs jobs estimate, which will be released Friday and includes information on both private- and public-sector payrolls.
11:30 Michelle Obama delivers the keynote address at Partnership for a Healthier Americaâs inaugural Building a Healthier Future summit
12:30 Michelle Obama welcomes military families to the White House for the first viewing of the 2011 holiday decorations
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Two more Reuters Photos of the Year:
âŚ. visiting the Lincoln Memorial, April 9
Moneygall, May 2011
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Ooops:
Reuters: Herman Cain had almost daily contact this month with the woman who says she had a 13-year extramarital affair with him, even as he battled sexual harassment allegations from other women, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
Reuters: Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years Wednesday, launching an historic mission to press the reclusive country’s new leaders to sever illicit contacts with North Korea and deliver on reforms.
âŚ. The visit, announced by President Barack Obama at a regional summit in earlier this month, could also open a new arena of U.S. competition with China, which has watched warily as Washington courts its resource-rich southern neighbor as part of a broader policy of increasing U.S. engagement in Asia.
President Barack Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office, Nov. 29, 2011. Senior Advisors David Plouffe and Valerie Jarrett are seated on the couch. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Seriously, is there no end to this creature’s pitiful flip-flopping?
Steve Benen: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie threw an odd tantrum yesterday, blasting President Obama for the failure of the congressional super-committee âŚ. Part of the problem here is that Christie isnât quite as smart as he thinks he is, and bombast can only go so far in covering up ignorance.
âŚ. The president has tried every negotiating tactic that exists to get congressional Republicans to work on finding solutions. Obama has tried hands-on talks; heâs tried keeping his distance. The president has tried hard sells and soft sells, directly and indirectly. Heâs made private appeals and public appeals. Heâs made arguments based on policy, polls, and principles. Heâs tried charm offensives, combativeness, and everything in between. Heâs made partisan, bipartisan, tripartisan, and nonpartisan arguments, all in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, GOP leaders will be open to good-faith compromise.
And yet, nothing has worked. Nothing âŚ. The New Jersey governor seems to believe a debt deal would come together if Republicans and the president simply sat down for candid conversations. Given that Obama has already tried this repeatedly, without success, anyone who believes such stupidity just hasnât been paying close enough attention.
Crikey, how many more “ooops” before this idiot crawls back to Texas??
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Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, right, looks on as Vice President Joe Biden shake hands with the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey after he arrived, in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 29
WH: Vice President Biden has arrived in Baghdad, Iraq. While there, the Vice President will co-chair a meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee. He will also meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and other political leaders. The Vice President will also participate in, and give remarks at, an event to commemorate the sacrifices and accomplishments of U.S. and Iraqi troops.
President Barack Obama makes a statement to members of the press in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Nov. 28, 2011. The President, along with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, obscured, and President of the European Commission JosĂŠ Manuel Barroso, right, delivered remarks following a summit with leaders of the European Union to discuss issues of mutual concern. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
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Coming up:
Tuesday: The President will host Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands for a meeting in the Oval Office.
Wednesday: The President will travel to Scranton, Pennsylvania where he will deliver remarks urging Congress to act to extend and expand the payroll tax cut that has given tax breaks to millions of families across the country this year. In the evening, the President will travel to New York City where he will attend campaign events.
Thursday: The First Family will attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse.
Friday: The President will host the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior and deliver remarks.
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Three RNPS images of the year, 2011:
Children from public schools in the town of Chatfield, Minnesota, help President Obama get up after he posed with them for a picture, during his bus trip to the Midwest, August 15
Better version:
First lady Michelle Obama holds the hand NASA shuttle commander Mark Kelly, the husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, as they listen to President Barack Obama speak at the “Together We Thrive: Tucson and America” event, January 12
President Obama plays table tennis against students with British Prime Minister David Cameron, London, May 24
Charles P. Pierce (Esquire): Why Does Everybody Hate Mitt? âŚ. I’ve cast my memory back as far as I can, and I cannot recall a major politician of either party who causes so many members of his party to spit (metaphorically, one hopes) at the simple mention of his name. And this is not a recent phenomenon. One of the few insights worthy of anyone’s time in that horrible Game Change book was the fact that, by the end of the 2008 presidential cycle, all of the other Republican candidates had come to despise Willard. (John McCain was apoplectic on the subject, even by McCain’s standards, which are considerable.) This now has seemed to transfer itself to the Republican electorate in general. Nobody likes this guyâŚ..
On the surface, this elemental loathing seems disproportionate, even if you take into account how much of the GOP’s Jesus-jammin’ base distrusts the extended coven into which Romney was born âŚ. Willard is something of a foof who spends all his time falling a few yards short of sincerity. He speaks a form of trust-fund English that can be off-putting. He is as utterly unprincipled as a politician can be, and he’s about as trustworthy as a puff adder⌠all Romney’s done is change his position on a whole host of issues, and talk like the guy who’s come to repossess the family farm…..
President Obama, flanked by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, in the Roosevelt Room, Nov 28
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WH: Over the weekend, a report by the Associated Press detailed how the Affordable Care Act is dramatically reducing drug costs for seniors who hit the prescription drug coverage gap known as the donut hole. This year, seniors are benefiting from a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs in the donut hole. And the discount and other provisions in the law are saving money for seniors. As the AP reported:
The average beneficiary who falls into the coverage gap would have spent $1,504 this year on prescriptions. But thanks to discounts and other provisions in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law, that cost fell to $901…
âŚ. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, seniors will receive bigger discounts in the years ahead. By 2020, the donut hole will be closed completely.
And even if you donât hit the donut hole, thereâs still good news for beneficiaries with Medicare Part D. Prescription drug premiums will not rise next year, and thanks to health reform, seniors can get preventive services like mammograms and other cancer screenings for free.
The Obama Diary 
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