First Lady Michelle Obama hugs Venus Williams while her sister Serena Williams looks on after Serena beat Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon during the Olympic Games
First Lady Michelle Obama hugs LeBron James following the USA vs. France men’s basketball game at Olympic Park
First Lady Michelle Obama participates in an interview with NBC Sports at the Olympic Park Aquatics Center
First Lady Michelle Obama looks at a drawing given to her by one of the children while visiting with military base members in a hanger at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England
All White House Photos by Sonya N. Hebert – more here
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AP: Bill Clinton will have an up-front role in this summer’s Democratic national convention, where he will make a forceful case for Barack Obama’s re-election and his economic vision for the country, several Obama campaign and party officials have said.
…. Obama personally asked Clinton to speak at the convention and place Obama’s name in nomination, and Clinton enthusiastically accepted, officials said on Sunday. George Bush, the last Republican to hold the White House, remains politically toxic in some circles. While Bush has endorsed Romney, he is not involved in his campaign and has said he does not plan to attend the Republican convention.
Clinton will speak in prime-time at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on 5 September, the night before Obama formally accepts the party nomination. While the number two on the ticket often speaks that night, the Obama campaign has instead decided that Obama and the vice-president, Joe Biden, will speak on the same night.
Biden will introduce Obama on 6 September before the more than 70,000 people expected to fill an outdoor stadium in Charlotte and millions more on television.
More here
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Morning everyone, I’ll catch up with more news later on
The Obama Diary 
Good Morning Ms Chips & Everyone in sight! It’s going to be a good Monday, regardless! 😆 Afternoon, CJ, happy running!
Mooooooooooooooorning VC! Morning everyone 😉
Thank you, Ms Chips! PBO embracing our future is just the sight to start a new work week off on the right footing. 😀 😀
GM TOD!
99 Days to Go!!!
Good Morning TOD…so proud of FLOTUS representation in the UK…
Brought over from the last thread:
Can we be clear on one thing: Mitt doesn’t give a damn about Israel. He doesn’t give a damn about Bibi. He doesn’t have a clue what his ‘principles’ are concerning the Mideast or anything else. He is the embodiment of the lizard brain: he has a goal and only understands ruthlessness as a means to that goal.
This Israel trip was nothing more than a whoring expedition for money from Adelson.
A little-known fact is that his speech was to a handpicked audience of mainly American RW Jews. There weren’t even a whole lot of Israelis there. And although we hear about the standing ovation, reports from inside that room said even this handpicked audience knew they were looking at a ruthless empty suit.
Mitt the whore. There — I said it. This was all about Adelson’s money and nothing more.
EXACTLY! Whenever PBO went abroad and gave a speech, we saw his audience. Why couldn’t we see Willard’s audience?
Because “johns” don’t like to have their photos taken, hf.
Not disputing anything that is said here, but C-Span has the video and has shots of the audience including about 10 minutes at the end of him out greeting them. I have read a number of reports from reputable sources of people flying in from the US to attend (this and I expect his fundraiser). Seems to be a younger crowd than usual for him. I’m not intimately involved with Jews in either nation and I cannot distinguish between them. Hint: for your own sanity, turn the sound off if you watch this.
Ann was in the audience, caught a glimpse of her at the ed, but completely unacknowledged by him. Seems weird to me.
http://www.c-span.org/Events/Mitt-Romney39s-Three-Country-Tour-Takes-Him-to-Poland/10737432628-4/
Hahahaha…..so true.
Morning ’57! We do have the same reading of Willard – he only cares about his own agenda. Me, I’m glad he’s out there because I think every time he exposes another corner of himself someone ‘new’ will have his/her eyes opened. I feel it’ll be ‘easier’ for some of the normally uninvolved to see him if they see him through their own eyes, with gentle prodding from we the people. Some are just programmed to ignore the ‘political’ ads. I would wager $10 000 I don’t have that a few ‘undecided’ American Jews saw Romney a little clearer this weekend. Do your thing, Willard! Be yourself! Go #ObamaBiden2012
I don’t know if there’s an OFA group registering Muslim-Americans right now, but I bet they would have resounding success!
And let’s not get into the fact that he put both the US and Israel at risk by alienating all Palestinians and all Middle East Muslims. Of course, he could care less because his own precious hide is protected by his money, his many homes, and tax-payer provided SS. And you’re right 57, he did all this for money, asking the corrupt Adelson which way he would “like it” as he pocketed his millions. This is the only candidate ever that I have not even a modicum of respect for. Not just disagree with everything he says, not just think he’s dumb like GWB, or nasty like Nixon, but literally have no respect for whatsoever. He is an incomplete human being, born with no sense of principle and zero empathy. And he is a travesty as a presidential candidate and deeply anti-American in his outlook. I would be willing to be that when he goes through the motion of reciting the pledge of allegiance, he pledges only to himself and the almighty dollar. The tragedy of the US is that millions will vote for him because of his pasty skin color. This election truly is an epic battle between light and darkness.
‘He is an incomplete human being, born with no sense of principle and zero empathy.’
You know what, JG, I do believe this is true and that is the reason why I personally do not hate him. I don’t want him anywhere near the red button, but I don’t, as of now, ‘hate’ him. I also don’t feel empathetic toward him, yet in my heart I acknowledge that he is incomplete and throughout his life, for whatever reason, no one tried to address his problem. They had the means but not the knowledge/will to address his weakness and in the end we get the end result prancing around on the world stage. Simply put, it’s now up to voters to limit his outreach, pasty skin colour or not.
G’mmorning Chips, TOD, and congratulations vcprez on # 1 🙂
Best.FLOTUS.Evah.
‘Best. FLOTUS. Evah!’ Aren’t we blessed, Hf? There’s no other word for it, IMO. We’ve just got to be smart enough and wily enough to hang on to our blessings. Happy Monday, my dear. 😆 😆
I concur, best.flotus.evah! we will never see a first lady as perfect as michelle obama again in our lifetimes. she is amazing in every way. last night i saw the pics of her with the queen recently and i just thought how proud i was to see her representing our country.
opps, just noticed my computer went back into old id mode. this is lovingand laughing….formerly known as “m.”
Hi to both of you! 😆 😆
VC!!!! Mayor Chips!!! Hello TODville!!! Hope all is well on the home front. I cannot get enough coverage of the Olympics (happy happy joy joy)!!! Oh and it was great to see all those live images of our gorgeous First Lady. Yeah here in the Swiss Boonies…every chance the Swiss channel got to show her, they did 🙂
Okay back yo lurk mode!
/waving in acknowledgement, CJ / 😉 😉
I think it is a brilliant move having two term President Clinton nominate PBO for his second term while the two term President Bush will be clearing brush during the Republican National Convention. I’ll bet it did not take President Clinton long to accept the offer.
Yes I also think it gives a big FU to the media who delights in searching for the slightest evidence of tension between Clinton/DEMS and Obama, while downplaying any between Willard and other GOP politicians.
They’ve never figured out that PBO knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to dealing with Bill Clinton. It also shows the incredible degree to which this President is comfortable in his own skin.
Exactly. It’s a big STFU to the media.
Agreed Bill. I’m sure Clinton will use the stage to simultaneously rip Romney apart and make the case for why PBO’s economic policies are best for America. Very exciting.
Not to mention that all the Clintonistas will have to put up or shut up. Their idol, Bill will have enthusiastically endorsed Pres. Obama. There will have nothing to whine about. NOTHING!!!
I just pray that Prez Clinton will be careful about what he says and how he words it with the press.
OMG…those mitt cartoons made me laugh! Morning all! Have a fabulous day!
that above was from me too…
file this under – you can’t make this stuff up
“JERUSALEM (AP) — Mitt Romney says that if he paid more taxes than were required, he wouldn’t be qualified to be president.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=157561309
Willard’s attitude on the military must be if he and his sons could not avoid serving he would not be qualified to be POTUS.
Okay, yes, he is stupider than Sarah Palin. Even the Alaska Screecher would know enough not to say this. And, Willard, you are NOT qualified to be president and taxes have nothing to do with it, except to show your contempt for truth, transparency and the American people.
Believe it or not, I think in Mitt’s mind he is saying that not paying more than required by law shows his intelligence, and therefore his qualification to be president. He’s got fiscal smarts, see? You can’t put one over on him fiscally, and in his mind that’s the pinnacle.of…. EVERYTHING 🙄
So all the past presidents who paid more taxes than Willard should be disqualified as President. What a looney tune.
I think the point is not paying more taxes than required that it is where he invested his money and that his allegiance was not with the USA. Hiding his money in offshore accounts is NOT AMERICAN. It is greed driven without concern for American Patriotism.
Someone really needs to ask Mittens why he did not go see the troops in Afghanistan? Hell, even in the UK? How is that he can more or less state that he “respects” or “supports” Israel’s right to defend her self *cough* nuke Iran*sneeze* when we all know and DoD has told us Israel does not have the capability to finish the job…who will that fall on. You guessed it Amurica and its sons and daughters. I wish the MSM had a pair. or at least borrowed one from the British Press.
But you have to laugh…the safest countries (UK, Israel, and Poland) and Mitt still manages to fcuk that up.
Not to excuse Mittens, but he has no official standing in the U.S. He is not a governor, nor a Senator, he is not an elected official of any kind. When President Obama went in 2008, he was a sitting U.S. Senator who was on the foreign relations committee, so could get clearance to go. Mittens undoubtedly could not even get clearance to do this. People forget that he is not an elected official of ANY kind. When Sarah Palin went four years ago, she was a sitting governor, awful as she was, so she could go visit the troops from her state. Mittens can’t even do that.
Thank you for the explanation carolyn.
Actually you are wrong. Romney can visit troops under the auspices of the USO. Entertainers and private citizens do it all the time.He could have organized an event delivering care packages or some such “neutral” activity. There are zero excuses for him not to make the effort. heck he could have joined Michelle Obama during her Joining Forces visit to see military families in London. That wold have scored him ‘bipartisan’ kudos.
He was more focused on raising $$$4 and insulting our foreign policy abroad. And the corporate media has been complicit in shielding him.. Did you forget how the media hounded Sen. Obama in 2008 for not visiting the troops in Landstuhl, Germany during the “campaign” phase of his trip abroad? And McCain campaign cut ads lambasting him for canceling even though it was the Bush admin people at the German embassy who refused to let Pres, Obama go?
Romney could have gone under a neutral guise like the USO or some such.
GM. Help! I need help quickly. A good friend just posted the lie on FB about PO not meeting with his Jobs Council in 191 days. I know we’ve had links on here about that. With my granddaughter here, I don’t have time to search. Can someone PLEASE give me a link/links????????
tnmtngirl, here’s a link from the Obama Truth Team which gives the facts about what PBO and his JOBS council have accomplished. It’s not the number of days that matters, it’s what they have accomplished together.
http://www.barackobama.com/truth-team/entry/what-president-obama-and-his-jobs-council-are-doing-to-help-create-jobs
Republicans are too focused on peripheral details like number of pages in a book or number of days meeting, which is an insult to America’s intelligence. We are not in Pre-K where being able to count to over 100 is the biggest deal (Mark Knoller I’m looking at you as well).
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome, as usual. This family always comes through. 🙂
You’re very welcome, friend! Keep up the good work of spreading the facts around 🙂
I find it very curious that they’re hung up on the number of days but nobody bothered to interview Jefferey Immelt and get his thoughts. Could it be they were worried about him destroying this foolish memo?
That’s a way of detracting from the main point. They’re not really interested in knowing what actually came out of those meetings, they’re more interested in attacking and accusing President Obama.
KNOW THE FACTS, GET THE TRUTH!
and the fact is the results of those sessions have been sitting in Congress since September 2011 via the American Jobs Act. Maybe she can post on FB that folks should harass Boehner to pass the bill in it’s entirety.
I know I’m late to the party, but you can also remind your ‘good friend’ that Congress has voted on ) jobs bills. ZERO
The GOP. Keeping Millions Unemployed to Put One Man Out of Work
http://republicanjobcreation.com/
Just saw Joe Scar. try to say PBO wasn’t a good politician and didn’t enjoy his job. He was quickly corrected by John Heilman and Joe was forced to go back and clarify his position. 90% of the commentary on this show just comes off as lazy journalism. It sounds lack they pick a position devoid of facts and just stick with it until someone argues them down which doesn’t happen enough from their “liberal guests” or surrogates.
They get ALL their talking points from Fox! Everything he says, is taken from what Fix is saying or has said!
You nailed that one. MJ is just an errand boy.
Joe S. gets the Repub talking point of the day and just blabs mindlessly off the top of his head—-or somewhere—-endlessly—-trying to support that point. And all the other table sitters just sorta nod in agreement to the shallow ramblings of the C- student. Poor Katty Kay’s face has been frozen into some waxlike semblance of her former self, as she also uttered words of nothingness about “Obomber”. And Barnicle—-they could just put a dept. store dummy in his place, and no one would know the difference.
Barnicle wakes up out of his fog only when someone mentions the Boston Red Sox or baseball. He should be playing shuffleboard in Boca.
OMG dotster at Katty Kay saying “Obomber” Barnicle can’t say POTUS name either. It’s hilarious. What a bunch of dummies making all that money lying and doing nothing.
Anyway, good morning TOD family. Hope everyone has a great day.
Willard was giving a Speech for one Person, No not Bibi.
It was His ten million dollar donor, Adelson.
Everything else is trivial!
Yup. That’s exactly what 57andfemale posted above! 🙂
It’s horrified to think of how many people Mitt Romney owe his soul too.
Berny shared a documentary last night re mormonism, and since Mitt is/was a mormon bishop, I think it’s worth the time investment for us to get another view of his makeup. Yes religion is not supposed to be a part of politics, but Mitt says he’s a committed mormon, and the info shared in the video is …’interesting’ especially if you read between the lines. The doc also features Mitt’s cousin, Park Romney, who broke away from the mormons
Soul? Tinman has no heart, no soul.
JERUSALEM—Mitt Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the Palestinians, outraging Palestinian leaders who called his comments racist and out of touch.
“As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” the Republican presidential candidate told about 40 wealthy donors who breakfasted around a U-shaped table at the luxurious King David Hotel.
The reaction of Palestinian leaders to Romney’s comments was swift and pointed.
“It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” said Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“It seems to me this man (Romney) lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people,” Erekat added. “He also lacks knowledge about the Israelis themselves. I have not heard any Israeli official speak about cultural superiority.”
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2012/07/30/romney_courts_donors_before_leaving_israel/
So Willard is a sociologist and economic historian now? He should analyze his father’s homeland, Mexico, for us and insult them.
This man went to England and put his foot in his mouth. Didn’t learn a thing.
Then he went to Israel and insulted the Palestinian people that live right next door to Isreal without learning facts.
Next stop Poland where he will tell some Polish jokes and insult the Polish people. Then he will come back to the States and pick up where he left off. And the MSM will not query him about his hoof disease, his income tax returns or his blatant lies.
Thank God for this place where we can come and get facts. Less than a hundred days left for this man to go sit down and count his money.
He just might resurface in 2016 for another try though.
Morning everyone…….
This comment from Saeb Erekat says it all ”“It seems to me this man (Romney) lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people”…
Actually I would remove ”of this region and its people” period…lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding….period…on everything.
For someone who has been running forever…..it’s pathetic that he knows so little.
I’m tired to hear people say he’s intelligent……he is like Palin and Bush…..it’s a fact.
Nice trip so far huh? What a mess,……
That’s exactly what I was going to say—–that he lacks info etc. about everything everywhere. He seems like a clueless automaton to me.
‘Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful’
And isn’t this basically what that faux-article said he had said yesterday, or Saturday? The man is more dangerous that the last GOP presidential aspirants.because he is both ignorant and educated and awareness of the latter can easily fool the not-so-educated.
Good Morning Chips and everyone else, I haven’t had my TV on in two days and I don’t even miss it. However, I sure would miss coming here and visiting with you all. Congrats VS on 1st. Feels So Good. 🙂
I wll have a one year old Tyke today for awhile, while Mommie, Auntie, Grandma go get their nails and toes done for the wedding tomorrow. It was fun to see my neices after 6 years. They sure have grown up and changed a lot. Entertaining young ladies.
Thanks, R. Relatives coming together for special occasions are usually such ‘high’ times. Enjoy! You are probably giving baby his/her mani-pedi too, so s/he won’t feel left out. lol
Heh, Mitt went overseas to bone up his lacking FP cred, and all anyone can talk about is the beautiful Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton have definitely redefined the role of first lady. They are so refreshing and so modern!
To quote Nat King Cole, First Lady Michelle Obama was “Unforgettable” in London. To quote Anniebella, Mitt Romney is forgettable.
I heard on my local news that FLOTUS will be in my home state of North Carolina Wednesday.
Yes, that’s what people like Ezra Klein, Jonathan Chait and some of these other liberal media pundits who insist that Willard is so capable need to answer.
amk, do you have power? Read that 300 mill are without power in your neck of the woods. Thought about you. Nice of me, a “wimmin”, right?
It was in up north. I live down south. So today’s blackout didn’t affect us. But black-outs are nothing new to us. Have been living with them for decades.
The Romney camp is obsessed with President Obama, and the reverse is not true. Zero out of @BarackObama’s last 50 tweets mentions Mitt Romney, while 20 out of @MittRomney’s last 50 tweets President Obama.
Does Craig Crawford work for Robney? He just said he has the RNC “you tried” ad on his blog! Sounds like he has a problem with this President. What’s that? Another PUMA you say? Ohhh!
Who id Craig Crawford ?
Craig Crawford is another PUMA with a mixed agenda (check his bio on Wikipedia). Like Jonathan Capehart, he cites Romney’s “It’s OK” ad as being a very powerful and effective ad, while giving it more publicity on his blog.
Interestingly, this ad doesn’t rise to nearly the level of PBO’s “firms” ad which has drawn more than 2 million views (ratio of likes to dislikes is 4.29); this ad has just over 31K views (ratio of likes to dislikes is 2.04). Although the ad was published on YouTube July 27, I’ve seen the ad on TV way before July 27. And even so, the “firms” ad had already had well over 500K views by the end of the first 24 hrs it was published.
Disagree with you. It was very clear from the conversation that he fully supports POB. However, he said the ad is effective because it isn’;t negative against PBO, but just says, we gave him his chance, time to try something else. That can be an effective message, and better than anything else the Republicans have put out there. I don’t think it will work, but it is the best they have come up with so far.
Personally, I think it is too early to start sending this message and works only if people have at least a neutral opinion of Romney.
I think we get too quick to criticize anybody who says anything remotely positive about the other side. That is what Clinton did in 2008 when PBO talked about Reagan as being transformative.
The other thing Crawford talked about are those on the left who talk about sitting it out this year, which he strongly criticized. Also, he warned against overconfidence.
My problem with Crawford and Jonathan Capehart’s analysis of this ad is that they have not even seen the outcome of the ad, yet they are already praising it as “effective” and giving it more publicity than it deserves. The ad is actually quite negative, and seems rather patronizing and condescending on the surface. “The white guy is clearly smarter and more competent that the Black guy who everyone likes, but it’s okay to vote for the white guy without being called a racist.” I think Americans are increasingly more aware of this kind of manipulation.
But I could find a million other flaws with this ad that neither Capehart nor Crawford seem brave enough (or honest enough) to admit and focus on.
First of all, the ad is based on a flawed premise of Romney being more capable of turning the economy around. There is NOTHING in Romney’s failed record as a one-term governor of MA that suggests that he’s more capable than PBO of creating a healthy economy. The ad also fails to account for the unprecedented obstructionism from the GOP (including that famous inauguration day meeting) that no other President has had to deal with. It also conveniently omits the fact that when PBO took office, the country was bleeding over 500K jobs a month from the Bush economy – the very policies that Romney wants to take us back to.
Mark Knoller is annoyed that I called him out on his defense of Romney yesterday.
US law ? Why would that even matter ?
Exactly. He posted about 5 tweets trying to convince us that somehow Romney was right on this issue and we were wrong. But nary a peep from him about Romney’s closed door fundraising event.
U.S. law since 195…….would that be B.C. or A.D.?????
Knoller showing ‘perspective’? Rats! I always miss when these guys show there’s more to them than they reveal daily! Maybe next time.
Mornin’ Chips and TOD. Here’s hoping for good news about the President and the economy this week and more revealing incompetency by Mitt the Twit.
Summeronths are always slow, especially after a depression. Expect September jobs report to be over 150k!
The little village that could is doing what it can to help our President!!!
This will be fun!
Moneygall heeds Obama’s call for fundraising help
By Jason Kennedy
Monday, July 30, 2012
US President Barack Obama may be struggling to catch up with rival Mitt Romney’s fundraising, but his old friends in Moneygall are on hand to help boost his campaign budget.
On Aug 4, Obama’s birthday, the Irish branch of Democrats Abroad will have a fundraising event in the Co Offaly village to help swell the president’s re-election bid.
The event will be held in Ollie Hayes’s pub, where Obama sank a pint of Guinness during his Irish visit. Mr Hayes said he is delighted to help in any way he can.
“They are a great crowd and I am delighted to help in any way that I can. We are going to do our bit and hope he gets in,” Mr Hayes said.
“We’re even going to have a birthday cake for him on the day,” he said.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/moneygall-heeds-obamas-call-for-fundraising-help-202373.html#.UBZ9A8BbmoU.twitter
This is wonderful! Love Moneygall! Is there anything we can do to help in the states?
That is so SWEET! Thanks hopefruit, meta!
And, Thank you to the beautiful people of Moneygall!
Sheldon Adelson set next to Willard at his fundraiser this morning.
Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, also attended the breakfast. I am adding the Jets to my list with the Cubs for teams to root against.
Me too Bill!
It would be nice to know what the Obama camp is sitting on. Me thinks, they have something big, rather than just drip drip drip.
The PBO campaign has not even come after Willard’s failure to include the overseas banking forms with his 2010 tax returns. You know that is coming.
Yes, I think we’ll have drip, drip, until after the Demo convention. We know the Obama team…..I would venture a guess that they have been able to get hold of Romney’s taxes…and/or records from Massachusetts…..and more Bain material. They do not waste too much effort during the dog days of summer, where we are right now. Frankly, it’s too hot to care about much where I live, and after Labor Day, we will have two focused months. That is why they’ve been raising money like mad…..to use then. The election is decided in Sept and Oct. Also, it takes time for summer advertising to make it into people’s hearts and minds…….the effect of Mitt’s trip won’t all be seen now, and the positive effect of the Obama campaign’s advertising and rallies, and FLOTUS in London won’t be obvious right now. These silly people still operate on a 24 hour cycle….whereas like we’ve said so many times, POTUS operates the long game.
Carolyn,
My two cents: I totally agree with you and believe that after the convention , PBO’s team will open another “Can of Whip Ass” on Romney and will be relentless until Election Day.
10 reasons why Romney’s Israel trip is in bad taste:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/30/mitt-romney-israel-bad-taste?CMP=twt_gu
Thank you, edwina! Total predictive behavior of dangerously tacky crassness by sir hoof in mouth.
I love our FLOTUS. She was a hit in London!!
Good morning everyone, Chips
I saw that Mrs Dan Senor was on Morning Junk…..
Did they ask her anything about her Warmonger husband who is traveling with Mitt ?
So he is on the road, and they have her. How more transparent could they be? What was she babbling about? How we need more wars and PBO is bad?
Mitt’s trip to Israel and what he said actually matters.
Him being a fool in England has no context on POLICY MATTERS.
But, when a candidate for President of the United States,
stands up and calls JERUSALEM the capital of Israel
and, has an advisor that says, ‘It’s ok if Israel pre-emptively strikes IRAN’
that’s POLICY. and, it’s serious.
Folks better wake up to the fact that Willard wants to send young men and women BACK into War on the ground -WITH IRAN.
Tweeted Rikyrah – first time trying this so here goes
GM all fellow TODers, people of great taste and discromination, a community of thinkers not sheep, a village where facts matter. I had a busy weekend so couldn’t even find the time to read many of the threads, Sounds like Romney screwed the pooch in Israel as well as London. Can’t wait for Poland.
14 weeks and one day to go until the reelction of PBO and the Dems retake the House. Both are extremely important. I’ll be around the next couple of days and then off until next Tuesday.
The first lady was awesome in London. She is a terrific asset to her husband or perhaps it is the other way around.
sigh
Registered a few new voters yesterday. Had some interesting conversations with people on the street. I met a “Green Party’ voter that is now voting for PBO. He is really cute, totally green, lives on his sailboat. Boy I wish i was 30 yrs. younger and single…not really. He actually gave me his card and asked me to call him. He enjoyed talking with me. I also met a GOP voter. Very senior citizen in a “scooter” that thinks war with iran is just fine. She is convinced that our economy thrives while we are at war. My mouth flew open and nothing came out. Wow! This is what we are up against. I had so much to tell her about the privatization of our military but again my mouth was agape.
Sure appreciate your continued effort, PMGZ, even to the image of your mouth not being able to produce a sound in response to the ‘scooter’ lady. These are the ones that remind me that some voters are just too far gone to reach. Reminds me of my response to my father, who at least is an Obama supporter. Every time he opens his mouth on politics I cringe and shut my mouth AND ears!
How odd that they think that and then at the same time say that they’re worried about the deficit…that was created by not paying for a war and by cutting taxes to the wealthy.
Good morning everyone. I am about to head out for knee replacement surgery (my second one) so I wont be around for awhile. Wish me luck!
I will miss you:(
And we will miss you. Please check back in soon!
positive wishes for you Betsy.
Very best wishes. Take good care, Betsy, and please hurry back when you’re able.
Best wishes Betsy. Hope to see you up and about soon.
Best wishes Betsy and I hope you have a speedy recovery!
x 2
Heal fast, Betsy! You know what to do since you’ve been through it once. We need you!
Hope all goes well for you, Betsy!!!
#FORWARD
Best wishes Betsy!
Hey everyone. Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. I am back home now and everything is going well.
Romney Praises Israel’s Universal Health Care System, Which Includes Individual Mandate
http://thinkprogress.org/?mobile=nc
Yep and that’s why he wants to repeal the ACA on day one…..it’s too good for the American people
Oy!
He couldn’t even get his numbers right.
The economic disparity between the Israelis and the Palestinians is actually much greater than Romney stated. Israel had a per capita gross domestic product of about $31,000 in 2011, while the West Bank and Gaza had a per capita GDP of just over $1,500, according to the World Bank.
The AP notes that Romney didn’t mention the Israaeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. It didn’t point out that Israel has actually built a wall and that Israel receives more than $3 billion annually from the United States, which has the effect of a roughly $500-per-person subsidy from U.S. taxpayers for each Israeli citizen. The Palestinians receive no direct U.S. aid.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2012/07/vetters-offer-reward-to-prove-obama-has.html
Morning everyone:)
MUST READ!!! http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/7/29/235636/455 Pass this on….
Obama Should Be Your Hero
He is – my hero.
LIKE A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP
Still shambling, from London to Jerusalem
By Steve Benen
——————————-
Initially, Romney’s team said it would bar U.S. reporters from covering an Israeli fundraiser, but in the face of criticism, the campaign reversed course. Worse, Romney’s top foreign policy aide, Dan Senor, suggested to reporters that Romney is prepared to support a unilateral Israeli military strike on Iran, and the campaign spent the next few hours scrambling, trying to carefully “clarify” Senor’s comments, without actually rejecting his underlying point.
Perhaps the most notable embarrassment came shortly before Romney arrived. The Republican has spent months boasting about his close, personal friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, only to have Vanity Fair publish this item over the weekend:
“I remember him for sure, but I don’t think we had any particular connections,” [Netanyahu] tells me. “I knew him and he knew me, I suppose.”
—————————
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/30/13032671-still-shambling-from-london-to-jerusalem?lite
I wouldn’t be surprised if President Obama didn’t spend half the night on the phone with our allies putting out fires that were needlessly started by Romney.
GM TOD!
I’ll be really busy at work this week. Next week I sail on a cruise (with about 20 family members) to the Bahamas so I have to work hard this week so that I can play hard next week. 😉
Today is DAY 3 of the One Donation A Day for 100 Days Challenge. Please help me keep the streak alive with a $3.00 donation to my fundraising page today.
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/2012/donnanoshock3
p.s. I’m going to need someone to post my FR link next week while I am gone. By any chance can I get a volunteer or two? 🙂
Thanks everyone and have a great productive O’Day!
Time to raise your limit. Go for the big 15K! Keep up the great work.
I’m thinking about it 😉
Claire, when I started this little venture I decided that I would try and get one $3.00 donation everyday for 100 days. That would have gotten me to my goal of $13,500 by election day but at the rate that I am getting these daily donations I might just have to take your advice and raise the roof on that thermometer. 🙂
Thanks so much for you and everyones support!!!
I will do it, donna. In every thread I am in.
{{hugs}} and {{kisses}} to you amk! Don’t tell the wifey unit 😳
Thank you so much!
All right Donna since you are on this mission my weekly donation will go through you. Good luck.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Donna, I will also try to remember to post your link. And have a WONDERFUL vacation!! Sounds like the perfect adventure.
Oh Meta thank you so much for offering to post my link. I really am looking forward to the vaca. I have one of these crazy families that are just a hoot to travel with. We really do have a ball on these trips.
In addition on the 11th which will be the last night on the cruise I get to celebrate my 57th birthday with 1200+ of my bestest friends 😉
Good day TOD!!!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/30/13033250-a-different-kind-of-fear-factor?lite
Newsweek’s piece, written by the estimable Michael Tomasky, stresses that the one thing Romney “never does” is “man up, double down, take his lumps.” It’s this inherent weakness, Tomasky argues, that explains Romney’s remarkable flip-flops on practically every issue under the sun — the candidate lacks the courage to stick to his convictions.
Indeed, there’s an unmistakable pattern that underscores Tomasky’s thesis — as we’ve discussed before, Romney’s afraid to offend conservatives; he’s afraid to push back against extremist rhetoric; he’s afraid of the religious right; and he’s afraid of Limbaugh.
In terms of campaign strategy, Romney’s afraid to release his tax returns because he thinks Democrats might be mean to him, and he’s also afraid to disclose his bundlers because he worries sunlight may scare his wealthy benefactors away.
On a purely substantive note, the GOP candidate is also clearly afraid take a firm position on key issues — he’ll give us some general platitudes on taxes, immigration, spending priorities, and international affairs, but if voters want specifics, they’re expected to vote for him first and get details later.
Leadership requires some modicum of courage — a character trait the Republican presidential hopeful appears to lack. Here’s hoping the Newsweek cover sparks a larger conversation.
df, good analysis, however, the person writing it appears to either be unaware from lack of experience or just understating the obvious:
“Leadership requires some modicum of courage”
For those who have led, leadership requires way more than a ‘modicum’ of courage 🙂
Thank you for all the excellent links you bring to TOD!!
Thanks, Bob…actually, this was Steve Benen’s link….though I agree with the leadership requirements. As PBO has ALWAYS said, it takes courage to lead…some things are hard to do…but they are the RIGHT thing to do. He has shown his courage to lead more times than I can even count.
Yes, I was just shaking my head over the HuffPuff article: Romeny Reverses Controversial Decision for Reporters – Mitt Romney: Reporters Can Cover Israeli Fundraiser. I was thinking “Can’t that guy stand by anything???” I guess he was afraid the MSM might not like him anymore??
shorter mitt – a coward
A whoring coward. I agree with 57.
A lying whoring coward……that’s Mitt Romney.
the candidate lacks the courage to stick to his convictions.
Myth R-money does not have convictions.
😀 😀
Good Morning.
New portrait of Obama and his cabinet members. Can you name more than 2?? I named all but 6!
Gorgeous portrait. I could name all but two. I think the guy standing next to Alan Krueger is a policy advisor but I can’t remember his name. And the woman sitting next to Ray LaHood – she must be the action Commerce Secretary but I don’t know her name.
Hmm missed seven. Some people I knew their name but it escapes me at the moment. The president looks good in that pic though.
Someone certainly is getting a massive amount of press, all over the world. That it is all negative does not seem to factor in…. So now it’s all about Myth?
“Romney’s foreign policy message, like the Republican Party’s, has mainly consisted of taking whatever President Obama has done, and saying he should have done it sooner, or faster, or slower, or more chocolaty, or less fillingly, but with very little information about what they would do differently”.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/this-weak-romney-advisor-kevin-madden-whiffs-on-israel-question/
Mitt Romney
Mean to dogs
Rude to our Allies
Not Ready for Primetime
http://www.dogsagainstromney.com/
I don’t know if this has been posted before, but it appears the administration is working with private insurers to fight fraud, thereby looking at even another way to reduce healthcare costs. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/us/politics/obama-and-insurers-join-to-cut-health-care-fraud.html?_r=2
New post everyone, back in a while:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/07/30/team-obama/
Hey – anybody know how Ann’s horse is doing at the Olympics? I’m kind of rooting against her horse (of course), but I can’t find any info specifically. I did see some news about the Japanese rider leading Day 1 and Zara Philips keeping in the medal race. Did Ann go back to London to see it or is she still holding Mitt’s hand in all them furrin countries?
The horse is a loser just like mommyand daddy. And maybe Mommy has to hold Daddy’s hand in Poland, try to stop him from making a fool of himself if she can, but she cannot. That man is heartless, souless, nobody can help him look better to the world.
The events are not until August 2-3 and then August 7.
Long list of preventative care COVERED by the ACA
http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2010/07/preventive-services-list.html#CoveredPreventiveServicesforAdults
I don’t know whether others have noticed this, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find data, articles or general info on Google/Internet that put PBO in a positive light. Google is filled with hundreds of thousands of articles about PBO’s “plummeting polls” or “approval at all-time low” articles, but I’m now trying to find one or two articles which specifically report data on his current approval ratings in the UK and Israel, and can’t find any. The thing is, even when I type positive or neutral search terms, Google brings up a whole lot of negative information, some times the exact opposite of what I type in the search box. The only reference to his UK approval rating is articles which discuss Romney’s trip abroad, and it’s just a bare passing mention.
Just as an example, when I type in “Obama’s approval rating,” On the first page Google brings up 12 articles, 8 of which are NEGATIVE, 3 Neutral and only 1 positive.
Whereas when I type in “Romney’s Approval Ratings” Google brings up 12 articles, of which only 3 are negative, 5 are neutral and 4 are positive. What’s more disgusting is that in the 4 “positive”, 2 of them are actually negative articles about PBO – which is strange considering the search did not have PBO’s name in it!
I think this Internet bias and Google search bias needs to be exposed…there has to be some way to counteract this. It’s extremely frustrating when the Internet is pushing Republican propaganda while burying the facts. There needs to be more objectivity.
Poland to Mitt Romney – We want Ron Paul
“Romney Greeted by Ron Paul Supporters – 03:35 p.m. CET (8:35 a.m. EST) – Mitt and Ann Romney were greeted upon arriving for a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk by hundreds of people lining the narrow streets here, some of whom held signs for another U.S. presidential candidate, Ron Paul.
The large sign read “Polish Choice – R. Paul” with a photograph of Paul.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/mitts-travelogue-meeting-lech-walesa-and-greetings-from-polich-ron-paul-supporters/
G’day TODdies!!! How about this great getting up day we have again for us Osters? Not much to report on today. It’s magnificent how much goodwill POTUS/FLOTUS spread where ever they go.
My political take today is to start preparing now for the end of the week reports that we’ll be getting on the economy. Good or bad, someone will not like it. We can’t control how the MSM will portray it, but we sure can control our responses to them. The best way to do that is to volunteer and/or donate. Remember, we have every demographic but one on our side. We just gotta get them to the polls.