****
Monday: President Obama attends meetings at the White House
Tuesday: Hosts President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico at the White House
Wednesday: Holds a Cabinet Meeting at the White House
Thursday: Meets with the 2012 Nobel Prize winners in the Oval Office
****
In case you missed these articles/posts:
Washington Post: When Barack Obama published his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” about racial identity in 1995, he talked with his neighborhood newspaper in Illinois, the Hyde Park Citizen, about the economic disparities he had seen while exploring the world as a child and young adult.
…. That sensitivity to inequality has stuck with Obama throughout his rise in politics, from Chicago’s South Side all the way to the White House. He remains largely a pragmatist in his approach to governing. But beneath his tactical maneuvering lies a consistent and unifying principle: to use the powers of his office to shrink the growing gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else…..
Full article here
****
Washington Post: Late on election night, a small melee erupted at the University of Mississippi when a group of white students frustrated by the reelection of President Obama marched outside and began shouting racial slurs at African American students. Several hundred people gathered to watch as two white students were arrested.
…. Yet even as that incident evoked ugly memories of an earlier era, Election Day in the South told a newer and more surprising story: The nation’s first black president finished more strongly in the region than any other Democratic nominee in three decades, underscoring a fresh challenge for Republicans who rely on Southern whites as their base of national support.
Obama won Virginia and Florida and narrowly missed victory in North Carolina. But he also polled as well in Georgia as any Democrat since Jimmy Carter, grabbed 44 percent of the vote in deep-red South Carolina and just under that in Mississippi — despite doing no substantive campaigning in any of those states.
Full article here
****
Michael Tomasky: A new report appears to exonerate Susan Rice for public statements following the Benghazi attack. Will John McCain apologize for his reckless crusade against her? Don’t bet on it.
We don’t yet really know as a society what a person has to do to completely and utterly cancel out a record of war heroism, but we may be about to find out. If this CBS News report is even close to accurate, John McCain’s arguments of the last few weeks about Susan Rice are thrashingly demolished. He has, or should have, zero credibility now on this issue.
…. Will he stand down now from this embarrassing crusade? …. Once you’ve hopped on the Crooked Talk Express, detraining isn’t easy.
Full post here
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Campaign photos by Callie Shell:
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Look who’s grown – no, no, not the VP, Champ:
This week in Nantucket:
Looking good, Mr VP:
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More here
Thank you Hopefruit!
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Completely random beautiful photos:
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Hey, it’s easy for you guys to keep smiling like this after 10 Inaugural Balls – you wear comfy shoes:
****
Morning/Afternoon/Evening all.
The Obama Diary 
Good evening!
Congrats Mary!
Congrats, Mary!!!
There’s no keeping up with you Mary!!!
Congrats maryl1 – you must be in training for the world’s record of Firsts 🙂
Hey Chipsticks, you and I were on the same wave-length – LOL!
GGail, Mary has become the Usain Bolt of first-commenters – uncatchable!
Chips I absolutely love the “quiet moments” photos before the rallies. I would love to know what he was thinking. 🙂
He was probably too tired to think, COS!
You are probably right Chips. I saved all of these in a slide show for my computer screensaver. Can’t let them go to waste. 🙂
Whew!, yeah I’ve been training hard – turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie…all that heavy fork lifting working toward the golden moment when my highly trained fingers manipulate that touchpad. Here’s my family helping me practice my Usain Bolt-ness –>
That’s so sweet, Mary! 🙂
Thanks Theo, they are actually my English family (my only family now, besides my son and daughter). I hadn’t seen them in 16 years and had an opportunity to visit this summer. They all were showing of the Usain Bolt move – the Olympic torch had just come through their town of Ormskirk. And they are very sweet!
heeeyyyyy Mary! way to go!
It’s Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalice!!!!
woo-h00! 😀 Great pics Chips!
Maryl1! Encore! Encore! 🙂
Evening Chips!
Ooooooh, so close Allison!!!
That’s a cute photo!
Still an early bird. Congrats on first.
Re John McCain, on Up today Chris Hayes showed a 1995 video of the old man defending GWB’s right to choose whoever for his cabinet. His words…the election is over. Let’s get on with it. (Paraphrase) Made him look even more stupid in light of his current unwarranted rant against Susan Rice.
Another excellent post, Chips!!! Thank you!!!
Lovely post, Chips and I am glad the schedule keeps PBO in DC this week.
squarepeg made a request in the prior thread … here are a few responses ….
https://twitter.com/Our4thEstate/status/272853800526696448 (I may write this one)
#FORWARD
Those are great titles Bobfr and I can see you writing the Pragmatic Inclusiveness: Reversing Class Disparity in America. You’ve posted pieces on previous threads already. 🙂
It’s simply amazing how much discipline POTUS has in order to “power down” and then “power back up” for the many appearances he made before Election Day.
Love how you phrased that. You didn’t say “appearances he made during the campaign.” You said “appearances he made before Election Day.” Which, to me, meant we all knew he would be the victor on Election Day. We WON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
YES. WE. DID! jacquelineoboomer 🙂
Still celebratin’ !!! 🙂
You betcha!
Ditto!!! 😀 😀
What a great observation. Just seeing him in that room by himself, waiting for the event – knowing he was also doing an incredibly taxing day job – and then delivering such power at each and every rally… “discipline” is definitely the right word for it. That’s why I’m really glad that he had a quiet Thanksgiving – especially after that huge international trip. He could have done a number of things that are sitting on his plate (e.g. fiscal cliff, visiting the troops, working through the days to deal with the many international crises). But, he wisely took some time to regroup – after a very gruelling few months away from his family, and a period of enormous stress. I’m glad he knows when to let things just wait a few days.
From previous thread:
re: @Mark Knoller thread, commenters said they haven’t seen him on television.
He’s a radio reporter; I hear him occassionaly on @knx1070 the all-news CBS affiliate in Los Angeles.
CBS radio has a “Weekend Roundup” feature which airs for an hour on Saturday on @knx1070. It sounded like they didn’t cover President Obama’s southeast Asia trip, instead focusing on the Israel-Gaza-Egypt-Hamas war and the fiscal slope. (I admit I didn’t listen to the whole hour, because any coverage of the “fiscal slope” is just speculation at this point.)
I’m old enough to remember when a President’s historic Asian trip would have made it onto the “Weekend Roundup.”
The networks need to just admit that they are as obstructionist against PBO as the GOP (who seem to becoming less so; Congressmen/women and Senators are accountable to their constituents, unlike the abhorent MSM).
Thanks for that Arapaho415, I wasn’t sure if he was still on radio, I used to see him on TV sometimes but, thankfully, not much lately. He’s a waste of space.
It’s going to be a real shock to a lot of people when they realize that Asia really is rising, because the media has completely ignored the fact that the world order is dramatically shifting.
Also from previous thread via @ebertchicago:
“[Dennis] Miller: Elizabeth Warren? Is that the chick that says she’s an Indian?
Leno [chuckling]: Well, yeah, no.
Miller: She’s about as much Indian as that stripper chick Brando sent to pick up his Oscar for The Godfather, all right?”
“Leno and Dennis Miller are unfair to Sacheen Littlefeather. Brando was nuts but she was courageous. http://bit.ly/V63G3l“
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/11/23/a-recent-tv-slur-revives-debate-about-sacheen-littlefeather-and-her-role-in-marlon-brandos-oscar-refusal-146704
Love how the GOP hate immigrants AND native people. They only seem to like themselves (don’t see themselves as immigrants I guess).
Also, this article on the late Ambassador to Libya Christopher J. Stevens:
“Stevens’ mother Mary Commanday is the first cousin of Chinook tribal elders Catherine Herrold Troeh and Charlotte Davis, both of whom are well known in Pacific County, the historic homeland of the tribe that met Lewis and Clark at the mouth of the Columbia River.”
http://www.dailyastorian.com/free/slain-ambassador-was-member-of-local-chinook-tribe/article_7ec80cf9-19fc-56a3-88db-628bc49c45fa.html
What could be more all-American than Lewis and Clark?
I never knew this occurred on Leno. There’s another show I will not watch ever again. I knew he’s had questionable guests on before, but when he stoops to hosting a bonafide racist, Leno can go to hell along with the rest of them. Very disappointed in him. Note that Stevens’ mother had negative things to say about PBO following the death of her son. Native or not, she barked up the wrong tree and fed into the hate of Fox and company. Forget her too. Taking no prisoners….forward !
Mary Commaday — Christ Stevens mother — never said anything negative I can find. She is quoted as saying “How can anyone place blame for his death — these were circumstances beyond our government’s control,” Commaday told NBC Bay Area. “I am perfectly aware that there was danger. But he was a grown man, well-educated and careful. I knew he was out there doing good work.”
She did have a few choice words (as did his father) for the people politicizing his death.
Sorry, I stand corrected. It was the mother of Sean Smith, also killed in the attack. Thanks for the heads up !
The First Lady looks absolutely stunning in those black & white pics. She’s always gorgeous, but those pics are beautiful.
Is it me or do they both look angry in those shots?
Very, very intense at the very least.
Does Mark Knoller not know that he is allowed to change the channel off CBS? Poor guy, must have misread his employment papers. Seems to sit and watch every second of the football game preceding 60 Minutes.
Sigh….pictures of President Obama in the rain will be my undoing.
Deep breaths GB, deep breaths.
Love this:) It was my wallpaper for a really long time:)
It’s still my wallpaper. I just can’t make myself change it. 😀
((((NOOOOOOOO))))) *Dead*
You not right Chips!
Won’t do it again GB, promise.
Well…. maybe just this one more time:
This is borderline torture you know. OH. Em. Gee.
No more GB, enough’s enough.
🙂
I Surrender!!! If I must look at these pics then fine! I’ll do what you say! I hope you don’t have anymore.
Do you have anymore? 🙂
No, that’s the lot GB. Oh. Wait.
🙂
oh, the way you torture me Chips. sigh…..
I’m sorry GB. Face in hands with shame.
LOL!!!
I may have to enlist the help of Glenn Greenwald now. This can’t be legal. 🙂 🙂
Ah GB, unless you’re a white supremacist he probably won’t take your case.
Damn! Guess I’ll have to live with the memories of all those pics then.
You can do it GB, just dig deep!!! 🙂
How will I be able to look Michelle in the eye? You know, if we ever happen to meet. 🙂
Oooooh, I want to be a fly on the wall for that meeting!!! 😆
Chipsticks – it’s so unfair of you to post this picture so close to my bedtime!
🙂 But GGail, you’ll have the sweetest of dreams!
But I have to shut down TOD FIRST!
Okay GGail, I’ll be good, it’s safe to leave now….
Kind of.
I’ve pulled out the YELLOW card on you Mz Chipsticks!!!!!!
🙂 But not red, GGail? That means I have another chance….
RED!!!!
That’s IT – You’re OUT!!!!!!!!!
😥 Oooooh, you’re a tough referee. Even PBO is shocked:
LAWD HAV MERCY (fanning myself)
This is so horrific—–working overtime for pennies making clothing for U.S. companies——good ol’ Wal Mart again, among others.
my husband told me about this earlier today but didn’t know what corporation these clothes were associated with. thanks
It’s heartbreaking, dotster. It’s like the Triangle Shirt Fire that killed so many female sweat shop workers in the early 1900s. Indescribably horrible work conditions, crowded conditions, no fire safe safety precautions. It’s a tragic loss of life, and a dark stain on US companies that exploit these workers.
FYI …
Several other tweets making the link …
Global Tech Appliances, Sensata, Triangle Shirt ….
This is horrific! How do people who make obscene profits from exploiting and endangering workers sleep at night?
Romney Liar is now OFFICIALLY at 47%!
Ever closer to Nate’s prediction of 50.8 – 48.3.
Karma is bitch! From now on Mitt Romney will be known as Mr. 47%! By the way, do you know which state or states reported new numbers today? David Wasserman, @2012 National Popular Vote Trucker, is still reporting yesterdays numbers: Obama, 64,444,805 (50.80%) and Romney, 60,265,579 (47.50%). The Wikipedia numbers show that since yesterday the President’s vote totals increased by 53,096 votes, and Romney’s by 32,748. I still think that after all the votes are counted, the President’s margin of victory will be close to 5 million votes. According to the numbers you shared, his lead now stands at 4,199,574 votes.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 47% did the man in…in more ways than one. Bet he’s damning the day he uttered that mess!
Yeah I figured it would happen tomorrow but I guess the election folks work on Sunday. It was 50.300% or something like that – just a hair above 50% – on Friday. From what I understand he won’t regain any ground on the percentage with vote counting remaining as most of it is in CA, NY and NJ. Fingers crossed.
Also, margin now > than 4M Votes and they’re still counting 🙂
I love a rainsoaked PBO. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever 🙂
😀 😀 😀 😀
Is that true Bob?!?!?! Epic!!!!! 😆
Evidently so 🙂
Just. Brilliant. 🙂
🙂
Sent you a DM.
#FORWARD
Just replied, thanks Bob.
Thanks Chips 🙂
Thank you Bob. 😉
Oh WOW….interesting. As Jodi Kantor would say, Hmmm…..
This is hilarious! Poor Mitt! No wonder he looked all disheveled at that La Jolla Gas station. Republicans want nothing to with him.
Homemade turkey chili (with habaneros) is on the stove. 😀 😀 😀
Yum! You are the second person today (one a friend on FB) who posted they were making turkey chili with their leftovers … very ingenious and yummy!
It’s why I buy usually more than one turkey this time of year – and because they’re so cheap! I get a 20lb at least. Stuff it. Can’t cook it any other way. 🙂
Michelle Obama is simply STUNNING in those Black Caucus photos. Love the shadowing – looks like they were from a NYT photographer. I would like Pete Souza to take some black and white photos or maybe he has?
Hi Forus, he used to do lots of B&W photography – eg see here:
http://www.petesouza.com/gallery.html?folio=Image%20Galleries&gallery=The%20Rise%20of%20Barack%20Obama
But not so much now – this was one of the rare exceptions since 2009:
Maybe as WH photographer he has to do color, B&W regarded as too artistic??
Thanks Chipsticks for the photo. And yes, perhaps because it is artistic versus strictly historic. BTW, I’m imagining Eric Cantor as that golf ball he’s looking at. 🙂
Ha, what a beautiful thought!!!! 😆
The background in contrast to Pres. Obama and what he’s doing is stunning. The sky has me transfixed.
I had been wondering what had happened to our beloved Vice-President’s dog?! Boy has he grown!
He’s gorgeous VL, I had a dog just like him years ago. This is from earlier this year:
Love this pic! Looks like Champ is asking FLOTUS whether Bo can come over and play some time. 🙂
🙂 What a dynamic pair, like their human Dads and Moms!
Hi Everyone, I love the ferocious looking b and w photos of FLOTUS. Thank you Chips
This article about the health exchanges-
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/269137-obama-faces-huge-challenge-in-setting-up-health-exchanges
It seems the GOP are just trying to make it difficult.
If you dont have WSJ subscription and want to read article copy the article title and paste it in google search, result will give you a link w/o paywall
Is the article snide or neutral? Thanks.
Hi Hopefruit, that person has left us.
blog tyrant’s banhammer?
“Banhammer”
😆
FINALLY!!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Chipsticks 🙂
Thanks Chips – something about this poster didn’t sit quite well with me. Glad to see I was not alone.
Me neither Hopefruit, when I saw two of his/her responses to regulars here today that was that.
Out of hiding to say thanks Chips. I’m with you HF. I thought it was just me. Strange energy.
I loosened the ‘rules’ a bit after the election, I think I’ll go back to tightening them! Thanks Angela and Hopefruit.
Thank you Chip…
Trying too hard to slip in, embed and subtly sway to a particular perspective…
But we are battle tested – as are our bs radars…
WASHINGTON—Top Obama administration officials want to keep around 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when formal combat ends in 2014, cementing a limited, long-term American military presence in the country if Kabul agrees, said senior U.S. officials.
A post-2014 troop level of that size would represent the midpoint of preliminary recommendations by Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. Gen. Allen has proposed maintaining a force between 6,000 and 15,000 U.S. troops to conduct training and counterterrorism efforts when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission formally concludes at the end of 2014, officials said. In contrast, the U.S. maintains no residual force in Iraq, a situation that has been blamed for instability in that country.
-/
This is good news!
Thanks Jovie.
Those b&w photos are burn & warn. Her bestest hair style.
I thought they’d wake you up 🙂
The skinny dood is damned lucky.
🙂
THE BLOOM IS OFF THE LYIN RYAN ROSE
LOL Of The Week: From Golden Boy To Sacrificial Lamb
By LOLGOP
—————————–
The speaker knows he’s facing a president who just won an electoral college landslide and garnered nearly five million more votes than his party’s “electable” candidate. And this president is threatening to ramp up his killer campaign machine to push for the end of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, a policy already supported by about 6 out of 10 voters.
So what can Speaker Boehner do?
Throw Paul Ryan—the losing running mate of the “electable” candidate—into the fire.
Yes, Boehner named Paul Ryan to be a part of the “fiscal cliff” “negotiating” team.
LOL.
This is perfect poetic justice. Paul Ryan voted for every Bush policy that blew the surplus, he was behind the showdown that led the downgrading of our debt and his budget proposal is so toxic that he had to be hidden during the last weeks of the campaign. Who else would Boehner want to negotiate on his behalf?
——————————————-
http://www.nationalmemo.com/lol-of-the-week-from-golden-boy-to-sacrificial-lamb/
I think this is actually Speaker Boehner playing hardball with his caucus, for once. There’s really nothing they can do but make the best of it… Most of the notable benefits the Republican House could get out of these negotiations for the rich, big business or their base will probably be initiatives President Obama has already put forward or hinted at: Reducing the corporate tax rate by wiping out the loopholes that let GE and others pay nothing on billions, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, or major research or infrastructure initiatives.
With Paul Ryan at the table and seemingly in the driver’s seat, hard right House members are going to have to own the negotiations at a moment when “just walking away” isn’t an option, even for the delusional.
Under those circumstances, why not put out front and center the “negotiating skills” of those who have made negotiation impossible?
This defeat *will* have a thousand fathers, so Boehner might as well make the best of it.
Perfect amk – I heard him blathering a couple of days ago that Walmart pays peanuts because of unemployment levels – NO mention that the unions have been decimated by the GOP – and workers have virtually lost all their bargaining power. Unions made the middle class, and people like david frum need to give up on the supply side economics – total fail.
Great response AMK! I just love the way you pierce through their bs!
Thanks for that amk…
David Frum is a complete fraud…
We need CanadaBarb and Theo to deal with this disgraceful man who continues to give Canadian transplants a terrible reputation with his petty, narcissistic, opportunistic and wrongheaded meddling…
So, wifey had to work today, so Wonderdog Stewie spent the day at his aunt’s (wifey’s bff). He is now home, and is gassing the living room. I mean, I don’t know what they fed him there, but Jaysus he’s deadly.
Soon I shall return to comments and writing political. I’m still enjoying my post-election break. Waiting for PBO to kick us into gear to savage the GOP over the cliff.
“He is now home, and is gassing the living room. I mean, I don’t know what they fed him there, but Jaysus he’s deadly.”
😆 Does he frighten himself when he, you know, explodes? My dog nephew does, runs away when it happens and can’t figure out why the sound and aroma is following him!
He doesn’t explode; that’s the thing. They’re silent.
Known affectionately at SBD’s. 🙂 Hope puppy passes gas thru the evening and is gas free by tomorrow morn. He must’ve been eating leftover Thanksgiving scraps!
😀 😀 😀
What’s the difference between a new husband and a new dog?
1) After a year, the dog is still excited to see you.
2) A dog only takes a couple of months to train.
A butcher is leaning on the counter toward the close of day when a dog with a basket in its jaws comes pushing through the door.
“An’ wot’s this then?” he asked. The dog knocks the basket sharply into the butcher’s shins.
“You dumb dog.” As he reaches down to smack the dog, he notices a note and a ten dollar bill in the basket.
The scribble on the note asks for three pounds of his best mince [ground beef]. The butcher figures this is too easy. He goes to the window and reaches for the dried up stuff that’s been sitting out all day.
The dog growls at him. The butcher turns around and, glaring at the pup, gets the best mince from the fridge. Weighing out about 2 1/2 pounds, he drops in on the scale with his thumb.
“Hmmmmm, a bit shy. Who’ll know?”
Again, the dog growls menacingly. “Alright, alright,” as he throws on a generous half pound. He wraps it out, drops it in the basket, and drops in change from a five. The dog threatens to chew him off at the ankles. Another five goes in the basket.
The butcher is quite impressed and decides to follow the dog home. The dog quickly enters a high-rise buildings, pushes the lift button, enters the lift, and then pushes the button for the 12th floor. The dog walks down the corridor and smartly bangs the basket on the door. The door opens, and the dog’s owner screams at the dog.
“Hey, what are you doing? That’s a really smart dog you’ve got there,” comments the butcher.
“He’s a stupid dog – that’s the third time this week he’s forgotten his key.
😆 I’m in love with that dog!!!!
😆
Hi all. I have been working and spending time with my daughter that came home for the few days around Thanksgiving. I miss her already as she left this afternoon. I just got home and the first place I came to was this blog. To tired to post anything but I can read it all day.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving…you are ALL invited over for leftovers. Love my husband but if he picks up another 20 lb. Turkey for just 3 of us…and I don’t even eat Turkey…I am going to invite the whole neighborhood.
Chips, I am forever in your debt for keeping us posted on all things important. My next crusade is to make sure our congress gets to work.
OH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Good one Chipsticks 😆
I went to the brookskraft address, and saw a whole string of pictures. The strangest one was of Mitt sitting at a long table, alone, eating a piece of pie in some big quonset hut looking building with photographers snapping pictures of him looking miserable eating the pie. He’s not congenially eating, and sharing, but sitting alone at a LONG table eating for the cameras. One of the weirdest pictures I’ve seen of him.
Yikes Carolyn, must check that one out!
He he Chips. Now that was funny.
Is he picking his nose?
Scratching or picking, it’s hard to say. I’m going for picking!
i thought he was trying to pretend he was talking on his cell phone, so nobody’d think he was just standing there, alone, with nothing going on.
Oh DF and Chip, you guys are just so wicked…
I am dying laughing at this Chips 🙂
There are some wonderful pictures there – the one with Mother & 2 children – ignoring Romney is a ripper – the photography is really interesting in what he does – black and whites of PBO under the “Presidents” heading (and despite I shouldn’t mention in – the GWB ones are entertaining)
Gorgeous one with President Obama & Michelle – http://www.brookskraft.com/#/presidents/Homepage4
Ooooooooh, ADORE that!!!
Love it, AMK.
That’s it ? That’s all I get ?
Here’s a wave for ya:
Ah, that’s more like it.
Great book title, AMK! If Obama doesn’t write it I think you should.
This is why cats will one day kill humans.
What exactly is this “horn” supposed to accomplish for the Kitties? I’m a bit slow this weekend but I don’t get it at all!
box says ‘cats love it’– but that’s not what that face tells me.
HAHAHAHA! So true susanne. Kitty looks mighty pizzed/embarrassed with that contraption stuck on his forehead for human amusement.
Duh, my kitty would not love it. No.
This is for our ya.
“Well,” snarled the tough old Navy Chief to the bewildered Seaman. “I suppose after you get discharged from the Navy, you’ll just be waiting for me to die so you can come and piss on my grave.”
“Not me, Chief!” the Seaman replied. “Once I get out of the Navy, I’m never going to stand in line again!”
Good metric …
No lobbyist could ever compete with us, if the President truly leverages 23.7+ million of us 🙂 And, we’re way less expensive 😀 😀
#FORWARD
Chipsticks it was simply lovely sharing the Give Thanks holiday with you and the TOD family, but I must retire now in preparation for work in the morning.
Love YA!
Sleep well GGail, ♥ ya back!!
G’nite GGail. Sleep tite. Don’t let Grover Norquist bite.
Lots of ways Costco could pioneer several extensions of their biz model and put Walmart & Home Depot out of biz … we can certainly enable that reality …
Any American company that does biz with slave shops must be put out of biz.
We must end the #GlobalTechAppliance #Sensata #TriangleShirt etc.
#FORWARD
You know, when President Obama announced to the Clinton Global Initiative audience that the U.S. Federal Government would no longer buy any goods produced by slave labor, I wondered…
Is he including slave labor *anywhere* in the *supply* *chain?*
Because the repercussions of that would be staggering.
Federal contracts are *huge,* and for a great many companies are the foundation of their entire business. For these operations, if you can’t sell to the Feds, you can’t stay in business, or at least can’t remain what you are today.
So if *any* slave labor disqualifies you as a supplier, and that is made clear to manufacturers, you’ll have an incredible purge going through these supply chains — not so much from Federal inspections, though they may play a role, but from the far fiercer and more ruthless rooting out of slave conditions done by those above you on the chain, and your competitors.
Think about it. If your keystone U.S. Government contract could be annulled over a single instance of forced labor, then can you afford any such supplier? Can *your* suppliers afford any such supplier? And if someone manages to slip through, don’t their competitors have an incentive to blow the whistle (perhaps through third parties), thus freeing up that contract?
Depending on its implementation, President Obama could be setting into motion a massive purge of slave labor throughout the industrialized and developing worlds. If forced labor is the kiss of death for any ambitious manufacturing, industrialized agriculture or basic resource-extraction enterprise (mining, lumber, fuel production), then the Market will kiss it goodbye *very* fast.
Or simply kick it to the curb.
Ralph, if you’ve followed my comments, and certain responses to you, in particular, then you likely realize we are on the same wave length.
I have zero doubt President Obama knows exactly how he intends to use the massive purchasing power of Federal Government, both directly and indirectly, to bring major hurt to those who exploit humans.
The next four years will be a time for ALL of us to support him in that endeavor.
BTW, this is for you, specifically: http://theobamadiary.com/2012/11/25/chat-away-82/#comment-574582
And, Yes We Can.
Thanks, Bob. And yes, I have seen your responses, and appreciate them, even if I don’t always reply before the forum has already moved on to the next thread.
(Speaking of which, I don’t know if you’ll ever see this comment. =) )
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), The FBI, and the CIA are all trying to prove that they are the best at apprehending criminals. The President decides to give them a test. He releases a rabbit into a forest and each of them has to catch it.
The CIA goes in. They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigations, they conclude that rabbits do not exist.
The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads they burn the forest, killing almost everything in it, including the rabbit, and they make no apologies. The rabbit had it coming.
The LAPD goes in. They come out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear is yelling: “Okay! Okay! I’m a rabbit! I’m a rabbit!”
Sounds about right.
A woman goes in with some lettuce and emerges moments later, bunny cradled under her arm. The President hires her on the spot.
Ha. But the FBI has already killed the bunny.
“A philosopher,” said the theologian, “is like a blind man in a darkened room looking for a black cat that isn’t there.”
“That’s right,” the philosopher replied, “and if he were a theologian, he’d find it.”
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically,
“Relatives of yours?”
“Yep,” the wife replied, “in-laws.”
ha! oh AMK that’s terrible now – heavens 😉
I guess I better get meself to bed – everyone have a good day tomorrow back to work!
Brilliant!
Where the heck is Yardarm? He scared the hell out of me with an email earlier! Off With His Head, if he ever returns! Made mankini look almost decent…. 😦
LOL! He’s away on a cruise with sporadic Internet access 🙂 Should be back in the coming week.
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
Thank god I see these NH photos now and not before the election. Man. 🙂
Interestingly, just read Krugman’s latest missive and it’s relevant and accurate, thus worthy of sharing with you folk …
“Still, haven’t crises like the one envisioned by deficit scolds happened in the past? Actually, no. As far as I can tell, every example supposedly illustrating the dangers of debt involves either a country that, like Greece today, lacked its own currency, or a country that, like Asian economies in the 1990s, had large debts in foreign currencies. Countries with large debts in their own currency, like France after World War I, have sometimes experienced big loss-of-confidence drops in the value of their currency — but nothing like the debt-induced recession we’re being told to fear.
So let’s step back for a minute, and consider what’s going on here. For years, deficit scolds have held Washington in thrall with warnings of an imminent debt crisis, even though investors, who continue to buy U.S. bonds, clearly believe that such a crisis won’t happen; economic analysis says that such a crisis can’t happen; and the historical record shows no examples bearing any resemblance to our current situation in which such a crisis actually did happen.
If you ask me, it’s time for Washington to stop worrying about this phantom menace — and to stop listening to the people who have been peddling this scare story in an attempt to get their way.”
More at the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/opinion/krugman-fighting-fiscal-phantoms.html?ref=paulkrugman&_r=0
And, as noted above, our dear President Obama eats this stuff for snacks so I have zero doubt he knows precisely the very dark, dank and rigid wall he now has Boehner, McConnell and their fellow KOCHSTERS jammed against.
#TrustBarack He’s Earned It
A lot of what krugman says is true, however, we are 17 trillion in debt. So, their is that…
Everything he says is true. If this was a half normal country, he’s be secretary of treasury and have the freedom do as he wish. I spoke to someone who is at the top 0.2% in America, and he said: Only Krugman knows what he’s talking about.
He knows economics – unlike the GOP in congress – might have to polish up the politics if in the administration.
That’s why he can’t get the job, because he can’t play the politics. Shame.
The last time Krugman was offered a position in government (under Clinton), he said ‘no’. I think Krugman is more of a talker, than a doer.
Or maybe he knows that he doesn’t fit politics. Doesn’t change the fact that he knows more than anyone else and is right 99% of the time.
We’ll have to agree to disagree. I enjoy reading his commentary when he’s being objective, but I believe it’s often limited.
Absolutely spot on Theo…
Sometimes what seems like a no brainer in theory proves much harder in reality to implement…
It’s infinitely easier to write and sound smart , scream, stomp ones feet, criticize, mock and denigrate President Obama from the sidelines…
Governing, consensus building, conflict resolution and actual implementation of stuff while having to contend with endless obstruction, hostility and a million other know-it-all voices yelling from the sidelines – not so much…
That’s hard – and even harder to pull off in the dignified, calm and amazingly super human way President Obama has pulled it all off…
You said it much better than I, Chi! Thanks.
Nonsense.
What I’m coming to believe is that Boehner doesn’t possess this basic knowledge or understanding of how the US economy works. Not sure much of anyone on that side of the aisle does. I think they believe the hype they’re peddling and honestly think they have the President over a barrel on this one.
Further illustrating their ignorance is the fact that they don’t realize the President does understand the economy at every level and has no incentive what-so-ever to cooperate with their tactics. They just don’t get it.
The vast majority of the debt was caused by tax cuts, not spending.
If people had a choice, and are informed, I am sure they would pick spending and tax increases.
The Only card the republicans have is that the Regan Voodoo-economics has so ribbed our US Treasury, that we have massive debts.
Luckily. We are seeing Republicans move off of The Norquist pledge. In return, a compromise on Medicare. Not sure what, but we are not going to get everything we want, neither are the Republicans.
We have to get this manufactured debt under seize, as we have to start spending again, electric grid, transportation, education, all are flatlined because of debt.
Durbin indicated Democrats might accept a reform of the government’s Medicare health insurance program for the elderly that would make higher-income seniors pay more for their care.
Democrats traditionally oppose limiting Medicare benefits according to income, a practice known as “means testing.” Durbin said Medicaid, a public health insurance program for the poor, also could be overhauled.
But Durbin said Social Security, the federal government pension program, needs only small tweaks to ensure long-term solvency rather than major reforms.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBRE8A80WV20121126?irpc=932
If Romney had won the election – the debt would miraculously have disappeared. GOP would have kept taxes low, spent a fortune recalling the ACA, tried to privatize SS and medicare – and increased the dept limit with no discussion – other than “we must save America”.
The only thing that will keep the debt growing is GOP trickle down economics.
I trust Krugman’s economics much more than that of the GOP fools in congress. When unemployment is reduced, when the rich stop enslaving the poor and when social stability returns – the debt will disappear – the GOP have worked against recovery for 4 long years – no more.
Monday Nov. 26, 2012
Previous
Next
10:30 AM
Obama and Biden receive the presidential daily briefing.
11:00 AM
Obama meets with senior advisors.
1:30 PM
Carney briefs the press.
Exactly amk!
Perfect comeback, amk!
Theo, you guys have to rein in this fraud Frum…
He gives perfectly lovely, smart, honest Canadians a bad name with his petty, dishonest, greedy, opportunistic meddling…
I didn’t even realize he’s Canadian! We definitely have to do something about this – I’m going to pay much closer attention to him from here on out, and challenge him on twitter. Arrgghh – how terrible that he’s Canadian and spouting this type of nonsense. Although, I’m hearing of more and more right wingers in Canada these days.
Thank you Chips for your loving sacrifice to all of us here. Daily you make this a pure peaceful haven of joy, laughter, living out our dreams of electing a president and re-electing him for his second term.
Mr. President, our Ms. Chips gives us the courage to move with the audacity to still Hope
Listen with the heart to be inspired by you daily.
Work with the steady focus of helping you move FORWARD for all Americans and
Give your presidency the respect that it so deserves.
We love you, Chips. We appreciate you, and we will be here to keep lifting up our president each and everyday with:
Respect,
Passion
Hardwork
Hope
Commitment
and
Character.
We love you, Mr. President, and we Still Have Your Back.
Goodnight Chips and my TOD family.
NC governor elect shifts from transition to Tea Party.
NC really moved in the wrong direction this election. Against the tide everywhere else.
By the way, that black and white picture at the top of this post is masterful.
(Repost from an earlier thread…)
Speaking of the future happening “under the radar”…
From the Department of Transportation website:
http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/passenger/31.shtml
“The Department of Transportation is working with States to plan and develop high-speed and intercity passenger rail corridors that range from upgrades to existing services to entirely new rail lines exclusively devoted to 150 to 220 mph trains. Implementing these corridor projects and programs will serve as a catalyst to promote economic expansion (including new manufacturing jobs), create new choices for travelers in addition to flying or driving, reduce national dependence on oil, and foster livable urban and rural communities.”
Updated thanks to amk and David Wasserman 🙂
#TrustBarack He’s Earned It
#Mitt47
17,000 delegates at climate conference in qatar
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/2012112653846518562.html
Good Day, Susanne! Are you all alone here?
good morning vc! that was my last missive of the evening, but i’m back now. aloha to you!
Israel Defence Minister Ehud Barak quits politics
The Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, has announced that he is quitting politics and will not be contesting January’s general election.
Mr Barak, a former military chief of staff who served as prime minister from 1999 to 2001, said he would now concentrate on his personal life.
“I want to study, to write, to live and have a good time,” he told reporters.
The 70 year old will remain as defence minister, a post he has held since 2007, until a new government is formed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20493758
Afternoon, Amk! Isn’t Ehud one of the more ‘reasonable’ souls (i.e. in comparison to Bibi)?
He used to be a thorn during Obama’s 1st term, remember the forced settlements in Gaza just when Biden was visiting there a coupla years back ? But of late, he seems to have mellowed and may be this quitting is probably he disagrees with nut n yahoo on way forward.
But he did say this:
CNN) – Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak said the Obama White House has been the most supportive administration throughout the two countries’ diplomatic relations on matters of Israeli security, in an interview to air Monday on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
Barak -also a former prime minister of Israel – said that though historically administrations from both political parties have supported the Jewish state President Obama’s support, security-wise, is unparalleled.
‘may be this quitting is probably he disagrees with nut n yahoo on way forward.’
Something similar crossed my mind when I first read your comment.
Rats, thought I was ‘safe’ for today! Just got called to work which means that I have an hour to get ready and will be least in sight today! 😕
Have a wonderful day, y’all! 😆 Catch you later.
Have a great day, vc! No sitting around with your foot in the TOD door today:)
You mean, no riding herd on you guys today, which is particularly ‘hard’ since I was offline yesterday doing my supportive parent bit in a venue I’m not fond of – classical music. You ever spent two hours listening to the ‘Wind Symphony’ and the ‘Wind Ensemble’ when you’d rather be checking out the ‘wind’ in TODville? And this does not take into account travel and wait time because offspring had to be there three hours in advance of performance for final rehearsal! Ah, the sacrifices of parenthood! Anyway, it was supposedly good, as per other parents (you do remember I ain’t at all musical, right). Enjoy your Monday! 😆
Classical music is lovely, vc! When i have a headache:) No really….you did a good thing…was just giving you the business! Have a good day today.
Wind? At TOD? eh…..
WH report on fiscal cliff. Not good-
Click to access consumer_report_embargo.pdf
This is not what Krugman says. WH believes the fiscal cliff is dangerous because of the psychological implications to the system.
Because we keep using words like CLIFF when it’s more like a curb…portends impending doom!
That was barnanke he serves the banks.
It’s not a fiscal cliff. It’s more like a fiscal curve or a fiscal slope. I believe the white house is just ringing the alarm because they want republicans to play ball. Even if the issue is not resolved this year, on January 1st, 2013 the economy doesn’t automatically collapse. (It will only have repercussions if we go more than two or three months without a budgetary plan) Spending cuts will be enacted and tax rates go up. The one thing that occurs is that these are austerity measures. if this occurs, then everything after that will just be talks on how to give the middle-class tax cuts and we can retroactively go back and give the middle-class their bush era tax cuts, payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits etc.
There’s no cause for screaming fire in a crowded room.
A new CNN/ORC poll finds 53% of the country has an unfavorable view of the Republican Party and only 42% want to see congressional Republican have more influence than the president over the direction the nation takes in the next two years. And seven in ten say the GOP has not done enough to cooperate with Obama.
All of that helps explain why more Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress rather than Obama if the fiscal cliff provisions actually go into effect next year, 45% to 34%.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171437/250000-question-poll-shows-obamas-tax-plan-widely-misunderstood
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/26/the-gop-faces-years-in-the-wilderness-after-2012-election-losses.html
So here is the Republican Party reinventing itself. The GOP majority in the Ohio legislature rushes to defund Planned Parenthood in its post-election session. The orange-tinted speaker of the House proposes to undo Obamacare through “oversight” in the name of “solving our debt and restoring prosperity.” Never mind that health-care reform doesn’t raise the deficit but reduces it. Or that “a new low,” 33 percent of Americans, the anti-Obama bitter-enders, still favor repealing the law (PDF). And a rising star in the GOP future, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, offers a dim view out of the pre-Darwinian past that maybe the Earth was created in seven days—and that since “theologians” disagree, we should teach “multiple theories.”
This doesn’t sound like rethinking, or thinking at all, but like the reflex and revanchism of a party that doesn’t comprehend or simply can’t respond to the dimensions of its 2012 defeat. There’s not just the delicious irony that maladroit Mitt Romney, the 47 percent man, will end up with 47 percent of the vote. Outside the South, President Obama defeated his opponent 55 to 45 percent, winning a landslide there as well as in the Electoral College. The bottom line: Romney got elected president of the old confederacy.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/11/26/15453584-putting-the-permanent-campaign-to-good-use?lite
For much of the year, millions of voters received frequent emails from Obama for America, invariably about one aspect of the campaign or the other. Nearly all of the messages involved fundraising, organizing, or some form of election-related activism.
With this in mind, it came as something of a surprise last week when Obama for America sent out a new, post-election message last week, which read, “Thanks to your feedback, we’re taking immediate action on one of your suggestions: keeping you informed about how the President is fighting for you so you can continue to talk to your friends, family, and neighbors.” The topic: ongoing talks about the nation’s fiscal future, and President Obama’s “concrete plan to reduce the deficit so we can grow the economy.”
Jim Messina, the president’s campaign manager, told reporters last week, OFA intends to do far more activism along these lines. “People just spent five years winning two elections together,” he said. “They’re not now just going to walk away.”
The New York Times reports today on Team Obama’s “second chance to keep his election-year supporters animated.”
Moooooooorning everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/11/26/rise-and-shine-357/