2012: An image or two …. April

The first version of this included PBO slow-jamming – which NBC blocked – and an entirely different tune that actually fit the pics. 😦 Oh well.

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January:

February:

March:

Chat away

‏@NerdyWonka

President Obama on ‘Meet the Press’

You can also see the full interview here

Rise and Shine

See here for Meet the Press air times

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Steve Benen: We’ve reached the point at which the looming fiscal deadlines are so close, we can count them in hours, not days….

….. And so, we’re waiting. The respective Senate leaders will try to reach a resolution with the intention of holding a vote [Sunday]. If they succeed in crafting a plan, and it passes, Boehner has agreed to bring it to the House floor – even if most of his caucus disapproves – probably on Monday, the last possible day to act.

This is a machine with plenty of moving parts, but looking ahead, there are two main questions to keep an eye on: (1) what might the Senate plan look like? and (2) what would happen if a Senate plan doesn’t come together?

Full post here

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NYT: Never much known for restraint, Joseph R. Biden Jr. did not hold back during a presidential primary debate in 2007 when a voter asking about gun rights in a recorded video displayed a fearsome-looking semiautomatic rifle and declared, “This is my baby.”

Mr. Biden shook his head. “I tell you what, if that’s his baby, he needs help,” he said. “I think he just made an admission against self-interest. I don’t know if he’s mentally qualified to own that gun.”

….. Five years later, that same type of weapon, a Bushmaster AR-15, is at the heart of a renewed national conversation about gun laws because it was used this month by the mass killer in Newtown, Conn….

Full article here

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Sun Times: President Barack Obama is urging the Illinois General Assembly to legalize gay marriage in his home state as lawmakers are poised to take up the measure as early as this week in Springfield.

“While the president does not weigh in on every measure being considered by state legislatures, he believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect,” White House spokesman Shin Inouye told the Chicago Sun-Times on Saturday.

“As he has said, his personal view is that it’s wrong to prevent couples who are in loving, committed relationships, and want to marry, from doing so. Were the President still in the Illinois State Legislature, he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally,” Inouye said.

More here

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From Mike Thompson’s ‘look back at 2012 in cartoons’ (here) – loved this one

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Morning everyone, could be a long day.