Night owl chat – Viva Mexico!

In honor of President Obama’s state visit to Mexico, a little music for the night.

First off, “Sensemayá” by Silvestre Revueltas.

Now some boleros.

First, “Llora mi corazón” by Julio Jaramillo.

Mexico: An Image or Two

@PresidenciaMX

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Pete Souza

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Watching this clip made me think: when all of TOD is, inevitably, one day invited to shake hands with the President, spare a thought for him. It really can’t be fun shaking hands with a line of people you wouldn’t know from SpongeBob SquarePants:

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The President in Mexico

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All times Eastern:

4:05: The President and President Peña Nieto of Mexico hold a bilateral meeting

5:10: The President and President Peña Nieto of Mexico hold a press conference (White House live)

6:35: The President meets and greets with United States Embassy personnel

8:15: The President and President Peña Nieto of Mexico meet for a working dinner

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Photos and bits ‘n’ pieces later

Chat Away

Thanks Amk

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Chat away – back in a while with a This and That.

PS Huuuuuuuuuge thanks to UT for this morning’s R&S and LL and LovelyPlains for last night’s posts.

Rise and Shine

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Brian Beutler: The least surprising news of the week is that getting dressed down at the White House correspondents dinner did nothing to persuade Maureen Dowd and other opinion makers that their fantastical depictions of presidential power are actually puerile and lazy. Less than a month after Republicans rejected Obama’s budget — Chained CPI and all — gauzy platitudes about leadership are back in vogue.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Jake Sherman reports that the very people Obama’s supposed to “lead” to a budget deal (or a deal on anything) are perhaps more dysfunctional and reactionary than at any point since they came to power.

More here

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TPM: President Obama is set to nominate Penny Pritzker as his administration’s next commerce secretary and Michael Froman as U.S. trade representative, according to a White House official. Obama is scheduled to announce the nominations at 10 a.m. ET Thursday at the White House before leaving for Mexico.

More here and here

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Today is the National Day Of Prayer, so bow your head and thank God for the Tea Party, which dresses up racism in a veil of Liberty.

— Top Conservative Cat (cat/cat) (@TeaPartyCat) May 2, 2013

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Michael Tomasky: I don’t mind being called an Obamabot. I mean, I’ve written a few columns about the guy that were brutal, toughing than anything Dowd’s written, especially at the time of the debt ceiling fiasco. But I understand the game, and it doesn’t bother me.

I have something I wish to make crystal clear, however. If it seems to you (I mean you, pumpkinface!) that I’m always excusing Obama, you’re misreading me. I am instead seeking to cast blame where it properly belongs. And that is almost always the Republican Party. I’ve said all this a jillion times before, but it is simply not a mainstream political party in the traditional American sense. It is a radical oppositionalist faction, way beyond the normal American parameters both in terms of ideology and tactics. And that needs to be pointed out, unfortunately, again and again and again.

More here

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If you think it's smart to destroy evidence for your terrorist friend, I am going to suggest to you that maybe you're not college material.

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) May 2, 2013

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