25 | August | 2013 | The Obama Diary

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The Week Ahead:

Today: The President has no public events scheduled.

Monday: Will award Staff Sergeant Ty M. Carter, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Staff Sergeant Carter will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving as a cavalry scout with Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, during combat operations in Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on October 3, 2009. Staff Sergeant Carter will be the fifth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. He and his family will join the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service.

Tuesday: The President will host a reception at the White House in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Wednesday: The President will deliver remarks at the Let Freedom Ring ceremony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Thursday: Attends meetings at the White House.

Friday: The President will welcome President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, and President Andris Berzins of Latvia to the White House.

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HERE is our Voter I.D., per @TheRevAl. pic.twitter.com/fbDY9WgS8T

— Malcolm Johnson (@admiralmpj) August 24, 2013

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The top of the Washington Monument and part of a U.S. flag are reflected in the sunglasses of Austin Clinton Brown, 9, of Gainesville, Fla., during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963; and at right, Claudia Hanes, from Kentucky, takes part in a rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march, at the Lincoln Memorial.

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AP: Marchers In Washington Across 50 Years

Some 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed America’s slaves, many Americans embraced the ideal of racial equality but were frustrated with the glacial pace of change. Organizers were making plans to bring people from across the country to the nation’s capital to express their exasperation in a peaceful, nonviolent manner.

On Aug. 28, 1963, men and women, blacks and whites, Latinos and native peoples, Jews and Christians — more than 250,000 in all — rallied at the Lincoln Memorial. The gathering stretched down the National Mall, past the reflecting pool toward the Capitol. The music and speeches they heard extolled the urgent need for social justice.

More here

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March Then and Now Photo Gallery

Large crowds gather near the Washington Monument to demonstrate for the civil rights movement in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963; and at bottom, people hold up banners as they attend the rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march.

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March Then and Now Photo Gallery

Civil rights protestors march down Constitution Avenue carrying placards during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963; and at bottom, people rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march.

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USA Today: Women Play A Larger Role In 2nd March On Washington

In a departure from events a half-century ago, women played a larger role in Saturday’s commemoration of the March on Washington. “Fifty years ago, women were not up here speaking, but here we are today,” Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, told a crowd that contained substantially more women than its predecessor in 1963.

Keynote speakers included Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., minority leader of the House of Representatives, and King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, who offered a moving final prayer to close the event. Sybrina Fulton, mother of slain black teenager, Trayvon Martin, provided a tribute of her son, and Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights worker Medgar Evers, also addressed the crowd.

More here

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Doctors Work Overtime To Spread The Truth About ObamaCare

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ThinkProgress: New Obama Immigration Directive Eases Deportations Of Parents

Federal immigration authorities have been advised to consider familial connections when they detain undocumented immigrant parents, according to an Obama administration directive released on Friday. While the document does not prevent the deportation of undocumented parents or high-priority criminal immigrants, it does allow detained individuals to make caregiver decisions for their children.

The directive specifically advises immigration agents to exercise prosecutorial discretion as early as possible during an immigrant’s detention, including finding out whether detained individuals are primary caretakers. It allows for the creation of a “field point of contact” in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents receive and address inquiries from both detained parents and their families. Agents are also guided to place detained parents in facilities that are within the “area of responsibility,” or somewhere closer to their children.

More here

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Restrict minority and college voting, no path to citizenship, impeach Obama and deny women preventive care. Great GOP plan to expand appeal

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) August 23, 2013

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10 ideas Republicans loved until Barack Obama became President (by @alswrite) http://t.co/0Xd8z757Ws

— Chris Savage (@Eclectablog) August 23, 2013

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Cost to taxpayers 4 uninsured using emergency rooms: $$$. Cost to taxpayers for Obamacare subsidies: cents. Guess which ones GOPers prefer?

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) August 23, 2013

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twitter often reminds me of a great #MLK quote: “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”

— sfpelosi (@sfpelosi) August 25, 2013

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Without Rosa Parks, Dorothy Height and millions of brave women, the Civil Rights movement doesn’t happen: http://t.co/smU82tPBiz

— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) August 23, 2013

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Sarah Jones: Dem Governor Sends Sens Paul And McConnell Reeling With A Powerful Defense Of ObamaCare

As Republicans preach hatred of Obamacare to a dwindling audience even among their own members, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear chose to use the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast to make a powerful case for Obamacare to 1,600 diners. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, also attending, weren’t expecting the onslaught. Jill Lawrence reported, “It was not what anyone expected—least of all Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, who sat stone-faced onstage with Beshear as he unloaded on them without using names.”

Beshear finished with a stab to the heart of GOP’s NoCare, no alternative. “It’s amazing to me how people who are pouring time and money and energy into trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act sure haven’t put that kind of energy into trying to improve the health of Kentuckians,” according to the National Journal.

He said 640,000 Kentuckians—15 percent of the state—don’t have health insurance and “trust me, you know many of those 640,000 people. You’re friends with them. You’re probably related to them. Some may be your sons and daughters. You go to church with them. Shop with them. Help them harvest their fields. Sit in the stands with them as you watch your kids play football or basketball or ride a horse in competition. Heck, you may even be one of them.”

More here

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