On This Day: President Obama tours the Great Wall in Badaling, China, Nov. 18, 2009
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MoooOOOooorning, Happy Monday!
18
Nov
13
94 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
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The Obama Diary 
Good Morning Chips. Been waiting patiently for a new day. š
Moooooooorning Roberta!!!!!
GM Roberta, Chips, Danny and all TOD friends.
GM COS
I am sure he really doesn’t need to be recharged again. Thanks you for the picture. Just love seeing them. He must really keep you on your toes. What a guy. š
That looks uncomfortable—-the cord running through him like that. š
Good morning Roberta & Ms Chips – do hope everyone is safe in the storms – we’re just coming into summer storms, fortunately passing us by so far – I’m thinking the world is somewhat upside down weather wise.
I do hope PBO makes it down under next year – despite the disaster of our RW governments. I enjoyed yesterday’s pictures of PBO and Julia Gillard.
Moooooorning 99ts!
Ugh…I turned it on and saw Chuck Todd sitting there so turned it back off.
I tuned in because I wanted to see LOD but UN Ambassador Power is on, so you might want to turn back on because she’s a better sight than Chuckie. š
šÆ
You sneaked right by me, AND never said ‘hello’!
It’s VeeeeeeeeCeeeeeeee!
I can’t believe you stepped in so boldly, and walked right by me without even a pat on the head (like PBO gave that young lad last night)!!!
Good Morning, Danny O! Tell your Mama, ‘hi’ for me.
*Pat* *on* *head* š
Too late, CC. I’m busy being offended.
You’ve been hanging around with Amk too long VC, you’re all grumpy this morning.
Lack of sleep – more so than normal.
Have to admit I can’t blame Amk ….this time. You prolly haven’t seen it but I got knocked out of the village last night by a complete power failure which lasted until about 5am this morning, Of course, we missed one of the light switches in our shutdown effort, so when power restarted you know who was awakened during one of her sleep cycles. I kinda-sorta like to awaken myself naturally, without the use of lights and alarms, or you get cranky VC. š
Hopefully grumpy will disappear gradually when I finally accept that I’m not going to fall back to sleep so I might as well get with the programme. š
Oh heck VC, you had an eventful night! Hate that, when the power comes back on and 76 radios, TVs, lights, etc come on, and you squeal with the fright. Happens me every time.
I didn’t squeal (not much of a squealer), but you got the idea. š I tend to get a woozy head if awakened by anything or anyone and usually have to wait until my head rights itself, which can take a while.
Anyhoo (in the word of Cookemom, whom I haven’t seen since the tornado), I’ll survive, even if I’m a little slower than normal till it wears off. Ā¼ ->Ā½ š
š We’ll get you that for your birthday, Amk!
GM VC have a great day.
For a man of history, this presidency has given him a chance to see and meet so many leaders & countries. I am in Awe. I don’t remember any other President that has accomplished so much in the foreign area. Thanks for showing that picture. It is jut so awesome. Sometimes when I look at these pictures and the landscape I feel so insignificant. The Universe is so wonderful, it can be humbling. Good Day to everyone. I have to try and make fresh rolls just to see if my recipe is a good one, trial run before the holidays. š
GOOD Morning, Roberta!
Good Morning again, will be back later. Need to start my rolls.
This is the coat/jacket he wore while touring the Great Wall of China and the designer was so stunned at how model like and GQ like President Obama looked, that he took out a huge billboard ad at Times Square with a picture of President Obama with his back slightly towards the camera and his face in profile and the designer got huge press attention and big bucks from new customers until the white house had to rein it in because one can’t profit commercially from the president’s image. It was fun while it lasted though. Great memories.
Thanks, Chiparoo.
Mooooooorning Early Bird!! Seriously, he’s like a GQ model in those jacket pics!
Indeed, and I love those pics from that Wall of China excursion so much that I’ve been using one of them as my Twitter wallpaper (in case y’all didn’t notice)! š š
The world is his oyster – the opportunities are endless – we will be hearing about this family for the rest of my lifetime – and beyond into forever.
Morning, Utal. Happy Monday to you!
I’m curious – do you have a photographic memory? I’m always impressed when you remember where/when FLOTUS wore an outfit; now it seems you can do the same for POTUS.
I’m up early this morning! Good morning TOD!!! Have a blessed day!
Moooooorning Lady Early Bird!!
Yesterday was an incredible, wonderful day. My 77-year old sister looked absolutely radiant at her wedding and after years of hard work, heartache, illness and grief, she kicked up her heels and danced and twisted with her new groom. Then my middle sister who almost died last year and uses a cane to walk, tossed it aside and twisted with them and they all had the time of their lives. We clapped and cried and laughed and danced together. In an act of sheer genius, my 8-year old Downs Syndrome great nephew asked the DJ to play the Pointer Sisters’ “We are Family” and he took the mike and sang the lyrics as we danced and held hands and hugged each other. There really is no more powerful medicine on this planet than love and it makes me absolutely giddy that my sister has found it at this point in her life. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever gone to a more joyous wedding. No one had anything to prove or fret over, they just basked in the wonder of it all. What a day and what a memory.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us, JackieG! It sounds marvellous! Wishing your sister years and years of happiness.
Wow, what an inspiration your family is! Congrats to your sister and all the joy they brought together.
Sounds fabulous jackie – when family love each other & celebrate together – the world is a wonderful place. May you all have many days to remember the joy of this one.
I’m tearing up, Jackie. Thanks for sharing that truly heart warming story!!!! God’s blessings in abundance.
chills and tears reading your story….just beautiful! Life is definitely not over…..just beginning! Thrilled for all of you, jg.
I am so late, but this sounds like the party of the century, jackie! Thanks for sharing!
Monday. Just. Became. Great!
Bravo, Morgan Freeman!
That. Is. Fantastic!!!!
https://twitter.com/Jovie121Jor/status/402420438644838400
Go LOD!
Very wet day in my part of the world. But hope everyone is having a happy Monday!! A good morning to all.
Good morning, Chips, Danny O, fabulous BTs and TODville. It’s Mooooonnnnddddaaayyy.
Moooooooorning Meta!
Hey, Capitan. Danny is going to be a MOOSE!
He already is, Meta!!!! š
G’morning Chips & TOD, and congrats Roberta on #1 š
Jay Inslee, a Democrat, is governor of Washington. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, is governor of Kentucky. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat, is governor of Connecticut.
In our states ā Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut ā the Affordable Care Act, or āObamacare,ā is working. Tens of thousands of our residents have enrolled in affordable health-care coverage. Many of them could not get insurance before the law was enacted.
People keep asking us why our states have been successful. Hereās a hint: Itās not about our Web sites.
Sure, having functioning Web sites for our health-care exchanges makes the job of meeting the enormous demand for affordable coverage much easier, but each of our state Web sites has had its share of technical glitches. As we have demonstrated on a near-daily basis, Web sites can continually be improved to meet consumersā needs.
The Affordable Care Act has been successful in our states because our political and community leaders grasped the importance of expanding health-care coverage and have avoided the temptation to use health-care reform as a political football.
Exactly! And there is a reason that media wants to simply focus on the “website glitches” and “disastrous rollout” without providing proper context or pointing people to the REAL problems such as the GOP governors vs the success stories of states like KY, CT and Washington. š
I’m so glad they came together to write this. Let’s pass it around so people can READ it!!
Definitely, will help to do that. Thanks meta for sharing š
Tweeted, thanks for sharing your research, Meta. TODvillage is a terrific ‘research foundation’ with really committed researchers. š Happy Monday, to you!
Happy Monday to you, too, vc!!
Morning everyone:) Just a reminder that PBO on a conference call tonight….don’t forget to be there!! I marked the calendar….It’s Monday, right? Monday’s good!
Jackie…sounds like you had the time of your life at your sister’s wedding….what a wonderful way to spend a weekend with family. Many happy years to her!
Yes indeed df – thanks for the gentle ‘minder š
Thanks, hf! That be the one:) PS…I love when he talks to “me” on the phone!
ooo right! I signed up for that and got my confirmation email. thanks for the reminder!
http://bobcesca.thedailybanter.com/blog-archives/2013/11/fact-the-gop-wants-to-cancel-tens-of-millions-of-health-insurance-policies-that-people-like.html
Morning must read…
http://www.breakingnewsusa.com/2013/11/18/dems-outraise-gop/
HA! You know the guy that won the special election in Louisiana this weekend???? There’s even MORE to that story than we knew! It gets even BETTER:)
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/11/17/tea-party-jindal-cantor-get-slapdown-duck-dynasty-voters/
Yes…it was big news. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-vance-mcallisters-win-matters
MSM catching up to TOD, not for the first time.
As we said yesterday, backing Medicaid is a Winning strategy, opposing healthcare is Losing. In uside-down repub world this simple truth is often obscured.
As a4Alice mentions downthread, the ACA seems to be fading from the frenzied coverage.
Must be working!!!
Everyone say, AAAAWWWWWW….. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/republican-rep-the-gop-coalition-constitutes-a-shrinking-portion-of-the-electorate
The Republican Party is at serious risk of running out of Republican voters, according to a senior GOP lawmaker.
āRepublicans need to understand that their political problems are neither tactical nor transitory,ā Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) said, as quoted by the Washington Post. āThey are structural and demographic. The hard truth is the GOP coalition constitutes a shrinking portion of the electorate. To change that daunting reality, Republicans must appeal to groups that are currently outside their ranks or risk becoming a permanent minority.ā
I’m playing a real tiny violin:) They’re hastening their demise by the outright disdain they show for everyone that’s not a rich WASP. I won’t miss this bunch.
DF. please let them proceed. I am praying for the day they are a tiny minority in the US Congress so we can finally have a country that moves forward with its president. Nothing would make me happier than having the GOP reduced to pesky heel-nipping gnats and lose real influence outside of a few benighted states in the deep South.
Your Monday morning spud:
WARNING! http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obamacare-navigators-gop-smear-campaign
Beware anybody trying to help people sign up for health insurance under Obamacare.
That’s the line from top Senate Republicans, who have magnified their smear campaign against the law’s so-called navigators, groups that have received federal money to assist people in enrolling for coverage. Their latest shot: darkly warning that Americans could put their personal and financial safety at risk if they seek out assistance.
Republicans have a longstanding animosity toward the navigators — state officials in a number of red states have put up roadblocks for them — but the comments of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are a new extreme in the party’s assault on those tasked with helping Americans navigate the health reform law.
There is something seriously wrong with politicians – especially party leaders when they spread such misinformation and lies – they are sick & evil to the core.
Made me laugh
Looks like uncle Mitch…
Just a quick observation and then I gotta clear out of here as I’m at work. I noticed on NPR today on my drive in that there was no mention at all about the aca website. while I was pleased about that, there was also no mention at all about successes on the aca website.
gotta go
Jean Claude Van DAMME He Did That!
[ 4 ] November 18, 2013 | Luvvie
Have yāall seen the sickest ad that has come out in recent history? If you havenāt, then you need to.
Jean Claude Van Damme, original action movie goon collaborated with Volvo for a commercial about their new trucks with power steering. And he basically told us that we all need to go sit down because this is what 56-year-old badassery can look like. See below:
Iāve watched this about 20 times and I still go āAW SHITTTT!ā every single time. Because DAMMMMMMBBBB!!! My dude hit a split between two trucks THAT WERE GOING BACKWARDS like it was nothing. He did it while looking all zen, like he was almost bored. CHILE WUT?!? I canāt eāem touch my toes without bending my knees. Meanwhile, AARP-eligible Jean Claude just came through and slayed us all.
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/11/jean-claude-van-damme-volvo.html#comment-270967
Ok. Now I feel TOTALLY USELESS! š
Oh Rikyrah, you peaked my interest. I didn’t quite believe that split was real, so I followed the trail backwards myself…
Crazy!
Saw that! Freakin’ awesome!
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/11/im-the-story-obamacares-opponents-dont-want-you-to-hear.html
Iāve officially enrolled in coverage through the marketplace. It was easier than I expected ā and will save me about $10,000 a year.
Wow! Congratulations, DF.
Morning, jackie…That wasn’t ME, you know! š
This is great news df – very happy for you. This update should be frontpaged! š
I’m not the one this story is about:) You guys are killing me today:) Someone saved $10,000/yr, but it wasn’t me. Just a good news ACA story.
LOL! We’ve been punked! Still very good news – regardless of who it is š š š
Put this in the “No shit” file!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24974745
High levels of benefits for the unemployed do not lead to a lack of motivation to find work, a Europe-wide study has found.
Good Morning Everyone! Have a fabulous day!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/12-reasons-why-obama-is-o_b_4280675.html
12 Reasons Why Obama Is One of the Best Presidents Ever
Wonderful news for our R & S! Notice how upon hearing this news, everyone’s mind automatically goes to —— Obama!
https://twitter.com/jimmywhiz/status/402446670094290945
Riiiiiise and Shine!
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/11/18/rise-and-shine-672/