@petesouza: Pres Obama in tunnel of soccer stadium before taking stage at Nelson Mandela memorial service in South Africa
@petesouza: President Obama greets Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela’s widow, after his speech at the memorial service.
10
Dec
13
131 Responses to “Chat Away”
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The People’s View
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The Obama Diary 
Where did that come from after all this time as Lib-L?
Oh, me, Sheriff Fruit Fly, and Arrogant Demon were having a Twitter colloquy on “progressive” v. “liberal”. And it’s almost 4 o’clock, which is right about when I start throwing around silly tweets.
Oh. Okay. 😀
Congrats LL on #1…didn’t realize that you had slipped by to first place!
It was a kerfuffle. I was in pending because I decided to see what a particular button in WordPress did.
Aha..I see. 🙂
Hmmmmm, Hopefr! So THAT’s where the BTs hang out to ensure Fiiiiiiirst place on each other’s threads. The truth is starting to seep out…. /mystery music/
Congrats LL. I’m proud to be a liberal, like our Founding Fathers. 😉
Give me Tull over Pink Floyd any day. But I like Queen and Neil Diamond, the Moody Blues, CCR and Motown everything!
A memorable day.
Congrats vetivera on #1!
Hey thanks but LL slipped in at the buzzer.
Well then it’s congrats Viviterra. 😉
lurking, lurking
Hey, Lurker, lurking! 🙂
!st?….no almost.
i delurked to get 1st but was pipped at the post. Congrats V24. And congratulations to Chips, UT and all at TOD for such superb coverage of the Mandela memorial. and how stooooopid is the ‘Michelle mad’ meme. Oy!
“I believe that President Obama wants to free people of color in this country from the oppression of racism. But he knows that will only happen when we can free white people from their hate. We’re in the midst of that struggle right now. And as Madiba said “It always seems impossible until its done.”
testing
I found you stranded in pending LL, released you in to the wild!
As I remarked above, you two have inadvertently revealed the secret of how you end up Fiiiiiiirst on each other’s threads. Thanks.
So, O/T, how do *I* work my way into pending
when a post is imminent?If anyone here is good with budgets and economics please fill the rest of us in. As I said on the last thread my take is that this is good for us but this is not an area where I have much expertise.
TOD economists—let’s hear from you.
Chipsticks. Chipsticks! How could you? You walked away and started a new thread while I was whiling away time strolling up and down the last thread waiting for you to start a new thread!
😆 It’s a life of woe for ya around here, VC!!
/smh/ I tell you, I just don’t know why I put up with it, CC. 😐
On a different note, I notice that Danny O had a good vet visit except that he might need to count his calories. Ask him to count them for me too, please.
I’m curious, did he get sleepy?
So that’s what changing your email does. Odd.
Anyway:
Negotiations on Capitol Hill have yielded a modest budget agreement to ease automatic spending cuts and replace some of them with savings from future-year cuts.
Details on the pact by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray were to be announced by the duo Tuesday evening.
The agreement would ease the harshest spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic agencies for a second year.
It would require federal workers to contribute more to their pensions, increase premiums on companies whose pension plans are insured by the federal government and increase security fees paid by airline travelers.
AP
Such fantastic photos of the Noble Prize festivities, Chips. And, totally consistent with his commitments to peace – which he affirmed yet again earlier today in his tribute to President Mandela – are his efforts to stop nuclear proliferation (Iran being the latest attempt) and remove chemical weapons (and their production) from Syria.
#TrustBarack
Oh, I like that tweet, Bob! Your message is spot on.
Bob…..I love your post, but the prize is the Nobel prize, not Noble. President Obama IS a noble person, but…….
I agree: “Keep shaking hands”…..there’s been too much of clenching fists…..including us with Cuba. I believe this simple matter of shaking hands with Raul Castro will have positive repercussions down the historical road. Someone has to do it first!
Oh, Carolyn – that’s just a typo – it’s what happens when you’ve had 4 hours sleep in 2 days 🙂 Actually have several Nobelist friends and colleagues 🙂
Wow…you do…..I’m proud to call you my TOD friend! I have such respect for people who work hard and are awarded these prizes. I have been mad for four years at the U.S. Media’s reaction to PBO’s prize. He will have earned it many times over by the time his term is through.
I do believe that handshake will have positive repercussions in the future, and maybe not too far away. The day of the clenched fist is over! Now, even Putin is going to have to learn that.
I remember what PBO said in his inaugural, about unclenching fists and opening hands…..that’s what Raul did, and PBO responded as he said he would
“I remember what PBO said in his inaugural, about unclenching fists and opening hands…..that’s what Raul did, and PBO responded as he said he would”
Precisely, Carolyn!!
And, yes, from very close personal friends to professional colleagues, I’ve had the privilege to be associated with more than 2 dozen Nobelists (one of the most special friends among them, unfortunately, is no longer with us).
‘PBO said in his inaugural, about unclenching fists and opening hands…..’
Literally! Carolyn! I had forgotten that in the media hoopla this morning! PBO, A man of his word! 😀
Here you go, Carolyn! I shared your reminder
Appears the Nina Pillard nomination to the US Appeals Court is on track for a final vote.
Amazing what can get done when a political nuke is exploded over Turtle’s head.
🙂
you are “bad” !!!!
Can someone explain to me why Tila Tequila is still trending on Twitter? Yes, I know what she posted. That still doesn’t explain why Tila Tequila is still fucking trending on Twitter hours later.
Maybe they are all thinking it’s a drinking game!
Wonderful.
Great.
Take heart LL – Many good things happened today to go along with your cocktail. They’re just not trending on Twitter but they’re far more impactful and consequential and less silly/superficial.
1. PBO gave a phenomenal tribute to Mandela and was most graciously received in SA and by the Mandela Family.
2. PBO’s DC court nominee confirmed.
3. Senate Banking Committee will not pursue new sanctions against Iran
4. Economy continues to improve.
And that’s what SHOULD be trending on Twitter. But I have to get over the idea that Twitter in any way reflects real life.
I think Twitter’s “trends” are jacked up sometimes. Kinda like Google search results which are imbalanced in my opinion.
Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa- Ubuntu – that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us. . .
I believe that President Obama wants to free people of color in this country from the oppression of racism. But he knows that will only happen when we can free white people from their hate. We’re in the midst of that struggle right now. And as Madiba said “It always seems impossible until its done.”
http://tinyurl.com/p287cr3
This was from Smartpants. Hope it isn’t a double post.
A triple, but who’s counting? Plus don’t they say ‘third time’s a charm’? 😉 IMO the truth, CarolMae, is that lots of irrelevant negative stuff gets mentioned over and over so it’s nice to see a pertinent point repeatedly highlighted. Thanks, BTW.
; I did post it on the last thread, but too late. Everyone was on a new thread. 😉 I should realize I’m behind everybody.
Seriously, don’t worry about it. I frankly see nothing wrong with the repetition as it is a brief reminder. I personally get irritated with extra long repetitions only because they take of too much space, especially if repeated too often.
Thanks. I have a slow connection.
My guess? It’ll pass the Senate. The House is an entirely different matter. Those GOPers don’t care if they stick knives in the backs of the unemployed.
I think it’s already in progress!
Remind me to go stock up on popcorn
He’s already on the way to GW Medical Center emergency room 🙂
In no sane political system would Louie Gohmert’s opinion on anything matter. Yet, that’s where we are.
Just a gentle ‘minder – there will be the taping at some point this weekend of “Christmas in Washington” with the First Family to be aired on TNT on Dec 20. 🙂 Sunday is Dec 15th, not 13th, so it’s not clear what they meant by “Sunday Dec 13th.”
// TNT is going to ring in the holidays in musical style with its annual presentation of CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON, premiering Sunday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). Mary J. Blige, Neil Diamond, Sugarland, Rob Thomas and Usher are scheduled to join host George Lopez in TNT’s spectacular holiday celebration.
Annually attended by the President and First Lady and other Washington VIPs, CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON is a holiday musical celebration benefiting the National Children’s Medical Center. The show will be taped at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Sunday, Dec. 13. TNT’s Dec. 20 premiere telecast will be the network’s 11th presentation of CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON, which is in its 28th year overall. //
http://www.tntdrama.com/stories/story/?oid=43693
I saw this on twitter and immediately thought of the many TOD west coasters – isn’t this beautiful, Lib-L? GGail?
It’s getting back up to the 70s this weekend!
Grrrrr! Rub it in. 😉
Yes, lovely – but it alarms me that there won’t be any more glaciers in Glacier National Park!
You caught me, Judith. 😳 I don’t really follow environment issues. I was only trying to needle a couple of west coasters.
VC, Glacier NP is actually in Montana and that is MST. 😉
/face in palms/ Hey, give me a break you all. I wasn’t interested in the actual geography of the pic, or the environmental background! I just saw lots of snow and wanted to bug some village people.
I’m used to it. When anybody tells what time something is on they always say EST, Central time and Pacific Time. No one mentions MST.
Those Following Polls…..Rasmussen has POTUS at 47%. PEW numbers today had POTUS at 45%….same as pre-healthcare.gov glitches numbers and Quinnipiac had POTUS ate 38%.
You see the trend now? It Up, Up and up for those 3 pollsters sucked in 2012.
So Dick Nixon met and shook hands with Fidel Castro. Oops it’s in black and white so that was when GOP had politicians that wanted to work on solving problems?
PBO seems to think the budget is a step in the right direction.
I hope and pray that PBO has some magic up his sleeve…
this budget does not address the needs of the Middle Class and the working poor…looming large is the loss of UE benefits for 1 million..no money for infrastructure that could create millions of jobs…
sigh…as PBO would say …. we are better than this
I don’t think this budget was intended to do the work of a jobs bill or an UI bill. This budget was to ward off any gov’t shutdown fights in the near future while funding the government in a fiscally responsible manner. The UI and infrastructure/jobs bills are probably going to be pushed as separate entities – similarly to the Immigration Reform bill.
Furthermore, I contend that the way to best address the needs of the middle class and working poor is to VOTE in the midterms. Right now the GOP controls the house, so that should be an impetus for people to get out there and make their needs known through the ballot box in Nov 2014.
Senator Reid is praising Senator Murray!!!
Always a gentleman!
Yes he is, Layla. And, he is rightly very proud of her. Many questioned when he appointed her to the Senate Leadership – not any longer!!!
Pillard vote will be Thursday morning at 10a.
Oh dear…fainting couch please http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/42855_About_President_Obama_Shaking_Raul_Castros_Hand…#rsse!!
Includes this tweet 😀 😀 😀 😀
Ohhhhh Mc Swine…what say you now…….
Here is it in Color with McCain slightly bowing his head 🙂
Little POS cretin. Detest that bitter ass man
Priceless!!!!!!!
LOTS of pics with REPUBLICANS shaking the hands of “evil dictators”!
YESSSSS….so many more there. But you know! IOKIYAR!!!
This will always be a personal favorite – and was the first image I thought of when the initial RWNJ convulsions began over President Obama shaking President Castro’s hand ….
And his ugly head sure looks like it’s having thoughts of its own about lowering its chin in anticipation of whether or not he should cough up a bow before his buddy Saddam.
(Hope you understood that. Could barely get out of that sentence, thinking about rummy!)
🙂
I got it!
Whew.
They know what past GOPers did. But they are always counting on the Rightwing Media Echo Chamber to stay Mute and for the so called MSM to go bonkers…….for these days, MSN are presenters…..she/he said…..mantra rules. Therefore, whenever the right screams, time and time again, MSM obediently parrot their latest outrage and Facts be darned.
These darn ‘evil doers’ coming back to bite them in the butt! I LOVE karma!!!!!!!!
Desertflower,
Thanks for that link. What a riot!
Shit’s happening.
Yep. Over the past ~ hour it’s been getting really rough. Folk tweeting that they hope they are not killed.
Oh, Bob, I’ve been so afraid of this. This is a grave error on the part of the Ukrainian government. It will not end well for them.
We can run, but we can’t hide. Hadn’t switched MSNBC after Rev. Al’s show, as I went off to do something, and caught a bit of Chris Matthews’ audio in the background. When he got to the point where he was more or less implying that Pres. Obama had “listened” to his advice on some nonsense, I clicked the channel. I turned to CNN and creepy Jake Tapper was having a discussion on gun control. Didn’t catch the name of the mostly RWNJ dude who was his guest and who kicked in a comment that “if President Obama can shake hands with Castro … ” then apparently he can sit down with the NRA and get them to meet him halfway and we could all sing kumbaya or something. So, Michael Skolnik – love his intensity! – takes him down, nicely, saying he’s been with the President and Vice President and can see what’s in their souls and it is good (paraphrased, obviously!).
When the Republicans shake hands with “evil’ dictators they have no problem with it.
Superb Alycee!!!!!!!!
I’m archiving this bad boy to respond to any and all future nonsense…
Alycee, That is true. The right wing haters don’t get that quote. POTUS and FLOTUS self worth does not depend on the right wing haters acceptance. That is one reason why they hate POTUS and FLOTUS so much.
Oh dear! I pray.
Great video diary of what it was like to be in the crowd at the Mandela Memorial Service today
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/handshake-be-damned-why-is-no-one-talking-about-obamas-speech/
And what everyone missed…especially the “journalists” because they’re just too simplistic and driven by controversy rather than substance. They’re useless…
They are NOT really driven by controversies equally. They ignore any on the right and ONLY focus on manufactured issues if Ds are involved.
Should really say ‘driven by CREATING controversy’
When coupled with Putin’s anti-gay brutality, I agree.
Yep, $ talks!
Hope nobody’s eating, but this is funny, methinks.
Hilarious!!! Stossel is an utter and complete turd sandwich.
Eek. Totally!
… warmed on the deck of garbage scow
John Stossel…….:)
🙂
They are storming the barricade – wire cutters and chain saws being used to destroy the barricade …. we have to hope not too many people are severely injured or killed …
Special delivery for Desertflower, from an AZ newscaster.
Not all in AZ are batsh*t crazy.
Too much going on in the world, still trying to catch up with today’s events. Heck, still trying to catch up with TOD from midnight last night!
Well said Mr. Hrapsky
Not to change the subject, but this is a HUGE Obamacare success story! Sorry for HP, but here it is.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelangelo-signorile/obamacare-success-story-m_b_4413329.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
Music! http://theobamadiary.com/2013/12/10/chat-away-south-africa-music-edition/
I hope this is true.
Jeezzz I wonder why…!