There are times I think the Right can’t sink any lower. Surely it has reached its nadir and will just wallow in its self-imposed muck. There’s nothing it can do which would shock the conscience or incense the soul. Birtherism, rooting for citizens to not get health care, swearing fealty to the NRA after thousands die each year from gun murders. The list goes on, and it makes for sad reading.
However, I’ve learned to put aside my disbelief and prepare myself for the descent into the next circle of hell.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release should have been a moment of unity. The one US soldier held captive by the Taliban was coming home. For that we gave up five Taliban prisoners, who will be locked up in velvet confinement in Qatar, unable to “take the field” against the US and its allies.
But, true to form, the Right—which had called for years for Sgt. Bergdahl’s release—saw not a moment of unity, but an opportunity to mount another frontal assault against Barack Obama.
Bob Bergdahl—Sgt. Bergdahl’s father—looks like a Taliban! And he learned Pashto! Unamerican!
Or: Bergdahl is a deserter, and cost the lives of men sent to look for him. Let him rot!
Or: We’ve never negotiated with terrorists! Obama is a weak appeaser!
Those are just some of the more tepid arguments from the Right. They range up to wanting to execute Sgt. Bergdahl for “desertion”, promising that it will come to pass in a Ted Cruz Administration.
I feel as if we’ve reached a turning point. It feels that way every time the Right comes up with some new outrage, but this time the Right has crossed a line it had never dared cross.
The unspoken rule of American politics, at least since 9/11, has been that the military is off-limits for criticism. Of course, the Right loves soldiers as long as they’re dying silently; it has not much use for them once they become veterans and start demanding services. But leave that aside. Respecting and honoring the military has been the one truism of American politics for the past decade and more. And if any servicemember was captured, bringing him or her home alive was a duty incumbent upon the Commander-in-Chief.
And, indeed, that seemed to be the common policy among members of both parties:
And that lovely soul Ollie North in 2011:
One would be excused for thinking that Senator McCain and Col. North were beating the hustings for Sgt. Bergdahl because they thought that he would never actually be released, the Taliban being barbarous monsters who could not be reasoned with. But then, amazing to no one who pays attention, Pres. Obama achieved his release, on very favorable terms.
As a POW, Sgt. Bergdahl was useful to the Right, as an example of Pres. Obama’s unfitness for command. As a released prisoner, he has now become tainted goods, associated with that usurper, that non-American, that Other.
Shamelessly, the Right went from braying for Sgt. Bergdahl’s rescue to braying for his head.
Let’s take the ostensible reason for their ire: that he “deserted” to join the Taliban.
I know it’s hard to believe, but most of the Right sees the Taliban as sub-human monsters, unable to reason or use strategy. They’re just wild-eyed barbarians, out to spill American blood any chance they get.
Of course, this is just so much wishful thinking. No, I wouldn’t want to live in a Taliban-run country. But to think that a group which has been fighting the US and the West for 13 years would pass up a chance to use Sgt. Bergdahl for propaganda purposes is absurd on its face. It belies logic and doesn’t pass the laugh test. If Sgt. Bergdahl had in fact defected, the Taliban would have had his happy face on a video the minute he had entered one of their camps. Seeing the Taliban solely as inhuman relieves the Right of the burden of thinking.
Sgt. Bergdahl committed the cardinal sin: he allowed himself to be rescued by Pres. Obama. Thus he must be destroyed.
But, in calling out the dogs, the Right may have stepped too far. It has broken the compact between the state and its soldiers, that no soldier will ever be forgotten, no soldier will ever be left behind. It has said that some soldiers are expendable, and if they make the mistake of being associated in any way with Pres. Obama, they will be smeared viciously. That is something Americans of most political stripes cannot countenance. The wurlitzer of the Right has finally played a tune so discordant that it makes most Americans pause and take notice.
Shamelessness has more or less been the bread and butter of the Right. It may just have played one hand too many.
The Obama Diary 
Furst.
Crikey, you are too!!!! #Miracles
Thanks a gazilllllllion LL, just getting some work done and will settle down to read it then – you’re a gem.
Many a times, I surprise myself. #fate
It’s a really good read, Chips. Thanks, LL. Tweeted on it yesterday that what has been most amazing to me is the notion that the Taliban would not have flooded YouTube with videos had Sgt Bergdahl actually deserted and joined them, willingly, or even after being a prisoner for some interval that he began supporting them. Never happened.
Congrats amk!
If. Only you could spell . . .
Off to read this!
Thanks for taking this on LL. As a daughter and wife of former soldiers and as a mother I would rather see my son home.
mcangry has gotten mcugly!
If only could happen…..what a wonderful USA we would have.
Just have to reply quickly to AMK’s comment on previous post on President Obama issuing EO to deport the Bergdahl screamers and McAngry: OMG I WISH!
If you want to be factual, taliban kicked both the super powers’ asses. Terrain and history are with them.
Congrats on 1st, amk 🙂
Great R&S, Chips!!
amk, my first comment regarding GWB + Alliance putting troops on the ground in Afghanistan was very simple. If the purpose is to kill Osama and whomever happens to be with him, then the intelligence better be rock solid as to his location and the hit better be verifiable. And, the message to the Afghan ‘government’ (aka Taliban) should be simple — Enable terrorists, be ready for a steady Tomahawk diet. Otherwise, STAY OUT OF Afghanistan. No one ‘wins’ there.
Yup. everything dumbya, darth and dumsfeld troika touched turned into shit. It was left to PBO to salvage something out of the iraq/afghan train wrecks.
I was very heartened to read this.
“People in Hailey have been aware for some time that there were questions about how Bowe came to be captured, and that there was a chance that Bowe could be in trouble when he came home,” said Stefanie O’Neill, a co-organizer of the welcome-home rally planned for June 28.
“The celebration is going ahead. It is not being abridged in any way in light of the controversy that has arisen,” she told Reuters. “Our purpose was to bring Bowe back and to celebrate his return and that has not changed … We wanted one of our own home.”
The GOP and Feinstein need a GAG order.
I am convinced Feinstein is a puma like former VP candidate Geraldine Ferarro whose contempt for Sen. Obama was shocking in its baseness and overt racism. In addition I think she tries to portray PBO as untrust worthy of trust in matters of foreign policy to undermine nuclear deal with Iran.
I don’t know why CA keeps her – she might as well have come out of the Bush administration. And this b.s. often comes down to what she perceives as personal slights to her positions on committees, etc.
She loves war. Makes her feel like a man.
Morning everyone.
Thanks for posting, Chips. Having some coffee now and then off to read to the kidlings,
One of my more recent tweets was similar to how you started this post LL. I really thought the right couldn’t go any lower. Being at odds with what PBO did doesn’t surprise me. The vehemence of the reaction, specially toward Sgt Bergdahl and his parents did. I won’t let that happen again. Now I will always ask myself what is the worst possible reaction there could be. Of course, since I basically consider myself a sane, reasonable person, my mind probably wouldn’t be able to come up with the actual worst, so I will just take the worst my mind can conceive and triple it.
One thing I am starting to notice, which is somewhat bothering me. I am seeing tweets and comments questioning the motivations of Bergdahls squad/platoon mates. Mainly they revolve around their bashing Bergdahl in order to discredit him so he won’t be believed if he brings up stuff about things they may have done.
That is pure conjecture and if we get into that we are doing the same character assassination the right is trying to do to Bergdahl.
This will blow up in their faces just the the 60 minutes Lara Logan report on Benghazi.
This nyt piece is questioning those soldiers’ narrative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/world/middleeast/can-gi-be-tied-to-6-lost-lives-facts-are-murky.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
Where those events are identifiable in the logs, they do not mention any link to Bergdahl search operations, although the logs are terse and contain few contextual details.
Mr. Bethea wrote that of the six men killed in August and September, two died in a roadside bombing while on a reconnaissance mission, a third was shot during a search for a Taliban political leader and three others were killed while conducting patrols — two in an ambush and one who stepped on a mine.
He suggested some connection to Sergeant Bergdahl for several of the deaths, saying the Taliban leader and a village that was in the area of one of the patrols were “thought affiliated with Bergdahl’s captors.” He also said a village in the areas of the other patrol was “near the area where Bergdahl vanished.”
Still, those villages and insurgents were in the overall area of responsibility for the soldiers, and the logs make clear that the region was an insurgent hotbed. A log on May 21, 2009, for example, said it had historically been a “safe haven” for the Taliban.
A retired senior American military officer, who was briefed at the time on the search for Sergeant Bergdahl, said that even though soldiers were instructed to watch for signs of the missing American, they would have been conducting patrols and performing risky operations anyway.
“Look, it’s not like these soldiers would have been sitting around their base,” he said.
The soldier who spoke on condition of anonymity agreed that it was “ludicrous” to lay 100 percent of the blame for the deaths at Sergeant Bergdahl’s feet, and he acknowledged that patrols were going to get hit in Paktika during fighting season anyway.
I had heard this yesterday but couldn’t find the initialy story. I’m glad that NYT is doing its job for once.
This is a good piece of investigative journalism. Looks at the records and facts.
Records? Facts? What good are they? They just muddle the debate.
We don’t need no stinkin’ facts.
in other word our news organizations are merely a conduit for gop propaganda to be disseminated to the public with the veneer of objectivity
The media needs attention to survive. If the GOP reporting didn’t get them clicks, viewers, money they would wither away. the NYT did a good job of reporting and every tweet, click and view helps them see that the information is important and appreciated. I thought it really was an excellent job with detailed info.
Ratings and viewership steadily declines yet Obama bashing continues. Facts don’t bear out what you say. The money corporations will pocket via gop policies far outstrip money made via media. We are fed pro gop propaganda and must wake up.
That had to be tweeted! 😉
Thank you Donna. We must all do our part to spread the word. I truly love our TOD community:)
As Pierce points out, there is a lot of stupid out there.
North demanded that the media ask the Obama administration if there was “a ransom, a fiscal, financial, money transaction,” with the Taliban as part of the deal. “Was there a ransom paid? Did the government of the United States, either directly or indirectly, finance a terrorist organization?”
This from the man who ran point on the Iran-Contra debacle.
Isn’t that the most stunning thing you’ve ever seen?
Did ya see this, LL?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/03/1304166/-Oliver-North-suspicious-that-Obama-traded-a-ransom-for-an-American-hostage-No-really
yeah, I saw that. Stunning.
Good Morning/Afternoon/Day/Evening TODable TODers.
Au ⭐ for Amk and DF.
Congrats guys.
R&S is Fantastic.
LL has done it AGAIN. Right to the point and the illustration is Golden.
When will We The People Wake Up? It looks like the rude awakening is upon Us.
It is Dawn, Dark and they are running out of material. Hence, their implosion. President Obama is driving THEM…….Mad!
Does anyone remember John McBitter’s surprise visit to Columbia in July of 2008 ? That was exactly when the American hostages were released. The ransom was said to be 20 million US dollars…
I said back then and I believe it today. McBitter delivered the Ransom money for Bush.
McBitter said he went to repair our relationship with Latin America.
—
What say you Ollie North ?
Call me whiny (don’t!), but I really would expect a US Embassy account to address the President as, well, President. Pisses me off.
140 characters and all that.
Nope. I call BS. They could have changed the ‘Obama’ to ‘POTUS.’ Or, shortened Ambassador to Amb.
When supporters and detractors alike refer to President Obama as ‘Obama’ it’s grating. He’s not your buddy or a boy. He’s the two-term President of the United States.
With Twitter, you can shorten it to POTUS, PBO, Pres. Obama.
It’s that simple.
“A little rain never hurt anyone.” ~ Sen Barack Obama, Virginia, August 2008.
Thank you for this post. Of all the “outrages” the haters have come up with over the past 6 years, this bothers me the most. The worst part of all of this is that it is not just fox news screaming and smearing this POW and his family, but the mainstream. Whether it’s Tweety spitting his hatred for this young man or the nightly news programs. This is just pure hatred and I’m afraid they have put the Bergdahl family in danger. The town they live in has been getting hateful calls and threats. The gop and media have really crossed the line here but the public doesn’t even seem to care. I haven’t heard of any outrage by veterans groups, or former military shouting about not leaving anyone behind. Those rants seem to only show up on blogs that few people will see. The idea that news headline today are “critics have doubts about policy of not leaving anyone behind” is sickening. Why have we even bothered looking for the bodies of those lost/missing in Viet Nam since we don’t know how they went missing or were taken prisoner to begin with? Where are the Viet Nam veterans group? They should be screaming the loudest.
Great post, LL!
Thank you LL. A great and insightful read.
I also hope everyone will read Jim Wright’s article that was linked to on the last thread – http://www.stonekettle.com/2014/06/negotiating-with-terrorists.html It also shows the right (and some on the left – WTF is wrong with Dianne Feinstein saying that Bowe LOOKS to be in good shape and questioning whether his health was a reason to bring him home). IMO, it’s her ego. Although, I have read that Congress was informed of this process in 2011. So just because PBO didn’t inform Feinstein aka “loose lips” 30 days prior, she’s having a shit fit. Unfreakingbelievable.
Almost all of her ‘outrages’ are because she feels personally slighted in some way. The country, the party, the President be damned as long as she is considered the Most Important Person In the World.
So much gold in this post LL, not least:
“….. the Right loves soldiers as long as they’re dying silently; it has not much use for them once they become veterans and start demanding services.”
and
“Sgt. Bergdahl committed the cardinal sin: he allowed himself to be rescued by Pres. Obama. Thus he must be destroyed.”
Well said. I’d like to add, to anyone who believes he’s a traitor, defector, or what have you, every American has the right to his day in court. Therefore, is it not better that a member of our receive it
Sorry. Typo.
What I meant to say was…
If you believe him guilty of treason, does he not have the right to have his day in court on American soil?
I hear you adignorantium. Personally I would take it a step further… I could give a rats ass what transpired, we do not leave any of our men in women behind. Period.
You are absolutely right.
SBU Claims Russian Cossack Leader Coordinating OSCE Hostage Situation
15:29 (GMT)
Ukrainska Pravda reports (translated by The Interpreter):
“The SBU has found a direct relationship between Russian Cossack structures and the supply of weapons to terrorist organisations operating in eastern Ukraine, as well as the kidnapping of OSCE representatives on May 29”, says the statement on the SBU website.
The SBU also uploaded recordings of telephone conversations between the Ataman of the ‘Great Don Army’, Nikolai Kozitsin, and militants in the Donbass.
He gives them instructions regarding the detention of the OSCE observers.
According to Kozitsin, he coordinates all of his actions regarding the hostages with ‘white-stone’ [Moscow]: “This is an order from the top. From a distance, from a distance. Everything has been agreed.
http://pressimus.com/Interpreter_Mag/press/2983
When Fox News Declared War On A Military Family
By Eric Boehlert
————————————–
They couldn’t have foreseen it because I don’t think it’s ever happened before. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a dedicated media campaign to not only undermine a returning prisoner of war, but to also cast doubt onto the soldier’s family; to portray them as un-American even as they prepare for their reunion.
Instead, Fox News has helped transform the prisoner swap involving Taliban detainees into “an increasingly vicious partisan issue,” as Buzzfeed described the Republican decision to go into relentless attack mode, complete with enlisted publicists and strategists, to subvert the return of an American POW.
It’s symptomatic of a conservative media mini-mob that now obsessively politicizing everything, and does it all with the knob turned up to 11.
—————————————–
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/04/when-fox-news-declared-war-on-a-military-family/199586
And Mr. 57 keeps calling me, believing it all. Not ‘agreeing’, but buying into that every soldier paraded in front of the cameras is telling the truth. It doesn’t help when msm presents the dead soldiers as dying solely in pursuit of Bergdahl. That Bergdahl’s father is a Muslim sympathizer. I kid you not – Mr. 57 is buying into all of it.
Sigh.
Indeed, LL. But it’s not just the Right – the MSM and some on the so-called left have been just as complicit.
KaBoom Lady Chips………Awesome.
Was he trained by Lara Logan ?
My email letter to my Senator (Dianne Feinstein). I wanted it to be a stronger letter but hearing all the the stuff the HRC camp is saying …made me too sick to even finish.:
Dear Senator Feinstein,
Having been raised a Democrat, and later as an adult believing the Democratic Party was the party of the real America, I also have come to understand Will Rogers quote,” I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat.” I expect the Republican Party to fight our every move, but seeing our fellow Democrats eat one another is what hurts. I am 59 years old, a physician, a teacher, well-educated, prior military (Navy), mother and wife. I understand politics is dirty, and for the most part our elected officials reflect what we deserve. I remember the younger version of you in San Francisco, full of hope and promise. A Democrat. But the right, with the help of the media, have for the past few years, tried to smear our current President with “scandal after scandal”. Now seeing Democrats join in the slaughter of a man’s character is vile. For once it would be nice to see the Democratic Party stand together and talk to one another before running to a mic and spout “misgivings”, about what our President is doing. Strange too how someone who “defected” to Russia with Intel can become a hero in our country.
Also…why is it you and Senator Reid are not on the same page? I wish we could have a new democratic party, a progressive party with a spine, which no longer does things the “old way”. I once respected you as a representative in our great state of California, but that time has passed.
Thank you for your service to our state.
Carla Sweet, M.D.
Well done, doctor.
Great, great job, Carla !! Well done.
Excellent Doc Carla. I utilized the phone numbers called the senator and left messages.
Bless you, Dr. Sweet.
That is sooooooo good.
OllieNorth? HaHa! That bad smell still hanging around? He must need money if he’s willing to come out at a time like this.. Eh? And with a question like this, about $$.
Does anyone else notice that EVERY political issue is presented to the public from the gop POV? Left, right and center whatever the gop says is immediately adopted by the msm as the CV or the question that must be answered. From whether or not ACA premiums have been paid as a metric for success, to should the U.S. abandon pow, whatever the gop says is immediately adipted by the msm as the narrative. We are dangerously close to becoming a facist state. This shit is seriously scary
apartheid amurka – coming soon to the theaters near you.
I meant to type fascist state. I hate typing on phone;)
It is like they see blood in the water and the feeding frenzy is taking place. Crazy shit indeed.
It’s been happening since the 1990s and it now on overdrive since Jan 20th, 2009. That ONE got sworn in as POTUS.
Greta Van PUMA is not my cup of tea……However, I did have the same question last night……How did the Cell Phone person here get this close to POTUS? Where was the SService?
There were more photos and Video too?
http://www.mediaite.com/online/greta-lashes-out-at-secret-service-for-letting-polish-tabloid-film-obama-working-out/
THIS. THIS. THIS!!!
http://americablog.com/2014/06/sailor-says-bergdahl-never-seal-captured-left-behind-exceptions-ever.html
A sailor says of Bergdahl: “There’s never been a SEAL captured or left behind. No. Exceptions. Ever.”
One of the things that was drummed into us, beginning with the recruiting process (when I joined the teams you had to be invited by UDT/SEALs to the training; you couldn’t just walk up and say, “Dude, I want to go to BUDs”) was that “There has never been a SEAL captured or left behind, living or dead.”
Wounded soldier with comrades (Image credit: NATO photos)
Wounded soldier with comrades (Image credit: NATO photos)
During our training, if a classmate or crewmate (we were divided into boat crews by height — since you spend a lot of time carrying those f*cking boats, that part makes sense) got hurt, if the injury was not life-threatening (and believe me, our instructors had a strange scale to measure what constituted life-threatening), then it was our duty to carry that person through the rest of the exercise while the instructors screamed into our ears — “There has NEVER been a SEAL captured or left behind, living or DEAD!”
Sometimes, if no one got conveniently injured, an instructor would touch someone on the shoulder and say, “Your leg’s broken.” And the same drill would ensue with the appropriate screaming at us. Times were not adjusted to account for the extra effort, because there are no such adjustments on the battlefield. If you blew your time, your time was blown.
Rest at the link….
“POW trades have happened for almost all wars. Those who argue that we should not trade for our soldiers don’t seem to understand that if we leave them and don’t try to swap for them we will have trouble getting people to join the service. In my case , I was drafted. Today our soldiers are all volunteers.”
http://planetpov.com/2014/06/02/one-veterans-opinion-about-the-pow-swap/
I think this speaks to your very issue:
The writer adds:
Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said that there was a larger matter at play: The American military does not leave soldiers behind. “When you’re in the Navy, and you go overboard, it doesn’t matter if you were pushed, fell or jumped,” he said. “We’re going to turn the ship around and pick you up.”
Who would not want to serve with women and men who think and act like that, whatever your other thoughts about war? Me, I’d be proud to call them sisters and brothers.
This is from the Americablog story
Excellent. Thanks, df.
How are you doing? The doggie?
One day at a time:) she’s having a good day today. Thank you for thinking of us:)
Enjoy the good days. I know exactly what you’re going through. These days are precious, as is the relationship you two have.
What’s her name?
It’s that, but it’s even MORE than that. If this man succeeds in giving people hope, succeeds in making govt actually work for the people in real, tangible ways, inspires others to believe they can run for office and make the changes we all want to see…especially POC and women….and take the reins away from the seemingly entitled wealthy white WASPY guys…..OMG! They have run this country for over 200 years, sometimes they have run it off the road and into the nearest ditch!….and we have come back now stronger and more resilient than we thought possible in the time that PBO did this (nearly single handedly!) These rich, entitled, old white farts are NOT going to want to loose this power for generations to come! SO, it’s more than just because he’s the black guy…in fact, to MY way of thinking, though that fact does matter to them, the fact that he’s much smarter than they are, that he has moved this country forward in spite of them, that he has inspired so many, still…just absolutely terrifies them. They COULD become obsolete and in a place where they are unable to wield their influence in the same way they do now. Bet it keeps them up at night, and I’m glad…this lack of sleep is making them make mistake after mistake. Pretty soon, you’ll have to literally be living under a rock in the middle of the ocean somewhere not to see how ugly and disingenuous they have been since PBO has become the leader of the free world.
True, all that, but just a little over 140 characters. 😉
🙂 I got carried away, didn’t I ?
No, not at all, df… all so very and tragically true. Their motives and means are vile and far too many, but it all comes down to the only thing that has ever really mattered in the history of white men. Power.
thinking of you and your dear dane ❤
🙂
df…..I think you explained the problem clearly and correctly. It’s much more than PBO’s color…..it’s their coming loss of power, and they know it is coming. It is also coming from those in the military-industrial complex….the Halliburtons, the Blackwaters…..who will lose valuable government contracts, through which they have gotten obscenely wealthy. Cheney is out of his mind. These people WANT a perpetual war…..it makes money for them, and if PBO lets people get used to peace, not war, what will happen to their fortunes and prospects.
The war lobby is extremely powerful.
gunnite folks.
LIVE STREAMING: G7/ ARRIVALS/ WELCOME CEREMONY – http://www.livestation.com/reuters?source=redirect
This is perfect!
http://wonkette.com/550660/dear-soldier-we-need-some-information-in-case-youre-captured
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/rafael-nadal-birthday-facts-fascinating-french-open-28
Aw. Lovely cake. Happy Birthday To Rafa on 6-3-14
Not doing too go per GOOGLE against Ferrer(sp) a follow Spaniard. 1-3 😦
4-4 now per GOOGLE Live, thank goodness.
BBL 😉
Here’s the next thing GOP will jump on endlessly every segment!
Wow ! One thing after another !
Wonder when this will finally dawn on folk ….
Uh-huh. Sounds like Berdahl was not cooperating with them otherwise he would have been on YouTube once a week.
Yep!
Good one Bob.
“NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday that the White House has been surprised by the concerned reaction to the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. He said that the White House expected criticism of the decision to release five Taliban in exchange for Bergdahl, but they also expected “euphoria” over the release of the last American soldier held captive in Afghanistan.”
I don’t normally agree with Chuck Todd but this statement has an air of truth to it for me. If feeds into what LL is speaking of in his essay. Not even the WH could have imagined that the Republicans would cross that line and react so negatively to Bergdahl’s release. This is why R’s are scrubbing their supportive tweets of his release and McCain has forgotten that we have this thing called video. The normal reflex was support but then that little thing called “be against anything the President is for” hit them so they had to do a complete 180 on it.
I’m not sure that I would say that the WH expected “euphoria” but I bet they weren’t counting on this reaction…
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/chuck-todd-white-house-anticipated-euphoria-over-bergdahl-release/
I agree Donna. However unlike your and my thoughts on the WH, (and as your post also suggests), Chuck Todd is not coming from a place of sincerity in his reporting on the WH’s surprise. His whole angle is that this is the WH’s mistake, their error and they were singularly wrong for unrealistically having an expectation of at least a civil response from the opposition on this exchange. He also seems to take perverse delight as if the GOP “Stuck it” to the WH, and the WH deserved to get that unexpected and hateful response from the GOP. Note that Mr. Todd is not taking the position of the GOP being way out of line in launching, promoting and maintaining that hostile and completely-uncalled-for reaction…his focus is not on the GOP’s craven and cynical behavior – instead it’s all about the WH being caught “flat-footed.”
incidentally, it’s not the just the WH who didn’t anticipate this response – any reasonable individual or institution and most of the general public would and should have had that expectation of relief, genuine happiness for the POW’s parents and loved ones, and pleasure that progress is made to reduce the number of GITMO detainees towards closure. So for Todd to underhandedly imply that the WH is “unprepared,” while he carefully omits the GOP’s utter hypocrisy and history of blatantly changed positions on POWs’ release is rather disgusting IMO.
I actually read a report yesterday, and I’m sorry I can’t remember what it was I’ve been reading so much on this, that said the WH was told by GOPers in Congress a long while ago that this would be PBO’s “Willie Horton moment.” So I’m not so sure they weren’t expecting the usual RWNJ hysteria.
I just finish listening to FLOTUS and as always she spoke from the heart and she was wonderful talking about helping veterans. She is one caring outstanding First Lady.
Something that Phoenix can be very proud of !! Other cities and towns need to step up and do the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/us/program-to-end-homelessness-among-veterans-hits-milestone-in-arizona.html?_r=0
PHOENIX — Their descent into homelessness began almost as soon as they had closed a dignified chapter in their lives: their military service.
Dexter Mackenstadt, 63, a sailor who spent the Vietnam War tracking submarines along the East Coast, slipped into alcoholism. Robert Stone, 56, who spent three years stationed at naval bases in California, fell to that, too, and to a failing heart. John Hankins, 52, who repaired intercontinental ballistic missiles at an Air Force base in Wyoming, spent years as a drifter, living in a methamphetamine lab in the Arizona desert.
Today they are neighbors and participants in a program that White House officials have said has led Phoenix to become the first community in the country to end homelessness among veterans with long or recurrent histories of living on the streets.
NY Times (propaganda media) has an article up that Democrats shouldn’t even Dream of taking the senate seat in Mississippi.
I agree.
Forget the dreaming part and work to register as many democrats as possible and get them to the polls in November.
As PBO always writes: Dream Big Dreams!
And then he tells us: GOTV!
Amazing how every election cycle the media tells Democrats to not get their hopes up and prepare for defeat. Yet never the same with regards to Republicans. It’s always in their favor.
Very Orwellian isn’t it
Well, not really when you realize the GOP owns the media. They’re just swaying public opinion in their favor.
No thanks to Bill Clinton for paving the way to media ownership.
Look at the size of that rug….it had to cost in the tens of thousands or more.
I have a 10 x 14 …it was over 5 thousand
Amen, LL. Hey y’all, I’m back, hope you haven’t forgotten MP! sure will take a day or two to catch up, so will start here, and take a deep breath! I’m almost afraid to check my inbox!! Big hugs, lots of Light! http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=PBO
Who are you and what are you doing here? 😉
Glad to see you back.
The man on the left is in need of a better tailor.
Be nice. 🙂
I know y’all don’t like the Dailymail, but they posted a video and more pics of Pres. Obama working out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2648339/Who-sneaked-camera-Obamas-hotel-gym-Security-questions-Polish-tabloid-runs-photos-President-working-out.html?ito=video_player_click
Thank you LL for this post. If only we had more of you in the press, media and less of the Laura Logan types, sigh.
LL, Chips our First Lady is speaking Live on C-SPAN now on Veteran Homelessness. Beautiful Event. I just came in from cleaning my patio, and I forgot to turn the tv off. I walked in downstairs and heard the voice upstairs and said, “That sounds like our FLOTUS. I rushed up stairs, and sure enough, it is the First Lady.
If you all cannot see it now, remember to try to see it later on C-SPAN. Wonderful . Love you all. I need a bath and some food. Worked hard. HZ
Daisy doesn’t look too happy because she knows the GOP/MSM will find a way to blame the President.
I love reading articles and tweets posted on TOD. I however am sooo amazed at the amount and nature of the vitriol towards our President in the responses to them. I cannot imaging living my life with such hate. I hope and pray for the safety of this President.
I was off the site for 90 minutes and came back to so many good links and smart comments.
Thank you LL for your thoughtfulness on the matter.
She lost yesterday…..today she in under arrest !
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Former South Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Annette Bosworth (R) turned herself to the Minnehaha County Jail in South Dakota in response to a warrant for her arrest.
According to the Argus Leader of South Dakota on Wednesday, the warrant for Bosworth’s arrest was issued by Attorney General Marty Jackley earlier in the day. The warrant was issued for perjury, according to the Argus Leader.
Bosworth told South Dakota’s KELOLAND News that she had been charged with “six counts of perjury and six counts of offering a false or forged instrument for filing.”
During Bosworth’s Senate campaign she was accused of submitting nominating petitions that listed her as the person circulating the petition, even though she was said to be in the Philippines on vacation at the time of circulation. One of the petitions reportedly involved her sister, Peggy Craig.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/annette-bosworth-warrant-arrest
Really? The GOP has liars among their midst?
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/06/04/agendas/
Harry Reid Gave An All-Out Defense Of Obama’s Decision To Free Bergdahl On The Senate Floor
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/harry-reid-defense-obama-bergdahl-2014-6#ixzz33h9Ozdys
Once again, Harry Reid demonstrated his courage and integrity.
First, I want to thank Dr. Carla Sweet for sharing your letter with us to Sen. Feinstein. May blessings be continually in your space for doing that for all of us in Cali.
I have no deep admiration for this senator of ours)never have); however, I am determined to call, and write when I see her come out throwing the pots and pan at PBO. My relationship with Sen. Barbara Boxer is a close one, however Sen. Boxer does listen to me and she does return my calls.
I noticed the Non- Tolerance of Sen. Feinstein during her performing the duties as the -Chair or whatever during our 44th President Inauguration in 2009. She came across cold, and non-responsive ,IMHO to the entire ceremony. I mentioned it to my great niece and brother who attended, and my great niece and brother both having great seats had a similar take away. My great niece and brother are very polite and well educated citizens of this great nation; but my great niece agreed with great auntie. My great niece said that she felt a little attitude adjustment as if Sen. Feinstein was just going through the motions.
Of course, her uncle will always look at the greater goal. He said, “Hello, history was taking place, and little Ms. Diane Feinstein better just read her papers and let the people see, meet , and hear their next awesome President of the United States. It is Not about Sen. Feinstein.” He always has this calm, and reasonable side of the conversation; however, do Not get on the wrong side of this sweet and gentle soul. Just saying.
So, in conclusion, I do not like her and besides, her attitude that 2008 should have been for HC,. But we will keep those calls, letters, tweets, and e mails going forth for the likes of Sen. Feinstein and all the rest of the crew who continues to run to the camera with their unkind BS. Thanks again Dr. Carla.
((((((((((((( Lots of loving hugs to you)))))))))))))))))HZ
HZ, thank you for posting this. I agree with everything you said. I especially want to reinforce your point about the non-responsiveness of Sen. Feinstein compared to Sen. Boxer. Her and her office, unlike Sen. Boxer, rarely respond to e-mails, or they take such a long time to respond. I once got a response to my e-mail, three months after I had sent it. I think she has let the power of being the Chair of the Senate intelligence Committee go to her head.