On This Day: Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a town hall meeting at Kaukauna High School June 12, 2008 in Wisconsin
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Today (all times Eastern)
10:55: The President meets with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (spare a thought for 99ts at this difficult time)
12:30: Jay Carney briefs the press
2:05: The President honors WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx, East Room
3:30: The First Lady joins local students and school nutrition directors from across the country to harvest the summer crop from the White House Kitchen Garden (See here)
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The Week Ahead
Friday: The President and the First Lady will travel to the Cannonball, North Dakota area to visit the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Following their visit to Indian Country, they will travel to Palm Springs, CA.
Saturday: The President will deliver the commencement address at University of California, Irvine on the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the UC Irvine campus by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The President and the First Lady will return to Washington, D.C on Monday.
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So Republicans are really pointing out that with Mitt we could still be in Iraq and not have to endure 10+ million insured Americans.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) June 12, 2014
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Steve Benen: Crisis grips Iraq, spurring a familiar U.S. debate
The security crisis gripping Iraq is real and intensifying. Closer to home, however, there’s a familiar domestic political debate starting anew.
In Iraq, militant insurgents, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – an al Qaeda offshoot considered too radical for some in the terrorist network – have seized control of two major cities and may yet launch an attack on Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki wants Parliament to declare a state of emergency, while also quietly reaching out to U.S. officials, inviting military intervention.
The White House is “deeply concerned” about the deteriorating conditions, but by all accounts, President Obama is not at all eager to recommit military forces to Iraq, choosing instead to focus on Iraq’s capacity to defend itself.
But elsewhere in Washington, a predictable dynamic is taking shape: the same conservatives who were wrong about the war in Iraq before are not only blaming the U.S. president for Iraq’s current crisis, they’re also suggesting Americans re-enter the fight.
More here
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BBC: Six things that went wrong for Iraq
The borders of the modern Middle East are in large part a legacy of World War One. They were established by the colonial powers after the defeat and dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
Those borders could now be in peril for two main reasons – the continuing fighting and fragmentation of Syria and the ISIS assault in Iraq Unless the military gains of ISIS can be reversed, the Iraqi state is in peril as never before. The dual crises in Syria and Iraq combine to offer the possibility of a “state” encompassing eastern Syria and western Iraq where the jihadists of ISIS hold sway.
This would have huge implications for the region and beyond. Iraq has to a large extent staggered from crisis to crisis, so what went wrong?
More here
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@CharlesMBlow – So is Syria. So is Libya. So is Egypt. So is Nigeria. So is Ukraine. So?
— amk4obama (@amk4obama) June 12, 2014
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Kevin Drum: No, Staying in Iraq Wouldn’t Have Changed Anything
… I find it fantastical that anyone could read about what’s happening and continue to believe that a small US presence in Iraq could ever have been more than a Band-Aid. I mean, just read the report. Two divisions of Iraqi soldiers turned tail in the face of 800 insurgents. That’s what we got after a decade of American training. How can you possibly believe that another few years would have made more than a paper-thin difference? Like it or not, the plain fact is that Iraq is too fundamentally unstable to be rebuilt by American military force. We could put fingers in the dikes, but not much more.
More here
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ThinkProgress: One Chart That Shows Why The Middle East Is Now One Giant Warzone
What started as a crackdown against democratic protests three years ago, has become a region-wide conflict that now has Iraq descending back into chaos. The countries of the region — along with the United States and various non-state actors — all have a hand in creating this moment, as money, fighters, weapons, and a desire to control the Middle East have come together to produce an extremely volatile and terrifying situation.
More here
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@BarackObama: Retweet if you agree with the President
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Here Myrlie Evers comforting son Darrell at funeral after Medgar Evers’s assassination of today 1963: #Loengard pic.twitter.com/tx3z8ij9jJ
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) June 12, 2014
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Jonathan Cohn: More Evidence That Obamacare Is Helping
The uninsured rate in Minnesota has plunged 40 percent, according to a new study
…. The number of people without health insurance fell from about 445,000 to 264,000. That’s roughly a 40 percent decline in the number of uninsured, lowering the state’s overall rate from 8.2 percent to 4.8 percent. That looks a lot like what happened in Massachusetts after similar reforms passed there, and it’s right in line with what Congressional Budget Office has predicted for the country as a whole….
…. a big reason for the decline in Minnesota was the high enrollment in Medicaid, which Minnesota lawmakers enthusiastically agreed to expand. In about half of the country, more conservative lawmakers have blocked their states from undertaking similar changes.
Of course, that’s a pretty powerful demonstration of the benefits that these conservative officials are denying to their citizens.
Full post here
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Train wreck >> @ddiamond 180,000 Minnesotans are newly insured thanks to Obamacare, ↓ uninsured rate by 40%, http://t.co/Ct1wOAtpAV …
— BWD (@theonlyadult) June 11, 2014
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#ACASignups ICYMI: Holy Cats! Massachusetts reaches nearly 100% insured! http://t.co/ax1Mmn7eQD #ACA #Obamacare
— Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) June 11, 2014
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Disaster! New poll finds Americans want to keep Ocare by 66-32; only minority says it goes too far: http://t.co/jVYkdyOEAj
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 12, 2014
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Charles Pierce: The Next Big Whack At The Voting Rights Act
While we were all being entertained by the slandering of a returning POW, and then by the road company production of Weasel’s End in Virginia, the Supreme Court quietly accepted for review yet another case that involves the franchise, and the rights of minority voters to exercise it. Before we get to what it all might mean for the country that is still in the throes of John Roberts’s Day Of Jubilee, we should pause for a moment and gaze in awe at the glorious legal hypocrisy of the state of Alabama.
More here
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Steve Benen: Senate GOP blocks student-loan refinancing
President Obama this week issued an executive order to help millions of young people with student-loan payments, lowering payments based on income and loan duration. The program already existed, but the new White House policy greatly expanded eligibility.
But while making the announcement on this on Monday, Obama also endorsed the next logical step: approval of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) proposal to make it easier for students to refinance their loans.
[Yesterday] morning, Senate Republicans blocked the chamber from voting on the idea.
More here
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POTUS: “If you’re a big oil company, they’ll go to bat for you. If you’re a student, good luck” GOP filibusters student loan reform bill.
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 11, 2014
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Dear @CollegeDems The @GOP in the Senate just voted 56-38 to block bill to allow the refinancing of student loans. BE A VOTER. #studentdebt
— meta (@metaquest) June 11, 2014
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Politicususa: Elizabeth Warren Declares War on Mitch McConnell After He Blocked Her Student Loan Bill
On MSNBC [last] night, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) virtually declared war on Mitch McConnell after he blocked her student loan bill. Warren told viewers to donate money to Alison Lundergan Grimes, and announced that she will be going to Kentucky to campaign for the Democrat.
…. Warren is angry, because Mitch McConnell blocked her student loan reform bill, which would have helped 40 million borrowers cut their interest rate nearly in half. The bill came up just short of passage. McConnell had signaled that he intended to block the bill because it was paid for by raising taxes on millionaires.
More here
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To everyone who has a student loan (me included): Senate GOP told you to fuck off. Thank them in November.
— Liberal Librarian (@Lib_Librarian) June 12, 2014
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“Don’t boo, just remember to vote.” —Obama on Senate Republicans blocking a bill that would’ve helped students pay back their student loans
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 11, 2014
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ThinkProgress: Could A Democrat Win Eric Cantor’s House District?
After his historic upset of U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) on Tuesday, economics professor Dave Brat (R) will now face his Randolph-Macon College colleague, sociology professor Jack Trammell (D) in the November general. While the gerrymandered district has a distinct Republican tilt, a few signs suggest that the race could potentially be competitive.
According to the Cook Political Report, Virginia’s 7th Congressional district is an “R+10″ area — meaning that it votes, on average, 10 points more Republican than the nation as a whole. Currently, just 3 of the 199 Democrats in the U.S. House represent districts more Republican leaning than that.
But a victory for Trammell in the 7th would not be unprecedented.
More here
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Who could ever guess that a GOP/Tea Partier would also be a liar? —Brat didn’t go to Princeton Univ. http://t.co/8nQsUSuoEB
— Steve Weinstein (@steveweinstein) June 11, 2014
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Charles Pierce: The Friends Of Dave Brat
The most revelatory piece about how Dave Brat came to be the likely new congressman from the Seventh Congressional District of the Commonwealth of Virginia ran in Tiger Beat On The Potomac back on April 17. (We noted it at the time.) It also undermines the emerging character of Dave Brat, Ordinary Joe. A lot of the credit for his upset is going (rightly) to various radio hosts who took the payola from wingnut sugar daddies as described by Ken Vogel and MacKenzie Weinger. Mark Levin took almost $800,000 from Americans For Prosperity. Laura Ingraham was on the arm, too. Brat also seems to owe his job to Cato Institute president John Allison.
More here
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Sure, Brat is racist, homophobic, and lies about his educational achievements. But NSA is all that matters, right dudebros?
— Liberal Librarian (@Lib_Librarian) June 11, 2014
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Ed Kilgore: Congressional Republicans: Nobody Here But Us Christians
Among the many shocking things about Eric Cantor’s defeat yesterday, the one that shocked me most is the realization that he is currently the only publicly-identified non-Christian Republican in Congress. Not just the highest-ranking Jewish Republican, or the highest-ranking non-Christian Republican, but the only non-Christian Republican in either chamber, at least according to a Pew analysis of the religious affiliations of Members of Congress conducted after the 2012 elections. It’s always possible, I suppose, that a non-Christian GOPer can be nominated later this year and elected in November, but for now, the estimated 27% of Americans who don’t identify themselves with some form of the Christian faith will likely have no representation among Republicans House and Senate members come next year.
More here
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“Do you have any jobs where you sit around and criticize Obama? Are you sure? Could you check again?” — Eric Cantor at recruiter meeting
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) June 10, 2014
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ThinkProgress: David Brat: Embrace Christian Capitalism, Or Hitler Will Come Back
When David Brat defeated House Majority leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in the Republican primary of Virginia’s 7th Congressional District last night, House Republicans likely lost their only Jewish representative. In his place, they may have gained a radically pro-capitalist Christian theologian.
Christian Tea Party candidates are certainly not unusual, but a trail of writings show that Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon college, has an especially radical theology to support his right-wing politics. Brat’s CV lists him as a graduate of Hope College, a Christian school in Michigan, and Princeton Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian Church U.S.A. seminary in New Jersey. He claims to be a “fairly orthodox Calvinist,” but several of his published writings expose a unsettling core theology that is centered around lifting up unregulated, free-market capitalism as a morally righteous system that churches should embrace—or else.
More here
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Dave Brat said “God gave us this win” over Eric Cantor. If God decides elections, why do conservatives hate the guy He chose for President?
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) June 11, 2014
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The People’s View: Cantor’s Loss Undermines Media’s “Dem Enthusiasm Gap” Meme
… GOP’s chief political arsonist House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his own primary in his home district by double digit margins. Everyone agrees that it was a political earthquake the likes of which are essentially without parallel. This upset is most often being hailed as a Tea Party victory, and there is little doubt that it is that. But the most important lesson for Democrats and progressives should be something different: throw away all the polls and get out the vote.
The much-mocked internal poll conducted last month and released last week by Eric Cantor’s campaign that showed their candidate up by 34 points, and even right wing pollsters showed Eric Cantor up by 11 points at the same time. The pendulums swung between 22 and 45 points last night to give Cantor’s xenophobic Tea Party opponent a margin of victory of over 10 points.
How did the pollsters get it so wrong? ….. let’s discuss precisely what they got wrong.
More here
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Meet @jacktrammell, the Democrat who will face David Brat, the man who beat Eric Cantor http://t.co/hUlY6A06tq pic.twitter.com/0y4BDlfdbK
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) June 11, 2014
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Smartypants: A lazy media once again misses how politics has changed
Today the media pundits are tripping over themselves to tell us what Cantor’s primary defeat means for the future of national politics. But one word of caution about listening to their prognostications: these are the very same people who never saw this one coming. At some point we have to question their predictive capacities. Unless/until they are willing to do a little self-examination to uncover why they were so wrong, we should take their current machinations with one HUGE grain of salt.
I’ve been hesitant to say this outright, but I think one of the biggest reasons they get so much wrong is that too many of these pundits are lazy. Its much easier (and more conducive to lucrative linkbait) to simply run with the latest hysteria craze created by the right wingnuts. Over the last few years we’ve watched them become consumed with everything from presidential birth certificates to literally buying wingnut lies about an American POW before we have the facts. When it comes time for an election, they are quick to point out that American voters STILL say that job creation is their number one concern. And yet they spend all their time running after fake scandals….because its easy.
More here
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Obamacare goes from strength to strength, meanwhile: Eric Cantor is repealed. Karma? Love ya. pic.twitter.com/7I1WMR7xr0
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) June 12, 2014
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Paul Krugman: Fall of an Apparatchik
… Cantor’s loss is part of a process that could well unravel movement conservatism as we know it.
…. it turns out that being a movement conservative apparatchik is no longer a safe career choice. This is a very big deal. Conservatives, as I said, will always be with us. But the structure that shaped them into a cohesive movement is now starting to unravel, at a time when movement progressivism — which is much less cohesive and much less lucrative, but nonetheless now exists in a way it didn’t 15 years ago — is on the rise.
Meanwhile, don’t cry for Eric Cantor.
Full post here
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Dear God. In slamming Bergdahl, has GOP been attacking a mentally ill man who shouldnt have been accepted in army? http://t.co/OPtrmNis60
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 11, 2014
‘Support Our Troops – Unless…….’ pic.twitter.com/vJu6Fxlhkg
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) June 10, 2014
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TPM: Five Major Cases The Supreme Court Will Decide This Month
The Supreme Court has already delivered major rulings this year on campaign finance and prayer in public meetings. By the end of June, the Court is expected to hand down several more important decisions that could dramatically alter the law and affect Americans’ lives.
Here are key decisions to watch for.
More here
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Oh Dear:
Republican presidential candidate >> RT @BobbyJindal: New season of @DuckDynastyAE starting in less than an hour. RT if you are tuning in!
— BWD (@theonlyadult) June 12, 2014
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NBC: President Obama: I’m a ‘fun dad who teeters on the edge of being embarrassing’
As Father’s Day approaches, President Obama shared his thoughts about fatherhood and raising kids in the White House during an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager, who knows what it’s like to have a dad who is the commander-in-chief.
Obama said his two daughters, Malia, 15, and Sasha, who turned 13 this week, would describe him as a good, fun dad who “teeters on the edge of being embarrassing sometimes.”
More here
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Jenna Bush Hager tells President Obama that she taught Sasha & Malia to slide down the bannister at the White House. pic.twitter.com/HrDrTjOOy1
— 3ChicsPolitico (@3ChicsPolitico) June 12, 2014
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Today:
Hey guys! Tomorrow at 2:30pm ET, I’ll answer your questions on school nutrition and healthy lunches. Ask away using #LunchWithFLOTUS. -mo
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) June 11, 2014
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On This Day
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First Lady Michelle Obama signs her new book “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America” during a book signing at Barnes & Noble on June 12, 2012 in Washington, DC
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President Obama and Congressman Ed Markey wave to the crowd as Obama attends a rally for Markey at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, June 12, 2013
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MoooOOOooorning!
ME!
Congrats!!!! 🙂
THANK YOU swbluega!
Thursdays are GREAT; since we are playing musical chairs, next one is yours : )
wtg Cindy – lucky Thursday
HAPPY BEAUTIFUL EARLY FRIDAY MORNING TO YOU 99ts!
What are you doing up this time of morning? Did you stay out partying the night away : )
I say; curfew needed………gotta watch you missy.
Wishing you an AWESOME DAY!
Mooooooooorning everyone!
Thank you for the AWESOME Rise and Shine Chipsticks!
News that matter and BEAUTIFUL pictures.
Good BEAUTIFUL and WONDERFUL THURSDAY Chipsticks, DannyStix and TOD FAMILY!
Wishing everyone a very AWESOME DAY!
Don’t forget to count your blessings today, and if you complain that you have too many, please give some away.
To President Barack H. Obama,
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you WIN!!!”
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To Eric Cantor,
First you win, then you fight President Barack H. Obama to no in, then they quietly begin to “LAUGH” at “YOU”, then they “IGNORE YOU” and
then they KICK your rear to the curve; ERIC CANTOR! you have been served.
SEE YA, DON’T WANT TO BE YA!
HAPPY THURSDAY!!!
GM all
All these near misses are going to do me in….one of these days! 😉
MoooOooorning again, you all!
Good morning Chips and TOD. Congrats on 1st again Cindy.
Morning Jackie, morning everyone!
THANK YOU Jackie 4 Obama!
HAPPY THURSDAY TO YOU!
Wishing you a MIGHTY AWESOME DAY!
Chips Chica, that 2008 face at the top of the thread looks like a teenager…a mature teenager. You sure you got the year right for that pic? 😉 😉
On 2nd thoughts, forget mature teen, that face looks like a 22yr old – like you!
🙂 He does look like a teenager in it!
Presidential candidate, U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill) speaks at a town hall meeting at Kaukauna High School June 12, 2008 Kaukauna Wis.
Good genes, eh? BTW, I wasn’t doubting the accuracy of your caption – you goddess of photos! I’m well aware that it’s the tough decision making that has aged my guy so rapidly. At least, I believe it is.
The trick is to stay 22 and a half forever.
On my way over to get tips for accomplishing this! Next knock on the door is mine.
O, btw, a roll-back mechanism had better be a part of this trick!
I notice the Pres has a commencement address on Saturday. Anyone certain he/FLOTUS is not going to swing by here on Friday for our commencement? I was teasing my son about who is, no doubt, boring speaker is going to be, to which he replied he doesn’t know but it won’t be POTUS/FLOTUS. He’s recently discovered the acronyms so likes to throw them into the convo.
GM vc, congratulations on your son’s graduation this weekend. He’s receiving a BA in Fine Arts with a major in Music – am I correct?
Give him a {{{{hug}}}} from me.
Gooood moorrrninnnngggg, Chips, Danny and TODville.
Cantor’s demise is a WIN WIN WIN for California. McCarthy is from Bakersfield, CA.
Our mission is to squish Repubs into oblivion.
meta, that’s a good article.
I am amazed that with all the smoozing Cantor did in Silicon Valley, that he didn’t think to use the latest technology to his advantage like President Obama does with Tumbler, Twitter, etc.
Or hire a decent pollster!
Great. Would be nice to get rid of Issa.
Wow – what a R&S today – everything good about PBO – thank you Miss Chips
As for this one – 10:55: The President meets with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (spare a thought for 99ts at this difficult time)
Probably should spare a thought for PBO – meeting with a RWNJ climate change denier is no fun whatsoever – but – PM Abbott comes bearing a gift. Foreign affairs award for who can guess what it is
1. Didgeridoo – The didgeridoo (/ˌdɪdʒərɪˈduː/) (also known as a didjeridu) is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread use today both in Australia and around the world
2. surfboard – http://radness.com.au/blog/surfing/surf-boards/australias-best-11-surfboard-brands-shapers/
3. Copy of our constitution
4. Picture of the Abbott daughters at his election night party – http://www.theage.com.au/comment/tony-abbotts-women-in-white-a-symbol-of-whats-to-come-20130911-2tjm7.html
5. A Koala bear for the Washington zoo
🙂 Is he giving PBO all four gifts?!
Out of respect to you 99ts, I’m almost reluctant to post any pics later!
Bless you – cyclekini
ahhhh – that was meant to be – post the cyclekini 🙂
What the heck – let everyone see what we elected!
99ts, my guess is a koala bear for the Washington zoo. 🙂
you can have a 2nd guess 🙂
Hahahaha! ok, the didgeridoo?
That one was my original guess & I was wrong – guess we have to remember where PBO was born 🙂
Seriously?! Is he giving him a surfboard?! 🙂
sigh – I did warn you about him
Too funny!
99ts, that’s too logical. President Obama can get a surfboard from anywhere USA, why not give him an original gift from Australia?
Oh how funny!
Thanks 99 for your uplifting contribution to my smile this morning. I hope you have a pleasant evening 🙂
Ours is not to reason why – wait with trepidation for the pictures!
99, I’m on pins and needles 😉
Why don’t they go or send their kids to Iraq? Why do they always want to send other people’s children into battle?
Morning all.
Another wonderful R & S, Chips. Thank you.
I especially like the photo of Ed Markey with POTUS. Good new senator.
Also, the lovely shot of the Bush girls with the Obama kids.
As we were saying earlier, this is a fragile moment for US/Iran nuclear agreement talks and GOP/Media will be falling all over themselves to sabotage it if they can. AIPAC and Sen. Menendez have revived their own sabotage efforts. Thank you, Israel for your consistency. No peace ever. We don’t agree with you but at least we need not guess about your position.
PBO is likely to outsmart and outlast this battle just as he has many times before.
And in related news—-anyone else notice how Cantor, Iraq, Bergdahl have restored the release of a book nobody cares about to its rightful place in tthe world?
CNN crew hurt during protests at World Cup.
Carol Costello asks ” What are they protesting about ? ”
Duh…..these protests have been going on for over a year…….
Yet another proof of utter cluelessness of the american media about rest of the world.
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
Chips, I love your Cantor repealed tweet – GREAT!
Well balanced (POTUS, POTUS, FLOTUS, POTUS) R&S – Love IT! 🙂
🙂 Moooooooooooooorning GGail!!!
Moooooooooorning precious 🙂
Fantasic Rise and Shine, Chips. Good reading.
Mornin’ y’all! ❤
My bad: full moon tonight: 22.06 Sagittarius. 0:11am EDT. (6/13/14) 9:11pm PDT (6/12/14) Be watching for the zoom from the solar flare! .
We drove home about 6pm this evening MP – the moon was a glorious white against a fading sky – nature gives us some glorious moments
Indeed, and we know to immerse ourselves in gratitude!
WOW
I blame Mitt Romney – hahahahaha
Interesting article – funny how the “disaster” of the federal website was the demise of healthcare in the world according to GOP – yet they rarely mention the failure of state market places. The federal website and its VERY fast recovery is truly remarkable – but the media only likes federal disasters – nothing else enters their blocked heads.
So so so true. And tiresome.
It’s a really good read – explains the benefits of the ACA over Romney’s original version and why so many more have joined. It also makes the point that in 3-5 years most other states will also have the same 100% sign ups. If the media and the GOP told the truth it wouldn’t take 3-5 years.
Good Morning TOD!
Early voting starts today here in Maryland for our Primary.
In my tweet is a very good Op-ed by Ben Jealous on how my state has made it easier to vote while so many other states are making it more difficult.
I hope Rachel comes out with an analysis of the past 15 years in Iraq as no other pundit is likely to be telling the truth and the usual prospects in DC will be screaming for war – more war – put it on the credit card.
Pierce tells it as history sees it
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_National_Forgetting
“And what happened to The Future Of Iraq Project which, whatever you might think of its ambition and the assumptions on which it was built, one of which is the now self-evident proposition that we pretty much suck at nation-building, at least was an attempt to construct a future beyond candy-and-flowers, and which at least had as its fundamental principle that, having wrecked Iraq, we had something of an obligation to fix it for the Iraqis? Donald Rumsfeld happened to it. Dick Cheney happened to it. The utter incompetence of the administration of C-Plus Augustus happened to it.”
it literally makes me sick to my stomach to see the bush daughter chumming around with the Obama family. the bush family is so fantastically odious and murderous that i cannot stand to see any of them, and i don’t care if she SUPPOSEDLY voted for president obama. “the news” is doing everything they can to rehab the bush name, and giving her this job, despite no accomplishment whatsoever, and having do things like this only helps the family come back to rape and pillage the world some more. sorry to be so aggressive about it, but it’s simply factual.
McWar is having a meltdown on the Senate floor over Iraq…
Of course..McWar, please proceed…one can only cry wolf so many times
Screw him! HE can go!
I don’t suppose he is criticizing GWB and cronies who have created this new Iraq?
I hate to think how many wars our military would be fighting if McCain won in 2008.
Off to be gifted with the 3rd and final injection in knee today. Results may begin to show up after this one. I found something very astute on my FB page today I leave you with it: “The Light at the end of the Tunnel is not an illusion ~ the Tunnel is.”
ooh, lovely quote, MP. best, best wishes for good results 🙂
Morning everyone!
Thanks for flogging my two tweets, Chiparoo.
See everyone later, maybe. Very busy day ahead of me.
#Forward
Come back you. Chelsea just signed Fabregas. That news has ruined my entire life.
I saw that! Hah! I guess his Barca DNA evolved to a higher state of being.
Hate you.
Wow, Nancy Pelosi is having her weekly presser and she is hitting it out of the park on all points. She just speaks the truth, directly and forcefully on every topic and pushes back forcefully on RW talking points from the press. What a breath of fresh air.
She also said she’d rather pass immigration reform than win her election in Nov. It’s vitally important to our country.
Maliki Votes for Obama
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, July 25, 2008
In a stunning upset, Barack Obama this week won the Iraq primary. When Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki not once but several times expressed support for a U.S. troop withdrawal on a timetable that accorded roughly with Obama’s 16-month proposal, he did more than legitimize the plan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/24/AR2008072403416.html
John Boehner about to give his weekly presser on cspan.
They did not show Nancy Pelosi’s but say they will show it later.
And this is the independent media – that shows no bias to either side?
They were playing McWar’s meltdown on the other two channels at the same time.
Why does this fool have a place to tell his never ending lies
“Rep. Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) loss in a Republican primary this week caught most political observers off guard, but Joe Scarborough saw the warning signs long before the upset.”
Ole Joe knew it was coming – hahahahaha – in his dreams – after the event
And that wonderful quote comes from TPM – the so called liberal media that quotes RW hacks all day every day.
The know-it-all speaks his wisdom, yet again?
Not!
So Alison Grimes can’t go near PBO but she’s not afraid of Clinton or Warren. I wonder why?
Oh the unbearable ‘whiteness’ of being
That has been my point on Grimes from the beginning. Kentucky is a racially backwards state and much of the state’s animosity toward PBO is due to the color of his skin. Is it fair? Hell no!!! But she has to run this kind of campaign. There are likely a large number of racist democrats in Kentucky too. I am certain PBO is aware of the realities of this situation and still wants Grimes win. Plus wouldn’t it be sweet to get rid of both Cantor and McTurtle?
It’s a crying shame but that’s a pretty realistic assessment Eric.
The only thing black the state of Kentucky loves is those black boys playing basketball for Kentucky.
Also the coal sludge/slurry ponds that keep busting open ….what is she going to do about that blackness ?
YES, I’m hoping for the turtle to go off into the wilderness. Or is he already there?
In Congressional races, the local situation is critical. Even though PBO’s approval rating in KY is higher than McConnell’s, his campaigning for her would doom her. Warren may be a liberal, but her populist message will sell well in that state. Grimes will be a better supporter of PBO than most realize if she is in the Senate.
Warren is white – that’s the critical ingredient to her relative standing among KY voters vis-a-vis PBO – not her populist message (which is also great and pushed by President Obama).
But as Eric said, PBO (and many of us here) understand the realities of illogic behind racism that permeates the US, so we can understand the “distancing” that Grimes has being doing thus far.
I’m pushing back on this Japa. President Obama has been touting the populist message long before Elizabeth Warren came into the Senate.
What you’re not willing to admit is that Elizabeth Warren is white. President Obama is Black. End. Of. Story.
That’s why Warren will be welcomed with open arms in Kentucky.
Let’s be honest, some Kentuckians – even Democrats – are if not downright racist, then they hold prejudices they are not willing to admit. That is the be all and end all.
It would be good to have Grimes and not McConnell in the Senate but let’s not be coy by pretending race doesn’t play a huge factor in why she doesn’t want President Obama campaigning for and with her.
“What you’re not willing to admit is that Elizabeth Warren is white. President Obama is Black. End. Of. Story. ”
say it again Nerdy. And for anyone to give tacit agreement to this type of discrimination all in the name of winning an election can miss me with that logic.
I personally hope she loses. … Badly
Of course you are right, Eric. But in my dream of dreams, these Democrats running in these states would make the least bit of effort to teach and inform and steer their constituents back to their own interests. That includes health care, the environment, fact-based education, unions, consumer and worker protection, infrastructure, etc. But they don’t- they do very little to move the ball forward.
Once they are in office, there simply has to be a way to make inroads, and I don’t care how small. That’s what the RWNJ’s have done over the last 35 years, making lies into truth. Why can’t we make serious progress with the actual truth?
Is there no way to move at least some coal miners into understanding that we can create jobs for them that are safe for them personally and healthy for the planet?
57, I hear your frustration, but I too shake my head at my family and friends in rural Georgia who still have their heads in the sand. It’s like their stuff in a warped time zone. No matter how much I talk, or send them information. They call me the “family political activist”. I call them lazy. Conditioning. They were really, seriously, conditioned to believe that Hil was a better choice over Barack – why? color alone.
But, I don’t give up.
It’s gotten this bad because Democratic politicians in these states were all too willing to accept the Republican line. They jettison Democratic ideals at the drop of a hat. I’m not saying they should go out there like a 60’s radical. But the fact is that the Democrats over this period just called this rightward march ‘crazy’ instead of finding ways to truly stem the tide, counteract lies with truth about worker’s rights, etc.
Running from ACA was just acquiescing to the screams of the RW. There was the perfect opportunity for each and every Democrat to show their constituents how this would help them. But instead Dems react to the GOP dog whistle: instead of using reverse outrage, they jump into the sewer, falling allover themselves to ‘agree’. It’s a pattern and a good deal of the mess we’re in is because Democratic leadership let their ideals be whittled away because of noisy Republicans.
Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy: he gave anyone willing to hang a D afte their name, financial support but expected nothing in return, so we ended up with our alleged ‘huge’ majorities in 2009 that never existed. Democratic legislators don’t get to toe the GOP line on providing decent health care to Americans. You never see Republicans undermine their message, and yet Dems do it all the time. It’s the problem of the DNC leadership who hasn’t helped these candidates find the proper means to sell health care and worker’s rights in KY, etc.
Conditioning. It comes back to conditioning.
I don’t think Dems will wake up from this slumber till President Obama is out of Office and can really take leadership of either the DNC, or DCC and teach Dems how to think and strategize (sp) for success.
PBO has been the beacon, the example and the spokesman. And the DNC still doesn’t learn.
What more does it take to get through to Dems? God, the GOP has been masterful at crafting a visceral message, communicating it and keeping their ‘messengers’ on the same page. how in the hell have Dems not learned to do that over the last 30 years?
no. I would prefer the Turtle win. What she did to Sec Shinseki is unforgivable. Screw her.
I hope the Turtle trounces her.
In most of the 11 Confederate states, Dems can still control those states if the 15-20% self ID’ed Dems would Vote with their fellow non-White Dems.
Until then, Candidates like Grimes…….win by playing the “invisible” games.
But for the GOP, Martinez in NM can win. Same as in NV, SC, FL, etc. Why? In the GOP, those non-White candidates bow to the same mantra.
A man met a wonderful woman and became engaged to her. He called his mother to share his good news with her. He arranged to have dinner with his mother that evening so that she could meet his fiancee. When he arrived at her home, he brought along three women – a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. His mother inquired as to why he had brought three women, instead of just one. He replied that he wanted to see if his mother would be able to guess which one of the women was her future daughter-in-law. She looked at each one carefully and then replied: “It’s the redhead.” “How could you possibly have figured that out so quickly?” he inquired. She coldly replied, “Because I can’t stand HER.”
$$$
Two women came before wise King Solomon, dragging between them a young man. “This young man agreed to marry my daughter,” said one. “No! He agreed to marry MY daughter,” said the other. And so they haggled before the King, until he called for silence. “Bring me my biggest sword,” said Solomon, ” and I shall hew the young man in half. Each of you shall receive a half.” “Sounds good to me,” said the first lady. But the other woman said, “Oh Sire, do not spill innocent blood. Let the other woman’s daughter marry him.” The wise king did not hesitate a moment. “This man must marry the first lady’s daughter,” he proclaimed. “But she was willing to hew him in two!” exclaimed the king’s court. “Indeed,” said wise King Solomon. “That shows she is the TRUE mother-in-law!”
And I am outta here.
http://americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2014/06/12/91488/the-obama-administrations-renewed-workforce-investment-in-kentucky/
he Obama administration recently took an important step in confronting the challenges of a rapidly changing national energy landscape by helping Kentucky coal miners navigate the country’s ongoing energy transition. On June 4, the U.S. Department of Labor, with strong bipartisan support, announced that it is committing $7.5 million in National Emergency Grant, or NEG, funding for re-employment assistance for Kentucky workers affected by coal-mining layoffs. The NEG award, provided under the Workforce Investment Act, brings the total amount of federal funding for job training and job search programs being carried out across the commonwealth to support its unemployed miners to $11.3 million. This support for Appalachia’s coal country is important and will benefit hard-hit working families and coal-mining communities in some of the poorest counties in America as they pursue new opportunities and seek to diversify local economic development.
WV should follow suit….Mitch probably HATES THIS!
Coal is to Mitch what war is to McCain
Good ThursTODay 😉
Fantastic R&S Chips.
Congrats to all Au ⭐ winners starting with this post and 3 back.
The World Cup officially Starts today, YES!
G’day shipmates. Some might like this post I found. I did.
Andrea Mitchell just got all testy with Senator Kaine over what is happening in Iraq and blaming President Obama for not foreseeing this would happen. “We were there 10 years ….where was the Intelligence on this ” ?
hmmmm
Seems to me she should be asking the same question of her husband who missed the entire economic meltdown that started on his watch and he was there for 20 years ! Especially the housing part.
Perhaps, AMitchell should sign up and with Money she and her husband have accumulated over the years……they both can go and start fighting in Iraq.
Right on Nena20409. Why didn’t the leader of Iraq for see this? Why did we invade Iraq in the first place? Isn’t it time for the people of iraq to stand up and fight for their country?
Oh, I think the adminsitration probably foresaw the unrest that was going to happen. Having 30,000 Iraqi troops run away from 800 insurgents, maybe not. But that is not the type of thing anybody could have counted on.
I just read Boehner’s comments about PBO and Iraq. I cannot stand that stupid man!
I agree with you donna no shock. John Boehner is the worst speaker “EVER”,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/press-briefing-press-secretary-jay-carney-208
6-12-14
The Hon Sec Jay “Clark Kent” Carney will be deliverying a much needed Schooling to the Laziest WHPC pretenders soonish
Smiling!
Good morning everyone. Lots of good stuff on the Intertube today!
whatever. The mainstream media were the same ones pushing the same messaging causing the Bergdahl family being threatened.
John McCain is truly clownish. Bad at it. His acting is tired. Seriously.
The guy is almost 78 yrs old. His mother is 100/101 and no doubt he may get to live that long…..doubt it… for he is stressed out on HATE. Sheesh. This guy Loves, Thinks, and almost Breathes War 24/7.
Flying up in the sky and launching bombs is War. But one that’s up high never really sees what the ground is like. McCain should really stop being so theatrical and Look around him for many are laughing at him.
He is tortured by guilt for not living up to the expectations of his father’s and grandfather’s .
THIS !
Great actress, civil rights advocate, may she rest in peace.
Funny I was thinking about her when Dr. Angelou pasted. She is with her husband now…may they rest in eternal peace.
RIP
I used to see her with her late husband on TV. Very gracious couple. The Heavens have another great one. Safe journey.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-immigration-cantor-defeat
At his weekly press conference Thursday, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) repeatedly declined to offer an opinion about why House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) lost his GOP primary election Tuesday night or what message it sends to Republicans.
When asked if the majority leader’s defeat makes it harder to move forward on immigration reform, Boehner said,At his weekly press conference Thursday, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) repeatedly declined to offer an opinion about why House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) lost his GOP primary election Tuesday night or what message it sends to Republicans.
When asked if the majority leader’s defeat makes it harder to move forward on immigration reform, Boehner said, “We don’t know that that [immigration] is the issue — or was the issue — in the election.”
//////
“We don’t know that that [immigration] is the issue — or was the issue — in the election.”
///////
There, there Beltway Pundits……..It was Not Immigration. Cantor was not liked. He was defeated by less than the number of votes Cantor received in the 2012 primary.
The media are the ones pushing it was about immigration…..
The polling on Tuesday in his district proves it was not about immigration.
Congrats on 1st Cindy!!
Superb R&S, Chips. Thank you!!
GOOD AFTERNOON MR.BOBFR!
HAPPY BEAUTIFUL THURSDAY TO YOU and THANK YOU MUCH!
Enjoy your day!!!
Thank you Cindy 🙂 Hope you’re having a fine day, as well!!
The Sunday Talk-A-Ton will have the Badie Oldies out and paraded before the TV.
Most Americans would simply say: Nope. No more wars in Iraq. Not One Blood….. drop.
Yep, let us count the number of times we will hear ‘this President is weak’ all brought to you by the MIC and corporate America! The American people know better!!!!
Next Up
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/06/12/next-up-3/
Legendary Actress and Civil Rights Activist Dies at 91
6/12/2014 9:01 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Ruby Dee — one of the legendary actresses in Hollywood and on Broadway — died Wednesday night … TMZ has learned.
Ruby was at home in New Rochelle, NY … surrounded by family when she passed away … according to sources connected to the family. A rep confirmed the death.
Ruby was a pioneer for African-American women in Hollywood … and is perhaps best known for her starring role in the 1960s film “A Raisin in the Sun” — and her roles in the Spike Lee movies “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” Her most recent big budget Hollywood film was “American Gangster” … she played Denzel Washington’s mother.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/06/12/ruby-dee-dies-actress-dead-ossie-davis/#ixzz34RkBClBS