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Today (all times Eastern)
11:0: The President meets with NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg
12:30: Lunch with VP Biden
5:0: Meets with HHS Secretary Burwell
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26
May
15
98 Responses to “Early Bird Rise and Shine”
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The People’s View
- Follow me at my new venture: Reclaim the Fight Spandan Chakrabarti
- Ignore the bait: Why it’s the right strategy for Democrats to focus SCOTUS fight on health care Spandan Chakrabarti
- BIG: Judge halts Trump administration attempt to shortcut the census Spandan Chakrabarti
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Steve Benen
- Joe: There is no post-truth world when it comes to the court system
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- Air Mail: George Santos, Boris Johnson, Restoration Hardware and Putin
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- The paradoxical relationship between America and poverty
The Obama Diary 
Hi. Bye.
Well, I very much enjoyed that lengthy Tuesday morning chat, thank you Mister 😆
Congrats amk. GM TODers. I hope everyone enjoyed family and friends over the holiday weekend.
Morning. Hope all our friends in Texas and Oklahoma are okay today.
Morning Jackie, hoping they all got through the night safely too.
Thanks for your concern. I’m safe here in Oklahoma, and my children are safe in Dallas. We didn’t get a large amount of rain yesterday. Saturday…..when my son and family were driving here……was the worst. The lake we live next to is very full, and the dam is being used to control the flow from the river that feeds it.
We have become Weather channel addicts in the morning…..
This is a lovely article on the Irish marriage equality vote and the title (“Irish Vote Reflects Diminished Moral Authority of Catholic Church”)does not do it justice. My favorite line:
“The resounding Yes is a statement that Ireland has left tolerance far behind. It’s saying there’s no “them” anymore. LGBT people are us–our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters neighbors and friends. We were given the chance to say that. We were asked to replace tolerance with equality of citizenship. And we took it in both arms and hugged it close.”
http://religiondispatches.org/irish-vote-overwhelmingly-for-marriage-equality/?utm_source=Religion+Dispatches+Newsletter&utm_campaign
Once again Bravo Ireland. Wish that we could all be like you.
Ah, that’s beautiful Jackie, ‘replacing tolerance with equality of citizenship’: perfect. I’ve been reading lots of the reaction to the result and it’s funny how many Irish gays said it really was never about marriage specifically, it was about asking Ireland to be generous and decent and to embrace their community, which they’ve done. A proud day for the country.
Good Morning, Everyone 🙂
Good Morning!
Thinking of our Texas TODers and all those in the path of this weekends storms. Hope you are all safe.
Hi Dudette. It’s so important for people to pay attention during flood times. We had a local guy who defied the warning about traveling the roads and went to work anyway. He was drowned on the way in a nearby creek and it took weeks to find his body. People always think they are invincible or the exception to the rule.
Oh how awful’ jg! You’re right. We really need to heed the warnings and be safe. No one is invincible!
Pimps gotta have more than one Ho
…………………………………..
Koch Brothers Plan to Fund ‘Several’ GOP 2016 Presidential Hopefuls
May 24, 2015 3:49 PM CDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-24/koch-brothers-plan-to-fund-several-gop-2016-presidential-hopefuls
The world’s fifth and sixth richest people say they will donate money to multiple Republican presidential candidates in the coming campaign.
The good news for Republican presidential candidates seeking to get a slice of Koch brothers cash is that the siblings, two of the world’s richest individuals, seem to be in a sharing mood.
In a Saturday interview on the Larry Kudlow Show, a nationally syndicated radio broadcast, David Koch let it slip that the roughly $900 million that he and his brother, Charles, plan to lavish on the 2016 presidential race could find its way into the hands of more than one GOP contender.
“We are thinking of supporting several Republicans,” David Koch said, adding, “If we’re happy with the policies that these individuals are supporting, we’ll finance their campaigns.”
Let them. We need to let America know that they are Koch whores that will do and say what they are told, for money. The GOP KKK(Krazy Klown Kar…and KKK is also appropriate) is chock full of idiot losers. Let them talk. Maybe America will FINALLY wake the hell up!!
This is why we need a Democratic President in 2017–the Supreme Court has to change and Citizen’s United MUST be reversed. Our democracy has been handed over to two fat cats with radical right wing ideas about the US. If we get an R Pres in 2017, we might has well hang out a ‘sold’ sign at our border. We will no longer be a free people.
Good morning everyone! {{{Ireland}}}
I have exactly 2 1/2 days with kids and Friday with the staff…and DONE! (Except for tutoring over summer…but that’s fine. Won’t be working 7days/wk!!) Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo!
GM DF, how long will your summer vacation last?
Only till the beginning of August. You coming to visit me?? 🙂
I’m thinking about it 😊
That’s great, Df. The first few days off after a long year of hard work are the sweetest of all. You can relax, take a deep breath, plan your day as you want, not as dictated by a schedule. It’s heaven, so enjoy every moment.
How true:) It actually takes me a few days for all of it to sink in:) I love my work, but I LOVE not having an agenda even more!
A lot of us feel that way, I know I do!
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
Thank you TOD for all the kind comments yesterday. This community is special indeed. You all are wonderful people.
I’m sending comforting thoughts to those who lost family members yesterday, those who are still missing today, and those whose homes and businesses are completely destroyed.
Seeing an SUV and a truck (the Ford F-150 type truck) being flipped over and the people inside screaming for help, an SUV and a truck!!! Seeing a man hanging from a pole as rescue workers tried to get to him before he fell and the current killed him was insane. All this in Downtown Austin. DOWNTOWN AUSTIN!!! A place we all use everyday. It was unrecognizable from A to Z. Having a high bridge I drive on often, be completely flooded that you couldn’t tell it was a bridge and having to be turned around to yet another flooded area was terrifying. Places that haven’t flooded since 1981, were flooded.
When the meteorologists are freaked out, it reinforced how terrible it was; and we’re not done with crappy weather.
I have no idea how people can still deny that climate change isn’t wrecking the environment and with it, peoples lives. Water isn’t supposed to do as intense a damage as was caused. *Sigh*
Nerdy, I have been so worried about you. Please listen to all warnings and don’t try to be brave. Wherever you have to go can wait. The aftermath of this devastation is going to be extremely difficult. Cleaning up, rebuilding, mending lives–it will take a long time and much patience. Stay strong. We are here for you.
Thank you, Jackie.
Been thinking about you all morning, as I watched The Weather Channel! Stay safe, sweet NW!
Thanks, Ms. J’OB.
Stay safe. I see Houston is in the same boat today…do you all have safe drinking water?
Thanks, DF.
Donation funds have been set up to help people who can’t access what they need.
http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/05/25/how-to-help-texas-flood-victims/27912539/
NW, it’s comforting to hear from you this morning. Please continue to be safe (((hugs)))
Thank you, GGail.
GM Nerdy and TOD. I am glad that you are safe Nerdy.
Thanks, COS.
Nerdy, I sent you a message that somehow got lost. Don’t know whether it was WP or goblins. It was just my concern for your welfare and hope that you’ll head all warnings and not try to be brave. We love and need you.
What a harrowing thing to witness NW! Glad to hear you are safe!
Thanks, Dudette.
Thanks Nerdy for the update, and glad to know that you have been safe. This is so sad and traumatic – and I hope you don’t have to go through another experience like this. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims who lost their lives, and to those who suffered other losses from that wretched weather, or are still searching for family members/loved ones. And yes, climate change simply can no longer be ignored at this point.
Thanks, HF.
NW, you have experienced something very, very traumatic and disturbing. Please take good care of yourself. Do everything you can to stay safe and stable. Your city is going to need a lot of help. I have no doubt PBO and FEMA will be there for you.
Mother Nature has been sending us strong warnings for some time and we as a nation are only now beginning to pay closer attention in the last few years. Thank goodness PBO is at the helm. We must do everything we can to support his efforts.
Sending you lots of love and comfort, NW!!
Thanks, Meta.
Have been very concerned about you, NW, and hope you will stay safe. Thank you for the update.
Thanks, Bob.
I don’t know how to express my concern. Be safe. {{{{{Nerdy}}}}}
Thanks, 57.
Sending love, hugs and prayers for your continued safety.
Thanks, CEB.
So glad you are ok. My friends live in Austin as well, and they are also ok. So relieved.
Good Morning TOD family, Chips and Nerdy Wonka. Nerdy I hope they are asking people in Austin and other parts of Texas to stay home if there is continued flooding and chances for rain. Just imagine if yesterday was a regular school or work day how many more could have been stranded or killed. Please be safe and I hope the rain will pass on by your state to allow it dry out. Someone said they wish there was a way to capture these heavy rains to direct it to other drought areas but when the dams and lakes flood there would have to be some huge reservoirs.
Be Save Everyone and have a wonderful rest of the week.
Thank you, Jojo.
“Just imagine if yesterday was a regular school or work day how many more could have been stranded or killed.” – This, Jojo. This.
Having a dam completely destroyed and submerging roads that children and others use every day was intense.
The meteorologists also shared your concerns and were thankful it wasn’t a regular school or work day because the horror would have been multiple times worse than it was yesterday and today.
Good Morning Chips, Nerdy and TOD friends! Glad you are OK Nerdy. I have many friends in Texas and have heard from a few over the last few days. They are OK but worried about other friends in Austin and Houston. I lived in San Antonio for 17 years and made lots of friends, and have stayed close to many of them. Please continue to take care.
BTW I borrowed the sentence about “Pimps need more than one Ho”, when I tweeted out that about the Koch Brothers this morning. Hope no one minds. It was a perfect fit for the article 😉
I have really enjoyed the last two days of TOD especially the President and First Lady’s day. I did not get to read & tweet it until about 4 AM, when I woke for a short while. I loved all the Photos of them both. Close Ups were fantastic! Thanks for all the work you do posting the TOD each day. I will surely miss them if they ever come to an end.
Wish you all a beautiful day ahead!!
Thank you, Terri. Sending positive thoughts your friends way.
Good Morning BFF and TOD. Thinking of you NW.
Thanks, JER.
SENDING LOVE AND PRAYERS TO THOSE HERE WHO ARE LIVING THERE…WE HAVE A CHURCH FAMILY MOVING THERE IN ABOUT A WEEK…PRAYERS UP!
yes…
WHERE IS THE MONEY?
WHY ISN’T ANYONE BEING ARRESTED?
IT’S THIEVERY!!!!!
……………………
After Duval charter school closes, many ask: Where’s the money?
Founder shuttered two other schools, has prior record of bankruptcy
Dennis Mope’s dream of running a network of military-themed charter schools for at-risk students ended quickly and with little warning this month in Jacksonville and Orlando.
Two of Mope’s Acclaim Academy charter schools closed abruptly, displacing hundreds of students just three weeks before the end of the school year.
A third school in Kissimmee was supposed to close in March but Osceola County’s school district took it over last month and will keep it open until the school year ends in June.
…Parents of 229 students scrambled over three days to find new schools for their children. Some students still had to take final tests or state-mandated exams at new schools.
Duval County School Board members said they are not sure why the school “ran out of money” and had to close, saying the children were hurt most.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2015-05-25/story/after-duval-charter-school-closes-many-ask-wheres-money
I live in jacked up Jacksonville and this is the usual f**k-up in this area. The local govt. and school boards will et almost anyone one come in, give this tax breaks and exemptions with little or no over-sight and we get taken every time. As a former public school teacher for 30 years, I find the whole Charter school scam especially abhorrent. Their teachers are not held to the same standards that the state certified teachers are held to and the students are exempt from all of the local and state testing, all while they are subsidized by public funds.
Should be “school boards will let almost anyone…”
Ugh! I should proofread before I hit “reply”, but this makes me so angry that I can barely respond coherently. Should be “give them tax breaks…”
Hope.
I hope he comes around to trusting President Obama on the TPP.
Fingers crossed that our VP will say “yes.” Run, Joe, run.
G’morning Chips, TOD, lurkers, even amk, everyone, and Happy Tuesday! Sending out thoughts of hope & recovery for the people in TX affected by the storms over the Holiday weekend.
❤
PRECIOUS…NO FURTHER COMMENT NEEDED!
Thanks JER, we all will enjoy this pic of PBO today ❤
That’s MY President! 🙂
So much “regular” political campaign news pales in comparison with the harrowing weather events in Texas and Oklahoma … and I’ll keep sending up good thoughts for all those affected by the latter.
Wanted to make quick mention of my new take on Martin O’Malley’s impending announcement. While many of us have wondered why he had some negative things to say recently which seemed to be against the brilliant Obama administration, all that “I can do better” stuff, something caught my eye today that may have explained it. Here’s my (as LP would say) conspiracy theory … spotted on MSNBC this morning that Martin O’Malley had endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2008. So, Hillary is running for President and while Martin may do a good job at his own campaign, he otherwise has a very small percentage in the polling of viable candidates now … and perhaps she thinks or he thinks that he might be a good running mate for her, nevertheless, if he can make a mark for himself nationally, and should she get the nomination.
Me? I’m #RidinWithBiden !
Well, he’s said very publicly that he’s not running for VP. And he doesn’t really bring anything to the table geographically. But who knows???
At this point, I’m not much interested in him, so I’m not even sure why I shared my (duh) “great revelation”! Ha.
How are you today, meta?
Pretty good! Another gloomy weather day here but that’s alright. How about you?
Good, thanks (especially since the sun just popped up again!).
I HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT PETE’S MEMORIAL PHOTOS…PBO HAD ME IN TEARS…THOUGHTS ABOUT ME PAPA…DEAD SO YOUNG FROM THE EMOTIONAL NIGHTMARES CAUSED BY D-DAY ON NORMANDY BEACH.
So sorry to hear your family’s tragic story, Sue. We can never forget any of those who have served – not to mention their families.
Nerdy, I haven’t on site for a couple of days. I’m so sorry to read about the flooding. It’s very good news to read that you are safe. Please take care of yourself and my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Thanks, Sabreen60.
LIVE NOW: Flooding News Conference-Houston, Texas – http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
Nerdy, this flooding is devastating Austin and Houston. My heart goes out to all that are being affected by this. Please stay safe NW.
Thanks, Donna.
This is just ridiculous.
What exactly did he get paid to do? Honestly, if CEOs like these had any moral integrity they would refuse these outrageous salaries…IMO! There’s no way to justify these huge amounts when others are being paid ~$8 an hour for ‘physical’ work.
It just makes me furious to see this kind of hideously gratuitous compensation when there are so very many hard working decent people suffering at the lower end of the scale. GGRRRRR!
Totally with you on this, Meta. I don’t get why one person – one family even – needs $1½m per year in salary, and you can bet there are other perks as well. Nothing anyone does merits that kind of yearly compensation, even if he cured cancer. It’s simply obscene.
How does anyone even begin to spend $3 million dollars per week?
Morning, NerdyW, along with wishes that the landscape around you is somewhat dryer and that you and the people of Austin, Houston and surrounding areas are seeing some improvement in the weather!
Good Morning/Evening/Night TODobots worldwide!
Yes … CNN “covered” the photo op. They waited to hear President Obama talk about the floods, which is certainly important, but stopped covering what he said about Congress and what he said about today’s talks with the NATO SecGen.
CNN’s maintains its story du jour lineup.
In addition to Roland Martin’s response to my tweet about his “nasty” go-to position when someone questions his facts, in which he found my comment “hilarious,” I kinda found this hilarious:
Good Afternoon,
Roland is an attention whore. Just look at his tweet in response to PragmaticObot. It’s All About Martin!!!!
Yes, I totally agree. It’s quite annoying!!!!!!
Nerdy’s new post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/05/26/happy-with-obamacare-millions-respond-with-a-yes/
The picture of POTUS and VPOTUS with Justice Sotomayor is one of my favorites. It gives me chills. I have a massive girl crush on both Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg #NotoriousRBG