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Today
The President hosts King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House
In the evening, the President and First Lady invite top contemporary artists to the White House as part of its “In Performance at the White House” series. The event celebrates the iconic singer, songwriter, composer and musician Ray Charles. The program will include performances by Yolanda Adams, Leon Bridges, Andra Day, Anthony Hamilton, Brittany Howard, Demi Lovato, Sam Moore, Jussie Smollett, The Band Perry and Usher with Rickey Minor as executive music director.
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The Obama Diary 
good morning Chips and everybody
Morning, Okey. Congratulations on first. Hope all is good with you today.
thanks just trying to see what today offers, as long as we still have POTUS we will be alright the noise is not going to affect how we cherish our President
Moooooorning Okey, morning everyone!
Thanks Chips for this oasis of sanity and insight for reasonable and learned folks thanks again
Thank you Okey!
Good morning okey & Chips 🙂
A generation or two without the GOP would do wonders to improving our image, for sure! President Obama has charted that course and it’s for everyone of us to steer the ship along it!!
Thanks Sir Bobfr won’t it be wonderful if the majority of the 300 or so women running in election wins and shame our supposed USA democracy were they relegate women and minorities to 2nd class citizens with there hatred
Yes, it would be, okey!!!!
And that’s going to mean embracing the Democratic nominee whether we fall in love or not. I’m so tired of hearing about the anger and anti-government rage that Republicans have tapped into. We can not allow this deranged segment of the population to destroy everything President Obama has built in these seven years. We need some anger on our side–righteous anger against the audacity of the ignorant and unqualified to think they can override all that’s decent in this country.
jackie..my greatest fear is low turnout….the turn out has already been low….
TURNOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PF, it’s down to us in the end. I think things are going to get “real” in early summer when we coalesce around one candidate and the massive GOTV efforts begin. The crazier the Republican side gets, the more hateful they are to PBO’s reasonable proposals, the greater the anger we can stoke on our side. But in the end, it’s the persistent day and day out efforts to reach out to voters that makes the difference.
. But in the end, it’s the persistent day and day out efforts to reach out to voters that makes the difference.
***************
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS
do you know if Hillary Clinton has opened a campaign office here in PA yet…been keeping an eye out
Yes, Clinton has an office in Harrisburg for Central PA and I believe there is one in Phillie and in Pittsburgh. This is usually the way the presidential campaigns begin. As the PA primary approaches, more offices will open and when she cinches the nomination, her staff will descend en masse. Our small county did not get a full time Obama organizer until June, 2008. Then we worked like crazy through the summer and fall.
wow..where can i find the one in Philly…i did sign up to volunteer at the convention
I signed up to volunteer at the convention, also.
yayyyy
when i go to her website…i looked for PA…is it not there..
You heard it hear, first, and without doubt won’t be hearing about it from any #NEWSTAINER ….
Sad that Americans have to turn to foreign news sources to know what’s happening in the world. In the US, the only reality is Donald Trump and that little Rubio twerp. Oh, and any controversy that can be stirred up against HRC.
True, JackieG …. but WE do have Twitter 🙂
… and anything Kanye and Justin Bieber are doing. [sigh!]
Not easy to know where to enter into these sectarian battles in the Middle East is it. Guess we need someone who has a clue about foreign policy in the White House don’t we.
It is good news, Bob. It’s about damned time we starting giving the good guys the weapons they need to succeed.
Agree, JackieG, but I’m delighted to see how prudent and careful PBO has been in this process. In the end, the Kurds and their allies may well prove to be a profound stabilizing culture in the ME.
It is certainly true that Biden, like Schumer, was demanding broader latitude for the Senate. Both these remarks are within the historic tradition of senators tussling over how much say their chamber should have in the ideology of a new justice. But neither of them advocated flat-out blocking the president from any nomination, however moderate or well-qualified.
And maybe the old system, in which social norms dictate that the Senate allow the president to put his ideological imprint on the Court, is simply untenable in a polarized age. Maybe that system was bound to perish. (That’s the case I made.) And maybe the Democrats would have wound up becoming the party to kill that old system if they found themselves in the position Republicans currently occupy. But the clear fact is that they didn’t kill that system and they didn’t create the new one that is taking its place. The current Senate Republicans did.
This photo should be labeled: “Traitors to the Constitution and the US.” By refusing to hold hearings these traitors have abdicated their responsibility and should no longer be given the courtesy of the designation ‘senator.’
I just wrote to Flake and I hope that you won’t mind too much of I used your perfect words….I’m livid! I hope that this entire thing explodes on them like a million asteroids raining down….I actually hate them all….really. I do.
I know who will prevail …..
Have a fine day, everyone ….
#TrustBarack
LH, we didn’t need a poll to tell us how stupid Americans are. We see it every day.
an unsolicited thought for you…i tend to say “republicans” instead of “americans” in general around topics like this, since it plays into the verbal trap republicans and “the news” have spent years building of democrats/liberals being anti-american. they can point to sentences like that and say, “see, liberals hate america!” and so on. just an idea to consider if so inclined 🙂
You’re right, 4more. So far, the media has given a loud voice to the malcontents and has puffed up Trump as if he were the only voice in the universe. But our turn will come and we will show that we’re smarter, harder working and more deeply patriotic than those who would blow up our democracy because they’re afraid of change.
Chuck Todd says it is not his job to call out jobs and get the real facts out another words inform voters with the truth. He also said if he did that or asked tough questions the candidates would not come back to the show. Maybe if all of the media did what they are supposed to do the candidates would be more truthful as not being on air would be detrimental to their campaigns.
SENT TO MY FB………..THIS GIRL DOES NOT LIKE TO SEE HER PRESIDENT FRUSTRATED!
yup. it would make dumbya’s regime pale.
Good morning, Chips and TODville.
President Obama, always 100 steps ahead of everybody.
His writing and his thinking brings me to tears.
It’s especially emotional for me when the contrast is the ignorant inarticulate Trump.
I freaking hate Trump and all that he represents. He is nuts and the people voting & cheering him, I can’t even fathom whats going on in their minds. It’s a sickness, meta. I keep thinking about the rise of Hitler and the happenings in Rwanda, and the realization that people like this do come to power. It really is on all of us to not let that happen.
He is by far, the most detestable and dangerous idiot ever to rise to power. He really spouts fascism and his cult couldn’t be happier. It’s INSANE.
Insane is exactly right. I’m at a loss lately with this kinda crazy.
from the essay:Most Important feature for me….
But I’m also mindful that there will be cases that reach the Supreme Court in which the law is not clear. There will be cases in which a judge’s analysis necessarily will be shaped by his or her own perspective, ethics, and judgment. That’s why the third quality I seek in a judge is a keen understanding that justice is not about abstract legal theory, nor some footnote in a dusty casebook. It’s the kind of life experience earned outside the classroom and the courtroom; experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people’s lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly changing times. That, I believe, is an essential element for arriving at just decisions and fair outcomes.
If his first point was applied in the past, Clarence Thomas would not be on the court, and Scalia would have been out of the running based on the third point. It is incredible that this president will get to seat 3 justices (I am holding on to faith that his appointee will get through this year or the next when Hillary is president). Always when times appear darkest and hope is barely holding on, something happens that stirs us up and gives us the strength to keep on fighting.
I so appreciate this post……to read how The President feels about making the choice of a justice to the highest court in the land…….particularly the third part …… finding a person who understands how the world really works. Our president is a remarkable man. .
ON MY FB…………….WHEN I THINK OF THOSE RUNNING TO TAKE HIS PLACE..I BECOME ILL…………..
Excellent read. I’m going to memorize it. POTUS summarizes what he’s looking for in SCOTUS nominee: 1) A sterling record. 2) A deep respect for the judiciary’s role. And 3) An understanding of the way the world really works.
See more at: http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/a-responsibility-i-take-seriously/#sthash.2fzY1lux.dpuf
Rove told the Evangelicals that voting for Bush would bring respect and honor back into the WH after President Bill Clinton “shamed” it with his extramarital affair, as if no other president had one, which history tells us is not true. Now, the RWNJ-Religious right shows they never cared about respect and honor in the WH after showing disrespect to the first AA president who loves his country, his family, has brought respect around the world and has one of the most drama and scandal free administrations in history.
There is NO SUCH THING as the Religious Right, they are just the KKK with a different name.
yup, just “religious” racists.
Morning/evening amk!
I saw a few weeks ago you asked what my jury duty was all about. I was one of the lucky citizens to be called to perform one of our most called upon duties as citizens of the USA, to be a member of a jury of my peers. Funny how “Voting” and “Jury Duty” are the two things that most Americans hate to do. I would rather vote than jury duty, not because it takes time away from work or sitting around for hours waiting for the Judge and attorneys to get their acts together, but because my fellow jurors can be so damned stupid. They agonize over the meaning of small words trying to interpret what the judge “means” by the word “shall”, I kid you not. This last jury panel did not disappoint……At least when I am voting it’s just me making the decision in the voting both alone.
fellow jurors can be so damned stupid.
I never got the concept behind the jury of my peers bs. wtf do most of them know about the nuances of law and justice?
Fantastic post, jojo!
Thanks 57 🙂 🙂 🙂
Good Morning, Everyone:)
A little follow-up hilarity with Zach:
Morning everyone. Morning MUST READ. Share it with friends/family.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_02/unprecedented059718.php
Here is a list of the things I can remember:
* Shouting “You lie!” in a speech to a Joint Session of Congress,
* Refusing to accept the date for a speech about job creation to a Joint Session of Congress.
* Negotiating a speech to Congress from a foreign head of state behind the President’s back.
* Seeking to undermine U.S. negotiations with a foreign country by writing a letter to their head of state.
* Refusing to hold a hearing on the President’s proposed budget.
* Tossing the President’s proposal to shut down Guantanamo Bay Prison in the trash (and videotaping the process).
* Refusing to hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee before the President has even named one.
That is a list of the way Republicans in Congress have taken unprecedented actions against President Obama. Of course it doesn’t include the unprecedented use of the filibuster by Senate Republicans to block his nominations, appointments and legislative agenda when they were in the minority. Nor does it include all the times that Republican politicians, candidates and officials have questioned his citizenship, love of country, and clearly professed religious beliefs.
More at the link.
Whenever I start to get sick when I think of the way most of congress and the media have treated this president and the American citizens whose lives he has worked to improve and uplift, I remember that these are the blank shots from little fearful men. Thanks be to God, that he has gifted us (and most of us had the sense to receive the gift by voting for PBO twice) with a man of intelligence, focus and heart who has mastery over his emotions and impulses, a spine of steel, sound judgement, an agile mind, and the ability to draw to him talented, hardworking people who have loyalty and skill. He learned long ago when he was a child in Indonesia to keep on walking and dancing while the ignorant haters threw stones and he has done so for more than 7 years, ever marching forward and dragging us into a bright future that many of could have never imagined. He keeps on winning and all that his haters have is wailing and knashing of teeth.
These people are on my last nerve.
Meta, I’m so glad you didn’t let Ruffalo get away this crap. They speak from ignorance, just like their right wing counterparts.
I’m furious that the result of Sander’s campaign is that PBO didn’t engage the people of the nation when the truth is he IMPLORES us at every turn. I can’t stand it when the good work of OFA is ignored or dismissed!!
ruffalo-I-am-not-affected-by-anything-that-happens-politically is ‘grassroots’? fuck him and his wealthy judgmental ilk.
Good morning TOD… still love that video of POTUS & the ferns.. still funny as hell.
Whats not so funny is Trump. I admit I am worried about this horrid person. Democrats had darn well better turn out. period.
CNN says it will no longer have Trump ally Roger Stone on air
Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/cnn-says-it-will-no-longer-have-trump-ally-roger-stone-on-air-219679#ixzz415sizzz1
why? ‘cos the tasteless bully turned his diarrhea mouth against one of their own.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/24/16
How Trump can lock up the race: beat opponents in their backyards
Steve Kornacki shows how Donald Trump’s lead in the Republican primary race would be nearly insurmountable if he beats John Kasich in Ohio, Ted Cruz in Texas, and Marco Rubio in Florida, all of which the poll predict he will do. Duration: 4:30
Good morning TOD ohana.
Question: I see that L L is still active on Twitter, but why has he stopped commenting here? I miss him.
I miss him too. He has to be moderating another site or something like that. So he doesn’t have time to comment here too often. But he still lurks here, so I bet he will read your comment at some point and reply with the correct info about his work. 🙂
Thanks for the info.
yup. they are gonna help this 3rd rate punk in any way they can.
THIS
EVEN THOUGH I AM CERTAINLY NOT VOTING FOR SANDERS…I WAS THRILLED THAT HE SUPPORTED THE PRESIDENT BY ADMITTING ‘RACISM’ HAS BEEN A GREAT CAUSE OF HIS OBSTRUCTION..IT’S ABOUT DAMNED TIME!
vc, you’ve been warned.
I AM DEFINITELY CHECKING INTO TONITE’S ARTIST ENTERTAINMENT AT THE WH………………….PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SPINE…BAD PAIN 2DAY AND MANY ERRANDS THIS AFTERNOON. PLEASE PRAY FOR THOSE CAUGHT IN THESE STORMS…I LOVE MY ENERGIZER PRESIDENT…<3,,BBL
Good Morning TODVille.
I had a dream. I had a dream last night that my great-great-grand children ask, how did Great-Grand-Ma’s generation let this happen?
nope, that’s an easy copout. the mofos built this knowingly and wantonly. I just hope the mofo the racist rubes elected kills the racists party.
my fear is what will rise from the ashes
The Republican establishment have no one to blame but themselves for the disasters known as Trump and Cruz. You told your party that racism was just fine, that disrespecting, hate was just fine, filthy mouth lies, was just fine, you allow it to take control of your party. If there was any decent Republicans out there they remain quiet and allow the loud mouth extremist racists to take over.
THIS!!! X2!!
Amen, anniebella !
I really hope HRC is getting a lot of help to prepare for Trump. He will throw the kitchen sink at her, demean her, slime her. He’s always personal in his attacks and nothing – and I mean NOTHING – is off-limits in his book. She cannot afford more weak and compromising answers to really easy and simple questions like, have you ever lied? She may be tough but this guy is RUTHLESS.
I think that she will have to remember who her audience is…Trump’s base will never vote for her…and the Repubs who are now independents are voting for Sanders…..so she has to focus her answers for the rest of us
these kind of questions play to his strengths not hers….the press will be the ones who will be asking these kind of gotcha questions….but you are right…just as with the transcripts …she will be asked these kind of questions and she will have to be ready with an answer…she might have to take a page out of the President’s book…re: gotcha questions
I’m not just referring to questions in debates. Trump will levy juvenile insults about her. He will bring in BC and his past. He will play very dirty. He will say and do everything to knock her off her game. And the press will have a field day. I’m just saying I hope she is ready because the press will do all they can to make these memes stick. All they care about is the carnival.
The President addressed the birther issue by showing his BC…this was not so much to shut up the birthers (it didn’t) but to shut up the so-called press who were giving legitimacy to birtherism….
he dealt with controversy around Rev Wright by giving that profound speech on race….
Not sure what Hillary can say about her marriage…her husband…but…Trump is slime…i think she should ignore the slime..and if the press push..she should put them in their place
That sounds like a decent plan. I hope it works.
Good Morning BFF and TOD.
I know afew on the left, who could use that pie. You know the Progressives who Obama let down.
Trump supporters right there in those hoods and sheets. The racists.
Trump : Make America White Again.
I’m guessing this was satirical. I think they were probably anti-Trump folks doing a commentary on who Trump supporters are.
Now that is actually decency at work. Amazed it was done by Republicans, as I am truly of the belief that there are not any decent or humane republicans. I know that’s wrong of me. So this is very good to see. Every state should end the death penalty in my opinion.
Wow who would have guessed that.
So nice to be surprised like this! Utah, red state, who would have guessed?
And this for the prize…
… not even the reimbursement for the party you will throw when s/he is elected to the Supreme Court.
😀 😀 😀 😀
BWA HA HA HA HA H AH HA
ALLLLL about the G-R-I-F-T
………………………………………
Does Ben Carson Suspect His Campaign Was a Scam?
“We had people who didn’t really seem to understand finances,” he said. “Or maybe they did—maybe they were doing it on purpose.”
DAVID A. GRAHAM 6:03 AM ET POLITICS
For months, reporters and political operatives (including me) have been pointing out that Ben Carson’s campaign bears many of the hallmarks of a political scam operation. Now Carson seems to agree. On CNN on Tuesday, Carson discussed his year-end staff shake-up:
“We had people who didn’t really seem to understand finances,” a laughing Carson told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on “CNN Newsroom,” adding, “or maybe they did—maybe they were doing it on purpose.”
It’s a remarkable statement—especially because he’s so blithe about it
LIVE NOW: Attorney General Loretta Lynch Testifies Before House Appropriations Sub – http://abcnews.go.com/Live?stream=4
LIVE NOW: Sec’y of State John Kerry Testifies Before House Appropriations Committee – http://abcnews.go.com/Live?stream=3
LIVE NOW
The First Lady will welcome more than 130 middle school, high school and college students from across the country to take part in an interactive student workshop: “The Musical Legacy of Ray Charles.” Robert Santelli, Executive Director of The GRAMMY Museum® in Los Angeles, will give participating students an overview of Ray Charles’ life, musical legacy and his influence and impact on today’s musicians.
GM TOD
I know you all discussed this earlier but Jeremy Bird isn’t having it!
I don’t bernie clowns. They think they have the ‘angry’ white dood votes sewed up? Forget the history, are they blind to the present where the carnival barker is eating up that base right in front of their eyes?
I thought the PUMA’s were bad in 2008 – they don’t hold a candle to the Bernie bunch. This is the professional whiny left, not just some hysterical white women who were mad that the black guy who was uppity enough to unseat their candidate. These guys have a deep, visceral viciousness that I have never seen in the Democratic party. Bernie is either oblivious, which makes him totally incompetent, or he supports it. Meanwhile, Dem voting totals are way down. They are ruining the Democratic party on their smartphones but aren’t bothering to effing vote.
Never thought I would live to see this. Never in a million years.
Back in the 90s, when I still did that sort of thing, Mark Ruffalo was a bartender at a local hipster bar that I regularly hung out in. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but the only activism I remember him being envolved in was passing out flyers to promote a small play he was in at a theatre across the street from the bar. My friend and I attended and there were only a handful of people in the audience. So, I’m not convinced of Mark’s or his idol Sanders’ ability to get “the people” to do anything.
I volunteered during the passage and implimentation of the ACA. I attended meetings and saw first hand the efforts and activism of OFA on multiple issues.
The reason guys like Ruffalo and most people don’t know about it is because THEY chose to drop out of the process or not to be engaged in the first place.
One more anecdote:
There was another bartender at that bar who worked with Mark Ruffalo. I remember during Bill Clinton’s campaign this other bartender, who considered himself a left liberal, remarked that he wanted Bush (Sr.) to win so there would finally be “revolution”!
My second cousin voted for Jill Stein in 2008. Let that sink in: 2008!
Dudebros (and their female counterparts) have always been a thing.
Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) on Wednesday became the first sitting members of Congress to endorse the presidential bid of real estate mogul Donald Trump. Donald Trump has clearly demonstrated that he has both the guts and the fortitude to return our nation’s jobs stolen by China, take on our enemies like ISIS, Iran, North Korea and Russia, and most importantly, reestablish the opportunity for our children and grandchildren to attain the American Dream,
…
Fascinating that these two can obviously see that their own party can not get any of that done on their own.
Chat away
http://theobamadiary.com/2016/02/24/chat-away-777/
If this is true, wow.
https://twitter.com/BellatrixCarrie/status/702537206796308484
Looks like her tweets are not public. What did it say?
Yes what did she say?