Today
11:15: The President delivers remarks at the State Department to chiefs of missions
5:30: The President and First Lady host the Broadway cast of Hamilton for a performance of musical selections, East Room
14
Mar
16
124 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
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Obama White House.gov
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WH Tumblr
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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
- Trump doesn't want peaceful transition of power. Legally, it doesn’t matter. Spandan Chakrabarti
- Fauci goes off on Rand Paul Spandan Chakrabarti
Steve Benen
- Joe: There is no post-truth world when it comes to the court system
- Former Labor Secretary warns of banking dangers and recession possibility
- Air Mail: George Santos, Boris Johnson, Restoration Hardware and Putin
- 'White supremacist genius': GOP resort to anti-semitic, racist attacks to defend Trump prosecution
- The paradoxical relationship between America and poverty
The Obama Diary 
GM!
Mooooooooooorning!
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
Looking good Mr. President 😊
Happy Monday, EVERYone! 🙂
Y whY RanDom CaPiTaLiZation?
Ever heard of *style* – of the writing kind? Geesh; was simply trying to underline the fact that all are part of of my happy greeting including you. smh
#quitmakingstuffup
A writer’s style is what sets his or her writing apart and makes it unique. Style is the way writing is dressed up (or down) to fit the specific context, purpose, or audience. Word choice, sentence fluency, and the writer’s voice — all contribute to the style of a piece of writing.
Style – The five features of effective writing – Learn NC
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/few/5
[Off to get ready to drop off my laptop – place opens at 10 am. and I’d like to think if I’m one of the early drop-offs I just may get it back before the end of the day.]
https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=writing+styles
teh google? I am convinced.
Nothing wrong with your laptop.
Every 5 minutes or so I get a message that there’s a problem with my hard drive. In addition, I can no longer see the pic of PBO and his mom which is on the right of the TOD page. Well, I can see their heads – oops, there is that message again, constantly warning me to back up stuff before the disc crashes – and then a mess of colours.
There is no such warning about your puter to crash in real world. It’s a spam. Just do a cleanup and stop wasting money.
Now you tell me! Anyhoo, the guy at the computer shop said it was a legitimate warning, and $159 + cents later, I must say that it hasn’t flashed back on ….yet.
We-ell, it still hasn’t flashed back on so maybe he was right. If this keeps up, pretty soon he and I will be on first name terms.
cheaper to marry the cheat.
What??!! Marry a cheat??? 😥 And I thought you loved me!!!
yuss. and yuss.
I don’t know. Love like yours/this will need to be examined more closely going forward.
pick, pick, pick
🙄 stop complaining- geesh
jus’ stating the facts, miss, jus’ stating the facts.
so no credit that I found an expeditious way to get back online? /huff/
no.
egg.sack.lee
No wonder my mangetout were iffy 🙄
man get out? mange tout? wth is that thingy?
expenditious way ? yuss?
😀 😀 😀 That it was!
Ciao until later – I hope. Honestly, I’m getting tired of spending money on computers/laptops. And it’s mostly your fault – because I *want* to be online to keep an eye on you! 😀
also. too. on-line games are a major source of virus, malware etc.
Are you suggesting I give up my newly found time consuming games! 😯 How would I survive my days off?!!
yuss.
spoilsport 😦
Morning to all on this cold, rainy day in March.
You are enjoying the same weather too?
Greetings to you, JG, in spite of the overcast skies and rain which started hours ago! And wouldn’t you know, this is the day when I have a doctor’s follow-up appointment AND also have to take my laptop in. I’m tempted to cancel the former, except the latter is driving me bonkers so since I’ll have to take it in, I may as well do both.
VC, follow-up doctor appointments are important, so I hope you go. Just bundle up, take a strong umbrella and get it all done. Then think how virtuous you’ll feel at the end of the day.
‘Then think how virtuous you’ll feel at the end of the day.’
😀 😀 I do like feeling virtuous when the opportunity presents itself, JG, and as I’m driving there I really have no excuse. 😀 😀
My bad shoulder is particularly grumpy this morning with constant rain.
Good Monday morning, TODVille!
We survived another weekend of attacks from his supporters and filthy words from Il Douche’s mouth. Thank God for Mondays.
It’s going to be a rough week, NCLB, with lots of primaries tomorrow, lots of screaming from Bernie supporters and lots of lies and obscenities from the GOP. There’s not much we can do about it at this point except forge ahead with voter registration strategies and outreach. President Obama never allows himself big highs and lows because he always keeps his eye on the long view. This is a great model to follow, but tough to do.
There’s not much we can do about it at this point except forge ahead with voter registration strategies and outreach. President Obama never allows himself big highs and lows because he always keeps his eye on the long view. This is a great model to follow, but tough to do.
**********************
AMEN Jackie
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Monday morning. Congrats NCLB, on being first this morning.
To all, I hope that you look with great anticipation for the wonderful things your creator is going to do in your life today. ❤ ❤ ❤
Thank God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
LP put together a very nice compilation on Hamilton & cast last night. Thanks LP!
Hiking has never been a thing of mine, but hey, some of you may enjoy….the thought!
It’s always good to wake up and smell the coffee, NCLB. It took a lot for these two to finally get it, but better late than never.
Now tell us again how “ALL LIVES MATTER”.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cilizza is of the typical bw pundtwit idjit ilk like dick hackperin.
yes and a big Rubio pusher.
Wish Bernie would take some time to learn how to answer how we’re all getting the ponies he’s promising, instead of damaging HRC in the GE. She has done nothing to actually damage him. And the b.s. about him being better on trade – he lives in a fantasy land where global trade does not exist or that the U.S. should take part in international deals. But he may do really well in the Rust Belt and we may be stuck with this loon.
GM 57F.
Why do you think Bernie may do well in the Rust Belt?
Genuinely curious — been avoiding most national MSM since depressing Super Tuesday, was surprised by Bernie winning Michigan.
Love the upper Midwest. Michigan and Wisconsin are stunningly beautiful. Know there’s a big Scandinavian influence there, but little else about those states.
Thanks.
The open primaries help Bernie with cross over Rs and Is. But I Bernie has no path to the nomination. Hillary will win big in Florida and NC, closer in IL, OH, and MO., increasing delegate lead by at leas 100, and popular vote by another 500k or more. (already has 1.8 mil lead). Not to worry.
He makes it sound simple that trade deals are the reason for all manufacturing job losses. I’m going to try to dig up the npr article on this from yesterday. He fooled a lot of people in MI with this drumbeat, even though Detroit had been decimated by automation, bad business decisions and refusal to join the 20th century, well before NAFTA. Bernie is dangerous on this: he believes in NO trade deals of any kind which is insane in a global economy. But people believe that their jobs were taken by trade deals and immigrants.
Part of MI’s problem was that 7% of Dems,187,000, I believe – crossed over, most to make mischief in the GOP primary and because they thought Hillary was a lock. Same thing can happen here in IL, but I think it will be close. OH less likely, because it’s mostly a closed primary. Hillary does great with actual Democrats.
WI could be Bernie territory – a very strong young progressive population, who are emoprogs. Understand, even is MI it was essentially a draw, but Bernie got all the positive press. She needs to put away some of these Midwestern states.
Bernie’s a believer, and he could really do damage to this economy. He has zero plans for global trade on his website. I may have missed it, but I did look.
Exactly! I posted the desire for someone to post the March 13 NPR article on trade yesterday. It dealt with the fallacies of Trump and Sanders trade arguments mentioning how NAFTA not put in place would not have solved current problems. Also, it said tariffs were not the answer. It was an excellent article. Sorry I do not know how to bring it over.
I posted it and tweeted it, too.
You highlight the line in the address line, “copy” and then “paste” it in a comment here at TOD.
In addition…because he has no chance with folks of color…he is trying to consolidate the white vote…
how do we address this….
these has been much discussion about Trump..but not much discussion on how to deflate the anger…the hatred…the racism…we need to have this discussion…
GM PF58.
Shaming is the only thing that comes to mind that might work.
However, until MSM changes their own rules on reporting, we can’t look to MSM to lead the way.
(tweets posted here earlier):
Good Morning Chips and TOD.
gorgeous…. no, not him.
Both of them. Gorgeous.
They’re both gorgeous! 😄
In case you want to see a longer part of the interview…
http://time.com/obama-and-copeland/
Thanks!
🙂 ^5
Beautiful video. Love when he’s relaxed and conversing and sharing life details and his own feelings about important subjects. Misty is a completely gorgeous person, through and through. Love the hug they gave each other. You can tell she really looks up to him. And he greatly admires her, too.
Good Morning, Everyone 🙂
Reporter Who Says Trump Aide Grabbed Her Resigns From Breitbart
ByCAITLIN MACNEAL
Published MARCH 14, 2016, 7:57 AM EDT
Miichelle Fields, the reporter who alleged that Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski grabbed her arm at a press conference last week, resigned from Breitbart News on Sunday, Buzzfeed News reported early Monday morning.
“Today I informed the management at Breitbart News of my immediate resignation,” Fields said in a Sunday night statement to BuzzFeed News. “I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways.”
Ben Shapiro, an editor-at-large for Breitbart who called for Lewandowski to be fired, also resigned from Breitbart, according to Buzzfeed News. In his statement, Shapiro slammed Breitbart and its chairman, Steve Bannon, for not offering enough support to Fields and her account of the incident.
“In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrew’s mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter, Breitbart News’ Michelle Fields, in order to protect Trump’s bully campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly assaulted Michelle,” Shapiro said in the statement.
bbl …. have a good day everyone ….
By Niraj Chokshi March 12
Obama on Trump’s rhetoric:
President Obama took aim at Donald Trump and the Republican party at a fundraiser in Austin, Tex., where he described the Republican campaign as ranging from “school yard” taunts to scenes from “the home shopping network.” (Reuters)
Donald Trump’s ascendance is nothing if not surprising.
Pundits thought he would flame out early; he has done things that could have ended other campaigns; and his statements are erratic and even sometimes contradictory. Yet, he remains the leading Republican presidential contender.
Many have tried to explain Trump’s rise in the nine months since he entered the race, and now President Obama can be counted among them: He offered up his analysis of Trump and the broader fight for the Republican presidential nomination during a speech Friday afternoon at a Democratic National Committee event at Texas’s Austin Music Hall.
“We’ve got a debate inside the other party that is fantasy and schoolyard taunts and selling stuff like it’s the Home Shopping Network,” he joked.
Obama said he was unsurprised by the billionaire businessman and reality TV star’s rise.
“How can you be shocked?” he asked to laughter from the crowd, according to a transcript. “This is the guy, remember, who was sure that I was born in Kenya — who just wouldn’t let it go. And all this same Republican establishment, they weren’t saying nothing. As long as it was directed at me, they were fine with it. They thought it was a hoot, wanted to get his endorsement. And then now, suddenly, we’re shocked that there’s gambling going on in this establishment.”
The Republican Party set the conditions long ago for Trump’s success, Obama said. The billionaire just capitalized on the GOP’s own tactics, the president argued:
A look back at panicked months in the Cold War.
What is happening in this primary is just a distillation of what’s been happening inside their party for more than a decade. I mean, the reason that many of their voters are responding is because this is what’s been fed through the messages they’ve been sending for a long time — that you just make flat assertions that don’t comport with the facts. —
Hmmm?
G’morning Chips and TOD! Congrats NCLB, and Happy Monday everyone!! 🙂
FLOTUS looks like a beautiful tall model in those pictures.
She IS a beautiful tall model! 🙂
🙂
Fun piece!
Thanks for providing this link; the article is informative with a light tone and the photos of Michelle in her on-trend outfit are banging (I want those pants!). There is also a cute photo of her with her very diverse, very smart and very cute digital staff.
Yes the pants are fine. The shoes too.
Her outfit SLAYS.
Major SLAYAGE!
He would say that it’s only business because he was the greatest businessman in America who knew and knows how to make big deals. YU-U-U-U-UGE deals.
She was so anti-Clinton going on and on about how he embarrassed the country and the office of the President, now with her precious GOP has embarrassed the country with their reiterrick about PBO she and all the others were dead silent, she called him “exoitic” to go along with the “he’s not one of us”, she and all the GOP are getting back what they put out. A Democrat does not have to say a word.
^5
I would like for someone to explain to me when Mitt Romney had power in the GOP.
Good question. They do tend to elevate their worst & dullest instead of best & brightest. Might be because there aren’t any of the latter though.
First he was running against PBO. Now he’s running against Rahm Emmanuel? Does he want to be President, Mayor of Chicago or just Chief Curmudgeon? I’m confused.
Morning TOD. What a lovely pic to start the day with, however, I expect it to be all downhill from now on, what with the miscreants in the news. Anyhow, BS drums up support “only” by bashing anyone and everyone he finds people are disgruntled with, to any degree- but never by fully explaining how he will ever get shit done. Nothing but a grifter !
All the while claiming he’s not going negative.
Neither Sanders nor Trump have any loyalty to any established political party. They do not ascribe to political norms or codified party principles. That makes them completely unpredictable and in my opinion, untrustworthy.
Well, both the established parties were stupid enough to let these crazy coots on their tickets. Frankly, why the dems didn’t say FU to bs beats me.
feeling you on this..amk…
I hear you. It makes no sense to me. He may caucus with Dems on some things but he is most certainly NOT a Dem. He works hard to undercut our POTUS and now look at how he’s using Rahm to turn on Dems in Chicago. No matter how you feel about Rahm, Republicans are getting a toehold on political offices there and he’s helping that process. A LOT of his supporters are anti-government, anti-DEMs.
I am with you AMK! I think the “dems” were scared that he might run as an independent and take away votes from the Democratic candidate.
Morning everyone.This is what I woke to this morning. An email response to my email to Sen. Flake regarding the hearing and appointment of a new SC justice because of Scalia’s death. These are HIS words.
“Thank you for contacting me about the vacant seat on the United States Supreme Court following the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia on February 13, 2016. I appreciate receiving your comments on this issue.
Justice Scalia was untiring in his defense of the Constitution. His intellect, candor, and wit will be sorely missed. As we mourn the tragic loss of Justice Scalia and celebrate his life’s work, much is being said and written about whether the Supreme Court vacancy created by his death should be filled this year. One would have to go back more than a century to find a scenario where a president’s nominee for the Supreme Court was confirmed by the opposition party in the United States Senate when the vacancy occurred during an election year. I am not about to break new ground in the Senate, particularly when any nominee could so drastically shift the balance of the court.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future. I also encourage you to visit my website, which may be found at flake.senate.gov.
He would have to go “back more than a century to find a scenario where the president’s nominee for the Supreme Court was confirmed by the opposition party in the United States Senate when the vacancy occurred during an election year.”
Really? Not so says, SCOTUSBLOG…
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/
In the wake of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, questions have arisen about whether there is a standard practice of not nominating and confirming Supreme Court Justices during a presidential election year. The historical record does not reveal any instances since at least 1900 of the president failing to nominate and/or the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election. In that period, there were several nominations and confirmations of Justices during presidential election years.
The first nomination during an election year in the twentieth century came on March 13, 1912, when President William Taft (a Republican) nominated Mahlon Pitney to succeed John Marshall Harlan, who died on October 14, 1911. The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Pitney on March 18, 1912, by a vote of fifty to twenty-six.
President Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat) made two nominations during 1916. On January 28, 1916, Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to replace Joseph Rucker Lamar, who died on January 2, 1916; the Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Brandeis on June 1, 1916, by a vote of forty-seven to twenty-two. Charles Evans Hughes resigned from the Court on June 10, 1916 to run (unsuccessfully) for president as a Republican. On July 14, 1916, Wilson nominated John Clarke to replace him; Clarke was confirmed unanimously ten days later.
Gee! Not only did they NOMINATE THEM, but they got them CONFIRMED,TOO!
This is blatant lying by a US Senator to a constituent! I do believe that I will CALL his office, read this over the phone, and ask why he felt the need to LIE! This pisses me off….
I simply asked that he do his job and hear the nominee…this is my response. Pissed.
The crux of this obstruction is not precedent, but the balance of the court. He even admitted that.
Wonder if Flake was prepping? He’s so disappointing….
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1eb9e6bfd61042ada9600ae15dc1042d/rnc-launches-campaign-oppose-obamas-supreme-court-pick
This infuriates me! Pure lies!
An Israeli hiker has found a Roman coin that is almost 2,000 years old and only the second of its kind found in the world, authorities say.
The coin, from 107 AD, bears the image of Emperor Augustus but was minted by Emperor Trajan.
The only other example of such a coin is held in the British Museum.
The hiker, Laurie Rimon, will be awarded a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship, Israel’s antiquities authority says.
Ms Rimon, a member of the Kefar Blum kibbutz, was hiking with friends in the eastern Galilee when she discovered a shiny object in the grass.
The group’s guide then contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), who arrived within two hours.
Ms Rimon then handed over the find, but said “it was not easy parting with the coin”.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35801246
wimminz/smh
Wow! Pretty sure I would’ve at least gotten that sucker appraised first. 😀
Thank you, Dudette, I was thinking the exact same thing. A two-thousand year old coin is probably worth a lot of coins, a certificate of appreciation is nice but I think a certificate of deposit is better.
For real though. She could’ve just LOANED it to the museum, ya know. 🙂
cons – until they come for me, I will be shilling for them and spreading their lies, insults and plain thuggery.
I would have thought this woman would have known that you can’t trust a liar. And Donald J. Trump is a liar.
Hard to have sympathy for someone who basically doesn’t give a flip about the lying and smearing she supports until it’s done to her.
I agree Dudette.
Media support the abuse of people at rallies – until it happens to them. They also accept being herded like cattle – sold out to the gop in 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/14/world/middleeast/ap-ml-islamic-state.html?_r=0
IRBIL, Iraq — A Palestinian-American member of the Islamic State group gave himself up to an Iraqi Kurdish military unit in the country’s north on Monday, an Iraqi Kurdish general said, a rare instance of a voluntary surrender of a militant fighting with the extremist group in Iraq.
The man, identified as Mohammed Jamal Amin, had been “lurking near the peshmerga lines” since late Sunday night, according to Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, which are playing key role — along with the Iraqi military — in battling the extremist IS group.
Helkani said his troops first tried to shoot the man, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.
“Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up,” Helkani said, adding that the man is a Palestinian-American who was fighting with IS in Iraq. The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year.
Though rare in Iraq, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State in neighboring Syria have told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of IS members surrendering following recent territorial losses.
According to Helkani, Amin was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cell phones and three forms of identification, including a U.S. driving license. The IS fighter is currently being held by the peshmerga troops for interrogation, Helkani added.
Heads up
http://theobamadiary.com/2016/03/14/president-delivers-remarks-at-the-chief-of-missions-conference/