On This Day: President Barack Obama sits on the famed Rosa Parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum following an event in Dearborn, Mich., April 18, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)
I CAN CONFIRM THIS..I WATCHED THIS YESTERDAY…SUICIDE RUNS IN MY FAMILY….BEEN THERE MYSELF..MY BROTHER HAS PTSD FROM ALL OF HIS YEARS OF SERVICE AND HIS YELLOW SERVICE DOG CODY HAS CHANGED HIS LIFE!
“no question that thousands of lives could be saved.”
No doubt the suicide rate for veterans is shocking and troubling (22 a day!).
Dogs to overcome PTSD and opiate addiction is something even the reddest RWNJ Congresscritter would find hard to oppose (though they rarely do actual work).
We owe it to these honorable and brave men and women who went through the horrors of war to do this. At the very least.
Hope this reaches @FLOTUS and @DrBiden — they will do everything in the their power to make this a reality, if not by Jan 20 2017, by the HRC Administration.
I heard that Bernie has already left New York –one day before the primary–and has headed for PA. This looks as if he’s conceded NY and wants to make inroads here. I hope Pennsylvanians aren’t fooled.
Hi, Arapaho. That statement means that PA is really like a collection of fiefdoms, rather than a state. Philadelphia is a world unto itself and so is Pittsburgh, which maintains a bitter rivalry with its east coast big brother. The center of the state is conservative, except for the urban pockets of Harrisburg, Scranton, Reading, York and sometimes Lancaster. Any politician working in Pa has to understand the different sensibilities. It’s really not unlike Northern and Southern California–same state, different outlooks.
Forgot to mention that Josh Shapiro is by far the better candidate, in my opinion, so we’ll see if Pittsburgh outvotes the rest of the state on this one.
Thanks JG, know nothing about the PA candidates or politics, but understand that PBO has endorsed Katie McGinty for Senate. Wikipedia reminds me there was bitterness between the Obama Adm and Ed Rendell vs. Joe Sestak (apparently because the Adm and Rendell supported Arlen Specter).
With the rise of Silicon Valley and an influx of residents from all over the US and world, I think NorCal and SoCal are pretty similar now (though SoCal continues to have much stronger rightwing leanings due to the influence of Mormon settlement, the military in San Diego County and John Wayne wannabes in Orange County).
Nearly 40 years ago Joel Garreau wrote a book called “The Nine Nations of North America” which IMHO provided a lot of insight into the settlement patterns and influences on this continent’s (including Canada and Mexico) current population. SoCal was grouped with the southwest (Mexico influence — look at our city and street names, overwhelmingly Spanish) while NorCal was part of “Ecotopia” anchored by Seattle in the NW (because Ecotopia has abundant water — not so true now with climate change unfortunately).
Arapaho, just to clear the record, it was Rendell who pushed Arlen Specter to run as a Democrat for Senate and it was Joe Sestak who ran against Arlen in the primary and beat him. Rendell has never forgiven Sestak for that and has been behind a lot of the machinations to undermine Sestak and push McGinty. I wish PBO had not endorsed McGinty since I think she has a poor chance of defeating Toomey. I’m voting for Sestak.
I liked Sestak’s energy when he ran for Senate in 2010, couldn’t believe that your beautiful state (are garden nurseries now on your agenda?) elected that tea party weasel Toomey.
Crossing my fingers that a Dem replaces Toomey in Nov, looking forward to primary results on Apr 26.
My best friend’s husband is President (?) of a county board in a small county of PA. PA is a commonwealth, which means most of govt. control and services are local. At least that his how he explained it to me. Any PA residents here at PA can correct me if I’m wrong. I would think this would magnify differences between areas.
And of course, the famous “Pennsyl-tucky” references.
It’s a huge state, stretching from the Atlantic to the Midwest. Politics are complicated.
Pennsylvania is indeed huge, and outside of the Western US is probably my favorite that I’ve been to (although Michigan/Wisconsin are gorgeous too).
Liked the people I met there, and the locals in the middle of the state seemed mildly conservative (unlike the actual nutjobs who reside in inland CA).
(Familiar with the state because a former boyfriend’s family was from the Williamsport area, and his brother attended Penn State at the time.)
Bernie seems to never be in the state having the election that same day, but onto the next. He has actually done pretty good lately using that approach. He mentions it if he wins in that rally address in the next state, but I wonder how those that worked on his state campaign feel about that? It probably does not do much towards building coalitions, but he has never excelled in that area. It is all about what is best for Bernie.
The president’s order applies only to parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
Perla is one of the millions of parents who would benefit from the president’s action. She and her husband, both college graduates, came to the U.S. to study…Now they have two children, ages 3 and 5, both American citizens. Perla and her husband do not apply for jobs they are trained to do — she in industrial engineering, he in business management. They support their children by working, illegally, in restaurants.
The case is now before the Supreme Court — a court that has repeatedly given the executive branch of government “broad discretion” over immigration policy, including how the law is to be enforced as well as who should be arrested and deported.
Hi SW, so many of Bernie’s supporters have become bullies and open misogynists. The blame for that does rest on Bernie himself because that’s the kind of behavior he’s personally demonstrated to Hillary and because he failed to establish standards for behavior among his followers as then Sen. Barack Obama did in 2008. There is no way PBO would have tolerated rudeness of this magnitude. If Bernie does not condone this behavior he’s done nothing to stop it, which makes him a weak and ineffectual leader, not qualified to run a dog show, much less the country.
If you listen to his stump speech and his own views, BS fully supports the hate and mob mentality that he generates. He doesn’t need Congress, he just needs mobs of people intimidating and harassing to “force” GOP to do their will.
So it follows logic that a mob would hurl insults at George Clooney & HRC for supporting down ticket Dems. A despicable act for “Dems” to do to other Dems. BS is still silent, as far as I know.
Can you imagine if PBO crowds had acted this way? He would have been hounded from every media outlet to “control” his supporters and if the outrageous behavior was reflective of who he was as a candidate. BS gets a pass. I’m furious.
And BS gets to pay his wife for lying. Imagine if PBO had put Michelle on the payroll.
And knowing the MSM is always about helping the GOP, I believe they’re also playing the old game of divide and conquer. I think they know Hillary’s on track to be the nominee, so they’re going to poison the well for her as much as possible, and that means propping up Sanders. If they can’t get him as their much-preferred Dem nominee, they’ll play him up to gin up the Hillary hate.
To wit: Stuck with staring at one of my gym’s TV stations tuned to Fox News yesterday, they floated a poll of which of the top four candidates would be the most moral or trustworthy in the WH. Surprise, surprise – Sanders came out on top, followed by Cruz, Clinton and Trump in that order.
As if anyone with a brain would believe that Fox is bolstering Sanders because they really want him as POTUS…
MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid’s gut reaction to the protest outside a Hillary Clinton fundraiser last night at George Clooney’s house where Sanders supporters pelted her motorcade with 1,000 $1 dollar bills is to say that it reminds her of the Sanders supporter last week who called Hillary Clinton a “Corporate Democratic Whore.”
Good Morning Chips, Danny and Mom. Glad to see you here this morning. My Nephew’s wife is going through the same thing, her Mom fell and broke her hip, surgery went fine, but when they took x-rays they found she had fallen before and cracked some ribs. She was low on blood count and some other stuff. She found her a good place to do rehab not far from me so I can go visit her. She is also having some memory problems. It is heartbreaking to go through all this. My heart goes out to you and Judy. It was 1990 I went through all this with my oldest Son when he had a stroke and is still in a Nursing Home. ((((hugs))) to you and your family and especially Momma Chips.
Thank you so much Roberta, what strikes me every day is how strong most elderly people seem to be dealing with these kind of crises, the men and women where my mother is, many with much worse injuries/illnesses, are so good-natured and uncomplaining. They’re amazing.
I hope your nephew’s mother-in-law heals well and as speedily as possible, wishing her the best.
Chips, I hope the fact that there are good natured people around your mom gives her some comfort and support. It always helps to have someone to commiserate with.
Sw, we’ve reached the point of maximum insanity regarding guns. There are so many raw emotions in college–rivalries, anger, jealousy, fear of failure–and now the temptation will be to address these with a gun, destroying lives in the process. Instead of working through the emotional highs and lows of college, learning from them and maturing, young people will now be dead. Way to go, Texas.
SW, I found this very touching. Hillary is a real people person and knows how to relate to people and give out needed hugs. Those who call her vile names have no idea of this side of her character.
This same coulda, shoulda imperative is crucial for understanding the derangement that simmers beneath the GOP obstruction of hearings for Merrick Garland. You may think we are at war over what the court might become. But we are in fact at war over what should have been. And what should have been, for Senate Republicans, is quite simple: The 2016 term was meant to be the Supreme Court’s year to destroy Obama.
You could almost forget this, as the term fizzles into a bunch of sagging 4-4 ties and improbable unanimous decisions, but if Antonin Scalia had lived until July the docket was full of poisoned pills and silent time bombs that would have exploded in President Obama’s face this summer. Until and unless we reckon with what might have been at the high court this term, it’s impossible to understand why there will be no hearings for Judge Garland. GOP senators aren’t just angry about losing Justice Scalia’s seat. They are angry because the court as the weapon of choice to screw the president has been taken from them, and they want it back.
United States v. Texas, the case that will be argued Monday morning at the high court, is Exhibit A for this proposition. When the high court agreed to hear this lawsuit—which emerged from nothing more than a preliminary injunction placed on 2014 DHS regulations that outlined the creation of Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of American Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—Obama haters were dancing in the streets. The executive actions, which delayed deportation for 5 million undocumented immigrants by deprioritizing their removal from the country in favor of the deportations of felons, were blocked in Feb. 2015 by one very conservative district judge in Texas. That decision to enjoin the new rules was happily upheld by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last fall. When the court agreed to weigh in on all this, it was because—as Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued—this action by the appeals court was “unprecedented,” just as the high court’s decision to step in and block Obama’s climate change regulations last February was unprecedented. The whole term was meant to be unprecedented, except that Justice Scalia died.
Buried in a section of the brief that evidences their complete misunderstanding of these deferred action policies, the states admit that the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, does have the legal authority to set immigration enforcement priorities, and to choose not to remove people who are a low priority for removal. Importantly, the brief continues, DHS would be well within its authority to “issue ‘low-priority’ identification cards to aliens.”
But that is precisely what happens when a person receives “deferred action” through DAPA and expanded DACA. In fact, what we now call “deferred action” was described as the “nonpriority program” in a 1975 guidance issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the predecessor to DHS. Everything old is new again.
In other words, Texas no longer questions whether DHS can allow low-priority unauthorized immigrants to remain in the country temporarily. Instead, Texas insists that they must not be allowed to work legally while they are allowed to be here.
snip/
Saying that millions of hardworking immigrants can remain in the country temporarily — but not work lawfully — is irrational: how are they supposed to support themselves and their U.S. citizen children? Having the breadwinners in millions of American households drop out of the labor force for the duration of their period of authorized stay in the country would be devastating to these families and to the economy more broadly. Of course they will continue to work, but in doing so they will continue to be subjected to illegally low pay and dangerous working conditions by unscrupulous employers, which is bad for all workers (including American workers), bad for families, and bad for businesses that are trying to play by the rules. The position advanced by Texas would put an official seal of approval on the status quo, effectively sanctioning widespread unauthorized employment.
I hope they find in favor of the Administration….this is ridiculous.
I’VE ALWAYS LOVED THIS PICTURE OF THE PRESIDENT ON THE HISTORIC ROSA PARK BUS..JUST REMEMBER…YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!…………………….I LOVE MY ENERGIZER PBO..OFF TO WORK SUE…OK………………………………………..ADIOS!..I MISSED CLYBURN IN THE PARK HERE TODAY..TICKS ME OFF…HOWEVER THEY HAVE BEEN KICKING IN OUR APT. DOORS..SO I’VE BEEN RATHER BUSY.
Generation’s biggest immigration case gets its day in court
04/18/16 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
For nearly six years, U.S. policymaking on immigration was stuck. The Obama administration had already increased border security and enforcement in the hopes of creating the political conditions necessary for legislative changes, but congressional Republicans wouldn’t budge. GOP lawmakers said, repeatedly and in no uncertain terms, that there would be no compromise.
In November 2014, soon after the midterm elections, President Obama announced he’d found a way forward, overhauling immigration policy through his executive authority. The result was a policy known as DAPA – Deferred Action for Parental Accountability – in which the White House, among other things, extended temporary status to millions of undocumented immigrants, shielding them from deportation threats and allowing them to apply for work permits.
At the time, the Justice Department took the unusual step of publishing a dense, 33-page legal memo, explaining in great detail exactly why the president’s executive actions are legally permissible under existing laws, rulings, and precedents. Federalist Society members couldn’t come up with a constitutional objection; Obama’s actions are in line with what some of his Republican predecessors did without incident; and the whole legal argument against Obama’s actions seemed a little silly.
The White House’s Republican critics, however, felt a little differently, and 26 states a filed suit challenging DAPA. As Vox’s Dara Lind explained over the weekend, oral arguments in this case are scheduled for this morning at the Supreme Court. United States v. Texas, she noted, is “the most important immigration case the Supreme Court has taken up in a generation (or, arguably, a century).”
“Yes, I am not at all happy about what I believe were the real reasons I was the one asked to leave,” Barber said. “My training and experiences with non-violent civil disobedience, and my deep faith, however, made my decision to peacefully comply with the order to get off the plane an easy one.
“I turned the matter over to my legal counselors, one here and one in Washington DC.”
Although Barber questioned his removal, the N.C. Republican Party issued a statement Saturday faulting the leader of the Moral Mondays protests for delaying the flight for other passengers.
“I guess Rev. Barber thinks it’s ‘moral’ to inconvenience other passengers wanting to get home to see their families, because he once again thinks his ‘right’ to say and do whatever he wants is more important than other law abiding citizens who conduct themselves under society’s rules of civil behavior,” said Michele Nix, vice chair of the state GOP.
Cruz vows not to ban sexual devices if elected
04/18/16 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
If the combination of presidential politics and sex is bound to get attention, Mother Jones published a gem last week, noting that Ted Cruz, during his tenure as Texas’ solicitor general, helped defend a law criminalizing the sale of adult sexual devices.
As David Corn’s article documented, Cruz, before he was elected to the Senate, co-authored a legal brief in 2007, urging the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold “a Texas law outlawing the sale and promotion of supposedly obscene devices.” The brief compared the use of sex toys to “hiring a willing prostitute or engaging in consensual bigamy,” and it equated advertising these products with the commercial promotion of prostitution. The legal filing also declared, “There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.”
BuzzFeed reported that the senator was asked about the article during a radio interview last week.
Cruz, asked by WABC radio host Curtis Sliwa if he would ban “the sale of sexual toys, dildos, or anything that sexually stimulates you,” answered that he would not.
“Look, of course not, it’s a ridiculous question, and of course not,” Cruz told Sliwa on Friday. “What people do in their own private time with themselves is their own business and it’s none of government’s business.”
Say hello to Ted Cruz, sexual libertine.
I’ve thought all along that Trump’s candidacy has been a huge publicity stunt (he’s not really a Republican with GOP values) fueled by his deep resentment at being skewered by PBO at the WHPC dinner on the eve the killing of Osama bin Laden.
But now he’s officially joined the ranks of GOP by hiring someone who puts money above all else.
From the article:
“‘I don’t think we trolled Donald Trump into running for president at that dinner,’ Favreau said. ‘I do think that part of the reason that Trump ran for president is so people would take him seriously.'”
bella, I expected to be won by Bernie, I really did, even though he had been pretty awful to PBO. The more I saw of him, the less I liked him; and I flipped to intense dislike a few months ago. He’s a petty, petulant, whiner. He only has criticisms, no solutions. I shudder to think of him on the international stage. He has no administrative abilities. He would be a disaster as POTUS. He truly believes in governing by mob, not by Congress.
Rachel Maddow reviews a cringe-worthy series of video clips of Republican presidential candidate and Ohio governor, John Kasich being sexist, condescending or simply tone deaf in his dealings with women.
Sitting at an outdoor table down the street from the New York Stock Exchange with their deli sandwiches in plastic bags, the two compliance officers for an investment bank are far from the picture of grotesque wealth that Bernie Sanders has denounced on the campaign trail.
“I’m not making a million or a billion dollars,” said Chris Gargano, 35. “I’m just trying to pay my mortgage, like every other American.”
Sanders’ attacks on Wall Street were probably never going to win him friends among wealthy bankers. But ahead of Tuesday’s primary in New York, his condemnations ring distinctly hollow among locals.
…no presidential candidate has made attacking the industry as central to his or her message as Sanders.
Sanders describes Wall Street’s business model as a “fraud” and pledges to break up the country’s largest banks if he’s elected.
“I, frankly, despise him,” said Michael Bachner, 59, a criminal justice attorney whose clients include Wall Street investors. There are people in the financial industry “who work their tails off to have a legitimate life and went to great schools to try to do great things and support charitable causes and do great things with their money, and he is calling them all corrupt.”
…such indiscriminate railing against Wall Street can be bewildering to those whose livelihoods depend on the industry, according to others who have worked in New York politics.
“I don’t think, in general, beating up Wall Street is a very effective campaign tactic,” said Izzy Klein, a former aide to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y… “People want to hear solutions to problems that they’re facing, and they want constructive ideas, not just kind of bluster.”
MSM continue to ask HRC questions about wall street. Why aren’t they questioning the Sanders campaign about this, since he is keeping HRC’s donations in the news.?
I had to shut up my TV all day yesterday through this morning because all I heard from every channel was that there were 28,000 people in Prospect Park at BS’s rally. given such a beautiful day in NY after a week long of rain and gray skies, it is only natural that people rushed to the Park, as they do for any park, when the weather is beautiful, sunny and bright. But, BS supporters will argue that every motorist, passerby, cyclist, jogger in the park was a die-hard supporter of their candidate, extrapolating that tomorrow’s primaries should result in a win for the Vermont Senator. If not, the rules are rigged.
There seems to be a growing list of things that the Sanders campaign should be questioned about…not just the financials (although there seems to be some serious reporting issues and misrepresentation there as well). I was telling my husband about Bernie dissing the Academy President, Margaret Archer, he wondered why the MSM was keeping quiet about that.
Watch as Bernie is directed to Academy President Margaret Archer and walks right past, ignoring her for Morales. pic.twitter.com/qoy4zsUY3R
Niki Kelly, reporter for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, talks with Rachel Maddow about the Indiana Republican Party choosing its delegates before there has even been a primary vote, and so far only one of 57 appears to be a Trump supporter regardless of who wins the primary.
What about all those men and woman you sent to their deaths over the Iraq war WMDs that never existed? They won’t live to be 83 so be fucking thankful asshole and pay your taxes.
Michigan State Senator Jim Ananich, who represents the city of Flint, talks with Rachel Maddow about Governor Rick Snyder’s new broad water quality proposals as Flint enters its third year with water poisoned by the Snyder administration and still no state action is helping resolve the problem.
People are having fun. But I don’t expect the old man to leave anytime soon. He’s been enjoying the love he gets from the die-hard young white revolutionaries and will not quit. Besides, why quitting when he is getting a kick at infuriating and insulting Democrats including POTUS at every turn? He is having the time of his life, spending fools’ money any way he wants to, like i.e. taking his family on a trip to Rome?
I agree. Bernie is not a leader, which what we need to succeed President Obama. Bernie Sanders needs to remain in the Senate and continue his protests against society’s ills. That’s more befitting his inclination.
"Bernie is a protester. He's not scared to go up against the criminal justice system." — Erica Garnerhttps://t.co/ExnauL9nuK
Hello TODable TODville Community.
Sunny. June Temp again today…..73F+. Blue Sky. Slight Breeze 😉
Congrats, Swbluega on Your Au ⭐
Congrats to Au ⭐ winners, 2 posts back.
So Both POTUS & FLOTUS are meeting, lunching & Partying with the UK Royals later this week. Eat your heart out, haters 😉
White House Presser with Josh “The Voice” Earnest coming up soonish…..scheduled at 1:00pm
The Obama Diary 
Good Monday, Chipsticks…TOD Family!!!
Morning swbluega, morning everyone
Chipsticks…I hope that your mom is continuing to improve, and that you are taking care of yourself as well.
Thanks a million {{swbluega}}, she was up and down last week, going in soon to see her and hoping she’s feeling okay. Thank you again.
Yo and Mama Chips are in my thoughts and prayers. Sending healing and positive energy to all of you.
Congrats on 1st swbluega. Have a great Monday.
Good Morning, Roberta. You have a wonderful day as well.
Morning, Chips. Hope you’re doing well and things are getting better for your mom.
Morning Jackie, thank you, it’s a slow old journey for my mother, but hopefully the healing will speed up a little so we can get her home asap.
Service dogs in the treatment of PTSD…
I CAN CONFIRM THIS..I WATCHED THIS YESTERDAY…SUICIDE RUNS IN MY FAMILY….BEEN THERE MYSELF..MY BROTHER HAS PTSD FROM ALL OF HIS YEARS OF SERVICE AND HIS YELLOW SERVICE DOG CODY HAS CHANGED HIS LIFE!
That’s wonderful Sue.
GM SBG.
“no question that thousands of lives could be saved.”
No doubt the suicide rate for veterans is shocking and troubling (22 a day!).
Dogs to overcome PTSD and opiate addiction is something even the reddest RWNJ Congresscritter would find hard to oppose (though they rarely do actual work).
We owe it to these honorable and brave men and women who went through the horrors of war to do this. At the very least.
Hope this reaches @FLOTUS and @DrBiden — they will do everything in the their power to make this a reality, if not by Jan 20 2017, by the HRC Administration.
I heard that Bernie has already left New York –one day before the primary–and has headed for PA. This looks as if he’s conceded NY and wants to make inroads here. I hope Pennsylvanians aren’t fooled.
GM JackieG.
Not sure what this tweeter is referring to (assume it’s about divide between western and eastern PA):
More…
Which means Trump failed at pandering last week (which doesn’t matter to his supporters who are apparently fueled by blind rage):
More…
Joe Paterno/Trump tweets refer to this:
Hi, Arapaho. That statement means that PA is really like a collection of fiefdoms, rather than a state. Philadelphia is a world unto itself and so is Pittsburgh, which maintains a bitter rivalry with its east coast big brother. The center of the state is conservative, except for the urban pockets of Harrisburg, Scranton, Reading, York and sometimes Lancaster. Any politician working in Pa has to understand the different sensibilities. It’s really not unlike Northern and Southern California–same state, different outlooks.
Forgot to mention that Josh Shapiro is by far the better candidate, in my opinion, so we’ll see if Pittsburgh outvotes the rest of the state on this one.
Thanks JG, know nothing about the PA candidates or politics, but understand that PBO has endorsed Katie McGinty for Senate. Wikipedia reminds me there was bitterness between the Obama Adm and Ed Rendell vs. Joe Sestak (apparently because the Adm and Rendell supported Arlen Specter).
With the rise of Silicon Valley and an influx of residents from all over the US and world, I think NorCal and SoCal are pretty similar now (though SoCal continues to have much stronger rightwing leanings due to the influence of Mormon settlement, the military in San Diego County and John Wayne wannabes in Orange County).
Nearly 40 years ago Joel Garreau wrote a book called “The Nine Nations of North America” which IMHO provided a lot of insight into the settlement patterns and influences on this continent’s (including Canada and Mexico) current population. SoCal was grouped with the southwest (Mexico influence — look at our city and street names, overwhelmingly Spanish) while NorCal was part of “Ecotopia” anchored by Seattle in the NW (because Ecotopia has abundant water — not so true now with climate change unfortunately).
Here’s an updated take:
Arapaho, just to clear the record, it was Rendell who pushed Arlen Specter to run as a Democrat for Senate and it was Joe Sestak who ran against Arlen in the primary and beat him. Rendell has never forgiven Sestak for that and has been behind a lot of the machinations to undermine Sestak and push McGinty. I wish PBO had not endorsed McGinty since I think she has a poor chance of defeating Toomey. I’m voting for Sestak.
Thanks, JG!
I liked Sestak’s energy when he ran for Senate in 2010, couldn’t believe that your beautiful state (are garden nurseries now on your agenda?) elected that tea party weasel Toomey.
Crossing my fingers that a Dem replaces Toomey in Nov, looking forward to primary results on Apr 26.
My best friend’s husband is President (?) of a county board in a small county of PA. PA is a commonwealth, which means most of govt. control and services are local. At least that his how he explained it to me. Any PA residents here at PA can correct me if I’m wrong. I would think this would magnify differences between areas.
And of course, the famous “Pennsyl-tucky” references.
It’s a huge state, stretching from the Atlantic to the Midwest. Politics are complicated.
GM 57F.
Pennsylvania is indeed huge, and outside of the Western US is probably my favorite that I’ve been to (although Michigan/Wisconsin are gorgeous too).
Liked the people I met there, and the locals in the middle of the state seemed mildly conservative (unlike the actual nutjobs who reside in inland CA).
(Familiar with the state because a former boyfriend’s family was from the Williamsport area, and his brother attended Penn State at the time.)
Bernie seems to never be in the state having the election that same day, but onto the next. He has actually done pretty good lately using that approach. He mentions it if he wins in that rally address in the next state, but I wonder how those that worked on his state campaign feel about that? It probably does not do much towards building coalitions, but he has never excelled in that area. It is all about what is best for Bernie.
The president’s order applies only to parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
Perla is one of the millions of parents who would benefit from the president’s action. She and her husband, both college graduates, came to the U.S. to study…Now they have two children, ages 3 and 5, both American citizens. Perla and her husband do not apply for jobs they are trained to do — she in industrial engineering, he in business management. They support their children by working, illegally, in restaurants.
The case is now before the Supreme Court — a court that has repeatedly given the executive branch of government “broad discretion” over immigration policy, including how the law is to be enforced as well as who should be arrested and deported.
Hi SW, so many of Bernie’s supporters have become bullies and open misogynists. The blame for that does rest on Bernie himself because that’s the kind of behavior he’s personally demonstrated to Hillary and because he failed to establish standards for behavior among his followers as then Sen. Barack Obama did in 2008. There is no way PBO would have tolerated rudeness of this magnitude. If Bernie does not condone this behavior he’s done nothing to stop it, which makes him a weak and ineffectual leader, not qualified to run a dog show, much less the country.
If you listen to his stump speech and his own views, BS fully supports the hate and mob mentality that he generates. He doesn’t need Congress, he just needs mobs of people intimidating and harassing to “force” GOP to do their will.
So it follows logic that a mob would hurl insults at George Clooney & HRC for supporting down ticket Dems. A despicable act for “Dems” to do to other Dems. BS is still silent, as far as I know.
Can you imagine if PBO crowds had acted this way? He would have been hounded from every media outlet to “control” his supporters and if the outrageous behavior was reflective of who he was as a candidate. BS gets a pass. I’m furious.
And BS gets to pay his wife for lying. Imagine if PBO had put Michelle on the payroll.
Would never have been allowed to continue (if it happened) with “No Drama Obama”.
Definitely a crazy double standard for BS.
And knowing the MSM is always about helping the GOP, I believe they’re also playing the old game of divide and conquer. I think they know Hillary’s on track to be the nominee, so they’re going to poison the well for her as much as possible, and that means propping up Sanders. If they can’t get him as their much-preferred Dem nominee, they’ll play him up to gin up the Hillary hate.
To wit: Stuck with staring at one of my gym’s TV stations tuned to Fox News yesterday, they floated a poll of which of the top four candidates would be the most moral or trustworthy in the WH. Surprise, surprise – Sanders came out on top, followed by Cruz, Clinton and Trump in that order.
As if anyone with a brain would believe that Fox is bolstering Sanders because they really want him as POTUS…
You know who believes it, Sandy? BS does!
MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid’s gut reaction to the protest outside a Hillary Clinton fundraiser last night at George Clooney’s house where Sanders supporters pelted her motorcade with 1,000 $1 dollar bills is to say that it reminds her of the Sanders supporter last week who called Hillary Clinton a “Corporate Democratic Whore.”
Good Morning Chips, Danny and Mom. Glad to see you here this morning. My Nephew’s wife is going through the same thing, her Mom fell and broke her hip, surgery went fine, but when they took x-rays they found she had fallen before and cracked some ribs. She was low on blood count and some other stuff. She found her a good place to do rehab not far from me so I can go visit her. She is also having some memory problems. It is heartbreaking to go through all this. My heart goes out to you and Judy. It was 1990 I went through all this with my oldest Son when he had a stroke and is still in a Nursing Home. ((((hugs))) to you and your family and especially Momma Chips.
Thank you so much Roberta, what strikes me every day is how strong most elderly people seem to be dealing with these kind of crises, the men and women where my mother is, many with much worse injuries/illnesses, are so good-natured and uncomplaining. They’re amazing.
I hope your nephew’s mother-in-law heals well and as speedily as possible, wishing her the best.
Thank you again Roberta.
Chips, I hope the fact that there are good natured people around your mom gives her some comfort and support. It always helps to have someone to commiserate with.
Sw, we’ve reached the point of maximum insanity regarding guns. There are so many raw emotions in college–rivalries, anger, jealousy, fear of failure–and now the temptation will be to address these with a gun, destroying lives in the process. Instead of working through the emotional highs and lows of college, learning from them and maturing, young people will now be dead. Way to go, Texas.
Expressed perfectly, JackieG.
SW, I found this very touching. Hillary is a real people person and knows how to relate to people and give out needed hugs. Those who call her vile names have no idea of this side of her character.
I found it touching as well, JackieG.
A lot of Obama staffers changed their opinion of her once they started working with her and really got to know her.
I feel like this election cycle Hillary is being true to her real self and not being a Mark Penn constructed version of herself.
Agree, edwina. We’re seeing the real Hillary and this time she’s got smart and effective campaign managers.
Morning everyone…Chips, and your mom are always in my thoughts….wishing her a speedy recovery.
Good Morning, Everyone 🙂
To Joy Reid’s point….
http://bluenationreview.com/bernie-supporters-throw-dollar-bills-at-hillary/
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family. {{{hugs}}} for Chips & her Mom 💕
Uh huh
Uh huh
More Than Immigration at the High Court
The Supreme Court’s look at Obama’s executive action perfectly explains the Merrick Garland fight.
By Dahlia Lithwick
This same coulda, shoulda imperative is crucial for understanding the derangement that simmers beneath the GOP obstruction of hearings for Merrick Garland. You may think we are at war over what the court might become. But we are in fact at war over what should have been. And what should have been, for Senate Republicans, is quite simple: The 2016 term was meant to be the Supreme Court’s year to destroy Obama.
You could almost forget this, as the term fizzles into a bunch of sagging 4-4 ties and improbable unanimous decisions, but if Antonin Scalia had lived until July the docket was full of poisoned pills and silent time bombs that would have exploded in President Obama’s face this summer. Until and unless we reckon with what might have been at the high court this term, it’s impossible to understand why there will be no hearings for Judge Garland. GOP senators aren’t just angry about losing Justice Scalia’s seat. They are angry because the court as the weapon of choice to screw the president has been taken from them, and they want it back.
United States v. Texas, the case that will be argued Monday morning at the high court, is Exhibit A for this proposition. When the high court agreed to hear this lawsuit—which emerged from nothing more than a preliminary injunction placed on 2014 DHS regulations that outlined the creation of Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of American Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—Obama haters were dancing in the streets. The executive actions, which delayed deportation for 5 million undocumented immigrants by deprioritizing their removal from the country in favor of the deportations of felons, were blocked in Feb. 2015 by one very conservative district judge in Texas. That decision to enjoin the new rules was happily upheld by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last fall. When the court agreed to weigh in on all this, it was because—as Solicitor General Donald Verrilli argued—this action by the appeals court was “unprecedented,” just as the high court’s decision to step in and block Obama’s climate change regulations last February was unprecedented. The whole term was meant to be unprecedented, except that Justice Scalia died.
❤️
thank you for this…
❤
Good morning TOD folks!
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2016/04/18/3770044/texas-concession-scotus-immigration/
Buried in a section of the brief that evidences their complete misunderstanding of these deferred action policies, the states admit that the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, does have the legal authority to set immigration enforcement priorities, and to choose not to remove people who are a low priority for removal. Importantly, the brief continues, DHS would be well within its authority to “issue ‘low-priority’ identification cards to aliens.”
But that is precisely what happens when a person receives “deferred action” through DAPA and expanded DACA. In fact, what we now call “deferred action” was described as the “nonpriority program” in a 1975 guidance issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the predecessor to DHS. Everything old is new again.
In other words, Texas no longer questions whether DHS can allow low-priority unauthorized immigrants to remain in the country temporarily. Instead, Texas insists that they must not be allowed to work legally while they are allowed to be here.
snip/
Saying that millions of hardworking immigrants can remain in the country temporarily — but not work lawfully — is irrational: how are they supposed to support themselves and their U.S. citizen children? Having the breadwinners in millions of American households drop out of the labor force for the duration of their period of authorized stay in the country would be devastating to these families and to the economy more broadly. Of course they will continue to work, but in doing so they will continue to be subjected to illegally low pay and dangerous working conditions by unscrupulous employers, which is bad for all workers (including American workers), bad for families, and bad for businesses that are trying to play by the rules. The position advanced by Texas would put an official seal of approval on the status quo, effectively sanctioning widespread unauthorized employment.
I hope they find in favor of the Administration….this is ridiculous.
AND THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH…GOD’S PROMISES DON’T CHANGE…IT’S COMIN’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
amazing…yet we have bernie bros acting the fool…these are serious times
I’VE ALWAYS LOVED THIS PICTURE OF THE PRESIDENT ON THE HISTORIC ROSA PARK BUS..JUST REMEMBER…YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!…………………….I LOVE MY ENERGIZER PBO..OFF TO WORK SUE…OK………………………………………..ADIOS!..I MISSED CLYBURN IN THE PARK HERE TODAY..TICKS ME OFF…HOWEVER THEY HAVE BEEN KICKING IN OUR APT. DOORS..SO I’VE BEEN RATHER BUSY.
Good Morning Chips. Thinking of you and your mother.
Generation’s biggest immigration case gets its day in court
04/18/16 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
For nearly six years, U.S. policymaking on immigration was stuck. The Obama administration had already increased border security and enforcement in the hopes of creating the political conditions necessary for legislative changes, but congressional Republicans wouldn’t budge. GOP lawmakers said, repeatedly and in no uncertain terms, that there would be no compromise.
In November 2014, soon after the midterm elections, President Obama announced he’d found a way forward, overhauling immigration policy through his executive authority. The result was a policy known as DAPA – Deferred Action for Parental Accountability – in which the White House, among other things, extended temporary status to millions of undocumented immigrants, shielding them from deportation threats and allowing them to apply for work permits.
At the time, the Justice Department took the unusual step of publishing a dense, 33-page legal memo, explaining in great detail exactly why the president’s executive actions are legally permissible under existing laws, rulings, and precedents. Federalist Society members couldn’t come up with a constitutional objection; Obama’s actions are in line with what some of his Republican predecessors did without incident; and the whole legal argument against Obama’s actions seemed a little silly.
The White House’s Republican critics, however, felt a little differently, and 26 states a filed suit challenging DAPA. As Vox’s Dara Lind explained over the weekend, oral arguments in this case are scheduled for this morning at the Supreme Court. United States v. Texas, she noted, is “the most important immigration case the Supreme Court has taken up in a generation (or, arguably, a century).”
Uh huh
Uh huh
N.C. NAACP leader Barber removed from flight in D.C.
“Yes, I am not at all happy about what I believe were the real reasons I was the one asked to leave,” Barber said. “My training and experiences with non-violent civil disobedience, and my deep faith, however, made my decision to peacefully comply with the order to get off the plane an easy one.
“I turned the matter over to my legal counselors, one here and one in Washington DC.”
Although Barber questioned his removal, the N.C. Republican Party issued a statement Saturday faulting the leader of the Moral Mondays protests for delaying the flight for other passengers.
“I guess Rev. Barber thinks it’s ‘moral’ to inconvenience other passengers wanting to get home to see their families, because he once again thinks his ‘right’ to say and do whatever he wants is more important than other law abiding citizens who conduct themselves under society’s rules of civil behavior,” said Michele Nix, vice chair of the state GOP.
Cruz vows not to ban sexual devices if elected
04/18/16 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
If the combination of presidential politics and sex is bound to get attention, Mother Jones published a gem last week, noting that Ted Cruz, during his tenure as Texas’ solicitor general, helped defend a law criminalizing the sale of adult sexual devices.
As David Corn’s article documented, Cruz, before he was elected to the Senate, co-authored a legal brief in 2007, urging the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold “a Texas law outlawing the sale and promotion of supposedly obscene devices.” The brief compared the use of sex toys to “hiring a willing prostitute or engaging in consensual bigamy,” and it equated advertising these products with the commercial promotion of prostitution. The legal filing also declared, “There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.”
BuzzFeed reported that the senator was asked about the article during a radio interview last week.
Cruz, asked by WABC radio host Curtis Sliwa if he would ban “the sale of sexual toys, dildos, or anything that sexually stimulates you,” answered that he would not.
“Look, of course not, it’s a ridiculous question, and of course not,” Cruz told Sliwa on Friday. “What people do in their own private time with themselves is their own business and it’s none of government’s business.”
Say hello to Ted Cruz, sexual libertine.
GM TODville.
I’ve thought all along that Trump’s candidacy has been a huge publicity stunt (he’s not really a Republican with GOP values) fueled by his deep resentment at being skewered by PBO at the WHPC dinner on the eve the killing of Osama bin Laden.
But now he’s officially joined the ranks of GOP by hiring someone who puts money above all else.
More…
Not verified, but this tweet credibly claims Trump said this to People magazine in 1998:
From the article:
“‘I don’t think we trolled Donald Trump into running for president at that dinner,’ Favreau said. ‘I do think that part of the reason that Trump ran for president is so people would take him seriously.'”
(link to article if it doesn’t appear in tweet:)
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/15/474411511/gop-efforts-to-take-down-trump-echo-2011-white-house-correspondents-dinner
BS’ idea of supporting Dems:
I am hoping the people will turn out for Hillary, because I think I am starting not to like Bernie.
bella, I expected to be won by Bernie, I really did, even though he had been pretty awful to PBO. The more I saw of him, the less I liked him; and I flipped to intense dislike a few months ago. He’s a petty, petulant, whiner. He only has criticisms, no solutions. I shudder to think of him on the international stage. He has no administrative abilities. He would be a disaster as POTUS. He truly believes in governing by mob, not by Congress.
UH HUH
UH HUH
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/15/16
Tone deafness on women a well-established John Kasich pattern
Rachel Maddow reviews a cringe-worthy series of video clips of Republican presidential candidate and Ohio governor, John Kasich being sexist, condescending or simply tone deaf in his dealings with women.
A dear friend in Austin posted this:
http://www.haysinformed.com/atx-floods
Thinking of you, NerdyWonka. 💞
Wednesday April 20th the WH annual take your sons and daughters to work day, the First Lady will meet with and take questions from the children.
I would hope that at the end of my life I wouldn’t be pining over a flat tax. I loathe Republicans.
Sitting at an outdoor table down the street from the New York Stock Exchange with their deli sandwiches in plastic bags, the two compliance officers for an investment bank are far from the picture of grotesque wealth that Bernie Sanders has denounced on the campaign trail.
“I’m not making a million or a billion dollars,” said Chris Gargano, 35. “I’m just trying to pay my mortgage, like every other American.”
Sanders’ attacks on Wall Street were probably never going to win him friends among wealthy bankers. But ahead of Tuesday’s primary in New York, his condemnations ring distinctly hollow among locals.
…no presidential candidate has made attacking the industry as central to his or her message as Sanders.
Sanders describes Wall Street’s business model as a “fraud” and pledges to break up the country’s largest banks if he’s elected.
“I, frankly, despise him,” said Michael Bachner, 59, a criminal justice attorney whose clients include Wall Street investors. There are people in the financial industry “who work their tails off to have a legitimate life and went to great schools to try to do great things and support charitable causes and do great things with their money, and he is calling them all corrupt.”
…such indiscriminate railing against Wall Street can be bewildering to those whose livelihoods depend on the industry, according to others who have worked in New York politics.
“I don’t think, in general, beating up Wall Street is a very effective campaign tactic,” said Izzy Klein, a former aide to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y… “People want to hear solutions to problems that they’re facing, and they want constructive ideas, not just kind of bluster.”
I saw these last week as well…
MSM continue to ask HRC questions about wall street. Why aren’t they questioning the Sanders campaign about this, since he is keeping HRC’s donations in the news.?
You’re right.
I had to shut up my TV all day yesterday through this morning because all I heard from every channel was that there were 28,000 people in Prospect Park at BS’s rally. given such a beautiful day in NY after a week long of rain and gray skies, it is only natural that people rushed to the Park, as they do for any park, when the weather is beautiful, sunny and bright. But, BS supporters will argue that every motorist, passerby, cyclist, jogger in the park was a die-hard supporter of their candidate, extrapolating that tomorrow’s primaries should result in a win for the Vermont Senator. If not, the rules are rigged.
There seems to be a growing list of things that the Sanders campaign should be questioned about…not just the financials (although there seems to be some serious reporting issues and misrepresentation there as well). I was telling my husband about Bernie dissing the Academy President, Margaret Archer, he wondered why the MSM was keeping quiet about that.
inorite?!?!?!
SQUEEEEEEE!!
The photos will be beautiful!
SIGH!!
YAYAYAYAYYYYY
I always thought the Queen like POTUS and FLOTUS.
I think she and the Royal Family really do like them. Not sure about crusty ol’ Prince Philip…;p
I’m still a little shocked by this. I don’t know why, but I am.
…………….
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/15/16
Indiana GOP stacks deck against Donald Trump before primary vote
Niki Kelly, reporter for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, talks with Rachel Maddow about the Indiana Republican Party choosing its delegates before there has even been a primary vote, and so far only one of 57 appears to be a Trump supporter regardless of who wins the primary.
Hope you are all enjoying your day …
back to work ….
I AM SO IN LOVE WITH BOBFR’S TWEET!…OH GLORY!
What about all those men and woman you sent to their deaths over the Iraq war WMDs that never existed? They won’t live to be 83 so be fucking thankful asshole and pay your taxes.
uh huh
uh huh
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/15/16
Flint water crisis unaddressed, Snyder keeps talking
Michigan State Senator Jim Ananich, who represents the city of Flint, talks with Rachel Maddow about Governor Rick Snyder’s new broad water quality proposals as Flint enters its third year with water poisoned by the Snyder administration and still no state action is helping resolve the problem.
TODVille!
People are having fun. But I don’t expect the old man to leave anytime soon. He’s been enjoying the love he gets from the die-hard young white revolutionaries and will not quit. Besides, why quitting when he is getting a kick at infuriating and insulting Democrats including POTUS at every turn? He is having the time of his life, spending fools’ money any way he wants to, like i.e. taking his family on a trip to Rome?
I agree. Bernie is not a leader, which what we need to succeed President Obama. Bernie Sanders needs to remain in the Senate and continue his protests against society’s ills. That’s more befitting his inclination.
Hasn’t started yet.
Hello TODable TODville Community.
Sunny. June Temp again today…..73F+. Blue Sky. Slight Breeze 😉
Congrats, Swbluega on Your Au ⭐
Congrats to Au ⭐ winners, 2 posts back.
So Both POTUS & FLOTUS are meeting, lunching & Partying with the UK Royals later this week. Eat your heart out, haters 😉
White House Presser with Josh “The Voice” Earnest coming up soonish…..scheduled at 1:00pm
ON MY FB…………….
COMING UP: Pres. Candidate Hillary Clinton Campaigns in New York City – http://abcnews.go.com/Live?stream=2
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/04/18/chat-away-773/
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