A man wearing an Obama shirt takes part in a candlelight vigil outside the United States Consulate in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 49 people were killed after a gunman opened fire on people in a gay nightclub in Orlando
****
All Times Eastern
10:30AM: President Obama departs the White House
12:30PM: He arrives in Orlando, Florida
1:20PM: President Obama and Vice President Biden meet with families of the victims and also first responders
4:35PM: President Obama departs Orlando
6:40PM: President Obama arrives at the White House
****
The Obama Diary 
GM NW and TOD. Thanks NW and GM to Chips, her mom and Danny.
Bravo to Chris Murphy. He’s showing every Dem senator what political courage is. I hope Democratic candidates across the country take note of this example and learn from it. Stand tall, fight for what you believe in and never give up.
This is just my personal theory but when you have a leader that consistantly respects, empowers and includes miracles start happening. It not one person that creates these miracles. These are the acts of perhaps thousands of people that have begun to feel as if they can make a difference, their voice counts, they are part of the change they are seeking and their ideas along with those of others are needed to solve our common problems. Also a leader like our president emphasizes compassion and understanding the plight of others, working not just for outselves but as service outward. It starts to change the minds and hearts of those that have been cynical or apathetic or so demoralized that they no longer think change is possible. We have seen this time and again. Its as if because the President believes we will do the right thing together, we do. This is changing the campaign of Hillary Clinton, it is changing our elected Democrats and it is changing the empowerment of every group that has struggled to reach their dreams and potential. Only good can overcome evil. Thank God our president is good and works with good people, strong, smart and giving. Oh have I said enough that I love this place and the people that keep it going and the people that share here.
I believe you are right on, catrst! 📿🕉💞👏🖖
Excellent observations. I will add, HRC’s strong commitment to gun reform worked hand in hand with Dems’ stand in the Senate last night.
Good for you, Catrst. Cynicism is so easy, but Americans have seen that our President never gives up, no matter how much is thrown at him or how many times he has to comfort those who’ve lost loved ones to gun violence. Sometimes there comes a point when the blinders fall from people’s eyes. Maybe they’re beginning to see that government CAN work for you if you elect the right people.
You are so right catrst! Your words are beautiful. I too, believe that good triumphs over evil even when we’re in the darkest of times. We will prevail because President Obama is prevailing.
Thanks Chris Murphy.
He’d make a great VP, IMO! Good morning, TODville.
I watched some of the filibuster in the afternoon, then my son texted me that it was still going on, so I watched the last hour or so until it ended. I am so proud of Chris Murphy, Senator Blumenthal and Cory Booker for literally standing for 14+ hours and discussing gun control policy; talking about the many victims of the shootings, and lastly ending the night with the story of the little Hockley boy and his teacher Annie Murphy and I was in tears. I was never more proud to be a Democrat as I was then.
Lh, I hope this goes viral. I am so very proud of our Dem senators. They’re the only ones fighting for the people of the United States and and the only ones willing to put our safety above their fear of the NRA.
Thank you Senator Murphy and the other Dem. senators who stood with him. I hope that they continue to be relentless in their quest. Our very lives and the life of our nation depend upon them seeing this through.
Just called my senator to thank him for participating. The aide sounded very glad to hear my words. I always try to make calls when I am grateful for something. Somehow I suspect we all don’t do that often enough, am I right?
you
guyzgalz are having a pahtay today?no one tells me anything anymore. 😥 😥 😥
Where’s the pahtay? 🙂
also. too.
😡 😡 😡
G’morning NW, TOD, and congrats COS on #1 🙂 Happy Thursday everyone!
GM, NW and TOD ohana. Safe journey to the village members who are meeting up in D.C. Keep us posted.
Well wishes to Chips and her Mum.
Love, strength, and light to our guys as they come to Orlando to help in the healing. They need our prayers and positive energies to get through their own sorrow as they bear the sorrows of many. I just wish that I could hold them and give them the comforting hugs that they have given to so many. Our PBO and VP Biden are the best of men; we have been touched by grace through their service.
My heart aches for them, CEB. There have been too many lives to mourn, too many families to comfort, too much grief to bear and all because Republican members of Congress value their own careers above the lives of their fellow Americans. It’s twisted and ugly and despicable and we’ve all endured it for far too long.
GM TOD Family. Prayers to Chips, Danny and Momma chips hoping all is going well with Mom Chips. And for all of you that are meeting up in DC this weekend, I pray you are able to see the POTUS & FLOTUS in the WH. Have a wonderful weekend and I 2nd CEB request for PICTURES.
BBL have work to do today. Have been busy for 3 days now. Our computer is down at the store and I will be on the phone for a couple of hours with Dell again. 😦 It is mind boggling. Bye.
❤
Good morning TOD 🙂
Wish this could be re-tweeted a million times. Republicans have forgotten what democracy is. Just like their new leader, Donald Trump, it’s all about them and never about us.
We need at least fifty more Senators like Senator Murphy. What a change from what we’ve seen recently. People of Connecticut should be very proud.
Well, will see a number of you this evening. I’ll be leaving for the airport in an hour……then hop on Southwest to Houston, then Houston to D.C. I’m packed and ready to be there! Took me longer than usual to get to sleep last night, and I woke up an hour early. Can I say “Excited!”
I’m excited for all of you! Good travels, carolyn!
GM!
From the ever unserious GOP…. Morning everyone. So proud of Senator Murphy and all the Senators that stood up for the people. So proud.
does anyone know if BS, with his refusal to “officially concede” is still under USSS protection?
Good Q. IIRR, on the night mittbot lost, ss left in a hurry.
yep, as it should be … under normal conditions;
but with a candidate that insists he is still in the race, I wonder ….. ????
I would think the miserable jerk would bilk the taxpayer as long as he can. Until the official vote at the convention, HRC is the presumptive nominee, only.
Revolution, my ass. Caring about the taxpayer, my ass.
Egypt Air flight 804 cockpit voice recorder has been found.
Shear paranoia…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/15/donald-trump-poll-numbers-us-election-hillary-clinton?CMP=share_btn_tw
Good West Coast morning TOD family. Thanks to our beloved Chipsticks, many of us will be gathering and meeting one another in Washington DC this evening.
We will do you proud Chips ❤️
Safe travels!!! 🙂
Safe travels GGail and to all DC bound TODers. See you all soon! 🙂
#DAESH will soon be facing a ‘surrender or else’ scenario in Mosul ….
Good Morning Everybody.
You didn’t think she was endorsing Trump, did you.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/eugene-stoner-family-ar-15-orlando
The family of the ex-Marine who invented the AR-15 rifle, a weapon style that has been used in a number of mass shootings, including last weekend’s massacre in Orlando, Florida, say the inventor never intended it for civilian use.
“Our father, Eugene Stoner, designed the AR-15 and subsequent M-16 as a military weapon to give our soldiers an advantage over the AK-47,” the Stoner family told NBC News Wednesday in emails and phone calls. “He died long before any mass shootings occurred. But, we do think he would have been horrified and sickened as anyone, if not more by these events.”
I’m so incredibly proud to be a Democrat. Sen Murphy ends the filibuster with a moving tribute to a very young Sandy Hook victim:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/in-wake-of-orlando-winfrey-questions-assault-weapon-sales/ar-AAh7eQx?ocid=spartandhp
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/16/donald-trump-accused-of-using-his-charity-as-a-political-slush-fund.html
Laws and regulations are for other people, not Donald Trump. He seems to corrupt everything he touches.
Huh. Who could’ve guessed….
http://www.nationalmemo.com/harvard-study-confirms-medias-role-trumps-political-rise/
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-nra-paved-the-way-for-the-orlando-shooting-20160615
The greatest threat to our homeland security today is the National Rifle Association, a front group for the firearms industry that derails gun-safety measures and perversely profits with each new mass shooting.
Responding to Orlando — the deadliest attack by a gunman in our history — the NRA blamed the massacre on “the Obama administration’s political correctness” and not the terrorist’s access to “so-called ‘assault weapons'” — while advertising that “semi-automatics are the most popular firearms sold in America for sport-shooting, hunting and self-defense.”
Make no mistake: The NRA paved the way for the Orlando attack, during which Omar Mateen killed at least 49 people.
Here’s how: ……
A MUST READ AND PASS ALONG…ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE IN DENIAL
Barney Frank once said that the most radical group in America is the NRA. They just put on three-piece suits and look legitimate. We should have always called them “radical” at every turn.
Agreed. Call them what they are.
Good morning, good people. I hope all the TODers are arriving safely in DC today to join our Donna Dem is a fabulous weekend together.
A personal moment for Sen. Murphy:
Thank you and good morning meta 🙂
GM, Bobfr. Good to see you and thanks for your tweets. Hope your work is going well. We are all in this together.
Morning to you, Bobfr…please read the article from Rolling Stone that I posted. Lays it all out clearly at the feet of the NRA and Republican “leadership”…
Thank you and Good morning meta and df!
df, I’ll give it a read asap 🙂
Thanks:)
Thank you for posting this. Brought me to tears.
Senator Murphy is such a good man.
He really, really is. Why did I leave CT again? MY senators were absent from that fight yesterday. BOTH of them!
No. They were. They took turn and relieved Sen. Murphy.
Really?? Senator McCain and Senator Flake?
No. Republican senators were Toomey and I think Ron Johnson. May want to fact check that.
I know for a fact my senators would never participate in such a humane and common sense filibuster…ESPECIALLY if 90% of America wanted it to happen…they are too beholden to the rhetoric of their masters…also $$$$….this is a place where, if they could, every newborn would be issued a weapon at birth because FREEDUMB BABY! I WISH I was joking.
Ron Johnson is suddenly very afraid of losing his Senate seat. These jerks play “moderate” once in awhile, like Kirk in IL. Can’t let our guard down for one single minute.
Those senators were Toomey (R) PA, and Sasse (R) NE (Nebraska) not AZ
A very moving article.
I didn’t know that! Great news about the deposition. Did he show?
President Obama departs Joint Base Andrews. Click here ► ► http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
Anyone know what time POTUS and VP are going to Orlando?? I have to be out mid-day for a few hours and hoping I don’t miss it………
POTUS just got on AF1.
Oh thanks, bella. Maybe I’ll be able to catch him before I have to leave.
When talking to Oprah Tuesday, I loved it when FLOTUS said to her haters , The Best Revenge Is Success.
WHOA, this guy really let it fly. And it’s all really the truth.
Cheeto Jesus:) Perfect:)
That was beautifully wild!!
Nailed it all so perfectly, wouldn’t you say?
My oh my! He left nothing to question! Good for him!!!! There’s a few sane ones. Larry Pressler has endorsed Hillary. That speech from the Lt. Gov. of Utah was amazing. Lindsey Graham saying he will not support him……..a handful, but maybe it will grow to a few more.
#CheetoJesus
Wow! Just Wow!!!
I thought they’d be traveling separately … believe that’s the norm.
What a sad day for both, and all of us who travel with them in spirit. The first way we make any inroads in getting rid of having to bear the heartbreak of these shootings is to vote for every Democrat in sight, at every level, and drag others to the polls. Then follow their every move on gun control and all the other changes our country needs!
The last sentence is critical, JO’B. Elect Dems, but hold them accountable. Don’t allow any waffling on issues that matter and keep pressuring them every day if you have to.
Thank you, JER.
Sick
Feingold has a 10 point lead. But Feingold always has to be the renegade. This is incomprehensible:
This guy knows damn well what the Dems are trying to do and by what measures, he’s being a fucking weasel.
Feingold is using the very same talking point weasel Paul Ryan is using!
Very disappointing. Sorry Feingold can’t live up to the occasion.
ah, saint russ. Guess getting his kicked after one term wasn’t enough.
He’s always got to stick it to somebody.
He’s at least supportive of background checks so it’s not all bad. He’s better than Johnson.
Fucking crazy buffoon. Burning down the house because he NEEDS to be “right” all the time…meanwhile, he has no fucking clue!
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-offers-hilarious-proof-back-conspiracy-theory#break
A presumptive major-party nominee for the world’s most powerful job accused the president of treason. That’s bonkers. Facing criticism, he pointed to evidence that actually proved the opposite of his intended point. That, too, is plainly outrageous.
Donald Trump is like that annoying friend on Facebook who publishes nonsense he hasn’t read and doesn’t understand, then wonders why everyone doesn’t agree with him. That annoying friend, however, isn’t trying to be leader of the free world.
I’m reminded of this recent piece from Vox’s Ezra Klein: “Among the most important tasks the president has is knowing what to believe, whom to listen to, which facts to trust, and which theories to explore. Trump’s terrible judgment in this regard is one of the many reasons he’s not qualified for the office.”
We’ve effectively reached the point at which Trump has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction, and when pressed, his clouded mind leads him to evidence that doesn’t exist in reality. Given the fact that this man may soon be elected president, it’s not comforting.
A Republican fundraising bundler recently got his first up-close view of Trump at a California fundraiser. The GOP donor was forced to concede afterwards, “Okay, so our guy is insane.”
Insane is an understatement.
Testing Firefox update. Am I still here?
Okay, I’m good to go.
Until later, everyone.
Just when you think you couldn’t think any less of McConnell, he reaches a new low. He is simply of decency–a man without a soul.
Melt down mode..
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sam-clovis-support-trump-or-shut-up
Sen. Markey says we are about to have SHOWDOWN on the Senate floor! Must see
Marco thinking about riding in and “saving” us all? Can’t find a REAL job, so thinks he may want to stay in the Senate after all? Easy $$ when you do nothing for the people that you work for.
Senator Markey says that NRA should stand for “NOT RELEVENT ANYMORE”
Good Afternoon TOD
I’m leaving work early in a few to run errands before TOD descends on DC. 😉
We have a TOD meet and greet tonight at the hotel and we’ll keep you all posted as the events unfold. Looking to have a blast over the next few days!!!
We are looking forward to pictures and reports. 🙂 Bless all of you. Hope everyone has safe travels!!
gopolitico: Graham on GOP: ‘I’m so sorry we are where we are’
Fuck you lindsey. Eight years of severe #ODS aka racism perpetrated by you and your party. You built this, asshole. Now own it, coward.
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/06/16/make-it-stop/