****
All Times Eastern
10:15AM: President Obama meets with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia
11:35AM: The First Family departs the White House for a three day weekend touring two National Parks out West
3:20PM: The First Family arrives in Roswell, New Mexico
4:55PM: The First Family tours the Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico
7:50PM: The First Family departs Roswell, New Mexico
10:15PM: The First Family arrives in Yosemite Valley, California
****
The Obama Diary 
1st!
Morning all. Thanks, Nerdy, for opening up. Have a glorious day!
I wish you the same, Jackie!
❤ thinking about all o' y'all out there in DC, me old hometown! ❤
So the argument is: Obama is going to take your guns.
He’s going door to door 150 million households and not to mention all the illegal guns and he’s going to disarm all of you. Single handedly!
The far right wing is cuckoo.
That is all!
Jovie, I loved it when Sen Kaine said that the fantasy was the government would ‘helicopter’ into your home to get your guns.
The idea of all those helicopters made me laugh.
The scary part is they believe it and are very adamant about this issue. It’s insane but not for them.
uf you meet a person that has views like this… They mostly are very nice people until you mention this issue(or abortion).
Then, they freak out …
They are very very very sensitive about this issue. 👎👎👎👎😩👈🏾👀
Yes, Republicans have been very good at pushing lies and creating fears so that people just learn to react without thinking.
GM Jovie.
After the Roseburg OR shooting (which killed 9 innocent people who were attending/teaching at a local community college 😦 ), @CBSradionews interviewed a local woman who literally said that people with mental illness have a right to guns.
She was adamant that this right “shall not be infringed,” regardless of whether you are sane or insane. JHC.
These are people who will NEVER change their minds and are consumed by paranoia instead of life.
Also heard on @CBSradionews after the Orlando massacre about a man wounded during that attack — a US military veteran (don’t remember which branch, either Army or Marine) who had a concealed weapon during the attack who said afterward that (paraphrased) — “I didn’t draw my weapon because in that moment of chaos, the arriving police won’t know you aren’t the attacker…”
“I didn’t draw my weapon because in that moment of chaos, the arriving police won’t know you aren’t the attacker…”
That’s what a rational person would think. But it’s the irrational persons that 1) want to be able to carry weapons in a club/bar — a place where your mental state may be affected by alcohol; and 2) would risk shooting in the midst of the chaos and would probably consider wounding innocent by-standers as collateral damage.
wonder who is responsible for this
Whoever it is has a brilliant mind. The Donald has tiny hands and a tiny heart. As for his brain? I leave it to you to guess.
I’ve been thinking about Bernie Sanders encouraging people to run for local offices at all levels. It’s exactly what the Democratic Party has been pushing every election cycle for as long as I can remember. Here are some things Bernie’s listeners need to remember. First, it’s almost impossible to run as an Independent in most states. It might work in states like Vermont, but for most new candidates, it’s best to choose a party. Second, it’s a lot of work to get on the ballot even if you have the support of your local party. It means long hours on the street getting signatures that will bear scrutiny by the opposing party and meeting inflexible–no excuse–deadlines. And third, it takes money–lots and lots of it–even if you’re running for school board or county commissioner. And finally, if you’re running in a red or purple state or county, you have to be prepared to lose, no matter what you do or how organized you are. That’s the reality of the electoral process and it’s why many qualified people get discouraged and why you will often see no one running in down ticket races in some areas.
So, if Bernie and his cohorts really want to be helpful, they could help raise money for state and local Democratic parties so that they can fully support and fund their candidates. It’s one thing to encourage people to run for office; it’s a whole other thing to carry it out. And when you think about it, that’s like a lot of Bernie’s ideas–they sound good, but there’s no plan to achieve them.
jackie, That is a perfect explanation Example, here in Knox County: Obviously, a very red area/state. Last year, the Knox County Dems elected a young man (gay) as our leader. His number one goal was to get Dems on the ballot. I may be remembering the number inorrectly but it will be close. We have around 12 Dems on the ballot, from school board to county commissioner to state rep slots. We all know that not a one of them may win (with the exception of one school board race….in my district), BUT finally people will have a choice and people will be names with DEMOCRAT after that name. At least this is a beginning.
And, btw, there are 21 Democratic women running for state rep positions across the state!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
TN, it’s great to have all those Dems running, especially the women. It breaks my heart when our candidates try year after year to overcome the Republican stranglehold on elected offices and end up losing. It really is a lot of ask of people and I have great respect for those who try. That’s why it irritated me when Bernie–who didn’t designate any money to down ticket races–acted as if he was saying something revolutionary when encouraging Dems to run for all open seats.
NW, is it Rosewell or Roswell? Maybe PBO will pull bsck he does on hangar 51, finally! No that would be too cool! 👁👽😅🖖🕉
Oh dear, where are my darned glasses – yipes! 🤔🤗🤓🙄😶
“pull back the doors”
GM MP.
It’s been awhile since I was in Roswell NM (which is pretty much like west Texas, very unlike the western and northern parts of NM), but…
Scoured the city (before wifi and internet access everywhere) looking for some tribute to Linda Ronstadt (who was born there), but had no luck 😦 . I was probably her biggest fan in the 1970s.
Did find a UFO museum there (converted mid-century single-plex movie theater), and a young adolescent girl was getting homeschool credit (?) for attending.
I’ll never forget that.
hard to imagine a year has already passed
.
ON MY FB…………………………..
Good Morning, Everyone 🙂
G’morning Nerdy & TOD!! Congrats Sir Don on #1:) Thanks Nerdy for holding down the fort so efficiently and for posting the First Family’s schedule for the first day of their weekend trip out West. Look forward to seeing pics 🙂 🙂
From Vanity Fair about Trump and his ‘plans’:
His “audience” looks an awful lot like the audience of Fox News and of right wing radio. I wonder how it will play out. If Trump launches a new tv channel, he will make enemies of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes…
Trump will make money selling water purification systems and MREs to his “audience” which is comprised of doomsday preppers.
Are “they” still into gold? Maybe he can sell ’em some fake gold.
I forgot about the gold scam.
My son knew a guy who was telling him all about it, maybe 5 years ago. Easily scammed. Ugh.
So does he want to be President or does he want to be the next Rupert Murdoch?
My husband was telling about this just before I read it here.
Lately it seems that we are seeing candidates where I find myself saying, “I don’t believe this person *really* wants to be POTUS”. I assume they are in it for personal agendas…to insert an issue into the campaign, to jump-start a(nother) career, to sell a book…. and I also expect that these persons will have dropped out of the race by the end of the primaries.
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have added another component to my thinking….EGO. They cannot seem to let go of the crowds and the attention they received over the past year [although much of these crowds are starting to let go of them and the attention is becoming more negative each day]. Neither of them seem to care about what they claim to be “their” party. It’s obvious they have no care about the country because they don’t even bother to learn about the issues and give any serious thought to solutions. It’s all about the benefit to *them* and whatever the fall-out… it is what it is.
So true swbluega.
https://mobile.twitter.com/CNN/status/743801690630029312
You see? I told you…👀👽
Good Friday, Nerdy…TOD Family!!!
Waving from down here in the Caribbean to the TOD posse in Washington DC. Do have an amazing TOD get together! I hope you get to see the Obamas.
We’re on the Metro on way to Smithsonian. So great to meet everyone!!!
Have a WONDERFUL time and everyone stay healthy and safe!!! Love visiting all the DC sites. Lived in Fairfax for 17 years so spent a lot of time in DC.
Please tell everybody we said hello! Love y’all.
Wish we were there with you all. Have a fantastic time!
Hugs and hello to everyone!!
Former U.S. Military Official Says George W. Bush Created ISIS
Correct. I posted the link to that USNews article yesterday….THINKING people know this! Looking at YOU, John McCain!! He’s tired, bitter and seriously done for….stayed past his due date
Wow
That is WONDERFUL.
THIS IS PERFECT FOR THEM…HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY WEEKEND TO THE ENERGIZER..HIKIN’ AND BIKIN’…AWESOME!
New Leadership at the DNC
Meet Brandon Davis.
by Nancy LeTourneau
June 16, 2016 4:25 PM
As the Clinton campaign gets into gear for the Democratic Convention and the general election campaign, they are bringing new leadership to the DNC.
…………………………
It’s hard to gather much information about Brandon Davis at this point – other than the fact that he has been the national political director for SEIU. Markos Moulitsas writes that he’s known him for years and that he’s “smart, energetic, passionate, and competent as f*ck.” By choosing him, Clinton also continues to tap into young millennials of color to energize both her campaign and the Democratic Party in a way that builds for the future.
This doesn’t mean DWS is leaving. It’s typical for a presidential campaign to take over the running of things for the big campaign. Too much is at stake for them to take any chances.
THIS! I have to laugh though…remember how Republicans used to make fun of PBO because he ate arugala? Now, DT pulls up in his personal jet and walks off, gives a speech and gets back on the jet to go off to the just place. Crickets. Funny, that:)
As far as I’m concerned, Donald Trump can’t fuck the Republicans harder or deep enough for me.
Now THERE’S a vision! 🙂
Good morning, TODville. Nice and cool (momentarily) here this morning in the Land of Lincoln.
Just heard on MSNBC that some corporations are DROPPING their sponsorship of the GOP convention: J P Morgan Chase & Co., Motorola, UPS, Wells Fargo, Walgreens, and Ford – probably with more to come. Now yer talkin’! Follow the money, GOP.
wow. just wow. Things are getting real.
Sounds good to me!
Has anybody heard about President Obama’s decision to not fully fund Israel’s request for $600+million (or billion) for their missile defense system unless the GOP pass the budget? My Republican Jewish friend is all up in arms with that (she hates PBO) and I don’t trust the sources she posted, so wondering here.
Morning, Betsy:) Might try looking here to see if you find anything out
http://jstreet.org/blog/post/j-street-news-roundup-6172016_1
Thanks
Very welcome:)
Obama Rejects the “Carly Simon Syndrome”
Donald Trump thinks President Barack Obama is sympathetic to ISIS. In reality, Obama knows much of the Middle East is outside U.S. control.
by Nancy LeTourneau
June 16, 2016 3:21 PM
No one has interviewed President Obama on foreign policy more often or competently than Jeffrey Goldberg. So when presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump suggests that the President is sympathetic to ISIS, who better than Goldberg to knock that kind of nonsense out of the park.
Before getting to what he had to say about Obama, it is important to note that Goldberg starts off with a few comments about Trump.
He goes on to say that Trump’s critique of Obama is “analysis-free and comprehensively unserious.” So the question becomes, why bother with addressing it at all? My response would be that it provides a way to distinguish President Obama’s approach – not just from the lack of anything coherent from Trump — but from how most Republicans have tried to frame the issue. Here is Goldberg doing a masterful job of providing the really big picture (with some choice takes on Trump thrown in):
Good morning to all especially ‘all ye tourists from TOD ‘aawwing’ at the sights”
Such a beautiful family!
I am going to miss Pete.HZ
I honestly and truly left this update last night, but it vanished into the mystery we often refer to as the interwebZ: so here it is again:
Full Moon, Monday 20 June 2016. 29.33 Sagittarius. 7:02 am ET, 4:02 am PT.
As if that isn’t exciting enough, the Solstice arrives on the same day: Sun moves into Cancer at 6:34 pm ET, 3:34 pm PT. So, quite a big day, and I hope something really big happens. Almost don’t care what, as long as it is positive and provides a renewed sense of Hope for everyone!
Here we are folks. Having a great time.
Check out @MTmarilyn2’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/MTmarilyn2/status/743841985971236865?s=09
😍😍❤️❤️
Yay! Look at all of that awesome! It’s been such a joy spending time with everyone!
💥❤️💥❤️💥❤️💥❤️💥❤️
So Kool!
Lovely photo. Hope you all are having a ball.
We Are!!!
Having lunch in the cafeteria at Museum of American History after seeing Mrs Obama’s inauguration dress from 2009.
This is wonderful! And if there’s any news the dress is missing … my lips are sealed!
LOL! It’s under high security. Too many eyes during the day. [wink, wink] 😉
I’ll check back tonight! 🙂
Dudette – O/T – Gazelle just posted on blog:
June 17, 2016 at 6:54 pm
Help! Am at restaurant to meet TODers in DC, but can’t find them. Did location/time change?
Oh gosh, I thought we were meeting at 9pm tonight. I’ll see if Donna, Marilyn can reach her.
have a fantastic time
{{{Have a FABULOUS time TOD’ers!}}}
It is so nice to see a photo of those that have been on this blog for so long. I read your thoughts daily and have so for two terms of this President. I only wish I could connect your faces in this photo to the blog names I recognize. I remember wishing I could be there with you when it first came up on the blog. I am recuperating from my knee replacement surgery. I am making good progress, but am sorry I missed being able to be with you.
What a wonderful group. Wish I could have been there.
OMG! what a beautiful group:) Have fun…behave!:)
Nah! Just kidding about that behave part:)
OH! I was hoping you guys would see the dress!! It looks so beautiful in your photos.
You guys looks like you’re having fun. I’m about to take off to give my project presentation. I’ll check in when I get back!!
HUGS to all.
Fantastic!!!
yes!
Toders in DC, I am here at my desk looking at the photos of you viewing FLOTUS’ inauguration dress and marveling at how one man could move one awesome lady(Chipsticks) to create a blog that would bring people together in a bond of friendship. I marvel because where evil is present, love and goodness abounds.
God bless you all, and Chips also, for demonstrating the decency and grace that is wrapped up in our humanity.
Beautifully and perfectly said. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Oh dear! This would break our dear Chips heart! Her beloved cheesy puffs in the shape of DT!
Hope she and family are o.k.
I don’t know why I find this meme so hilarious.
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Trolls Trump: ‘I Bailed You Out Twice’
The prince has offered to bail Trump out a third time, too.
01/29/2016 03:59 am ET
A Saudi prince may have just beaten Donald Trump at a game of Twitter trolling.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Twitter that he’s bailed the billionaire out twice — and suggested the GOP presidential frontrunner might need his help a third time.
The exchange was initiated by Trump, who had retweeted a badly Photoshopped image showing the prince with Fox News host Megyn Kelly, calling him a co-owner of the network:
……………
The prince’s tweet included news stories showing that he bought Trump’s yacht in 1991, which had been turned over to creditors when he was $900 million in debt, according to Buzzfeed.
He also included a link to a story showing that he was part of the group that bought New York City’s Plaza Hotel from Trump in 1995. As part of the deal, bin Talal paid off Trump’s debt on the hotel in what the New York Times said was “a defeat for the real estate developer.”
LOL too funny. Drumpf owes the Prince!!!!!!
The irony of his running…we will be thanking him for making Republicans loose..:) The odious Mia Love… hahahaha
Hello TODable TODville Community.
TGIF.
Fantastic TODers having fun in DC 😉 Thanks for the Pics.
Awesome Post, NW. Thank you. 🍸
Congrats to all the Gold ⭐ Winners, starting with this post, since Thursday.
GOP congressman: ‘Muslim community’ wants to kill all gays
06/17/16 11:02 AM
By Steve Benen
The day of the mass-shooting in Orlando, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) saw a partisan opportunity. In a striking statement, the far-right Texan effectively challenged his foes on the other side of the aisle: “If you’re a Democratic politician and you really want to stand for LGBT, show real courage and stand up against the vicious ideology that has targeted our fellow Americans for murder.”
Soon after, this became a surprisingly common talking point among Republicans, including Donald Trump. As we talked about the other day, the pitch is ugly but straightforward: a Muslim killed 49 people in a gay nightclub; Republicans are anti-Muslim; therefore LGBT voters should support Republicans.
The trouble is, the house of cards collapses pretty quickly for anyone who pauses to think about the argument. Indeed, to take the pitch seriously, one has to find arguments like this one from Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) persuasive.
APPLY THE PRESSURE.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/stage-set-major-senate-showdown-gun-policy#break
thisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthisthis!!!!!!!!!!
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/06/17/the-first-family-heads-west/