Thanks for this link– though we’re heavily grieving the coming end of the Obamas’ 8 years in the White House, we can look forward knowing there is still an excellent team at work.
The “one last time” echoes the song from Hamilton the echoes George Washington’s farewell speech. You know that this was added with this in mind. When Chris Jackson sane “One last time” in front of PBO when the cast visited, he was overwhelmed.
An idea: how about threads dedicated to the many roles that PBO has played like: Scientist-in-Chief Writer-in-Chief, Consoler-in-Chief, First Sportsman, PBO and kids, PBO, the world’s diplomat, Environmentalist-in-Chief, and such? I know that Mo’s SS call sign is Renaissance, but it is an even greater fit for PBO, a true Renaissance man in his love of letters, music, art and architecture, sport and physical activity, his towering intellect and in the common touch that attracts many disparate people to him, as well as his steely determination that allowed him to make the hard choices that have kept us safe for 8 years.
A word salad of nothing. The fools who voted for this truly ignorant man will bear the burden of what they did to the majority of the country and much of the world for the rest of their lives.
Are you kidding me? Which Trump wrote that, Barron Trump his 10 year old son. Did that 70 year old really write that? Lord Help America. We need it bad.
Edward R. Murrow On McCarthy Era roll of journalists
“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular.”
Happy New Years TOD family, I hope the New Year brings you great Joy, Happiness and Prosperity. Congrats CEB, on being first this morning.
Nerdy, thanks so much for helping Ms. Chips and the sacrifices you are making for us TOD’ers. 💫🙏👌👊❤
To all, I hope that you demonstrate a confident, optimistic, and positive outlook today. ❤ ❤ ❤
Notwithstanding the nightmare of BuffoonTrump in the Whitehouse, I am more than ever, Thankful to God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
MP, I’m so glad you appeared this morning. I want to personally tell you how delighted I was last night to break and play Charades with you lovely, talented and so very kind daughter. She was among the guests that attended Tally’s New Year’s dinner. Also in attendance was our jojothecat and our Betsy. We had a wonderful time. I’m so happy to have met her and look forward to our next meeting 😘
Judith, it was!
Pictures were taken, but, I don’t have one, and if I did, I don’t know how to post it. Hopefully Tally or someone will do the honors. 🙂
😂😹🍾👋🏼👏🏼 I laughed and laughed, GGail, when I opened the photo of you all together! I had a feeling there would be some laughter and fun! Thank you for your kind words about daughter unit, needless to say, I am immensely proud to be her Mama! ❤🌹❤
OMGoodness MP, she is such a lovely person and quite cute too. 🙂
We all had so much fun together.
If you can, please post the picture, or ask your daughter if she can lend us a hand.
Hi Marilyn, Yes, Yes, & more Yes!
Tally is ill but didn’t want to cancel the dinner party, so when Rhonda & I arrived, we stepped in and finished cooking the meal. We all sat down ( I think there were about 12 of us), ate, talked, laughed, and then Charades began. It was sooooooo much fun!!! The most of the usual suspects were there, plus a few new faces and you would have thought we all knew each other for ages!
Happy New Year my TOD friends and family! Hope our host last night, Tally is feeling better and recovering well…but if you are gonna get sick Thank God we still have Obamacare and Obama cares!
We had fun last night, me and GGail cooking, Betsey and Bill were there from TOD, wonderful friends of Tally’s (they are sooooo smart and great in Charades!), actors, authors, and just plain good folk.
May 2017 be better than 2016 and that everyone can organize and work for a better America…..or else Betsey and Bill are going to have new relatives going with them to Canada aha!
When my children were small…Kwanzaa was a celebration that we did yearly….This year my oldest daughter revived our family gatherings around Kwanzaa…we both felt the need to become grounded in the Principles (Nugzu Saba) of Kwanzaa…Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, Faith…
As many of us here, i have been in a major funk since the election…i have been depressed…fearful…angry…etc….questioning what do i do now…questioning the fate of our country and indeed the world…
i have watched our President and First Lady…both who knew and warned us about trumpism…
since the election…they seem to have a calmness…a resoluteness…that i try to emulate (not with much success..smile)
so what am i going to do…
i have decided to step up my involvement in my community…become closer to fam/friends…take up Yoga to attain some inner peace….keep in mind the principles of Kwanzaa….to make them personal…esp… Faith (Imani)- to believe with all my heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle…
concretely…i joined the outreach/call to action committee of our local DEM committee…i plan to attend community meetings of the local NAACP..and leadership training workshops geared toward women….I also joined a yoga class at a local high school…
sometimes this may seem like it’s not enough given that magnitude of the challenge that trumpism represents…but i have to start with me…and try to be that ripple in the pond…
How beautiful, Prettyfoot. We all have much to live up to these examples for us to emulate. I believe we all need to be reminded. I am upping my involvement too. I believe this is also why I so hope TOD stays open. We need each other.
yes indeed …we do need each other…i do not know what will happen to TOD after the President leaves office…but somehow we must remain in touch with each other….i need to …
i know that we must meet up in Chi town for the opening of the Obama Library…and also to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture
The economy grew at a solid 3.5 percent clip in the third quarter, and is now significantly larger than it was before the Great Recession. The jobless rate is down to 4.6 percent, which almost qualifies as full employment. The stock market and high school graduation rate are at all-time highs, while the uninsured rate, abortion rate and teen pregnancy rate are at all-time lows. Oil imports, crime and health care inflation are also near historic lows, with carbon emissions, foreclosures and illegal immigration falling, too. Meanwhile, retirement assets, auto sales and renewable power have skyrocketed, and the once-teetering Medicare Trust Fund has stabilized. We live in the world’s richest and most powerful nation; we can access most of humanity’s accumulated knowledge on machines we carry in our pockets; and we can now binge-watch better TV shows than ever before.
I’ve bookmarked this article which really explores how great President Obama’s legacy is. He has done so much for this country. Love him and am proud to have voted for him twice (first time voting in this country).
Happy New Year TOD Global Community.
I hope all had and are still having a great 2017, thus far.
Best wishes to ALL and loved ones.
#FORWARD! #Resistance! Thrive!
Love and Peace!
What are the 15 warning signs of impending tyranny? As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:
1. Exaggerate their mandate to govern — claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.
2. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.
3. Publicly criticize anyone who criticizes them, labeling them “enemies.”
4. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”
5. Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements.
6. Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.
7. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them.
8. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.
9. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.
10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as trade unions and opposition parties.
11. Appoint family members to high positions of authority.
12. Surround themselves with their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public.
13. Put generals and other military commanders into top civilian posts.
14. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators.
15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from their public office.
Be warned. 20 days to go. And a Happy New Year.
Oh to have the warmth of a man
Who, in a crisis
Turns to his heart and
Empathizes
With every congregation
And family, in between
This man’s the most loving
We The People have ever seen
When consolation is required
And a touch would heal a scar
Barack Obama teaches us
We never need go far
We each can learn this lesson
In our own hearts: That touch
May not take the burden away
But it does mean oh so much
And this year we thank him
Genuinely, without measure
For being Consoler-in-Chief
And our national treasure.
DALLAS — Special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) arrested nine defendants this week in connection with their roles in a $100 million health care fraud conspiracy perpetrated against TRICARE, the health insurance program for members of the military and their families. A tenth defendant surrendered to the FBI. The defendants, including doctors, pharmacy owners, and marketers were charged in a 35-count superseding indictment returned last week in Dallas and unsealed this afternoon, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
“Exhaustive investigative work by FBI and DCIS special agents and investigators not only led to today’s arrests, but to the identification and seizure of millions in assets that these defendants derived from their participation in this massive scheme that caused the TRICARE health insurance program—designed for our military personnel, veterans and their families—to suffer more than $100 million in actual losses,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.
“Today’s arrests helped to alleviate the burden on the American taxpayers from an organized group determined to commit fraud within the healthcare industry, principally, the TRICARE system,” said Acting SAC Michael A. Costanzi of FBI Dallas. “This joint effort by the Dallas FBI and DCIS is one of many successful law enforcement partnerships forged to dismantle healthcare fraud groups.
“The first line of defense will be Democratic governors, attorneys-general and legislatures. Democratic activists must demand that their Democratic state leaders stand up to federal overreach and protect our most vulnerable residents, including immigrants and racial and religious minorities. Those activists should support Democrats when we do the right thing, and get in our faces when we shirk moral leadership.”
Happy New Year TOD. Sounds like a lot of fun was had at Tally’s! I just looked in my email and saw Farewell Address from PBO and Whitehouse.org. Crap. This is really happening. I have the day off (Observance of New Year’s Day)
Hello TOD peeps. While wishing you all joy in the new year, despite the circumstances, I’m thinking about our future. Even though I don’t comment often, largely due to being out of sync with posts because of my traveling, I am here every single day, usually more than once. In fact, if you see a tall woman with rapidly graying hair staring at her phone on the checkout line, that’s me seeing what’s up on TOD. This is an amazing community, spearheaded by two wonder women, and I would love to be part of finding a way forward for this site. I don’t mean to step on Superwoman Nerdy’s toes in this, because she may well have plans we don’t know yet. But I also imagine that the work to keep this going is a lot as she launches her life. And I suspect if Chips rejoins us at some point, she would love to do so as a participant, not the driving force.
This site has always had three great themes for me — the Obamas themselves, the community, and the news it connects to. I don’t have a TV, I don’t listen to news on the radio, I just come here and follow links, and I find that I usually know as much as or more about an issue than other people I’m with.
The Obamas will still be working wonders in the world, we will need our community as much as ever, and I’d love to see us become a force for passing on good journalism on all sorts of topics, just as we have been doing. It takes a lot to set up a site and get it going, and so would be such a gift to build on what we already have.
My basic idea is that we all become aggregators, bringing news and links, as well as our wonderful personalities. I have a website, so I know my way around WordPress, though I’m definitely not able to take on the job of renewing posts alone. Plus I suspect there is the very dreary job of reading through comments to keep the trolls out. One way around that would be to only have people already approved able to comment, and have a slightly arduous process for new people to get approved (having to email or some such), which would, hopefully, discourage the fly-by-night trolls.
There are a bunch of things to consider, and, as I said, Nerdy may well be considering them. I’ll email this to her in case she missed it here. I’d love to start the conversation. I’ll keep track of everyone’s ideas, and I’ll post a shorter version of this several times so that people who miss this one can join in.
betsyc, Looks like I am the first one to comment. I like your thoughts/ideas about ways to keep this community going. Some things to focus on, etc. Also, thank you for your offer to assist NW or Chips or anyone else will is willing and able to help keep us together. I know that I–and MANY others–could not survive without this community. And, we need to be a force for good. We need to be ‘stronger together’ and be ready to answer PO’s call to action for wherever he takes us with his leadership. Thanks again!!!!
I too hope this site can continue in some form. I love this site, and follow links and read most of my news here. I get news here before many mass media sites do. I have noticed several of you are powerful aggregators…..I’m not, but I will support, read and contribute as I can in whatever form this takes. I need my morning and evening fixes of TOD 😉
The Republicans do not care about the number of people that will be thrown off of Obamacare (ACA) w/o a Replacement Plan. It’s a given that GOP’s immediate plan is to “Repeal Obamacare”. Their carrot is they will let the repeal phase-in over 1-3 yrs without ever having a workable replacement healthcare plan.
Don’t be fool by any GOP/media language regarding a GOP replacement healthcare plan. It’s not going to happen.
And I love how he corrected himself on using PBO’s first name in this venue. Who does Tapper think he is that he can give Biden permission to first name the president? A-A people know what this is all about, and I am proud that VP Biden did not fall for it.
The people screaming ableism in response to expert warnings about Trump's mental instability are enabling his dysfunction/spreading stigma. https://t.co/jd8qn8FITI
“Yet again, our country and the world have been entrusted to a man who hasn’t demonstrated the mental and behavioral stability to keep himself, let alone the rest of us safe. After eight years of steady, even-handed leadership from a president often labeled too “professorial,” “calm,” and “aloof,” it’s a wonder we haven’t yet drawn a connection between his stability and our prosperity.
It’s also a wonder that people who claimed to be suffering from severe anxiety just voluntarily committed themselves to strife at the hands of Instability-in-Chief, and we aren’t yet treating it like the emergency it is.
Since I don’t have a TV, don’t know if this has aired yet on the east coast… but this teaser says that PBS News Hour will have a series of segments over the next two weeks on President Obama’s Administration, starting tonight with a look at PBO’s dedication to preserving history for all Americans:
“His failures,” really? For 8 years only one branch of the federal government worked. Anything that the News Hour correspondents deem failures can be laid at the feet of the legislative and judicial branches. I will DVR this series and fast forward through any failure they try to lay at the president’s feet.
It’s really cool that people came out in the bad weather to cheer and wave to the family. It was funny to see the cameraman wiping the lens throughout. In a few days the Obamas will be able to return to Hawaii whenever they like, stay as long as they like and to really relax for the first time since he announced he was running for president. We are strong enough to go on without him at the helm because he has shown us the way. The Farewell Speech will be his love letter to the country and our marching orders in forming the army of the citizen. I can let them go with a smile, with gratitude and strangely, with optimism. Not in the Deplorables in office, but in our ability to come through what is really a blimp in time. When people’s eyes are finally opened, and I think this will happen sooner than later, we will do everything we can to ensure that such a travesty is not visited upon us again.
They get what they deserve. They shit on PBO and the rest of us by not reporting on the things we need to know. Everything was faux-scandal, gossip, and carrying water for the GOP. I especially hated how they went on foreign trips with PBO and did not ask questions about the issues that brought them there. The look on their faces that last day soon after the election told the story; they were as sad and fearful as most of us. I know that they took direction from their owners, but they made no effort to stand up for the truth. A ppox on them for the hand they played in making PBO and our lives more difficult. They will now be on the receiving end of contempt and lack of access such as they have never known.
He gave a whole group of kids someone to look up to…because for the first time in history they see themselves in Obama #YesWeCan ❤ pic.twitter.com/TzcVefYYKs
#yeswecan When our @POTUS is proud of our children's kindness, it inspires them to lead us to a future of compassion and humanity for all. pic.twitter.com/YMUfGLmiAj
One of the things that disturbs me the most about the Deplorable One is how his own children cannot speak of any time when their father was loving, kind, and involved when they were younger. She-who-wants-to-supplant-his-wife-as FLOTUS, gave an entire objective speech with passive verbs about her father that could have been about anyone. Not one anecdote about him reading or playing with them, taking them on outings, or comforting their childhood sadnesses. No photos of laughing with him or being lovingly embraced. What we got was a father who patted his grown daughter on the behind and who talked about how hot she was and that he would have dater her if they had not been related. No proud father-son moments or stories of the life lessons he taught them. He emasculates his sons as he tries to do with any male he meet It really stings him that he has not been able to do this to PBO). Then there is PBO: examples of his love and care for all children everywhere abound. He enters into their world (though Malia told him years ago that kids don’t shake hands), gets on their level and gives them his undivided attention. We know all that we need to know about both men through their inter-actions with children.
I am so full; trying to hold in the tears. They have given us so much and I am so grateful. This is the best compilation of photos and music that showcase the Obamas that I have seen. This may be your best (among many) post so far, JER. Thank you so much.
Nicely put, Bobfr. I was thinking this morning about how the blog might morph, and if a name change would be part of that. But I truly believe this community will be supporting and furthering the Obama agenda, as well as looking to him and the First Lady as leaders, so The Obama Diary remains a fitting title.
I agree with everything Bob, has listed. Additionally, betseyc offered up in this thread above, fantastic ideas regarding assisting in maintaining TOD.
Ultimately, denying Trump and Trumpism the cultural cosign they crave is an important statement. It does what so far, the collective media have been unable or unwilling to do: rejecting the normalization of the utterly abnormal. It tells not just the country, but the world, that Trumpism may have a hold on our politics, but it doesn’t have a hold on us. America’s ascendant majority will not so easily slink off into that good night, and will not quietly ingest what Trump has foisted on the electorate.
Obama White House.gov
The Obama Diary 
Good morning, NW and Tod ohana. Love and strength to all from sunny Florida.
Hey, CEB, I can echo your wish this morning…with a slight addition. 😉
‘Love and strength to all from sunny ….and snowy… Toronto!’
Happy new Year, NW!
#ThanksObama!
#ThanksNerdyW!
#Happy New Year, TOD!
Good West Coast morning NW & TOD family and “Thanks NW!” 😘
Thank you President Obama.
he signed it President Barack Obama….
yes he still is the President…..
He will always be President.
I am with Perez
Ditto! #TeamPerez
Thanks for this link– though we’re heavily grieving the coming end of the Obamas’ 8 years in the White House, we can look forward knowing there is still an excellent team at work.
The “one last time” echoes the song from Hamilton the echoes George Washington’s farewell speech. You know that this was added with this in mind. When Chris Jackson sane “One last time” in front of PBO when the cast visited, he was overwhelmed.
An idea: how about threads dedicated to the many roles that PBO has played like: Scientist-in-Chief Writer-in-Chief, Consoler-in-Chief, First Sportsman, PBO and kids, PBO, the world’s diplomat, Environmentalist-in-Chief, and such? I know that Mo’s SS call sign is Renaissance, but it is an even greater fit for PBO, a true Renaissance man in his love of letters, music, art and architecture, sport and physical activity, his towering intellect and in the common touch that attracts many disparate people to him, as well as his steely determination that allowed him to make the hard choices that have kept us safe for 8 years.
Thanks for saying that so well, CEB and for getting here first today! Enjoy your sunshine.
The “he” refers to Chris Jackson, not PBO.
G”morning Nerdy and TOD. Time to get the Kleenex boxes ready….sigh…
This will be a speech for the ages.
This makes me cry!
Me too
It started in Chicago.
I won’t be able to breathe. I’m already getting a panic attack feeling coming over me…
I know how you feel. I’m anxious that all those sleepless nights after the election are about to return…….
The President says that the greatest office is the office of Citizen….i look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with him….
Seeing that picture and announcement of his farewell address made me tear up. I just can’t stand it!
I do, too, PF.
Morning everyone:) I do believe that I mentioned this yesterday…here’s more details…
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/02/msnbcs-joe-scarborough-run-in-facts-courtesy-sopan-deb.html
He compared himself to Ben Bradlee and Tom Brokow. I can’t stop laughing.
MSNBC is running commercials about him. It must be really bad over there if the need to prop him up in ads.
My red pen. Holy crap is this guy simple (read stupid)
A word salad of nothing. The fools who voted for this truly ignorant man will bear the burden of what they did to the majority of the country and much of the world for the rest of their lives.
Sadly, the rest of us will get caught up in this frauds horrific mess….people will DIE because of this truly ignorant man.
Are you kidding me? Which Trump wrote that, Barron Trump his 10 year old son. Did that 70 year old really write that? Lord Help America. We need it bad.
Wishing the entire TOD diaspora a healthy, safe and prosperous 2017. Happy New Year everyone!
Good Read from John Avlon
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/31/our-murrow-moment.html
Edward R. Murrow On McCarthy Era roll of journalists
“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular.”
Seems like that is relevant today more than ever…
Good morning NW and TOD. Nerdy thank you so much for keeping us together.
ha, just 1 hour after the White House posts a notification of PBO’s Farewell Address and already close to 50K likes!
honestly, I am a mixture of dread and anticipation about this event
…. dread because I really can’t continue pretending that PBO is still in charge come Jan/20;
…. anticipation because it is bound to be one for the history books;
I so wish I could stop the clock ….
I feel you, sister. This is going to be a keeper, and as I said on last thread, bring the Kleenex.
Very sad.
How awful. There must be a way to end this madness. Ban guns.
Happy New Years TOD family, I hope the New Year brings you great Joy, Happiness and Prosperity. Congrats CEB, on being first this morning.
Nerdy, thanks so much for helping Ms. Chips and the sacrifices you are making for us TOD’ers. 💫🙏👌👊❤
To all, I hope that you demonstrate a confident, optimistic, and positive outlook today. ❤ ❤ ❤
Notwithstanding the nightmare of BuffoonTrump in the Whitehouse, I am more than ever, Thankful to God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
❤🌹🙏🏻🌹❤
MP, I’m so glad you appeared this morning. I want to personally tell you how delighted I was last night to break and play Charades with you lovely, talented and so very kind daughter. She was among the guests that attended Tally’s New Year’s dinner. Also in attendance was our jojothecat and our Betsy. We had a wonderful time. I’m so happy to have met her and look forward to our next meeting 😘
*break bread*
Sounds like a GREAT party!
Judith, it was!
Pictures were taken, but, I don’t have one, and if I did, I don’t know how to post it. Hopefully Tally or someone will do the honors. 🙂
Working on it now, insider connections! 🙏🏻👁👁👊🏼
I sent the photo in a DM to Nerdy on Twitter, so I hope she can post it! Looked like so much fun!!
Judith, you have our permission to insert it into a tweet and post it. That’s good enough for me. Thanks y’all for the effort. 🙂
😂😹🍾👋🏼👏🏼 I laughed and laughed, GGail, when I opened the photo of you all together! I had a feeling there would be some laughter and fun! Thank you for your kind words about daughter unit, needless to say, I am immensely proud to be her Mama! ❤🌹❤
OMGoodness MP, she is such a lovely person and quite cute too. 🙂
We all had so much fun together.
If you can, please post the picture, or ask your daughter if she can lend us a hand.
LOVED her Pamela! It was so much fun despite our Tally being sick.
Oh GGail, I know you guys had a great time. Lots of food, laughter and love.
Hi Marilyn, Yes, Yes, & more Yes!
Tally is ill but didn’t want to cancel the dinner party, so when Rhonda & I arrived, we stepped in and finished cooking the meal. We all sat down ( I think there were about 12 of us), ate, talked, laughed, and then Charades began. It was sooooooo much fun!!! The most of the usual suspects were there, plus a few new faces and you would have thought we all knew each other for ages!
And the food Jojocat and GGail cooked was AMAZING, especially the mac & cheese, black eyed peas, and collard greens. Yummy…..
❤
Oh wow does that sound good. Hope we can see a picture.
Me too. I didn’t take one, unfortunately.
You know GGail, I believe in some ways we all have known each other before. We are all family. Hope Tally is feeling better.
Happy New Year my TOD friends and family! Hope our host last night, Tally is feeling better and recovering well…but if you are gonna get sick Thank God we still have Obamacare and Obama cares!
We had fun last night, me and GGail cooking, Betsey and Bill were there from TOD, wonderful friends of Tally’s (they are sooooo smart and great in Charades!), actors, authors, and just plain good folk.
May 2017 be better than 2016 and that everyone can organize and work for a better America…..or else Betsey and Bill are going to have new relatives going with them to Canada aha!
“or else Betsey and Bill are going to have new relatives going with them to Canada aha!”
LOL!!!
If we end up going to Canada, then you’re all welcome to join us and be our family, ha ha.
Happy New Year TOD….NW….
When my children were small…Kwanzaa was a celebration that we did yearly….This year my oldest daughter revived our family gatherings around Kwanzaa…we both felt the need to become grounded in the Principles (Nugzu Saba) of Kwanzaa…Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, Faith…
As many of us here, i have been in a major funk since the election…i have been depressed…fearful…angry…etc….questioning what do i do now…questioning the fate of our country and indeed the world…
i have watched our President and First Lady…both who knew and warned us about trumpism…
since the election…they seem to have a calmness…a resoluteness…that i try to emulate (not with much success..smile)
so what am i going to do…
i have decided to step up my involvement in my community…become closer to fam/friends…take up Yoga to attain some inner peace….keep in mind the principles of Kwanzaa….to make them personal…esp… Faith (Imani)- to believe with all my heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle…
concretely…i joined the outreach/call to action committee of our local DEM committee…i plan to attend community meetings of the local NAACP..and leadership training workshops geared toward women….I also joined a yoga class at a local high school…
sometimes this may seem like it’s not enough given that magnitude of the challenge that trumpism represents…but i have to start with me…and try to be that ripple in the pond…
Happy New Year….
#YesWeCan #StrongerTogether
…
Will try to emulate you, Prettyfoot!
It is You Judith…who have given inspiration…i thank you for your continued efforts..
Nice. I don’t know anyone who celebrates Kwanzaa so this was a wonderful comment, PF.
How beautiful, Prettyfoot. We all have much to live up to these examples for us to emulate. I believe we all need to be reminded. I am upping my involvement too. I believe this is also why I so hope TOD stays open. We need each other.
yes indeed …we do need each other…i do not know what will happen to TOD after the President leaves office…but somehow we must remain in touch with each other….i need to …
We do need to stay together somehow.
Amen!
i know that we must meet up in Chi town for the opening of the Obama Library…and also to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture
That is a must.
Thanks, Obama:)
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/everything-is-still-awesome-214554
Have you heard the excellent news?
The economy grew at a solid 3.5 percent clip in the third quarter, and is now significantly larger than it was before the Great Recession. The jobless rate is down to 4.6 percent, which almost qualifies as full employment. The stock market and high school graduation rate are at all-time highs, while the uninsured rate, abortion rate and teen pregnancy rate are at all-time lows. Oil imports, crime and health care inflation are also near historic lows, with carbon emissions, foreclosures and illegal immigration falling, too. Meanwhile, retirement assets, auto sales and renewable power have skyrocketed, and the once-teetering Medicare Trust Fund has stabilized. We live in the world’s richest and most powerful nation; we can access most of humanity’s accumulated knowledge on machines we carry in our pockets; and we can now binge-watch better TV shows than ever before.
I’ve bookmarked this article which really explores how great President Obama’s legacy is. He has done so much for this country. Love him and am proud to have voted for him twice (first time voting in this country).
Happy New Year TOD Global Community.
I hope all had and are still having a great 2017, thus far.
Best wishes to ALL and loved ones.
#FORWARD! #Resistance! Thrive!
Love and Peace!
The warning signs of tyranny.
What are the 15 warning signs of impending tyranny? As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:
1. Exaggerate their mandate to govern — claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.
2. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.
3. Publicly criticize anyone who criticizes them, labeling them “enemies.”
4. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”
5. Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements.
6. Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.
7. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them.
8. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.
9. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.
10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as trade unions and opposition parties.
11. Appoint family members to high positions of authority.
12. Surround themselves with their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public.
13. Put generals and other military commanders into top civilian posts.
14. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators.
15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from their public office.
Be warned. 20 days to go. And a Happy New Year.
This is not ok.
Important.
This follows CEB’s suggestion …
***
Consoler-in-Chief
Oh to have the warmth of a man
Who, in a crisis
Turns to his heart and
Empathizes
With every congregation
And family, in between
This man’s the most loving
We The People have ever seen
When consolation is required
And a touch would heal a scar
Barack Obama teaches us
We never need go far
We each can learn this lesson
In our own hearts: That touch
May not take the burden away
But it does mean oh so much
And this year we thank him
Genuinely, without measure
For being Consoler-in-Chief
And our national treasure.
Oh JOB! What a treasure you are. I want a booklet of your PBO poems. I would pay for it.
Me too, me too.
A beautiful tribute from a beautiful soul.
Thank you for these lovely and consoling words to our poet-in-residence. I think we are all in need of this right now. XOXO.
J’OB, this is beautiful. Thank you!
🙂 You did it:) Love.
Beautiful.
Thanks for the kind words, all! ❤
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/ten-additional-defendants-charged-100-million-tricare-fraud-scheme
DALLAS — Special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) arrested nine defendants this week in connection with their roles in a $100 million health care fraud conspiracy perpetrated against TRICARE, the health insurance program for members of the military and their families. A tenth defendant surrendered to the FBI. The defendants, including doctors, pharmacy owners, and marketers were charged in a 35-count superseding indictment returned last week in Dallas and unsealed this afternoon, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
“Exhaustive investigative work by FBI and DCIS special agents and investigators not only led to today’s arrests, but to the identification and seizure of millions in assets that these defendants derived from their participation in this massive scheme that caused the TRICARE health insurance program—designed for our military personnel, veterans and their families—to suffer more than $100 million in actual losses,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.
“Today’s arrests helped to alleviate the burden on the American taxpayers from an organized group determined to commit fraud within the healthcare industry, principally, the TRICARE system,” said Acting SAC Michael A. Costanzi of FBI Dallas. “This joint effort by the Dallas FBI and DCIS is one of many successful law enforcement partnerships forged to dismantle healthcare fraud groups.
My word. What greedy people and how sad that they exploited military personnel and their families.
Huh.
“The first line of defense will be Democratic governors, attorneys-general and legislatures. Democratic activists must demand that their Democratic state leaders stand up to federal overreach and protect our most vulnerable residents, including immigrants and racial and religious minorities. Those activists should support Democrats when we do the right thing, and get in our faces when we shirk moral leadership.”
https://storify.com/DemFromCT/jay-rosen-on-a-dangerous-new-presidential-myth-of-
Skip the opinions and get right to the rules.
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/
Part 2:
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/27/trump-realism-vs-moral-politics-choice-we-face/
Happy New Year TOD. Sounds like a lot of fun was had at Tally’s! I just looked in my email and saw Farewell Address from PBO and Whitehouse.org. Crap. This is really happening. I have the day off (Observance of New Year’s Day)
Hi a4alice. I received my email from PBO too. And yes, fun was had by all, even though our hostess, Tally was ill, the show still went on! LOL!
Hello TOD peeps. While wishing you all joy in the new year, despite the circumstances, I’m thinking about our future. Even though I don’t comment often, largely due to being out of sync with posts because of my traveling, I am here every single day, usually more than once. In fact, if you see a tall woman with rapidly graying hair staring at her phone on the checkout line, that’s me seeing what’s up on TOD. This is an amazing community, spearheaded by two wonder women, and I would love to be part of finding a way forward for this site. I don’t mean to step on Superwoman Nerdy’s toes in this, because she may well have plans we don’t know yet. But I also imagine that the work to keep this going is a lot as she launches her life. And I suspect if Chips rejoins us at some point, she would love to do so as a participant, not the driving force.
This site has always had three great themes for me — the Obamas themselves, the community, and the news it connects to. I don’t have a TV, I don’t listen to news on the radio, I just come here and follow links, and I find that I usually know as much as or more about an issue than other people I’m with.
The Obamas will still be working wonders in the world, we will need our community as much as ever, and I’d love to see us become a force for passing on good journalism on all sorts of topics, just as we have been doing. It takes a lot to set up a site and get it going, and so would be such a gift to build on what we already have.
My basic idea is that we all become aggregators, bringing news and links, as well as our wonderful personalities. I have a website, so I know my way around WordPress, though I’m definitely not able to take on the job of renewing posts alone. Plus I suspect there is the very dreary job of reading through comments to keep the trolls out. One way around that would be to only have people already approved able to comment, and have a slightly arduous process for new people to get approved (having to email or some such), which would, hopefully, discourage the fly-by-night trolls.
There are a bunch of things to consider, and, as I said, Nerdy may well be considering them. I’ll email this to her in case she missed it here. I’d love to start the conversation. I’ll keep track of everyone’s ideas, and I’ll post a shorter version of this several times so that people who miss this one can join in.
betsyc, Looks like I am the first one to comment. I like your thoughts/ideas about ways to keep this community going. Some things to focus on, etc. Also, thank you for your offer to assist NW or Chips or anyone else will is willing and able to help keep us together. I know that I–and MANY others–could not survive without this community. And, we need to be a force for good. We need to be ‘stronger together’ and be ready to answer PO’s call to action for wherever he takes us with his leadership. Thanks again!!!!
I agree tnmtngirl, what betseyc, says. I also plan to become a aggregator. I don’t know anything about doing a blog. But I will be a participant.
I too hope this site can continue in some form. I love this site, and follow links and read most of my news here. I get news here before many mass media sites do. I have noticed several of you are powerful aggregators…..I’m not, but I will support, read and contribute as I can in whatever form this takes. I need my morning and evening fixes of TOD 😉
apparently wordpress ate my beautifully worded, poignant response… 🙂 so I’ll just say heck yeah!
Good Info!
The Republicans do not care about the number of people that will be thrown off of Obamacare (ACA) w/o a Replacement Plan. It’s a given that GOP’s immediate plan is to “Repeal Obamacare”. Their carrot is they will let the repeal phase-in over 1-3 yrs without ever having a workable replacement healthcare plan.
Don’t be fool by any GOP/media language regarding a GOP replacement healthcare plan. It’s not going to happen.
“Don’t be fool by any GOP/media language regarding a GOP replacement healthcare plan. It’s not going to happen.”
YUP!
I just love, love, love our VP Joe. Thanks JER ❤
He said "he will always be my president".
And I love how he corrected himself on using PBO’s first name in this venue. Who does Tapper think he is that he can give Biden permission to first name the president? A-A people know what this is all about, and I am proud that VP Biden did not fall for it.
VP Biden…He will always be my President…..what an awesome thing for him to say
yes, VP, I too know that PBO will always be my president
“Yet again, our country and the world have been entrusted to a man who hasn’t demonstrated the mental and behavioral stability to keep himself, let alone the rest of us safe. After eight years of steady, even-handed leadership from a president often labeled too “professorial,” “calm,” and “aloof,” it’s a wonder we haven’t yet drawn a connection between his stability and our prosperity.
It’s also a wonder that people who claimed to be suffering from severe anxiety just voluntarily committed themselves to strife at the hands of Instability-in-Chief, and we aren’t yet treating it like the emergency it is.
Don’t know if this was ever posted, but it’s just the type of message we need every American corporation spreading in order to counter Trump’s hate …
Love this ad.
Seriously ….
back to work … hope all of you are having as good a day as possible … preparing for #TheResistance ….
Seriously ….
now, back to work ….
GA TODville.
Since I don’t have a TV, don’t know if this has aired yet on the east coast… but this teaser says that PBS News Hour will have a series of segments over the next two weeks on President Obama’s Administration, starting tonight with a look at PBO’s dedication to preserving history for all Americans:
“His failures,” really? For 8 years only one branch of the federal government worked. Anything that the News Hour correspondents deem failures can be laid at the feet of the legislative and judicial branches. I will DVR this series and fast forward through any failure they try to lay at the president’s feet.
I must say …that i am suspect of these look backs….depends on who is making the critiques…whether it will be valid for me
It’s really cool that people came out in the bad weather to cheer and wave to the family. It was funny to see the cameraman wiping the lens throughout. In a few days the Obamas will be able to return to Hawaii whenever they like, stay as long as they like and to really relax for the first time since he announced he was running for president. We are strong enough to go on without him at the helm because he has shown us the way. The Farewell Speech will be his love letter to the country and our marching orders in forming the army of the citizen. I can let them go with a smile, with gratitude and strangely, with optimism. Not in the Deplorables in office, but in our ability to come through what is really a blimp in time. When people’s eyes are finally opened, and I think this will happen sooner than later, we will do everything we can to ensure that such a travesty is not visited upon us again.
Wonder how the press corps feels about the Donald not giving them access…
They get what they deserve. They shit on PBO and the rest of us by not reporting on the things we need to know. Everything was faux-scandal, gossip, and carrying water for the GOP. I especially hated how they went on foreign trips with PBO and did not ask questions about the issues that brought them there. The look on their faces that last day soon after the election told the story; they were as sad and fearful as most of us. I know that they took direction from their owners, but they made no effort to stand up for the truth. A ppox on them for the hand they played in making PBO and our lives more difficult. They will now be on the receiving end of contempt and lack of access such as they have never known.
One of the things that disturbs me the most about the Deplorable One is how his own children cannot speak of any time when their father was loving, kind, and involved when they were younger. She-who-wants-to-supplant-his-wife-as FLOTUS, gave an entire objective speech with passive verbs about her father that could have been about anyone. Not one anecdote about him reading or playing with them, taking them on outings, or comforting their childhood sadnesses. No photos of laughing with him or being lovingly embraced. What we got was a father who patted his grown daughter on the behind and who talked about how hot she was and that he would have dater her if they had not been related. No proud father-son moments or stories of the life lessons he taught them. He emasculates his sons as he tries to do with any male he meet It really stings him that he has not been able to do this to PBO). Then there is PBO: examples of his love and care for all children everywhere abound. He enters into their world (though Malia told him years ago that kids don’t shake hands), gets on their level and gives them his undivided attention. We know all that we need to know about both men through their inter-actions with children.
truth!
our #YesWeCan moment is a series of moments called theobamadiary….
🙂 🙂
Here is a very nice tribute to President Obama and the First Family.
Lovely!
Thanks JER, I really enjoy this. I am already counting down the days, I find myself feeling sad, and I have to stop myself.
I am so full; trying to hold in the tears. They have given us so much and I am so grateful. This is the best compilation of photos and music that showcase the Obamas that I have seen. This may be your best (among many) post so far, JER. Thank you so much.
thank you JER/…..thank you!
Dear NW and Chips,
I hope you consider sustaining TOD:
1. as a barricade to the onslaught of Trumpist attacks on President Obama & the First Family;
2. as a cornerstone in #TheReistance;
3. and, as an oasis for those committed to #YesWeCan – no matter how difficult the challenges we know we will encounter on 20 Jan and thereafter.
Thank you.
Nicely put, Bobfr. I was thinking this morning about how the blog might morph, and if a name change would be part of that. But I truly believe this community will be supporting and furthering the Obama agenda, as well as looking to him and the First Lady as leaders, so The Obama Diary remains a fitting title.
“The Obama Diary” brand is bedrock to Yes We Can, as you know Susanne, so I hope NW & Chips will enable it to continue!
Thank you!
Amen!
Thank you pf58!!!
I agree with everything Bob, has listed. Additionally, betseyc offered up in this thread above, fantastic ideas regarding assisting in maintaining TOD.
Thank you RanMan!!
Agree fully – Betseyc made substantive suggestions and I’m grateful to her for doing so!!
Ultimately, denying Trump and Trumpism the cultural cosign they crave is an important statement. It does what so far, the collective media have been unable or unwilling to do: rejecting the normalization of the utterly abnormal. It tells not just the country, but the world, that Trumpism may have a hold on our politics, but it doesn’t have a hold on us. America’s ascendant majority will not so easily slink off into that good night, and will not quietly ingest what Trump has foisted on the electorate.
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2017/01/02/a-farewell/