168 Responses to “Giving Back To The Community”

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  1. 1 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:16 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 🙂

  2. 2 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:17 am

    NW,

    Once again, thank you so much for all that you do here at TOD. This place is a refuge. A sanctuary. And, when you speak to Chips, please tell her that she’s never far from our thoughts.

  3. 6 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:17 am

    From the New Yorker:

    American conservatism has as many clear, resolute devotees of constitutional democracy as any other stream of ideology—or it once seemed to. For, in truth, those of us Cassandras who predicted a slow collapse of “respectable” Republicans in the face of Trump’s ascension turned out to be, well, too conservative. The collapse has been almost total, and shockingly uncritical. A few resisters aside—in the press, the names Jennifer Rubin, Max Boot, and David Frum come to mind—even those who know better, or did, have allowed the ancient habits of hatred to overwhelm their normal sense of right and wrong. Republican legislators who, a year ago, would have been aghast at any politician who praised the brutal dictator Vladimir Putin now have little trouble swallowing their tongues when Trump insists that Putin’s good opinion, however earned, is “an asset.” Those who made a fuss about pursuing any possible conflict of interest among Obama’s appointees now meekly allow the most conflict-ridden and least “vetted” of candidates for high office to walk through largely unmolested. And the insistence of the leader that he has no obligation to release any record of his financial entanglements, with the bold repeated lie that an “audit”—whose existence can’t be confirmed and wouldn’t matter anyway—prevents him from doing so, is simply and mutely accepted. The collapse—motivated for some by opportunism, for others by the intimidation of the mob—is complete.

    No, the collapse is total. And at that terrifying first press conference of Trump’s, on Wednesday, we saw the looming face of pure authoritarianism. Rewards are promised to the obedient: those good states that voted the right way, the “responsible” press. Punishments are threatened to the bad: “They’re going to suffer the consequences!” Intimidation is the greeting to any critic. And look! There’s a claque alongside to cheer the big boss and deride his doubters. This is what was once called Bonapartism: I won and I can now do anything I choose. Victory, however narrow, is license for all. Autocracy, after all, has always been compatible with plebiscitary endorsement. The point of constitutional government is to make even the victors subject to the rules.

  4. 11 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:20 am

    How Much Did A Coding Error Affect Student Loan Repayment Rates?
    by Robert Kelchen
    January 16, 2017 3:35 PM

    Mistakes happen. I should know—I make more than my fair share of them (including on this blog). But some mistakes are a little more noticeable than others, such as when your mistake has been viewed more than a million times. That is what happened to the U.S. Department of Education recently, when they found a coding error in the popular College Scorecard website and dataset.

    Here is a description of the coding error from the Department of Education’s announcement:

    “Repayment rates measure the percentage of undergraduate borrowers who have not defaulted and who have repaid at least one dollar of their principal balance over a certain period of time (1, 3, 5, or 7 years after entering repayment). An error in the original college scorecard coding to calculate repayment rates led to the undercounting of some borrowers who had not reduced their loan balances by at least one dollar, and therefore inflated repayment rates for most institutions. The relative difference—that is, whether an institution fell above, about, or below average—was modest. Over 90 percent of institutions on the College Scorecard tool did not change categories (i.e., above, about, or below average) from the previously published rates. However, in some cases, the nominal differences were significant.”

    As soon as I learned about the error, I immediately started digging in to see how much it affected loan repayment rates. After both my trusty computer and I made a lot of noise trying to process the large files in a short period of time, I was able to come up with some top-level results. It turns out that the changes in loan repayment rates are very large. Three-year repayment rates fell from 61% to 41%, five-year repayment rates fell from 61% to 47%, and seven-year repayment rates fell from 66% to 57%. These changes were quite similar across sectors.

  5. 12 Nerdy Wonka
    January 17, 2017 at 9:25 am

  6. 15 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:27 am

    This is correct.

    We Choose Whether Trump is Legitimate
    by Martin Longman
    January 16, 2017 2:30 PM

    Given what I wrote in my last piece about the country being in cardiac arrest, Byron York’s effort to parse the meaning of “legitimate president” seems like so much whistling past the graveyard. It’s a game of gotcha where the idea is that anyone who sincerely believes that President Trump wasn’t elected in a fair, square, and constitutional manner must be some kind of half-mad far left conspiracy theorist.

    It’s true that you can distinguish between folks who believe the election was outright stolen and people who think it was unfairly influenced. There are those who think that Trump won according to the rules but that the rules should be changed so that the loser of the popular vote doesn’t win the election. There are those who think that the FBI director’s interference made a decision difference, and since Comey’s actions were illegitimate, that makes the result illegitimate. There are those who think that the drip-drip-drip of Russian-pilfered leaks fatally undermined Clinton’s credibility, bringing her down to Trump’s level. They don’t think a foreign power should be able to change the course of our history through criminal interference in our political process.

    Only a small minority think that the actual count was off. People voted how they voted.

    Getting caught up on the word “legitimate” is a waste of time. The important thing is that we now have a president who wants to help Putin destroy the European Union, dismantle NATO, and crush the pluralistic, ecumenical, secular Western left in the name of white supremacy and a petro economy. The question shouldn’t be whether Trump was elected legitimately but who wants to go along with his program?

  7. 16 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:30 am

    I do not consider Cheeto Benito legitimate in any way.. Not only that, but it’s time we stripped PATRIOTISM from the Republican lexicon. We need to be relentless in that not only is HE not legitimate, but neither are they, when they chose to align themselves with a foreign power AGAINST American sovereignty. And, I mean, each and everytime a Republican tries to open their mouths to UTTER the word patriotism, this is what should be shoved back at them.

  8. 19 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:33 am

    What More Does Trump Need To Say to Prove He’s Collaborating With Putin?
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    January 16, 2017 1:39 PM

    While couched in a whole series of other lies, even Donald Trump has admitted that Russia was behind the hacking of political campaigns/individuals during the 2016 election. Let that sink in for a moment. A president-elect has admitted that a foreign government interfered in a U.S. election in a way that benefited him. That fact alone is astonishing.

    The only remaining question is whether or not Trump colluded with Russia in his attempt to win the presidency. Frankly, it is hard to imagine anything else he could say or do to prove the ties. Both Matthew Yglesias and Anne Applebaum suggest that what we already know about this partnership is bad enough. And both of those articles were written before Trump’s interview with Germany’s Bild and the Times of London. Trump basically affirmed everything Putin (and Steve Bannon) would want from his presidency.

    Saying NATO is obsolete
    Cheering the breakup of the EU
    Denigrating Angela Merkel for letting “all these illegals” into the country

    …………………

    In case you have trouble imagining how dangerous this is, I’d suggest that you spend time reading President Obama’s speech in Brussels about the danger of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Throughout human history, societies have grappled with fundamental questions of how to organize themselves, the proper relationship between the individual and the state, the best means to resolve inevitable conflicts between states. And it was here in Europe, through centuries of struggle — through war and Enlightenment, repression and revolution — that a particular set of ideals began to emerge: The belief that through conscience and free will, each of us has the right to live as we choose. The belief that power is derived from the consent of the governed, and that laws and institutions should be established to protect that understanding. And those ideas eventually inspired a band of colonialists across an ocean, and they wrote them into the founding documents that still guide America today, including the simple truth that all men — and women — are created equal.

    But those ideals have also been tested — here in Europe and around the world. Those ideals have often been threatened by an older, more traditional view of power. This alternative vision argues that ordinary men and women are too small-minded to govern their own affairs, that order and progress can only come when individuals surrender their rights to an all-powerful sovereign…

    It is in response to this tragic history that, in the aftermath of World War II, America joined with Europe to reject the darker forces of the past and build a new architecture of peace. Workers and engineers gave life to the Marshall Plan. Sentinels stood vigilant in a NATO Alliance that would become the strongest the world has ever known. And across the Atlantic, we embraced a shared vision of Europe — a vision based on representative democracy, individual rights, and a belief that nations can meet the interests of their citizens through trade and open markets; a social safety net and respect for those of different faiths and backgrounds.

  9. 20 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:39 am

    The Case for Not Being Crybabies
    By JOSH MARSHALL
    Published JANUARY 16, 2017, 11:08 AM EDT

    Last week I watched a conversation on MSNBC in which the anchor asked a guest whether it wasn’t a problem that Buzzfeed had published the Trump ‘dossier’ because this would now give Trump some credibility in dismissing any reporting he didn’t like as “fake news”. There are plenty of grounds to criticize Buzzfeed’s decision on standard journalistic grounds. But the idea seemed to be that because President-Elect Trump was already accusing prestigious journalism organizations of producing “fake news”, Buzzfeed’s decision might allow him to do it more.

    There was a further uproar when Trump shouted down CNN’s Jim Acosta when Acosta tried to insist that Trump answer a question from CNN if he was going to loudly attack the organization’s integrity. Later Trump’s incoming Press Secretary Sean Spicer threatened to kick Acosta out of future press conferences if he didn’t show Trump more respect. This weekend brought news that the new administration is considering kicking the White House press corps out of the White House. And finally on Sunday, in a meeting with the President of the White House Correspondents Association, Spicer “expressed concern that journalists adhere to a high level of decorum” at press conferences and briefings. This presumably came in a meeting pressing the new administration not to clamp down on access to the President and the White House.

    On top of this, in the last couple days there’s been a medium post circulating from a Russian journalist warning his American colleagues of what to expect under Trump. One key paragraph reads …

    You’re Always Losing. This man owns you. He understands perfectly well that he is the news. You can’t ignore him. You’re always playing by his rules — which he can change at any time without any notice. You can’t — in Putin’s case — campaign to vote him out of office. Your readership is dwindling because ad budgets are shrinking — while his ratings are soaring, and if you want to keep your publication afloat, you’ll have to report on everything that man says as soon as he says it, without any analysis or fact-checking, because 1) his fans will not care if he lies to their faces; 2) while you’re busy picking his lies apart, he’ll spit out another mountain of bullshit and you’ll be buried under it.

    Let me say first the piece is quite good. It’s worth reading. But as a prediction of what awaits the American press, I think it is way, way off the mark and the kind of pusillanimous, defeatist attitude we’ve seen in this cattle call of Trump outrages listed above. Presidents don’t validate what is and isn’t news. If you’re expecting them to, you’re doing it wrong. Almost nothing that is truly important about the work of a free press is damaged by moving the press office across the street.

  10. 21 JER
    January 17, 2017 at 9:39 am

    • 22 sherijr
      January 17, 2017 at 9:41 am

      LOL poor pooty trying to be relevant.

    • 23 rikyrah
      January 17, 2017 at 9:58 am

      Cheeto Benito has no legtimacy

    • 24 CEB
      January 17, 2017 at 10:26 am

      DT is the only one who gives a f**k what Putty-po says. If he has a complaining it is because PBO is being effective. Putin never won in any of his confrontations with PBO who could rally the West in opposition to him. I will continue to send up prayers for PBO’s safety because Putin wants him gone one way or the other because he fears the president’s influence. Putin better be satisfied with the lackey that he has.
      I hope that the intelligence agencies (if they do not do so already) have agents in this fool’s protection detail and in other positions to monitor him so that he is prevented from endangering our safety and severely damaging our democracy. Where is Command when you need him?

    • 25 pkayden
      January 17, 2017 at 3:40 pm

      No Trump has undermined Trump’s legitimacy.

  11. 26 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:41 am

    Tinker. Tailor. Mogul. Spy?
    A former diplomat dissects the Trump dossier.

    by James Bruno
    January 13, 2017

    Feliks Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Soviet secret police – the Cheka – said, “The fact that you are free is not your achievement, but rather a failure on our side.” A clear-eyed killer responsible for the summary executions of tens of thousands during the Bolsheviks’ Red Terror, Dzerzhinsky knew of what he spoke and he didn’t mince words. Fortunately, a heart attack took him down at 49, but his ilk lives on. We Americans should never let our guard down in face of freedom-phobic adversaries like Vladimir Putin. But I fear we are now doing so.

    The United States has just endured a carefully planned, well-orchestrated assault against its democratic form of government in the form of a grand cyber-theft of information and targeted release of that information. After a thorough scrub of available intelligence, seventeen U.S. intelligence agencies concluded unanimously that “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.”

    In my twenty-five years in the service of Uncle Sam as a diplomat, I was a daily consumer of intelligence reporting. Information produced by spies is just one stream in a flood of facts, speculation and analyses that cross the desks of policymakers, others being press reports, think tank pieces, university research papers and personal conversations. All sources have their flaws as well as their benefits. Key to a report’s value is corroboration from other sources and reliability of the sources of the information being given.

    While I have not had the privilege of reading the classified version of the report by the Director of National Intelligence on the Russians’ active measures, it is clear to me from the conclusions that corroboration and source reliability are at a very high level given CIA’s, NSA’s and the FBI’s stated “high confidence” or “moderate confidence” in their conclusions. This is “intellese” meaning reliable multi-source information has been corroborated at multiple levels, leading the vast majority of analysts to conclude with little doubt that Moscow launched an influence campaign against the U.S.

    But if Russia’s role in the 2016 election is basically undisputed, we’re still left with a separate, more troubling question for which there isn’t yet a clear answer: Could Donald Trump actually be a Russian intel asset?

  12. 27 desertflower
    January 17, 2017 at 9:44 am

    • 28 sherijr
      January 17, 2017 at 9:47 am

      John McCain has been so full of bs for so long.. I never expected him to do anything more than fall in line w/the rest of his cohorts in the gop. Ultimately they hate democrats and wethepeople more than they hate fascists and Putin.

    • 29 desertflower
      January 17, 2017 at 9:51 am

      Just sent an email…you can NEVER reach him by phone. Sometimes I think that’s by design.

  13. 30 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 9:54 am

    Happy Birthday to FLOTUS 🙂

  14. 31 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    January 17, 2017 at 10:00 am

    Take care everyone …. nice to have seen you again, amk ……

    • 32 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
      January 17, 2017 at 10:06 am

      Thought I should add these two, before returning to work …..

      And, YUP ….

  15. 36 JER
    January 17, 2017 at 10:12 am

  16. 38 rikyrah
    January 17, 2017 at 10:12 am

    Trump Shows His Racism in So Many Ways
    by BooMan
    Sun Jan 15th, 2017 at 10:49:18 AM EST

    In an article today in the New York Times, Helene Cooper discusses a group of questions the Trump transition team delivered to the State Department regarding U.S. policy towards Africa. The questions have aroused concern, but perhaps the tone of the questions have been worse than the questions themselves.

    For example:

    “With so much corruption in Africa, how much of our funding is stolen? Why should we spend these funds on Africa when we are suffering here in the U.S.?”

    It’s not unreasonable to ask how corruption is impacting our foreign aid efforts. It’s also a core job responsibility to determine how much aid should be delivered. But the way these questions are posed calls into question whether we should provide any aid at all. They even seem inclined to destroy the program President George W. Bush implemented to combat HIV in Africa.

    Rex W. Tillerson, Mr. Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, complimented the program, calling Pepfar “one of the most extraordinarily successful programs in Africa” during his Senate nomination hearing.

    But, in contrast, the Trump transition questionnaire asks, “Is PEPFAR worth the massive investment when there are so many security concerns in Africa? Is PEPFAR becoming a massive, international entitlement program?”

    Considering how many lives are at stake, calling PEPFAR an entitlement program is morally offensive. And the excuse that the money would be spent better on security concerns is undermined by other parts of the questionnaire where they doubt the need or effectiveness of our counterterrorism efforts against al-Shabaab and our hunt for Joseph Kony.

  17. 39 FoxfireTX
    January 17, 2017 at 10:16 am

    Good morning TOD! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our wonderful FLOTUS! Difficult to believe that this her last birthday in the WH. Interesting read on her post-FLOTUS plans:

    “She has also said she wants to sit in a yard, stroll through a big-box store and open a window in her house, all things she has not been able to do for eight years.

    Yet a team is already laying the groundwork for what’s likely to be a somewhat busier post-White House schedule for a popular first lady who has signaled her eagerness to continue her advocacy work of recent years — and has proved to be a compelling voice in American politics.

    After a long break, Obama plans to get to work with a small staff that will move into office space in Washington. The group will be led by Melissa Winter, the first lady’s longtime deputy chief of staff. A veteran Capitol Hill aide, Winter was the first lady’s first hire during her husband’s 2007 campaign.”

    Michelle Obama is quietly planning her next act http://wpo.st/YmBS2

  18. 40 Allison
    January 17, 2017 at 10:17 am

  19. 41 JER
    January 17, 2017 at 10:35 am

  20. 42 bella2758
    January 17, 2017 at 10:55 am

    Happy Birthday to the best First Lady

  21. 43 Allison
    January 17, 2017 at 11:01 am

  22. 45 ranman11
    January 17, 2017 at 11:01 am

    Happy Birthday Michelle FLOTUS Obama. 🎂🎊🎈🎉

    Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Tuesday morning. Congrats rikyrah, 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 you are confident, encouraged, and optimistic about what you’re going to achieve 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. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆

  23. 46 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 11:06 am

    I will miss Josh very much.

  24. 54 amk for obama
    January 17, 2017 at 11:07 am

    Got the news just now that the daughter unit has been chosen as the best outgoing student of her batch. 🙂

  25. 69 amk for obama
    January 17, 2017 at 11:13 am

    Happy b’day to classy flotus.

  26. 70 whenpamelawandered
    January 17, 2017 at 11:15 am

    Happy 🎈 Birthday with Love and Gratitude for our FLOTUS! 🗝💐🍎🎂❤️♑️💫👑

  27. 71 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 11:16 am

  28. 72 Allison
    January 17, 2017 at 11:36 am

  29. 75 jacquelineoboomer
    January 17, 2017 at 11:39 am

  30. 78 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    January 17, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Seriously …

  31. 79 JER
    January 17, 2017 at 12:04 pm

  32. 80 Sheila
    January 17, 2017 at 12:07 pm

  33. 81 Sheila
    January 17, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    funny…

  34. 82 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 12:14 pm

  35. 83 whatisworking
    January 17, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    Hi Everyone

    Wanted to give you an update on how my “sister district” project is coming along. When it became clear that the Republicans were going to try and repeal the ACA, our team looked around for a place to work in CA that would make a difference. We are working in CA 49 – Darrell Issa’s district.

    In late December I learned the team leader for this area, had moved to Arizona where he is helping OFA teams organize around climate. He allowed me to use his membership list and suggested a few names of folks who had worked on the ACA in the past.

    I contacted the ACA lead and our team started phone banking to re-energize their team. The Sonoma Chapter held 2 phone banks and a HFA group in Encino also held a phone bank.

    The OFA team in district 49 put on an event on Sunday and 41 people showed up!! Before we started phone banking there was 1 sign up, so I think our calling made a difference. I am very grateful to Colleen who put the event togehter and did an outstanding job or recruitment and follow up with a very informative handout for next steps of everyone who attended.

    They have a new social media lead and she has posted her first tweet with a photo of the event. Let’s retweet it so it gets some exposure. Lets also follow her. Remember how hard it was when we all started out on Twitter.

    It is funny, our team was at an event in SF with 3,000 but I am more proud of this event in San Marcos. Helping voters put pressure on Republican in Congress is my mission from now on…

    There are phone banks into Tennessee and Arizona if anyone has the time to call voters and ask them to call their Senators. This is not exciting work, but it does pay off in the end.

    Contact me if you want the info on the virtual phone banks. whatisworking@gmail.com

    Cheers

    • 84 pkayden
      January 17, 2017 at 4:07 pm

      Good on you and your people for your hard work putting Republicans on the hot seat about the ACA. Hope it pays off.

  36. 85 jacquelineoboomer
    January 17, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    • 86 CEB
      January 17, 2017 at 12:46 pm

      Hope it is sunshine and blue skies for the Women’s March the next day.

    • 88 No Child Left Behind
      January 17, 2017 at 12:51 pm

      However rain is interpreted, I wish lots, lots of it Friday in DC! May the new first Jackass Family be soaked as they ascend to power.

      • 89 jacquelineoboomer
        January 17, 2017 at 2:27 pm

        I won’t wish for anything “specific,” I’ve decided, but nothing like what the Irish would say about it:

        May those who love us love us.
        And those that don’t love us,
        May God turn their hearts.
        And if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
        May he turn their ankles,
        So we’ll know them by their limping.

  37. 91 Sheila
    January 17, 2017 at 12:25 pm

  38. 92 jacquelineoboomer
    January 17, 2017 at 12:26 pm

  39. 95 jacquelineoboomer
    January 17, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    I knew the President would show up!

  40. 96 No Child Left Behind
    January 17, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    POTUS with JOSH

  41. 97 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    REALLY REALLY beautiful praise for Josh from POTUS as he pops in and surprises him

  42. 98 Sheila
    January 17, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    For the dog lovers

  43. 99 Allison
    January 17, 2017 at 12:44 pm

  44. 100 Allison
    January 17, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    Girls just wanna have sun.

    Sasha Obama, 15, and Maisy Biden enjoyed a little rest and relaxation in South Beach, Miami on Saturday with a group of gal pals.

    President Obama’s youngest daughter and Vice President Joe Biden’s granddaughter were spotted on the beach surrounded by secret service agents in black suits.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/sasha-obama-joe-biden-granddaughter-maisy-hit-beach-article-1.2948238

  45. 101 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 1:00 pm

  46. 103 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    and this:

  47. 104 Jey
    January 17, 2017 at 1:02 pm

    Good day all.

    I just read that tens of thousands of protests scheduled over the repeal of Obamacare.

    If I was PBO, I’d be grinning from ear to ear …
    I would sit back and enjoy the fight Republicans face from the public.
    The stupidity of ppl opposing Healthcare (to begin with) is just mind baffling … all because it’s govt run.

    If I was the govt … I’d say … “…while you are at it, please build your own roads and bridges. Do your own meat / food inspection … and the next time a hurricane touches down. Save your own self!”.

    It’s quite hilarious that Putin’s Puppet gets large crowds at rallies but has to beg for takers for tickets to Inauguration. LOL

  48. 105 Allison
    January 17, 2017 at 1:05 pm

  49. 106 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 1:06 pm

  50. 107 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    Hello TOD. 1st Time on Line today.
    I am now listening to Josh “The Voice” Earnest’s last WH Presser.
    Another once enjoyed part of our process that I will not partake for the next 4yrs.

  51. 108 CEB
    January 17, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    Over the years, I have prayed for the President’s staff as much as I have prayed for him. Most of them are young people who have made great sacrifices in their private lives to serve him so well so that he can serve all of us. I have prayed that they do not lose close family ties, relationships, friendships, spouses and children to the sheer amount of work and time that they have dedicated to this administration. I have prayed that those who are married be able to remain so and that their bonds are strong and that their children feel their love. Many of them have married and have had children during these 8 years (I still do not know how Pete managed to get married during this time; it seems that the only time he is off is when the president is asleep) and I hope and pray that they can re-integrate into their families without difficulty when they are no longer giving us so much of the time that was stolen from their families. And I pray that their hearts are healed from this terrible disappointment in seeing their hard work handed off to such unworthy ones and that they can remain hopeful and ready to put all of their skills to work to continue to help us to perfect our nation. I also hope and pray that their new positions will allow them to take care of themselves and their families. They have mostly been the unsung heroes who suited up and toiled in the trenches for many long days. I am so thankful that they used their talents to help make PBO the president that he is. May God continue to bless and keep them.

  52. 111 No Child Left Behind
    January 17, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    Can some millennial out there invent something to replace CNN???

  53. 117 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 1:33 pm

  54. 118 No Child Left Behind
    January 17, 2017 at 1:36 pm

    Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden are two criminals with minor differences: one crossed the door as a man and emerged as a woman and the other fled to Russia.

  55. 121 No Child Left Behind
    January 17, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    From one super Press Secretary to another.

  56. 122 No Child Left Behind
    January 17, 2017 at 1:51 pm

  57. 123 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 2:06 pm

  58. 124 vcprezofan2
    January 17, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    // ………………………..

    Just in case you are not aware of how wrong Trump was on the former charge:

    The district that Trump described as in “horrible shape” includes Emory University and Morehouse College, as well as Spelman College and Georgia Tech. The Coca-Cola headquarters is just one of that district’s many, high-profile corporate residents. Lewis represents Midtown’s shiny residential high-rises and the pricey Intown neighborhoods filled with renovated homes, the Beltline and Ponce City Market.

    The typical cost of a house in the most sought-after neighborhoods within Georgia’s 5th Congressional District ranges from over $500,000 to $1 million, said Bill Adams, whose real estate company has operated in the district’s neighborhoods for years. “Certainly there are major pockets of poverty, but the central core of Atlanta is flourishing — big time,” Adams said. “He’s thinking about a different Atlanta than the one I live and work in.”

    Most of us are aware of Rep. Lewis’s history that is directly the opposite of all talk, not action. David Remnick captures the most significant moment when Lewis and other protesters faced down Alabama state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.

    Given one minute to disperse by the troopers, Lewis had the protesters kneel in prayer. They would not leave. “And then they were upon us.” The troopers charged, and the first among them brought down a nightstick on the left side of Lewis’s skull. His legs gave way. “I really thought I was going to die,” he said. He curled up on the ground, as he had been trained, in a “prayer for protection” position.” The trooper hit him again. And then came the canisters of tear gas. His skull fractured, his coat a mess of mud and blood, Lewis refused to go to the hospital. Barely conscious, he reached Brown Chapel, the headquarters of the movement, ascended to the pulpit, and told those gathered, many of them still gasping from the tear gas, “I don’t know how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam. I don’t see how he can send troops to the Congo. I don’t see how he can send troops to Africa, and he can’t send troops to Selma, Alabama. Next time we march, we may have to keep going when we get to Montgomery. We may have to go on to Washington.”
    ………………………… //

    http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/01/17/the-bridge-from-john-lewis-to-barack-obama/

  59. 125 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 2:15 pm

  60. 126 vcprezofan2
    January 17, 2017 at 2:19 pm

  61. 127 vcprezofan2
    January 17, 2017 at 2:20 pm

  62. 129 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 2:20 pm

  63. 130 vcprezofan2
    January 17, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    A post I’m recommending you read; just for the knowledge, you understand?

    http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/01/17/the-history-of-kompromat-both-here-and-abroad/

    // ……………………………

    Lest we think this all started with Russia, I would remind you of what Paul Glastris wrote a few months ago about the “merchants of doubt.”

    “…there is phrase for those who insist on keeping a controversy going long after enough facts are in to draw reasonable conclusions: “Merchants of Doubt.” The label comes from the book about a loose group of scientists who helped corporate and conservative political interests sow doubt in the public’s mind regarding the certainty of the science linking tobacco to lung cancer and fossil fuels to global warming. It’s the same strategy creationists use when they lobby school boards about gaps in the fossil record and how it’s important and fair-minded to “teach the controversy” about evolution.”

    That was in response to the media’s insistence on what Matt Yglesias called the “assumption of corruption” in regards to the Clintons.

    “The perception that Clinton is corrupt is one of her most profound handicaps as a politician. And what’s particularly crippling about it is that evidence of her corruption is so widespread exactly because everyone knows she’s corrupt.
    Because people “know” that she is corrupt, every decision she makes and every relationship she has is cast in the most negative possible light.”

    Much of that was fueled by the strategy Steve Bannon implemented to “weaponize a story” by selling it to mainstream media through his Government Accountability Institute – as they did with the book “Clinton Cash.”

    …

    A precise definition of each of these activities might point to some differences among them. But overall, any attempt to explain what just happened in the 2016 election that doesn’t take all of this into account is seriously off the mark. And now, these same forces are at work against Angela Merkel in Germany’s up coming election. If you needed any proof…there’s this:

    …………………………//

    • 131 Sheila
      January 17, 2017 at 2:45 pm

      • 132 Obama Grandmama
        January 17, 2017 at 5:12 pm

        Just Skyped with my recently married daughter living in Germany. We were talking about the upcoming Inauguration and both of our negative feelings about it. I had just come back from being there for her wedding.

        I told her about the taxi cab drivers that always asked those of us riding together about Trump and how we always said we were not Trump fans. She said as an American living in Germany and during her European work travel she is constantly assumed in a negative light now due to Trump’s election which is the extreme opposite of what it had been with Obama as President.

        I mentioned that when I had traveled to Italy right after GW declared war on Iraq how my Sister-in-Law and I had to walk through protests in Florence’s main area to get to our pension. I also told her on previous trips our AK travel group would just say we were from AK and not mention being from the USA. My daughter said that trick was ruined after Sarah Palin came on the scene. Interesting!

  64. 133 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 2:32 pm

  65. 135 Sheila
    January 17, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    growing…up to 45

  66. 136 Bill R.
    January 17, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    ACA repeal will cause GOP to lose their majority in two years, but not before they have inflicted terrible damage.

  67. 137 Bill R.
    January 17, 2017 at 2:49 pm

  68. 138 Bill R.
    January 17, 2017 at 2:51 pm

  69. 139 Nena20409
    January 17, 2017 at 2:54 pm

  70. 141 Sheila
    January 17, 2017 at 3:24 pm

  71. 143 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 3:34 pm

    Brothers!!

  72. 144 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 3:40 pm

  73. 147 ydavis00
    January 17, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    Sorry if this has already been posted. Knowing this group and how you are on top on everything Obama it most likely has been.

    • 148 CEB
      January 17, 2017 at 3:56 pm

      My goodness, he is more of an Obamacrat than we are! Many of the paintings are taken directly from Pete’s photographs. Isn’t this some type of copyright infringement like the Farley print, or is it that since he is a public figure and these photos were taken when he was working they are in the public domain?

      • 149 Obama Grandmama
        January 17, 2017 at 5:23 pm

        It is a copyright infringement. That is why Farley let the suit go forward in the first place to challenge the taking your own photos part when it pertains to public figures it would be too difficult to get close enough as an artist to take a photo. He did not win his challenge and was made to settle. His newest posters involve taking dual credit with the photographers.

        • 150 Obama Grandmama
          January 17, 2017 at 5:34 pm

          I also wonder whether they were computer generated art from the photos, but seeing the brush strokes they could just be using the photos as references. If the photographer(s) give permission it is not an infringement on the copyright. Usually the photographer is referenced much like footnotes referencing original sources in writing.

      • 151 idon
        January 17, 2017 at 5:54 pm

        I think the pics are in the public domain

  74. 152 ydavis00
    January 17, 2017 at 4:11 pm

    CEB I think even though the POTUS is a public figure Pete’s photographs are his own and most likely are copyrighted. There may be photos he has taken that are in the public domain but you cannot assume that they are just because they are of a public figure.

  75. 153 meta
    January 17, 2017 at 4:18 pm

    • 154 jacquelineoboomer
      January 17, 2017 at 4:28 pm

      That’s the least of my worries.

    • 155 No Child Left Behind
      January 17, 2017 at 4:30 pm

      Now, is Snowden’s non-existent trial going to be commuted too?

      I should have gone on vacation this week!

      • 156 jacquelineoboomer
        January 17, 2017 at 4:56 pm

        Think i’ts being mentioned that since Snowden wasn’t charged, there’s no pardon or commutation involved. (I’ve stopped following that entire case, so forgive me if this is wrong.)

  76. 157 No Child Left Behind
    January 17, 2017 at 4:32 pm

  77. 158 jacquelineoboomer
    January 17, 2017 at 4:43 pm

    What I would really like to see in the continuing story is for the Senate to be “in recess” the morning of the non-inauguration, during which time the 44th President of the United States, Barack H. Obama, has all the time in the world to appoint Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, as his final presidential act.

    Anybody want to second that emotion? 🙂

    • 159 vcprezofan2
      January 17, 2017 at 5:10 pm

      I would second it, if I could JO’B, while asking if that would mean that *they* could annul it as soon as they reconvened? Frankly, I think Judge Garland has already had a lousy ‘deal’ waiting around on these ….these…. these….!

    • 160 susanne
      January 17, 2017 at 5:55 pm

      All in favor? Aye! Aye! Aye! Unanimous! 🙂

  78. 161 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    January 17, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    🙂

  79. 163 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    January 17, 2017 at 5:39 pm

  80. 165 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    January 17, 2017 at 5:46 pm

    back to work ….

  82. 167 susanne
    January 17, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    This video is making the rounds on FB, declaring the singer will be performing at DT’s inaugural– and why not? She’s orange, she’s awful, and she has no sense of propriety. Also, she’s effing hilarious.


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