The Bolivian guides were convinced it was the blonde. It had to be the blonde. American Embassy officials in November had told three brothers who led guided hikes across Bolivia’s majestic Cordillera Real mountain range that they would soon be hosting an important American dignitary. When a group of teenagers and a small band of American bodyguards showed up on Nov. 24, it wasn’t apparent to the guides that it was the president’s eldest daughter, Malia Obama, and not a blond companion, who warranted the extraordinary security measures.
“There was a blond girl and we assumed she was the important one,” Gregorio Mamani, one of the guides, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Only in recent days, after Bolivian journalists broke the story of Ms. Obama’s trip to Bolivia and Peru late last year, did the guides realize who had been in their care during a five-day trek. “She was very humble, chatty, spoke Spanish very well,” Mr. Mamani said. “She was mesmerized by the Bolivian landscape.”
Ms. Obama was afforded no special treatment during the arduous trek, and performed chores, including cooking, along with her fellow travelers, Mr. Mamani said.
The Bolivian news media reported that Ms. Obama, 18, who delayed starting at Harvard for a year, lived with a family in Tiquipaya, a tiny town in central Bolivia. Her trip was organized by Where There Be Dragons, a Colorado company that runs educational trips, a representative confirmed. The 83-day journey is advertised as a means for students to “examine current political trends, social movements and environmental conservation efforts in the mountains and jungles of Bolivia and Peru.”
The Bolivian media reported that President Obama called President Evo Morales to request his government’s cooperation in ensuring discretion and security for his daughter’s trip. White House officials declined to comment and would not confirm that the two leaders had spoken. Mr. Morales often rails about what he calls American conspiracies to undermine leftist governments, including his own. The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2008.
This is always the case; people the world-over never think that it is the Black person who is in charge or the “important one.” Shonda Rimes told a story of being in a meeting and folks assuming the white woman with her was the powerhouse writer and producer. and many more in a variety of positions have similar stories. Even PBO tells the story of being at a function before he ran for president when guests at some swanky party assumed he was one of the waitors
This is interesting. A couple of the reporters from the press conference yesterday were on LOD last night. The mentioned that it was “a bad day at the White House, a VERY bad day” when Malia left in the fall to go traveling. I wondered what they were referring to as I had not heard anything although knew she wasn’t around much this fall.
1. how they assumed the dignitary was blond
2. got to see a lil bit of Milia’s character
3.how despite the fact that Bolivia and America are not on the best of terms…the President could still speak to the Bolivia’s Head of State and get cooperation….
Having heard Malia is the one at the dinner table getting her Dad to talk about work with both Michelle and Sasha groaning and seeing this post that political climate in Bolivia was part of the discussion I wonder if Malia might lean towards a political future?
The Maddow Segment last night about the poor vetting. The level of incompetence is staggering.
Trump weak vetting of nominees a symptom of poor preparation
Rachel Maddow lists some of the embarrassing details being learned about Donald Trump cabinet nominees while they are in the confirmation process because they were not well vetted beforehand.
An official at the Department of Energy recently found it necessary to “carefully explain” to a Trump transition aide what the agency actually does. The official did so after the Trump staffer “aide asked a series of questions that indicated he wasn’t quite sure about the department’s portfolio.”
As it turns out, the ignorance is widespread in Trump World, as evidenced by this New York Times article on the man the president-elect chose to lead the agency.
When President-elect Donald J. Trump offered Rick Perry the job of energy secretary five weeks ago, Mr. Perry gladly accepted, believing he was taking on a role as a global ambassador for the American oil and gas industry that he had long championed in his home state.
In the days after, Mr. Perry, the former Texas governor, discovered that he would be no such thing – that in fact, if confirmed by the Senate, he would become the steward of a vast national security complex he knew almost nothing about, caring for the most fearsome weapons on the planet, the United States’ nuclear arsenal.
Revelations like these aren’t just scary for the public; they’re also deeply embarrassing for the amateurs who’ll tomorrow take over the executive branch of the world’s largest superpower.
For Perry, whose confirmation hearing begins today, this is obviously cringe-worthy. Four years ago, the then-governor was determined to eliminate the Department of Energy, despite not knowing what the agency does. The DOE has a major research laboratory in Texas, but Perry, who led the state for 14 years, still never learned anything about the department’s work.
If the Times’ reporting is correct, the Republican then accepted a cabinet post without having any idea what his responsibilities would be.
But as bad as Perry looks, let’s not overlook his future boss.
Trump EPA nominee would oversee own lawsuit against the EPA
Senator Ed Markey talks with Rachel Maddow about why he opposes Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA when, even in public office, Pruitt has worked on behalf of fossil fuel companies to undermine the EPA.
Why not? That probably isn’t even the sleaziest thing that is going to happen under a Trump administration. This is going to be the least ethical presidency of all time.
Oh NerdyWonka! Thank you for this! Thank you so so much. Yes yes yes. Watching sharing watching again. Today is their day for me. Supergluing my feet into the present moment. Tomorrow afternoon will be what it is. No benefit to practicing those feelings today. POTUS and FLOTUS living at the White House right now all day and all night.
This level of incompetence is endangering this country. …LITERALLY
Trump to enter office with gaping holes in major agencies
Rachel Maddow reports on the many director-level positions Donald Trump has yet to fill on the National Security Council with one day left of Obama’s term, and more openings still at the Pentagon and State Department.
Meta, when I grow up I want to be like you. Your posts and links, etc. have helped me to learn so much and have amplified my experiences of this remarkable time in history. I followed this link when you posted it on the previous thread and have just finished listening to and enjoying every part of it. I would have been lost without you and so many others of our fierce family (Bob, Foxfire, Hopefruit, Donna, JER, the awesome goddess, NW, Bill R., Dudette, LL, Tally, Carolyn, desertflower, CGail, our Poet Laureate, Jacquelineoboomer, AMK, Don, LP, and Africa). While I cared about various issues, voted in all elections, and participated in issue related activism in my younger years, I was not a political junkie, policy wonk, or techie. I knew in general terms how the government worked, but not the specifics of rules, practices and the major players. I am awed at the depth of knowledge that you and others have. I have no idea how all of you find the sites have the best, latest, and trusted information, but I am so grateful that you have shared all of this with us on this site. I have been year almost from the moment that Chips launched this site. When BWD discontinued her blog many of you came here. I will admit that I was intimidated and remained a Lurker for some time because I did not feel that I had anything to offer, but after awhile, mostly because we talk about a variety of subjects and because most people were kind, I felt confident enough to share my thoughts. All of you have been such a blessing to me. I became the family’s political go-to-person because I was able to share with them the things that I learned here and it has made a difference.
None of this would be possible, however, without Chips. Our dear, dear Irish sister/friend who created this troll-free environment that attracted the best minds and the kindest hearts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. – Carla
Hahaha!! Thanks so much for your kindness, Carla. I feel the same way about his place and very, very fortunate to have somehow wound up here. There is an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience and kindness among our TODers, mostly I believe because of Chips and the kind of standards she set here. How I miss her every day.
One of the unexpected developments of the transition period has been Donald Trump’s disinterest in daily intelligence briefings. President Obama, immediately after the election, ordered the relevant agencies to make available to the president-elect the same information that’s delivered to the Oval Office, but in a bit of a surprise, Trump largely blew off the information.
Last month, Fox News’ Chris Wallace noted reports that the Republican was only receiving one briefing a week, instead of seven. Trump didn’t deny the accounts, but said it didn’t matter because he’s “like, a smart person.” He added, “I get it when I need it.”
A month later, with his inauguration drawing closer, Trump sat down with Axios yesterday, and referring to the intelligence he’s seen, the president-elect said, “I’ve had a lot of briefings that are very … I don’t want to say ‘scary,’ because I’ll solve the problems.” The exceedingly confident Republican added this in reference to the PDB:
Trump said he likes his briefings short, ideally one-page if it’s in writing. “I like bullets or I like as little as possible. I don’t need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page. That I can tell you.”
Hmm. President Obama likes to read daily intelligence briefings and pose follow-up questions in writing. Bill Clinton had a similar approach. George W. Bush, during his two terms, changed the briefing process, preferring oral reports from intelligence professionals.
Trump, apparently, has in mind something akin to Powerpoint slides.
The point here is not to chuckle at the obviously unprepared amateur, who, in 47 hours, will be the Leader of the Free World. There’s a substantive angle to this that’s worth appreciating.
Donald Trump declared weeks ago that he intends to “set the all-time record” for attendance at a presidential inaugural. By all appearances, that’s extremely unlikely to happen.
But the president-elect spoke at a pre-inauguration event last night, where Trump made this interesting claim:
“I also want to tell you, you know, so many people are talking about what’s going on and now they’ve just announced we’re going to have record crowds coming.”
As a rule, whenever Donald Trump uses the word “they,” look out. In this case “they’ve” announced “record crowds” are coming to the Republican’s inauguration, but there’s been no such announcement. “They” don’t appear to exist outside of Trump’s imagination.
But relying on “them” will enable Trump to claim a record without regard for actual attendance data. What we’re witnessing is a preemptive falsehood: the president-elect is laying the groundwork for an untrue claim about his inauguration that Trump seems very likely to make soon after he takes the oath of office.
Indeed, he’s already told related falsehoods, such as, ”All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.” This wasn’t remotely true, but Trump made the claim anyway.
And speaking of false claims, CNN reported that two senior Trump transition officials said yesterday that the president-elect wrote his own draft of his inaugural address.
Donald Trump is entering the White House with the weakest public support of any new president since the dawn of modern polling. The Republican may prefer to see a giant media conspiracy against him – Trump yesterday dismissed survey results as “rigged” – but if so, the scheme incorporates a plethora of national news organizations and polling outfits, each of which show the president-elect with surprisingly awful backing.
There’s a school of thought that suggests this isn’t entirely Trump’s fault. Maybe the public is just in a sour mood. Perhaps Americans, after a long and ugly campaign, are inclined to hold every political figure in low regard, and Trump is simply caught up in a wave of broad public revulsion.
Of course, if that were true, President Obama wouldn’t be leaving office with rising popularity.
While Trump is entering office with the worst numbers in the history of the NBC/WSJ poll, outgoing President Barack Obama is exiting with some of his highest numbers. Fifty-six percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job, which is his highest rating since the first few months of his presidency.
Moreover, 53 percent of Americans believe the country is better off than it was eight years ago, while 42 percent think it’s worse off. A similar 54 percent say Obama mostly brought the right kind of change.
And a combined 55 percent believe Obama – compared with the past several U.S. presidents – will either go down as one of the very best or be better than most.
Democratic pollster Fred Yang put it this way: “If Donald Trump enters office on a down note, the current occupant is enjoying a second honeymoon of sorts.”
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll, meanwhile, puts Obama’s final approval rating at 60% – one of only four presidents since World War II to leave the White House with so much public support.
Congressional Republicans recently conceded among themselves that they’ll “never” be able to craft a health-care reform plan that covers “as many people as Obamacare does.” No one, however, told Donald Trump.
The president-elect boasted to the Washington Post this week, “We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.” Trump added that Americans “can expect to have great health care…. Much less expensive and much better.”
The benchmarks, which Trump has no idea how to meet, were fairly specific: his administration is committing to universal coverage, “much lower deductibles,” and a simpler and less expensive system in which all Americans are “beautifully covered.”
Was Trump over-promising? Yes. Will he fail to meet his own goals? Definitely.
The funny part, however, is watching Republicans deal with the consequences of the incoming president’s rhetoric. BuzzFeed had this report late yesterday:
[S]ome Republicans in the Senate say they are working on repealing and replacing Obamacare under the belief that Trump misspoke.
Ah yes, the misstatement. The incoming president assured the American public that the Affordable Care Act will be repealed and replaced with a system in which “everybody” has insurance, to which GOP lawmakers are effectively responding, “Let’s assume he didn’t actually mean ‘everybody.’”
Good morning dear TOD: Thank you, thank you, thank you all for these past eight years together. I have learned so much. I have benefited in so many ways, that they are difficult to enumerate. For one thing, my understanding of the AA experience in this country has been exploded open. Thank you all for caring enough to share your experiences with this old lady. You have enriched my life, and enlarged my heart.
You all went through the final illness and death of my beloved, and comforted me many times. You are a special group.
This has been the first place I have come every morning, and if it is no longer here, there will be a big hole in my life. I feel as if I know each one individually. So many eloquent writers, so many activists, you are the people who encourage me and help me hope for positive change and a better world for my grandchildren.
To NerdyWonka,….thank you so much for picking up the baton from Chips. You are gifted, and have a big heart.
Here’s to the greatest president EVER…..yes, I truly believe that, and the months ahead will definitely show more people that he was.
My love and gratitude to you as well. You have also enlightened me when it comes to racial matters; your openness, kindness, love of your multi-cultural students, and so much more have always impressed me and reminded me not to make assumptions about people based on where they live, their ages, or their race. Thinking of you and the remarkable faith congregation of which you are a member (love the things that you have shared with us) will continue to help me to go forth in confidence and to give people a chance. When I saw percentage of white people, especially the well-educated,the financially secure, and the women who voted for the Deplorable One, I was done with white people (even though beloved members of my family are white) and filled with bitterness and anger. I am still working through these feelings even as I know, intellectually, that this misbegotten election does not tell the entire story. Thank you, Carolyn, for all that you are.
Much love back at cha Carolyn…i feel grateful that you allowed us into your life…and i am so very glad that we met at the TOD in DC last year…in fact i am so very glad that that we had the gathering in Dc…i look forward to our next gathering in ChiTow at the opening the President’s Library..
Carolyn, same to you. I ALWYS value your insights, and so appreciate your sticking with us through all the grief and changes you’ve experienced. We love you.
In his farewell speech last week, President Barack Obama declared that supporting young people of color is not only a matter of justice but a common-sense investment in our future: “If we’re unwilling to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we will diminish the prospects of our own children — because those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share of America’s workforce.” That’s not just rhetoric. By 2020, children and youth of color will represent half of all people under age 18 If not for these children of color, the American workforce would shrink as baby boomers continue to retire.
Unfortunately, our national future is in jeopardy.
Outside of President Obama’s remarks, there has been far too little attention to the damage that President-elect Trump’s policy proposals and nominees would wreak on America’s children – and America’s future. The policies proposed by the incoming administration and Republicans in Congress would undercut families and take away the core building blocks that now help them succeed.
Let’s start with Trump’s proposal to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Health and nutrition are the cornerstones of children’s lifelong success. Growing evidence shows that children who get help from Medicaid (health insurance) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) in their early years not only do better in childhood but also have better health, educational, and employment outcomes many years later, into adulthood.
Children also do better when their parents get health and mental health treatment – something that’s far more likely today under the ACA than in the past. For example, a mother’s untreated depression can place at risk her children’s safety, development, and learning. So it is good news that, by opting to expand Medicaid under the ACA, 32 states have made mental health care, including treatment for depression, accessible to far more people, most recently demonstrated by a new report from Ohio.
During the Obama years, children’s health insurance coverage soared to the highest levels ever — 94.7 percent — and SNAP lifted 4.6 million children out of poverty in 2015. But the nation now risks a sharp slide backwards. Researchers estimate that even without additional cuts to Medicaid, President-elect Trump’s and congressional Republicans’ plans to repeal the ACA would take health insurance away from 4 million children, and many million more parents.
Last month, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) celebrating Donald Trump for having assembled a “dream team” cabinet. It was a curious choice of words – because one would have to be asleep to be impressed with the motley crew the president-elect has assembled.
Some of Trump’s choices appear to have no idea what their job entails. Others have no relevant experience or skills. Some are burdened by damaging controversies. Others are overtly hostile towards the work done by the departments they’ll soon lead. Senate Democrats set out to prove that many of Trump’s nominees had no business being chosen in the first place, and by and large, the senators succeeded.
But nearly all – if not literally all – of Trump’s choices will be confirmed anyway, because as Politico noted yesterday, the Senate Republican majority doesn’t appear to care.
Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks have been battered by revelations of questionable stock trades and potentially undocumented employees. They’ve undergone rocky confirmation hearings and faced criticism from Democrats that they’re unfit to lead a major federal agency.
Consider Republicans unmoved.
From the top tiers of GOP leadership to rank-and-file committee members, Republicans are fanning out en masse to defend Trump’s Cabinet selections.
Though filibusters are no longer an option for cabinet nominees, the GOP majority is fairly narrow in a 52-48 Senate. If only a handful of Republican senators balk at an unqualified choice, the Trump White House will have to scramble to find someone else.
But that handful doesn’t appear to exist. Politico’s piece added, “[T]here’s no sign that those GOP defections are coming.”
There’s no great mystery here – partisan loyalties and tribal instincts dominate in Washington to a degree unseen in generations – but Republicans aren’t actually doing anyone, including their allies, any favors.
A Republican legislative aide in Maryland has been fired after it was revealed that he ran a fake news website that hyped false stories about voter fraud.
The Washington Post reports that Maryland Del. David E. Vogt III immediately fired legislative aide Cameron Harris after learning that he created an article at the website ChristianTimesNewspaper.com that purportedly revealed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was committing massive voter fraud in Ohio.
“I was shocked to hear that he could do such a thing,” Vogt said after Harris’s dismissal. “He seemed like a bright young man that was interested in getting involved in politics.”
Harris’s article fabricated claims that election officials had discovered tens of thousands of “fraudulent Clinton votes” being stored in an Ohio warehouse. As the New York Times reported earlier this week, that article was shared on Facebook more than 6 million times, despite the fact that it had no basis in reality.
When I first started to take up photography for my pastry blog, I took some online workshops with this woman, who is a really phenomenal person. I never knew she’d photographed PBO but I love this capture. I think it reveals his spirit beautifully.
FLOTUS/Michelle Obama is like if not better than fine wine or a new flower…..she has become more beautiful over the eight years inside & out, she has bloomed into a glorious flower…
This is everything. Extending the arts, creating opportunities for diverse communities and showing that the fine arts are for everyone has long been a passion of mine. My earliest dream for myself was to be a dancer, but it was impossible in my circumstances. It brought tears to my eyes as well as great pride to see their little faces all lit up and to see them learning from the grand mistresses of dance from women who look like them in the White House at the invitation of a First Lady who looked like them as well. The Obamas greatest legacy is how they have impacted the lives of our young people of all races and backgrounds. I am optimistic about our future in their hands.
I’ve committed myself to the fact that I’m just going to be enraged and protesting and marching and fighting every GAWT DAMN day until WE TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK from these treasonous hypocrital UNPATRIOTIC MF’ers. Notice how they also “slipped in” defunding for the Paris Climate Change Agreement?
Yes. We are going to be absolutely horrified when we fully understand what is happening and the far-reaching effects it will have on this nation. I’m wondering how Joe feels just hearing about all the cuts to the Violence Against Women programs, trainings and statutes. It sickens me. Trump is being led by the Heritage Foundation to cut the budget by $10T. So they will be doing broad and deep cuts indiscriminately.
One of my great fears is Trump will have an inordinate need early on to bolster his tough guy cred, which he may choose to focus on Iran, North Korea or China. Or perhaps all three. I am terrified.
I feel very bad for the ordinary Americans living in Washington. This is disgusting but unsurprising. They are determined to impose their “believs” on everyone else. They will over reach and hopefully pay a very high price in the midterms.
“Congressional Republicans are making an aggressive push to gut the District’s progressive policies, introducing bills in recent days to repeal the heavily Democratic city’s gun-control measures, undo its new law allowing physician-assisted suicide and ban the District from using local tax dollars to provide abortions for poor women.
….
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who represents neighborhoods on Capitol Hill, said it was also ironic.
“These guys love to argue for local control and rail against big government, but they seem to love big government when it comes to imposing what they believe,” he said.”
With Obama leaving, congressional Republicans move to gut D.C. laws http://wpo.st/UDlS2
Dearest TOD, THANK YOU for being such a wonderful place – the only one – to go to for sober information about Your greatest president of all, i.e. President Barack Hussein Obama.
I feel, I should write a lot more about how meanigful following TOD have been to me concerning all aspects of American politics and culture,
how You all have enlightened me these past eight years, but today, I just can’t for the tears in my eyes.
For President Obama and family:
🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Thursday morning. Congrats df, 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 wear your enchanting, endearing, and delectable smile 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. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
we will hear a lot about these thing in the coming weeks and months…but i have to say…it would have been good if the President could have gotten this support during his tenuue as President
I hope that this is true and that they do. We need competent people in these positions at all times. I hope thar they have stomachs as strong as their skills and patriotism.
Is Ash Carter staying?
Yes, and when you’re counting golf games, please make sure to let us know which golf courses are making how much money on these outings– and how much it is costing taxpayers. Because, Count.
A lot of feelings today, the greatest is gratitude. "When they go low, we go high." Thank you Mr. President and First Lady. #ObamaFarewellpic.twitter.com/idNoa68xuD
As we approach the final 24 hours of President Obama’s Presidency I just wanted to say thank you to the many supporters that I met both virtually and in reality over these 10 years. We have laughed together, swooned at our handsome President and Vice President together, admired the grace and beauty of our First and Second Ladies and shed tears of sadness and joy for all sorts of reasons through these many years and those moments will always be embedded in my mind.
We had the honor and the privilege to witness what history will define as the greatest President and Vice President in modern times. No one can ever change the historical aspect of his Presidency. Our lives were forever changed by his service to our Nation. His legacy will live on.
The win by that monster in November hit me harder than I care to talk about but time is a great healer and after watching PBO’s farewell address I felt moved to dust myself off and be the activist he inspired us all to be.
I’m not sure which direction I’ll be going in (I still have a lot of anger in me) but I’m confident that I’ll find my niche starting with the #WomensMarch this weekend.
To Chips thank you for giving us the space for our calls to action, to share our thoughts and information, follow PBO’s many adventures abroad, and most of all demonstrate our unfailing love and support of PBO/VPJoe and their families. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to you.
Nerdy, girl your intellect and humor are to die for. Thank you for offering to assist Chips with this blog and accepting the baton when passed onto you. I know that I personally don’t know what I would have done without The Obama Diary during this gawd awful election. You are a shining star.
Webster defines a friend as a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. That’s what I feel for all of my sisters and brothers here at TOD. Thank you for your friendship!
May God Bless you all and most of all may He Bless our Country because we will definitely be needing it.
DD, Thank you for every word. We have SO missed you and your voice here……and the pics of the cutie pie twins. 🙂 Please stay with us as long as we’re here…….hope that’s ongoing. We won’t survive without TOD. I know I won’t!!!!!
Co-signing with love and gratitude to you, Donna. May God give you the strength to fight for the futures of your beautiful granddaughters and all of the nation’s children. We have to clean up this mess for them.
Good to see you back Donna, noticed you on Twitter yesterday 🙂 We’ll fight this fight together, in our own way, however we’re able. I Will also be at the march with my family on Saturday.
But please know how much I’ve appreciated your hard work, humor, insights and love over the years. You have been a true inspiration to me. I will never forget how much we’ve learned from each other.
I hope to see you somewhere on the wire in the future.
Thank you so much Donna for your beautiful words and for expressing so well everything I feel today. But even more importantly, thank you for all the hard work you put in to elect and re-elect this wonderful man that served this country so well for 8 years! I wholeheartedly share your gratitude to Chips for creating this wonderful space and for the brilliant Nerdy Wonka who has kept it going during Chips’ absence! A great deal of thanks too for all the wonderful and brilliant people at TOD who have taught me so much about courage, togetherness, optimism, determination, and, above all, love.
I am so thankful that the Obama family are leaving this experience whole and healthy with a world of opportunity open to them. So thankful that they held on to their core values and were able to see them flower in their girls. So thankful that they the beauty and kindness of their hearts are reflected in their outward beauty. The best revenge is living well. The haters never saw them sweat, never saw them beaten down and defeated, and never saw the majority of the country and the world turn from them. The republicans will never be able to make the character argument again when their hypocrisy is so clearly on display; our party is the clear arbiter of dignity, grace, justice and equality. We only need to harness our energies and use what they have taught us to truly win, no matter who is in the white house. I hope and pray that the marches will give way to sustained action to fulfill the true promises of our democracy.
Not only will they never be able to make a character argument again….they will never be able to make a PATRIOTISM ARGUMENT…not with someone put into power with the help of a foreign power, that undermines American Sovereignty.
Besides our beloved Pete, there has been no other place that has done an exemplary job chronicling EVERY DAY of this illustrious presidency’s 8 years than The Obama Diary. TOD is a living, breathing testament to what can happen when us “ordinary people” come together to do “extraordinary things”.
One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.
Nerdy W, Chips, DannyStix, and all TOD Peeps, posters, lurkers, citizens, THANK YOU!. and I hope you can all feel the bottomless depth of my love, affection and gratitude for each and every one of you through the interwebs. All of you helped change my little corner of the world for the better.
Peace and Blessings.
P.S. Today I am writing the Obama Foundation asking that they take a look at The Obama Diary and see if it can become part of the archival records of President Obama’s presidency. May be rather forward of me Chips, Nerdy W but IMHO it would be a shame to not have this blog not be a part of his legacy. Hugs!
I hope he has a swift recovery and congrats on the puppy. I haven’t been here of late so I am not sure about the blog. Chips always said that she would be done once PBO left office but I’m not sure what Nerdy will do.
I hope Chips reconsiders but I would understand her decision if it’s negative.
57andFemale, take good care of Mr. 57. Pneumonia is treacherous.
Donna, sending you my affection for all that you’ve done these past years. But do stay in touch. TODVille and all of you are the support we will need to go through the mascaraed of tomorrow and the charade thereafter.
It has been a long 10-year ride with the big eared, nerd of a kenyan and his wonderful family. And what a ride it was. Filled with genuine class, charm, compassion, grace, wisdom, wit and mainly, intelligence & intellect. I enjoyed every moment of this awesome ride and have learnt a few things about life along the way. The kenyan is only pol I ever respected in my decades of following politics around the world and my respect & affection for him and his lovely family will always remain. In my eyes, he can never anything wrong.
And I want to go out with these pleasant and happy memories in tact.
Thank you wonderful chips for letting this annoying blighter in. In a moment of foolhardiness (what the heck were you thinking gurl, jeez), you gave me the key to trash this place. I hope I lived up to your expectations. 🙂
I desperately want to thank each one of you by name but then I desperately don’t want to leave out anyone’s name unknowingly (or unwittingly, which is my calling card).
So, thank you toddys for putting with my antics and silliness for all these years and I apologize if I ever hurt anyone unwittingly (there is that word again, I toldja).
It is really very hard for me say good bye to all the wonderful friends I have made here, but rest assured that I will never forget this significant & mostly joyous part of my life.
I wish you all and your families a happy, healthy, successful and mainly a worry free future.
Amk, you have been such an important part of this community. Thank you for everything. I had had hope that we would all meet one day. It’s been a great journey.
I will miss you very much. I will always remember all the fun, feistiness, fearlessness, and a great deal of wisdom you contributed to TOD family.Your faith in, and dedication to, President Obama was inspiring! Wishing you and your wonderful family all the best!
amk for obama, I know you do not know me because I am a champion lurker but know this, your banter with the other regulars on this blog while it seems sometimes like you were travelling the world on business, always made me laugh out loud and smile. You have been wonderful and I wish you all the best, unless the world ends… but like President Obama said ” the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world” 🙂
We began this journey with HOPE and a good man who was born in Hawai’i and became a Senator from Chicago named Barack Obama. We used all our spare moments in our busy lives to volunteer for him and we forged wonderful friendships along the way. We cheered together on election night to find that we made a difference and that America is truly filled with good people. Our wonderful President Obama did his very best to help America and Americans despite a disfunctional Congress.
Thank you for all the hard work Chips on The Obama Diary.
Don’t forget to unsubscribe from WH.gov, you wouldn’t want to get anything from THAT new illegitimate administration!
Love you my O-Family! Long live the Democratic Party!
I had to take the day off from work today and I may take tomorrow off as well, I’m just not in the mood to hear one more motherfucker that I work with talk glowingly about a man that has no problem with grabbing a woman by the p***y, I just can’t do it anymore. I’m sitting here watching these confirmation hearings and I’m at a loss for words by the ineptitude of these nominees. Is this the best we can do? I mean we’re exchanging Dr. Earnest Moniz, a fucking nuclear physicist for a fucking hillbilly clown whose family owned a ranch called “Niggerhead”. These people are fucking ghouls and monsters and they’ll be heading our government. I’m sitting up here watching this fucking Senator Tim Scott smiling and grinning at this guy Mnuchin whose going to be the head of the Treasury. Fucking ghouls and monsters.
I’m with you Don. This is far, far worse than I anticipated. I am alternating between crying and trying not to vomit. Sick at heart doesn’t begin to describe it. What is WRONG with this country electing this despicable man and these ignoramuses in Congress? When did we go from a country that celebrates education to a country that celebrates ignorance? When did we go from a country that builds things to a country that only wants to tear things down? I look at how HARD the entire Obama administration worked day in and day out to make our lives better, and I just cannot comprehend what has happened.
Incase I wake up on Friday to our site here at TOD not being here anymore I wish to thank all of you for your companionship during these last two terms of office. Thanks for the opportunity to express my feelings with like minded Obama supporters, to hear other’s take on events and to see current and past information shared to promote our education on policies and stands. I have become a more informed supporter because of this site and the unselfish work of those keeping it together and running it. I am in hopes that we will not lose our gathering spot and I will not lose all of you, my refuge in my unchanging unaccepting rural community. Thanks all.
I hope that TOD will continue. I will miss this wonderful place. I want to thank all the FrontPagers and the Posters. It has been an honor to read all of you these past years. Just thinking about no TOD brings tears to my eyes.
TOD family…thank you all..My life will have a huge hole if this place shuts down. It keeps me sane, gives me hope, and makes me smile. What a ride! We are all part of the Obama Nation. We are the lucky ones! Love to all…Carla
In checking in this time I skimmed through the right hand column. It is an area I notice info on, but seldom read it or pay attention to. There was a Nerdy Wonka post there with a two person type conversation affirming today is the last day. Please, if I interpreted what I read wrong correct me. I would be very happy to be mistaken.
“The road ahead will be long,
Our climb will be steep,
We may not get there in one year, or even one term,
But America, I have never been more hopeful
Than I am tonight that we will get there.”… (Prez Barack Obama, 11/4/2008)
Put down the Kleenex. Tilt your head up high. Now shout at the top of your lungs. YES WE DID!!! We Obamacrats, Americans, and world citizens can proudly puff out our chests and say we got us a really fine gem of a president. He not only served us productively during his 8-year tenure, he did so without a whiff of scandal, his diligence razor sharp, his humility and empathy never in doubt, and lit up our dreary moments with that smile and quick wit.
How many of us young and young at heart, and even detractors, can say we’ve ever been so absorbed day in and day out with any President at such a granular level, as we have Prez Barack Hussein Obama? Sure, the technologies of our age simulate such high levels of intimacy with political leaders we may never meet. But the Obamas made us live vicariously in the warm embrace of their hugs.
Beyond policy convergence, we felt their human connection to us to be genuine. Not posturing. And prior to winning the presidency, candidate Obama himself opened the sluice gates to many of us to dive into political engagement through both electronic media and human to human contact in the streets
How many of you got connected politically with complete strangers for the first time by signing up on http://www.barackobama.com and eagerly awaited David Plouffe’s weekly map update? How many of you created “Dashboard” pages on that website to organize people you knew, to volunteer, donate, host house meetings and parties, make calls, register people in the streets, enter registration data, or even quit your jobs to go to “Summer organizing school”?
Be honest, how many of us of a certain age (wink, wink) would have gotten clued in to much of Social media — Twitter, Snapchat, etc. or programs consumed mostly by millennials such as Between Two Ferns with Zack Galifianakis, and You Tube sensations like Ms. Glozell Green, Ingrid “Glamourazzi” Nilsen, Adande “sWoozie” Thorne…., and much of social media lingo, if not for Barack H. Obama?
Besides substantial policy advances, he and First Lady Michelle Obama, made us all indulge in the hip and cool. We dropped the mic and sang soul and karaoke along with them. We ooohed and aaaahed the marshmallow cannon and others at the geeky WH science exhibits. We clutched our virtual passports, got aboard Airforce One on its 400 flights, and trekked all 50 states of America and around the world with them – Dublin, Myanmar, Moneygall, Moscow, Canberra, Strasbourg, Prague, Havana, Dakar, Accra, ……
But why did many of us suspend our cynicism during the Obama presidency? Why did we believe him? The historical track record of politicians has earned that species a well-deserved cynicism. But not Barack Obama. Why? Sure, policy disagreements and all for some, but few besides his virulent opposition and rabid racists doubted his integrity.
We checked our cynicism at the door because he invited us, as thinking people, to embark on the tough journey of making America a “more perfect union” with him, warts and all. He also welcomed us to peer into the depths of his humanity (not like GW Bush looking into Putin’s soul), and many of us felt comfortable, even inspired. He was more than family even if some never physically met him. He never patronized us. He never left us out in the cold. Never.
Some of us ached with anguish when the opposition slammed the political barricades hard in his face at a time when this country teetered on the brink of economic collapse, and we thought “surely, country first, right?” Wrong.
With President Obama, many of us were jolted to the harsh reality that Republicans cared more about raw power than America’s wellbeing. They dragged us through an orgy of vileness on every front imaginable. Worst of all, the electorate rewarded them up and down this country with more power to destroy all the pillars of democracy and human rights that had been fought for with blood and toil. What country is this!
As a naturalized American citizen, whose very first vote in this country was for candidate Obama during the 2008 Democratic primaries, I, along with many of you feel a certain sense of co-ownership of the Obama presidential journey. It was us at our very best! We chose well. Eight years, no scandals. NONE! Competence, class, dignity, vision, empathy, real accomplishments.
Barack Obama is the stuff legends are made of. And we were lucky to witness it, and co-write this chapter of America’s story. So yeah, tilt that chin up. Y’all did good.
“Hard things are hard,” is inscribed on a plaque in the Obama White House. Yep, they are. And once achieved they must be safeguarded with hawk eyes, else a Trump wrecking ball overruns us.
But as President Obama said, we’re just getting started. We’re not gonna turn him into a fossil to gaze at on a pedestal in a shrine. As CITIZENS our task, our vigilance shifts to second gear tomorrow. Foot to the pedal. Stay Woke.
P.S. Our gratitude knows no bounds for Chips and NerdyWonka, who captained this incredible electronic corner of bliss and sanity for our journey with the Obama Family, in a sea of venom. Thank you thank you, thank you.
And kudos to all you fellow travelers on this site. You made this Obama story possible. You made it fierce. Let’s ALL #staywoke.
This almost did me in, but I am going to try to suck it up. So much of our sadness at his departure is rooted in fear of what comes after him. That so many people in modern times face a new presidency with real fear is more awful than most things that have happened in this country during my more than 6 decades of life. I have come to realize over that evil is real and all too commonplace in the hearts of our nations current leaders and in many more of our citizens that I previously believed. I am more unsettled about what we may do to each other than I am of any foreign entity. I have tried to stay positive, to have the wait and see attitude and to gird myself for the fights ahead. But I feel sick to my stomach and ashamed to live in a country where so many actively participated in this travesty. But I can also draw strength from all that the TOD ohana has given to me, the PBO’s example, what I know about history and my faith to pull me through. We are not left comfortless, and in adversity there is also opportunity for greatness to arise in how we fight it. I truly believe that when people see how bad bad can be, when we have a clear contrast between intelligence, grace, and dignity as opposed to rampant greed, ignorance, and hate, most of us will reject it. I hope that I can be alive to see the day when we are triumphant.
Thanks JER, for sharing this! Although I am too old I could not stop the tears! I am really going to miss this incredible President, his wonderful family, and the truly exceptional people he chose to work with him! I feel so blessed to have been alive to witness his presidency because people in my age group never believed it would happen in our lifetime.
Please, Please TODville continue to exist, such a fabulous ongoing history book, and as I suggested long, long, long ago Chips for leader of President Obama’s library.
One thing that comforts me the most about the uncertain days ahead is that the worst thing that has happened to DT is winning this election. he ran for the sake of vanity as a way to help his businesses and his unsatiable desire to be seen and heart to matter to many people. He will now be restricted to what he can say, where he can go, and in some instances who he can see. He will have to divest millions and lose out on business deals that he had been laying the groundwork for. Opposition will quickly disabuse him of any ideas about how popular he is from a national perspective. The press that he has maligned and made plans to control will finally turn on him (because of their hurt fee-fees, not any sense of duty) when the owners realize that they get a wider audience from those who oppose Trump rather than those who support him. He will have to sit in dull meetings whose content is way over his head. SS agents and intelligence officials will know everything that he says and does. All of the “best people” will continue to stay away and this will hurt his ego even more. World leaders will soon see that he can be treated with contempt and you will not see them (except for the Putin and others like him) jockeying to be seen with him. It will soon be all too much and his son-in-law and his daughter can only go so far in buttressing him. When his struggling supporters realize that the White House is now only for the millionaires and the billionaires who know nothing nor care anything about their lives, many will realize that they have been had. The GOP congress will realize, if they have not already, that their leader is an unstable, mercurial man-child whose words contradict themselves daily. They will be a rudderless ship. If democrats get a backbone there will be much that they can do to keep the ship of state afloat. This can really be their hour if they but grasp it. For the rest of us as PBO told his girls, “The only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world.” The world is far from over, we are still here with out talents, passion, and duty so there is much to look forward to.
Yes we are still here….I hope our Democratic leaders do get a backbone. We need a moral compass going forward. We need new, young leaders to rise up. So sick of the doom and gloom emails I have received from our party these last 8 years. They have used fear far too long and have forgotten that it is hope that inspires…and I’m talking about our party.
Godspeed to President Obama and his family. He will always be my leader.
JER, you are amazing! Thank you so much for making this day so special by sharing all these uplifting tributes to President Obama and First Lady, Michelle Obama.
Went to the Social Security office this morning and saw Barak Obama’s and Joe Biden’s photos on the wall. When I left, I went out to my car and cried. Thanks The Obama Diary folks for a wonderful refuge over the past few years. I have enjoyed watching all of the events and experiencing your reactions over the years. Hope we meet again. 🙂
Hello Everyone, I have been reading all these farewell posts and am feeling a bit down. I rarely post but am here everyday as often as I can. Feeling down as I reflect on the last eight years, feeling down as I have close relatives and friends in the US and I fear for them and feeling down because I feel as if I will be losing some dear friends. I am glad I had the opportunity to put faces to members of this community. Although my time in DC was brief I was truly happy to have met the clan. I am seeing where some want to visit the African Heritage museum, please you have my contact info. I am in.
Before TOD I barely paid attention to US politics but now I feel like I am an expert, thanks to all of you for contributing and utmost thanks to Chips and finally thanks to President Obama because if not for you this site would not have existed and become the international community that it is.
The Obama Diary is here to stay.
The Obama Diary aint goin no where
We are all for one and one for all
We are ready and waiting for our leaders call
Forward march…..The Obama Diary, real news, honest news and views from the ones that count ‘We The People’
I am really looking forward to Saturday, the official start of the Resistance. I hope that large numbers will come out, that everyone is safe and that the message goes world-wide loud and clear. I will be speaking with my local DNC and other groups to find out what we can do here in the weeks to come. I will be going silent this evening after final goodbyes for the next 48 hours. Thank you TOD ohana.
Before His HHS Nom, Price Had Employer Health Insurance In His Sights
By TIERNEY SNEED
Published JANUARY 19, 2017, 6:00 AM EST 13733 Views
For years Republican critiques of the Affordable Care Act have zeroed in on the effect it has had on the individual heath insurance market. But the GOP lawmaker who will likely lead the Department of Health and Human Services has long championed a major overhaul to the much bigger employer-based insurance system in order to push consumers to buy their own plans.
The legislation HHS nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) has offered over the years include mainstays of GOP plans that would usher in a drastic change in how most people receive their health care coverage. The employer-based insurance market covers seven times more people than the individual market.
“What he’s getting at here, and a lot of Republicans feel pretty strongly about this, to get a functioning insurance market, you have to get away from businesses buying the insurance,” explained Joe Antos, a health policy scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “The philosophy is, ultimately, you want to transition, in some orderly way, to where everybody is buying their own insurance.”
If the lights go out on this wonderful place I know it will be heartbreaking but I will accept the will of those that carry us and have carried us this far. Its hard work to keep this flowing. I want to thank and bless everyone here. I come here everyday, usually read every post and every comment. This has been happening for years and you have all inspired me, informed me, helped me marvel at the presidency of Barack Obama. So again I am sending all blessings and gratitude to all of you. If I wake up tomorrow and the next day and this community continues then I will be here every day as usual. Love, brothers and sisters. You are all amazing and beautiful to me.
Thank you Chips and Nerdy Wonka, and all the contributors and correspondents on this lovely blog, which I have followed for maybe six years, perhaps longer, for all the wonderful diaries and comments. God Bless PBO and family and you all.
Just wanted to add my comments concerning our First Lady Michelle Obama.
It has been a joy to witness such a warm, kind, loving person fulfill the role of First Lady. You are most delightful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Many Blessings and Much Love to you and your family.
Mae
Obama White House.gov
The Obama Diary 
Loooooove her:)
http://www.curvemag.com/News/Farewell-Obama-1720/#.WIBxNH4Olqw.twitter
Really worth a read:)
THANKS, OBAMA
Tom Price withdraws almost $42,000 from petty cash??
Da hail?
I TOLD you to watch that space:) I think being corrupt and incompetent is a prerequisite for this Admin
Thanks, Obama
CONTROL THE NARRATIVE! Good advice.
Malia Obama’s Secret Trip to Bolivia and Peru
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO
JANUARY 19, 2017
The Bolivian guides were convinced it was the blonde. It had to be the blonde. American Embassy officials in November had told three brothers who led guided hikes across Bolivia’s majestic Cordillera Real mountain range that they would soon be hosting an important American dignitary. When a group of teenagers and a small band of American bodyguards showed up on Nov. 24, it wasn’t apparent to the guides that it was the president’s eldest daughter, Malia Obama, and not a blond companion, who warranted the extraordinary security measures.
“There was a blond girl and we assumed she was the important one,” Gregorio Mamani, one of the guides, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Only in recent days, after Bolivian journalists broke the story of Ms. Obama’s trip to Bolivia and Peru late last year, did the guides realize who had been in their care during a five-day trek. “She was very humble, chatty, spoke Spanish very well,” Mr. Mamani said. “She was mesmerized by the Bolivian landscape.”
Ms. Obama was afforded no special treatment during the arduous trek, and performed chores, including cooking, along with her fellow travelers, Mr. Mamani said.
The Bolivian news media reported that Ms. Obama, 18, who delayed starting at Harvard for a year, lived with a family in Tiquipaya, a tiny town in central Bolivia. Her trip was organized by Where There Be Dragons, a Colorado company that runs educational trips, a representative confirmed. The 83-day journey is advertised as a means for students to “examine current political trends, social movements and environmental conservation efforts in the mountains and jungles of Bolivia and Peru.”
The Bolivian media reported that President Obama called President Evo Morales to request his government’s cooperation in ensuring discretion and security for his daughter’s trip. White House officials declined to comment and would not confirm that the two leaders had spoken. Mr. Morales often rails about what he calls American conspiracies to undermine leftist governments, including his own. The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2008.
Interesting….
“There was a blond girl and we assumed she was the important one,” Gregorio Mamani, one of the guides, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
This is always the case; people the world-over never think that it is the Black person who is in charge or the “important one.” Shonda Rimes told a story of being in a meeting and folks assuming the white woman with her was the powerhouse writer and producer. and many more in a variety of positions have similar stories. Even PBO tells the story of being at a function before he ran for president when guests at some swanky party assumed he was one of the waitors
This is interesting. A couple of the reporters from the press conference yesterday were on LOD last night. The mentioned that it was “a bad day at the White House, a VERY bad day” when Malia left in the fall to go traveling. I wondered what they were referring to as I had not heard anything although knew she wasn’t around much this fall.
3 things stand out in this article for me…
1. how they assumed the dignitary was blond
2. got to see a lil bit of Milia’s character
3.how despite the fact that Bolivia and America are not on the best of terms…the President could still speak to the Bolivia’s Head of State and get cooperation….
Amazing
Having heard Malia is the one at the dinner table getting her Dad to talk about work with both Michelle and Sasha groaning and seeing this post that political climate in Bolivia was part of the discussion I wonder if Malia might lean towards a political future?
Good morning.
There will never be another like Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama.
As Joe Biden said “she is the greatest First Lady in history.”
Yep she is: Greatest.First.Lady.Ever. Thank you Nerdy!
The Maddow Segment last night about the poor vetting. The level of incompetence is staggering.
Trump weak vetting of nominees a symptom of poor preparation
Rachel Maddow lists some of the embarrassing details being learned about Donald Trump cabinet nominees while they are in the confirmation process because they were not well vetted beforehand.
Trump offered Rick Perry a job neither one of them understood
01/19/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
An official at the Department of Energy recently found it necessary to “carefully explain” to a Trump transition aide what the agency actually does. The official did so after the Trump staffer “aide asked a series of questions that indicated he wasn’t quite sure about the department’s portfolio.”
As it turns out, the ignorance is widespread in Trump World, as evidenced by this New York Times article on the man the president-elect chose to lead the agency.
Revelations like these aren’t just scary for the public; they’re also deeply embarrassing for the amateurs who’ll tomorrow take over the executive branch of the world’s largest superpower.
For Perry, whose confirmation hearing begins today, this is obviously cringe-worthy. Four years ago, the then-governor was determined to eliminate the Department of Energy, despite not knowing what the agency does. The DOE has a major research laboratory in Texas, but Perry, who led the state for 14 years, still never learned anything about the department’s work.
If the Times’ reporting is correct, the Republican then accepted a cabinet post without having any idea what his responsibilities would be.
But as bad as Perry looks, let’s not overlook his future boss.
Da Phuq?
Trump EPA nominee would oversee own lawsuit against the EPA
Senator Ed Markey talks with Rachel Maddow about why he opposes Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA when, even in public office, Pruitt has worked on behalf of fossil fuel companies to undermine the EPA.
Why not? That probably isn’t even the sleaziest thing that is going to happen under a Trump administration. This is going to be the least ethical presidency of all time.
Oh NerdyWonka! Thank you for this! Thank you so so much. Yes yes yes. Watching sharing watching again. Today is their day for me. Supergluing my feet into the present moment. Tomorrow afternoon will be what it is. No benefit to practicing those feelings today. POTUS and FLOTUS living at the White House right now all day and all night.
This level of incompetence is endangering this country. …LITERALLY
Trump to enter office with gaping holes in major agencies
Rachel Maddow reports on the many director-level positions Donald Trump has yet to fill on the National Security Council with one day left of Obama’s term, and more openings still at the Pentagon and State Department.
In case you worried, like I did, that the stress of Obama’s time in office shorten his life.
Meta, when I grow up I want to be like you. Your posts and links, etc. have helped me to learn so much and have amplified my experiences of this remarkable time in history. I followed this link when you posted it on the previous thread and have just finished listening to and enjoying every part of it. I would have been lost without you and so many others of our fierce family (Bob, Foxfire, Hopefruit, Donna, JER, the awesome goddess, NW, Bill R., Dudette, LL, Tally, Carolyn, desertflower, CGail, our Poet Laureate, Jacquelineoboomer, AMK, Don, LP, and Africa). While I cared about various issues, voted in all elections, and participated in issue related activism in my younger years, I was not a political junkie, policy wonk, or techie. I knew in general terms how the government worked, but not the specifics of rules, practices and the major players. I am awed at the depth of knowledge that you and others have. I have no idea how all of you find the sites have the best, latest, and trusted information, but I am so grateful that you have shared all of this with us on this site. I have been year almost from the moment that Chips launched this site. When BWD discontinued her blog many of you came here. I will admit that I was intimidated and remained a Lurker for some time because I did not feel that I had anything to offer, but after awhile, mostly because we talk about a variety of subjects and because most people were kind, I felt confident enough to share my thoughts. All of you have been such a blessing to me. I became the family’s political go-to-person because I was able to share with them the things that I learned here and it has made a difference.
None of this would be possible, however, without Chips. Our dear, dear Irish sister/friend who created this troll-free environment that attracted the best minds and the kindest hearts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. – Carla
Hahaha!! Thanks so much for your kindness, Carla. I feel the same way about his place and very, very fortunate to have somehow wound up here. There is an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience and kindness among our TODers, mostly I believe because of Chips and the kind of standards she set here. How I miss her every day.
{{{{CEB}}}}
These are NATIONAL SECURITY BRIEFINGS. You should NOT be getting the CliffNotes version.
In intelligence briefings, Trump prefers ‘as little as possible’
01/18/17 12:50 PM—UPDATED 01/18/17 01:06 PM
By Steve Benen
One of the unexpected developments of the transition period has been Donald Trump’s disinterest in daily intelligence briefings. President Obama, immediately after the election, ordered the relevant agencies to make available to the president-elect the same information that’s delivered to the Oval Office, but in a bit of a surprise, Trump largely blew off the information.
Last month, Fox News’ Chris Wallace noted reports that the Republican was only receiving one briefing a week, instead of seven. Trump didn’t deny the accounts, but said it didn’t matter because he’s “like, a smart person.” He added, “I get it when I need it.”
A month later, with his inauguration drawing closer, Trump sat down with Axios yesterday, and referring to the intelligence he’s seen, the president-elect said, “I’ve had a lot of briefings that are very … I don’t want to say ‘scary,’ because I’ll solve the problems.” The exceedingly confident Republican added this in reference to the PDB:
Hmm. President Obama likes to read daily intelligence briefings and pose follow-up questions in writing. Bill Clinton had a similar approach. George W. Bush, during his two terms, changed the briefing process, preferring oral reports from intelligence professionals.
Trump, apparently, has in mind something akin to Powerpoint slides.
The point here is not to chuckle at the obviously unprepared amateur, who, in 47 hours, will be the Leader of the Free World. There’s a substantive angle to this that’s worth appreciating.
He’s an idiot. That’s the only reason why he doesn’t want lengthy daily briefings. His small brain isn’t able to understand anything longer.
Trump prepares preemptive falsehoods about his inauguration
01/18/17 11:23 AM—UPDATED 01/18/17 01:59 PM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump declared weeks ago that he intends to “set the all-time record” for attendance at a presidential inaugural. By all appearances, that’s extremely unlikely to happen.
But the president-elect spoke at a pre-inauguration event last night, where Trump made this interesting claim:
As a rule, whenever Donald Trump uses the word “they,” look out. In this case “they’ve” announced “record crowds” are coming to the Republican’s inauguration, but there’s been no such announcement. “They” don’t appear to exist outside of Trump’s imagination.
But relying on “them” will enable Trump to claim a record without regard for actual attendance data. What we’re witnessing is a preemptive falsehood: the president-elect is laying the groundwork for an untrue claim about his inauguration that Trump seems very likely to make soon after he takes the oath of office.
Indeed, he’s already told related falsehoods, such as, ”All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.” This wasn’t remotely true, but Trump made the claim anyway.
And speaking of false claims, CNN reported that two senior Trump transition officials said yesterday that the president-elect wrote his own draft of his inaugural address.
Oh, they’ll be record crowds alright, Mr. Trump…but they won’t be there to welcome you. They’ll be there to protest you.
Thanks NW. We so appreciate First Lady Michelle and President Obama now and forever!
The ‘most successful’ Dem president since FDR ends on a high note
01/18/17 10:55 AM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump is entering the White House with the weakest public support of any new president since the dawn of modern polling. The Republican may prefer to see a giant media conspiracy against him – Trump yesterday dismissed survey results as “rigged” – but if so, the scheme incorporates a plethora of national news organizations and polling outfits, each of which show the president-elect with surprisingly awful backing.
There’s a school of thought that suggests this isn’t entirely Trump’s fault. Maybe the public is just in a sour mood. Perhaps Americans, after a long and ugly campaign, are inclined to hold every political figure in low regard, and Trump is simply caught up in a wave of broad public revulsion.
Of course, if that were true, President Obama wouldn’t be leaving office with rising popularity.
Democratic pollster Fred Yang put it this way: “If Donald Trump enters office on a down note, the current occupant is enjoying a second honeymoon of sorts.”
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll, meanwhile, puts Obama’s final approval rating at 60% – one of only four presidents since World War II to leave the White House with so much public support.
On health care, Republicans consider the meaning of ‘everybody’
01/18/17 09:20 AM—UPDATED 01/18/17 10:41 AM
By Steve Benen
Congressional Republicans recently conceded among themselves that they’ll “never” be able to craft a health-care reform plan that covers “as many people as Obamacare does.” No one, however, told Donald Trump.
The president-elect boasted to the Washington Post this week, “We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.” Trump added that Americans “can expect to have great health care…. Much less expensive and much better.”
The benchmarks, which Trump has no idea how to meet, were fairly specific: his administration is committing to universal coverage, “much lower deductibles,” and a simpler and less expensive system in which all Americans are “beautifully covered.”
Was Trump over-promising? Yes. Will he fail to meet his own goals? Definitely.
The funny part, however, is watching Republicans deal with the consequences of the incoming president’s rhetoric. BuzzFeed had this report late yesterday:
Ah yes, the misstatement. The incoming president assured the American public that the Affordable Care Act will be repealed and replaced with a system in which “everybody” has insurance, to which GOP lawmakers are effectively responding, “Let’s assume he didn’t actually mean ‘everybody.’”
Good morning dear TOD: Thank you, thank you, thank you all for these past eight years together. I have learned so much. I have benefited in so many ways, that they are difficult to enumerate. For one thing, my understanding of the AA experience in this country has been exploded open. Thank you all for caring enough to share your experiences with this old lady. You have enriched my life, and enlarged my heart.
You all went through the final illness and death of my beloved, and comforted me many times. You are a special group.
This has been the first place I have come every morning, and if it is no longer here, there will be a big hole in my life. I feel as if I know each one individually. So many eloquent writers, so many activists, you are the people who encourage me and help me hope for positive change and a better world for my grandchildren.
To NerdyWonka,….thank you so much for picking up the baton from Chips. You are gifted, and have a big heart.
Here’s to the greatest president EVER…..yes, I truly believe that, and the months ahead will definitely show more people that he was.
Love to you all…….
❤🌹
This. Simply THIS. ((((((carolyn))))))
Love to you also, carolyn ❤️
My love and gratitude to you as well. You have also enlightened me when it comes to racial matters; your openness, kindness, love of your multi-cultural students, and so much more have always impressed me and reminded me not to make assumptions about people based on where they live, their ages, or their race. Thinking of you and the remarkable faith congregation of which you are a member (love the things that you have shared with us) will continue to help me to go forth in confidence and to give people a chance. When I saw percentage of white people, especially the well-educated,the financially secure, and the women who voted for the Deplorable One, I was done with white people (even though beloved members of my family are white) and filled with bitterness and anger. I am still working through these feelings even as I know, intellectually, that this misbegotten election does not tell the entire story. Thank you, Carolyn, for all that you are.
Much love back at cha Carolyn…i feel grateful that you allowed us into your life…and i am so very glad that we met at the TOD in DC last year…in fact i am so very glad that that we had the gathering in Dc…i look forward to our next gathering in ChiTow at the opening the President’s Library..
I plan to be there!
yes…we will…..
i still have the email addresses of the folks who went to DC…
Carolyn, same to you. I ALWYS value your insights, and so appreciate your sticking with us through all the grief and changes you’ve experienced. We love you.
Yes, yes yes! All of this ❤
The Trump Agenda Poses A Major Threat to America’s Children
Here’s a road map to fight back.
by Olivia Golden
January 19, 2017
In his farewell speech last week, President Barack Obama declared that supporting young people of color is not only a matter of justice but a common-sense investment in our future: “If we’re unwilling to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we will diminish the prospects of our own children — because those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share of America’s workforce.” That’s not just rhetoric. By 2020, children and youth of color will represent half of all people under age 18 If not for these children of color, the American workforce would shrink as baby boomers continue to retire.
Unfortunately, our national future is in jeopardy.
Outside of President Obama’s remarks, there has been far too little attention to the damage that President-elect Trump’s policy proposals and nominees would wreak on America’s children – and America’s future. The policies proposed by the incoming administration and Republicans in Congress would undercut families and take away the core building blocks that now help them succeed.
Let’s start with Trump’s proposal to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Health and nutrition are the cornerstones of children’s lifelong success. Growing evidence shows that children who get help from Medicaid (health insurance) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) in their early years not only do better in childhood but also have better health, educational, and employment outcomes many years later, into adulthood.
Children also do better when their parents get health and mental health treatment – something that’s far more likely today under the ACA than in the past. For example, a mother’s untreated depression can place at risk her children’s safety, development, and learning. So it is good news that, by opting to expand Medicaid under the ACA, 32 states have made mental health care, including treatment for depression, accessible to far more people, most recently demonstrated by a new report from Ohio.
During the Obama years, children’s health insurance coverage soared to the highest levels ever — 94.7 percent — and SNAP lifted 4.6 million children out of poverty in 2015. But the nation now risks a sharp slide backwards. Researchers estimate that even without additional cuts to Medicaid, President-elect Trump’s and congressional Republicans’ plans to repeal the ACA would take health insurance away from 4 million children, and many million more parents.
GOP ‘unmoved’ by controversies surrounding Trump’s cabinet picks
01/19/17 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
Last month, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) celebrating Donald Trump for having assembled a “dream team” cabinet. It was a curious choice of words – because one would have to be asleep to be impressed with the motley crew the president-elect has assembled.
Some of Trump’s choices appear to have no idea what their job entails. Others have no relevant experience or skills. Some are burdened by damaging controversies. Others are overtly hostile towards the work done by the departments they’ll soon lead. Senate Democrats set out to prove that many of Trump’s nominees had no business being chosen in the first place, and by and large, the senators succeeded.
But nearly all – if not literally all – of Trump’s choices will be confirmed anyway, because as Politico noted yesterday, the Senate Republican majority doesn’t appear to care.
Though filibusters are no longer an option for cabinet nominees, the GOP majority is fairly narrow in a 52-48 Senate. If only a handful of Republican senators balk at an unqualified choice, the Trump White House will have to scramble to find someone else.
But that handful doesn’t appear to exist. Politico’s piece added, “[T]here’s no sign that those GOP defections are coming.”
There’s no great mystery here – partisan loyalties and tribal instincts dominate in Washington to a degree unseen in generations – but Republicans aren’t actually doing anyone, including their allies, any favors.
❤🙏🏻🌹🙏🏻❤
Thank you Mighty Pamela, for all of the astrological updates!
You are so very welcome ❤
This is his first revenge against the arts community for rejecting him.
Yup. It has started…..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141670422
A Republican legislative aide in Maryland has been fired after it was revealed that he ran a fake news website that hyped false stories about voter fraud.
The Washington Post reports that Maryland Del. David E. Vogt III immediately fired legislative aide Cameron Harris after learning that he created an article at the website ChristianTimesNewspaper.com that purportedly revealed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was committing massive voter fraud in Ohio.
“I was shocked to hear that he could do such a thing,” Vogt said after Harris’s dismissal. “He seemed like a bright young man that was interested in getting involved in politics.”
Harris’s article fabricated claims that election officials had discovered tens of thousands of “fraudulent Clinton votes” being stored in an Ohio warehouse. As the New York Times reported earlier this week, that article was shared on Facebook more than 6 million times, despite the fact that it had no basis in reality.
###
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/busted-gop-legislative-aide-fired-for-running-fake-news-site-that-hyped-false-voter-fraud-stories/
Off to work. Have a great day everyone…love to all
As Stevie Wonder sang to our First Lady on Jimmy Fallon show, Michelle Obama will always be First Lady in our heart. Always.
How she could ever wonder if she had made us proud, because there is no doubt she has, so has her family. They were and will always be our family.
When I first started to take up photography for my pastry blog, I took some online workshops with this woman, who is a really phenomenal person. I never knew she’d photographed PBO but I love this capture. I think it reveals his spirit beautifully.
Hello Everybody.
ICYMI…
That’s a keeper! Thanks JER 🙂
FLOTUS/Michelle Obama is like if not better than fine wine or a new flower…..she has become more beautiful over the eight years inside & out, she has bloomed into a glorious flower…
Absolutely wonderful person and the greatest First Lady of the US in my lifetime! Thanks JER for sharing this v
Thank you for allowing us to grace the Halls of the White House with ur Blackness….a house Built by slaves….
UR=OUR
This is everything. Extending the arts, creating opportunities for diverse communities and showing that the fine arts are for everyone has long been a passion of mine. My earliest dream for myself was to be a dancer, but it was impossible in my circumstances. It brought tears to my eyes as well as great pride to see their little faces all lit up and to see them learning from the grand mistresses of dance from women who look like them in the White House at the invitation of a First Lady who looked like them as well. The Obamas greatest legacy is how they have impacted the lives of our young people of all races and backgrounds. I am optimistic about our future in their hands.
Another twitter change. Even if you were following him previously, all those accounts were transferred and you need to follow again.
President Obama’s thank you letter to the American people. All class.
View at Medium.com
And at the end of his letter to us, he is inviting us to stay in touch with him by signing up on the Obama Foundation website.
YES. I. DID.!
It has begun. I’m sickened.
The republicans have been trying to get rid of these agencies for decades because they are independent voices.
I’ve committed myself to the fact that I’m just going to be enraged and protesting and marching and fighting every GAWT DAMN day until WE TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK from these treasonous hypocrital UNPATRIOTIC MF’ers. Notice how they also “slipped in” defunding for the Paris Climate Change Agreement?
Yes. We are going to be absolutely horrified when we fully understand what is happening and the far-reaching effects it will have on this nation. I’m wondering how Joe feels just hearing about all the cuts to the Violence Against Women programs, trainings and statutes. It sickens me. Trump is being led by the Heritage Foundation to cut the budget by $10T. So they will be doing broad and deep cuts indiscriminately.
One of my great fears is Trump will have an inordinate need early on to bolster his tough guy cred, which he may choose to focus on Iran, North Korea or China. Or perhaps all three. I am terrified.
I think that Foundations like the Obama Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will step in and save some of these in some way.
My life is better because of them. ❤
Mine as well.
I feel very bad for the ordinary Americans living in Washington. This is disgusting but unsurprising. They are determined to impose their “believs” on everyone else. They will over reach and hopefully pay a very high price in the midterms.
“Congressional Republicans are making an aggressive push to gut the District’s progressive policies, introducing bills in recent days to repeal the heavily Democratic city’s gun-control measures, undo its new law allowing physician-assisted suicide and ban the District from using local tax dollars to provide abortions for poor women.
….
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who represents neighborhoods on Capitol Hill, said it was also ironic.
“These guys love to argue for local control and rail against big government, but they seem to love big government when it comes to imposing what they believe,” he said.”
With Obama leaving, congressional Republicans move to gut D.C. laws http://wpo.st/UDlS2
Dearest TOD, THANK YOU for being such a wonderful place – the only one – to go to for sober information about Your greatest president of all, i.e. President Barack Hussein Obama.
I feel, I should write a lot more about how meanigful following TOD have been to me concerning all aspects of American politics and culture,
how You all have enlightened me these past eight years, but today, I just can’t for the tears in my eyes.
For President Obama and family:
🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
We feel your sadness. {{{{RosesForObama}}}}
We can survive this – together.
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Thursday morning. Congrats df, 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 wear your enchanting, endearing, and delectable smile 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. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
loved this..meta….
we will hear a lot about these thing in the coming weeks and months…but i have to say…it would have been good if the President could have gotten this support during his tenuue as President
This make me mad. Yes Obama brought grace and dignity to the White House but he also saved us from ourselves. I sure hope the history books tell the truth about his presidency.
http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#/video/politics/2017/01/19/obama-dignity-manchin-cotton-blitzer-tsr-bts.cnn
I wrote a final piece to the First Lady.
Thank you, First Lady Michelle Obama
Good Morning TODVille.
“When they go low, we go high.”
I hope that this is true and that they do. We need competent people in these positions at all times. I hope thar they have stomachs as strong as their skills and patriotism.
Is Ash Carter staying?
I didn’t see his name, that doesn’t mean he is not staying.
Staying in would have been too much for me. But I respect their patriotism.
Oh hell no, nah dude. THIS MOTHERFUCKER talked shit about his business skills and how he knows how to run a business.
Time to unfollow Count Von Knoller.
Oh, Bob, you never fail me! Thanks.
Bob, great sign out note for all of us. Thanks>>
Bob!!!! LOL!
Yes, and when you’re counting golf games, please make sure to let us know which golf courses are making how much money on these outings– and how much it is costing taxpayers. Because, Count.
Thank you NCLB, ranman, Gail & Susanne 🙂
I skipped the election night rehash crap at the beginning to the interviews with key staff. It’s a very moving piece.
I’m balling like a baby… 😦 😦 😦
((((((((((((((Donna)))))))))))))
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Donna Dem}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Me, too, sister. Me, too.
I’ve been thinking about you and our original group a lot these last few days. A long and winding road of incredible experiences.
I simply cannot face this.
Me too GF!
Good Afternoon TOD,
As we approach the final 24 hours of President Obama’s Presidency I just wanted to say thank you to the many supporters that I met both virtually and in reality over these 10 years. We have laughed together, swooned at our handsome President and Vice President together, admired the grace and beauty of our First and Second Ladies and shed tears of sadness and joy for all sorts of reasons through these many years and those moments will always be embedded in my mind.
We had the honor and the privilege to witness what history will define as the greatest President and Vice President in modern times. No one can ever change the historical aspect of his Presidency. Our lives were forever changed by his service to our Nation. His legacy will live on.
The win by that monster in November hit me harder than I care to talk about but time is a great healer and after watching PBO’s farewell address I felt moved to dust myself off and be the activist he inspired us all to be.
I’m not sure which direction I’ll be going in (I still have a lot of anger in me) but I’m confident that I’ll find my niche starting with the #WomensMarch this weekend.
To Chips thank you for giving us the space for our calls to action, to share our thoughts and information, follow PBO’s many adventures abroad, and most of all demonstrate our unfailing love and support of PBO/VPJoe and their families. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to you.
Nerdy, girl your intellect and humor are to die for. Thank you for offering to assist Chips with this blog and accepting the baton when passed onto you. I know that I personally don’t know what I would have done without The Obama Diary during this gawd awful election. You are a shining star.
Webster defines a friend as a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. That’s what I feel for all of my sisters and brothers here at TOD. Thank you for your friendship!
May God Bless you all and most of all may He Bless our Country because we will definitely be needing it.
DD, Thank you for every word. We have SO missed you and your voice here……and the pics of the cutie pie twins. 🙂 Please stay with us as long as we’re here…….hope that’s ongoing. We won’t survive without TOD. I know I won’t!!!!!
Much love.
Donna, I second everything yo said.
you.
Co-signing with love and gratitude to you, Donna. May God give you the strength to fight for the futures of your beautiful granddaughters and all of the nation’s children. We have to clean up this mess for them.
Good to see you back Donna, noticed you on Twitter yesterday 🙂 We’ll fight this fight together, in our own way, however we’re able. I Will also be at the march with my family on Saturday.
Can I second your heartfelt note. I hope this community will stay together in some form.
How can I get your twitter handle?
https://twitter.com/NoShock
I was following you already!
I am speechless today. So please forgive me.
But please know how much I’ve appreciated your hard work, humor, insights and love over the years. You have been a true inspiration to me. I will never forget how much we’ve learned from each other.
I hope to see you somewhere on the wire in the future.
Thanks DonnaDem, and ICAM.
My heart is so full of the love I’ve experienced here.
Thank you so much Donna for your beautiful words and for expressing so well everything I feel today. But even more importantly, thank you for all the hard work you put in to elect and re-elect this wonderful man that served this country so well for 8 years! I wholeheartedly share your gratitude to Chips for creating this wonderful space and for the brilliant Nerdy Wonka who has kept it going during Chips’ absence! A great deal of thanks too for all the wonderful and brilliant people at TOD who have taught me so much about courage, togetherness, optimism, determination, and, above all, love.
I am so thankful that the Obama family are leaving this experience whole and healthy with a world of opportunity open to them. So thankful that they held on to their core values and were able to see them flower in their girls. So thankful that they the beauty and kindness of their hearts are reflected in their outward beauty. The best revenge is living well. The haters never saw them sweat, never saw them beaten down and defeated, and never saw the majority of the country and the world turn from them. The republicans will never be able to make the character argument again when their hypocrisy is so clearly on display; our party is the clear arbiter of dignity, grace, justice and equality. We only need to harness our energies and use what they have taught us to truly win, no matter who is in the white house. I hope and pray that the marches will give way to sustained action to fulfill the true promises of our democracy.
Not only will they never be able to make a character argument again….they will never be able to make a PATRIOTISM ARGUMENT…not with someone put into power with the help of a foreign power, that undermines American Sovereignty.
Besides our beloved Pete, there has been no other place that has done an exemplary job chronicling EVERY DAY of this illustrious presidency’s 8 years than The Obama Diary. TOD is a living, breathing testament to what can happen when us “ordinary people” come together to do “extraordinary things”.
One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.
Nerdy W, Chips, DannyStix, and all TOD Peeps, posters, lurkers, citizens, THANK YOU!. and I hope you can all feel the bottomless depth of my love, affection and gratitude for each and every one of you through the interwebs. All of you helped change my little corner of the world for the better.
Peace and Blessings.
P.S. Today I am writing the Obama Foundation asking that they take a look at The Obama Diary and see if it can become part of the archival records of President Obama’s presidency. May be rather forward of me Chips, Nerdy W but IMHO it would be a shame to not have this blog not be a part of his legacy. Hugs!
That’s what all of us should do.
that is wonderful….i hope they do add it to their virtual library…
I’ve been nursing Mr. 57 with pneumonia, and we have a new puppy – what happens to TOD after tomorrow?
I hope he has a swift recovery and congrats on the puppy. I haven’t been here of late so I am not sure about the blog. Chips always said that she would be done once PBO left office but I’m not sure what Nerdy will do.
I hope Chips reconsiders but I would understand her decision if it’s negative.
57andFemale, take good care of Mr. 57. Pneumonia is treacherous.
Donna, sending you my affection for all that you’ve done these past years. But do stay in touch. TODVille and all of you are the support we will need to go through the mascaraed of tomorrow and the charade thereafter.
Please stay put and stay strong.
I’m freaking at the idea of not being in touch with all you wonderful people. I’m FlowerinFaith on Twitter, if anyone wants to give me their email.
Ahem.
Alright toddys.
It has been a long 10-year ride with the big eared, nerd of a kenyan and his wonderful family. And what a ride it was. Filled with genuine class, charm, compassion, grace, wisdom, wit and mainly, intelligence & intellect. I enjoyed every moment of this awesome ride and have learnt a few things about life along the way. The kenyan is only pol I ever respected in my decades of following politics around the world and my respect & affection for him and his lovely family will always remain. In my eyes, he can never anything wrong.
And I want to go out with these pleasant and happy memories in tact.
Thank you wonderful chips for letting this annoying blighter in. In a moment of foolhardiness (what the heck were you thinking gurl, jeez), you gave me the key to trash this place. I hope I lived up to your expectations. 🙂
I desperately want to thank each one of you by name but then I desperately don’t want to leave out anyone’s name unknowingly (or unwittingly, which is my calling card).
So, thank you toddys for putting with my antics and silliness for all these years and I apologize if I ever hurt anyone unwittingly (there is that word again, I toldja).
It is really very hard for me say good bye to all the wonderful friends I have made here, but rest assured that I will never forget this significant & mostly joyous part of my life.
I wish you all and your families a happy, healthy, successful and mainly a worry free future.
Au revoir. No more fursts. 🙂
நன்றி. வணக்கம்.
We Love You Back Brother
AMK,
I didn’t know that today was also “our” last day in TODVille. Did I miss the memo?
Hope we stay in this village and hope you keep visiting. My warmest wishes to you, your daughter, and all your loved ones.
It was a nice ride indeed.
amk, thank you for the joy, fun, and insight you blessed TOD’ville with. I want say good bye. But, Lord willing, I’ll See Ya When I See Ya. 👍👊👌
Love you, amk, and thank you for everything. I will miss you very much. Very best to you and your incredible family.
Thank you amk for you wit :-). I will miss you all here, but I can find some of you on twitter. All the best.
aloha amk ❤
Amk, you have been such an important part of this community. Thank you for everything. I had had hope that we would all meet one day. It’s been a great journey.
Likewise, thank you AMK for your contributions.
Dear brother, AMK,
I will miss you very much. I will always remember all the fun, feistiness, fearlessness, and a great deal of wisdom you contributed to TOD family.Your faith in, and dedication to, President Obama was inspiring! Wishing you and your wonderful family all the best!
amk for obama, I know you do not know me because I am a champion lurker but know this, your banter with the other regulars on this blog while it seems sometimes like you were travelling the world on business, always made me laugh out loud and smile. You have been wonderful and I wish you all the best, unless the world ends… but like President Obama said ” the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world” 🙂
You are one Class act.
❤ You brother and your Family.
No goodbyes from me.
Be well, until next time.
We began this journey with HOPE and a good man who was born in Hawai’i and became a Senator from Chicago named Barack Obama. We used all our spare moments in our busy lives to volunteer for him and we forged wonderful friendships along the way. We cheered together on election night to find that we made a difference and that America is truly filled with good people. Our wonderful President Obama did his very best to help America and Americans despite a disfunctional Congress.
Thank you for all the hard work Chips on The Obama Diary.
Don’t forget to unsubscribe from WH.gov, you wouldn’t want to get anything from THAT new illegitimate administration!
Love you my O-Family! Long live the Democratic Party!
Hello Nerdy, please help. My piece is finished, but it seems I no longer have access to post a blog here. Please tell me what to do, thanks.
Try sending her a DM on twitter.
I did but no response. So I’ve posted the piece below.
The Jackass-elect will hear us, indeed.
Baby O’Donna! So good to see you here. Please take a couple of steps at the March for me!
this jerk wouldn’t march to save his own decrepit life– probably will ride in a gilded chariot for the inaugural
I had to take the day off from work today and I may take tomorrow off as well, I’m just not in the mood to hear one more motherfucker that I work with talk glowingly about a man that has no problem with grabbing a woman by the p***y, I just can’t do it anymore. I’m sitting here watching these confirmation hearings and I’m at a loss for words by the ineptitude of these nominees. Is this the best we can do? I mean we’re exchanging Dr. Earnest Moniz, a fucking nuclear physicist for a fucking hillbilly clown whose family owned a ranch called “Niggerhead”. These people are fucking ghouls and monsters and they’ll be heading our government. I’m sitting up here watching this fucking Senator Tim Scott smiling and grinning at this guy Mnuchin whose going to be the head of the Treasury. Fucking ghouls and monsters.
They all have been complete monsters. I had to stop watching because I felt like I was going to fall apart. It’s a complete horror show.
I’m with you Don. This is far, far worse than I anticipated. I am alternating between crying and trying not to vomit. Sick at heart doesn’t begin to describe it. What is WRONG with this country electing this despicable man and these ignoramuses in Congress? When did we go from a country that celebrates education to a country that celebrates ignorance? When did we go from a country that builds things to a country that only wants to tear things down? I look at how HARD the entire Obama administration worked day in and day out to make our lives better, and I just cannot comprehend what has happened.
I totally agree. It is worse that I ever thought possible. Clearly, there was no thought put into these picks.
Yep they are, Don —->>>> Fucking ghouls and monsters
This music is so appropriate today. The separation from something so beautiful and dignified (the presidency of the most Honorable Barack H. Obama).
Incase I wake up on Friday to our site here at TOD not being here anymore I wish to thank all of you for your companionship during these last two terms of office. Thanks for the opportunity to express my feelings with like minded Obama supporters, to hear other’s take on events and to see current and past information shared to promote our education on policies and stands. I have become a more informed supporter because of this site and the unselfish work of those keeping it together and running it. I am in hopes that we will not lose our gathering spot and I will not lose all of you, my refuge in my unchanging unaccepting rural community. Thanks all.
I hope that TOD will continue. I will miss this wonderful place. I want to thank all the FrontPagers and the Posters. It has been an honor to read all of you these past years. Just thinking about no TOD brings tears to my eyes.
TOD family…thank you all..My life will have a huge hole if this place shuts down. It keeps me sane, gives me hope, and makes me smile. What a ride! We are all part of the Obama Nation. We are the lucky ones! Love to all…Carla
Nerdy, please don’t leave us hanging. We so desperately need each other to get through at least this next week. Will TOD still be here?
In checking in this time I skimmed through the right hand column. It is an area I notice info on, but seldom read it or pay attention to. There was a Nerdy Wonka post there with a two person type conversation affirming today is the last day. Please, if I interpreted what I read wrong correct me. I would be very happy to be mistaken.
Our 2,922+ Days with Prez Obama
“The road ahead will be long,
Our climb will be steep,
We may not get there in one year, or even one term,
But America, I have never been more hopeful
Than I am tonight that we will get there.”… (Prez Barack Obama, 11/4/2008)
Put down the Kleenex. Tilt your head up high. Now shout at the top of your lungs. YES WE DID!!! We Obamacrats, Americans, and world citizens can proudly puff out our chests and say we got us a really fine gem of a president. He not only served us productively during his 8-year tenure, he did so without a whiff of scandal, his diligence razor sharp, his humility and empathy never in doubt, and lit up our dreary moments with that smile and quick wit.
How many of us young and young at heart, and even detractors, can say we’ve ever been so absorbed day in and day out with any President at such a granular level, as we have Prez Barack Hussein Obama? Sure, the technologies of our age simulate such high levels of intimacy with political leaders we may never meet. But the Obamas made us live vicariously in the warm embrace of their hugs.
Beyond policy convergence, we felt their human connection to us to be genuine. Not posturing. And prior to winning the presidency, candidate Obama himself opened the sluice gates to many of us to dive into political engagement through both electronic media and human to human contact in the streets
How many of you got connected politically with complete strangers for the first time by signing up on http://www.barackobama.com and eagerly awaited David Plouffe’s weekly map update? How many of you created “Dashboard” pages on that website to organize people you knew, to volunteer, donate, host house meetings and parties, make calls, register people in the streets, enter registration data, or even quit your jobs to go to “Summer organizing school”?
Be honest, how many of us of a certain age (wink, wink) would have gotten clued in to much of Social media — Twitter, Snapchat, etc. or programs consumed mostly by millennials such as Between Two Ferns with Zack Galifianakis, and You Tube sensations like Ms. Glozell Green, Ingrid “Glamourazzi” Nilsen, Adande “sWoozie” Thorne…., and much of social media lingo, if not for Barack H. Obama?
Besides substantial policy advances, he and First Lady Michelle Obama, made us all indulge in the hip and cool. We dropped the mic and sang soul and karaoke along with them. We ooohed and aaaahed the marshmallow cannon and others at the geeky WH science exhibits. We clutched our virtual passports, got aboard Airforce One on its 400 flights, and trekked all 50 states of America and around the world with them – Dublin, Myanmar, Moneygall, Moscow, Canberra, Strasbourg, Prague, Havana, Dakar, Accra, ……
But why did many of us suspend our cynicism during the Obama presidency? Why did we believe him? The historical track record of politicians has earned that species a well-deserved cynicism. But not Barack Obama. Why? Sure, policy disagreements and all for some, but few besides his virulent opposition and rabid racists doubted his integrity.
We checked our cynicism at the door because he invited us, as thinking people, to embark on the tough journey of making America a “more perfect union” with him, warts and all. He also welcomed us to peer into the depths of his humanity (not like GW Bush looking into Putin’s soul), and many of us felt comfortable, even inspired. He was more than family even if some never physically met him. He never patronized us. He never left us out in the cold. Never.
Some of us ached with anguish when the opposition slammed the political barricades hard in his face at a time when this country teetered on the brink of economic collapse, and we thought “surely, country first, right?” Wrong.
With President Obama, many of us were jolted to the harsh reality that Republicans cared more about raw power than America’s wellbeing. They dragged us through an orgy of vileness on every front imaginable. Worst of all, the electorate rewarded them up and down this country with more power to destroy all the pillars of democracy and human rights that had been fought for with blood and toil. What country is this!
As a naturalized American citizen, whose very first vote in this country was for candidate Obama during the 2008 Democratic primaries, I, along with many of you feel a certain sense of co-ownership of the Obama presidential journey. It was us at our very best! We chose well. Eight years, no scandals. NONE! Competence, class, dignity, vision, empathy, real accomplishments.
Barack Obama is the stuff legends are made of. And we were lucky to witness it, and co-write this chapter of America’s story. So yeah, tilt that chin up. Y’all did good.
“Hard things are hard,” is inscribed on a plaque in the Obama White House. Yep, they are. And once achieved they must be safeguarded with hawk eyes, else a Trump wrecking ball overruns us.
But as President Obama said, we’re just getting started. We’re not gonna turn him into a fossil to gaze at on a pedestal in a shrine. As CITIZENS our task, our vigilance shifts to second gear tomorrow. Foot to the pedal. Stay Woke.
P.S. Our gratitude knows no bounds for Chips and NerdyWonka, who captained this incredible electronic corner of bliss and sanity for our journey with the Obama Family, in a sea of venom. Thank you thank you, thank you.
And kudos to all you fellow travelers on this site. You made this Obama story possible. You made it fierce. Let’s ALL #staywoke.
Oh my zizi ~ this is perfection. Thank you so very much.
Thank you for saying what we feel.
thank you, Zizi.
I’m so glad that I got to get acquainted with your intellect over these past years.
(((Thank you all))) God Bless.
I agree with every word of your well written sentiments. Thank you for putting my own thoughts in such eloquent verse.
Thank you all too. I hope this place remains here for us all.
Thank you dearest {{{{{{{{{{{{zizi}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
#FORWARD Together
zizi, thank you for this and for everything all these years. You are a champion.
Thank you so much, Zizi2 for this post. It’s pure perfection! We can always count on you to express so well everything we feel.
Brilliant, Zizi2.
Thank you.
This almost did me in, but I am going to try to suck it up. So much of our sadness at his departure is rooted in fear of what comes after him. That so many people in modern times face a new presidency with real fear is more awful than most things that have happened in this country during my more than 6 decades of life. I have come to realize over that evil is real and all too commonplace in the hearts of our nations current leaders and in many more of our citizens that I previously believed. I am more unsettled about what we may do to each other than I am of any foreign entity. I have tried to stay positive, to have the wait and see attitude and to gird myself for the fights ahead. But I feel sick to my stomach and ashamed to live in a country where so many actively participated in this travesty. But I can also draw strength from all that the TOD ohana has given to me, the PBO’s example, what I know about history and my faith to pull me through. We are not left comfortless, and in adversity there is also opportunity for greatness to arise in how we fight it. I truly believe that when people see how bad bad can be, when we have a clear contrast between intelligence, grace, and dignity as opposed to rampant greed, ignorance, and hate, most of us will reject it. I hope that I can be alive to see the day when we are triumphant.
Thanks JER, for sharing this! Although I am too old I could not stop the tears! I am really going to miss this incredible President, his wonderful family, and the truly exceptional people he chose to work with him! I feel so blessed to have been alive to witness his presidency because people in my age group never believed it would happen in our lifetime.
Please, Please TODville continue to exist, such a fabulous ongoing history book, and as I suggested long, long, long ago Chips for leader of President Obama’s library.
🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀
One thing that comforts me the most about the uncertain days ahead is that the worst thing that has happened to DT is winning this election. he ran for the sake of vanity as a way to help his businesses and his unsatiable desire to be seen and heart to matter to many people. He will now be restricted to what he can say, where he can go, and in some instances who he can see. He will have to divest millions and lose out on business deals that he had been laying the groundwork for. Opposition will quickly disabuse him of any ideas about how popular he is from a national perspective. The press that he has maligned and made plans to control will finally turn on him (because of their hurt fee-fees, not any sense of duty) when the owners realize that they get a wider audience from those who oppose Trump rather than those who support him. He will have to sit in dull meetings whose content is way over his head. SS agents and intelligence officials will know everything that he says and does. All of the “best people” will continue to stay away and this will hurt his ego even more. World leaders will soon see that he can be treated with contempt and you will not see them (except for the Putin and others like him) jockeying to be seen with him. It will soon be all too much and his son-in-law and his daughter can only go so far in buttressing him. When his struggling supporters realize that the White House is now only for the millionaires and the billionaires who know nothing nor care anything about their lives, many will realize that they have been had. The GOP congress will realize, if they have not already, that their leader is an unstable, mercurial man-child whose words contradict themselves daily. They will be a rudderless ship. If democrats get a backbone there will be much that they can do to keep the ship of state afloat. This can really be their hour if they but grasp it. For the rest of us as PBO told his girls, “The only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world.” The world is far from over, we are still here with out talents, passion, and duty so there is much to look forward to.
Yes we are still here….I hope our Democratic leaders do get a backbone. We need a moral compass going forward. We need new, young leaders to rise up. So sick of the doom and gloom emails I have received from our party these last 8 years. They have used fear far too long and have forgotten that it is hope that inspires…and I’m talking about our party.
Godspeed to President Obama and his family. He will always be my leader.
PBO’s final call to a world leader:
Wait. Is The Obama Diary over? How do you all know this? I am not ready. No. Please tell me I’m misreading above comments.
I agree, sheri. Someone has to be able to help out or take over. PLEASE! Someone! Anyone!!
Is the Obama Diary over?
oh Bella I hope not, but I don’t have any answers sorry.
This is so great– thanks for bringing it here ❤
JER, you are amazing! Thank you so much for making this day so special by sharing all these uplifting tributes to President Obama and First Lady, Michelle Obama.
Went to the Social Security office this morning and saw Barak Obama’s and Joe Biden’s photos on the wall. When I left, I went out to my car and cried. Thanks The Obama Diary folks for a wonderful refuge over the past few years. I have enjoyed watching all of the events and experiencing your reactions over the years. Hope we meet again. 🙂
OMG – please forgive me for mispelling Barack Obama’s name. I’ve been pretty emotional today, but that’s NO excuse. 😦
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2017/01/19/a-thank-you-letter-from-president-barack-obama/
Hello Everyone, I have been reading all these farewell posts and am feeling a bit down. I rarely post but am here everyday as often as I can. Feeling down as I reflect on the last eight years, feeling down as I have close relatives and friends in the US and I fear for them and feeling down because I feel as if I will be losing some dear friends. I am glad I had the opportunity to put faces to members of this community. Although my time in DC was brief I was truly happy to have met the clan. I am seeing where some want to visit the African Heritage museum, please you have my contact info. I am in.
Before TOD I barely paid attention to US politics but now I feel like I am an expert, thanks to all of you for contributing and utmost thanks to Chips and finally thanks to President Obama because if not for you this site would not have existed and become the international community that it is.
Blessings all.
The Obama Diary is here to stay.
The Obama Diary aint goin no where
We are all for one and one for all
We are ready and waiting for our leaders call
Forward march…..The Obama Diary, real news, honest news and views from the ones that count ‘We The People’
I am really looking forward to Saturday, the official start of the Resistance. I hope that large numbers will come out, that everyone is safe and that the message goes world-wide loud and clear. I will be speaking with my local DNC and other groups to find out what we can do here in the weeks to come. I will be going silent this evening after final goodbyes for the next 48 hours. Thank you TOD ohana.
Before His HHS Nom, Price Had Employer Health Insurance In His Sights
By TIERNEY SNEED
Published JANUARY 19, 2017, 6:00 AM EST 13733 Views
For years Republican critiques of the Affordable Care Act have zeroed in on the effect it has had on the individual heath insurance market. But the GOP lawmaker who will likely lead the Department of Health and Human Services has long championed a major overhaul to the much bigger employer-based insurance system in order to push consumers to buy their own plans.
The legislation HHS nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) has offered over the years include mainstays of GOP plans that would usher in a drastic change in how most people receive their health care coverage. The employer-based insurance market covers seven times more people than the individual market.
“What he’s getting at here, and a lot of Republicans feel pretty strongly about this, to get a functioning insurance market, you have to get away from businesses buying the insurance,” explained Joe Antos, a health policy scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “The philosophy is, ultimately, you want to transition, in some orderly way, to where everybody is buying their own insurance.”
If the lights go out on this wonderful place I know it will be heartbreaking but I will accept the will of those that carry us and have carried us this far. Its hard work to keep this flowing. I want to thank and bless everyone here. I come here everyday, usually read every post and every comment. This has been happening for years and you have all inspired me, informed me, helped me marvel at the presidency of Barack Obama. So again I am sending all blessings and gratitude to all of you. If I wake up tomorrow and the next day and this community continues then I will be here every day as usual. Love, brothers and sisters. You are all amazing and beautiful to me.
Thank you Chips and Nerdy Wonka, and all the contributors and correspondents on this lovely blog, which I have followed for maybe six years, perhaps longer, for all the wonderful diaries and comments. God Bless PBO and family and you all.
Just wanted to add my comments concerning our First Lady Michelle Obama.
It has been a joy to witness such a warm, kind, loving person fulfill the role of First Lady. You are most delightful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Many Blessings and Much Love to you and your family.
Mae