What Obama is like when there aren't any cameras, according to a former Secret Service Special Agent indy100.com/article/barack…
—
The Independent (@Independent) June 15, 201823
Jan
20
145 Responses to “A Very Decent Man”
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Obama White House.gov
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WH Tumblr
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The People’s View
- Follow me at my new venture: Reclaim the Fight Spandan Chakrabarti
- Ignore the bait: Why it’s the right strategy for Democrats to focus SCOTUS fight on health care Spandan Chakrabarti
- BIG: Judge halts Trump administration attempt to shortcut the census Spandan Chakrabarti
- Trump doesn't want peaceful transition of power. Legally, it doesn’t matter. Spandan Chakrabarti
- Fauci goes off on Rand Paul Spandan Chakrabarti
Smartypants
- Jen Psaki's Brilliant Blow to Bothsiderism
- What We Can Learn About Systemic Racism in Jury Selection from the Chauvin Trial
- Biden's Ingenious Plan for Exposing Republican Obstruction
- The Divisive GOP Arguments Against D.C. Statehood Just Took a Turn for the Worse
- "Is America a Racist Country" Is the Wrong Question
Steve Benen
- President Biden set for Wednesday meeting with Vladimir Putin
- Biden has to engage and contain Putin at the same time, says former ambassador
- Should President Biden be meeting with Putin at all?
- Leon Panetta: We are in a new chapter of the Cold War
- Russia is not America's economic rival: Steve Rattner
Thanks Nerdy 🙂 ❤
I certainly hope this research turns into something useful other just a creepy desecration of someone’s remains.
Hell no!!
Good news. GROSS PICTURE! Maybe this is a pet peeve, but it’s incomprehensible to me how many (most?) of the smokers that are left just throw their nasty cigarette butts down, here, there, and every where! Smoking in the parking lot – throw the butt down. Smoking in the car – throw the butt out the window. Somehow if you smoke the whole GD world is you ashtray. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??
Let it be
When you DO NOT see the wounds, you CANNOT offer any treatment or care for the well-being of those who suffer.
He said they had ‘headaches’…. this from the 5 time draft dodging coward
Shocker
I hope Ds win and control the WH and Senate this Nov … and everyone of the GOP’ers charged for being complicit in this.
What is it going to take for the other side to wake up?
No dark money among other things. Gee! Thanks for nothing, John Roberts!
Trump bragging in Switzerland:
“…but honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material.”
….more open obstruction
Answer: NO
Reality.
I laugh thinking to myself about how these Republican Senator prisoners at the trial are coping, having to sit through more or less lectures from Democrats, hour after hour. You just know they want to stand up, scream, and run out, weeping, throwing away their “I am a Senator” lapel pins. Several more days of this, and maybe they’ll vote to remove trump. Yay!
The only thing – -SINGLE THING that makes any sense to me is: They KNOW prez fuckface will incite violence if they don’t protect him from removal. SERIOUSLY. Sure some of them are like-minded, racist, dumb and ignorant A-HOLES. But quite a few of them are decent accomplished people that are CONSERVATIVES and we disagree. But they aren’t stupid or CATEGORICALLY EVIL. They are worried about the violence.
Saw a news article today saying Mitch McConnell is assured of Russian assistance with his campaign. Not sure if it is through funding or changing votes. Read it, but with watching the trial all day I have forgotten how they are doing it.
I also read that DTrump said yesterday at The Davos conference with Billionaires that after the election late in the year he planned to cut Medicare and Social Security to help defray the deficit. That it was easy with the aged and infirmed or close to those words. Guess he walked it back today when asked. Believe what he said the first time especially the part about after the election.
I literally just cried a bit, at the end of Schiff’s closing remarks. So patriotic. We MUST remove trump.
He was so marvellous! One of my coz, a lawyer, said he’s never seen this master class. Am in awe & of the whole managers. Am so incredibly proud of all! Let’s keep letting them know! 💞
I cried during Schiff’s closing tonight. Cried like a baby.
I cried too DF … and I am not even an American.
How can any truly patriotic American not be moved by Rep,Schiff’s word is just un-unbelievable.
Am going DF sailor “chat” just about now. 😇 So these GOP MoFo’s are enablers coz they want to keep their jobs? Jaysus, they should be sued for dereliction of duty. They have job because of the voters. This isn’t a corporate job you interviewed & got. Voters got you that job. To represent them, the constituents.
(Gonna go breathe in my corner 😇)
What’s been cracking me up this week are these random soothsayer reports from MSM that iQ45 is “happy” w/ his trial! Riiight! I can also say, tomorrow I’ll happily fit into that outfit, way back in the nevers of my closet. 😇 (My TOD Sisters, you all know what am talking about! That little cute dress you just can’t let go, coz tomorrow it will magically fit just right! 😂) MSM is stuck in iQ45 cult closet.
😂😂😂😂😂
I Definitely know what you’re talking bout!
Every American has a duty to watch this
This is nice.
We lost another respected journalist. 😦
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/remembering-jim-lehrer
Morning everyone
Oh is he gonna bump them off?
Bogus argument. We should be so lucky to have this REALLY happen
Could happen again… more rats fleeing?
Because, of course
Follow her. She reports on what it looks like on the Senate floor
thanks
With thanks to our stunning House Managers and their staff…gad, but they were brilliant.
Good morning, TODville.
meta thank you for starting the day with this gorgeous interview.
Exactly
When Republicans claim that no crime has been committed, throw the bullshit flag
Challenging article: “But cling we do.
We tell ourselves we see clearly the situation at hand, and we know full well that Republicans have crossed the point of no return. But we keep plugging away with our reasoned debate and logical arguments..”
https://www.salon.com/2020/01/23/impeachment-trial-should-remove-any-lingering-doubt-republicans-are-beyond-redemption/
–(hopeful ending)
“The only thing Republicans respond to is power. Even if some have pangs of conscience, and I have to imagine they do, they are stifling any remaining care for our democratic values and wholeheartedly running toward the siren call of authoritarianism. They are lost. They aren’t coming back.” (Amanda Marcotte, Salon)
Call to action thread…
Andrew Napolitano, senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel:
“What is required for removal of the president?
A demonstration of presidential commission of high crimes and misdemeanors,
of which in Trump’s case
the evidence is ample and
uncontradicted.”
(https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-senate-impeachment-trial-judge-andrew-napolitano)
An appreciation thread…
SOON: Biden host community event Claremont, NH – https://abcnews.go.com/Live/video/speciaL-live-10
His January 23rd closing statements.
(have transcribed)
CHAIRMAN SCHIFF:
“When we’re done, we believe that we will have made the case overwhelmingly of the President’s guilt.
That is, he has done what he is charged with. He withheld the money, he withheld the meeting, he used it to coerce Ukraine to do these political investigations, he covered it up, he obstructed us. He’s trying to obstruct you, and he’s violated the Constitution. But I want to address one other thing tonight. OK he’s guilty.
Does he really need to be removed? Does he really need to be removed?
We have an election coming up. Does he really need to be removed. He’s guilty. You know is there really any doubt about this? Do we really have any doubt about the facts here? Does anybody really question about whether this President is capable of what he is charged with? Nobody’s really making the argument “Donald Trump would never do such a thing!” Because of course we know that he would. And of course we know that he did. It’s a somewhat different question though to ask, OK it’s pretty obvious, whether we can say it publicly or we can’t say it publicly, we all know what we are dealing here with with this president. But does he really need to be removed?
And this is why he needs to be removed:
Donald Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his own Intelligence Agencies. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own FBI DIrector. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own National Security advisors. When all of them were telling him – this Ukraine 2016 stuff is kooky, crazy, Russian propaganda – he chose not to believe them. He chose to believe Rudy Giuliani. That makes him dangerous – to us, to our country. That was Donald Trump’s choice.
Now why would Donald Trump believe a man like Rudy Giuliani over a man like Christopher Wray? OK? Why would anyone in their right mind, believe Rudy Giuliani over Christopher Wray? Because he wanted to, and because what Rudy was offering him was something was something that would help him personally. And what Christopher Wray was offering him was merely the truth. What Christopher Wray was offering him was merely the information he needed to protect his country. And its elections. But that’s not good enough, what’s in it for him? What’s in it for Donald Trump? This is why he needs to be removed. Now you may be asking how much damage can he really do in the next several months until the election? A LOT.
A LOT of damage.”
Chairman Schiff:
“Now we just saw last week a report that Russia tried to hack, or maybe did hack Burisma. OK? I don’t know if they got in. I’m trying to find out. My colleagues on the Intel Committee, House and Senate, we’re trying to find out did the russians get in? What are the russian plans and intentions? Well, let’s say they got in. And let’s say they start dumping documents to interfere with the next election. Let’s say they start dumping some real things they hacked from Burisma. Let’s say they start dumping some fake things they didn’t hack from Burisma, but they want you to believe they did. Let’s say they start blatantly interfering in our election again to help Donald Trump. Can you have the least bit of confidence that Donald Trump will stand up to them and protect our national interests over his own personal interests? You know you can’t!
Which makes him dangerous to this country. You KNOW you can’t. You know you can’t count on him.
None of us can! None of us can.
What happens if China got the message? Now you can say well he was just joking of course. He didn’t really mean China should investigate the BIdens…you know that’s no joke. Now maybe you could have argued 3 years ago when he said “Hey Russia if you’re listening, hack Hillary’s emails”, maybe you could give him a freebie and say he was joking. But now we know better. Hours after he did that, Russia did in fact try to hack Hillary’s emails. There’s no mulligan here when it comes to our National Security.
So what if China does overtly or covertly start to help the Trump campaign? You think he’s gonna call them out on it? Or you think he’s gonna give them a better trade deal on it? Can any of us really have the confidence that Donald Trump will put his personal interests ahead of the national interest? Is there really any evidence in this presidency that should give us the iron-clad confidence that he would do so?
You know you can’t count on him to do that. That’s the sad truth. You know you can’t count on him to do that. The American people deserve a president they can count on to put their interests first. To put their interests first.”
Chairman Schiff:
“Colonel VIndeman said “Here right matters”. “Here right matters.”
Well let me tell you something. If right doesn’t matter, if right doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter how good the Constitution is. It doesn’t matter how brilliant the Framers were. It doesn’t matter how good or bad our advocacy in this trial is. It doesn’t matter how well-written the Oath of Impartiality is. If right doesn’t matter we’re lost. If the truth doesn’t matter we’re lost! The Framers couldn’t protect from ourselves if right and truth don’t matter. And you know that what he did was not right.
You know, that’s what they do in the old country that Colonel Vindeman’s father came from, or the old country that my great-grandfather came from, or the old countries that your ancestors came from, or maybe you came from. But here, right is supposed to matter. It’s what’s made us the greatest nation on Earth. No Constitution can protect us. Right doesn’t matter any more. And you know you can’t trust this President to do what’s right for this country.You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump.
He’ll do it now. He’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the next election if he’s allowed to. This is why, if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters. Because right matters. And the truth matters. Otherwise we’re lost.”
Thread
Doom Administration has stripped pollution regulations from stream and wetlands.
“It will allow farmers to dump toxic substances such as pesticides and fertilizers into those waterways, and allow property developers to destroy wetlands for construction projects. ”
Southern Environmental Law Center:
“This puts drinking water for millions of Americans at risk of contamination from unregulated pollution.”
(https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-scraps-obamas-controls-that-stopped-pollution-from-being-dumped-in-streams)
When Trump was asked (in Davos) if he will restructure entitlements, medicare, social security.
Trump replied: “At some point, they will be.”
He will try and walk this back.
—Fire up the Ads!
When Dolly Parton didn’t win a Dolly Parton look-alike contest….
“At a Halloween contest years ago on Santa Monica Boulevard where all the guys were dressed up like me
and I just overexaggerated my look and went in and just walked up on stage. … I didn’t win.
I didn’t even come in close, I don’t think.”
—“8 Times Dolly Parton Cemented Her Status as an LGBTQ Icon’. (advocate.com)
“But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they’re already sinning. The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody.”
(Dolly Parton, 2104 Billboard interview)
Love Dolly Parton!
what a week..if we can get through this we can pretty much get through anything.
All hail to Democrats in Congress.
-love-
Excerpt.
From “minimal Indian”:
“Even at that, they were still full of both worlds. Sometimes conjuring. Sometimes singing hymns. Not knowing anything about being an Indian.
But a somewhat farming backyard-hung-with-quilts canning-jar-cellared-for-a-long-winter vegetable-patched-in-summer few-hogged
sort of folk.
Dry goods on the shelf
a bag of material scraps in the corner
egg baskets
apple baskets
one and two pie baskets
berry baskets
potato baskets
market baskets
froes
mallets
draw-knives
string
strips of oak and willow for more baskets bittersweet
* A syllabary is a set of written characters in which each character represents one sylla- ble. Sequoyah created a syllabary (a phonetic alphabet) for the Cherokee language. † The Cherokee “Little People” (or Yunwi Tsundi) are very small (about knee-high) spiritual beings, similar to European fairies, but with long hair reaching to the ground. They live in caves or woods and spend a great deal of time making music (drumming) and dancing. They are usually good-hearted and helpful. They are
invisible to humans unless they choose to be seen.
sage
herbs hanging by the woodstove
What kind of Indian that?
Their backwoods jamming was enough to keep a regular Indian out.”
(Diane Glancy, 1941–)
Straight up thug.
Yep. And there are!
SOON: Biden visits campaign office in Manchester, NH – https://abcnews.go.com/Live/video/speciaL-live-4
My first response is to say he can’t do that…but then i think who is going to stop him….hmmm
SOON: Buttigieg holds town hall in Durham, NH – https://abcnews.go.com/Live/video/speciaL-live-3
WOW…
thanks for these clips
This is so effed up. Imagine, these are young climate change activists & the African young lady is “cropped” out of photo? Nah! Your stupid apologies are weak & not accepted.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51242972
Fact.
It’s finally stopped raining here in the ATL! Thought I’d share a little something about rain. 😄
So sad at seeing this history lost. 😔
Oh how tragic. Sorry to hear this.
Haha!
I know she can’t be out there in Iowa campaigning, but Amy Klobuchar really needs to stop chasing the cameras during breaks in the Senate trial. She’s looking ridiculous, and somewhat desperate. Don’t worry, we see you Amy. We know you’re running. (Obviously, she’s not one of my favorites, so forgive me.)
You are not alone about Klobuchar, my friend Jacqueline. 🙂
I don’t like to comment about everything she does, but it was a bit overboard this time! 🙂
Ugh!
🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋
If you follow the link to C-Span…
The video of Chairman Schiff’s closing remarks have been drastically cut.
Watching BriWi after hearings & am trying to decide if Bill Crystal is now a refugee, escaping that dastardly marriage of iQ45 & GOP. 👀
He’s a NeverTrumper now
Morning everyone. Please share this thread.
Oh damn
Can someone send this to the fake outraged Collins and Murkowski?
Oh damn
Chilling actually
Or this one. This wasn’t random… he has said this before
Every word. If they protect him, they have it all backwards. They will be gone and voted out if they DON’T do the right thing!!
I am trying to watch the trial. Just woke myself up. They are droning on and on. Boring quiet even toned voices really saying nothing.
Should be VERY LOW TEEVEE RATINGS on a Saturday for hte boring old white suits, blathering, lying and spewing utter nonsense. I hope it makes His Orange Majesty, Fuckface Blubber von Clownstick very mad and sad!! 🙂
I am definitely not watching the lies and conspiracy theories; not worth my time.
Oh, hell no! UHG.
His final closing statement at Trump’s Impeachment Trial:
(transcription by Daily Kos)
CHAIRMAN SCHIFF:
“Now, soon members of the body will face the most momentous of decisions. Not, as I said at the outset, between guilt or innocence, but a far more foundational issue: Should there be a fair trial?
Shall the House be able to present its case with witnesses and documents, through the use of subpoenas, as has been the case in every impeachment trial in history?
Now, the president’s lawyers have been making their case outside of this chamber, threatening to stall these proceedings with the assertion of false claims of privilege. Having persuaded this body to postpone consideration of the witnesses and documents, they now appear to be preparing the ground to say it would be too late to consider them next week.
But consider this: Of the hundreds of documents that we have subpoenaed, there is no colorable claim, and none has been asserted. To the degree that you could even make a claim, that claim has been waived. To the degree that even superficially a claim would attach, it does not conceal misconduct.
And what’s more, to the degree there is a dispute over whether a privilege applied, we have a perfectly good judge sitting behind me, empowered by the rules of this body to resolve those disputes. And when the Chief Justice decides where a narrow application of privilege ought to apply, you will still have the power to overrule him. How often do you have the chance to overrule a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? [Laughter] You have to admit it’s every legislators dream.
So let us not be fooled by the argument it will take too long, or persuaded that the trial must be over before the State of the Union. This is no parking ticket we are contesting, no shoplifting case we are prosecuting; it is a matter of high crimes and misdemeanors. How long is too long to have a fair trial fair? Fair to the President, and fair to the American people.
The American people do not agree on much,but they will not forgive being deprived of the truth — and certainly not because it took a backseat to expediency.
In his pamphlet of 1777, The American Crisis, Thomas Paine wrote:“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Is it too much fatigue to call witnesses and have a fair trial? Are the blessings of freedom so meager that we will not endure the fatigue of a real trial, with witnesses and documents?
President Lincoln, in his closing message to Congress in December 1862, said this: “Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.”
I think he was the most interesting president in history. He may be the most interesting person in our history. This man, who started out dirt poor. Dirt poor. Like hundreds of thousands of other people at the time, he had nothing. No money. No education — he educated himself. Educated himself. But he had a brain in that head, a brilliance in that mind, that made him one of the most incredible, not just presidents, but people in history. I think he’s the most interesting character in our history. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of other Americans at the time, why him? Why him?
I think a lot about history, as I know you do. Sometimes I think about how unforgiving history can be of our conduct. We can do a lifetime’s work, draft the most wonderful legislation, help our constituents, and yet we may be remembered for none of that. But for a single decision, we may be remembered, affecting the course of our country. I believe this may be one of those moments. A moment we never thought we would see. A moment when our democracy was gravely threatened, and not from without but from within.
Russia, too, has a constitution. It’s not a bad constitution. It’s just a meaningless one. In Russia, they have trial by telephone. They have the same ostensible rights we do to a trial. They hear evidence and witnesses. But before the verdict is rendered, the judge picks up the telephone and calls the right person to find out how it’s supposed to turnout. Trial by telephone.
Is that what we have here, trial by telephone? Someone on the other end of the phone, dictating what this trial should look like?
The founders gave us more than words. They gave us inspiration. They may have receded into mythology, but they inspire us still. And more than us, they inspire the rest of the world. They inspire the rest of the world: From their prison cells in Turkey, journalists look to us. From their internment camps in China, they look to us. From their cells in Egypt,those who gathered in Tahrir Square for a better life look to us. From the Philippines,those that were the victims, and their families, of mass extrajudicial killing,they look to us. From Evin prison, they look to us. From all over the world,they look to us.
And increasingly they don’t recognize what they see.
It’s a terrible tragedy for them; it is a worst tragedy for us.
Because there’s nowhere else for them to turn. They’re not going to turn to Russia. They’re not going to turn to China. They’re not going to turn to Europe, with all of its problems.
They look to us, because we are still the indispensable nation.
They look to us, because we have a rule of law.
They look to us, because no one is above that law.
And one of the things that separates us from those people in Evin prison, is the right to a trial. It’s the right to atrial. Americans get a fair trial.
And so I ask you, I implore you, give America a fair trial.
Give America a fair trial.
She is worth it.
Thank you.”
Please compare Daily Kos transcription to wildly inaccurate transcription by C-Span:
(https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4849284/representative-adam-schiffs-closing-remarks)
Not good enough. We’re counting on you to be accurate C-Span!!
–Fix it C-SPAN.
Bobfr, she is 12. Twelve. Dealing with this issue, thinking through this issue so insightfully with such articulation. Look at this beautiful princess!! That she chose the white doll, the old research topic, is heartbreaking. Hoping she is being supported and will go as far as she wants to go. wow.
3 more to go
I will believe Romney when I see it or any of the Republicans. Romney is Jeff Flake, Jr.
Trump is a mental amoeba with a look-at-me formula. And a My daddy’s bigger than your daddy sense of security (Putin). A big sludgy podge with a greed like the mountain of pollution he’s creating on behalf of dirty energy, eyes like gobstoppers surveying his stack of russian oil shares. Don’t be scared of him.
–History will decimate.
I did not know that there was a black and brown Iowa caucus…..
Light them up!!
Chairman Nadler is not one to mince words: “He is a dictator.
This must not stand…another reason he must be removed from office.”
I love Pete so much! #ObamaPeople
ABC:
“Get rid of her!” is what the voice that appears to be Trump’s is heard saying.
“Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”
(https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/recording-appears-capture-trump-private-dinner-ukraine-ambassador/story?id=68506437)
It’s all on this long tape of this event a year ago…
Trump asks “How long can Ukraine last?”
**Trump has known since then how devastating it would be to withhold aid from Ukraine.
Seems the plot started here.
Once again he took advice from his two stooges and not from U.S. intelligence.
–Trumpsky keeps saying he doesn’t know Parnas.
Well, Iowa… looks like your senator doesn’t think you need to hear all the truth…and she’s afraid of the wrath from the fraud squatter
Thread
Hi, everybody. Hoping you are all well. I peAk in regularly but don’t have much to say so generally don’t say anything. Just reminding you that I’m around. Here’s a tweet from one of the guys I follow, especially when my political spirits are low. He usually shares some insightful threads.
One of the ‘encouraging’ responses in the thread above …
↓ ↓
There is a big hole in the transcription above from Daily Kos and also the ridiculous C-Span transcription.
It was also missing from the C-Span video.
1) Where is the marvelous “Moral courage” part of Chairman Schiff’s closing statement?
2) And his brilliant pre-buttal to the coming GOP defense?
New post.
https://obamadiary.wordpress.com/2020/01/25/workout-playlist/
Since I got a new computer I have to redo everything. I have tried to log in and will try again. Miss talking with all of you. Am heartsick at what is happening in our country. Every other Saturday our church provides a hot lunch, pet food, toiletries, socks and underwear for the homeless of our city at a location called the Homeless Alliance. We usually have 250 to 350 people. Our crowd today was large, as it is the end of the month. Hoping this works.
Unbelievable memory.