#CollegeSigningDay: Our Forever First Lady

Thank you to everyone who supported #CollegeSigningDay. I’m so proud of each and every one of these students! https://t.co/wzP1WUNmJI

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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 02, 2018

Congrats, Destiny! College will open so many doors for you. Keep reaching higher and never give up! #BetterMakeRoom… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 02, 2018

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So excited for you! twitter.com/bresamone/stat…

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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 02, 2018

Happy #CollegeSigningDay! So excited to be in Philly to celebrate all the young people making the commitment to hig… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 02, 2018

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Just hugged my auntie in my head @MichelleObama ...I'm in a very good place right now.

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  (@Zendaya) May 02, 2018

Was an honor to join @MichelleObama along with other star athletes and entertainers to celebrate graduating seniors… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Malcolm Jenkins (@MalcolmJenkins) May 03, 2018

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Going to Wesleyan changed my life. I'm proud of all of you making that commitment to college. Show me your pride,… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 02, 2018

Here's a special #CollegeSigningDay message from @MichelleObama! #BetterMakeRoom 🎓 https://t.co/W6GHf3dST2

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Better Make Room 🎓 (@BetterMakeRoom) May 02, 2018

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Dancing and Celebrating #CollegeSigningDay With @MichelleObama. Forever My First Lady! ❤️#ReachHigher… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Ciara (@ciara) May 02, 2018

so excited to be performing for such an amazing cause today 💞💞@michelleobama is doing great work recognizing studen… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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camila (@Camila_Cabello) May 02, 2018

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Can't stop dancing and celebrating YOU!!!!! Congratulations to those who have committed to furthering their educati… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Bailee Madison (@BaileeMadison) May 02, 2018

Dance Party! Michelle Obama, Karlie Kloss, Bradley Cooper and Other Celebs Celebrate #CollegeSigningDay peoplem.ag/oQXIVRp

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People (@people) May 02, 2018

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Loved being a part of #CollegeSigningDay with this inspiring group of people! https://t.co/eAeKTKMrSG

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Jesse Tyler Ferguson (@jessetyler) May 02, 2018

I think I can speak for all of Philadelphia when I say that we are very grateful that @MichelleObama is here for… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Jim Kenney (@PhillyMayor) May 02, 2018

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Hanging out with Anthony Mackie backstage at @MichelleObama’s @ReachHigher #CollegeSigningDay event! Casual. No bi… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Anne Munition (@AnneMunition) May 02, 2018

Wishing a happy #CollegeSigningDay to the class of 2022! I'm proud to be a @Penn graduate, where I learned skills t… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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John Legend (@johnlegend) May 02, 2018

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Backstage with the band (& @kellyrowland 😜) #collegesigningday #bettermakeroom https://t.co/CXrQMyiJES

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Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) May 02, 2018

Thanks everyone for supporting #CollegeSigningDay! We’re so proud to celebrate all of the young people making a com… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Better Make Room 🎓 (@BetterMakeRoom) May 02, 2018

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Forever My First Lady ❤️. @MichelleObama https://t.co/qGNACM6ulm

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Ciara (@ciara) May 02, 2018

Thank you @MichelleObama and @BetterMakeRoom for having me! #CollegeSigningDay https://t.co/fOmyAtWOdD

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KELENDRIA ROWLAND (@KELLYROWLAND) May 02, 2018

“The Chief of all Chiefs is here”

President Obama interacts with children while flanked by First Lady Michelle Obama and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman David Archambault II during the Cannon Ball Flag Day celebration at the Cannon Ball Powwow Grounds on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota

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Man in the crowd: “We love Michelle too!” Pres. Obama smiles: “Of course you love Michelle. Who doesn’t love Michelle?” #PrezRezVisit

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 13, 2014

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Crowd to President Obama: “We love you President Obama! You’re our hero!!!!” President Obama: “I love you back!” #PrezRezVisit

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 13, 2014

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Native American leader to POTUS & FLOTUS: “This gift represents love and appreciation that my people have for great leaders” #PrezRezVisit

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 13, 2014

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A Native American dancer takes a selfie with President Obama on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation #PrezRezVisit pic.twitter.com/W19txO1MT2

— Team Barack Obama (@TeamBarackObama) June 13, 2014

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The President and First Lady are loving every moment of this, magical. pic.twitter.com/NU2BSLQO4o

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) June 13, 2014

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My grandparents’ generation got beat for speaking Lakota. Those Lakota kids just sang in Lakota for POTUS and FLOTUS #PrezRezVisit

— Frank Waln (@FrankWaln) June 13, 2014

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Banned from our language and today, POTUS was speaking the language. Amazing. Progress. #Indigenous #PrezRezVisit

— Jett (@peacelovenstars) June 13, 2014

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More in the next post

evening all

Make sure you watch the video, the Science Fair clips are a hoot!

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First Lady Michelle Obama greets a chef while visiting the dining facility at Little Rock Air Force Base in Little Rock, Ark., as part of a tour celebrating the second anniversary of the “Let’s Move!” initiative, Feb. 9, 2012. Little Rock Air Force Base is part of a pilot program that has enhanced food service quality, variety, and availability through new acquisition processes and redesign efforts. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

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TPM: In his 2006 Massachusetts health care law, Mitt Romney embraced a virtually identical contraception coverage mandate as President Obama recently has, experts say, and as a result expanded access to birth control for hundreds of thousands of women. And Democrats really want you to know that.

“They are practically mirror images or each other,” John McDonough, a professor of public health at Harvard, said on a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee. “They completely reflect each other.”

More here

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F***ers:

NY Mag: …. The Telegraph finally admitted that their article about Michelle Obama shutting down a block of Madison Avenue so that she could go on a $50,000 “shopping spree” at Agent Provocateur with the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, was indeed completely false. They also formally apologized for printing such total (but hilarious!) bullshit, but mostly to Sheikha Moza, not Obama – indeed, the title of the correction is “Her Highness Sheikha Moza – An Apology.”

Further to our article “First Lady’s luxury buys boost Agent Provocateur” (Jan 30), we would like to make clear that the “shopping spree” involving Her Highness Sheikha Moza and Michelle Obama that we referred to in fact never occurred, and that Her Highness has never been shopping with Mrs Obama, at Agent Provocateur or otherwise, and has never sought to have any part of New York closed off to enable her to shop undisturbed. We apologise for the distress and embarrassment this article caused.

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The Week

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First lady Michelle Obama at an Olive Garden Restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas

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A gazillion congratulations to our beloved Liberal Librarian who has been invited by Deaniac to post at The People’s View (even though he’s a Chelsea fan) – it’s just completely brilliant news. Thrilled for you LL, looking forward to reading you, you legend 😉

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I’ve added a Video Vault section to the sidebar on the right – it’s a collection of videos of PBO from the archives, up to the 2008 election. I’ll add more soon(ish).

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Speaking of the archives, this is from Harvard in 1990 – hadn’t seen it before. I like. Very, very much.

afternoon all (updated)

Thank you ObamaBuilt2LastNZ!

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First Lady Michelle Obama participates in a tug of war with Jimmy Fallon in the Blue Room of the White House during a “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” taping for the second anniversary of the “Let’s Move!” initiative, Jan. 25. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

** NBC tonight at 12:35 am ET **

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AP: The number of available jobs in the United States jumped in December to near a three-year high, supporting other data that show a brighter outlook for hiring.

Companies and governments posted 3.38 million jobs in December, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That’s up from the 3.12 million advertised in the previous month and nearly matches the three-year high reached in September. Job openings in the private sector reached the highest point in almost three and a half years.

…. The report on job openings follows Friday’s optimistic employment figures. Those showed employers added 243,000 net jobs in January, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.

….. It generally takes one to three months for employers to fill job openings. December’s big jump in postings is likely one reason January’s jobs report was healthy. But it also suggests job growth may continue in the coming months.

More here

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TPM – thanks Loriah

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Steve Benen: For months, Republican presidential candidates have been eager, if not desperate, to accuse President Obama of waging a “war on religion”….

…. Mitt Romney seems to have settled on a policy to match the attack: the Obama administration’s decision to require coverage of contraception as preventive care under the Affordable Care Act is, according to the former governor, an “attack on religious liberty”.

…. As a substantive matter, Romney’s lying. The administration’s policy already exempts churches and other houses of worship and “doesn’t require any individual or employer to violate a religious belief – it simply ensures that their employees with different beliefs have the same access to birth control as all other women.”

…. he’s not only lying; he’s also denouncing Obama for adopting a policy similar to one Romney used to support …. as governor, a previous iteration of Romney required all Massachusetts hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, to provide emergency contraception to rape victims.

More here

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Link

USA Today: Pundits and bishops warn President Obama he could lose the white Catholic vote over requiring a contraception option for insurance plans. But Catholic women say they want birth control covered in employee health plans.

…. The Catholic bishops, backed by conservative evangelicals, say the Obama administration shouldn’t include contraception coverage as part of free preventive care options in employers’ health insurance plans …. here’s where the Catholic women come in. According to the Public Religion Research Institute poll released today:

….58% of all Catholics agree employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception. That slides down to 52% for Catholic voters, 50% for white Catholics.

… the numbers might bring pause to pundits mulling the “Catholic vote”.

More here

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Steve Benen: For months, Republican super PACs have been raising vast sums from wealthy donors …. the political world, however, hasn’t heard much from Democratic super PACs, which have raised far less money.

That will apparently soon change … Jim Messina argued overnight that the Obama campaign just doesn’t have a choice.

He added that Republican super PACS, in aggregate, are “expected to spend half a billion dollars, above and beyond what the Republican nominee and party are expected to commit to try to defeat the President.” That may sound like hyperbole, but it’s a reasonable estimate. The Koch brothers alone are prepared to spend $100 million later this year to defeat Obama.

…. Democrats had a choice: stick to principle, refuse to play by the new rules, and make defeat far more likely, or level the playing field …. The only surprise here is that anyone would be surprised by the decision.

Full post here

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Thanks Mary

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NYT: The delicate Karl Rove said he was “frankly, offended” …. (by)…. the Chrysler ad that Clint Eastwood narrated, which many people who don’t share Mr. Rove’s political worldview thought was rather uplifting.

…. he suggested the words were dictated by “the President of the United States and his political minions,” who bailed out Detroit with taxpayer dollars. It’s just another example of “Chicago-style politics,” he said, whatever that means.

The White House said it had nothing to do with the ad, but it had a great deal to do with Detroit’s resurgence, and that’s what’s really offensive to Mr. Rove and other Republicans. They’d prefer to drown out the good news coming from the carmakers, such as these recent headlines…

More here

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Flashback … from 2004:

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I’m still catching up with the news – and all the comments! – after being out today, will post again soon-ish 😉

more souza/appleton genius

President Obama holds a baby as he arrives for lunch at the Old Market Deli in Cannon Falls, Minn., during a three-day bus tour in the Midwest, Aug. 15 (Pete Souza)

President Obama greets children from the Valleyland Kids summer program outside a school in Chatfield, Minn., Aug. 15. (Pete Souza)

President Obama greets people outside the Old Market Deli in Cannon Falls, Minn. Aug. 15 (Samantha Appleton)

President Obama waves to people along a road in Harmony, Minn., Aug. 15 (Pete Souza)

President Obama greets people at Nancy’s restaurant in Oak Bluffs, Mass., Aug. 21 (Pete Souza)

More here

next stop…

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In case you missed the updated posts below, here are today’s townhalls:

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Ryan Rhodes from the Iowa Teabagger Revolution argues with President Obama during a town hall-style event at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa.

Rhodes is a Bachmann groupie. Say no more.

Ryan? Go ***kkk yourself 😉

lunch-break

President talks with, from left, Lydia Schaefer, 6, her grandmother Ruth Rebbe, and her sister Morgan Schaefer, 10, outside The Coffee Mill Restaurant, Aug. 15, in Zumbrota, Minn.

President Obama has lunch with five post 9/11 Minnesota veterans at the Old Market Deli in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, August 15

President Obama hands off a dessert pie to his assistant Reggie Love at the Coffee Mill cafe in Zumbrota

the cannon falls, minnesota town hall

President Barack Obama speaks during a town hall meeting at Lower Hannah’s Bend Park in Cannon Falls, Minn.

holiday reading

NYT: Can you judge a president by what he is reading? As has been reported, President Obama’s vacation reading includes a Lou Cannon biography of Ronald Reagan, another president who was confronted with a divided Congress. But the White House said today Mr. Obama also brought two novels: “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet” by David Mitchell, a well-reviewed historical romance about a Dutchman in Edo-era Japan; and “Our Kind of Traitor,” by the spy novelist John Le Carre.