Rise and Shine

A year ago: Lauren Fleming, the 2011 March of Dimes National Ambassador, looks up as her brother Corbin touches President Barack Obama’s face during a visit to the Oval Office, Feb. 7, 2012. Lauren is also accompanied by her parents Densel and Nikki Fleming, and her sister Erin (Photo by Pete Souza)

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This morning:

8:05 AM: President Obama, VP Biden and Michelle Obama attend the National Prayer Breakfast; President Obama delivers remarks

White House live * C-Span * CBS * CNN

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First Lady introduced:

Gabby Douglas:

See it all at C-Span

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Later:

10:0: Jay Carney briefs the press

10:0: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey testify on what happened in Benghazi before the Senate Armed Services Committee

11:15: President Obama departs the White House en route Leesburg, Va.

11:40: Arrives in Leesburg, Va.

12:30: President Obama delivers remarks at the House Democratic Issues Conference

1:45: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force will roll out their proposed gun control initiatives in Leesburg

1:55: President Obama departs Leesburg

2:20: Arrives at the White House

2:30: John Brennan testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on his nomination to become the next CIA director

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TPM: Despite the increasingly dim prospects for an assault weapons ban to earn congressional approval, a poll released Thursday showed that a wide majority of American voters is in favor of such a prohibition.

The latest poll from Quinnipiac University found that 56 percent of registered voters nationwide support a ban on the sale of assault weapons, compared with just 39 percent who are opposed.

More here

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@BarackObama

Where’s your family from?

By Jose Magana

I was brought to this country from Mexico when I was 2 years old.

I am an undocumented immigrant — and I am living proof that our immigration system is broken.

….. Just telling our stories would change people’s minds.

This is exactly how we’re going to persuade people across the country to get behind President Obama’s plan for comprehensive immigration reform.

…. Through this grassroots movement, we can raise our voices, tell our stories, and make sure Congress and all Americans better understand the ties that bind us. Our stories can drive our organizing. Share your own story today, and help Organizing for Action get the word out on why this matters …

See here

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Mooooooorning everyone, this is a decidedly short Rise and Shine, but I wanted to give a Heads Up for the Prayer Breakfast – that’s my excuse any way. More in a while.

Golden Gymnasts

President Obama talks with members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams in the Oval Office, Nov. 15. Pictured, from left, are: Steven Gluckstein, Savannah Vinsant, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Steve Penny, USA Gymnastics President, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber (Pete Souza)

Rise and Shine

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President Obama watches the Vice Presidential debate aboard Air Force One with staff, en route home from Florida, Oct. 11 (Pete Souza)

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The full debate:

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Vice President Biden: “You probably detected my frustration with their attitude about the American people. My friend [Paul Ryan] says that 30% of the American people are takers, Romney [says] 47% of the people won’t take responsibility. He’s talking about my mother and father. He’s talking about the places I grew up in, my neighbors in Scranton, he’s talking about the people who built this country.

“All they’re looking for … is an even shot. Whenever you give them the shot, they’ve done it. They’ve done it. Whenever you’ve leveled the playing field, they’ve been able to move. They want a little bit of a peace of mind, and the President and I are not going to rest until that playing field is leveled, they in fact have a clear shot, and they have peace of mind—until they can turn to their kid and say with a degree of confidence, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.’ That’s what this is all about.”

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Charles Pierce: For the second time in as many presidential elections, Joseph Biden got to debate a young, attractive Republican candidate who was demonstrably less qualified to to be president than I am to be chairman of the World Bank…

There is a deeply held Beltway myth of Paul Ryan, Man of Big Ideas, and it dies hard. But, if there is a just god in the universe, on Thursday night, it died a bloody death….

…. the battering that Biden gave Ryan brought something into sharp relief …. for his entire political career up to that point, on critical economic issues, Paul Ryan was an extremist even by the standards of the modern Republican party, which are considerably high indeed.

…. the profound ignorance he displayed on Thursday night on a number of important questions …. was so positively terrifying that it calls into question Romney’s judgment for putting this unqualified greenhorn on the ticket at all. Joe Biden laughed at him? Of course, he did. The only other option was to hand him a participation ribbon and take him to Burger King for lunch.

You know what’s the difference between Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan?

Lipstick.

Full post here

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‏@CharlesMBlow

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ThinkProgress

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NYT Editorial: Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate was one of the best and meatiest political conversations in many years …. Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. would not sit still for a parade of misleading and often blatantly untruthful descriptions of the state of the economy and the Republican prescriptions for it…

Mr. Ryan, as always, refused to acknowledge the improvement in the economy ….ignoring the steady reduction in the national jobless rate, which dipped to 7.8 percent last month.

…. Mr. Biden repeatedly pointed out that Mr. Romney had firmly opposed the federal bailout of the auto industry, which turned out to be the single biggest act of job creation in the last four years. Mr. Ryan responded weakly that Mr. Romney was a “car guy” …

…. he showed Mr. Ryan’s hypocrisy on the subject by pointing out that the congressman had asked for stimulus money for his state of Wisconsin, just as other Republicans did even as they vilified the program.

Mr. Ryan’s performance on foreign affairs and military issues was at best disingenuous and at worst bumbling….

Full editorial here

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Cagle

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Dana Milbank: In the hours before Thursday night’s vice presidential debate, word leaked that the Romney-Ryan campaign had instructed moderator Martha Raddatz to address Paul Ryan as “Mister” rather than “Congressman.”

To her credit, Raddatz ignored such instructions and referred to the Republican vice presidential nominee by his more relevant title. Not that it mattered anyway: Vice President Biden was not about to let people forget that Ryan, and by extension Mitt Romney, are inextricably bound to the unpopular House Republican leadership.

On issue after issue — Libya, Iran, taxes, debt, Medicare, Social Security — Biden kept turning the discussion toward actions Ryan and his colleagues took in Congress, at one point mocking Ryan for suggesting he could work across the aisle to forge a tax deal. “Seven percent rating? Come on,” Biden needled.

…. Raddatz turned to the challenger for a response. “Congressman Ryan?”

After Biden’s barrage, the honorific sounded like an epithet.

Full article here

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OFA debate site

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faces in the crowd

Helen Thomas

West Wing actor Richard Schiff

Dennis Quaid and Wolf Blitzer

Scarlett Johansson

Ashley Judd

Arianna Huffington and Joy Behar

Larry King and Michael Douglas

Julianna Margolis and her husband Keith Lieberthal

Colin Powell

Bill Maher and Cara Santa Maria

Senator Chris Dodd and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Wolf Blitzer and Queen Latifah

Rupert ‘Teabagger’ Murdoch and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich

The Jonas Brothers

Justin Bieber and Marlon Wayans

Al Sharpton shakes hands with Jon Bon Jovi’s wife Dorothea

The Daily Show’s John Oliver

Steven Weber

Kim Kardashian

Sanjay Gupta

Katie Couric

The 2010 White House Correspondents’ Dinner