Eyes on the Prize

Scout Tufankjian

evening all

Chat away

rise and shine

GivenEyesToSee – Say hi to Miss M Turner, the woman in the photo, in the comments

Thank you BWD

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Love it! Thanks isonprize 😉

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10:30 AM President Obama pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey (Woot!)

4:20 The President, First Lady and their daughters participate in a service event

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Andrew Sullivan: How to beat Romney – run ads like this:

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Deaniac (The People’s View): … I have always known that Glenn Greenwald is a opportunistic, dishonest, fact-ignorning blowhard. But today we get to add ironic to that … Greenwald wrote a column accusing the SEIU, a union that has endorsed President Obama for re-election, of attempting to “co-opt” the Occupy Wall Street movement. Why? Well because apparently …. they have trademarked and copyrighted the phrase “99 percent.”

…. The very same Glenn Greenwald who is accusing the SEIU of trying to use OWS’ language (heaven forbid!) for their own purposes …. (is) trying to sell (and promote) winter gear for the OWS protesters being disbursed by the notorious Firedoglake. But of course, Greenwald fails to mention that he stands to financially gain from donations to FDL, as the treasurer of FDL’s PAC, Accountability Now, and his company, DMDM Enterprises, is used to taking money for “administrative expenses” from Accountability Now.

An examination of FEC reports shows that Greenwald’s DMDM Enterprises received more than $40,000 from FDL’s Accountability Now from 2008-2010, and of course, we have no idea how much more he has received as salary as Treasurer…..

Full post here

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New Hampshire yesterday:

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Morning everyone

there is *always* hope. night everyone.

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Tomorrow, the President and First Lady will sit with Gabrielle Giffords as they watch the launch of Endeavour with her husband Mark Kelly on board. There is always hope.

Night everyone, see you tomorrow

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Friday:

8:30 AM The first family departs the White House

10:50 AM Arrives in Alabama

11:10 AM President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama view the damage in Alabama, as well as meeting with Governor Bentley, state and local officials and families affected by the storms

12:45 PM The first family departs Alabama

2:10 PM: Arrives in Cape Canaveral, Florida

2:45 PM The first family tours the orbiter processing facility

3:30 PM: …views the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour

5:40 PM President Obama arrives in Miami, Florida

6:55 PM: ….delivers the Miami Dade College commencement address

9:05 PM … departs Miami

11:30 PM … arrives at the White House

eye to eye

President Barack Obama drops by the Youth Engagement Roundtable at the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 22, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

there’s just no limit to the depths to which they sink

Steve Benen (Washington Monthly): To the delight of the audience at last night’s memorial service, President Obama told attendees that he’d just come from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ bedside. “And I want to tell you – her husband Mark is here and he allows me to share this with you – right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues in Congress were in the room, Gabby opened her eyes for the first time,” the president said.

In yet another disheartening display, some on the right would have us believe Obama wasn’t telling the truth. He was, but the accusation itself is a reminder of just what’s become of our discourse.

In one of the most cynical displays in recent memory, following the lead of Gateway Pundit Jim Hoft, several conservative websites … suggested that President Obama lied last night…

In a recently-completed press conference, Giffords’ doctor Peter Rhee explained that what Obama said last night about Giffords opening her eyes was “true” … the “lie” the right had uncovered wasn’t a lie at all.

…. Obama had heartening news about a congresswoman who very nearly died, and that news happened to be true. For some conservatives, however, this was not only an opportunity to catch the president in some kind of “gotcha” moment….

Is the right really this desperate? Do they hang on the president’s every word, wondering how to manipulate his every remark into some kind of cheap attack?

Good lord, these guys really need to grow up. This is just pathetic.

Full article here

‘giffords reaches ‘major milestone’ in recovery’

Washington Post: Doctors treating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Thursday she has reached “a major milestone” medically with her ability to open her eyes and seemingly respond to her surroundings as she recovers….

In a news conference … the doctors said they were pleased that Giffords opened her unbandaged left eye “spontaneously” Wednesday night in response to the presence of friends from Congress….

G. Michael Lemole Jr., the hospital’s chief neurosurgeon, and Peter Rhee, the head of emergency care, said Giffords since then has also been able to sit on the edge of her bed and dangle her legs over the side, move both of her arms and legs and open both of her eyes.

“This is a major leap forward,” Lemole said. “This is a major milestone for her, and we’re hoping she crosses through many more.” Rhee said Giffords, 40, is “becoming more and more alert . . . and she’s making much more spontaneous movements as we have completely stopped all the medications that might blunt her mental status.”

“She’s starting to become aware of her surroundings,” Lemole said. “And that’s a very important step on her next move forward.”

…Giffords, who remains in critical condition, is one of five wounded patients who were still at the hospital Thursday morning. Rhee said four others are in fair condition. One is having surgery, and another is being discharged Thursday, he said. “Everybody is making fantastic forward progress,” Rhee said.

Full article here

courage

Representatives Gabrielle Giffords (left), Kirsten Gillibrand (center), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (right) in a photo taken in 2009

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz on visiting Gabrielle Giffords in hospital yesterday:

SENATOR GILLIBRAND: Well, we were very excited that we were even going to have the chance of getting to visit her hospital room…. we were telling her how proud we were of her and how she was inspiring the whole nation with her courage and with her strength. And then Debbie and I started joking about all the things we were going to do after she got better. And we were holding her hand and she was responding to our hand-holding. She was rubbing our hands and gripping our hands … we knew she could hear and understand what we were saying and she moved her leg, and so we knew she was responding. And the more we joked about what we were going to do, she started to open her eyes literally.

… her eyes hadn’t opened — we didn’t know that — and so she started to struggle. And one of her eyes is covered with a bandage because it was damaged in the gunfire. So her eye is flickering. And Mark sees this and gets extremely excited. … so he said, Gabby, open your eyes, open your eyes. And he’s really urging her forward. And the doctor is like perking up and everyone is coming around the bed. And she’s struggling and she’s struggling … maybe 30 seconds, where she’s really trying to get her eyes open….

And then she finally opens her eyes and you could she was like desperately trying to focus and it took enormous strength from her. And Mark could just — can’t believe it. I mean, he’s so happy. And we’re crying because we’re witnessing something that we never imagined would happen in front of us.

And so Mark says, he says — he said, Gabby, if you can see me, give us the thumbs up, give us the thumbs up. And so we’re waiting and we’re waiting and —

REPRESENTATIVE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: And she didn’t at first.

SENATOR GILLIBRAND: … she’s really trying to focus … you could see she hadn’t opened her eyes in days. And then instead of giving the thumbs up, she literally raises her whole arm like this — like this. It was unbelievable. And then she reaches out and starts grabbing Mark and is touching him and starts to nearly choke him — she was clearly trying to hug him.

…. it was such a moment. And we were just in tears of joy watching this and beyond ourselves, honestly. And then Mark said, you know, touch my ring, touch my ring. And she touches his ring and then she grabs his whole watch and wrist. And then the doctor was just so excited. He said, you don’t understand, this is amazing, what’s she’s doing right now, and beyond our greatest hopes.

Full account of the visit here

lol

An unidentified student athlete reacts on seeing President Barack Obama during an event on the South Lawn of the White House with NCAA championship student athletes on Monday, Sept. 13

eyes wide open

President Barack Obama greets guests at the Congressional picnic on the South Lawn of the White House, June 8, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)