‘Hypocritical and mean-spirited’

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Chat away

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PS Love this:

Dad’s Day Toons

On the eve of dad’s day, daughter leaves home for her post graduate medicine study. So, ….

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The Week in Review

President Obama at a Father’s Day luncheon to celebrate the importance of strong families and mentorship, June 14

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Monday:

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Tally: AHMAHGAHD VERIZON HAZ MAH INFOS OH NOOOES!!

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@VP: VP ceremonially swears in @ErnestMoniz as Sec. of @ENERGY in the Roosevelt Room of the @whitehouse

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Jacquelineoboomer: Confessions of an Obama-supportin’ Original Baby Boomer

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Edward Snowden fills in the Guardian’s Greenwald Survey:

Dad-in-Chief

Rise and Shine

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Saturday: The President has no public events scheduled

Sunday: The President and the First Family will depart for Belfast, Northern Ireland (9:20 PM)

Monday: The President and the First Family will arrive in Belfast in the morning, where he will deliver remarks – the First Lady will introduce the President at the event.

The President will then meet with Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the G8 Summit. Later, he will attend the G-8 Summit at Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, hosted by PM Cameron, from June 17-18.

On Monday evening, the President will hold a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Tuesday: In the evening, following the G-8, the President and the First Family will travel to Berlin, Germany.

Wednesday: The President will have a meeting with President Gauck and Chancellor Merkel to discuss a wide range of bilateral and global issues.

Later that afternoon, at the invitation of Chancellor Merkel, President Obama will speak at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

On Wednesday evening, the President and the First Family will return to the White House.

Thursday and Friday: The President will attend meetings at the White House.

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Please do not pay attention to the negative people. I am an American living the American Dream. This is part of the American life.

— Sebastien De La Cruz (@selcharrodeoro) June 12, 2013

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Daniel W. Drezner (Foreign Policy): Why Obama is arming Syria’s rebels: it’s the realism, stupid.

…. is this the first step towards another U.S.-led war in the region? No. Everything in that Times story, and everything this administration has said and done for the past two years, screams deep reluctance over intervention. Arming the rebels is not the same thing as a no-fly zone or any kind of ground intervention. This is simply the United States engaging in its own form of asymmetric warfare. For the low, low price of aiding and arming the rebels, the U.S. preoccupies all of its adversaries in the Middle East.

…. Now let’s be clear: to describe this as “morally questionable” would be an understatement. It’s a policy that makes me very uncomfortable… until one considers the alternatives. What it’s not, however, is a return to liberal hawkery.

So, to conclude: the United States is using a liberal internationalist rubric to cloak a pretty realist policy towards Syria.

Am I missing anything?

Full post here

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House GOP votes to block closure of Gitmo, where is the outrage from Bernie Sanders and his friends on left.

— Michael Hargrove (@MichaelHargrov1) June 15, 2013

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Steve Benen: It was just three weeks ago that President Obama made a persuasive case for closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. He described a military prison that costs too much, has become an international embarrassment, and is filled with “people who have been charged with no crime.”

…. Last week, House Republicans once again barred the Obama administration from transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Friday, against a backdrop of a terrible hunger strike, a Democratic effort to do the right thing was easily defeated in the face of mindless, reactionary conservative opposition.

More here

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Ooooops:

I feel obligated to share, as the story unfolds, my creeping concern that the NSA leaker is not who he purports to be http://t.co/dOV2XYXdRe

— Naomi Wolf (@naomirwolf) June 14, 2013

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Kurt Eichenwald: PRISM Isn’t Data Mining and Other Falsehoods in the N.S.A. “Scandal”

I can’t stand it.

A few days ago, I wrote in some detail about the National Security Agency’s data-mining program in hopes of calming the hysteria that has been whipped up in the last number of days by incorrect and misleading reports, as well as by plenty of ill-informed commentary based on those errors. At this point, I’ve decided that I need to tell a little bit more…..

See here

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True Facts of History: Eric Holder Uncovered & Corrected NSA Eavesdropping Overreach. In 2009. http://t.co/OGH9A2Rtj0

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 15, 2013

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Tommy Christopher (Mediaite): …. Glenn Greenwald and his source, whistle-and-country-blower Edward Snowden, have completely taken over the political media with revelations that hype well, but don’t amount to much upon closer examination. Now, Greenwald promises more (and more devastating) revelations to come, but what has been revealed so far is about as alarming as an epidemic of Pac Man Fever….

…. That hasn’t stopped the media from going all Chicken Little, some because they’re desperate to “have the conversation,” some because they want to attack President Obama to prove varying types of cred, and some because they’d like even less fettering of the surveillance state. I think we do need to “have the conversation” about government surveillance, but it should begin in 1978, not last week, when the world discovered that the first black president was in charge of it….

Full post here

Happy Father’s Day from First Lady Michelle Obama

Rise and Shine

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Happy Father’s Day!

Back later today, chat away 😉

What a day

Maria Ibarra, 19, originally from Durango Mexico, and Candido Renteria, 24, of Monterrey Nuevo Leon, hug with joy after President Obama announced he would ease enforcement of immigration laws, June 15, in Edinburg, Texas

Julio Calderon, a 23-year-old student at Miami Dade Community College who arrived to Miami from Honduras when he was 16, wipes away tears during President Obama’s press conference

Niouseline St. Jean, originally from Turks and Caicos Islands

People gather around a laptop to watch the live broadcast of President Obama’s announcement easing enforcement of immigration laws in Salt Lake City

Rosa Maria Soto of Phoenix hugs Eva Monteloneo after hearing President Obama is easing enforcement of immigration laws

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President Obama responds to a reporter interrupting his comments on immigration in the Rose Garden of the White House

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President Obama sits down to lunch with supporters who won a campaign contest at Lincoln restaurant in Washington, DC

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President Obama speaks at a reception to observe LGBT Pride Month at the White House

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Rise and Shine

11:40: President Obama departs the White House

1:00: VP Biden delivers the commencement address to Tallwood High School graduates in Virginia Beach

1:05: PBO arrives in Ohio

1:45: Delivers remarks at a campaign event (Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland – live coverage)

3:25: Departs Ohio en route New York City

4:35: Arrives New York City

5:15: PBO and Michelle Obama visit the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s World Trade Center site

6:45: PBO delivers remarks at a campaign event (private residence)

9:55: PBO and Michelle Obama deliver remarks at a campaign event (The Plaza Hotel – live coverage)

11:35: PBO and Michelle Obama depart New York City en route Joint Base Andrews

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Morning everyone 😉

Dining Dads

President Obama jokes with U.S. Army 1st Lt Bill Edwards as they eat at Kenny’s BBQ in honor of the upcoming Father’s Day weekend. Edwards is the 2012 Military Fatherhood Award Winner

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Chat away 😉