evening all

CBS: During a Toys-for-Tots event Friday, a marine asked First Lady Michelle Obama to accompany him to the ball next November. The music drowns out the invitation but you can still see the exchange and hug.

ABC: While sorting donations at the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign, this afternoon First Lady Michelle Obama received an unusual request.

Across a pile of race cars, the Associated Press reports Lance Cpl. Aaron Leeks invited Obama to be his date for next year’s Marine Corps Ball.

The 20-year-old Marine from Maryland told the AP, Obama said “she’d love to go.”

“Actually she said I’d need to speak to her husband, too, but she said she’d love to,” Leeks said.

No word yet on whether the request has received the president’s approval. “If the president’s watching this, this might be the first he’s heard of it,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney joked at today’s daily briefing.

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers toys and gifts donated by White House staff to the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

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The only thing that ever disappoints me about Steve Benen is that his charts aren’t BIGGER!

Any way, he’s back after a two day break and he’s catching up on the news about the drop in unemployment (see here) – this chart shows unemployment claims going back to the beginning of 2007.

And they say the Stimulus didn’t work?

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Don’t miss:

Milt Shook: There’s No Such Thing as an “Indefinite Detention Bill” and Other Pro Left Lies. (Stay to the end, and watch me expose Glenn Greenwald as a liar once again.)

Full post here

Thank you creolechild

Steve Benen on the NDAA: …… There’s been a fair amount of coverage this week, arguing that the bill, among things, empowers the executive branch “to throw American citizens into prison for life without charges or a trial.” Adam Serwer’s reporting shows otherwise.

This is not to say the NDAA is a good bill…. but it’s not quite as outrageous as some reports have suggested.

I had one related thought about this. President Obama has been facing quite a bit of criticism from the left over the NDAA’s provisions … if I’m making a list of those responsible for the NDAA’s most odious measures, the White House wouldn’t be on top. I’d start, obviously, with congressional Republicans whose misguided worldview intended to make the NDAA even more offensive, but it was a whole lot of congressional Democrats who went along with them.

… Regardless, the NDAA is done. Recalling a phrase I’m sure I’ve used more than once this year, it’s bad, but it could have been worse.

Full post here

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afternoon all

President Obama at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism

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First Lady Michelle Obama delivers toys and gifts to the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, DC on December 16

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Hi everyone, just a reminder, I don’t allow anonymous comments appear on the site – please remember to sign in with your chosen name and email address (which won’t be visible to others). You can also sign in using your Twitter or Facebook accounts (see here).

Sorry about the hassle, but it’s the only way of keeping Fire/Teabaggers out of the place 😉

wrap-up

Read about the winners here – The President will present the Citizens Medals at the White House tomorrow (Thursday)

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GOPolitico: President Obama returns to DC weary, depressed and decidedly downcast after bus tour

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GOPolitico: Tension in Obama marriage?

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So, I started this Drive for Five (Thousand) this evening…

….. thinking it would take a week or three to get even close. But a couple of hours later….

You people are amazing. Thank you so much.

(Just to make absolutely clear, this money goes direct to Obama/Biden 2012 at barackobama.com, not to The Obama Diary!)

See you tomorrow 😉

woot! (and other news)

Keith Humphreys (Washington Monthly): …. the Obamas have a magic about them as a couple to which most people respond positively. If you go to any event where the Obamas are standing next to each other, turn around and look at the crowd and you will see many people – especially women – smiling.

…. Last week a friend and I were reminiscing about a White House holiday party that we both attended. My friend jumped up from his chair and asked “Did you notice how differently he stands when Michelle is next to him? He then mimicked the President perfectly, standing stiffly and intoning “Here I am the boring, aloof, professor alone at the lectern”. Then, shifting his feet as if he were mid-strut, throwing back his shoulders and smiling broadly he said “And here I am with this incredibly fabulous babe that I got to marry me – oh yeah!”.

That’s the truth of it. When the President is with his wife, his humanity comes out in a way that it often does not in other circumstances. The facade of the distant academic cracks open, revealing that skinny, accessible and idealistic young man who is still happily ensorcelled by his brilliant companion. And at that moment, many people in our cynical, brutal and heartless electoral process pause for a moment and remember that Barack Obama is a human being, and they like him.

Full post here

More photos in post from earlier today – here

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The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will schedule a vote to proceed to a $35 billion jobs bill on Friday. “We’re going to make sure there’s a vote on our bill this week,” Reid said.

The $35 billion measure would direct federal funds to states to prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Democrats estimate the legislation will save or create 400,000 jobs. Most of the funding, $30 billion, would go to teachers. First responders would get $5 billion.

It would be paid for by a 0.5 percent tax increase on income over $1 million.

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A photo and poster of President Barack Obama hang on a door as Obama 2012 campaign volunteer Daniel Hertlein exits following the grand opening of the Georgia Democratic Party’s new headquarters, Oct. 19, in Atlanta. Democratic National Committee chairwoman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz says her party isn’t conceding any corner of the country in the 2012 presidential election. She says there is a growing groundswell of Democratic momentum in the state and region, bolstered by the area’s changing demographics.

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Was ‘Dick’ Halperin’s Time Page hacked today by an impartial reporter – or does even he realize his relentless negative reporting on the President has become a little embarrassing?

Presumably he’ll be back to normal soon.

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President Obama, on his return to the White House from his tour of North Carolina and Virginia, tells members of the media that the pumpkins he bought will be driven to Washington

President Obama opens a door to the West Wing for National Security Council Senior Director for Europe Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall after returning to the White House

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Here’s the woot!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, you very, very kind people – that figure is, well, crazy!

I know these are seriously tough times for so many of you, so I honestly do hate asking, but if you’re able, could you help me celebrate by contributing $5, or whatever you can, to The Obama Diary Obama/Biden 2012 fundraising page at OFA (here)? Whenever you can. Thanks everyone.

The Drive for Five!

The incomparable Donna Dem will always be TOD’s fundraising Queen, and in future I’ll use her OFA page for our fundraising drives, this is just to celebrate that 5 million.

Thanks again everyone for your support and company, love ya.

president & first lady, joining forces

YouTube video here – but avoid comments 😉

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia

More soon

9/7

brushing up

First lady Michelle Obama helps paint a mural a a youth center at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, May 19

unlikeliest joint statement in the history of joint statements?

President Barack Obama with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, August, 2010

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued the following joint statement on President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“America’s working families and business community stand united in applauding President Obama’s call to create jobs and grow our economy through investment in our nation’s infrastructure.

“Whether it is building roads, bridges, high-speed broadband, energy systems and schools, these projects not only create jobs and demand for businesses, they are an investment in building the modern infrastructure our country needs to compete in a global economy.

“With the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO standing together to support job creation, we hope that Democrats and Republicans in Congress will also join together to build America’s infrastructure.”

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue

east meets west

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President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House, January 19

Earlier in the day:

CNN: The Chinese government has approved contracts worth a total of $45 billion with U.S. companies to export goods to China, the Obama administration said Wednesday.

The contracts will support an estimated 235,000 jobs for American workers … the deals cover a variety of exports, including agricultural products, computers, automobiles and auto parts, as well as industrial materials and technology.

….In preparation for the visit, China approved $19 billion in contracts with Boeing to provide 200 planes for Chinese airlines over the next three years, which will support an estimated 100,000 jobs.

The Chinese government has signed 70 contracts with U.S. exporters to provide goods for state-owned companies, the White House said. Those contracts total $25 billion and involve companies from 12 U.S. states.

The White House said 11 investment contracts worth $3.24 billion have been signed with China, and $13.1 billion worth of “other transactions” are being “announced or showcased.”

Read the full article here

toys for tots

First Lady Michelle Obama joins marines to sort toys donated to the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling on December 17