Rise and Shine

The new National Security Advisor 😉

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Today:

11:30 VP Biden and other dignitaries deliver eulogies at the funeral service for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (C-Span 2)

12:10: The President welcomes the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens to the White House

1:0: Press Briefing by Jay Carney

2:15: The President will announce that Tom Donilon is departing as National Security Advisor in early July and is being succeeded by Susan Rice

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TPM: President Barack Obama’s top national security adviser Tom Donilon is resigning and will be replaced by U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, marking a significant shakeup to the White House foreign policy team.

A White House official confirmed the personnel changes Wednesday morning ahead of a planned announcement by the president later in the day.

Donilon has been a key foreign policy adviser to Obama since he first took office. But the 58-year-old had been expected to depart sometime this year, with Rice seen as the likely candidate to replace him.

More here

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GOP blocked Warren as Director of the CFPB. She is now Sen. Warren. They blocked Amb. Rice as SoS. She is now NSA. GOP tears are delicious.

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 5, 2013

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photo of obama reacting to gop anger about susan rice + samantha power twitter.com/owillis/status…

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) June 5, 2013

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TPM: A White House official says President Barack Obama will name former aide Samantha Power as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Power will replace Susan Rice, who will take over as Obama’s national security adviser. The official says Obama will announce both appointments from the White House Wednesday afternoon.

More here

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U.S. economy adds 135,000 private-sector jobs in May: ADP on.mktw.net/138uEXL

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) June 5, 2013

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Gallup: U.S. Job Creation Best in Five Years gallup.com/poll/162893/jo…

— Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) June 5, 2013

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Michael Tomasky: Voter Suppression, Chris Christie Style

….. Chris Christie calls a special election for the Lautenberg Senate seat for October, even though there is already an election scheduled for November. He’s running for reelection in that one.

….. What could the reason be? Gee, do you think it could have anything to do with the fact that the Democratic Senate candidate is going to be Cory Booker, who is black, and who will draw African American voters to the polls in large numbers? So let all those black voters get their electoral ya-ya’s out in October, see, and they’ll stay home in November and not vote against him….

More here

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Chris Christie is revered for being stern and “telling it like it is”. If the Obamas use a tone that’s a bit too brash it’s all ZOMGSOANGRY

— Tiffuh. (@Tiffuhkneexoxo) June 5, 2013

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Audio of FLOTUS responding to the rude heckler. She was polite. The heckler is not a victim and the audience agreed. thedailybeast.com/videos/2013/06…

— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 5, 2013

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From Gwendolyn in the comments:

There were 2 hecklers…a guy and this woman. I attended the fundraiser. The young man yelled out, and the woman joined. The female heckler was within the view of the First Lady. Supporters around the female heckler (including me!) were being vocal about the heckling. There was some movement in the group, and I think the First Lady was actually trying to take the sting out of the situation. Our First Lady Did Not over-react. I believe she was making sure no one became aggressive.

Thankfully, we have such a positive and effective First Lady. The dumb republicans do not understand grace!

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POTUS has done more for #LGBT issues than any other president. But the disrespectful heckler goes after his wife, instead of Congress. Oh.

— April(@ReignOfApril) June 5, 2013

I want to get my point across at a private home fundraiser, I slip @flotus an impassioned letter signed by many on my issue. Not heckle her.

— April(@ReignOfApril) June 5, 2013

You confront the wife of the leader of the free world but then are “taken aback” when she confronts you right back. That’s privilege, folks.

— April(@ReignOfApril) June 5, 2013

Hey @getequal, are you claiming the woman who disrespected @flotus in a private home? Is she one of yours? That’s how you operate?

— April(@ReignOfApril) June 5, 2013

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Rise and Shine

President Barack Obama at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, Calif., May 23

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All times Eastern

11:30: Attends a campaign event at the The Fairmont Hotel, in San Jose (Closed press)

1:00: Departs San Jose en route Newton, Iowa

4:00: Arrives in Des Moines

4:55: Tours TPI Composites, a wind manufacturer

5:15: Delivers remarks on urging Congress to act on the ‘To Do List’

6:55: Delivers remarks at a campaign event (listed in CNN’s live streaming schedule)

9:20: Departs Des Moines en route Joint Base Andrews

11:30: Arrives at Joint Base Andrews

11:45: Arrives at the White House

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President Obama greets a crowd upon arriving at the Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California, on May 23

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Steve Benen: We talked last week about Ohio Gov. John Kasich delivering a message to his constituents: the state’s economy is improving, jobs are being created, and there’s reason for optimism. It is, of course, the exact opposite of what Mitt Romney wants Ohioans to believe right now. This week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) was similarly unhelpful to the larger GOP cause.

….. You can almost hear Romney shouting in the background: “You guys are screwing this up royally. We need people feeling depressed and hopeless, not excited about ‘brighter days.'”

This keeps happening. Many of the nation’s key swing states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania — are led by Republican governors, each of whom are eager to tell their constituents that the economy is looking up. They’re hoping to boost their own fortunes, but inadvertently, they’re also helping President Obama in an election year in which the economy is easily the nation’s top issue.

More here

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Charles Pierce: I spent four years living under the barely distinguishable leadership of Willard Romney, Governor of Massachusetts. Since he’s out on the road now, running for president, and since he seems to be pretending that it was somebody else who was governor here …. I guess it’s up to the rest of us here to be his living memory of what happened when he won an election for the only time in his life.

…. speaking to a group of Latino businessmen in Los Angeles, Romney took time out from reassuring them that he wasn’t the racist goober he appeared to be in the primaries to excoriate public school teachers and their unions…

….. In 2006, he cut $37.8 million from the state’s higher education budget. Fees skyrocketed, as they did generally throughout the state. In 2003, he tried to cut $100 million from that same budget while raising tuition by $50 million at state colleges and universities. He also wanted to slash job training initiatives and workforce training funding. Things were rather worse at the primary and secondary level, where Romney passed down budget cuts and left cities and towns holding the bag. And that’s the way it was.

More here

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Cagle

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TPM: A new poll commissioned by NBC News, the Wall Street Journal and Telemundo shows President Obama with a large lead among Latino voters, 61 percent to 27 percent over likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. President Obama’s approval rating among Latinos polled is 61 percent approve to 32 percent disapprove, while his handling of the economy is at 54 percent approve versus 38 percent disapprove. Romney’s favorablity is underwater at 26 percent favorable versus 35 percent unfavorable.

More here

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This can never be posted enough….

TPM

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I chuckled when I saw that even the stomach-churning Rubin concedes that GOPolitico “has gone pro-Romney, big time”.

And I LOLed again when I read our old buddy Byron Tau breathlessly reporting Romney’s attack on PBO’s “administration for allowing the daughter of Cuban head of state Raul Castro into the United States”.

Tau: Castro was allowed into the United States to attend a meeting of the Latin American Studies Association. Romney’s condemnation follows on the heels of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) YouTube comments, where the Cuban-American politican called the younger Castro an “arm” of the regime and slammed the visa as “shameful.”

The Cuban-American community is highly anti-Castro – and the issue could resonate among an influential Florida constituency that is a bit more conservative than the wider Latino community.

What did Tau neglect to mention?

The GWB administration allowed Mariela Castro visit the United States ….. three times.

Another Pulitzer for our Byron!

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Have a beautiful day Zizi!

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Morning everyone 😉

nevada to new mexico

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…. greeted by Clark County Commission, Nev. Chair Susan Brager

President Obama walks across the tarmac to greet well-wishers upon arrival at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas

A Secret Service agent is seen at Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility before a speech by President Obama

…. with Jeffrey Martin, CEO, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power

…. speaking at Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility in Boulder City, Nevada

…. greeting audience members after speaking at the Copper Mountain Solar Project

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…. arriving with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Roswell International Airport

…. greeted by New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez

…. on his way to deliver remarks on energy independence at Maljamar Cooperative Association Unit in New Mexico

“i don’t know about you, but i don’t have amnesia” (video added)

President Obama delivers remarks on his energy strategy at Georgetown University in Washington, March 30

Text of speech here

style & substance

head-turner

President Barack Obama shakes hands with guests at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new lithium-ion battery plant in Holland, Michigan on July 15, 2010. The $303 million facility run by LG Chem and Compact Power, Inc. is scheduled for completion in 2012 and is partially financed by a $151.4 million grant from the federal government as part of the stimulus package. UPI/Brian Kersey

hard hat hello

…greeting workers as he attends the groundbreaking of a factory for Compact Power Inc. in Holland, Michigan July 15, 2010. The completed factory will employ more than 300 workers to produce batteries for General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt and Ford Motor Co.’s Focus Electric vehicles.

baby you can drive my car

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…at Compact Power, a battery plant in Holland, Michigan, July 15, 2010

“My first car didn’t look like these. I wouldn’t have minded tooling around in one of these when I was 20 years old.” Obama checked out the Focus and a silver Chevrolet Volt, which he pronounced “pretty comfy.” In fact, the last time he drove was at a Secret Service training facility, he said. “They let me do my J-turn,” he told reporters in Michigan. “But I haven’t driven since that turn.”