Hi guys,
1. Today’s schedule:
| 9:30 AM |
PBO receives the presidential daily briefing. |
|---|---|
| 10:00 AM |
VPB and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar host a plaque dedication ceremony to honor Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole; Jill Biden also attends. PBO meets with senior advisers. |
| 11:00 AM | |
| 12:00 PM |
Barack and Michelle Obama and Joe and Jill Biden deliver remarks at the launch of the national initiative to honor America’s service members and their families. |
| 1:00 PM | |
| 1:30 PM |
Carney briefs the press. |
| 2:00 PM | |
| 2:15 PM |
PBO meets with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management John Berry. |
| 2:30 PM |
VPB meets with Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya. |
| 3:00 PM | |
| 4:00 PM | |
| 4:30 PM |
PBO and VPB meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. |
| 5:00 PM |
PBO and VPB meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. |
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2. So last night there was an unusual flood of mails in my inbox, many of them as nasty as ever and all of them from the “Left”. They told me all the things you heard about the president over the last few days – years, actually – Plus the mandatory personal insults of us “Bots”.
But then, in the best timing ever, I found a couple of links, containing a lot of details about the deal – You know, the one where PBO sold the store – and the more I read, the better I felt. Not only that PBO won this round by stopping a shutdown, he saved so many important programs, It’s mind-boggling that the PL can’t see or understand any of this. (PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SPREAD THIS AROUND):
Obama prevents budget cuts to favorite programs
WASHINGTON – A close look at the government shutdown-dodging agreement to cut federal spending by $38 billion reveals that lawmakers significantly eased the fiscal pain by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway.
Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for poor college students, health research and “Race to the Top” aid for public schools, among others — from Republican knives.The full details of Friday’s agreement weren’t being released until late Monday when it was officially submitted to the House. But the picture already emerging is of legislation financed with a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially “score” as savings to pay for spending elsewhere, but that often have little to no actual impact on the deficit.
As a result of the legerdemain, Obama was able to reverse many of the cuts passed by House Republicans in February when the chamber passed a bill slashing this year’s budget by more than $60 billion. In doing so, the White House protected favorites like the Head Start early learning program, while maintaining the maximum Pell grant of $5,550 and funding for Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools.Obama also repelled Republican moves to cut $1 billion in grants for community health centers and $500 million from biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, while blocking them from “zeroing out” the AmeriCorps national service program and subsidies for public broadcasting.
Instead, the cuts that actually will make it into law are far tamer, including cuts to earmarks, unspent census money, leftover federal construction funding, and $2.5 billion from the most recent renewal of highway programs that can’t be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation. Another $3.5 billion comes from unused spending authority from a program providing health care to children of lower-income families./////
Even before details of the bill came out, some conservative Republicans were assailing it. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said he probably won’t vote for the measure, and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is a “nay” as well.
The $38 billion in cuts, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., wrote on his Facebook page, “barely make a dent” in the country’s budget woes.
Huelskamp and other conservatives are also upset that most conservative policy “riders” added by Republicans were dropped from the legislation in the course of the talks.
The White House rejected GOP attempts to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to issue global warming rules and other reversals of environmental regulations. Obama also forced Republicans to drop an effort to cut off Planned Parenthood from federal funding, as well as GOP moves to stop implementation of Obama’s overhauls of health care and Wall Street regulation.
The administration also thwarted a GOP attempt to block new rules governing the Internet, as well as a National Rifle Association-backed attempt to neuter a little-noticed initiative aimed at catching people running guns to Mexican drug lords by having regulators gather information on batch purchases of rifles and shotguns.*
3. The clearly disappointed Politico adds:
…The cuts are a far cry from what House Republicans demanded. Indeed, the president will come out of the fight with more money to implement his education and Wall Street reforms.
*
In a speech Wednesday, the president is expected to call for higher taxes on wealthier Americans, as opposed to Republican plans to slash Medicare and Medicaid.
// more
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6. Took the media a few days, but maybe they begin to see that Ryan’s “bold” and “serious” proposal is nothing but a cruel joke (PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SPREAD THIS AROUND):
How the GOP came to view the poor as parasites—and the rich as our rightful rulers.
// much much more
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7. President Obama’s sister, Maya Soetero-Ng sat down with Piers Morgan, for her first big interview (as far as I can remember). The broadcast is tonight at 9PM on CNN. You can see a sneak peek here.
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8. I don’t know about anyone else, but this is awesome in my mind ):
Obama to be joined by Derrick Rose at fundraiser
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The only adult in the room 
the details are music to my ears. This is an amazing leader. He wins without demonizing the loosing side and that annoys the PL and the Tbags yet wins him support from the middle. the other side knows that they lost. even looking at boners body language he knew that he had lost.
Thanks again for your posts. I am an unabashed Obama supporter. I don’t necessarily like everything he has done, but then again, I am not privy to the information he has nor do I have to work with the idiots across the aisle. You work with the Republicans and Blue Dogs you have, not the Republicans and Blue Dogs you wish you had. I personally don’t give a crap what Joan Walsh, Kossacks, or Jane Hamsher has to say. I’ll make my own decisions. I am apparently not a privileged progressive.
Retweeting this to my 11,500+ followers..!! 😀
FIRED UP..!!
READY TO GO..!!!
Good morning everyone. BWD, all the hate mail just shows that you are succeeding at getting out the real news and driving the frustrati crazy because you interrupt their doom and gloom narrative. The budget deal just keeps looking like more and more of a win for the president as more details emerge. As usual, the president comes out looking like the only reasonable person in DC and still gets to keep his priorities intact.
Thanks, BWD for all you do.
Don’t you love how with Obama’s decisions, despite all the carping, all the bluster from all types of people, when you look into the details, most of his decisions are pretty darn sound.
Please do so!
Good morning like keep say Our President is Chess Master at work.The Greed Over People Party can’t see the forest for the trees.That is why the President wins in the end.
That first story you found was so apropos.I also found the same one late last night…don’t remember where, but you captured it and posted it here for the world to see:)I remember that after the NRA little tidbit, which I thought was ridiculous and sad, especially in light of the Tucson massacre,the writer said, “yes, they really did that.” Which goes to show that the powerful lobbying groups like the NRA, don’t give a tinker’s damn about what right.Everyone should know what they wanted to get in this deal.Gun runners to Mexico.
11,500? :O That’s a lot of followers!
How many people do you follow?
WINNING! Yep, he’s the one.
BWD, there’s a typo in your title. Fourth word: prevented.
Thanks for another great mishmash.
Have a great day, everyone :-)!
I will be glued to my t.v. set for the interview with Maya — brilliant!
Thanks BWD. The details coming out don’t surprise me in the least. President Obama was litterally beaming this week-end. I knew he had obtained the vast majority of what he wanted.
On one hand, I’m happy that after a couple of days of spinning and hysteria, the REALITY of this deal is starting to spread. On the other hand, could it prevent the passage of the Bill in the House ? Because republicans are NOT happy now !! I’ve read last night they’re trying to extract some last minute concessions.
This thing is not over. Hopefully, since the population believes it IS over and doesn’t want anymore drama, that gives democrats some leverage.
Let’s cross our fingers.
Thank you, BWD, for being our buffer between nutjobs on the left and the right. Please don’t get discouraged! The unprofessional left are a bunch of whiners who will never be satisfied. They’re mean and nasty to boot. Nobody with any integrity wants to be associated with those losers – and they will lose this battle.
I’m a proud Obamabot!
Just in case we NEEDED to know about more lunacy, a news site I visit in AZ asked the question this morning: ” Who do you credit with saving the govt. from being shut down?” Winning answer this morning? REPUBLICANS.Seriously?????? This is the ignorant voter in AZ hard at work.
I suspect President Obama’s number on Wednesday will be around $3T over ten years, the Debt Commission came in at $4T and Ryan’s Budget was $6T. This will give him negotiating room probably up to the $4T, but it’s not just how much, but where.
There has been a lot of talk about the timing of the releases. Ryan getting the props for showing leadership, but given that neither of them could be written over a week, it’s safe to assume the PBO budget was months in the making and Ryan released his last week simply to be first. So he gets the MSM waxing poetic over his courage – but President Obama got to see his budget and the fact there was no raising taxes – rich actually get more tax breaks, while there was draconian spending cuts on the middle class and poor, young and old and yet Ryan didn’t touch the DOD budget gives President Obama the opportunity to claim the serious tag away and paint the Ryan Budget as nothing but an ideologue giveaway that could have been written by all of the usual GOP special interests.
I can’t see how the GOP will get away from this without giving up the Bush extra tax cuts. Those cuts add little to the economy, no matter how they pretend otherwise, and explode the deficit. If the GOP wants to call itself the fiscally responsible party how can it justify making that permanent? I hope President Obama really focuses on this on Wednesday.
Exactly.
I always found it amusing back in the day when BWD would post at the orange site and the haters would rush into her diaries. It wasn’t enough for them to hate PBO, lie about him, and write their own diaries. Noooooooo, that wasn’t enough — they had to come crap all over the diaries that pointed out positive TRUTH and FACTS about this Administration. They hated that some people actually liked the President. They took it personally.
And the pictures put them over the edge, LOL! I still don’t know what it was about the photos of PBO that drove them completely bananas with hatred. It was so teabag-esque. That’s when I knew that the teabaggers and the firebaggers were the same personality type and would eventually burn their own miserable selves out.
Now they’re coming over here — for what? LOL! They have a whole site where they can write all the ranting diaries full of lies and pettiness that they want. They can wallow around in negativity all day and night, but it’s still not enough?
The world is moving on. PBO is moving on and getting things done. He has many supporters and we’re moving forward.
Must. Drive. Them. Crazy!!!! 😀 😀 😀
Thank you, BWD, for keep this site troll-free. You are a gem.
I was reading this story on another blog and some of the commenters were SHOCKED! that the media/blog writers did not have this information and were still writing their opinions on it anyway.
The tea party folks are not going to be happy about this at all.
The main thing is that Boehner has to bring this to a vote or he loses what lttle credibility he has left. And based on these figures, enough Dems will vote for it to counter the Republicans who won’t and it will pass, possibly with more Dem votes than Republican votes, which will give more credit to the Dems for avoiding the shutdown.
Of course, the pL really won’t care about this news, because as long a $1 dollar (not 1 million or billion) was cut from one of the progressives favorite programs, they will complain.
I did get a laugh reading where $1.74 billion of the cuts was from the budget of the census which is over and the money was just sitting there waiting til 2020.
BTW, Booman has a great post http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/4/11/222016/469 although the comments suck a lot of the time.
The Newsweek article is spot on and I’m surprised they did some real analysis here given their usual pro-right bias. Ryan’s obsession with Ayn Rand should be widely known as it shows him to be not only devoid of compassion and basic humanity, but also philosophically opposed to the basic values of equality and equal opportunity which made this county great. It’s all you need to know about him and his motives.
Ayn Rand was a neurotic woman who would have been more comfortable in a strictly authoritarian society, like Nazi Germany, but ending up benefiting from the fruits of a compassionate democratic government by collecting and living on Social Security herself. It is sad that anyone older than a teenager should take Ayn Rand seriously. Sadder still is a media that could look at Ryan’s plan and not see that it is outright mean and heartless, let alone useless as a budget deficit reducer. So, though I thought I would never say it, Bravo Newsweek. Thanks for linking it–it’s the last place I would have looked for an honest assessment.
Thank you so much for this important information – I sent the links to my OFA group and local people and asked them to forward as well.
This is the kind of thing we all should be doing. Scouting the various blogs and publications and getting the facts out to our people. Much more effective then just stating our own opinions – as the saying goes “just the facts mamam!”
Love it!!
Love this site – always start my morning reading emails from you – make me start the day with a smile!
BWD – wear those nasty e-mails as a badge of honor. They would never send them if they didn’t think you were a force to be reckoned with. You threaten their worldview with facts and disrupt their “Obama SUX” narrative with reality and they hate you for it.
I wish opponents of the President would actually take the time to look at the details of any budget, proposal or plan that has been agreed upon. It seems to me that the screaming starts well before the ink is dry – in every single instance. No wonder the public is often confused – there are always “reports” of actions that are presented as “facts” and later turn out to be quite the opposite. This does not only apply to individuals spewing nonsense in their blogs, it is also – unfortunately – true of the news media as a whole. The freedom to express opinions and viewpoints has been hijacked to mean the freedom to distort, invent and misrepresent with the single objective of discrediting the President. Since the bulk of the news media and the blogosphere does not appear to make any effort to curb these abuses, we will have to continue calling them out – as distasteful as it may be. The good news is that there are some very good blogs and some excellent fact checkers giving everyone of us the opportunity to spread the truth.
Good comment. One of the things Obama will bring up is that with all troops out of Iraq by the end of the year, and Afghanistan being reduced starting in July, over the next 10 years he will be saving about $1 trillion.
Reinstating the tax cuts results in another trilluion in the same time frame.
Gates has already said that another $100 billion at least can be cut from the defense budget annually, resulting in another trillion over 10 years.
Medicare can become more efficient without actually cutting benefits. A lot of people don;t realize that Medicare is not free. My mother-in-law haas her SS check reduced by about $100/month for Medicare premiums, plus has a deductible and co-pays. Even a $10-15 increase in monthly premiums would do a lot.
Sure, there would be squawking, but if there is a means test like there is for the drug plans, then those that would be hit hardest would be exempt from the increase.
But the Ryan plan, which is finally being seen as a potential disaster for the GOP, and which all the leadreship has gotten behind, is DOA. I expect Obama, if not quite coming out swinging, at least being fairly firm on the tax increase, the Medicare issue, and just plainly saying that the Ryan plan, at best, is deficit neutral for the next 30 years.
So true, if they saw this site and what BWD is doing as harmless, they wouldn’t be traipsing over here or sending her emails.
What they are seeing is that, using this site , and some of the other pro-Obama blogs, as a base, things are expanding even further through thins like what WiW is doing and , hopefully, the project gn is spearheading. This scares the you know what out of them, both right and left.
We live in a microwave society. People expect instant news, analysis and information. Unfortuantely, that results in news, analyses and information based on less than enough information. Also, unfortunately, it means some mistruths are out there and accepted quickly, and when the real facts come out, people have already made up their minds and don;t always allow the facts to change their thinking.
Maybe this is wishful thinking, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, by the time the election rolls around, sites like this have almost as much traffic as the orange site.
Honsetly, why ca’t people just trust this man? Every time they start screaming that he “sold us out” a closer examination proves he has not budged form his priorities or values. Just because he isn’t picking fights with Republicans doesn’t mean he is joining them in their war on the middle class. It’s pretyt clear that he’s leading them with a stick and carrot.
Still, I suppose this Left outrage just helps him in the end–so long as enought of them vote.
I never thought I’d refer to Liberals and Progressives as “them,” but it’s starting to get that way.
I wouldn’t be surprised especially as the campaigning heats up. People want to be excited about their choice of candidate not told over and over that they are idiots for supporting him. The doom and gloom they sell over there is already losing lots and lots of views because people are tired of it, it doesn’t fit their perceptions of the improving economy and the likeable president, and it’s repetitive and boring. As more people learn about BWD’s site and others like it, they will migrate to the positivity. America is an optimistic country. We aren’t a nation of naysayers and gloomy people. We may have down periods, but they don’t last long and sites that don’t reflect the inherent optimism and hopefulness of the general public just won’t sustain an audience for long.
And it turns out that way every single time. A compromise is made. The whiners start moaning and crying betrayal. The pundits say the republicans won. The public supports the compromise. The details emerge and everyone has to admit that the president actually won much bigger than everyone thought at first. Every single time. You’d think people would catch on.
I wouldn’t take it seriously. Internet polls are not accurate and that type of single question survey is simply a “go team” kind of question. It isn’t a serious measure of anything more than which party has more people who visit that site and participate in unscientific polls so their team will look better.
They may or may not be ignorant but certainly are seriously (“seriesly”) misinformed. Hopefully they can schooled over the next year or so.
They thought driving the pro Obama faction out of DK would get us all to just shut up and leave all the “left” opinion to themselves. HA! There are a lot more of us than of them and we won’t shut up just cause they’re bullies. LOL
Good morning everyone! BWD I am sorry you have to read all the crap that is sent to you. Just know that there are more people that love you and you are helping more lives than any of those bas***ds can ever know.
I just knew that Obama was getting more than anyone thought. He is so far ahead of everyone. He sees the whole picture. He probably knows all the little details of the whole budget. The depth of his understanding is so beyond my comprehension.
He makes me proud and so thankful he is my President.
Now we much go out there and spread the word. Thank you everyone for all we are all doing to change our world!
Nice post. I’m very sorry you have to deal with immature people who send hate mail. How do you react to that? Is it at the point that you just laugh at them? They’re showing their true colors.
Anyway, I felt better about the budget cut deal as soon as I learned that there would be $18B in defense cuts. I didn’t hear anybody in the media talk about that.
From my twitter timeline:
RT @DWStweets: Addressing Planned Parenthood’s Nat’l Conf on GOP’s extreme anti-woman agenda #standwithpp #prochoice http://twitpic.com/4hyvbu
Wouldn’t surprise me one bit, japa.
It takes time for culture to change, but look already at how it’s becoming popular knowledge that “Fox Lies.” It’s bubbling under as a meme in the public consciousness.
People are starting to realize they have been lied to — about many, many things. Some people react to that realization with resistance and anger, some with gratitude and curiosity.
Sites like this one will be here for the grateful and the curious.
Everything you might ever have wanted to know about the Koch Brothers – what they control and who they control.
Warning: .pdf file
Click to access koch_brothers.pdf
Well, for one the lefist outrage can help the passage of the Bill in the House and in the Senate. Republicans now know they’ve lost this battle, but since the PL is screaming, that can give them a bit of political cover to vote for the deal anyway. They’re in a corner because the “deal” has been publicized and a majority of americans approve. If republicans walk out now, they look either like jerks, or like fools ( for having been out-smarted).
They could extract some last minute concessions though. I’m a bit concerned about that.
Joy do you like everything everybody else does? Just wondering why the need to interject the I don’t like everything he does but meme?
Sorry and I mean this with all due respect but this always rubs me the wrong way. I never heard any praise for any other President needing the “I may not agree with, don’t like, have reservations etc” wording like what I hear from even well meaning supporters. thanks 🙂
And I just read over on Think Progress that donations to pro choice groups like PP and NARAL are surging since the budget discussion. Good!!!!
Yea, the commentatators over there are lving in another reality just like the teabaggers. Booman is wasting his time trying to explain to those fools.
More reasons why I stand with this President forfuckingever!!!! Fail boat, hating ass PL lurkers run and tell that!
wonderful
Tigerfists88, how do I follow you on twitter. I want to be more involved. Not sure how much I want to follow, but I love all you bring to the table.
There is a meme out there that stating unequivocal support for this President is tantamount to being a swooning Obot. Even some ardent PBO supports fall victim to this false meme, unfortunately.
In the past nobody would have assumed that expressing support for a President or any leader, for that matter, was the same as a cult followership.
But we live in truly bizarre times where PBO is concerned
Thank you, overseasgranny. That is a very important document!
Excellent comment !
As much as I can’t stand Alan Simpson, he said something that I have to agree with.He said the lunatics in his party that harp on social issues like abortion are wrong to do so.He said what I’ve been saying for years…that no one is FOR abortion, we’re for choice. The kicker is that he said that men legislators shouldn’t even have a say in that discussion. That is was personal and private and should be left to woman to decide.What a novel idea! Last time I checked, I couldn’t get pregnant by myself!We’re 50% of the equation, yet bear 100% of the costs.How is that ok?Small govt. my dying ass.I can’t think of a bigger form of govt than telling ME what I can or can’t do with my body.I think a mailing of wire coathangers and bottles of bleach would be in order if they try to pull this again.That’s MY line in the sand!
During the little speech after the deal your president seemed a little amused about something. I thougt perhaps Biden just told him a joke – but by now it is becoming clear what the reason was.
That’s because our instant gratification culture has deceived people, even on our side of the aisle, into falling for the fake braggadocio of wingnuts. They care more about optics and firebreathing swagger than concrete action.
So here we are with a President who racks up mind-boggling successes that any previous president would drool over. Yet commentators supposedly on his ideological side are hoodwinked by the opposition EVERY SINGLE time.
At some point, falling for the same trick over and over is defined as lunacy.
The more that reality contradicts their worldview the more unhinged they become. They cling to what they believe and refuse to be shaken by mere facts. It’s the same phenomenon that scientists have shown about how people become more entrenched in their views the more they are shown to be wrong. Just a weird bit of the human psyche, I guess. But, over time the facts do penetrate and people begin to change their opinions. It is not a quick process, however, and there is a lot of denial along the way.
BWD, sorry you have the wade through the hate. I love this blog. Just think, you must be succeeding if they are still attacking you.
I share your morning mish mash with all my friends and family. Keep up the good work. And know that all of us are IN for 2012.
I think people (not joy) but others have spent so much time proving they can be against Obama that it’s almost imposible for them to prove they can stand with him.
I get tired of the “I don’t agree with everything that he’s done”, “I’m not going to give him a free pass because he’s black”, “I’m not going to support him just because he’s black”…etc…I never heard anybody say about Clinton “I’m not going to give him a free pass because he’s white”
That post from Booman on “Our Structural Disadvantage” was spot on. It reminded me of a fascinating and sobering article I read by Joseph Stiglitz in Vanity Fair where he talks about the disparity between the 1% at the top and the rest of us.
The GOP is fighting for the 1% at the top while being at war with the rest of the country.
INEQUALITY
Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%
———————————
The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.
———————————
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105?currentPage=1
Good Morning Everyone
A good article from CBS
Budget deal details: Cuts that aren’t quite cuts
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/12/earlyshow/main20053039.shtml?tag=stack
This rally was a sweet deal for Obama and the Dems and if MSM is writing about it then many folks will know it.
Its a disclaimer that I hate myself. No offense to anyone who says it but you don’t have to. It is a given then you don’t always agree with someone. Don’t try to prove yourself to anyone.
Wow. This is an impressive document. This HAS to be SPREAD far and wide. OFA, left blogs ( the “pragmatic” ones AND the “others”).
I think it could wake up a lot of republicans. Not the most extremists of them ( they’re a lost cause), but the others.
Thank you, overseasgranny !
BWD, PLEASE make a specific post about this very important document !
BWD,
If it wasn’t for you and a few other sane blogs, I wouldn’t even know these small details. This site is a beacon of light in a sea of disappointment and depression.
Thank you.
Here is another one from CBS
Obama to offer tax hikes in budget showdown
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/12/politics/main20053026.shtml?tag=stack
We need to be talking up the “tax the rich and corporations” theme. I recently heard a foreign commentator discuss the difference between the budget wars in Europe and America. His comment was Americans aren’t in the streets over taxes, Brits are.
So – although I hold no ill will toward GE or Bank of America, I will say what I said yesterday, we need to close tax loopholes for large corporations.
Let’s all come out in favor of the President’s idea to raise taxes. If the American people get behind the idea, congress may get organized and fight for it and I know the President will support it.
maybe we can start a petition
EXCELLENT articles BWD, I sent them out to my mailing list.. thanks so much for finding them all! And thanks for dealing with the uninformed haters, so we can enjoy a hate-free zone here.
especially the list of politicians we can do something with that.
I have to admit the last couple of months I posted at dk, I fell into saying the same thing. I’m not sure why – maybe I felt I would be listened to and not automatically dismissed. I now enjoy being in a place we all silently acknowledge that we are not sheep being led around by PBO, that we may sometimes disagree with policy, but we don’t need to express that sentiment when we are applauding the work he and other Dems are doing in D.C.
We should stop talking about the ORANGE SITE; if they come to their senses they are wellcome to join us.
BWD Thank you Thank you everybody in this country should read the Neews Week article the GOP are just dispicable, and I am not surprise about how they think about the REST of us Americans Sick, Sick, Sick. Woew!!!
tigerfist88 ask your followers to p;ease read the Neews week article they will puke. as I did.
Oh, but to let the PL tell it, he’s a “terrible” negotiator. That’s the “new” meme now. I heard in on Rachel’s show. “The President is a terrible negotiator”. Really? I bet if you asked just ONE of them exactly what we got to keep or enhance in the budget, they wouldn’t have a clue.
Who are the cultists, those who thought the President would be a revolutionary or those who know what being the leader of the American establishment truly entails?
Sometimes I think people answer questions out of spite. It they are Republicans then they will say Republicans won, even if they know they did not. Maybe that’s cynical of me, but after dealing in politics and Repubs for 40 years, one gets a little cynical.
But many soi-disant “progressives” did give both Clintons and Edwards a free pass in the same kind of situations for which they fault President Obama.
Thank you. I am so happy to have found your blog. Am subscribed and look forward to your postings. Also your facts give me some leverage with the young left that are advancing actions that may not be to our advantage.
Your comment made me think of this video: the infamous smackdown of Ed Henry when the president said ‘I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.’
I am so going to use this when reasoning with people! Thank you. It’s particularly galling that people still swoon over Edwards when he was one of the thirteen in Congress to author the War Powers Act that took us into Iraq. And yet for some bizarre reason people still thought he was wonderful…good, hard-working Democrats who should totally know better.
Man, when you get into cult of personality, people really lose perspective.
Hmm, I’ve been thinking: President Obama clearly succeeded in achieving his goals during this negotiation, and Boehner may have lost the teabaggers, but in the long term, conservatives need to take back their ideology from this collection of racist reactionaries. My favorite type of conservative is not someone who hates liberals, but someone who wants to act as a brake on the dynamism of progressive liberals and ensure that we are not ushering in unintended consequences, and are working efficiently.
For example, I used to have these wonderful conversations with a former coworker. He was a conservative of the type described above, and he was a terrific person. He was open-minded, and eventually he acknowledged that my argument about the inefficiency of not properly educating and providing opportunities to every child in the country severely cramps this country’s competitiveness, and the economy. How many Dr. Chu’s are we missing out on because we’re not doing right by every child, regardless of the wealth of her/his parents. This particular conservative really got it; we never got around to agreeing to a solution, but these are the types of conservatives who do have a lot to add to the political process.
People like Boehner need to take back their party from the teabaggers. If this loss is the first step in marginalizing the crazies in the GOP, then ultimately the country will be far better off.
I’m really sorry to hear that too. IMO they like to swarm in unison and try to break people down. Classic right wing behavior. I also noticed that someone created a fake twitter account to bash thepeoplesview and bring focus onto an extreme attention-seeker.
I just can’t thank bwd and the other site proprietors enough for creating these new spaces which are a huge cut above and evolution from the traditional netroots. This is terrific.
The other thing is this whole spending more time criticizing the President and basically absolutely no time going after the Republicans and their out-of-control war on the middle class and the poor and the environment, etc. I’m quickly coming to the point in my evaluation process that if someone is more interested in bashing our President than working for change, they lose all credibility as a liberal/progressive/Democrat. They are not a member of my party, and they do not share my beliefs.
Yes, it is loony to come to a site where you know you will disagree with nearly all of the comments posted and also know that your own negative comments will not be posted. It seems like an exercise in frustration rather than a valid effort at political pushback. However, perhaps if we all stopped referring to the frustrati, they would discontinue their visits here? We all know they get their self-worth from their self-righteous rage, but I cannot imagine that self-righteous rage spewed out in a vacuum would be very satisfactory even to them. I am assuming that many of these people conduct themselves better in the real world; why give them the opportunity to be less than they are by feeding their anger? I plan never to refer to them again as they are not relevant to effective change, and I invite all of you to call me out whenever I do.
FYI
Maya Soetoro-Ng was on the Today show this morning.
I left after 8am Central. I had not seen the interview.
I had read in 2009, that she was going to be writing a book that would have more to say about the Late Stanley A. Dunham.
Do you really want tigerfist to induce vomiting in his/her followers? I do not know how to put an emoticon in a comment, but please understand I mean this lightly.
If we would like less compromising on liberal values, we must work to get a better Congress and a more-informed populace. There is no other way.
And why not remove the income cap on payroll taxes (is that the right term?)?
Your last paragraph says it all, Ladyhawke.
I read her as a teenager and, though I had little grasp of the issues then, I couldn’t get past her abominably-incompetent writing.
Thanks Kelly for asking a question I’ve been meaning to ask – why do people feel they have to say “I don’t agree with everything Obama has done but….”. No one will ever agree with everything someone else has done in this life, even your own parents or your child so why do people feel there is a need to agree with everything PBO has done? Such that they have to qualify their support each and every time? When you have someone’s back you have their back period through the good and the bad. PBO is a human being and not a Messiah and he is working under very difficult circumstances. The PL talking heads should run for office and implement those lofty ideas they have.
I am always stunned by the literally unfathomable hypocrisy of the GOP. This is from the Newsweek article in the Mishmash: “Every policy change of the last decade that increased the deficit—the Bush tax cuts, the Medicare prescription-drug benefit, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—Ryan voted for.”
Is we want fewer abortions, and I agree that we all do, we need a widespread use of birth control, and Planned Parenthood has certainly been instrumental in encouraging that.
Thanks, gn.
My apologies to you, BWD, for having to put up with the riff raff in those hate emails, on behalf of the fools who don’t know they shouldn’t have sent them. You can probably compare how well President Obama is doing, with the increased volume. I know you are finding balance and keeping up your spirits by sharing all of the good news with us! Thank you for not giving up – we are with you.
And, Mr. President, as you walk “alone” on the White House lawn (in that photo), please know we are all with you, too! You and our Vice President!
As usual, St. Roscoe, you bring up some very good points! I do hope that people will be a able to see that PBO’s claims the serious tag in this debate, and that Americans see that the GOP is up to its same old tricks of rewarding those who don’t need it and making the poor and middle class pay for it.
Thank you, Susan, for getting the word out – especially to the “young left.”
Excellent post! And a wonderful definition of what would be a really desirable dynamic between true conservatism and liberalism. The Ryan budget is the most naked elevation of the wealthy over the weak that I’ve seen in a long life. The fact that anyone ever called it courageous makes me ill.
A while ago someone posted a quote from a wealthy German, who, when asked about the high rate of taxes he pays, said, “I don’t want to live in a poor country.” What a different attitude! Someone who isn’t going to enjoy the blessings his work or his family brought him if the old and young and sick are suffering around him.
Hi sheila. No, he actually deserves the thanks. Very, very kind person who is the opposite of the frothing at the mouth nuttiness I seem to see on my tv. I hope that people like that take back the GOP.
Exactly. There is no need to state you don’t blindly support everything the president does. No two people agree on everything so it should be a given. It is a meme that the frustrati instituted that in order to not be seen as a non-thinking person you must first state that you are not one. It’s silly and only used to buoy up their idea that Obama is worthy of criticism at all times, even when he has done something well.
Oh man, don’t apologize for them!!! 🙂 It’s okay. Sometimes it gets to me, but I’m learning how to deal with it. All for a good cause.
Thanks for the support, guys.
Not to make light of what you wrote, Wyliecoat, because it was profound, but I think those of us here have learned that going “toward the light” has a whole new meaning these days. I don’t get the people who prefer allowing all that negative energy into their lives, especially the extremists on the left. They are just sad.
That sort of radicalism and pandering to extremists in the teaparty base is not conservative to me. It’s exactly as you say, a naked prioritization of the very elite at the expense of everyone else. And it’s a very desperate attempt to keep that coalition together. Know what that German was displaying? IMO, simple maturity and common sense. It is immature to need to hoard and be unable to enjoy wealth unless someone else has nothing. I keep saying, we need a remedial course in kindergarten for some of the loud but few adults in this country so that they can relearn how to play with others.
Is there any way at all that we can help with this? I hate to hear that this gets to you (and can imagine that it would get to anybody). I have some inkling of what must be being said, having witnessed your comments sections elsewhere.
Please let us know how we can help out.
I commented on her blog about that very thing and suggested the article from the AP that BWD showed us. Pretty sure I said something about Rachel needing to do her homework.
I have a theory. GWB’s supporters did agree with everything he did. Their support was very black and white, and brooked no nuance. A running theme on the left was this disbelief that GWB could elicit such uncritical support. So now, in an effort to not seem like GWB’s supporters, support for PBO always has to be qualified among some people, just to prove that they’re not slavish like the other side was for 8 years. Yet another instance in which GWB dealt a body blow to this nation.
Hey, Grumpy – Well said.
I think “we” should keep the terms “liberal” and “progressive,” and “they” should get something new! We’re doing just fine, but they have lost their way.
Na, it’s okay. Thank you, my dear.
Check out this site – Multiple Choice Mitt
http://www.multiplechoicemitt.com/
It’s something that needs to be twitterbombed around.
(h/t The Obama Diary)
It’s especially disappointing, because Rachel, even if she slipped from time to time, usually checks the fact before letting her hair go on fire.
The two party is not inherently evil. It actually is a pretty good system when it is working well. As you said, there is a push and pull created by a liberal and a conservative party that keeps both from going too far. Our problem right now is that the conservative party has been hijacked by very extreme elements and they no longer are doing their intended part. They aren’t supposed to hate the other side or try to stop everything they do. They are intended to keep things moving at a slow enough pace so that consequences can be realistically foreseen and accounted for. My hope is that the Tea Party has driven the republican party so far out of the mainstream that there will be pushback from sane conservatives and the party can go back to being a useful counterbalance and partner to the Democratic party.
Exactly, Tien Le. And his voting record while he was in the Senate was straight DLC. But he said “I worked in a mill” and they swooned.
Thank you BWD for the hard work that you do. I have worked hard for Candidate Obama and now, President Obama. As a native SE Washingtonian (D.C.)
I hate the constant crapping on D.C. residents by Congress and every administration. It drove me crazy when I paid federal taxes. Does it stop me from pushing the President’s agenda? No way.
Please don’t shut people down when they say, “we don’t like every decision he made.” Maybe, we ask them to explain what decisions and why. Let’s not miss the opportunity to educate others. I will work to share my concerns about with the treatment of DC.
The sun is out in Laurel, MD. Love it.
What I would like to hear him say about SS is something like.”People talk a lot about SS. Let me clear things up. Currently, SS has absolutely nothing to do with the deficit and won’t for many years. Sure, there might be some tweaks that need to be made, but we don’t need to focus on that today when we are talking about deficit reduction. We can address the SS issue separately. I, infact am more than willing to look at SS and the things we can do to strengthen it and make it more secure in the future. But, any talk about privatizing it is off the table while I am President.”
Now, I would be surprised if he actually did say that, which means, to some, I should be outraged and demand a primary challenger, but I won’t, because I know that ofr anything good to come in the future, he needs to be re-elected and then go to work on things in hyperdrive.
Thanks for the links, WiW. I posted them on my FB page. I’m getting a bit of push back from someone showing “concern” for the amount of spending that is being done in D.C. under PBO. I countered with an article that shows that this deficit was created by GWB and a statement asking why people are “suddenly” concerned about the deficit when they sat on their butts and allowed the GOP to turn a surplus into a deficit. It may be one of my former colleagues posting the material. I haven’t had time to run down the source of the posts yet. I don’t really care, but I do care that whoever it is is FORCED to see the proof that GWB and the GOP are the cause of the deficit being as high as it is. Most of my FB contacts are former students who don’t really pay much attention to politics, so I’m thinking it is most likely a former colleague since I taught in a very, very, very red area in GA.
I agree, gn, as I think it would be great to have a semi-reasonable oppositional party rather than one who appears to be made up of members on furlough from a mental institution. I’ve never been a Republican but I think political debate is healthy and desirable, albeit impossible in today’s political milieu.
Fine comments, gn, Betsey, lila.
They seem to live in a parallel universe, so why don’t they hoist themselves over the edge and get out of ours?
when you do need help let us know.
Right. Despite that people on blogs frequently request we go to CNN or wherever to vote on some poll to get our sides number up. It’s hard to take those people seriously.
This is why I love me some St. Roscoe. Great analysis.
Ahero62 – I once contacted Chuck Todd of MSNBC to ask why he always finished a positive comment about the President with the word “but” – that he could never just leave it there, but always had to continue on with the down side.
I found it very amusing that Chuckie wrote back to say something like “I understand what you’re saying, but … ”
He even threw in the “but” in his response to me. They just can’t help themselves. Lots of people in this country have stopped being appreciative of the good things and seem to just crave the negative. All kinds of personal reasons for it, “but” it has swept the nation. Argghhh.
What you encountered, gn, is what I call a real conservative, someone whose political views resemble those of a President T. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, or a Dwight Eisenhower. Today, these kinds of conservatives are very rare, and their voices are been stifled by the antics of the tea partiers. Nixon had his faults, but he didn’t suffer fools lightly. We need these kinds of conservatives to step up and take their party back from the brink of insanity.
I think we can help by ceasing to refer to them. They are usually narcissists and wouldn’t be interested in sites that are not interested in them. gn, I don’t have time to have replies come into my email (I spend too much time here as it is), but I am interested in your venture. Too, I am wondering if it were possible to begin a letter-writing campaign to undecided voters, one on one, in the manner of the Dean campaign. It gives those of us who feel unsuited to canvassing door-to-door or telephoning a chance to participate in contacting voters. I suppose I should contact OFA.
The National Initiative to support military families is happening right now on whitehouse.gov It is very moving. Jill Biden is speaking now…..
People who uncritically believe every hyped up story coming from folks who have been proven to stretch the truth about stories over and over again are merely principled. People who take a realistic view of the Presidency and think that he’s doing a terrific job in tough circumstances are unthinking cultists who worship someone who is on par with Kim Jung Il.
Up is down. Down is up.
Sheila, perfectly stated. I never realized th
that many people never get over their
loss of a favorite candidate.
In the past, I never really paid attention.
I just accepted and naturally supported the candidate who won the primary.
One of my patrons is excited over the new movie of “Atlas Shrugged” coming out. I — gently — let him have it. He countered with “But do you know her history? Her family escaped from Russia–“, at which point I cut him off and said my family escaped from Cuba, and we haven’t elevated selfishness to the ultimate moral good. Fortunately, I had lunch after that.
I think it boils down to one word “arrogance” and it does not matter if they are left or right. You travel to the UK or other countries and ask the people “in general” what’s a good word to describe some Americans and you often hear “arrogant”. Many of us think we know everything and our thinking is superior to all others. It’s a character flaw and seem to breed in the far reaches of both parties.
However, I should say that I vehemently disagree with Republican politics, but there was a time when you could at least have a sane conversation with them – those days are gone.
I think “Maoist” would be a good term for them.
that’s funny.
I like to imagine that, in private, with no one around, he did a little cabbage patch in celebration over how he snookered Boehner.
We’re actually not conducting the working group by email; I want to do all of the planning out in the open so that anyone who wants to offer up an opinion at any time can do so. My thought is that lots of people making little suggestions can add up to a crowd-sourced product which is better than what a handful of people might be able to come up with. And I also prefer projects which aren’t centered around one person or set of people, because it’s less likely that personality stuff comes into play, etc.
The thread to hash out ideas is here: https://blackwaterdog.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/friday-morning-mishmash-3/mo4/
I posted some preliminary discussion points. Thanks, sheila!
We don’t shut down anyone here and we don’t shut down legitimate complaints of any kind. Some of us don’t understand why anyone has to add such a statement when complimenting the president.
upon reading this and hearing something similar on my radio news this morning I am worried since the REAL vote hasn’t happened yet. I’d rather that it hadn’t come out till after the vote since the House Republicans could still vote NO on the deal. When is that vote scheduled for anyhow?
Conservatives and liberals are the yin and yang of any political system. Liberal usher in needed reforms, and conservatives of the type that you describe slow things down, making sure we’re not going overboard, or making things worse. As you mentioned, the problem is that the current conservative party isn’t in fact conservative, but radically reactionary, wedded to an ideology of “individualism” that never existed in this country. With the PL our side has its own problems, but the PL has very little influence, while the hard right Galtians have pretty much fueled the GOP for the past two years. The conservative side of our system is broken; it doesn’t want to conserve anything, but to radically remake the US in its teenaged fantasy. That’s why it’s so dangerous, and yes, hopefully this “defeat” will be the first step in which the sane conservatives reclaim their party.
That’s how I feel too.
Same for the MSNBC talking head “progressives”. The time they have to go after the GOP they instead use to bash the president. And then they h
I pressed the wrong key and it submitted my post before I finished. Here is my full post:
That’s how I feel too.
Same for the MSNBC talking head “progressives”. The time they have to go after the GOP they instead use to bash the president. And then they have the gall to complain about Obama’s messaging. Obama has messages, but they are drowned out by the professional left whose sole interest seems to be bashing whatever he says and does!
How’s you get so friggin’ smart? 😉
Always a pleasure to read your posts, japa21!
Me too, Tien Le.
Always great perspective from our resident St.! 🙂
Maybe we should make more of an effort to comment over at Booman’s…balance it out.
majii – When you mention the real conservatives like Eisenhower, I am reminded that even his granddaughter Susan came out for candidate Barack Obama in 2008. To tell you the truth, as an original baby boomer, that almost meant as much to me as when Caroline Kennedy spoke up for him in such a sterling way (then and now).
Here’s a trip down memory lane, with Susan’s thoughts:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102621.html
LL – Great thoughts. The system of checks and balances that is our two-party (more or less) system is failing. The pendulum that swings our country between the far left and far right has been stuck on stupid for some time now (other than the brilliance we showed in electing President Obama). Even though we have big clues that is happening, it’s how to fix it that remains a mystery. We need to just keep workin’, I guess.
Was military cuts in the bill? How much was it?
Co-sign, lilaf1. Instead with building our blog rolls and linking to each other we are building a network of positive activism. Pragmatism over purity; hand extending over hand wringing.
Her Bourgeois Jewish family escaped from Russia. Funny how a bunch of anti-Semites seem to just gloss over that part.
Sorry, I just tried to read the Wikipedia documentation on her and Atlas Shrugged and couldn’t even get through that. Can’t imagine what the book must have been like.
Just a quick point. There have been times when someone here has disagreed with something the President has said or done, even though the mere fact they are here on a regular basis indicates their support of the President, and they have been criticized for not supporting the President. So there can be a little defensiveness involved.
To call her writing style “turgid” would be understating it.
Here’s a great joke that was making the rounds when the Rand boomlet began after Obama’s inauguration:
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: “The Lord of the Rings” and “Atlas Shrugged”. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
The “Joining Forces” initiative was very moving. What our First and Second Ladies are accomplishing is awesome. Take time to go to http://www.whitehouse.gov and listen to Michele Obama.
We are so fortunate to have both these families at the top of our government.
You are right about no other President has had to face as much criticism.
I do know that GW Bush was getting lots of criticism at the end of his time in office, but that was based on his actions, not on who he was.
This President is criticized for who he is before the actions are even looked at. Sometimes I think it is because he is half Black (I am not Black, but have a daughter-in-law and granddaughter that is) anotherwords out and out prejudice. I also know the trust issue was breached by the previous President so maybe that has entered into how this President is treated as no one trusts the President now. I also know with the Republicans catering to the Far Right and wanting back in power that enters into the mix. Fox News and Limbaugh types are stronger than before. The corporatists controlling so many politicians and the Supreme Court enters in too.
All in all our President has made me so proud, not only for his desire to help the American middle class, but for his personal character and ability to withstand the demeaning insults. We are lucky to have him even want to run for a second term.
Those that say he should be tougher must have never had the same problems to face he has had. He uses his brain to win for us and gets the best he can get. He doesn’t waste his time showboating with a male all-or-nothing fight to the end attitude.
Boehner will let a lot of his caucus vote No to save face with lunatics back in their districts and make up for it with Dem votes. The deal that was struck was to bring this budget to a vote at all. No riders. I expect up to 50 no votes from GOP in the House.
It just finished. Jill was wonderful. And as usual, the First Lady was masterful in her speech. A fierce and effective advocate for this cause.
17B I believe is the number I read.
Which is how we know they are not dishonest in their critique.
Also worth noting that Ryan’s Budget didn’t cut DOD spending either. So his $6T in cuts over the next decade – $600B a year on average, none of it is defense spending.
meant ‘how we know they are dishonest’
It’s possible, but unlikely as there would be a pretty epic backlash of the GOP House defeated the deal, and Boehner would be finished as leader.
I just wonder if this budget deal may start the process of making the teabagger faction break off into a rebellious rump? After all, they have nothing invested in the GOP machine; they’re by and large outsiders and true believers. The messiness of politics cannot be sitting well with them.
This is a wonderful and important initiative. VP Joe Biden, Jill Biden and President Obama all made very moving remarks. But FLOTUS had me in tears. She was amazing and she looked gorgeous as usual.
SR – And I believe Secretary Gates presented cuts in his part of the administration’s proposal, which – if I’m remembering correctly – were ignored by Ryan and his band of Rs.
Obviously, with my wishy-washy comment, don’t quote me!
I think a better frame is “shared sacrifice”, eventhough I’d love some class warfare it hurts the President’s re-election chances as we saw the money spent in 2010 by big business and the secret big money donors.
So the 17B is part of the Budget deal. I seen an article on Think Progress stating that it increasing the defense budget by 5 billion.
Extremely well said. I had actually also fallen into that habit and will be tossing it aside.
Yes, the teapeople thought they could just hold up a Don’t Tread on Me flag, spout a few words about country that they learned in grade school, and we’d all swing over to their side. Their next step may be to form their own government in some unsettled territory, where they could start their own schools of thought. Ludicrous.
Given how much screaming we are getting about a budget deal PBO clearly won, I think we can anticipate mass suicides when we tackle the deficit for FY2012. I expect we will need to pick up our game because we will be fighting the extremists on both ends.
Obama Grandmama – The media and others have already moved over to the debt ceiling issue, so the Republicans would look like laggards (again? still?) if they voted NO on their own budget deal now. Since some of them don’t seem to understand that, I’ll be glad, as well, when the vote is over and the budget gets signed.
The “cuts” are from the Obama Budget that was released and never passed. So if that budget had 23B more in DOD spending, “cutting” 17B from it in the negotiations would still see spending go up by 5B. Not saying that’s what happened, but it’s one possible explanation.
Thanks for the recap of some good defensive fiscal tactics used in avoiding the government shut down.
One thing leaps out to me in the cuts agreed upon to keep the government funded “Another $3.5 billion comes from unused spending authority from a program providing health care to children of lower-income families.”
I am curious as to why this money had not been spent when there is an overwhelming demand for such programs. Can you explain what prevented those funds from being used to help out those most in need? Making sure the money gets where its needed is critical.
Thanks very much
Jake
The only way “sane” conservatives will regain the control of their party is if the GOP suffers crushing electoral defeats on the national and local level because of their radical policies. As long as the GOP doesn’t pay a price, they won’t do anything.
Look at how people like Mitt Romney and Tim Powlenty are pandering to the extremists. Look at how people like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Scott Brown, Richard Lugar and others stay silent while their party slides into lunacy.
BWD, I hate to hear that your inbox was full of nasty e-mails from the the left. Is there anyway I(we) can help you screen through that filthiness? Thanks for all you do.
That one will be muddied by the GOP Presidential Primary as well as most Senators and many House Reps having declared solid challengers for their seats.
Boehner tries to drive a hard bargain to shut down Government and he’ll be second guessed by some GOP Presidential Primary challengers saying cut the deal, others will say “shut it down”. If he cuts a deal some will slam him for not getting enough. He’ll probably pick up a teabagger challenger in his district as well and will either veer hard right, in which he’ll alienate a lot of the freshmen GOP Reps who will worry about the fact that their seats were held by Dems last congress meaning they’re in purple districts not teabagger districts.
You know putting I don’t agree with everything President Obama does, but… has become a way of introducing a conversation. It is almost an apologists way to say you are sorry for supporting him.
I also become suspicious of the I worked hard for him and voted for him, but can never support him again… which I interpret as a possible troll that is just saying that to draw a supporter in. It is also used by the PL.
Another thing I hear is Although I will disagree with President Obama and voice that disagreement I ultimately support him as we have no one better out there to represent us. I hear this one from the media progressives right before they really bash him.
Letting people go onto shows spouting already debunked myths as newly enlightened information case in point Trump while not giving the information to debunk it permanently is despicable.
I supported the President for election and am only supporting him more strongly than ever since the election as I have never in my lifetime seen a person do more for his Country at peril to himself. He gets tons of death threats, he gets publicly humiliated, and even gets little support from his own side. I applaud his fortitude, his intelligence, and his character.
I have been here since the beginning and have seen an enormous increase in the postings. As the campaign heats up, I am confident this site and the Obama Diary will surpass the “orange” site.
Thanks BWD for not giving up.
It will be interesting to see just how much coverage this initiative gets from the lazy media stenographers. The very fact that it makes the administration look good is the biggest obstacle to getting coverage it deserves. My guess is that it will take “local” media to get the word out to the public.
Tien Le, I am with you 110%. Thanks for that keen observation (spot-on).
I read that 18 Billion was cut from the Pentagon budget.
Yep.
What attracted many to Edwards was his TONE, his RHETORIC. Oh he was the one who would “fight for the poor” against the big bad guys.
In short, they identified with Edwards because he appealed to their rage and their hate of big bad capitalists. They never bothered to check Edwards’ record, or they conveniently put it aside. Emotional satisfaction was more important.
In contrast, President Obama is more measured in his tone and rhetoric BUT is doing his best to produce RESULTS, to enact policies that REALLY help the poor and the middle-class. And they’re not able to see it.
P.S. I don’t want to offend supporters of Edwards in this community. Please be sure I’m not talking about you. And for the record, I think Edwards is not an evil man. He indeed said some hard truths about the struggle of the poor in America. I give him that.
OT but had to share this. PPP poll shows Trump tying Hick among GOP nationally.
Each have 19% support followed by Palin 12%, Neat and Mittens at 11% each, Ron Paul 7%, Bachmann 5% and the rest fighting for scraps.
Polls in Iowa show Huck losing his long held lead. Dropping from 30% to 21%, with Mittens at 13% and Trump at 9%, Newt at 7%. Not much commitment there in GOP land. If Lady Gags got in the race it looks like she could expect at least 15%.
Other polls indicate that 48% of those polled would define the GOP as “extremists”. Same poll says 39% consider the Dems “extremist”. No wonder merely talking to each other is denounced as “selling out”.
Today I wrote a free-verse poem dedicated to BWD and all the real “blue” bloggers out there:
The Orange Fire
This place, called the Orange Fire,
used to be where the blue people convened.
News, commentary, facts, opinion –
in unison, they all existed.
But after the historical event,
proud blue transformed into camouflaged red.
Childish negativity began to flow into the place
the way it’s flowing towards the only adult.
But a group of true blue survivors
Created a slew of new, fresher places.
Now truth hath restored its color
that nearly burned from Orange Fire.
I can’t even go on TPM anymore especially articles about President Obama.
They have these far left bloggers talking about Obama and the Dems giving Boner too much to cut and the lack the common sense to look at the deal themselves. Some still complaining about the Public option and saying Obama is weak and Bush II.
It really gets old. And TPM puts up articles that talk about the budget targeting education, health care, and the environment but they fail to tell that the president stopped them. Now the Left wing is pushing the memo that Obama is going after Medicare.
I always mess up on sayings and cannot remember the exact saying I used as an inspiration when I went through a rough patch, but in my own words it was something like:
“Keep on acting as you believe and people will come to believe in you.”
I think PBO is doing this and I expect many who do not see what we see in him to come to believing in him through the evidence of witnessing his actions and the results of his actions.
He does need our help though. We will need to counter the lies out there with the truth whenever we are able to since the media does not do their job.
BWD, I can only imagine the hate mail you get, if it’s anything like the reactions to your posts at the site that shall be nameless. Got to where I would read your posts and leave without reading the comments, they were so vile.
I suggest playing around with the message rules using terms you see often in the emails. You can either bounce them, send them to a spam box or have them auto deleted at your choice.
Hope that may help reduce their number. Best of luck and thanks for fighting the good fight.
Nice.
I’m no Velma Hart. I’m not tired of fighting
That is exactly what I have been worried about! The deal has not been voted on yet.
Jay Carney is rocking right now on C-Span. The way he described how the President ‘leads’, is a thing of beauty. I WANT this video.
Tien Le,
You beat me to the punch. That was an amazing answer on President Obama’s leadership. I wanted to give Jay a big, fat, juicy kiss for making the issue of leadership pain to the “jackal” who asked that question.
I am with you, I want that video and I want that transcript. It truly was a thing of BEAUTY. And it shut the jackal down completely.
Yeah Jay is doing a great job. He made Bill Press look like a fool.
Can you elaborate?
GN: My wife and I come from a very multicultural backgrounds, and collectevely speak 4 languages, when we get together we are judt like the UN, and we do not always agreed in evrything.
However when all of us voted for this president NOt because we liked hi because he is EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT AND ANDERSTANDS PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, has has done more than we expexted of him, that’s why his opponents dislike him, and they can not challenge him intellectually.
It seems like the PL are once again lying to the public. They keep on saying that Obama caved on his own health care bill because he agreed to some cuts but there are no cuts to health care in the bill.
And then the number of cuts which is a farce because the government has been running on a CR for about over a year now. The 2010 budget did not go through so the reduction in spending is not that much. And when you look at the cuts in the package they are not that harmful.
I am so sick of the lies from the PL. I expect the right wing tools to lie because they have no ideas and they are morally bankrupt but the far left makes me sick.
That was great. Bill Press asking a stupid question that he knows is a stupid question because he has been around for so long. And Jay calls him out on it. Ouch….
Do tell us what he said…
What Edwards did to Elizabeth was criminal, and it seems that the other side it was O.K.with them, and
as far as I am concern Obama has done more to get out country in the right track than any other Presidents. In a very short time.
Fight for the poor? my ass.Sadly enough we voted for him when he run with Kerry.
Oh sweetie, there was so so much good stuff in that press conference. We NEED that video. How do we do that?
Basically, a reporter asked Jay what his response was to the criticism of “some” (aka the Republican Party) that President Obama has not been showing leadership.
Jay was a little taken aback by the question in that he finds it baffling. He then proceeded to explain what he has seen since becoming press secretary about the way President Obama approaches problem solving and getting things done.
He made it clear that he can understand the frustration of reporters because he had been on the other side of the podium with them. But now he was giving them first hand insight from behind the scenes.
It was the most magnificent answer you could imagine. He explained the decision making process in detail. President Obama takes the long view. He first asks what is the end goal I am trying to achieve and then he figures out what he needs to do to accomplish the goal.
It was a fascinating look behind the scenes. I got the impression that the reporter who asked got more than they bargained for. After hearing Jay’s explanation, all you could say is – that sounds like leadership to me.
I highly recommend that you check out the video of today’s briefing. Jay was awesome.
Tien you are so correct thanks!
The WH will load it later, I’m sure.
Yeah, what was it. I want ot be prepared for when Press goes on his show tomorrow and either whines about being dissed or gives this as a great example of the questions he asks.
Oh, this sound like something I *should* see. This was the final question?
There were a couple of questions after the leadership question. As I recall Bill Press and David Corn asked the last two questions.
After Jay answered the last question from David Corn he said “thanks guys” and left the briefing room.
I have a busy day tomorrow and want to at least try to plan it. Does anyone here know what time PO is speaking tomorrow? I tried to find it on whitehouse.gov but had not luck.
Thanks!
Well, to my way of thinking, if you want to see fewer abortions then you should APPROVE of places like PP….you’re absolutely right.
Couldn’t agree more mel. And you and your family are really impressive. I picked that up from the tidbits you’ve posted here and there.
Very important comment. Well said, lovepolitics.
Jay’s briefings are always loaded on the White House Youtube Channel. I don’t have time to watch all of them but I’ll sure watch that one.
Dear BWD, I suspect we’ll see that thing of beauty here tomorrow LOL ?
Thank you SO MUCH for your uplifting site, BWD. Day after day, you give us a space to communicate and keep the hope alive.
This is an amazing president and good work to you BWD for your posts. I find it odd that the PL have time to write you nasty emails as if they would ever be posted here, but maybe they just want to make your life horrible. Just remember that’s what bitter people do and I for one am glad not to be associated with that crowd and am glad that you don’t feed into their nonsense. They will be proven wrong time and time again and they become more bitter. What else is new?
I guess I didn’t realize the phrase “not necessarily liking everything he has done” was so controversial. What I should have said is I think for myself and make up my own mind which includes not agreeing with everything he has done but I am still very supportive. I also didn’t expect to Perhaps I have fallen into the meme of paraphrasing my comments before being told I can’t think for myself. I guess I’ll come up with a new phrase.
BWD – so sorry that you have to sort through those awful e-mails. I thank you from the bottom of the heart for creating this insanity-free site.
Thank you Sheila for going to the heart of the matter!
What a strange comment. Where do you see anybody shutting anybody down? I respectfully asked a question which op and others answered. The replies absolutely shed a light to me as to the severe brainwashing the GOP managed to instill in many Americans, even innocent Obama supporters. 😦
They give Clinton and Edwards passes for things that they really should not yet the slightest sign of pragmatic (and necessary) decision making by President Obama is to be condemned even when they do not know or understand what decision was made by the President (e.g., the latest budget cuts).
Kelly, not so strange b/c I do have a problem with the dc rider though I worked so hard for President Obama (registering people to vote, running for office, etc.). I should feel free to express both and I know I can. However, when someone new come to the site with the “though I disagree I support President Obama.” we should find out what the concerns are b/c the facts are known by this group. We can alleviate some of those concerns and create a stronger supporter who will pass the information along to his or her friends. We will see many more people who are that young lady. Let’s turn them into supporters. They need hope and a safe place. BWD would not have allowed the comment if there was a malicious intent. I hope this answers your questions. (I tried finding the comment, but after a glass of wine. I am a little slow. Forgive me.)
Have a good evening Ma’am and again to the original poster and others that enlightened me to where the disclaimer mindset comes from thank you much.
❤ and bless.
Hugs, Kelly, if you want it. We are family. Let’s welcome our new members with a safe haven (I am a trainer) and information that will allay their concerns.
The nonsense on HuffPo has increased exponentially. I guess that’s what happens when you hit the big time (AOL merger) and then decide not to pay anyone. All you get for content are people who don’t need the money because they are already being paid by think tanks to crank out press releases for their Dark Masters 24/7.
As far as TPM, Josh Marshall seems to have fallen into the notion that any cut in the federal budget is unacceptable so any suggestion of such is capitulation. I guess when you have decided the GOP is Satan Incarnate you don’t leave yourself much wiggle room in your negotiations. Such is the disappointment of being a Purist.
Andrew Sullivan has been utterly UNREADABLE these last few weeks. He seems to have come unglued on the Libya situation, I guess as a kind of Alcoholic Mother Guilt for having cheered on Iraq.
Dysfunctionals rule the media. Time for the healthy people to look elsewhere for information.
You know how you get Orange don’t you?
When Reds go Yellow.
(My wife broke her elbow the other day. I was trying to cheer her up and talking directly to her elbow said “What’s a nice joint like you doing in a girl like this?”
I’m apparently sleeping on the couch tonight.
I think that he will be speaking at 1:30 ET tomorrow.