ABC: President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama in an exclusive pre-Christmas interview with ABC News’ Barbara Walters revealed personal insights about themselves and their relationship as they approach their 20th wedding anniversary next fall. The full interview can be seen during a “20/20″ holiday special on Friday, Dec. 23, 10 p.m. ET on ABC stations.
What’s the biggest misconception about you?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Me being detached, or Spock-like, or very analytical. People who know me know that I am a softie. I mean, stuff can choke me up very easily. The challenge for me is that in this job I think a lot of times the press or how you come off on TV people want you to be very demonstrative in your emotions. And if you’re not sort of showing it in a very theatrical way, then somehow it doesn’t translate over the screen.
MICHELLE OBAMA: Someone said that there’s a perception out there that I feel confined or trapped in some way. To the extent that people have that perception, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I feel very blessed in this role.
What three words would you each use to describe the other?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Beautiful, smart and funny.
MICHELLE OBAMA: Smart, sportsman, and father.
What is your biggest peeve about each other?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Oh, I don’t have one.
MICHELLE OBAMA: My list is too long. 
If you were to die and come back as a person as a thing, what would you want it to be?
MICHELLE OBAMA: I would want to be Bo. He’s got a great life. He’s got it good. Not a dog. But Bo.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, Barbara, I’m going to take a pass on this one.
More here
White House.gov
Love this, they so cute! Thanx for posting Ms. Chips!
Looking forward to seeing the Obamas Friday night, Dec. 23rd at 10pm on ABC. I don’t want to miss a minute.
Nice! Thanks chips.
Two former party leaders sentenced to life for Rwanda genocide
Lynn LaDecember 21, 2011 13:23
Two former officials of the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND), the ruling political party during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, have been sentenced to life in prison, BBC News reported. The president of NRMD, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, and vice president, Edouard Karemera, were convicted of genocide by the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. During the genocide, at least 800,000 people were tortured and murdered over the course of 100 days.
~snip~
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111221/two-former-party-leaders-sentenced-life-over-rwanda-genocide
ok allright I’m going to try and paste this:
https://p.twimg.com/AhSFIInCIAA-7XM.jpg:large
That’s a great chart. Thanks, a4alice!!
Great chart!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, Barbara, I’m going to take a pass on this one.
Good answer….the jackals/pundits and Morning Joke would try to chew him up if he named someone.
Linda, Michelle said her husband was smart.
I was commenting on the ” Who would you like to come back as ” question.
I am surprised she did not ask them what kind of Trees they are.
I was saying that he was smart not to answer that question about who you would come back as, because the right wing nuts would chew him up if he had named someone.
My thoughts exactly!
Obama Tells Boehner No Negotiations, Vote On The Senate Bill
By: Jason Easley| December 21, 2025
President Obama phoned Speaker John Boehner today and informed him that there will be no negotiations on a longer payroll tax cut extension until after he passes the Senate bill. The President urged the Speaker to take up the bipartisan compromise passed in the Senate with overwhelming Democratic and Republican support that would prevent 160 million working Americans from being hit with a holiday tax hike on January 1st.
The President also spoke with Leader Reid and again applauded him for the work he conducted with Minority Leader McConnell to achieve a successful bipartisan compromise that passed overwhelmingly in the Senate on Saturday, and Senator Reid reaffirmed his commitment to secure a bipartisan year long tax cut after the House passes the two month extension.
Obama made it clear to Boehner and the tea party that the Senate is not coming back, there will be no negotiations, and there won’t be a longer extension until the House passes the Senate bill.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-boehner-payroll-tax
No robots here! They are so warm, and genuine, and adorable. We’re all lucky to have them.
WE ARE EXTREMELY BLESSED TO HAVE THEM!
I agree 100% with you Sue Duvall Smith.
just got an email from Juliana Smoot. Here is an email link to sign and wish PBO and First Family Christmas tidings or good wishes!
http://www.barackobama.com/holiday-card?source=homepage-cta
Signed. Sealed. Delivered!
Check this link out
http://dccc.org/pages/gopstolechristmas They’ve made it easier to lend your voice to pass the Payroll Tax Cut
Thank you, Milt Shook!
Democrats Were NOT Wimps! Some Bills Passed by Dems, Blocked by GOP
In addition to the constant trashing of Obama’s actual record with lies and distortions, I’m also sick to death of claims that Democrats “had no spines” and couldn’t pass anything. Republicans held Congress from 1994-2006 and rigged the filibuster rules. If you’ll remember, they pretended to try to kill the filibuster, and in the process, ended up simplifying the rules, making it easier for a single senator to hold up a bill anonymously, and require 60 votes for cloture, to to release that hold.
Put simply, the SOLUTION to the problem in 2010 would have been to keep the House, and reduce the number of Republicans in the Senate. Instead, we had the Right Wing crying “Democrats can’t get anything done!” and the Left Wing crying, “Democrats can’t get anything done!” THAT is why Democrats lost so badly last year; instead of offering up an alternate viewpoint, we basically echoed theirs. That’s what drove turnout down, and gave the GOP one of the biggest wins in their history.
Read these and tell me Democrats weren’t trying really hard to make things better. Again; these are bills that were PASSED by the Democratic House, and BLOCKED by 40-41 solid votes in the Senate. Compare these to the complete SHIT the current Republican-led House is producing, and then tell us again how there’s no difference between the two parties. Again; this is a partial list[!]
~snip~
http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/a-small-sampling-of-bills-house-dems-passed-gop-senate-blocked-last-session.html
A reminder, President speaking on payroll tax cut extension
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
Wwwwhhhhaaattt? Ezra Klein says this taxcut battle helps mitt Romney as the viable alternative.
What a geek!
And Alex GAGner agrees that mitt Romney would get us through this mess.
You gotta be kidding me?
She is mad because her hero Ron Paul has been exposed as a racist!
Gagner is right. These pun-dunce are a waste of space.
Jovie, Gagner didn’t say that did she?
I don’t get that either, seeing as Willard is waiting until this battle is solved so that he can safely take a position.
It’s spin!
Ezra Klien doesn’t know everytrhing, he is just giving his opinion. To me his opinion isn’t worth a penny.
Can somebody explain what the hell has happened to Ezra Klein ?? He used to be much more rational…
He changed when he became a paid contributor…Now he toes the line. ( Just my guess )
Hi, just in case any one missed it, the President’s remarks will now be at 1:0 ET, not 12:15
Good, now I can change that show with Alex GAGner and her hatefest for the President!
Justice Department Facing Deadline On Voter ID Decision
Ryan J. Reilly| December 22, 2011, 6:00 AM
The Justice Department has to decide by Tuesday whether South Carolina has proven that their new voter ID law doesn’t deny or abridge the voting rights of residents on the basis of race, nationality or language — a decision bound to enrage either the mostly progressive opponents of voting restrictions or the mostly conservative backers of the identification measure, depending on how they come down on the matter.
While a number of states have passed voter ID laws, only South Carolina and Texas are subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires certain states with a history of discrimination to have changes to their voting laws pre-cleared by officials in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
~snip~
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/justice_department_facing_deadline_on_voter_id_decision.php?ref=fpb
They are both “beautiful, smart, and funny.”
These are the same tired questions that BW asks everyone. When will she retire! Because she does not know when to leave the party, she has damaged her professional reputation with that awful show (why is it still on the air?) and her tell-all autobiography.
Exactly. And the time for her to have written the tell-all autobiography, mentioning whom she has slept with, was a long time ago when people might actually want to picture her sleeping with someone. (Sorry - couldn’t resist.)
BaBaWawa’s Big Get
By Jacqueline O’Boomer
Via The Obama Diary … For her latest 20/20 interview, #stuckonstupid BaBaWawa (freshly back from dinner with Newt and Arianna) asks the “big” stuck-in-the-1970′s question of the First Couple: Assuming, as we all do, you bewieve in weincarnation, who would you like to come back as? Her “big” follow-up questions included, “What’s your sign?” - among others.
No one was watching.
hahahahahaha!! You are wery,wery bad , Jacque O.
New Hampshire’s Concord Monitor Endorses Jon Huntsman
Kyle Leighton| December 22, 2011, 11:15 AM
The field of Republican candidates for president in 2012 has been criticized by pundits for its weakness, and polling has shown that GOP voters haven’t exactly been satisfied with their choices. But the paper of New Hampshire’s state capitol, the Concord Monitor, thinks there’s at least one candidate who could provide voters with a real choice without being a flawed nominee — former Ambassador and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Granted, the paper says it disagrees with Huntsman on some major issues — health care reform, extending the Bush tax cuts, abortion, gay rights — but the Monitor’s basic argument comes down to the idea that a Huntsman nomination actually provides voters with two real possibilities for 2012.
~snip~
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/new-hampshires-concord-monitor-endorses-jon-huntsman.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Hi everyone, I’ve started a new thread for chat about today’s ‘politics as usual’, if you want to meet up there
http://theobamadiary.com/2011/12/22/an-early-heads-up-chat-away/
love PBO’s response to ‘when do you lie’— that’s such a funny and typically male response.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Usually, the only time I lie is very personal interactions with family members, who you say, “You look great,” and they don’t. “Wonderful dress…” Uh, not so much.
BREAKING: McConnell Calls On House To Pass Two-Month Extension Of Payroll Tax Holiday
By Alex Seitz-Wald on Dec 22, 2025 at 11:48 am
Minutes after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) delivered a press conference vowing to stand firm on the payroll tax holiday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) delivered a major blow to Boehner’s position, calling on the lower chamber to pass the Senate’s two-month extension, something which Boehner has refused to do. “The House should pass an extension that locks in the thousands of Keystone XL pipeline jobs, prevents any disruption in the payroll tax holiday or other expiring provisions, and allows Congress to work on a solution for the longer extensions,” McConnell said in a statement.
McConnell’s statement further isolates Boehner, who has found little support from fellow Republicans in his position, and gives President Obama new ammunition with which to attack Boehner in an upcoming speech today.
~snip~
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/22/394652/breaking-mcconnell-calls-on-house-to-pass-two-week-extension-of-payroll-tax-holiday/
It’s official: the pundit class (formerly referred to as the 4th estate) is most concerned with carrying the water for the GOP. This is made abundantly clear in the way they are all discussing the current standoff with the petulant congress critters.
Take the quotes ChipsChica has posted from the chattering class. I rarely listen to them anymore but this mirrors what I’m hearing on the radio as I drive.
Wall Street Journal is concerned that the debate ‘might end up re-electing the President’ (what about the people who will be affected?)
Sen Bob Corker is concerned that ‘Republicans getting killed now in public opinion’ (preserving the brand is major concern)
Washington Post’s worry is that the gridlock ‘could do lasting damage to the GOP’ (Again no mention of the pesky people /snark)
Greg Sargent is the only one who mentions ‘Americans who would see their taxes go up if the House Republicans fail to act’ possibly quoting a WH press release.
I obviously look at this current turn of events as a win for PBO and by extension the American People, but it is clear that the GOP & their paid shrills are strictly viewing this as a branding issue & horse race and not as something that will negatively impact millions of American or our economic recovery.
The American people are just invisible to their minds and to their goals. Yes I’ll take criticism of their actions where I can get it, but it just goes to show how all consuming their quest for power is. The people, indeed the welfare of the country, doesn’t matter. It’s all about their power and control. They really are pitiful excuses for human beings.
Happy Holiday TOD family
Chips I want to donate to Donna’s fundraiser. Please can you help me link to her site?
Again thanks for all the beautiful work you do. I really love the snow. It’s looks like that is all the snow I am getting here in Chi-town. It’s like spring here.
Hiya relellit, yikes, you truly are surrounded by snow these days, in Chi-town and on the blog!
Thank you so much for the kind words relellit, you’re lovely.
Here’s the link to the awesome Donna Dem’s fundraiser:
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/2012/donnanoshock3
Hey everybody! As much as I dislike Baba Wawa, I will probably watch this. I love how FLOTUS answers Tweety (not calling him out by name, of course) when she said she loved her life right now and feels blessed to have it. I love her!
I agree nwith FLOTUS 100% when she says how she has to put herself first, some may say that is being selfish, for so long woman have been told to look after everyone else first, putting ourself last, ignoring us. But if you are healthy, mind and body, if you are happy, then you can do the job you need to do as a wife, as a mother so much better. The husband sees you are happy and well, so does the kids. So I am with the First Lady 100%.
Annie, I so CO-SIGN! It’s like what they tell you when you fly: “Put on your own oxygen mask first before you try to help others!” An exhausted worn out woman who never takes a moment of care for herself can’t be there strong for her family.
Amen aquagranny911.
I am so looking forward to meeting them. I will shake President Obama’s hand, hug Mrs. Obama, shake Malia and Sasha ‘s hands, pat Bo on the head and then go to the ladies room and have a nervous meltdown of JOY!!!!