****
US News: She’s best known as America’s First Mom, the First Beekeeper, and Veggie Gardener-in-Chief. But first lady Michelle Obama is also getting quite a name in military circles: First Booster for the troops. “Certainly other first ladies and presidents have taken an interest,” says Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association. “But to make supporting military families [a priority], and not just to make it one of the things you do, this is a game-changer,” adds an appreciative Raezer.
Often teamed with her lieutenant, Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife, Obama has organized and attended more events for and with military veterans and their families than any previous first lady, according to veterans groups. This year alone, for example, she’s participated in 50 events, many out of the eye of the media, and even dedicated the White House Christmas tree to supporting veterans. “There is this sense that this is genuine,” says Raezer. “We haven’t had this kind of visibility from the White House - ever.”
Full article here
Thanks Donna
****
President Obama and his family will leave Hawaii early Monday evening, the White House announced Sunday, bringing their Christmas vacation to an end.
The first family will depart Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu at 5 p.m. local time (that’s 10 p.m. back in Washington). They’re expected to land at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday morning.
****
Mediaite: In an interview with Candy Crowley on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Ron Paul slammed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, saying it “undermined the concept of liberty” and “destroyed the principle of private property and private choices.”
“If you try to improve relationships by forcing and telling people what they can’t do, and you ignore and undermine the principles of liberty, then the government can come into our bedrooms,” Paul explained. “And that’s exactly what has happened. Look at what’s happened with the PATRIOT Act. They can come into our houses, our bedrooms our businesses … And it was started back then.”
More here
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*****
Morning everyone 
White House.gov
♥ ♥ ♥ Happy New Year Chips! Happy New Year TOD Family! ♥ ♥ ♥
Barack Obama Quote O’ The Day
Have a great day, everyone!
Morning PJ! Wow, you were quick!!! LOVE that quote!
I had just gotten my coffee, powered up, and muddled around a bit online, when I saw the shiny new thread. Lucky me! Good omen for the 2012, methinks, lol. I have the day off — it’s all good.
Your posts over the weekend were spectacular, Chips. Onward and upward to a fantastic 2012!
Good morning, TODville!!
The State of the Union address will be on Tuesday, January 24th, this year. Some background on how the SOTU gets developed:
I love the Inside the White House series. In case you missed any of them:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house
Good Morning meta, thanks for this. I totally enjoy them. I send out a notice to my friends on my e mail address list. Marked on calendar as well. Thanks again. Enjoy your day, Meta. You always share such informative issues. I know that Chipsticks appreciates your efforts as well as all of us. Thank you.HZ
Thanks Meta.
GOOD GOLLY..YOU JUST HAD TO RUN THAT PIC OF THE PREZ AGAIN WITH THE ‘YUMMMM’ SMILE. LOL…MADE MY DAY!
Good Morning Sue. Pray all is well in your life as well. Sue, it made my day as well. I had just finished my prayers , and then I came in to check in with my family here. However, this photo always reminds me of how well our thoughts, prayers, and meditations going out to him keeps him looking great. We are so blessed to have him as our President of the United States of America. Be bless, Mr. President.HZ
IThe Rick Santor —can’t say it— tweet, I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING!!!! OMG Frickin’ HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Dave, I know. Is he the biggest idiot, or is he the biggest idiot??? BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHA
Agreed! That was the funniest thing ever…!
That tweet almost made me spit out my coffee!! Start the day with a laugh.
Morning everyone.
good morning TOD family
good grief I made the mistake to go on Huffy’s site.BFMistake!
man that Romney punk is such a punk! He has a LOT of balls comparing POTUS to Kim KarTRASHian and I cannot believe how many folks are backing him up
I pray and pray that the economy grows at supersonic speed cause he is bamboozling a LOT of people and he is getting away with this
might check back a little later
May GOD watch over POTUS;FLOTUS and the girls and may God watch over my TOD family
Hi Fred. Good to “see” you — hope all is well.
About Willard — this plastic pretender is not gonna get away with anything. HuffnPuff isn’t the way to start a morning, love
.
Morning everyone, morning Fred. Lovely to see you, how are you doing?
Fred, I’m confident that the general electorate will be put off by the over-the-top attacks of Romney. Remember, President Obama scores pretty high in the polls about likeability.
The challenge in the election won’t be to push back against character attacks. A majority of americans understand that President Obama is an honest and dedicated man, and is NOT an extremist.
No, the challenge will be to push back against the multiple distorsions, against lies, simplistic thinking, mythmaking, divisive rhetoric, scapegoating, etc. Republicans sense that the ground is shifting beneath their feet and they are desperate. That makes them pretty nasty.
In addition to the challenges you have listed I think combating voter suppression and holding the Senate will be great challenges. The President will be re-elected. It’s 48 hours before the Iowa vote and Romney is struggling to beat Ron Paul. There is no reason in the world that a well-liked frontrunner should be only a few points ahead of a completely unelectable entity like Ron Paul.
HP is trying their best to counter that narrative of Romney struggling. They have essentially been saying how “relaxed” he is, and trying to imply that he is so FAR ahead of anyone, that he’s just chillin’ in the meantime.
I just watched the movie from my Netflix last night called Fair Game about the illegal CIA disclosure of Valerie Plane during the GW admin. I think the end of it where Sean Penn playing Joe Wilson said that the problem was not Valerie being outed or his words being misrepresented that the subject was changed away from the topic of why we were going into the Iraq War to the Plane situation was the problem. Another words manipulation of the press to change the topic is our problem to worry about.
I agree with PJ, Fred
HP isn’t the way to start your day! You should know that by now 
Mitt is a Ken doll….with baggage. Pay no attention to the guy….really, I WISH he would just keep flapping his mouth….it means more and more and more good commercials!
Fred!
Good to see you! Wishing you and yours the BEST of the BEST for 2012!
Hi Fred. So good to see you here this morning. Have a great day, and (((((((((((((((((((((((Hugs to your precious Mom))))))))))))))))))))))HZ
Going to Huff Puff is like going to Red State or any other right wing site. Ariana is a Republican and will do everything in her power to undermine the president and “puff” up the R nominee. Romney has a lot of money to throw around and money is her lodestar. Wheels will be greased with her to give Romney an appeal he doesn’t have. She’d have been happier to do this “puffing” up with Newton Leroy, but, alas, he isn’t as rich. For the sake of your sanity, take that trashy site off you bookmarks or block it in some way. The nastiest comments are encouraged there, while there is lots of so-called “monitoring” of anything supportive of the president. It’s a waste of time and psychic energy.
thank you, jackie. i had been using that site for a quick overview, but increasingly i feel slimed when i go there. i’m de-bookmarking it right now, and adding ‘stay away from huffpost’ to my new year’s resolutions.
just saw on MSNBC that the ACLU rated Paul above Obama but didn’t catch what for.
Fred - I also had the unpleasant experience just now of hearing Newtie call President Obama an “amateur,”
to which I would only respond,
Ask Osama bin Laden if President Obama is an amateur. Ask him.
#PRESSON
This from the guy who could not even get on the Virginia ballot or in Missouri? Who doesn’t have enough money or campaign organization to respond to far less counter the Romney ad attacks?
Go away Newt, you’re so done.
Good morning, all.
Hi everyone, off to work soon, will try to keep up!
I can’t find any difference between fixed news and msnbc!
Lol!
Good morning!
There are more blondes on FOX.
HA! Good one
And those blondes are an insult to all other blondes out there, including me
Good morning TOD Crew!
“Romney holds a slight edge over rival Ron Paul in recent polls in Iowa…”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/02/us-usa-campaign-idUSTRE7BT14220120102
It seems to me if one has been running earnestly for President for five years and has a developed a 5-year-old, monied machine with a primary directive of getting you elected President of the United States, the one sentence you do not want to be reading 48 hours before the Iowa caucus is:
“Romney holds a slight edge over rival Ron Paul in recent polls in Iowa…”
Why can’t Romney close the deal?
SHIP OF FOOLS
==============
Santorum’s Brilliant Plan
Rick Santorum has a secret weapon. He’s such an appalling person with so little to offer humanity that Republican voters picked him last as their anti-Romney candidate. They flirted with Donald Trump. They picked Michele Bachmann at the Ames Straw Poll. They thought they would love Rick Perry. Herman Cain titillated them with the simplicity of his 9-9-9 tax plan. They turned to Newt Gingrich in abject desperation.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/1/2/92224/47833
Predict the Iowa Caucus results -
Romney - 31%
Santorum - 24%
Paul - 16%
Perry - 12%
Gingrich - 9%
Bachmann - 5%
Huntsman - 3%
SR< I think that looks just about right. Older voters will get out to vote and that will help Romney. Non-Paul voters will gang up to keep him out of the winning in the second round.
Good. I think the President wants it to be Romney. He’s ready to mop the floor with Romney in November. And so am I.
There’s no second round on the GOP side, unfortunately. If there were, Willard would be toast in Iowa.
Is huntsman on the ballot in IA?
My prediction willard will eek out a win within 3 points, not more than that.
Huntsman is on the ballot, but he’s had a dismal showing in the IOWA polls. Even in NH where he’s supposed to be a much stronger candidate, the highest he could pull off was 4th, after Romney, Paul, and Gingrich.
Thanks. I just found out that the other guy whashisname is also on the ballot.
It’s too bad the GOP doesn’t have the same system the Dems do where you can roll over votes to second and third choice candidates. Typical GOP inflexibility.
Exactly, plus their balloting process is secret, unlike the Democrats whose setup makes everyone declare openly their preference and allows people to use persuasion techniques to move the attendees in a new direction. Plus, and most critically, there is a threshold that means lesser candidates lose their votes if they can’t meet a minimum. I love that system.
GOP Caucus is basically a primary. One round of secret voting - I don’t know how they can even call it a caucus.
I don’t know, SR. Bob Dole got 26 percent of the vote in Iowa and he was better like than Romney. 31 seems high.
On Sunday, Democrats will showcase at an afternoon press conference a man who was laid off after Romney’s Bain Capital bought the plant where he had been employed in order to show, the Democratic National Committee says, “Romney’s decades-long record of putting profits before people.
From the DNC: “Randy Johnson worked at an American Pad and Paper (AMPAD) plant in Indiana that was bought by Bain Capital in 1992. After Bain took over they laid off workers, cut wages, slashed health care benefits and eliminated the retirement plan. The workers at the plant went on strike. Rather than negotiate with the workers, Bain closed the factory and laid off the 250 workers that were left. A few years after Bain bought AMPAD, they piled on debt and plunged it in to bankruptcy, closing more plants and laying off hundreds more workers. Despite the devastation to families and communities, Bain Capital made $100 million off the transaction.”
Background on war room effort from the DNC and Iowa Democratic Party: ” Sunday, January 1st through Wednesday, January 4th, the Democratic National Committee and Iowa Democratic Party will host a “War Room” at the Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel located at 401 Locust Street, across the skywalk from Polk County Convention Center and caucus media center in Des Moines.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2012/01/democrats_set_up_war_room_in_d.html
Eye test! Earth to TOD. Come in!
I more day until we don’t have to see Terry barnstad on tv anymore.
Have you ever noticed how much Republicans love tv?
I have yet to see any democrats on tv in over 3 days!
Are they alive?
They are smart to not waste their time on the Republican propaganda machine. They are doing other important stuff. DWS has been tweeting all weekend. The Obama campaign fundraised over Matt Romney’s birtherism comment. The Obama campaign in IOWA is fully engaged in lots of crucial behind-the-scenes activity while the Republicans and their cronies in the media run their mouths on TV.
For all the TV appearances, GOP propaganda Sundays, MSM slanted reporting, you would think they would be able to identify a clear front-runner by now. No, they are still floundering with THREE candidates within 2 points of each other while the MSM desperately tries to give Romney a victory.
Exactly!
THIS. *nods head in agreement*
They are in Iowa.
In Iowa, a Time to Vote, and, for Many, to Settle
“Campaigns often try to inflate their crowd estimates and over-marvel at their spectacles to convey a sense of excitement. But Mr. Romney is the rare candidate who actually does this from the stage.
“We should have rented a bigger room, my goodness!” Mr. Romney exclaimed Saturday night in Sioux City, admiring the sight of a few hundred viewers in a spillover space. Nor is he the best counter in the world: “There are over a thousand people — I guess, 1,500 people here!” he said outside a West Des Moines supermarket Friday. It was closer to 500, The Des Moines Register reported, generously.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/us/politics/iowa-caucus-voters-lack-enthusiasm.html?pagewanted=all
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *gasp* hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Vote Mitt Romney 2012. Change you could begrudgingly accept under duress after all the not-Romneys regretfully flamed out.
The fool can’t even tell the truth about the number of people in a room!!!
He is just a fake. All of them are.
His campaign will be pure comedy. His campaign will just inflate his numbers, while President Obama’s mega crowds will get that “disappearing act” treatment. Where the media will downplay or under count the obvious gargantuan numbers.
Yes, it will be a repeat of the “massive” crowds for McGrumpy/Palin, vs close up shots of the President showing only a small number of people. Mittens campaign will be comedy gold.
It will be important for democrats to bring their cell phones to the rallies and then post the videos on youtube, FB, etc.
The general electorate have to be awaken to the games of the MSM.
>>>>”It was closer to 500, The Des Moines Register reported, generously.”<<<<
First, the Fool on Stool incident, now this.
Feel the Excitement! Not. It's gonna be a helluva job selling Willard to the public. This dope.
Yes — DF, genius!
Heh, after all cooking up numbers is his forte.
Loved your tag line.
Good morning TOD people! So the Obama’s are going back to DC, Michelle Obama & Jill Biden actually mean what they say about supporting our troops and their families and Santorum is surging from behind, eh? That’s quite a plate full!
Too bad Rahm won’t be around to kick ass and take names if anyone acts up at the SOTU.
Julie
Test three.
Sorry FiredUp, I just found your comment in pending - freed it! I still can’t figure out why some links are automatically blocked here, and others aren’t. Any experts out there?
Thank you Chipsticks.
#MN vols came to help @OFA_IA & @BarackObama! They are going to help us have a great turnout for the #IACaucus on tues!
http://twitpic.com/820xrz
That’s what I meant in my comment above. This is a much better use of the Democrats’ time than wasting time on TV responding to BS slanted questions from pundits who are in the pockets of the Koch Republican Corp.
The only concern I have, it worked for the Republicans in 2010!
Albeit, it is now a different electorate!
The dynamics of midterms versus Presidential elections are VERY different. The media has been trying to push the idea that you can predict the general from the 2010 midterms - knowing that it’s not the case - particularly in the case of Barack Obama who is an extremely well-known and liked figure, domestically and internationally. For example how many know who their house rep is? Or care for that matter? How many people from the international community know about the individual house reps?
Jovie, Barack Obama was NOT on the ballot in the midterms. Huge difference.!
Start the New Year off right with a with a new profile picture that will show all your friends who you’ll be standing with at the 2012 Iowa caucus!
You can use the images below as your own profile picture on any of your favorite social networking sites. Simply click on the images below to download and use use as your own!
http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/IA-show-your-support-for-2012
As all of our staff and volunteers across the state can tell you, the work that they’ve been engaged in for the upcoming Iowa caucuses is an incredibly important first step to building the most sophisticated field program in the history of American politics. By using the caucus as an opportunity to lay our foundation for November 2012, it has already provided the much-needed time to have the face-to-face conversations, neighbor-to-neighbor discussions, and volunteer participation needed to win in 2012. In the home turf of the Iowa Hawkeyes, teams in Iowa City and throughout Johnson County have shown time and again that they are making the most of this organizing opportunity. Check out the video below for a story about the Iowa City team’s caucus organization that just ran on a local TV station.
http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/IA-better-know-a-turf-iowa-city
1a) ‘I think the minimum wage ought to keep pace with inflation.’
1b) ‘There’s no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs.’
———-
2a)’I've been a hunter pretty much all my life.’
2b)’Any description of my being a hunter is an overstatement of capability.’
———-
3a)’It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam.’
3b)’I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there.’
———-
4a)’My view is that we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet.’
4b)’I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that.’
———--
5a) ‘I’m going to take burdens off the back of the auto industry.’
5b)’Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.’
———--
6a)’ I’m not in favor of privatizing Social Security or making cuts.’
6b)’Social Security’s the easiest and that’s because you can give people a personal account.’
—
Romney said ALL of these things
provide a link so I could tweet
gobrooklyn~ this Youtube video contains many of the same elements of Linda’s post. Here’s the link:
Since Mitt would VETO the Dream Act….http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/us/politics/immigration-talk-turns-off-some-hispanics.html?_r=2
And Benen has a good piece this morning: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/romney_vows_to_kill_dream_act034461.php
As these voters hear more about Romney — not just his opposition to the DREAM Act, but his animus towards Latino immigrants in general — the former governor is digging himself a deep hole with one of the nation’s fastest-growing constituencies.
Lionel Sosa, a Texas strategist who advised George W. Bush John McCain on appealing to Hispanics, recently told the NYT, “[Romney] can make as many trips to Florida and New Mexico and Colorado and other swing states that have a large Latino population, but he can write off the Latino vote. He’s not going to gain it again.”
Given the size of the Latino population, that’s writing off a huge chunk of the American electorate.
Excellent work, Willard. Keep it up. PLEASE keep it up!
I KNOW! That’s why I want him to JUST KEEP TALKING!!!!!
Oh desertflower, you are SO right. This man is his own worst enemy. The more you know him, the less you like him. He makes incredibly stupid statements to satisfy the people directly in front of him and doesn’t realize the long-term impact of his comments on the much larger group of people outside the room. He has not only completely alienated the ever-growing Hispanic population, but he drove away the very powerful, influential and affluent gay/ lesbians with his desire to reinstate DADT. He literally makes enemies wherever he goes. Keep it up, Willard.
COLONIA JUAREZ, Mexico — Three dozen of Mitt Romney’s relatives live here in a narrow river valley at the foot of the western Sierra Madre mountains, surrounded by peach groves, apple orchards and some of the baddest, most fearsome drug gangsters and kidnappers in all of northern Mexico.
Like Mitt, the Mexican Romneys are descendants of Miles Park Romney, who came to the Chihuahua desert in 1885 seeking refuge from U.S. anti-polygamy laws. He had four wives and 30 children, and on the rocky banks of the Piedras Verdes River, he and his fellow Mormon pioneers carved out a prosperous settlement beyond the reach of U.S. federal marshals. He was Mitt’s great-grandfather.
Gaskell Romney, Mitt’s grandfather, settled in Mexico as well, and Mitt’s father, George Romney, was born in nearby Colonia Dublan — raising the possibility of a 2012 presidential race between two contenders whose fathers were born outside the United States.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-besieged-mormon-colony-mitt-romneys-mexican-roots/2011/07/21/gIQAFGOXVI_story.html
My armchair psychonalysis is that Mitt Romney is deeply insecure about his father being born in Mexico. Unlike President Obama, who proudly embraces his diverse background as being central to his character, Mitt Romney never mentions his unique family history.
I think this lifelong insecurity has translated into overcompensating by being anti-immigrant, boasting that he’d veto the DREAM Act, that he would deport Presdeint Obama’s uncle (even though he is a legal resident).
Willard has issues. He needs to work on them.
oops meant psychoanalysis.
for Willard to answer WHY Papa was born in Mexico, brings up that MORMON thing.
WHERE’S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE, WILLARD?!?!
…or in this case, “acta de naciamento”
Reminds me of 2008 — They kept prodding at Barack Obama’s origins but John McCain was born in the Panama Canal, for pete’s sake.
$10,000 bucks says that these relatives will be put into a Romney campaign ad or two come the general. Mitt will all of a sudden embrace his Mexican roots.
If Mitt was really a seasoned politician with half a brain in his head, and not just an entitled racist millionaire who thinks he deserves to be President, he would have parlayed his Mexican “heritage” into a solid Latino support base. he could have been working with Latino groups during these five years he’s been running for President, and been able to show what he’s done to support them and understand them. He could have even done a couple of trips to Mexico to visit his long-lost relatives - really cemented the support. But, he’s a liar and he’s pandering to the other racists in his group. This is going to be a fun election year, if this is the quality of the opposition.
Let’s face it…if Romney did all this…he would NOY be Romey……
It’s obvious to me he’s going to choose a Latino running mate and will think that will smooth over everything with the Latino community. I still think it will be Susana Martinez because Romney will think he could check the Latino box, southern state box and the woman box all at once.
I expect Romney to weasel out of his DREAM Act veto pledge by saying “I said I’d veto it because we need comprehensive reform, not piecemeal, if the DREAM Act is part of the overarching reform than that I would support”.
But - the President is offering comprehensive reform, with the DREAM Act as a component of it. So, either Mitt has to take the President’s position, or he has to take the opposite. Can’t be both. Plus, he’s already on record saying he doesn’t want a path to citizenship for the undocumented workers, and doesn’t want any form of amnesty - he’s going to have to explain what he would do instead.
DNC Statement on Mitt Romney Saying He Would Veto the DREAM Act If President
Posted by DNC Press on Saturday, December 31, 2025 at 8:08 p.m. ET
After Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said today at a campaign stop in Iowa that he would veto the DREAM Act if it passed and he were president, the DNC’s Senior Advisor for Hispanic Affairs, Juan Sepúlveda, released the following statement:
“If there had been doubt in anyone’s mind—least of all, Hispanics in America, that Mitt Romney’s far-right views on immigration would make him the most extreme presidential nominee in recent memory, his statement today that he would veto the DREAM Act if he were president is appalling. This piece of legislation has been supported by members of both parties. It is something that Americans can get behind, and it is in line with the spirit of inclusion and diversity of our country that has made our nation great.
But Mitt Romney has shown once again that he is out of touch and far to the right of even members of his own party, and that he would not represent the best interest of middle class Americans, those still trying to reach the middle class, and Hispanics in the country. This is in direct contrast to President Obama who strongly supports opening the American Dream for hard-working, patriotic young people who are leaders in their communities today and who are looking for an opportunity to attend college or serve our country in the military, but who can’t, through no fault of their own.”
http://www.democrats.org/news/press/dnc_statement_on_mitt_romney_saying_he_would_veto_the_dream_act_if_presiden
The mittoinette kochead candiddate is doing this anti-Latino to pander to the sleazebags in the primaries..watch him start lying to them in the General that he’s all about the Dream Act. Sociopaths don’t need no stinkin reasons just TONS of MONEY. That’s my theory, anyway.
Actually, more than a theory..we’ve all seen him in action..or read about it.
Looks like Rambo is loose on Mt Ranier area. This guy has snapped, killed a few folks and has assault weapons.
Mt Ranier area has been evacuated.
These guys are trained not to get caught.
Where did you read that more have been killed ?
CNN!
I used to camp in WA state. I hated that bill to allow guns in national parks. Now there’s some nutcase holed up in the national park for who knows how long. Maybe he succumb to the winter weather and turn himself in.
From what I have read one death is being attributed to the shooter. However, “the “strong person of interest” identified in the case, Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, is also suspected in a shooting that broke out earlier at a New Years Eve party in Skyway, Wash., that left four people wounded, two of them critically.”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/01/mount-rainier-ranger-shot-manhunt.html
He is an vet from Iraq….our vets need help….just because you come home from the war….does not ,mean that are leaving the war behind….
All the GOP candidates who have given IOWA stump speeches so far (Romney, Gingrich, Santorum) have only been attacking President Obama. I guess they’ve been carefully instructed to do just that and not go after each other. They don’t understand how STUPID and CLUELESS they appear doing that. It makes them seem DESPERATE and THREATENED. And that strategy will BACKFIRE. This is not 2010, and Barack Obama is not some obscure House Rep or generic presidential candidate that can easily be swiftboated by dishonest attacks. It did not work in 2008, and it certainly won’t work in 2012.
That is one of the more uncanny things I am hearing. I mean, right now or at least later on this year, they are going to have to break down why they would actually be a better President than Barack Obama has been. I mean, calling Barack Obama Kim Kardashian ain’t gonna do it. He has to have REAL CONCRETE policies that are entirely different and plausible to work. Thats where Barack Obama’s genius has been for the last three years. Every policy that Republicans have rejected have been endorsed by Barack Obama. He has a lot of policies and goodwill worked up that will always make Republican attacks seem minuscule and tactless. I say, let them keep on going.
The other beautiful thing about President Obama’s position is that a lot of people are clueless about what he’s accomplished, including a lot of the Republican contenders and their rabid base (plus, many on the left, sadly). So, when he starts debating them, they’ll be shocked to hear that he’s either already done what they’re accusing him of not doing, or that the people who’ve prevented him from doing something are the very GOP that they are getting ready to elect. And he can just bring out witness after witness after witness to testify to the benefits of their programs.
Two good examples - he’s cut taxes more than a dozen times, and he’s made Medicare and prescriptions more affordable for Seniors. The tea partiers think their taxes have been raised, and seniors think he’s made life less bearable for them. If Mitt’s the nominee, he will have to explain to seniors why he wants to privatize their Social Security, repeal health care and give them savings accounts to pay for their medical expenses. When Mitt starts rattling off about states versus federal health care, and how states should be allowed to choose how to handle health care - President Obama can point to the waivers that he offered to any state that had a better idea for health care and could deliver it cheaper with as much coverage - and the fact that no states, except Vermont, have taken him up on the offer.
The thing about these GOP candidates is that they’re stupid and can’t think for themselves. So, since they have no convictions on the issues that people care about (Santorum’s just about abortion and his religion), they’ll have a hard time thinking on their feet. It’s one thing to have big moneybags running ads for you - but when faced with the genius that is President Obama, they’ll cower.
I hand copied due to lack of printer ink currently the posting yesterday of when which parts of the ACA will kick in. In the process of copying it instead of skim reading it I have gotten the many parts of it in my brain in a more cemented fashion. Also this morning I was listening to progressive radio for a few minutes will dressing. I heard Thom Hartmann talking about Senator Ron Wyden’s agreement with Paul Ryan’s idea of individual choices and voucher care in the Medicare arena. I had read it here earlier and it was holiday preparation time so I let it go. This morning I sat down and wrote in a respectful manner an email to my Senator Ron Wyden telling him all the reasons I could think of why his stand with Paul Ryan was wrong. I also gave him personal stories of my own upcoming knee replacement surgery and my Mom’s recent 3 day hospital stay siting the $25,000 statement for that part only. I said the $8,000 voucher would not address much of anything.
Does anyone else think that Robert Traynham of Comcast and MSNBC is annoying?
I think just about everyone on MSNBC is annoying with the exception of Rev Al, Martin Bashir, and perhaps Lawrence O’D.
I am with you on the first two…..
I always feel like I am being lectured by him.
Yep, he’s the new “black conservative” voice now. Not really scared of him. Arguments are like flammable paper mache. Just get some matches or a magnifying glass and watch them engulf his arguments in flames.
he is a slave catcher, plain and simple.
Ford car sales return to pre recession levels….Hey Mitt! Should they have gone belly up??? Effing fool.
http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/12/ford_brand_returns_to_pre-rece.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+michigan-news+%28Michigan+News%2C+Updates%2C+Photos%2C+Videos+and+Opinions+-+MLive.com%29
I’m glad that Ron Paul was so brutally honest about his stance on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I hope it will have a sober effect on people like Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Jon Stewart.
I have always considered Ron Paul’s ideology to be simplistic and incompatible with good governance. But his statement yesterday on CNN made be realize something: not only he foolishly narrows his ideology to the sole value of “individual liberty”, he also narrows the concept of liberty itself. He associates it to private property. How short-sided is that ??? If he was in front of me, I would ask him a simple question: before the 1963 Civil Rights Act, what kind of LIBERTY did black people had ? When a man is barred from entering in some restaurants, when a man is ordered to sit in a certain section of a bar and not in other sections, when a man is constantly afraid of being attacked… he is NOT FREE !
So even on his cherished value of individual liberty, Ron Paul can’t be taken seriously. His views don’t hold up to scrutiny. Oh, what a treat it would be to see Barack Obama crush him in a debate. Barack Obama has a much more profound, sophisticated, realistic view of the human nature and of the complexity of human societies. A view that takes into account the fact that there are multiple values that are important. Those values often come in conflict and the challenge is to find the right balance between them.
If I have to use past behavior as an indication of current or future behavior, I will say that I don’t think that Ron Paul’s stance on Civil Rights will have ANY EFFECT on the likes of Maddow, Hayes or Stewart.
I totally agree with you, hopefruit. These people ( such as Maddow, Hayes, Stewart, Greenwald, etc.) are not uninformed. They already know of Ron Paul’s fierce opposition to the Civil Rights Act. Personally, I don’t buy Paul’s liberty justifications to continue race based denial of liberty to Black people. The only plausible explanation for his opposition to the Civil Rights Act is that Ron Paul believes in white supremacy. His position is not that much different from those of slave owners who fought for the freedom to own other human beings as property. They justified their freedom to own fellow human beings by invoking the doctrine of superior and inferior races.
I cry BULLSHIT on Ron Paul’s false liberty claims! He voted FOR the Personhood piece of crap. I can’t think of a BIGGER infringement on rights than for someone to tell me what is what INSIDE MY BODY! What a farce he is. Everything is unconstitutional! Including Roe v Wade.
Isn’t that the whole gop game plan? Demand liberty and freedom except for women and minorities.
…and they’re worried about Sharia Law.
I’ve found that it’s very easy for those who haven’t experienced certain things to take extreme positions on issues like civil rights. Ron Paul never had to deal with the types of things you mention, LP, so he sees things from only his POV and lacks the ability to imagine himself in the place of those to whom these sorts of things happened/are happening. I’m one of those people who had to deal with not being able to enter certain places, and I’ll never forget it. My experience in dealing with discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice is what makes me ever vigilant. All of these are represented in Ron Paul and what he stands for. I don’t expect Rachel Maddow and other high profile PLers to stop fawning over Ron Paul because they, too, view the world from a perspective in which they’ve never been rejected by this society based solely on what they look like on the outside. For those blacks who support Ron Paul and other republicans, all I can say to them is don’t look at those of us who are telling them how dangerous these people are when they wake up one day and realize that they’ll have to place an order at a restaurant standing at the front counter because the owner doesn’t allow “their kind” to sit and eat in at his/her restaurant.
Personally, I tired of hearing about Iowa. For all the Paul love, and the not-Mitt crazies, I still strongly believe (and I bet majority of us all) that Mittens will be the nominee.
All this BS attention being put on the not-Mitt by liberals/faux-gressives are drawing away from the outright lies and nastiness that Mitt Romney has been spewing all over. Between the soft ball interviews and the damn near glamour shot profiles of Mittens, it just seems that they is so busy watching the car crash on the other side of the street, and barely no one is paying attention to the jack-knifed semi on our side (i.e. Mittens). Aside from the Obama campaign including Axelrod, his twiitter team, the campaign spokeman, no one seems to be calling out Romney’s outright lies or challenging his outrageous assertions.
Honestly, if I didn’t have a twitter account and did not read blogs like TOD and Prag-Obots or watch Rev Al’s show I certainly wouldn’t know of the outright swarmy, dishonest and outright dogwhistling that Romney’s been doing of late.
The 2008 campaign really opened my eyes. It’s thanks to President Obama’s campaign and election that I’ve become more informed about politics. Before that I realize that I was as uninformed as some of the voters we discuss daily.
I heard someone (a “liberal” pundit) saying that this hands-off policy with Mitt is exactly what the Obama campaign is hoping for, because they will be the first to bring out some of these issues during the general election when the whole world is watching. And Mitt will be completely flat-footed, because he won’t have had the chance to wrestle with these issues in the comfort of his GOP party. He really is a fool. The Obama-Clinton struggle made President Obama a better candidate, and neither of them had the guarantee that the party would just rally behind the eventual winner, unlike the GOP who fall behind their candidate (usually). By not addressing any issues, and hiding behind his feeling of being the eventual nominee, Romney hasn’t even given his own party and insight into who he is and why they should rally behind him. And I think that’s why so many are considering staying home - which is to our benefit. They’ve really messed it up over there.
Rick Santorum says black people need to stop taking YOUR money
GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum tells Iowans attending his rally “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money,” Santorum begins. “I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money and provide for themselves and their families.”
Santorum didn’t elaborate why he only singled out black people. Iowans and NPR didn’t seem to care.
http://chirpstory.com/li/3682
He doesn’t need to elaborate on why he singled out black people. The MSM and GOP alike have been pushing the meme that the current President (who happens to be black) is all about robbing whites to help blacks (using dogwhistle language). They pretend that they are criticizing Ron Paul - but Ron Paul’s letters simply articulated in print what a lot of those in the media and elsewhere are thinking and discuss at the dinner table behind closed doors but wouldn’t dare say in public lest they be accused. And that goes for many on the “left” as well. That’s why when someone indicated that they hoped that Hayes, Maddow and Stewart will wisen up to Paul, I say don’t hold your breath. Paul’s rantings represents their views.
Too true, hopefruit. I’ve become convinced that Rachel really does have some issues with deeply seated and unresolved racism. Stewart is without apology for his racism. I don’t know who Chris Hayes is, so no opinion there.
I used to love Rachel and am very saddened by this turn of events and to think that she would be racist shocks me, frankly.
Hayes used to fill-in for Rachel and now has his own weekend show on MSNBC called Up. I think he also writes for The Nation magazine.
And this racist nutjob is close to beating mittens ? oh, willard, what a fu..ing loser you are, even after 5 years of ‘campaigning’.
Just the facts!
http://www.osborneink.com/2012/01/meanwhile-while-the-left-was-looking-for-reasons-to-criticize-the-president.html
Ron Paul Bashes Civil Rights Act
Posted on 01/02/2025 at 9:56 am by Bob Cesca
No, not in a newsletter from years ago. It was yesterday. He bashed the Civil Rights Act yesterday.
Despite recent accusations of racism and homophobia, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) stuck to his libertarian principles on Sunday, criticizing the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it “undermine[d] the concept of liberty” and “destroyed the principle of private property and private choices.”
“If you try to improve relationships by forcing and telling people what they can’t do, and you ignore and undermine the principles of liberty, then the government can come into our bedrooms,” Paul told Candy Crowley on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And that’s exactly what has happened. Look at what’s happened with the PATRIOT Act. They can come into our houses, our bedrooms our businesses … And it was started back then.”
What exactly does Ron Paul think should have continued?
The Civil Rights Act repealed the notorious Jim Crow laws; forced schools, bathrooms and buses to desegregate; and banned employment discrimination. Although Paul was not around to weigh in on the landmark legislation at the time, he had the chance to cast a symbolic vote against it in 2004, when the House of Representatives took up a resolution “recognizing and honoring the 40th anniversary of congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Paul was the only member who voted “no.”
http://bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2012/01/ron-paul-bashes-civil-rights-act.html
I wonder if all those Occupy folks realize that Ron Paul would also include him in his tirade of “destroying the principle of private property” - they would have all been thrown in jail long ago for their tent cities.
Hi Theo, did you see my (& Puddin’s) request re planning for Inauguration? It was on the Dec 31st ‘Rise & Shine’ @ approx. comment #50. We are both very intrigued by your idea, and would like to establish email contact if you are even remotely interested. I am awaiting your response ‘with bated breath’ {**wonder how to ‘bate’ my breath? Hmmm**}
Ohio Earthquake Linked To Fracking Injection Wells | On New Year’s Eve, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck northeastern Ohio, the second quake to strike the region in a week. Saturday’s earthquake, which occurred in an area not typically known for this type of natural disaster, is being traced back to fluid injection wells at a Youngstown fracking site. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, “the quake was the 11th over the last eight months in Mahoning County, all within two miles of the injection wells.” They also point out that injection wells have been linked to earthquakes in other states as well, including Arkansas, West Virginia, Colorado and Texas. Two of the Ohio injection wells in question are now being shut down.
http://thinkprogress.org/
I got a kick out of that Saloon (teehee) dot com guy in the Rev. Al clip predicting Ron Paul would offer to be the Libertarian candidate. Wow. Fearless prediction there, dude. Everyone knows he’s going third party cuz there ain’t no way in heck he’s getting the Republican nomination. These people get paid for that nonsense? I like the idea that woman had about Students demanding to be able to vote with their student IDs. That would be a genuine surprise.
Wow! A democrat on tv. Praise be!
Woodnotes is pretty good though.
Ofa SPOX is Ben Labolt. Have yet to see him!
Good morning TOD family! Watching the Rose Parade, taking down Christmas and catching up here at TOD. My husband is going to the local OFA office today to make phone calls to Iowa. I also am tired of Iowa. These clowns on the other side are all so far from Presidential.
Know the First Family will be coming back to DC relaxed and ready for the new year. It is going to be a long hard and exciting year. I really do believe we will win. I am concerned about the down races. We have many big ones here in MT, the Senatorial, congressional, and governor. We have lots of work to do.
Political AnimalBlog
January 02, 2026 9:35 AM
Romney haunted by his victims
By Steve Benen
During Mitt Romney’s Senate campaign 17 years ago, the Republican politician was faring quite well against Ted Kennedy, right up until voters started hearing from some of Romney’s victims.
To briefly review, Romney got very rich running a private-equity firm, Bain Capital, which broke up companies and laid off American workers. He had considerable success orchestrating leveraged buyouts, seeking taxpayer subsidies, flipping companies quickly for large profits, and making money for investors, even when the employees of those companies were deemed collateral damage.
In the 1994 campaign, this mattered. Many of Romney’s victims drove to Massachusetts to protest the Republican’s campaign, and Democrats put together a half-dozen ads featuring laid-off workers who said they suffered while Romney lined his pockets at their expense.
It proved effective in 1994, and Dems hope it will work again in 2012.
.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/romney_haunted_by_his_victims034459.php
Racism in a Straight Line
by BooMan
Mon Jan 2nd, 2012 at 11:50:44 AM EST
Sometimes I feel like our country has simply airbrushed out our Jim Crow history. We act like we’ve been absolved of all guilt, as if we didn’t run a third of our country like a South African-apartheid state for nearly a full century. We forget that we were competing with the Soviets for hearts and minds in the Third World while we were treating blacks as subhuman here at home. It was a problem that had to be fixed. Asking nicely wasn’t working. Relying on the Supreme Court’s moral guidance wasn’t working. We finally created sufficient congressional will to do away with Jim Crow in 1964. We created voting rights in 1965. We created housing rights in 1968. The federal government had to do those things because the states could not generate the political will to do it themselves. But look at what Ron Paul had to say about this in 2004:
“[T]he forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty,” he wrote. “The federal government has no legitimate authority to infringe on the rights of private property owners to use their property as they please and to form (or not form) contracts with terms mutually agreeable to all parties.”
What Rep. Paul is saying here is that a private businessperson should be able to deny service, housing, or employment to someone based on their own prejudices and hatreds. At the very least, he is saying that the federal government has no constitutional authority to regulate these kinds of transactions. I don’t believe he would support individual states regulating the transactions either, although he might see that as legally permissible.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/1/2/115044/4298
January 02, 2026 8:25 AM
Cantor can’t handle the truth about Reagan
By Steve Benen
CBS’s “60 Minutes” ran a good profile on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) last night, but there was one portion of the interview that was especially important.
In this video, it starts at about the 10:19 mark. For those who can’t watch clips online, Cantor told Lesley Stahl, “Nobody gets everything they want.” Asked if that means he’s ready to compromise with Democrats, the oft-confused Majority Leader replied that he’s “ready to cooperate.” Stahl, of course, noticed word choice, and pressed Cantor on the difference between cooperation and compromise.
It led to this exchange:
Stahl: But you know, your idol, as I’ve read anyway, was Ronald Reagan. And he compromised.
Cantor: He never compromised his principles.
Stahl: Well, he raised taxes and it was one of his principles not to raise taxes.
Cantor: Well, he — he also cut taxes.
Stahl: But he did compromise —
Cantor: Well I —
At that point, Cantor’s press secretary, off camera, interrupted the interview, yelling that Stahl was lying when she said Reagan raised taxes. As Stahl told “60 Minutes” viewers, “There seemed to be some difficulty accepting the fact that even though Ronald Reagan cut taxes, he also pushed through several tax increases, including one in 1982 during a recession.”
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/cantor_cant_handle_the_truth_a034458.php
This is great. I know our campaign will be all over this clip.
I think this is important in that it highlights the theory that these people are stuck in a feedback loop of Fox News propaganda. They only get their information from sources that confirm their biases to the extreme extent that they no longer can distinguish their belief system from reality. They honestly believe Reagan didn’t raise taxes and refuse to accept facts that prove otherwise. For the low information voter, I can see how this makes sense, but for people who are supposed to know better? I can’t even begin to grasp how they got so far off track.
This story does not seem to be getting as much play as it should. Iowa is dominating the news. Cantor probably was not aware that the interruption of his press secretaty would be aired.
Lord knows I have my problems with Reagan. His style of leadership and courting of the Religious Right were the starting point of the line that leads to the politics of today. But the fact is that the Reagan of the 1980s would be anathema to the GOP of the 21st Century. Not only did he raise taxes 12 times, but he also granted the undocumented amnesty, facts which have gone down the Right’s memory hole. Not only is the GOP no longer the Party of Lincoln, it’s not even the Party of Reagan.
“Not only is the GOP no longer the Party of Lincoln, it’s not even the Party of Reagan.” You are absolutely right, LL! I lived in Oregon when Reagan was Governor of California, and he was pretty right winger so far as oregonians were concerned, but no where near the insanity of the modern day teabaggers.
It sickens me that these GOP liars have no qualms about calling out other people as liars (and those people are usually not lying), but start squealing like little piglets when they’re caught out in their own lies. They really live in their own reality.
I got my new avatar. It finally works!!!
We should all have that Avatar!
Betsy where do you get the avatars? It’s high time for me to get one for here and Twitter!
Despite candidates spending millions attacking @BarackObama in IA, no poll in recent months has found any GOP candidate beating him in IA.
Ben Labolt-
Moral of the story: GOP Attack ads will NOT work when it comes to Barack Obama. At this point, despite the media’s attempts to claim otherwise, he is too well known and well-liked not just domestically, but internationally. And it’s not just a matter of liking him - he’s also seen as the most trusted and honest politician on the campaign trail. Incidentally, that was also true in 2008 during the Democratic primaries.
I also recommend you also follow @WarOnVoting.
If greenwald belongs anywhere it’s in that gopropaganda wastedland called fox “news”. He and cenk along with the rest of the lying, toxic, hamheads. You, too, michael moore.
D Wasserman Schultz
@DWStweets
@MittRomney in IA: “I had an opportunity to work w/ people who lost their jobs.” Left out they lost jobs b/c he closed their companies down!
MORE hypocrisy anyone???
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/01/02/396177/iowa-election-day-registration/
Monday, January 2, 2026
Nuked Gingrich, Part 14
Posted by Zandar
As Newt continues to self-destruct, it’s funny to note that the further behind he falls in Iowa, the more desperate he gets for votes. At this point, we’ve finally gotten to the “ACORN will steal the 2012 election!” nonsense
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., used a stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to accuse the Obama administration of trying to “steal elections” in the wake of the Justice Department’s rejection of South Carolina’s voter identification law.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division determined that the state’s law requiring voters to show photo ID at polling places was discriminatory against minorities.
“…You have to ask, why is it that they are so desperate to retain the ability to steal elections and I think that what it comes down to,” Gingrich said.
Because of course no black President could ever legitimately win an election in the first place, so of course he’s going to steal re-election too. Who will stop this evil, evil man before he destroys the country with left of moderate policies and common sense governance?
The larger problem of course is that the only possible explanation that Gingrich can find for opposing a law designed to disenfranchise voters is a massive conspiracy to steal elections, because all Republicans know that Democrats only win by stealing elections. No actual living Christian Americans would ever vote for a Democrat, and America is a Christian country, so really the only way Republicans can lose is if Democrats steal the contest.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2012/01/nuked-gingrich-part-14.html
there is a saying in my community when someone shows a side of themselves that you haven’t seen before, we say their “showing their ass…”
Well one thing this liberal fascination/love affair with Ron Paul has done is cause alot of people who some might consider reasonable to completely “show their ass”. People like Maddow, Stewart, Chris Hayes et al, who just seems too willing to excuse Paul if not blatant, then overtly racist positions and commentary. This is not old defense for Paul that people can say was a past statement, Paul again re-interated his disdain for the Civil Rights Act on Sunday.
I mention TNC tweets on a past post, because TNC is far from an O-bot and I think this whole Paul thing is really pissing off alot of the black bloggers I read and follow. Once the Paul campaign runs it’s course a lot of them I bet won’t soon forget how some white liberal they considered compadres, so easily excused the racism inherent in those Paul newsletters just because he “anti-war” or “anti-drug war”.
Gooddonate morning everyone. Thank you Chips for just doing a wonderful job, as usual. I agree with you lamh35. I will be glad when all of this attention on these idiots are over. They are really showing how disgusting they really are. How desperate they really are. And I am very proud that We have a President who had morals, class and intelligence. Every time one of them speaks, I donate! This is a good morning to donate and it helps me to not let my emotions take over. This time around, I am taking that negative energy to educate voters and encourage those who are misinformed to learn more on their own and stop depending on MSM to keep you in the dark. Have a blessed day, everyone! We deserve it. We have a President, VicePresident and administration who are working hard for us. Our President looks rested, revived and well loved. So all I can say is LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Wherein Glenn Greenwald jumps the shark: http://chirpstory.com/li/3683
Venture over to The People’s View…..the ENTIRE ODIOUS shit stain that GG is, can be seen up close and personal.
Good to see that most of the tweets were pushback, and vigorous pushback at that. In a normal world, GG would lose his position at Salon over this. He won’t, which speaks volumes about the “values” of the PL.
I heart you, desertflower. You are the one person who truly knows how to curse effectively. I’m not a big fan of the swearing, but seriously, you make me laugh with your composition of salty language.
It should be “has” up above. And by the way, I will not make excuses for a racist. I do not care if he stands for other things that they want to hear. You cannot pick and chose the truth. The truth is a racist hate is toward everything and everyone that threatens him. And sooner or later it will come out one form or another. So is these so-called liberals can make excuses, then my question to them is: WTF are you?
Hi everyone, new post here:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/01/02/the-gop-pledge/