****
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, watch from the back of the room during President Barack Obama’s meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to President Barack Obama as she arrives at the NATO Summit in Chicago
…. with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (center) and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left)
…. with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir
…. welcoming Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt
…. with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte
…. with European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton
****
1st!
Way to go Don! Nice to see one of the males hustling into 1st place.
Wooooooooot, Don!
I’m sorry … I am giggling so hard. Those expressions look for all the world like expressions on the faces of a couple who have been married, really “married” for a long time (I have been married for 42 years), he looks like he is trying to explain himself, some action, some words, and she has that “really?” expression on her face. This picture is awesome!
By the way Chips, that Cory Booker photo is HI-LARIOUS!
It is lol
I wonder if he was running the “spilled milk” joke by her that day. The one he told at the State of the Union Address.
WTG, Don!
hey chips!!
Hellooooooooooo rikyrah!
Congrats Don. Great Day in Baseball. White Sox sweep Cubs! Karma is a bitch isn’t it? Chips and everyone, thank you for the links. If it was not for this blog….I would not know what is going on during the Sumit.
THANKS a lot for the G8 and NATO coverage…would never know about it if you watched the MSM.
Cory Booker has done us a favor. We now know who he is. His not a Democrat. He is not a friend of our President. Ingratiating himself to Wall St. and the MSM is his value over loyalty to his stated values, to his President, and to his Party and constituents. The money that Wall St. will give him, the attention that the MSM will give him counts for much more to Cory Booker. The world should now know who he is, and that he has no claim on anyone’s vote or support.
You should see the vid Cory Booker just put out that forus posted on the bottom of the last thread. I’d repost it if I knew how. Basically, it’s WALKING WAY BACK FROM HIS MTP COMMENTS. And, it’s SUPER BORING, IMV.
He’s been trying to justify himself all day with high-minded language about how people must take a stand against all the negativity and not embrace their lower nature. I told him it was a bunch or horse hockey. He embraced his lower nature by betraying the president and he did it for his own ego. Now he’s trying to sugar-coat betrayal. Too late. We know who he is. I hope the NJ Dems come up with someone else run to for governor. And, if he had any national ambitions, he just killed them.
The most generous way to look at what he did is that he’s genuinely weary of “negative” ads. What he MUST acknowledge is that there are all sorts of “negative” ads. The ones that are based on smears and distortions ( most of what the GOP is offering now) and the ones that are based on FACTS, like the Bain attacks from the Obama campaign.
What concerns me is that we may get to a point where EVERY effort to point out wrong doing will be painted as an “attack”. Jeezz… we already have journalists who are completely scared of pushing back against the dirty games and the lies of the GOP. Now any democratic politician will be shamed into not saying anything negative ???
That’s why this is so damaging to the Dems. He used false equivalency to dismiss LEGITIMATE criticism of Romney as nothing different than what the GOP is doing. Disgusting. And he does it on the national stage where the impact is the greatest. And now the GOP will have ammo direct from the “Dem” to use against the POTUS. Looks like Booker is making a deal with a GOP devil. Wonder which one?
Wow – I was out doing other things all day, and I see I missed a lot. Cory Booker betrayed the President? Oh, my. Whatever happened, your “SUPER BORING” comment, Cha, was like the “kiss of death” for a politician! Good one.
very glad to see President Obama’s interaction with other leaders. simply elegant.
well, the number of women heads of state is increasing and i like that
GCL, I was quite surprised to see ‘so many’ women myself. Shows how little I’ve kept up with world politics I guess.
All i can say about that Booker/Chistie photo is
Everyone have a good evening.
From the last thread:
“I’m sorry, but this still doesn’t rise to a level of out of controlness. I am watching the live coverage and a few numbnuts are spoiling for a fight. The CPD are holding them in check. with two, that’s TWO police dogs!!!! What’s Chicago gonna do, bring in a third dog? There is absolutely nothing wrong with peaceful protest, nor Chicago hosting NATO. We have a beautiful city and it’s a jewel for all the world to share. Now, that said, I hope we get through this without too much of an issue.”
UPDATE: There appears to be about 50-100 protesters who refuse to move as instructed. They are surrounded by helmeted police people and horses. A few have been arrested and are being walked to a paddy wagon with no incident. The MSM is really looking for this to blow up. They seem to want a Chicago ’68 Dem Convention to happen. IMO, the protesters and the cops can just stand there looking at each other til time for everybody to get back to their normal grind. #lifehappens
Big t storm heading that way which should help the disbursement. Most protested peacefully. There’s always these last gasp professional troublemakers just begging for a confrontation, throwing stuff at the cops and refusing to leave.
Angela Merkel is blushing like a school girl., lol.
I was just going to post that she sure looks smitten, but who can blame her. I’d be a puddle.
She always gets that look with Obama. I would too…..chance is a fine thing…sigh
Definitely not the most cheery bird in the nest. Most of the time she has the most sour look on her, so if PBO can charm a smile out of her, I say good on him.
You are so naughty Dudette…
So here’s Booker’s mea culpa – not too bad. He saves face and does a little correction. Thoughts?
The audio is horrible…. I had to strain to hear it…
really? It’s louder than most videos for me.
The audio was pitch perfect on my computer. I heard it loud and clear with no distortions. He certainly walked back his statement from this morning, and expressed his support for PBO. He even admitted that Romney’s record need to be examined more and that he has made his experience at Bain a centerpiece.
That’s all we want every Democrat to say. None of that is a lie. I could understand if Pres.Obama was asking him to lie. He wasn’t.
COS, why did Booker say what he said this morning on MTP? I don’t call myself brainer, but even I knew that Romney is saying he can turn things around base on his business experience, he has created jobs, so why isn’t it fair game to check out all this business experience. See if he has created jobs or destroyed jobs. I say Booker never thought he would get the push back that he receive, now he’s trying to cover his ass.
Yeah, I thought it was just my laptop. I had it on High and could barely hear it. But, it was Super Boring to me..stared getting bored before the two minute mark.
He WALKED WAY WAY WAY BACK! Musta Been Twitterverse. Tweet Tweet.
He looks like a deer in the headlights. Geesh…
it wasn’t in stereo on my computer. Maybe that was distorted on others.
fuck him
he’s dead to me.
mark this day as the day his aspirations for state wide office (governor / senator) died.
I will never vote for this Judas
I won’t vote republican, but I just stay home.
To stab the President in back so he can raise funds for a state wide run is unforgivable. period.
No good for me, Forus – he equated attacks on Rev Wright with attacks on Bain (“nauseating”), which was the dumbest, most empty-brained observation I’ve heard in a while. He freaked when he was called out for it, hence the video. Too late, Cory, you’ve just become right wing fodder. I’d like to know where most of his funding comes from. Anyone?
I’m with you, Chip. So disappointed with this. Really lost a lot of respect for Booker. It’s always that false-narrative that pisses me off the most. Well, this and this is just as bad as this and that. Like when moderates try to pretend ‘both sides do this!’. No, no they don’t.
Hi DI, really taken aback by this today, had a lot of time for Booker – without knowing a huge amount about his background, to be honest. He can try all he like, but there’s no walking this back:
“This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity, stop attacking Jeremiah Wright. This stuff has got to stop, because what it does is it undermines, to me, what this country should be focused on. It’s a distraction from the real issues. It’s either going to be a small campaign about this crap, or it’s going to be a big campaign, in my opinion, that the American public cares about.”
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/mayor-cory-booker-democrats-and-republicans-shouldnt-be-making-election-about-crap/
The Rev Wright and Bain are left/right attack equivalents?! Good grief.
Right. Booker would have a point of Obama went after the LDS faith, questioned their doctrine, brought up polygamy, bur he hasn’t and won’t because Obama is a good man who doesn’t dare question or criticize someone else’s faith. When Romney makes his business experience an ISSUE in this campaign, Americans have the right to know just what his business experience is and it’s ravaging American communities solely to turn a profit. That’s what he did at Bain and that’s what he wants to do as president.
Wow. Typo City! haha
“Booker would have a point of Obama went after the LDS faith, questioned their doctrine, brought up polygamy, bur he hasn’t”
Absolutely. Him likening the Rev Wright attacks with the questioning of Romney’s Bain record (which, as you said, is part of his claim to be the master business guy) was the worst example of false equivalence I think I’ve ever seen. You’re so right, if Romney’s Mormonism had been dragged up as an issue then the comparison with the Rev Wright attacks would have been fair. But it hasn’t been, and won’t ever be by the Obama campaign.
I never really thought much of Cory Booker…
Never really bought into his excessive self-promotion and rather inauthentic posturing…
Always sensed a more than unhealthy ambition that always seemed to trump the greater good even when he seemed to insist it was about the community…
Sadly, there are too many high level Democrats who just don’t know how to selflessly rally for their candidate (especially for President Obama) without letting their envy and political ambitions get in the way…
They end up not only muddying things terribly but unfortunately for them, overplaying and exposing their hands and losing whatever support and goodwill they might have ever hoped to engender from the President’s core support structure for theIr own future political aspirations…
There really is no walking back earlier statements that were very clear, unambiguous and made with seeming conviction…
Cory Booker is only sorry his public effort at perpetuating the false equivalences effectively pushed by the media that seek to protect Mitt Romney while handicapping President Obama, failed woefully…
Shame on Cory Booker whose constituents have been the most devastated by the policies supported and financed by companies like Bain through their right wing puppets including his politically convenient pal Governor Christie…
I have yet to hear Cory Booker admonish Christie even mildly for his awful policies…and that’s really all you need to know to figure that this is not an honest or authentic broker or critic…
Agree completely, DI. His ego got control of him and now he’s trying to wrap his failure in a bunch of noble self-righteousness. Too late, He’s done.
I agree. I don’t count on my “intuition” about people – would rather get to know them. But I’ve never been a fan of Cory Booker. He always seemed to be self centered and very, very ambitious. I just didn’t detect much humility in him. As far as I’m concerned he’s done. Mitt has been saying that the Obama campaign ads about his Bain experience is “character assassination” and Booker just gave credibility to that claim. He can’t unring the bell as far as I’m concerned.
Ouch, pretty brutal. He’s very ambitious that’s for sure. And I too have had a bit of discomfort about him for some time. Let’s hope he learns from his mistakes and from President Obama’s example.
You are right about high level democrats having to keep their egos in check. Look at the difference between Booker and Governor O’Malley for example; day and night. Governor O’Malley is gaining respect and admiration within the democratic party. He is a very effective surrogate and is genuinely very supportive of President Obama. He just oozes leadership and statesmanship. I like him. A lot.
Well said, Drunken Irishman!
DI: you wrapped it up so succinctly!
Yeah, this one hit me in the gut. If Cory was a stupid man, I could let this go. But this seems calculated and coldly cynical.
I’m very disappointed, because i believe he knew exactly what he was doing; you don’t get to be a Rhodes scholar for being a dummy.
One more thing: Roland Martin tweeted this “nauseating” statement about how African-Americans should stop jumping on people for criticizing Obama. Something like that.
That angered me. This is not about race. It is about the future of this country! I would feel the same today if the president had been white.
People don’t get it, even some AA’s. As a people we do not support our own if we sense they don’t have what it takes. PBO would never have gotten ovewhelming AA response if we did not sense that he had what it took for the job.
We are very self-critical as a people, because we have always had to pass the stringent tests of others’ approval. We take no prisoners.
PBO and FLOTUS have so far passed every test. That is why we support them. Their race is just icing.
No, it needs to be tweeted to Roland Martin that it is about our Country and I would tweet him myself as a older Irish Woman but alas I don’t Tweet. But, absolutely adore all you Twitter Bugs!
Typical of Roland Martin who I heard voted for George Bush twice. (single issue voter) I will take Cory any day over Roland.
When I find out Roland Martin voted for G.W. Bush twice, I had no more use for him, he is in the same boat as Tavis Smiley and Corny West.
When I found out that Roland voted for G.W. twice,
One time is astonishing yet forgivable. Twice ???!!!! Un-bel-lie-va-ble.
ALL OF THIS! This whole episode infuriated me and Roland had no idea what he was talking about. Many of Cory Bookers defenders wanted to distract from his actual words and point out that we should be “civil” and saying its about race. Bull! This was about Dems undermining Dems. Nothing to do with race. As for civility, that’s always going to be an issue but the vast majority of the push back was articulate and respectful.
I so agree. As a small business person. My husband and I constantly tell customers to not use us because we are
black ; but use us because we do a good job. That is how we support the president.
If talking about what Romney did at Bain makes him nauseated, I hope the good people of Newark makes him throw up the next time he is up for election.
Perfect! I’m originally from New Jersey, and I thought – finally – here was a new leader that would rise to national prominence like a rocket, with new ideas and a good heart, and he’s from my home state. Made me happy for New Jersey, especially because of their horrible governor. Sounds as though Mayor Booker may not be as ready for prime time as I thought he was.
I so agree with you Chips…..
Not to be trusted, ever!
.
I agree Chipsticks. However, it is pretty amazing how powerful Twitter is that he had to come out with this the same day. So now even with the weak tea mea culpa, the GOP still has that soundbite “nauseating” which is not good. However, POTUS is the best at turning lemons into lemonade like he did with Clinton attacks. For all we know, he will come out and say he agrees with Booker and doesn’t want that type of ad BUT he does want a factual professional ad about Romney job losses at Bain, etc. etc. I remember he didn’t like negative ads even about McCain unless they were “just the facts” and not all scary sounding.
That struck me too Forus, I’m always doubtful about the power of Twitter – but crikey, it was powerful today!
Komen for the cure, Stop Rush. One day trial balloon for Ricketts’ smear campaign. We now have a voice that can be heard!
If we don’t no one else will. We sure have no help in the “liberal” media who tend to push the GOP bullshit.
Damn right it was. Many of us kept hammering at Cory and I can’t help but think his walk back was because of it.
PBO won’t come out against the ad. It is already truthful. He’ll probably ignore what Booker said or joke about it but no walking back on that ad.
I agree, chips, and I think he’s made it pretty obvious where his funds are coming from. I think he may have just thrown away any chance for statewide office also. I doubt whether NJ Dems and Obama supporters are going to be supportive after today. And his argument in defense of Bain was just a braindead decision demonstrating a stunning lack of judgement
I tried watching the video but I was too nauseated by the sight of Cory Booker.
I hope he enjoys being Mayor of Newark.
thank you Chips! no givesies backsies, Crooker!!!!!!!
Cory knows he stepped in it. He’s not stupid, not by a long shot. That was a calculated move to show his $$men that he won’t just “go along to get along” with Pres. Obama. He overplayed his hand. He didn’t think as many people would be paying attention like they were.
Hey Cory, WE SEE YOU.
That’s how I see it. He’s laying the foundation for something in the future. You want to talk about nauseating – this is all political. And that’s nauseating. Even Jim Kramer, who no one considers an Obama supporter, has taken Romney to task for his period at Bain!
Two thoughts.
1) I know Cory is a good man, which is evident by risking his life by running into a burning house to save someone. I’m not going to condemn him with his moment of recklessness. The fact that he posted this video to clarify/correct himself is very admiral.
2) I’m very impressed by all the voices that swiftly came together in defense of President Obama.
Good thoughts.
Pun intended.
Up with Chris has a great discussion of Bain. Cory ought to watch it.
I found it unacceptable that he could not even discuss BAIN in this video. He may be a man of good qualities ( if he did in deed risk his life) but he also is coming accross as the calculating political animal needing BIG MONEY for future campaigns. If he really sees the discussion of Bain and Rev Wright to be the same thing, then he is not the man to fight for the middle class and the poor. The kind of business that Bain indulges in may be good for Bain, but not for other businesses and not for other investors, and not for regular workers.
Yes, if Romney wants to be president we need to scrutinize his record at Bain, his IRS records, and we need to know WHRE he invests his money! Anyhing else Booker has to say I am just not interested in. He over played his hand, and proved he will be no use in the fight to bring back business ethics, or to cut into the idea that corporations are borderless! If we sleep on this we really will wake up to a world where corporations just rule the world!
Spot on…
Me too..so Happily Impressed by those who Tweeted to set the record straight! John Legend said it best from forus’ comment down thread..
John Legend
@johnlegend Follow Following
@CoryBooker bringing up Bain is central to romney’s own case for his qualifications. Rev wright is not central to obama’s record at all.
Love it when people like John Legend who aren’t politicians, but who have a national following, speak out, too.
In my opinion he contradicted what he said on MTP. He got the message, but once you see through someone it is impossile to ever see them in the same manner.
You are so right Bill, I’m trying really hard to get my head around what Cory said.
No one is saying he’s a bad person. But after that appearance some people will see him as naive or as a political opportunist. How could he not know what he was saying and the type of backlash he would get?
I agree with you. Cory Booker’s betrayal made me angry, but it also made me sad. I will never think of him in the same manner. He walked his comments back somewhat, but the damage is done. His comments are fodder for the GOP.
I like Cory Booker. I guess I’m in the minority, but I don’t care. Onward we go.
Yes, onward we do and without Cory Booker. Self serving betrayals are not to be forgotten. Cory Booker has no one’s back except his own.
if he was not a surrgate for the Obama campaign……..would he have gotten this backlash
You’re not in the minority, I like Cory too:)) He was just very disappointing today but that doesn’t dismiss the totality of him as a person or politician.
Exactly.
Nothing wrong with being in the minority. Even if I was by myself, I still wouldn’t like Cory Booker. This is going to be a tough race and either you’re with us or you’re not. Either you can be counted on or you can’t. Booker proved this morning the Obama campaign can’t count on him.
amen.
co-signing
I have always liked him, which is why today’s comment was such a blow! That’s the last person from whom I would have expected an attack of this nature.
My response to clarifying video –
Cory Booker should check out the website below and get educated. Mitt Romney is running on the fact that he was CEO of Bain and that he supposedly created jobs. What does he expect President Obama to do. Just accept Romney’s job creation claims and let that stand? Another Democrat perfecting the art of the circular firing squad. This is catnip for the media. Cory Booker’s comments are probably getting more coverage than President Obama at the NATO Summit. This is just infuriating.
So President Obama is not supposed to talk about his own accomplishments because the Republicans don’t like it. And now he’s not supposed to question Mitt Romney’s qualifications for the presidency because the Republicans and Cory Booker don’t like it. So maybe we should follow what Ann Romney has said “It’s Our Turn Now” and just let Romney have the presidency because it’s owed to him.
Romney Economics
http://www.romneyeconomics.com/romney-model/romney-model-slide-01
I think he just said a stupid comment. Thru the power of twitter he is trying to save himself. Unfortunately. He said it on MTP.Time has a way of healing the dumb things we do. I feel sorry for him. He is a marked man in sense that he must work doubletime to even get close to making amends. I get sick of all the vitriole too. I remember people trying to speak positively on OBA blog in2008 so I am going to give him a chance.
Always though he was an asset for us. But today, he handed the GOP a nice comeback to all things Bain. I hope Obama team steps on the gas on Bain. Romney’s squeeling cuz it’s working. Also, notice lately he’s become some sort of media darling, casting himself as some moderated, new type of Dem. He’s liking the spot light a little too much, the sound of his voice a little too much. And I believe he thinks he’s cute.
^THIS
I agree. I continue to like him too. No one has ever said the right things all the time. Hard to be perfect in every situation. I took it to mean that all distractions big or small, from political issues are a waste of time. Like Hiliary Rosen, he will be more careful next time.
If he were a Republican, there would be no next time.
that was my take away. Phrased badly but still, I got what he was trying to say.
not just you. You don’t have to agree with everything and everyone can make a mistake or misspeak.
Keeping it moving
forus50, Booker had his chance to stand up for the Obama campaign this morning, he didn’t. Too dam late, he knows how the anti-Obama media is, he knew they would run crazy with this. And now people are piss with him and he is trying to cover himself. To hell with him.
It’s a comment on the pushback from social media that he felt compelled to issue a clarification. Remember Konen? ?Rush Let’s keep pressure on but couple with positive information for the promise of our President’s next term: health care, strengthened SS& Medicare, universal health care, sustainable budget, civil rights, fairness, women’s reproductive choice preserved, no more ME wars
Cory Booker is like so many “centrist” disloyal blue dogs who only care about himself. We should put an Artur Davis beat down on his disloyal butt. His career should be over. At least as a Democrat. We should make him join the Artur Davis nowhere club. Because Romney rode into town talking about Bain, and Bain we will talk about.
I agree totally June.
Maybe we should teach him a short, sharp lesson and bring him back into the fold. I don’t think we can be throwing away people right and left. Not going to be a campaign surrogate again, for sure, but don’t push him to the other side.
I think Mayor Booker did not understand that there are people who are watching everything that is said about PBO and they are tired of the lukewarm support, lack of support, or general carelessness that causes PBO to be undermined.
this is going to be a tough election and we have to put all hands on deck and support PBO because the time ahead is going to be challenging for us all
You hit the nail on the head about lukewarm support. I am sick of it. Blue dogs and iffy dems think they can do a Lieberman all day long and still get people to vote for them. Well I’m from Connecticut. Ask Lieberman why he has to sit his disloyal worthless butt down.
Yep.
Instead of almost 4 mins of bs, I’ve suggested the Mayor repeat this 10 word mantra over and over and over again ….
#AmericaThisIsNotATest
#PRESSON
Sorry, it’s too late. The damage is done. I no longer care what this guy thinks. He used a public forum to give a tool to the GOP thugs to use against PBO and thinks that speaking in lofty terms about divisiveness is going to erase the damage he’s done. He can cry me a river. He sold the president out and that’s the long and short of it.
What is this ? Product placement ads for his laptop and cell phones ?
Don Lemon and the AA Dem contributor, LZ Granderson, are agreeing with rt. wing Will Cain that Booker should be praised for having integrity. Triple sigh!
Integrity? Makes you wonder who’s influencing Booker?
“Integrity”?! Au Contraire..Don Lemon and LG. What’s selling out your soul and country got to do with integrity? And, that goes for DL and LG, too. They don’t have it.
“Integrity”?! Au Contraire..Don Lemon and LG. What’s selling out your soul and country got to do with integrity? And, that goes for DL and LG, too. They don’t have it.
Integrity?????
So what is it now? Bain is off limits??…..
I think Cory may have gotten a phone call from the Obama campaign. I can’t see them letting this go without calling him. Don Lemon has always been iffy and I absolutely detest that Will Cain turd.
I just read this on C@L and this is what I’m afraid of….
”Sadly, this is exactly the kind of concern trolling that will make the Village declare that the Democrats are hitting below the belt by criticizing Bain Capital and the Dems will fall in line..”
I know it’s coming….
Giving the corrupt media the green light, not that they needed it mind you…..when that anchor on CNN said about the Bain ad ”we don’t need to see that garbage on tv”….I knew it would be a battle….
What Booker did is a major.
Exactly and he can’t retract it. He’s done. Over. I think the Obama campaign will do whatever is necessary to win–they will just quietly deep six Booker as any sort of spokesperson. He will be yesterday’s goods. The media was always going to apply a double standard and PBO and his team are too smart to back down. If some fool Democrats want to pretend that Booker has integrity, let them. That and a $1.50 will get them a cup of coffee. The president has always been aware of the high idiot quotient in his own party. He will deal with it.
Yup.. and this is one big reason why Cory Booker did what he did, to get attention from the MSM. They luv the traitor.
Lemon seems to be an odd duck to me…….it is like he thinks he is some kind of Star now…….I used to like him…but not anymore.
The intro to his show is Reality Show material and the other day..he seemed to be anti-marriage equality even though he himself is gay.
Don Lemon seems very confused and doesn’t seem to know what he wants.
Okay. So, no O’Malley-Booker ticket.
haha
I wish Democrats could be as disciplined, at times, as Republicans. Mitt Romney could come out in support of the most inane, ridiculous policy ever and Republicans would still support him because they realize a fractured party, a fractured narrative, gets no one anywhere. While I get Booker has done some good things and is probably a very good guy, he really stepped in it and gave Mitt Romney a golden opportunity to exploit what he said. “Even Democrats think your attacks are baseless and wrong, Mr. President!”
Don’t hand Republicans anything. Ever. You can walk back what you’ve said, but when you let one out in church, no amount of changing the subject or talking about how you really meant to cough is going to force that fart back in!
I will say that this year the GOP is completely undisciplined. Some GOP leader goes off script every day it seems. Today I saw something that Karl Rove said Rev Wright is off limits. Not sure it’s true but they don’t seem to have their act together at all.
No,DI, no national Booker ticket for anything. Who wants someone who will stab you in the back. If he wants politics to be clean and pure, he’s in the wrong profession. Republicans love to use self-righteous prigs like Booker. They will chew him up and spit him out.
Mitt’s Super Pac took in 3.8 million for April….
Is that good, bad, average?
I don’t know…..I was hoping jovie was here….
Not as much as expected. Dems did better in April.
I won’t link to Politico but here’s this:
“Pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future raised less money in April — during the tumultuous Republican presidential primary — than it has during any other month this year, new federal records show.
To be sure, Restore Our Future’s haul — more than $4.6 million — remains an impressive number and significantly more than almost all other super PACs are expected to raise in April as the federal government’s latest disclosure deadline arrives today. But as it pivots to fight against President Barack Obama, the super PAC’s April income is only a little more than half of what it collected in March”
Where does Politico get its information The FEC says 3.8 million
The super PAC backing Mitt Romney’s presidential run retained its place as the number one super PAC, in terms of financing, as it pulled in an additional $3.85 million in April, according to a report filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
That’s what I was thinking. 3.8 doesn’t sound like a whole lot for a month, considering Obama himself raised 15 million in one day!
The super PACs are separate from the actual campaign. The 15 million PBO raised was for him not his super PAC. Romney’s super PACs are almost assuredly outraising PBO’s super PACs but PBO’s campaign has a cash advantage over Romney.
I know this. I was only pointing out that Romney’s Super PAC is lagging behind even the Obama campaign. Romney’s overall campaign is not raising a great deal of money, which means he’ll rely heavily on Super PAC donations. If his own Super PAC is only bringing in 3.8 million in April, it’s going to hurt the overall bottom line.
Weren’t Clinton, Donilon and Panetta with President Obama in the situation room while the killing of Bin Laden went on? If so, I like that picture. True loyalty.
WATERVILLE, Maine — A handful of protesters briefly interrupted a Maine college graduation speech by British Prime Minister Tony Blair calling for world unity.
Blair addressed more than 400 Colby College graduates and their guests Sunday morning at the school’s 191st commencement in Waterville.
Police say the protesters shouted phrases such as “warmonger” and “war criminal” during Blair’s speech. One person was arrested.
In his address, Blair appealed for international cooperation and for people to try to understand other cultures.
The 59-year-old Blair, the Labor Party’s longest-serving prime minister, served from 1997 to 2007. Since then, he has served as the envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, representing the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations in working with Palestinians to prepare for statehood.
—-
Yuk….why is Bush’s Poodle even in this country…
Because England won’t have him!
Cory Booker is done, finished in my view. He is not a stupid man and he knew what he was saying. For the sake of ingratiating himself to Wall St. money and to get attention from the MSM he betrayed his President and his supporters. He is finished forever.
Yep, you got it, Bill.
I agree. There is an article on TPM (of all places) that says pretty much the same thing. Booker’s looking down the road for some of that Wall Street money.
These diehard protesters are infuriating. They’re locking arms, taunting the police, threw a metal fence at them at one point, bottles and sticks etc., refusing to leave or disburse, It’s just a small percentage of the demonstrators left, a 100 or so, but they refuse to leave, a stalemate—average age looks to be about 19, guys with shirts off. Here comes the state police to surround them.
I am watching the coverage also, and I don’t see anything wrong with the protesters excersing their right to protest. The CPD are using unnecessary force at times.
Yes for sure. But there are previously agreed to (specific parks and streets and times) protest areas. The police are enforcing those agreements.
These protesters and their extreme behavior are actually a help to our President. It helps him fend off any attacks from the right that somehow he is a friend to extreme leftists.
Protesters in front of line being interviewed by nbc reporter identify themselves as part of the occupy movements. Said they will “never leave” ——hmmmm—–bet they do. Now looks like some are leaving as it looked like the police might lose patience and take “more serious action”.
This is not a problem dotster3. the msm is concentrating on and interviewing this handful of kids as if they speak for the rest of the protesters. Right around the corner and down the street are many peaceful protesters doing their thing. Why isn’t the MSM showcasing them? Because it won’t get anyone all bothered about a week-end of a generally non-spectacular protest. The cops are doing a great job and are not letting this mtley crew of about 35 people cause them to go nuts. I wish the MSM would just land the helicopters or report on the traffic like they usually do. Sheesh what a waste of air-time, we could be watching FLOTUS at the South Shore Gary Coleman Center.
I’d rather be watching Flotus too, but this is what they want to show. The media has been sorta salivating about the possibility of confrontation. Now it looks like they may arrest all who refuse to leave. I think the cops have actually showed patience above and beyond, giving warnings, asking them to move back, almost a “please leave”. I just don’t get what this kind of protest behavior accomplishes. It just makes people disgusted, less inclined to support their causes. These people are looking to be arrested—-the final 30 people. So they can post it on facebook?
You tell ‘em John. http://twitter.com/#!/johnlegend/status/204336874406420480
Yes, tell ‘em John. Just tweeted him.
Excellent, John Legend! Many Mahalos, forus! I hate those False Equivalencies and Cory Booker should know better. How would he like to be smeared with one? Hmmmmm?
Thanks forus50 for sharing this excellent twit from John Legenda! I think he set a good example of how to effectively respond to Mr. Corey Booker’s damaging statements without resorting to ugly name calling. I’ve been a big admirer of Mayor Booker. What he said to day, however, lessened my support and admiration. He definitely gave the unethical media and the GOP ammunition that legitimizes their attacks on the President. There is no doubt that what he did was absolutely wrong and hurtful, but I think calling him a traitor, a tool of Wall Street, and other ugly names is also wrong, and does not, in my humble opinion, help the President’s cause. From what I have observed, Corey Booker has been a strong supporter of President Obama and remains so. I am not ready to discard him because of what he said to day, which may have been motivated by his sincere, though mistaken, belief about wanting to see a campaign that is more focused on President Obama’s positive achievements. We must stay focused. We must not allow the unethical media to divide us.
Cory Booker should swim with the metaphorical fishes.
I just saw the video posted by Cory Booker. Obviously he is worried and should be. He is not addressing his real comments on MTP but pretending he said something different. I’m not fooled. You can’ t serve two masters, Wall St. and Main St.
lol oh my
Stay on his case Snark.
That’s why Booker rolled out that vid, lickity Spilt, Snark! Cause of folks like you getting the “wrong” idea from his nauseating words…LOL!
Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees has passed away at 62.
oh…how sad… R.I.P. Robin…you were Great !
Donna Summer, now Robert Gibb, music that influenced my youth. Sympathies and condolences to the Gibb family, friends and fans.
Robin
yes, you’re right, thanks, I had Robert Gibbs on the brain, my bad.
I knew when I saw his name trending on twitter that it was it…..he looked so frail the last picture I saw of him in some gossip site.
He had the sweetest voice of the three of them. Safe journey Robin
Everybody is dying. Lord, have mercy. All the beautiful talent, singers, artists others. We need to pause and consider how precious our hours are. I am grateful for every day, MS and all.
Riest in peace, Robin.
Is Robin the one with the beautiful falsetto who sang “Guilty” with Barbara Streisand? Or was that Barry? Isn’t he the second brother to pass away?
Two of the Bee Gees have died no, Eve, Robin and Maurice. And, of course, the younger brother Andy died too.
I was gonna ask the same thing; which one is Robin? I know that another brother did pass away. Always think about the silly SNL skit featuring Justin Timberlake. RIP Robin:((
Yes…his twin Maurice passed in 2003. He had a heart attack while waiting to have surgery for something else.
The other brother Andy passed long ago from a overdose.
Wow…so Barry is the only one left? My mom used to love them…
Some leaders are, well, VERY enthusiastic when they meet PBO
Luxembourg Prime Minister of Jean-Claude Juncker kisses U.S. President Barack Obama on the cheek as they arrive at the NATO summit on May 20, 2012 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois.
The admiration of the World Leaders for our President is incredible …just look at them looking at him in those pictures..
I am so proud of him…..
not that there is anything wrong with that (just channelling Seinfeld)
As long as that Prime Minister doesn’t try to do what that reporter tried to do to Will Smith cause Barack WOULD have coldcocked him one-manners and protocol or not.
Oh yeah VL, I saw that: yiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes!!!!
What happened with Will Smith?
He was at his Men in Black movie premiere and was greeting the press and one of them tried to kiss him on the mouth and it angered him and he slapped the reporter upside the head and later said “He’s lucky that I didn’t coldcock him” He then went on about his business. Just wow.
Also this was overseas, cannot remember which country, though.
Goodness gracious – man or woman, that’s just not right to try and kiss someone else’s husband.
what we need to do is focus on clarifying WHO mitt the lying bully is and WHY he should never be made to get any closer to the Oval Office.
we have PBO, the right leader for this nation and these times, he just needs a good and supporting congress, senate and judiciary
BREAKING NEWS!!!! THIS JUST IN!!!!!
The MSM (channel 5 Chicago) is reporting that there are 20 protesters who have been asked to move. The 50 MSM journalist have also been asked to move. The MSM calls it the divide and conquer strategy. One protester taken away by ambulance with a bloody nose, tripped over his on feet.
Interesting, CM, that there are more media than protestors. It’s so much easier for the lemmings to cover street confrontations than to stretch their little minds to deal with the large issues under discussion at the NATO conference. They really are pathetic.
THIS !
lolololol
Right Wing is going to swear PBO is gay now!
everybody now….’for he’s a jolly good fella, for he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good feeeelllllloooowww…….
they have been saying this for years and people just shrug it off
@Chips,
Did you get the picture of Michelle that I sent by email? It was sent today.
@Chips.
Never mind, I received your reply. Thanks!
Remember the RWNJ plan to go nuclear on PBO? One of the goals was to find an articulate AA to counter PBO–I think they found their guy. Cory Booker. It’s disappointing, but not shocking.
With all due respect, I think this taking this one incident too far. Mayor Booker still strongly supports President Obama. He made one stupid and damaging statement about Bain. I don’t see how this automatically makes him “an articulate AA to counter PBO.”
Ibid!! Especially as he came out quickly by LISTENING to what Obama supporters have said, and trying to explain himself. That in itself is articulating his support for the campaign, not countering it. We shall see what the campaign does to support him with this egg on his face, or do they give him a chance. Just sheesh, “did he have to step on the president’s weekend?” Is ticking me off the most
To me it’s less about his undermining the dem message on Bain and more about CB NOT seeing the importance of that kind of capitalism ( vulture) being a problem! If he really was about the middle class and the poor he would want to bring ethics back to business! Anybody remember Pretty Woman, the lead character was a corporate raider aka a vulture capitalist and it was not admirable! You make money for your investors, but other investors loose horribly! Workers whole sale fired or rehired for loads less. There is a heartlessness about it. Ship jobs overseas and think in short term profit! None of these a traits or qualities I want in a president. He was not about job creation with Bain or as Governor. What would CB like us to talk about regarding Romney.
It’s not about one stupid statement so much as what does CB think of the actions of Mitt and Bain. Is this a good business model that is good for the average american?
I’ve been thinking along the same lines, about that film and it’s equation to what Mitt did. That is why the ad is spot on. Those who see this, realize that that experience is totally opposite to what we want in our president. If you cannot help your fellow citizens become successful along with you, why would I want you to lead me?
Excellent comment, elo4obama/biden. Mr. Booker needs to answer your query. Is he for Romney’ brand of economics that allows venture capitalists to leverage companies in order to maximize profits for investors even though that might end up destroying jobs. Honestly, I am not sure that Mayor Booker, who might have tried to sound moderate and responsible, knew the trap he walked into. I suppose, as some people have been arguing, that for a smart politician he knew what he was doing. Personally I doubt it. Even some really smart politicians, especially when they get a chance to pander, are capable of making dumb statements that they regret later.
As much as I was very disappointed and furious at mayor Booker, I am still convinced that he is a strong supporter of the President. Mayor Booker made an incredibly dumb mistake that the media and the GOP are gleefully taking advantage of. He definitely should have known better and he deserves all the criticism he is getting but he is not the enemy. It’s the forces that exploiting his dumb statements that we need to focus on.
2012 is already worse than 2009, and it’s only May! Yes, I know people die all the time, but I can’t be the only one who’s getting a little paranoid at this point when it comes to our legends still living…
LOL! The Protesters were just interviewed on CNN, no coverage at all of the conference.
Here we go again,
Anyways, they were saying some garbled nonsense- we protest NATO and the War in Afghanistan and NATO has Wars every Day and they are for the one percent! Yup.
Little do these uneducated protesters know, NATO was established during WWII, to defeat Hitler, the Emperor and Mussolini!
Then, it was used as a counter balance to the Warsaw Pact to defeat the Soviets, during the Cold War.
Now, it is used to keep the World safe, from Al Qaeda.
Hence, what in the Heck are they talking about, or are they just mad?
The NATO website is really cool and educational. Some of these protesters should visit it.
Jovie–they have no idea what they’re talking about. They remind me of some of my contemporaries in the sixties who went out to protest just to cause trouble. If you asked them why, they just uttered a bunch of gobbledegook. The more things change…
Thought everyone might enjoy this: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/05/most-metrosexual-presidents
And Chips? Would you mind posting my lovely picture for being first on the previous thread? When you get a chance
Sorry Mary!
That’s a beauty, Chips! Worth waiting for!
I am not happy with Mayor Booker’s statements today – he should have known better.
One thing that I am remembering is that Mayor Booker has also been out on the road pushing for PBO’s re-election.
Cory Booker is a smart politician. Does anyone think he didn’t know what he was saying and the effect of undermining the Obama campaign? And how much it ingratiates him with Wall St. when he plans to run for the Senate, or the fact his own city uses Bain to invest their pension funds, or how much it endears him to the MSM to put on this phony display of independence in the name of false equivalence? Does anybody really think that?
You know what, I really HATE politics and more importantly POLITICIANS. They think they can say whatever they want without repercussions. He has been backtracking since lunchtime. In this info age, nothing you say will die but will live on in infinity. We need better people to be politicians.
one thing good is that the MSM is at least still talking about mitt and bain
Bill, even smart politicians can do dumb things. I am with globalcitizenlinda! Yes, Mayor Booker “should have known better” but the fact remains that Mayor Booker is a strong supporter of President Obama’s re-election. I am not ready to speculate on his motivation until I see concrete evidence. What I hope we avoid doing is “throwing out the baby with the birth water.” We can condemn the Mayor’s stupid and ill-advised statement in this incidence without condemning the man who has indeed been a strong supporter of the President. I wish chips could re-play Mayor Booker’s excellent speech that he gave at JJ dinner (I believe it was in Denver, CO) standing in for President Obama.
Bill, of course he knew what he was saying. He may have underestimated the negative feedback from his social media followers, but he knew he was throwing a bomb. That’s why I have no sympathy for him and could care less about his so-called apology.
The mere fact that he has always pushed for PBO’s re-election is what disappoints and hurts me the about his statement. I still like him as a person and for the benelovent things he has done, but he disappointed me today.
i do not know if it is possible that this is one way to keep a critical eye on mitt the liar’s relationship with bain in the headlines
You are correct. If this was Ben Nelson or Joe Machin, we’d call them pricks and move on. But to see Pres.Obama’s message undercut by someone who we believed was 1000% a team player is just mind boggling.
Cos, Mayor Booker greatly disappointed me too. But still, I think he is a strong supporter of the President. We must be mature enough to condemn his damaging statement without condemning the man and all the good he has done, including his strong support for the President.
Wish he weren’t sending mixed signals as per Drunken Irishman’s post below. And, Booker is Totally in the Wrong. What made him so “nauseated” because of the Obama’s Campaign Revealing Bain Practices?
mitt’s actions at bains were nauseating.
It really, really baffles me how Booker can equate the Bain commercial with the Rev. Wright stuff. Even in his “clarification,” he STILL claims that it’s ALL irrelevant, nasty noise drowning out the “real” issues. Sorry, but no.
I think it IS a real issue that companies like Bain can invest in a business and walk away with a profit even if the business goes bankrupt. The whole point of capitalism is that taking risks can bring big rewards, yes. But the flip side is that taking big risks is, in fact, risky. It seems like Bain risked nothing in its dealings. It was the businesses they invested in who took the risk in accepting “help” from Bain. This is the whole enchilada with Romney: Profits over people. It’s not “noise,” it’s a basic, foundational issue and should be talked about.
Oh goodie! Headline on Yahoo! right now: Booker slams Obama for ad.
It is all over the news and RW websites. I tweeted him but feel my efforts are needed registering voters in Florida. So many hoops to jump through
Has anyone seen the information on Zimmerman’s racist friend (Jaffe?)
What a record:
photo/1/large
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2012/05/cory-booker-can-be-wrong-without-being.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FlpjFg+%28Smartypants%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
“Cory Booker can be wrong without being a “traitor”" – Smartypants. She has some good points.
I adore SmartyPants, but she just doesn’t address the central issue at all in that post: Booker ridiculously equating the ‘attacks’ on Bain with the Rev Wright crap. That’s the issue, not Booker’s background or political credentials. Romney has made his experience in business the central theme of his campaign, so, as others have said, it is entirely legitimate for the PBO campaign to shine a light on the effect Bain had on real people’s lives. How on earth, can Booker explain, does that compare to dredging up Rev Wright again?
And in light of Booker’s plea to “stop attacking private equity” and his description of the Bain ads as “nauseating”, it is completely fair for people to question where he gets his funding. Is there an agenda here? It’s not fair, needless to say, for people to start calling him a ‘house negro’, etc, that’s embarrassing, but he deserved all the measured criticism he got today. Every single bit of it. I’m done with him.
THIS!!!
For me, this is grossly compounded by the fact that Dems rarely have a voice on Sunday talk shows. So this kind of nonsense just boils my blood. If you’re going to be a campaign surrogate, then get with the campaign.
So true Meta, on a rare occasion a high profile Dem appears he does this: creates an attack ad for Romney. Give me patience.
Co-sign.
I totally get your point.
But what I wrote was about how stunned I was to see Booker called things like a “traitor” and “house negro.”
In the post I talked about Booker being wrong and linked to Karoli’s excellent article about how wrong he was.
But I have to say the name-calling and total dismissal of Booker seems to me to go against everything I’ve been learning from watching PBO these last 4 years. He’s asked us to be better than that.
So that’s what I was addressing in what I wrote.
Thanks SmartyPants – and sorry your comment was stuck in pending, I had to go away for the last hour or so and only just found it.
I agree completely, it’s utterly disgusting that he was referred to as a ‘house negro’, a term that makes my skin crawl. I didn’t see the other abuse, but it sounds like it was equally grim. I’ll admit that I think he deserved much of the ridicule he got, but not abusive crap like that.
Thanks for commenting SmartyPants, keep up the brilliant work.
It had to happen at some point, I guess. For the first time ever, I disagree with smartypants. I do agree with her that some of the pushback is over the top (“house n-word” and the like), and I agree with her title (Booker can be wrong w/o being a traitor). But I disagree that the response is unwarranted, or is in any way equivalent to the way the “purity” folks snipe at PBO.
What Booker did was incredibly, massively, politically dumb. To reach that level of dumbness, you’d have to imagine what would’ve happened if, in 2004, State Senator Barack Obama, rising Democratic star, had gone on MTP and said that John Kerry’s vote to authorize the Iraq War “nauseated” him. WTF?!
not only good points, but she is also right.
What makes this situation particularly galling is that Dems/Liberals are not invited to the Sunday talk-shows in anywhere near the number and times that Repubs/Cons are. I doubt they’re invited even half as much. This show is a case in point. Seems to me the others there are Conservatives or leaning at least. The WSJ reporter is obviously on the right (consider her employer) and after the first few minutes all her subsequent points were against the President and for Romney. So when one of ours gets a chance to talk to a national audience, to then hear them spout off with this kind of nonsense and false equivalence rubbish is annoying and disappointing. That said, the Mayor makes a lot of good arguments but unfortunately, we won’t hear about those – just the “nauseating” remark. And yes, we’ll probably see that in an attack ad against the President coming soon. I don’t like that he said that and would expect a campaign surrogate to be more nuanced than that, but I don’t think it’s fair to turn against him for this. I think our side did the right thing calling him out on it, and he is self-aware enough to realize that he made a mistake saying that there. I do get what he was trying to say, but the problem was him equating the ads about Bain/Romney to attacks on private equity. That is patently false. The ads are specific to Bain/Romney, so Cory got carried away there and made a completely false equivalency. He’s been a supporter of our President for along time and I think he deserves another chance.
On a personal note, I had talked about my mom being rushed to the hospital by EMS a few weeks ago and had asked you all to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Just to update, she was in there for a few days and is doing well now. Of course there are adjustments and changes that our family is having to make now to support her and make sure that she continues to be active and engaged, but we’re getting there. Thank you for all your prayers, positive thoughts and kind wishes. I know they helped. Be blessed.
Glad to hear your mom is doing well.
Thanks, gobrooklyn
Insomniac, thanks for keeping us abreast on your mother’s progress. This is great news. I will continue to pray and lift her and your family in goodness of thoughts in my prayers and meditations for a sweet and peaceful recovery for her. You take goodness gently to your heart and hold it tightly with a graceful spirit. ((((((((( Think on good things and love within))))))))))))))) HZ
Your justifying. The Summer is so important! Why? To define your opponent.
This hurts, because it sets our Team back on Defining our Opponent. Period!
No. Not justifying. Simply stating my view on this. If this one incident “sets our Team back on Defining our Opponent” then we have bigger problems. The Obama campaign is not some green, wet-behind-the-ears bunch of know-nothings. This is the campaign that defeated all comers in 2008 at the time when they were the new kids on the block. They are not the new kids any more. The man made a mistake – no need to turn our backs on him for it.
Booker does not deserve another chance to be a surrogate for this president. My daughter, an athlete, said that Booker should have played his position, and should not have gotten out there ahead of himelf. He had a job to do for the prez, and by doing that job well, he was doing himself well. But he thought he could set himself up at the expense of the prez. No he does not deserve another chance.
R I P. Robin Gibbs
what booker should have said is that:
” what bain did to the companies he liquidated, the workers he fired, and the communities he destroyed was nauseating”.
Precisely, gblinda! Would the facts been so hard to nauseate him?
You are absolutely right! What Mayor Booker said was dumb and really puzzling because the Obama campaign commercial did not attack Bain groundlessly. Rather it exposed the heartlessness of this company which Romney has been trotting out as his evidence that he knows how to create jobs. At the same time, we cannot completely disregard Mayor Booker’s strong support for President Obama and his accomplishments. No doubt the Mayor messed up big time, but I personally still regard him as a member of the family. He needs to be chastised but that does not mean he should be thrown out of the family.
Genius
Another day, another fall of a government – there are some serious changes happening throughout the world!!
According to Reuters and other sources Democratic Party leader and presidential candidate Boris Tadic addressd his supporters and members of the media after presidential elections in Belgrade May 20, 2012.
Tadic, the incumbent since 2004, conceded defeat on Sunday in the presidential run-off against rightist opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, and appealed for the country to continue with its aim of integrating with the European Union
Hi guys:) I’m late to the discussion of Cory Booker…I had missed everything he said earlier…but having seen this man over the years, and heard him speak with such passion and conviction….I have to say, I think more like Smartpants does on this issue.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2012/05/cory-booker-can-be-wrong-without-being.html
He may need to be called out about how stupid his comments were, but to kick this man to the curb and disregard him…is not right, to my way of thinking.We need all hands on deck, and he has always supported PBO. My personal opinion. We can’t keep making our own fights within the party…Republicans would love nothing more than to see the infighting and division. We can’t afford that now. This election is too important…maybe even more than the last one. Call him out and move forward.
As we’ve seen from the various ads, going after Romney’s Bain years is a central theme in PBO’s campaign. Several OFA team members have been hammering away at this for weeks. So if you’re a campaign surrogate and you attack the thrust of PBO’s argument against his opponent, you are not helping – not helping at all. You are undermining. So this isn’t just a stupid remark, it’s an unnecessary swipe at my President and his campaign team.
And Booker is a seriously smart guy, it was no slip of the tongue, he knew exactly what he was doing: I fear playing to an audience whose support he feels will be essential if he is to advance his political career. $$s.
Booker can say goodbye to his political aspirations.
Cory Booker is a very smart astute man. He has a very bad case of hubris here, where he thinks he is going to pull a Sistah Souljah act on our President and triangulate his way to a senate seat. Big mistake to try to triangulate PBO, especially when you side with Wall St. predators. When you are in battle, and your friends shoot you in the back,they are not your friends any more.
That’s exactly what it was — hubris. A case of not knowing how to handle the bright lights.
And, Cory Booker makes Cory Booker look severely disingenuous and kow towing to the willard’s Big Liar Campaign.
That vid he came up with was boring, too.
It’s the False Equivalencies, Stupid!
And, I know he isn’t stupid but in this case he is.
Well,regardless of what Booker said, Bain WILL be talked about in this campaign! Since when does PBO not do what HE KNOWS is the right thing to do? Doesn’t matter whether or not CB THINKS that these issues should be off the table or not. Bain is ALL of who Romney is…the man hasn’t held a job SINCE then in the private sector. His whole premise for how to run a country is like how he ran Bain….I get it! However, I trust that PBO and his team will handle this just fine, just like they have handled all the other things we thought at the time were “hair on fire” moments.We scream for others not to get bent about every little thing, yet we get bent for every thing….in the long run, this won’t matter much.We need to look at the long game, look down the long road, stay together, and get this thing done for our President. I doubt that PBO is screaming at CB…he may have voiced his disappointment and then he probably told him what he expects going forward. If PBO can do that, so can we. He is my guide.
Agree, DF. The president and his team will do what has to be done and CB will be a speck in the grass. The GOP can rant and rage all they want, but the president and all of us must and will move forward.
Here, here.
I agree with you desertflower! I just read Smartypants’ post and as always she makes good thoughtful comments.
Well, you can better believe that Booker will be careful going forward. The comments on his You Tube video are scathing. Booker is now surrogate non-gratis which I believe is only fair. We need people on our side who can articulate, not subvert the message.
I think that he learned his lesson. People ARE paying attention…he doesn’t just speak to people living in NJ anymore…not when it concerns PBO…maybe he forgot where he was and the audience he had. I guarantee he won’t make this mistake again. Lesson learned. I hope.
He will not get a next time!
Booker may be a supporter of the president, but he also does a lot of kissing up to Christie. There are some dems in NJ who are not to be trusted. They ally themselves with Christie for their own agenda. They reside in Essex county where Newark is and in south Jersey. Christie calls it bipartisanship but it’s really what can we do for each other to solidify our power bases. Booker, in may opinion, plays both sides. Maybe he needs to to get stuff for his city, but cozying up to a guy like Christie really makes my blood boil.
There won’t be any moving on until Cory Booker says he was wrong to attack the President, wrong to make false equivalencies about Bain, wrong to defend Wall St. parasites who close factories, loot their resources, and fire workers.
I agree, Bill R. Cory Booker should totally come out with a genuine apology. Not some slight of hand…See what I’m doing here so you won’t get mad at me for how I sabotaged PObam’s Campaign on mtp with david freaking gregory.
More video now:
http://www.7wm4js9kw.com/press/feeds/webcast_english.php
Wow, Soldier Field looks like Rome!
Doesn’t it seem ethereal at dusk??!!
Lis Smith is retweeting what Booker is now saying-
Our side doing damage control. Be sure Booker was contacted about his other than Meek performance!
I haven’t been online much today, so all I know is what I’ve seen here on TOD. What upsets me about this story is that he tainted President Obama by implying that he is running a sleazy ad campaign. He should know better. President Obama has been a role model on how to run a respectful campa
Oops… Respectful campaign. President Obama doesn’t do sleazy.
Booker gave a lot to the fascists today and I’m wondering why he was pushing False Equivalencies? We shall overcome Booker though. PObama Campaign is certainly Righteous in how they’re exposing romney’s record at Bain. I don’t care what someone who obviously has an agenda(don’t think of it as a gaffe) says on mtp.
Changing the subject for some much needed laughter:
The so-called “Younger Generation” have their own texting codes (LOL, OMG, etc.)–
Now seniors have theirs:—
ATD – At the Doctor’s
BFF – Best Friend’s Funeral
BTW – Bring the Wheelchair
BYOT – Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM – Covered by Medicare
CUATSC – See You at the Senior Center
DWI – Driving While Incontinent
FWBB – Friend with Beta Blockers
FWIW – Forgot Where I Was
FYI – Found Your Insulin
GGPBL – Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low
GHA – Got Heartburn Again
HGBM – Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO – Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO – Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL – Living on Lipitor
LWO – Lawrence Welk’s On
OMMR – On My Massage Recliner
OMSG – Oh My! Sorry, Gas
ROFL..CGU – Rolling on the Floor Laughing…Can’t get Up!
TOT – Texting on Toilet
TTYL – Talk to You Louder
WAITT – Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA – Wet the Furniture Again
WTP – Where’re the Prunes
WWNO – Walker Wheels Need Oil
GGLKI (Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking in!)
#################
Beverly Fields Burnette
Now that’s funny! ☺☻
WMPL !!! (wetting my pants laughing!)
Our Team us hitting Twitter hard, trying to soften blow.
Me thinks, we will be all over airwaves Monday discussing this!
A little homework for @CoryBooker to do before he opens his yapper again …
#AmericaThisIsNotATest
#PRESSON
MUCHAS GRACIAS, LL! Booker needs a REality Check.
I’d say that this kind of evens out the Booker gaff today. Kramer isn’t exactly a Dem:)
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/05/20/487367/cnbc-analyst-bain-capital-fired-a-lot-of-people-to-get-prosperity-for-the-rich/
Way OT, but for Scandal fans, the female stars did a fun live chat about a couple hours ago where they answered Qs from the audience. You can watch the video here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/scandal-show
It’s starts with a few bumps but when they get talking, it’s fun. They’re very sweet with each other.
Thank you Meta!!!! I am watching now. It’s so good to see them having fun together, they like each other. Ohhhhhhh I have to wait until September for season 2!
Wasn’t it funny to hear Kerry talk about the sex scene? Fun to watch people who love what they do.
WHOA! The sky is very weird right now!
solar ecilipse, meta!!!
My son and I have been going back and forth outside watching…I’ll be dead by the time the next one comes in 2070 something:)
I did the same thing, but am too far south to see a complete ring of fire. It was wonderful what I did see.
Don’t look at it! You go blind!
Yes, I know!!
Eclipse of the sun by moon. maybe the other way around. Should be wonderful if you are out west.
Isn’t this telling? A major Dem. political leader in total denial of the economic ruin that Bain capitol and its bosses have wreaked on our country.
O/T…just a chuckle and update on the parentals being here….OMG. I took them to rent a car today. We got done inside and went to find the car in the lot. They told us what kind of car it was, we get outside and I see that kind of car. So I said, “Oh dad…that must be the car.” The doors were unlocked, so they got in and I walked over to get to my car so they could follow me home. I drove around to their car, and they STILL weren’t ready to go! I said, ” What are you doing?!”
” Well, I can’t get the car to start.” my dad says. “This isn’t brain surgery, why won’t the damn car start?!”
Some guy comes by and asks if we need help….long story short, THEY WERE IN THE WRONG CAR. Opps! That’s how my day with the parents went today!
On a good note, they did manage to find their way back to the hotel with no complications:)
Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland believes that if President Barack Obama tells his story well about how his administration has helped the country’s economy turn things around, he will win another four years in the White House.
On Sunday afternoon, Strickland told Seacoast area Democrats that all President Obama has to do is remind the American people that he stands on the same side as the U.S. autoworkers, teacher, police officers and other hard-working Americans whereas Mitt Romney doesn’t.
“Mitt Romney doesn’t seem to understand the reach of the auto industry in this country,” said Strickland during the annual Rockingham County Democratic Committee Clambake at the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
“Two weeks ago, he had the gall, the gall, to say, ‘I’m going to take some credit for the rescue of the auto industry,’” Strickland said. He said Romney had previously said that Congress should let “Detroit go bankrupt” instead of appropriating money for the President’s economic stimulus package.
http://portsmouth-nh.patch.com/articles/strickland-on-romney-he-has-no-core
See Corey, it’s simple! Stay on message, just like Strickland!
Booker also said that voter suppression and womens issues were “side issues”. He has lost me!
Very suspicious.
Are you kidding me, proud. Side issues? What planet is he on?
Voter Suppression and Women’s Issues were “side’? How side is that? If we don’t have the Right for everyone to vote then the gopsters steal it. If women don’t have their rights then he’s regaling them to second class citizenry or less. I can’t imagine any women being happy with that except Campbell Brown and her stupid ilk.
What in the world? That is just senseless. Did Booker fall and bump his head?
Proud, Did he say this on MTP? Please kindly share your source.
There is NOTHING compassionate about this man. He can’t even answer a question for a sick man!
http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/compassionate-conservatism-romney-meet
Must Read.
HOW SMUG he is! What a fucking No It ALL! Because HE doesn’t like it, it must not be ok..regardless of the fact that this helps this man live what’s left of his life. This says a lot about the man Romney ISN’T!
So this booker thingy has blown over ?
No. Monday and Tuesday news cycles all day.
Bet?
sigh. yes. fresh noise from the third rate media.
Nope.
EXACTLY WHAT IS PRESIDENT OBAMA ALLOWED TO DO?
So let me get this straight:
President Obama is not supposed to run on his own accomplishments like the OBL raid because the Republicans feel it’s just too partisan. And now he’s not supposed to question Mitt Romney’s job creation record at Bain even though he touts being businessman CEO as his main qualification for the presidency. What exactly is President Obama allowed to do during this campaign season?
He will run on his accomplishments…and there are many….doesn’t matter what SOMEONE ELSE TELLS HIM WHAT HE SHOULD DO:)
Run ads showing his long form birth certificate over and over and over again. That’s about all.
Not good enough! Some folks here in AZ STILL don’t believe that
Exactly. I guess that’s the only thing that would be acceptable. Don’t you love it. The Republicans are basically saying that President Obama didn’t clean up the mess they created fast enough so vote for them. But in spite of their obstruction and intransigence President Obama has made historic accomplishments for the country. But Republicans would prefer he just not talk about his accomplishments. I can’t stop laughing. And now we have Cory Booker feeding the beast with his comments about the Bain ads today. You can’t make this stuff up. Cory has ripped his drawers with me big time. smdh
President Obama is allowed to do whatever he wants to do. It’s just that some people can’t handle that fact.
And he will do it, cory bookers notwithstanding. I fully trust his campaign team. The next 6 months will make people tear their hair. My advice to them – Don’t. For one thing it is too tough to grow it back.
Ha! 😃
I don’t think President Obama needs permission from any one about how to run his campaign. Obviously he cannot control what his enemies think and do. As it turns out, he also apparently can’t control some dumb or pandering politicians who support him. Both the Bain and OBL commercials were based on TRUTH! Sometimes TRUTH hurts those who thrive on lies. I think these commercials are so effective that’s why the unethical media and the GOP are crying like babies. I hope OFA continues to run these hard hitting commercials. I hope also all of us supporters of the President continue to expose the bad faith of the U.S. media in the way they treat President Obama.
Amen.
You gotta give rethugs credit for doing this extremely well – Get their
talking pointslies ducks in a row by all their surrogates. Fucking dems never learn.With friends like Booker and other Dems, who need enemies?
Yes it is. The Repubs don’t wan’t anybody to talk about Bain, they wont be able to hide behind Corey Booker though.
Margie, I agree! Corey Booker or no Corey Booker, the facts remain that Bain, under Romney destroyed jobs and the lives of people who worked for the company while Willard and his buddies made out like bandits. Corey Booker’s patently dumb statements equating what Bain did under Willard Romney to statements made President Obama’s former pastor will not change the facts and the Truth about Bain. I sincerely hope that OFA will continue to run those hard hitting ads. May be we could expend as much energy we spent Corey Booker urging our campaign (OFA) not back out of exposing Romney, Corey Booker not withstanding.
Let’s move on to Campbell Brown, shall we? http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/05/20/what-do-women-want-campbell-brown-doesnt-have-a-clue-president-obama-does/
Anchor person, irritating as she is….married to a Romney top adviser. She’ll poison the airwaves, never once mentioning her connection to the Romney campaign…..
Yeah, and wasn’t her show cancelled for low ratings? That oughta be worth SOME points for NOT LISTENING TO CAMPBELL BROWN!!
I HOPE her show was cancelled:) She STILL manages to get her face on tv to spout those talking points though. The fact that her husband is a top Romney adviser never gets mentioned though…I think that may have some bearing on her views, yet that little point of fact is never mentioned. That’s why I NEVER watch those idiots.
Amen desertflower. I never watch Campbell Brown when she had that disaster show on CNN, so why was my time with her now. The fact that her husband work for a bold face liar, speaks volume of what kind of person her husband is and what she is.
why waste my time with her now, is what I suppose to wrote..
At the end of the day, it all boils down to if the majority of white women are smart enough not to vote against their own interest.
I know majority of white men aren’t.
I read a Lot of comments on TPM & rawstory that were exposing Campbell Brown for what she is..a rw hack married to Romney Advisor, Dan Senor. They were talking about how she use to work at cnn and how biased she was during the 2008 Election. Ya think?
Why is it every week, their is mad drama? Manufactured, but nevertheless!
I am wondering the same thing. Am so sick of it. Such important and major issues and then we have all this junk. SICK of it!!!!!!!
M-O-N-E-Y.
This Cory Booker mess happened this morning while I was hearing a sermon on Integrity. All afternoon I’ve been thinking about the irony of that.
Integrity: The quality of being honest; state of being whole and undivided. If we live a life of integrity, we decide to integrate our heart actions into our daily lives. Cory—???????????
It’s all about feeding the best. The beast must be fed. We had the breathless drama of the Chinese dissident. Followed by the Ricketts Reverend Wright guilt by association ad proposal. And now Cory Booker tees up a tasty morsel. (I know I missed a few) It’s endless and exhausting.
best s/b beast. I’m tired. That’s it. See you guys tomorrow.
The media and the GOP are finding it very hard to find a concrete issue that they can honestly campaign on against President Obama. So all we get is sand thrown into the eyes of those who still rely on MSM for news in order to confuse them and turn them against President Obama. For example: on the Domestic Economic side, no one can dispute the fact that President Obama inherited a country on the precipice of total economic collapse.Yet, he steadly instituted policies that saved the country from total collapse and another Great Depression. And, with regard to foreign affairs, the President inherited two wars he didn’t start. He has smartly and successfully ended one war and is in the process of ending another one. But more significantly he has decimated the ranks of those who attacked us on 9/11, that were used as a rationale for two expensive wars, including their leader OBL who had escaped both President Clinton and President Bush. Equally important, he has restored the positive image of America abroad that had been decimated by the policies of GWBush. President Obama did all these things despite the vicious right wing GOP opposition enabled by a severely hostile media.
With his impressive record, how else can the haters of Obama run against him? It’s no wonder they have to manufacture lies, sensationalism, and silly outrages, to confuse people. Lets hope the vast majority of Americans will stay focused in spite of all this sand being thrown in their eyes. I’ve said it before but I will say it again: President Obama is the best President in my lifetime. My conscious experience with presidents go as far back as JFK. I don’t recall any of the presidents before PBO who had to confront massive problems that confronted him from day one. I also don’t recall any of the presidents before him facing such a vicious opposition from the defeated party whose purpose was to ensure that the president failed, even if that meant hurting the entire country. Much more importantly, I don’t recall having the media which reveled in sensationalism instead of reporting on news and important issues that affected the people.
So, Cory Booker Harold-Ford-ed himself.
Tsk tsk. I think deep down, he does respect and admire PBO. However, he is feeling himself, and doesn’t have someone to pull his coattail when he’s getting a big head. Man runs into a burning building, gets the lavish media treatment as a result, and doesn’t know how to act. He got a case of Harold Ford disease in the bright lights and thought he was saying something unique and clever. He pulled an “I’m above it all” and stupidly equated Bain and Rev. Wright. Why? Just plain old hubris. He is smart, but he’s going down that well-worn and worn-out DLC/Third Way/Blue Dog/Triangulation road. He’s obviously not smart enough to know that it leads to a dead end, and that it makes one very, very common.
Oh well. Such is politics. Happens to the best. It’s not up to me to discard him or save him. I’m not his constituent, so my opinion doesn’t really matter. All I know is that I’m not feeling him like I did at one time. The bloom is off the rose, but whatever. He’ll be alright. I’m sure Christie, Bloomberg, and McCain are delighted. Bless his heart.
I hope people don’t go in on him too personally. He shouldn’t be called names — he’s not an Uncle Tom or house negro, etc. That’s just wrong. He just got caught up and he showed us who really is. I’m sure he’s learned from this. We’ll see what he says and does next. But like, I said earlier, he gets the side-eye from me from here on out.
…Now, watch this latest non-troversy somehow become a referendum on the Prez.
As far as I’m concerned reckless hubris, putting himself first before the rest of us is much worse than the “house negro” label .That kind of narcissism is inexcusable when so much is at stake.
The damage is already done.
Will John McCain thank him for bactracking? Will David Gregory tweet and re-tweet his bactrack? Will NBC tweet and headline his backtrack? Don’t think so. As Theo said, the damage unfortunately has been done. Mr. Booker should have learnt a lesson from all the Democrats who went on TV and bashed PBO – eg., Grayson, Weiner, Kucinich,etc., They ended up NO WHERE fast.
Bingo. This guy is a pol. Doesn’t he know what happened to the emoprogs?
The first comment from Facebook says that they’re still nauseated and what was Cory Booker thinking? Good Question.
RNC spokesman is trying to make it about the Free market instead of Willard taking AWAY JOBS of Americans..
“Clearly the Obama campaign is sending a message that in their party any defense of the free market/private sector must be silenced and apologized for,” Miller told TPM in an email.
Thanks gb.
I’d say this was a good little read:)
http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/2012/05/to-play-politics-better-you-have-to-know-what-it-is.html
Desertflower, as always thanks for sharing very valuable information and political analyses! This is an excellent piece that should be a must read. PCTC’s conclusion is food for thought: “Liberals simply have to play politics better.” Putting that in the context of what transpired to day about Mayor Booker’s plainly dumb statement, I kept wondering how calling this supporter of the president names like “traitor” and “house negro,” or accusing him of being a paid Wall Street flunky served the President’s reelection cause. What if we expended most of our energy in debunking, with concrete facts, Corey Booker’s false equivalences, instead of the energy we expended calling him names or conjuring up motives for why he made this patently asinine statement? In the end we would have educated people about the real facts about Bain’s record under Mitt Romney and about the truth and accuracy of the President’s commercial exposing Mitt Romney’s lies about him being a job creator. instead, we focused on drumming up hatred against Corey Booker, thereby creating divisions between supporters of the President and those who still view Mayor Corey Booker favorably and regard him as a good man who made a terrible mistake. I bet you the people who are gleeful about what transpired today are right wing Republicans. They are the ones enjoying the internecine war among not only Democrats but also among black folks. I do get it that Corey Booker should have known better not to say what he said knowing the media vultures who hate President Obama. But, I also respectfully contend that we fell into their trap when we made Corey Booker the villain and not those vulture capitalists who destroyed people’s jobs but are now pretending to be job creators.
This is a GREAT article by Deepak Chopra on Huffington Post. It speaks to what the poutrageous left do and to what Cory Booker did today. This should be read by every Dem, every ‘surrogate’, every blogger.
“If ever there was a time to stand behind the captain, this is it. Not because pluralism and free expression are wrong. They aren’t and never will be. But like Churchill calling upon a coalition cabinet in the depth of the war years, it’s paramount that we see the greater danger for what it is. ”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/why-we-need-president-oba_b_900666.html
Exactly—–I have tried to say before that we don’t have the luxury right now for individual musings and meanderings, selfish notions. Too much at stake, all need to be on board, no one can even be dangling a foot.
Also, I know we have been disappointed with Rachel Maddow at times, but this is good:
http://www.upworthy.com/obama-hasnt-done-anything-for-gay-people-other-than-3-years-of-major-policy-shif?c=blib
I just dread when the election really heats up. If she’s anything like she was in ’08, it’s going to get ugly. Not that she slams Obama or anything, it’s just that she’s the worst crepe-hanger I’ve ever seen. Her ‘talk me down’ stories on her nightly show disgusted me. I think, at one point, at least on her radio show, said McCain would beat Obama easily. She was in constant fear mode and then made me nervous about the election!
I’m with you, DI. If she’s changed, fine, but other than that, to me she’s always been one of the biggest PUMAs around.
………Cory Booker is well regarded by the NY media elites. He’s no fool either, his comments were calculated; he’s a darling among the political ruling class in NY and DC. Republicans and Wall Street has been key to Cory’s rise. However, there isn’t much love for Cory’s policies at the grassroots level in Newark. But Cory always had ambitions beyond Newark.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/05/a_readers_take_on_the_booker_gambit.php
Sabreena60, here is my question: why is the media so focused on what Cory Booker said instead of dealing with the truth or falsity of what the Obama campaign commercial said about the record of Mitt Romney and Bain in closing steel mills and laying off people? Poor Corey Booker! If, some claim, he thought he was trying to win something from Wall Street, he still ended up a looser. After his luke worm explanation, surely the Wall Street people will never trust him. The same is also true of left that hates President Obama who will never accept him since he never joined Tavis and cornel to denounce the President. Clearly,the right wing GOP and the unethical media are using his stupid statement to shield Romney from exposure about his false claims about being a job creator as a businessman. These same forces, in my opinion, are using Cory Booker to divide the Democrats. Tragically, even us who call ourselves pragmatic liberal progressive/Democrats fell in their trap. While they’ve been some perceptive folks who insisted on focusing on the “nauseating” record of Mitt Romney’s Bain in inflicting so much suffering on workers, most of the posts I’ve read on this blog have primarily been attacking and demonizing Mayor Booker who, undoubtedly, put his foot in his mouth causing great damage to the President’s campaign. Still, I contend that our focus should be on challenging the media to show us why they would rather praise Corey Booker’s false take on the commercial by the Obama campaign instead of examining the factual truthfulness of the ad. If the Obama ad states the TRUTH about what Bain under Romney did, then how come this ad is being viewed as a negative (nauseating according Mayor Booker)? surely this ad is not the same as an ad that planned to blame President Obama for statements his former pastor said. Statements that the President has rejected, but also statements that some of us in the black community, and those who would honestly examine American history, know that Rev. Wright, a veteran, spoke the Truth.
I grant you that Mayor Booker, who for the most part is a very smart and decent politician, made damaging foolish remarks that will be exploited by the media and the GOP. But I also contend that he is not the enemy! In my humble opinion our greatest challenge right now are the unethical U.S. media which seem bent on carrying water for Mitt Romney and the radical extremist Republican party. By the way, this is the same media that’s shown no outrage about Romney’s mendacity. Where are the media outrages when Romney goes around FALSELY accusing the president for “apologizing for America”? Where are the media outrages when Romney FALSELY accuses President Obama of “doubling the national debt”? Where are the media outrages about the commercials from Karl Rove’s Crossroads that routinely falsify President Obama’s record? Where are the media outrages about Republican state laws aimed at suppressing votes over some manufactured claims of voter fraud that don’t exist? Where? When was the last time David Gregory on MTP explored voter suppression laws and their impact on minorities and the elderly?
With all due respect to the marvelous people on this incredible blog, I refuse to join in the demonization of Cory Booker who, without a doubt, made a very ill-concieved stupid statements. Cory Booker is not the enemy. While he deserves severe criticism for aiding and abating the enemy, we should not allow our real enemies to divide us and distract us from real issues. This is how they win!
Peace!
You, of course are entitled to your opinion – we all have them. This is what I know. Mitt Romney ACCUSED the Obama administration of “character assassination” when they went after his record at Bain. So do you think the ad was “character assassination”? Is Mitt Romney’s record off limit. Cory Booker seems to agree with Mitt. So if Dems cannot expose Romney’s record at Bain and one must conclude his record as governor, then just what is acceptable for Dems to talk about. Oh hush now – we can’t talk about bin Laden because that’s “politicizing” the event and after all President Obama really didn’t DO anything, now did he. So I guess Dems are suppose to have both hands tied behind their back and just “HOPE” everything will turn out right. If Cory Booker thought his comment was the right one to make, why was he on Youtube with a can of Ajax trying to clean up the mess he made. What he did was make it harder for any Dem to talk about Mitt Romney’s record. What he did was give Repubs a soundbite to use anytime they get ready. Dems manage to shoot ourselves in the foot. I have watched Dems snatch defeat from victory too many times. Cory Booker is a blue dog which he has every right to be. If we want President Obama to win, we DO NOT need Dems stabbing others Dems and the President in the back. We are going to have enough of a fight without Dems getting on national TV saying stupid shit.
Hi Everyone..to me, the latest media poutrage with what Booker said, emboldened me further to be more assertive in my tweets about BAIN and the hypocrisy of the Romney camp using this as an example of Job Creator.
More people attracted by the ‘Booker’ issue also became exposed to this Bain hypocrisy. What I see the most out there is not the Repubs salivating over it or Dems going off message, BUT the widespread depth of support there is for PBO and how informed many people are about BAIN and other issues. Rove’s negative plan of attack will NOT work against an informed electorate.
That is a good point.
I was livid when I heard it this morning but I have to admit that I was shocked of how long the pushback on twitter lasted…I was so proud of the TODers and others……it was non stop for hours.
Like someone mentioned earlier…if it was someone like Ben Nelson, nobody would have cared….but not Cory Booker….just unbelievable.
This is not 2 parties with different ideologies…….the Republican party has been hijacked by far right extremists, they don’t have an ideology, they’re nuts,
….so for Booker to say that he’s tired of politics as usual and wish both parties would stick to the issues and be positive is very insulting.
Does he expect the Republicans to be civil? To be truthful?
President Obama has always been civil…he has so much integrity and class.
Both sides are not equal……
It’s not that they want to win, of course they do, but they want to destroy PO and the economy. There’s absolutely no limits of what they can do.
It is like a gun fight, but they come with bazookas and President Obama is supposed to fight back with a flower……….
Enough
Well said. We need to keep this in mind, over the upcoming months.
Berny, I am glad to hear that. I don’t tweet! But I am glad people who tweet are focused on exposing Bain and the way the Romney company devastated workers. Mayor Booker, in my judgment, made a horrific dumb mistake by equating the exposure of Bain’s record of destroying jobs with negative advertising.
Even as we lambast Mayor Booker for his blunder, we must never concede the media/GOP meme that claims that the Obama commercial was negative advertising. That commercial told the TRUTH. More importantly, it exposed Willard “Mitt” Romney’s lies that his business experience was all about creating jobs. Unless the media and the GOP can debunk the truthfulness of the Obama commercial that highlights the contradiction of Romney’s record, which he is so proud of, what Corey Booker said is nothing more than throwing sand in the people’s eyes to prevent them from seeing the real record of Mitt Romney. It’s Mitt Romney’s record that I am more interested in exposing. Cory Booker or no Cory Booker, I will not allow the sand thrown in my eyes, by the media and the GOP, to prevent me from focusing on the mendacity of Willard “Mitt” Romney’s claims that his business background in creating (read destroying) jobs entitles him to be President. This is what we supporters of President Obama must be focused on. We must ignore Cory Booker because he is being used to divide us. What we need is massive tweeting, Facebooking, e-mailing, and for us oldies, letter writing, urging the Obama campaign to keep up the pressure in exposing Mitt Romney’s record of destroying jobs at Bain Capital. OFA must pay no attention to Cory Booker, the media,or the GOP! Telling the Truth about Mitt Romney’s business record, just like telling the Truth about the President’s record, must never be equated with negative advertising.
nathkatun7, I agree with you on alot of what you said, except Cory Booker is important for this very reason, we have to know who is with us, meaning the Obama re-election campaign and who is against here. We need team players, we don’t need some traitor who is out there stabbing us in the back, while trying to build himself up. These Bain ads were ads coming from the people who Mitt Romney and his greed didn’t give a dam about, they weren’t ads the Obama campaign made up, used with actors. So once again Booker knew what he was doing when he said what he said on MTP, he just didn’t expect people who support President Obama to go after him as they did.
I am just not so sure if Booker is the enemy or not, we know about the anti-Obama media, we know about the lying no good Republicans, we already don’t trust either of them. But it’s people like Booker who worry me, because if you are with us then act like it. If you can’t do anything to help us, don’t do anything to harm us. Specially if you call yourself our being on the team. But that was no “Mistake” what Cory Booker did, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Here we go, finally- some News–
CHICAGO (Reuters) – NATO will hand over the lead role in combat operations to Afghan forces across the country by mid-2013, alliance leaders said on Sunday as they charted a path out of a war that has lost public support and strained budgets in Western nations.
A NATO summit in Chicago on Monday will formally endorse a U.S.-backed strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan, a move aimed at holding together an allied force scrambling to cope with France’s decision to withdraw its troops early.
President Barack Obama and NATO partners want to show their war-weary voters the end is in sight in a conflict that has dragged on for more than a decade while at the same time trying to reassure Afghans that they will not be abandoned.
“There will be no rush for the exits,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said as the summit got under way.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBRE84J02C20120521?irpc=932
This is great! Mid 2013, just like we did in Iraq.
Thanks Jovie – this is good news
How’s THIS gonna play? What a maroon….
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/20/mitt-romney-praises-meg-whitman-as-news-breaks-that-her-company-is-slashing-30000-american-jobs/
Again, I thank you desertflower for sharing with us news/information that really matter! There we go again with these so called business geniuses who claim to be job creators even as they are busy massively laying off people in this country. Something is wrong with some Americans who take these con people seriously.
One thing is for sure. The next six months the rethugs, the rove superpacs the msm, the pl mob and dlc types will try to dangle next shiny object of poutrage/distraction/outrageous lies/artificial crises etc. We have to sty vigilant and not lose our eyes on the ball.
I agree with you amk…..it’s not disgusting enough that the media is corrupt to the core, the SCOTUS made a mockery of democracy with Citizens United….it’s going to be so nasty.
It’s going to be a long 6 months!!
Guess this is campaign’s solution to booker’s ‘nauseating’ problem.
The vid
This video is the truth, it’s not made up lies. Mitt Romney has told Americans that he can handle the economy better because of his business experience, his business record, he knows how to create jobs, and that is a big fat lie. Wake up America, Romney didn’t even have the heart to talk to those people, at least try them like they human. But it was all about the money for Mitt Romney and his rich buddies.
My mistake, it should be at least treat them like they are human.
for the many of us who were upset with what CoryBooker said yesterday, here is our opportunity to educate our friends and voters as to WHY we were upset. Please do this by sharing this video of ordinary people saying what most of us cannot specifically say – they are the victims of mitt the bullying liar and his attack on th middle class for personal benefit
Good Morning TOD
The Obama Campaign has a new ad out on Romney Economics: Job Loss and Bankruptcy at Ampad
What you wanna bet the Romney camp will counter this with an ad in Cory Bookers own words in 3-2-1. Sigh!!!
I t think any such ad with booker’s words would be blow upon mehmeny’s face. These are real people talking about real life situations and pundtwitry on teh tevee to the contrary would only be ‘nauseating’ to the viewers.
These ads are coming from real people. They aren’t some politician like Cory Booker sitting on tv looking to build himself up. These are Americans who saw what Romney business experience was all about. And it wasn’t about creating jobs.
Of course, Harold Ford on Morning Joe sticking up for Corey Booker!
You just can’t make this Shit up!
I saw a little of the first hour…..Meacham and Haas and Joe were giddy about this…..saying the Pres. Obama team must have been on the phone with Booker before he left the studio and the walkback video was like a hostage video and Booker had a gun to his head.
I turned it off .
jovie141, who is Harold Ford? Nobody.
Linda, bless you all for being able to stomach Morning Joke, I can’t.
teehee…..Good Morning. Welcome to the train wreck .
Palin’s advice to Kansan: Vote in Texas
Sarah Palin, who recently endorsed Texas senate candidate Ted Cruz in a competitive GOP primary, has started to make robocalls for the Tea Party-backed challenger — and, reportedly, some of those calls are going out in the wrong state.
http://cjonline.com/blog-post/tim-carpenter/2012-05-20/palins-advice-kansan-vote-texas
President Obama starts his day at the NATO summit in Chicago, where he will meet with coalition partners in the Afghan mission. Obama and the NATO secretary general will meet in the afternoon.
In the evening, Obama will travel to Joplin, Missouri, where he will deliver the commencement address at Joplin High School. He will then return to Washington D.C.
Meacham said PBO made the wrong call for Afghanistan in 2009 and is now trying to cover for it.
I hate the media.
Why is Meachem considered an authority on anything? He thinks if he appears to be pondering over his words he comes across as intelligent. He learned that trick from Peggy Noonan.
At the end of all that noise, what most people hear is that Afghanistan war is coming to an end. What is the audience level for these pundtwits ? Coupa thousands at most ?
Because, He is sitting in front of Joe Scarbourough. Whose Mentir was Pat Buchanon. Who believed that America should never be involved in a War- Unless of course a Republican started it. Check.
Good morning, TODville.
PBO wasn’t kidding about playing football after dinner!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/7239173724/
Just arriving to post that—-meta is betta.
Lovin’ our new Bears QB!
Just as good as Tim Tebow.
Chips – TOD needs to highlight these campaign vids as often as possible and not relegate them to dustbins after one or two threads. Consider it as free advertizing for the campaign.
Goooood Morning….TOD…..GM Chipssssss…..
i have read many of the comments on Corey Booker here and as well as on Twitter….and indeed…i have placed a few of my own….
and as we see our comments on FB and in the tweeter world has had an impact… Corey Booker has walked backed his comments/altho he still did not recant his position on the ad…
Marco Rubio made some very inflammatory remarks…lies…..distortions…..about the President…
the difference is that we can influence Corey Booker….. so let us not… be so quick as to discard him on the trash heap….
Forward>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wait a minute! Corey Booker discarded Himself on the Trash heep, we had nothing to do with it.
He thought he was a Suoer Hero, and he came back down to Earth.
His fault, not ours!
Yup. He sure stepped in it.
And his ‘walkback’ is in the same category of the usual rethug ‘sorry, if I hurt some one with my words/actions’ bs.
All action is in the Senate this week as the House is out of session.
Meanwhile, there’s a series of campaign fundraisers on the schedule for President Obama, Vice President Biden and first lady Michelle Obama.
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/228499-the-week-ahead-obama-heads-west-on-fundraising-swing
He’ll be in Des Moines on Thursday. CA is phonebanking for the turnout.
President Obama’s re-election campaign continues to raise more money than challenger Mitt Romney’s campaign, but a “super PAC” supporting Romney continues to outperform all independent groups supporting a single candidate.
The Obama campaign raised $25.7 million and spent $14.6 million in April and entered May with $115.1 million cash on hand, according to the latest round of reports to the Federal Election Commission. The president’s campaign had more than 12 times the cash as Romney’s.
Romney’s campaign raised $11.7 million and spent $12.6 million in April and entered May with $9.2 million cash on hand, according to its FEC report.
http://m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57438050&feed_id=3&videofeed=39
I am a little late getting to the video of Cory Booker backtracking.
All I saw was baloney, and not even very good quality baloney.
wow. sickening. huh.
Morning everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/05/21/rise-and-shine-184/
There is an Obama Tea Party ?
But nothing he said mattered as much as these words: “The Afghan war, as we understand, it is over” with the withdrawal of ground forces at the end of 2014, he told journalists.
“Combat will end at the stroke of midnight,” on Dec. 31, 2014, added retired Gen. Douglas Lute, Obama’s deputy national security adviser — when a reporter asked whether the president had meant it.
Politico-
I agree, chips, and I think he’s made it pretty obvious where his funds are coming from. I think he may have just thrown away any chance for statewide office also. I doubt whether NJ Dems and Obama supporters are going to be supportive after today. And his argument in defense of Bain was just a braindead decision demonstrating a stunning lack of judgement