President Barack Obama signs into law the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, a bill providing the Department of Veterans Affairs the resources to improve access and quality of care for veterans
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Text of the President’s remarks here
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• • •
“As a country, we have a sacred obligation to serve you as well as you’ve served us.” —President Obama to the troops at Fort Belvoir
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 7, 2025
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“We are going to spend each and every day working to do right by you.” —Obama to the troops on signing the VA reform pic.twitter.com/clBd2jV8hB
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 7, 2025
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President Barack Obama hugs Stg. Major James McGruder
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“‘To care for him, or her, who shall have borne the battle.’ That’s the heart of the VA’s motto.” —President Obama quoting President Lincoln
— White House Live (@WHLive) August 7, 2025
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“This bill will help us ensure that veterans have access to the care they have earned.” —President Obama on the @DeptVetAffairs reform bill
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 7, 2025
• • •
Members of the military applaud as President Barack Obama speaks
President Barack Obama walks to the Oval Office
White House.gov
Hello?
You’re on a fursty roll, No Child!!!
How’s everyone doing today??
Great, Betsy. Two gold medals so far! :star: :star:
Yup, you beat me by one second, ONE second, LOL. :D
Humm… Hello again TODVille!
Great pictures from earlier today. Thank you Nerdy!
You’re welcome, NCLB and congratulations on first.
A beautiful post Nerdy, thank you soooooooo much for your hard work.
It’s a fine post, indeed, Chips! Thank you NW.
FYI ….
Wonder why these guys fail to mention the anti-Muslim hate that’s spouted out all over the country? Oh I guess that doesn’t matter.
Dean is a Muslim and is very well aware of the hate. That’s at the core of his empathetic article. Suggest you read it, again.
don’t have time. I will when I have the chance however.
Suggest that, in the future, when you post derogatory comments you at least have read the subject matter at hand.
to be fair the whole bumblebee program would be unnecessary to air to incite dislike, when you have people bombing and killing your people every couple of years or so oh and uses human shields themselves while decrying the other side of doing the same.
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09TELAVIV1694_a.html#efmAn8Axu
I don’t care what Israels primary religion is btw. Plenty of nonJews serve in Israels army. It’s the country I don’t like.
Jeff, regretfully, I’m going to suspend conversing with you. What you’ve just posted is totally irrelevant to the message in Mr Obeidallah’s article.
I’m done with this place
All of our alarmist posters should read and fact-check before posting here. There is no prize for posting first. Or posting most. The idea here is mutual support and enlightenment, not scaring one another.
This is not Fox Breaking bad news. Or the Doom and Gloom times, unless the facts warrant that approach.
My reply was in support of Bob.
Thanks, Vicki. Appreciate your comment and support of Bob.
Thank you Vicki and tnmtngirl!
The author of that Daily Beast piece is a Muslim, a Lawyer and a Comedian. He has said that on Sept 10th, 2001, he was considered a Caucasian. But on 9-11-01 and ever since then, he is seen as Muslim and a Terrorist 1st. Dean looks like Kasey Kassem. A handsome guy and very measured and with an excellent mind. His mother is Sicilian and his father is Palestinian. He was born in NJ.
Bullshit. I don’t agree that most commentary toward Israel over the past few weeks was based on anti-semitism.
Bibi’s decision to annihilate Palestinians based on a lie is what prompted the outrage. You can’t try to normalize Israel’s actions (via Bibi) as “stop the anti-sematism” because folks are pushing back on Gaza.
I am not calling bullshit against you Bobfr but this fake outrage is nothing but an attempt to guilt US taxpayers and the global community into somehow believing that the actions of Bibi over the past few weeks had anything at whatsoever to do with Hamas and accept that Bibi’s actions were somewhat justified. It wasn’t.
There is no equivalency between knowing that Bibi’s/Israel’s action was wrong and inhumane and he should be held accountable for committing war crimes.
to clarify, I am commenting on the article itself and not the person posting the link Bobfr.
Great job NW! Thanks.
Thanks, Betsy.
Cool!
GA TOD….been off the grid for a few days….sorry if anything is a duplicate:
Both items are unbearable, lovelyplains.
Totally.
Netanyahu should be held accountable for his crimes.
Again, for me this has nothing to do with religion or which country is doing what. This has everything to do with Netanyahu using US taxpayer dollars to commit genocide against Palestinians. Women, children, citizens, people from the UN…. his actions were outrageous and he should be charged for his war crimes.
With all the talk of pols, did anybody mention these…..when referring to President Obama’s “standing in the world”
Of course not, lp. Only bad news for PBO makes the news.
I see the WHPC, who try to impress each other w/ their pool reports…..have know fallen to the level of ‘body language experts’……it truly is a sad state of affairs, Vicki!
It is, lp. But you have us here at TOD and with very few exceptions, we endeavor to shine light on the truth and our extraordinary POTUS.
Very dangerous brinksmanship …
does this request have anything to do with options for import/export and the need to build up their economy Bobfr? Or is it something else? What other options would they have if there was no seaport/airport in Gaza?
Asking because my knowledge is nil on this subject.
A verdict has been reached in the Renisha McBride murder trial.
Guilty of murder in the 2nd degree.
Guilty on manslaughter.
Guilty of felony firearms charges.
Theodore Wafer has been found guilty on all three charges.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/07/1319852/-Guilty-verdict-in-Renisha-McBride-trial
Thanks for the update, Linda.
People have to learn that you can’t go about shooting Black people then claiming Stand Your Ground or some bogus self defense that has so many glaring holes.
Verdicts like this will always be bittersweet. Justice (thank God) is served, but a 19 year old girl is gone. My heart goes out to her family.
Linda, it’s good there’s some kind of justice for Renisha’s family, but that will never restore her life.
Bill Moyers and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) meet to share experiences and revelations about the momentous March on Washington both attended 50 years ago. Their discussion takes them to the spot in front of the Lincoln Memorial where Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin, Roy Wilkins, and others famously spoke about freedom and justice, creating critical momentum for both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. While there, Moyers and Lewis attract the attention of schoolchildren, and conduct a spontaneous living history lesson.
The March on Washington is largely remembered for King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The 23-year-old Lewis, newly named to lead the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was the youngest of the featured speakers, but among the most defiant. Now a 14-term congressman from Georgia, Lewis shares new insight into how the event unfolded — including last-minute conflicts over his own manuscript. He also discusses the continuing challenges to racial and economic equality, and his unwavering dedication to nonviolence and brotherly love as a means toward a more just end — even when facing inevitable violence and brutality.
“To look out and see the best of America convinced me more than anything else that this is the product, this is the work of the movement,” Lewis tells Bill. “Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be — you get out and push and you pull and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of good will in power to act.”
Threading rarely-seen documentary footage into their conversation, Bill — who was deputy director of the newly-created Peace Corps at the time — also shares his own memories of the day. He concludes with an essay about how the goal of equal rights and opportunities for all Americans — so championed at the March on Washington — continues to elude us. “But for a few hours that day,” Bill says, “we could imagine what this country might yet become.”
I don’t like how this all of a sudden came up, also…
How many are stranded ? CNN is saying 10’s of thousands but I cannot verify that.
Thom Hartman said about 40K and people started dying two days after they were chased away. It started on Sunday. No water. No food. It is a Mountainous desert type climate.
I’m glad we’re delivering humanitarian relief and wish the rest of the world would also. There are people dying of thirst on that mountain.
If it’s to avoid a massacre on a big scale, I can understand why President Obama is considering airstrikes.
I wish there was a mechanism for the United Nations to act QUICKLY when there is a danger of genocide.
The ebola hearing is nothing more than a fishing expedition.
They are asking about China’s involvement and they also want a timeline of State Department cables discussing the outbreak.
Looking for a scandal ? You betcha, also too.
He’s the Democrat from Montana.
Plagiarism for a Dem…..it destroys their candidacy. But for Rand Paul? The press forgets and forgives.
It also matters when the plagiarism occured. His was more severe.
I am also thinking about how then…. Sen Biden was derailed in 1988 presidential race for just quoting an Irishman without giving him credit once. I hope I remembered the story well.
There is certainly a double standard by our media. On the other hand, I do think that Democrats should hold elected officials to a higher standard.
Nerdy, do you know whether the Montana Democratic Party has the authority now to appoint a replacement? In some states that’s possible, in some not.
Answered my own question, Nerdy. Montana Democratic Party has until August 20 to nominate a new candidate; 175 delegates must meet and select replacement.
Just saw this tweet and couldn’t resist.
The Democrat Machine @DemocratMachine · 5m
WANTED: Montanan with famous name to run for US Senate. NO plagiarists please. Must be able to casually raise millions per day
Will be music to @MTMarilyn’s ears.
She mentioned yesterday that there are lots of good candidates in MT that Dems will be excited to support.
Was it Jovie who posted this morning that all state-wide offices in MT except for one are held by Dems?
Gotta chuckle that @jmartnyt’s “gotcha” reporting may have backfired on his GOP agenda. And no doubt his wife @betsynbc (formerly @betsymtp has a sad too. Teehee.
I hope the MT Democrats can agree on someone with a good chance to win this seat. GOP seem to weather horrible ethical breaches, but Democrats rarely stay to fight.
Tennessee Drug Tests Welfare Applicants, Discovers Less Than One Percent Use Drugs
In July, Tennessee began a drug testing program for applicants to the state’s welfare program. Since then, just one person has tested positive out of more than 800.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/08/07/3468610/tennessee-welfare-drug-test-positive/
Every State that passed this nonsense is wasting money.
Oh no….our lovely Tally won’t like this.
POTUS, FLOTUS, Malia, Sasha and friend Valarie Jarrett went out to dinner last night.at Fiola Mare
Today is a good day in our family. I wrote Saturday of the trouble our precious dog, Chanel was in. We thought she had a strong adverse reaction to some medication. So, she was at the vet’s for three days with fluid running through an IV to flush it out. By Tuesday morning, she was very little better, so the vet knew more was wrong. We thought back and realized all this problem had started when she jumped out of the car onto the street before I could catch her. He got an appointment at the vet surgery center that afternoon. We rushed her to their hospital, she was given an MRI, and was shown to have a herniated disc in her neck, between the 2nd and 3rd vertebrae. The surgeon had told us this was the best possible problem, because she could take care of that. She operated immediately. It is now just 48 hours since surgery, and Chanel’s recovery is remarkable. Before, she could NOT walk. She is now walking, not perfectly, but she can walk. We brought her home about noon, and she is resting in her very OWN bed beside me as I type. We are keeping a loving watch on her. The house was so empty without her! We are so thankful for excellent veterinary services.
You’ll notice I said “she” when writing of the surgeon. We talked to her about vet school, and that we had heard a majority of vet students now are women. She said yes. When she went in in 1997, 33% of the students were women. This year’s class at Oklahoma State Univ vet school, was 80% women! So glad young women are not listening to the hogwash about not being good in science and math. We also have a new woman vet at our regular clinic, who graduated just this June. She had worked at the clinic for 12 years. I talked with her a little when we were visiting Chanel while at the clinic about how she liked it, and she replied “I’m living the dream!” Wow!
Terrific news, Carolyn. I’m so glad Chanel is better and back home with you. Brava to that vet!!
<3
What a relief! Hope Chanel continues to improve rapidly and give you many more years of companionship.
Terrific news about Chanel, Carolyn. Glad that the vet was able to see what was wrong, and had the surgery done. My thoughts and prayers for her continued recovery.
UGH. UGH. UGH.
This:
Then this:
Oh, about the Armed Forces and the powers consitutionally given to the President,
I can ask stupid questions like a White House Press Correspondent:
And I don’t believe the Internet was mentioned in the US Constitution, so why does President Obama insist on allowing its use? Imperial Presidency? In the pocket of the IT industry?
TY JB, I’m at a loss for words here…
I believe the tweet was snark, yes?
Gee I hope so..lol
Oh, okay, thought I misread it - lol! It was part of “stupid WHPC questions” and a good one.
And back in 1776 the USAF was most powerful… It consisted of 1000s of stealth-Spaceships.
Just posted that below - sorry for duplicate.
I sometimes wonder if President Obama ever fully realized what a truly tumultuous world he would face when he took office. It’s just astonishing the number of crises he’s had to deal with.
Actually, I think he of all people had the most realistic idea of the tumult that lie ahead - because the status quo was going to be challenged in a very profound way. Because he understood the errors of the last 3-4 decades and knew that to get to where he envisioned, there would have to sea changes across the globe which would inevitably mean more resistance and conflict in the short term. The look on his face that night at Bryant park spoke volumes. It wasn’t one of giddy exhilaration, it was very somber, as if he he already knew the enormity of the job he was tasked with.
I remember his demeanor very well. It was incredibly sobering and I instantly felt that he was grappling deeply with the stark truth. I felt such empathy for him. Maybe he was beginning to sense the loneliness of it, too.
Indeed. And he tried to temper people’s expectations, but given the historic moment, wasn’t too effective at that point. I think the voters were the ones most caught off guard with their expectations - because many of us had never really paid serious attention to politics and the processes involved. And the media took advantage of that with their constant misreporting, covering for the GOP, etc.
He tried to warn us every single step of the way. He told us it would be tough going and that we needed to stay alert, stay involved. So many didn’t listen.
Sorry for the false NYT news
Apparently, someone’s air force is bombing ISIS. The Kurds & US have denied, so I wonder if it’s the Iranians ….
oops sorry for the duplicate upthread!
Thank you, Doc, Bobfr.
Well, republicans probably got a heads up that we might do something along those lines soon.
And as usual, immediately calls the press to fuck things up.
Method of operation for GOP.
The moral of the story is NEVER trust press reports..investigate first
POTUS about to make a statement?
Is he Meta??
Oh yeah, just saw it on Twitter
Who knows……so much weird stuff flying around today!
Seeing lots of tweets saying he’ll make a statement, but nothing official-looking.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/abc-news-plus-special-report-220000361.html
Oh, great. Thx, luv.
It’s all kind of odd though Meta, still seeing no official confirmation re PBO’s statement!
TOTALLY WEIRD.
I’m kind of hoping the WHPC were told PBO is making a statement, so they’ll stay in the briefing room until four in the morning, at which point Josh will pop in and say: “We were kidding!”
3 years? For that snitch?
Wow, you really can’t make this stuff up.
meta it is nothing but B.S. I would be ashame to call myself a journalists if I wrote something like that. Mom Dad must be proud.
Hey Meta. Is it a slow news day or something??? This is ridiculous. The person who wrote this petty nonsense should be fired.
Every day I think they can’t top yesterday. And then they do. It’s beyond insane!
But notice that they never use their “idle time” to go after the Republicans like Romney, or GWB who likely have the swankiest, most costly vacations of all….
Here is the NYT person who wrote the US bombed Iraq
Get her twitter brigade
Alissa J. Rubin (Alissanyt) on Twitter
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/american-forces-said-to-bomb-isis-targets-in-iraq.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=0
Is she related to the Rubin who writes her columns for Wash Post? If she is, there then, lies the answer.
That’s Kurd territory up north? I didn’t think the Kurds have that much of an Air Force?
Now this:
Maybe it’s all been a flower petal drop. Let’s NOT ask AP.
Our press is just a straight up MESS. We inevitably can’t rely on anything unless we hear directly from our POTUS.
And Martha Raddatz AKA Putin’s chief Arse-kisser on ABC News is among the least trustworthy — next to Jon Karl.
US was there in 2003 helping those same folks with humanitarian aides after the outing of Saddam Hussein. Iraq had a dictator, but Iraq was contained and relatively peaceful until GW Bush went to revenge for : He tried to kill my dad……GW Bush once said.
We’ve all gotta take a breath. Ha.
But don’t you see. Rand Paul is allowed to associated, be raised by and raised a druggie son, then would go 180 on any issue and still pompously claim that he Only he was in the Right.
Oh, I get it. Can’t stand him or Ron Paul. Was just chuckling at the “enthusiasm” in the tweet! I’ve felt that myself! Arggh.
TRUE
:lol:
Oh, my……….
Oh, my…..X2
Hello everyone.
Could someone clarify this tweet message (if anyone has seen the info) since I can’t get the info embedded magnified enough to read.
Thanks in advance.
This is the tweet I was referring to:
Does this link to the actual document help?
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/A_Politics/14643%20AUGUST%20NBC-WSJ%20POLL.pdf
22% of Liberal were polled and 40% of Conservatives……WSJ and a so called Dem Pollster. Under which demographics is this even possible? Well, when a manipulative pollster asks for Liberals instead of Dems. US today has 32/33% self ID’ed as Dems and 22% as GOPers. 40% Indies.
Did I miss something? I have it muted but CNN’s crawler is “BREAKING NEWS: U.S. considers airstrikes in Iraq.” Warmongering again? Isn’t today’s news (so far) that it’s humanitarian drops? #IGiveUp
As meta wrote, I’ll wait to hear it all from our POTUS.
You can thank the front row at the WH db for all the messed up confusion. They were coming at it from every RW direction, completely oblivious to what Josh was trying to clarify. Jerks.
Actually, the presssec said earlier that any intervention at most will be a humanitarian aid package consisting of limited airstrikes and service drops. No boots on the ground.
I rest my case:
Unreal. Thanks for bringing me up to speed on their antics.
Music. Going off to listen to music!
WSJ is also reporting the bombings. Hmmmm…
Seems like the MSM all get the same script from a single source. It then gets distributed…and reported.
I say from a made up source…..then they all feverishly tweet and retweet. Nothing real. Just make up and Fear the day lights out of people. The US media has been aching for war since this president came to office.
I have never seen so many conflicting adamant reports on an issue as there is on the purported “air drop”. Every news org. tweet is the exact opposite of the news tweet above.
My head is spinning.
Humanitarian drop in Iraq is not the only unsubstantiated report circulating now. Just as others have said, I will wait to hear from POTUS and spare all of us reporting the possibly true/possibly false items I am seeing.
To follow, Toad poll on do you agree with PBO’s intervention in Irak….intentionally confuse the American people then do a poll!
PBS just covered this with a reporter from the Washington Post ( an adult )
Some of the troops that PBO sent to Iraq are actually in Arbil Kurdistan and she said ISIL is only 40 miles away.
Ugh, I finally had a chance to follow the “Press Conference” at the end of the US - African Summit.
My impression - more and more - of these “Press Conferences” is that the President simply takes the issues the WHPC throws at him to deliver a lecture on how to better the world. And if it’s necessary to pivot away from the specifics brought up by the “reporter”, he will do that.
BTW, I loved his treatment of the Ebola question: Be Florence Nightingale first, develop “treatments” later …
I trust this:
Now see a CNN report that an Iraqi official told them Iraq Air Force was attacking ISIS targets. Interestingly, I heard Col. Jack Jacobs earlier say that the Iraq AF was not capable of this.
Any more about a PBO statement?
It’s a mystery Dotster, ABC started live streaming for PBO statement, and now they’ve taken it down.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/abc-news-plus-special-report-220000361.html
I’m glad someone took the time to highlight this issue. We here on TOD have been saying this from day 1 - the pollsters carefully select their samples to achieve their desired result. But don’t take my our anyone else’s word for it. The evidence is right here - in front of you:
The full report is here:
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/A_Politics/14643%20AUGUST%20NBC-WSJ%20POLL.pdf
Check out the number of disproportionate whites surveyed. ETC.
Breaking: the USAF is dropping 1000 pound hamburgers on ISIS in Iraq.
-Ap
Burger King…
Those are big ones. :)
Whoppers!!!!
lol….
NBC News Jim Michalschevski (murdered spelling) is reporting that U.S. cargo and military planes are airborne—-to target ISIS and for food/water air drop.
Chat on:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/08/07/chat-on-and-heads-up-just-in-case/
No confirmation from White House, as yet, but …
Pentagon now says it wasn’t hamburgers being dropped it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
-AP
Next they will have a tv camera inside the engines. :)