****
Stephen Collinson: Obama Redefines The Lame Duck Presidency
At the time in his tenure when most presidents fret over their waning clout, Barack Obama is redefining the concept of the lame duck. His administration has been energized by his aggressive use of executive power. Some of the most hard-won achievements of his early years in office are beginning to pay off. And his political luck seems to be turning. With a term and a half behind him, Obama’s prospects are brighter than they have been for years. Though Republicans paint Obama’s glass as half full, and argued that the administration is overstating its record, that hasn’t rattled the man in the Oval Office.
The new sense of serenity in the White House solidified this week with figures showing that more than 16 million people have now signed up for health plans under Obamacare, the president’s top domestic achievement. That news came on the heels of booming jobs growth numbers and a tangible feeling that after years of slow recovery, things are looking up economically. The unemployment rate, at 5.5%, is at its lowest point since May 2008, before the Great Recession. And the U.S. economy is in much better shape than most of its rivals in the developed world. The White House believes that its initiatives on community college funding, the president’s moves to regulate the Internet and actions to reshape the immigration system are delivering a political dividend,
reasoning that many Americans are happy to see gridlock broken and the president taking action, a factor that might be partly reflected in Obama’s better poll numbers. Obama, meanwhile, more relaxed than ever. He’s speaking about race more freely than any time since he became president, notably in his speech on the 50th anniversary of the Selma civil rights marches earlier this month. And the White House counts a climate accord with China and a visit to India earlier this year as big wins for its strategy of rebalancing foreign policy towards Asia. The GOP, for its part, is learning what the White House found out years ago — that winning the Senate last year, and with it control of both chambers of Congress, brings its own problems.
More here
****
CNN: Obama redefines the lame duck presidency cnn.it/1Fy8R0T via the seasoned @stcollinson
—
Eric Schultz (@Schultz44) March 18, 2025
No way
Congrats GG!
You go Mamacita! ;-)
:star: Wut?
Thank you almab, Sailor & MP - where you people been??? :-)
All the way! Congrats, GGail!
Thanks Judith :-)
Well, well well, Good morning NW :-)
I am here! Hello GG, congrats on your achievement!
NC, you find some of the cutest pics, thank you :-)
Good MooOOOooorning, GGail. First last night and now first again. Are you in my brain, madam? :)
Thank yoooooooooou Nerdy - and I finally got around to reading your alert properly so I changed the caption on the R&S pic! :-)
Finally got that coffee in you, huh? :)
Ha, yes - plus a little fresh air!! :-)
And did you fix your tweet from “he” to “she” ? :D
No! That would be giving in to Grumpy Guts! :-)
So you like to torture people - aha!
My favorite hobby!1!1! :-)
Good to know :-)
show us the firewood you made the poor boy carry for ya.
Huh, he was far too busy retrieving the ball he kept letting roll in to the river to help gather firewood :roll:
I bet you wantonly kicked that ball into the water and then made him carry the firewood too.
So, he loves
peeingswimming in the river, eh?I have been known to kick it, yes. My finest moment was when I went to welly it in the river and my standing leg went whoooooooooosh on wet leaves, and I landed on my ass. How he laughed.
I bet he did and hope he enjoyed it thoroughly too. You deserved it.
I have been known to kick it, yes, my foot.
It’s your compassion that is so cute :-)
Need to enter Danny in the Animal Olympic Swim Team
He’d only eat his gold medal GGail, think of the shame.
He’ll be in good company…I think some of the other winners do too :D
OOOOooo, that looks so serene. Danny is such a GOOD fetcher fella!!
Well, he fetches, Meta, but he doesn’t give you what he fetches. When I say ‘drop!’, he gives me a ‘yeah, riiiiiiight’ look.
Here’s his song :-)
Hahahahaaaa!!
I think you’re channeling me NW & I don’t mind, in fact, I’m tickled pink :D
When will Dems scream back?
While he works they dither.
The are busy in the ” Call Room ” dialing for dollars.
Ugh. That explains it.
And down in Southern Maryland, near the Potomac, in the vicinity of our farm, The Piscataway. Growing up there, I felt I could see, hear, and feel their energies.
Yeah. There are a few tribes missing from WI and MN too.
In my area of New York, which was first settled by the Dutch in the mid 1600’s, it was an offshoot tribe of the Mohicans, as in “Last of..”
Dozens of tribes and cultural groupings missing from Oregon.
and Washington state
It doesn’t change the message though.
This map is very limited because there were several tribes in Georgia/Florida
The message is still valid.
Oh for sure!
Who is that guy that Sen Reid gave the elbow to ?
You guys have got to go and scroll through the photos that accompany this article. It will bring back memories and cause you to realize that this humble man brought America and the World through some tumultuous times…and he’s still standing. But, one of my favorites is him playing with his daughters in the snow on the White House lawn :-)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/exclusive-michelle-obama-mom-biracial-marriage-worries-article-1,2153243
GGail, That is were I read about the book coming out April 7th written by Peter Slevin about the First Lady. I was just wondering have anyone else heard about it.
Sorry GGail, something I didn’t do right.
Uh oh annie, the page has vanished :shock:
Thanks annie, I’ll take a look at the article - Thanks! :-)
I hardly ever hear anything
Okay annie, I just went to the ny daily news website and read the article you’re talking about. Well, whadda know, a book about our First Lady.
Thanks annie for the 411 :-)
Black girl’s parents banned from school after complaining about racist threats warning, ‘N****rs don’t belong’
18 MAR 2015 AT 09:22 ET
An Indiana sixth-grader’s parents were banned from school after confronting administrators over racist threats made against their daughter.
NyZeria Neely, the only black student in her high-ability class at Concord Intermediate School, said she found a pair of threatening notes in her locker two weeks in a row.
The first note, which she found last week, warned, “Watch your back,” reported the Elkhart Truth.
The second note, which she found Monday, read, “N****rs don’t belong!!!”
NyZeria said she considered crumpling up the second note, fearing no one would understand how she felt targeted in a school where just 10 percent of students are black and 2 percent of school personnel.
http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/schools/concord-high-school/2015/03/17/Notes-with-threats-racial-slurs-found-in-Concord-Intermediate-student-s-locker.html
This is a real shame - these backwards racists still are using the same tactics from decades ago. Will they never concede defeat? The world moves on without them. I hope this girl stays protected by good forces around her. Seems like the racists are also running the school.
NW, great tweet about Empire soundtrack coming in at #1. Speaking of Empire…tonight, wowsa!
It’s such fantastic news.
I’m so stoked that shows like Scandal, Jane The Virgin, Blackish, Fresh Off The Boat, How To Get Away With Murder, Empire, American Crime etc. with diverse casts are ratings and critical success. For a long time, people have been telling Hollywood executives that great plot, great acting, with a cast that is representative, will bring in diverse audiences and be a huge ratings bonanza at home and overseas. Some finally listened. Now we just have to get the writers room to be as equally representative.
And every big star, movie and singing wants to be on Empire - that says a lot. And I’m also glad these other shows are catching on. It was getting like watching vanilla ice cream melt over and over and over on every channel.
“watching vanilla ice cream melt over and over and over on every channel.” - 😂😂😂😂
Hilarious but very very true. I’m going to have to borrow that excellent word play for the future, GGail. :)
Oh stop it NW and if you use it in one of your clever tweets, I’ll be the one melting {{{{hugs}}}}
Solar Impulse, the solar-powered plane attempting to fly around the world, has completed the first leg in a two-hop journey from India to Myanmar.
Solar Impulse, with Andre Borschberg at the controls, left Ahmedabad early on Wednesday, touching down a little over 13 hours later in darkness in Varanasi.
It will be just a short “pit stop” in India’s northeast before the vehicle pushes on over the Bay of Bengal.
The leg to Mandalay in Myanmar (Burma) will be flown by Bertrand Piccard.
The two pilots are taking it in turns to guide Solar Impulse on its circumnavigation of the globe.
So far, they have covered about 3,000km in the three segments flown since beginning the adventure in Abu Dhabi on 9 March.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31924883
GM JER, I see you brought Rin Tin Tin back to say hello :-)
:)
Good Morning BFF and TOD.
Morning BFF!!
Can some of you who tweet please respond to Major’s tweet with some positive words about Pres. Obama? I feel sometimes news correspondents lose sight of how everyday people feel about president Obama and people who support him are being drowned out by the hate and inside beltway gossip-mongers
I think nice words of how we are proud of Pres. Obama can be helpful.
I try to do that, too. Glad I did with this one, because trolls are all over it.
Thank you and well done!
Are all systems “GO” ATC JER?
(to the tune of Stevie Wonder) “Isn’t She Lovely”
A must read …
“So how will this change politics in 2016?
1. This year’s “47 Percent Moment” will be on live video: Every minute — literally every minute — of every day of the campaign will be available live to anyone who wants it, no matter where they are. This weekend, I watched some of Jeb Bush’s New Hampshire event while waiting in line at the grocery store. This sort of raw footage is something I could only have seen previously by watching C-SPAN’s Road to the White House coverage and even I, someone who did politics for a living , would never do that unless under duress. This is a good thing (not just for people waiting in line places), because it breaks down barriers between the voters and campaigns. It allows people across the country to see events the way voters in New Hampshire and Iowa do, without the filter of TV networks deciding what events deserve their coverage.
clip
4. The Value of a Campaign’s Twitter Followers Just Went Way Up: @BarackObama has 56 million Twitter followers — it’s the third largest account in the world. Only Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have more, although Taylor Swift is right on his tail. Now, imagine that 10 percent of his followers join Meerkat in the coming months — that’s a potential audience of nearly 6 million people at any given time, more than the Sunday Shows or any cable news programming could dream of. Up until now, only the broadcast and cable networks had the power to reach that many people with video at any one time. The campaigns and media outlets with the largest number of engagedfollowers will have real structural advantages.”
View profile at Medium.com
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/meerkat-tweet-live-video/id954105918?mt=8
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/17/8234769/how-meerkat-conquered-all-at-sxsw
I hope the Democrats get the jump on this! Have you joined Meerkat, Bobfr?
Hello TOD. Wow….excellent post NW. Cloudy and 32F in my neck of the woods.
My only beef is the term LUCK used by the Author of the article above.
I could and without any doubt Elaborate and Theorize the Gifted Politician embodied in one Pres Barack H. Obama. Most TODville Community are already schooled on that….. So moving on, No one can be that Lucky without Skills, Smarts and Competence……..especially, one with Zero Political Machinery behind him.
Congrats to all the Golden Medalists…..starting with this fine post and several posts back.
Danny is looking great. A Stud of a Swimmer in a great looking Greening Surrounding.
Israelis…..well…..4th Time is your charm? SHAME!
It is not impossible to send Netanyahu to retirement……if only the 13 or so would say: Enough. But they will not. Hence, the Psychopath reigns once more.
I can see your point, Nena. :)
Nena, I don’t have a problem when people use the term Luck because Luck is when Preparation and Opportunity meet you and you are ready.
gunnite and sweet dreams.
Jesus. And I still haven’t remembered the master password for my password storing app thingie. But don’t you worry about me, off to sleep you go.
Rest well amk :)
Nitemare amk!
Dick Cheney - looking better these days…
lol.
That dress fits her body to a T
Poisoned chalice…he’ll be a successful as the US GOP has been after our midterms.
exactly. Bibi may have won the election but he lost the Global community.
I have posted a couple of things from Jay Smooth here at TOD…..at least one time.
Wow……In Belgium too….The Foreign Minister? Seriously? He is their SoS……..what a complete arse.
Good God
Oh for fuck’s sake.
The President Arrives Cleveland http://www.newsnet5.com/video/live-video
Wow! that was quick. Thanks JER :-)
It looks sunny and kinda warm there in Cleveland…where’s the snow?
42º F
Thanks JER :-)
Jeff’ has got awesome Cartoons…… this one caught my 4eyes best :)
To See, is To Believe for this doubting Thomasana.
He’s said that before…..I don’t believe it.
Today’s Storytime reading list:
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog
How Do Dinosaurs Go To School
Moo!
An endorsement Only a proud Papa can muster?
hahahahahahahahahahahaa
Here We The People Go Again…… Shooting and Killing ourselves with uncontrolled man-made weapons.
just another disturbed white guy ….
So sad…..
But CNN will do wall to wall on Tunisia.
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/18/the-first-lady-travels-to-japan-and-cambodia/