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Ali Meyer: Former Drug Dealer Released From Prison: “President Obama Saved My Life”
According to the White House, America spends about $80 billion each year on incarceration. They say that’s the same amount of money it would take to double every teacher salary in America or pay for every high school graduate to go to college. President Obama is focusing on criminal justice reform in his second term in office. This week, he commuted the sentences of more than 40 inmates convicted of low-level, non-violent drug offenses. Justice reformers say federal crack cocaine sentences unfairly put thousands of minority inmates behind bars for life prior to a change in federal law in 2010. The sentencing regime is costing taxpayers billions. Jason Hernandez was convicted in 1998 as a drug dealer in Texas.
Because the drug was crack, Hernandez got life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hernandez filed the clemency paperwork himself; an eight-page application with the potential to save his life. He works as a mentor for juvenile offenders in the kitchen at Cafe Momentum, a restaurant for youthful offenders. He’s using his circumstance to help kids change the course of their own lives in a way he couldn’t almost two decades ago. Jason Hernandez has two jobs; mentoring youth, and working as a welder at a muffler shop… a trade he picked up at federal prison in El Reno. “I was practically a dead man walking and President Obama gave me my life back. I see him like a father now. Like any son, you want to make your father proud, and that’s what my aim is,” Hernandez said.
More here
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"I feel that after twenty years in these prisons, the good Lord brought us Barack Obama to set things right." bit.ly/1I6ghMB
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Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) July 16, 2025In prison for life w/o parole “For two days, I just held the commutation letter in my hand" kfor.com/2015/07/16/dru… http://t.co/L2dzhF2MYT
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meta (@metaquest) July 17, 2025****
Obama went where no president has gone before. nyti.ms/1OiBC4p http://t.co/kamo0xGNex
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The New York Times (@nytimes) July 17, 2025Quotation of the day nyti.ms/1KcjGKc http://t.co/6uqhA7fFg6
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The New York Times (@nytimes) July 17, 2025
White House.gov
Good Afternoon, NW…TOD Family!!!
Well, hello there,SW! Nice to see you in a former haunt.😀
Hi there, VC!!! Doing more lurking than commenting these days, but still hanging out in the village.
Same here, SW. I think I’ve used up all my words/opinions over the last couple of years, so now I read/watch/listen. 😀
“…I read/watch/listen…”
That’s the most my poor brain seems to be able to do these days. [sigh]
Congrats swbluega on 1st
Essential reading/viewing, NW!! Thank you, once again, for ‘bringing it’!!
Thanks, Bobfr
Thank you so much, Nerdy, for featuring this man’s life. What a testament to the good PBO is doing for people without privilege every single day. I’m beyond moved as we witness his greatness.
Great new thread..Thanks, Nerdy:)
I heard him speak on NPR and I had to keep driving so I could listen to the whole thing. It was very touching. I hope that the majority that he sets free do good and do not return. If they have to go back to their old neighborhood and around old friends still messing up, I pray they have the strength to stay on the straight and narrow road. I also pray they do not meet up with deadly cops.
Fantastic Post, NW.
Thank you.
Congrats Swbluega on your Solid Au⭐
GA Nena. Thanks!
AWESOME AWESOME tweet
Brilliant and 1001% accurate Tweet.
Thanks, Doc Bobfr for showcasing it here at TOD😉
I love it.
That’s a copy for the Archives. My archives. LOL. Thanks much.
Gag me.
Perhaps, Monday since POTUS is spending the Weekend in NYC😉❓
OK……I ‘ve got my answer from Josh “The Voice” Earnest…….POTUS will be making his Daily Show appearance on Tuesday.
Click-bait… TPM has an extremely low bar for “sick burns”
Hey Nerdy, it’s always a True Joy to encounter you and your brilliants, wisdom, and magnificent service you deliver to us TODvill’ers. There is no words that can truly express how grateful we are for Ms. Chips, Nerdy, LL etc.
But, I will say Thank you so, so, so much. 🙏👏👍👊✊👊✊✌👉👈
Thanks so much, RanMan!
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.
Mahatma Gandhi, 1931
Hand Salute, Sailor ^*
Salute returned Lootenant!
Yes, judge. Yes it does….good for him for asking the question out loud.
Brilliant post, NW. Thanks much.
MUST READ for Obots. Really, really nails it.
I don’t tweet and I’m not on FB, but I just had to say thank you to Mr. Meyer, so I wrote him an email.
I just received a “thank you” email from Mr. Meyer, this author of the article. He thanked me for taking the time to write.
SWEET!!
inorite?!
FANTASTIC read
from the article.
He and his family are at risk every day and we take their courage for granted.
Love his description of the WHPC - “24/7, ADHD press corps”
“Obama has weathered a recession, invisible racism, a reckless Republican Congress, a lily-livered Democratic Party, attacks from the richest pressure groups ever (Super PACs) and a 24/7, ADHD press corps under existential pressure to deliver page views and Nielsen ratings. He has done it with the “No Drama Obama” style that befits the office.”
Yes, I know I left an “i” out of privilege — 140 characters…
AWESOME!!
Is it too late for PBO to adopt me?
Mebbe……
I think FLOTUS would have veto power over that adoption.
Heyyyy! You & meta aren’t encouraging at all. See if I became their adopted daughter, then you two could be my play-cousins
DONE!!
GGail and meta, thank you for the smile.
And we would make annieb our play-auntie
Now I have a BIG grin, with every teeth in my mouth showing..
For real, Auntie bella!!
❤ awww, auntie annieb
I’m so glad the teen-agers will take some quality time to spend with Dad, last week it was with Mom and Grandmom, plus they went to England and Italy with Mom and Grandmom. Now this is just alittle time with Dad.
I got a survey from the DNC….I’ll fill their survey out and want to include a “little note”…I’ll be happy to include your thoughts…make a list:)
THE POST OFFICE HERE GETS RID OF MY STUFF…THEY HATE PBO…………………I DON’T THINK I AM TOO POPULAR HERE….P.S….TELL THEM TO GET SOME ‘FILL IN THE BLANKS’…OH THAT’S RIGHT..BLANK ALREADY!
Isn’t that illegal?
IT LOOKS LIKE ALOT OF THE PHOTOS HAVE DISAPPEARED HERE…SITE PROBLEMS?…..SO THRILLED FOR PBO…A FATHER/DAUGHTER WEEKEND…SO WONDERFULLY AWESOME…HE HAS TO BE SO SUPER EXCITED!
Bernie Sanders is a Barack Obama wannabe plan and simple…he mimics every issue the President has talked about or taken action on… does anyone else see this…I mean I just don’t see where all the excitement about Bernie is coming from…he always looks angry,ranting and raving…I just don’t get it…HE’S A PHONEY!!!!
“I mean I just don’t see where all the excitement about Bernie is coming from”
that’s because there is no excitement about Bernie. It’s all made up.
He criticizes PBO, then steals his ideas and proposals.
I was thinking the same thing: he has no warmth. It’s just bellowing.
We’re getting there……..
Remember that Keystone pipeline that R’s welcomed here…
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/17/3681738/canadian-pipeline-spill-near-tar-sands/
An pipeline spill in Alberta, Canada has leaked some 1,320,000 gallons, or 31,000 barrels, of emulsion — a mixture of bitumen, produced water, and sand — south of Fort McMurray, a hub for Canada’s tar sands mining and refining industry.
The leak, which was discovered Wednesday afternoon, is the largest pipeline spill in the province in 35 years, when a 54,000 barrel oil spill became Canada’s worst-ever pipeline incident.
Wouldn’t that be something if the aquifers got ruined for oil?? They wouldn’t care…
Me thinks that father might be also checking out Malia’s new university… From my take at reading article daughters-father time together will be off limits to press.
God, old habits are difficult to break! This statement reflective of a former assignment editor. 1997-2001
I had the same thought when FLOTUS, Sasha and Mrs. Robinson showed up there a few days ago to see a play with Malia. Then I thought maybe it was just because Malia has a summer internship there. But perhaps she’s doing the internship also as a way to see what it would be like to live there……so you may be onto something!
GA, TOD! Watching presser on TN shooting. It is being investigated as an act of terrorism…
Barack Obama’s Long Game
A month of victories has transformed the president’s second term.
…Not so long ago, much of the chattering class was reading the last rites over the Obama administration, and turning to the 2016 election as a test of whether anything would be left of the president’s legacy if a Republican succeeded him. That’s still an open question, of course. But the Court’s recent rulings and Obama’s own seemingly unplugged and swing-for-the-fences attitude on questions from race to criminal justice has given his presidency a sharply re-invigorated viability and relevance.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/barack-obamas-long-game-120259.html#ixzz3gB7u73ZC
I do take a bit of offence to that last line “… has given his presidency a sharply re-invigorated viability and relevance.”
This presidency has been viable and relevant from day one. Maybe journos are finally starting to take notice, rather than falling in love with their own faces and voices. Yet they put their own ignorance on this admin’s accomplishments with that spin. IMO
Yeah, kid, it tweaked my nose too
Every single article written about PBO’s incredible achievements always has to have some hideous caveat attached. It’s really tiresome.
How ’bout this way of thinking politico, you guys are finally waking up to who our President really is and what he’s accomplished over the last 6 1/2 years. /smdh!
Politico is a rag. It must pain them to write that article.
A right wing rag.
Hey guys, I was reading your responses to the article, and I would tend to agree with all of them, however, I still felt that there was enough in the article that was positive about our lovely president. I’m always stunned at how these journalists and pundits continually underestimate him and then act like all of a sudden he’s doing something amazing, when in fact, he’s been amazing since Day 1. (Actually, for me, he’s been amazing since I first listened to him in 2004). That’s why I pulled out that particularly paragraph paragraph from the article. As far as I am concerned, President Obama has not only managed monumental success in the face of unrelenting attacks, but he has done it with consistent grace and dignity, good humor and integrity, and utter brilliance. One of these days the media will get around to seeing that…or not.
Please share with the college students in your life…
Hi Alycee, I hope LL see’s this. He might be able to determine if he has any student contenders right there among his library regulars. Thanks for posting this
Video clip is in article; don’t know how to break it out separately…
Dancing out the triumphs and the tragedies of this week to the Empire soundtrack.
Thanks TOD ohana for being a companion throughout.
LIVE NOW: Texas Press Conference Re: Sandra Bland - http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
thank you JER.
Back to my Clown Car Review of the Republican 2016 candidates. Today’s top clown is Marco Rubio
egg.sack.lee Bobfr
This is a test…Just ignore it if it does not work
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Well it sort of worked😦
😀😀😀
Let’s get this ball rolling……
Paving the way for what his Administration will do after 20 Jan 2017, meta
Even Joe’s office is cute and warm looking.
— Anonymous in Illinois
Heh.
This is quite a good article.
Dan Pfeiffer just favored a tweet that mentioned me regarding this article
😯
WWOOOOTT!!
Any TODers on Staten Island … stay in doors ….
If those are paintball guns, the folk carrying them are truly STOOOPID!!!!!
Today’s WWW:
New post
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/07/17/a-trailblazer-meets-the-president/
Israel’s march toward an apartheid state via a path of systemic genocide continues ….
😀