The GOP debate undercard will now be just Rick Santorum arguing with reality.
—
Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) December 21, 202521
Dec
15
110 Responses to “Chat Away”
Leave a Reply
White House.gov
- Why Diplomacy Matters: Follow Along as the President Heads to the 70th UN General Assembly
- Engaging the International Community on Cybersecurity Standards
- Listen on Spotify: The Obamas' and Bidens' Holiday Playlists
- President Obama on the Five Years Since Repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
- What You Need to Know About How President Obama is Fighting Climate Change
WH Tumblr
- Happy holidays from our house to yours! ⛄🎁
- President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama released their...
- 🎶 Let it Bo! ❄
- letterstopresidentobama: It’s been five years since we repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ extending...
- “For all the very real progress America has made over the...
The People’s View
- Open thread - Merry Christmas! Liberal Librarian
- They all rolled over and one fell out Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - President Obama's year-end press conference Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - The threat from Agrabah Liberal Librarian
- Chalk one up for the good guys Liberal Librarian
Smartypants
- Is Karl Rove Kidding? He Can't Be Serious!
- Getting Beyond the Racism That Divides Us
- President Obama Sends a Signal to Governors on Commutations
- Asian Influences on Our African American President
- It's Not Just About Bombing ISIS
A Writing Corner (LL)
- #Pixels: A sign of the Apocalypse?
- Annals in “WTH Were You Thinking??” – Potty Training
- For the young lady and her love of Seamus Heaney
- On compassion
- A Mass for the Dead
Greg Sargent
- Happy Hour Roundup
- A political bomb is about to blow up in the Democrats’ faces
- Happy Hour Roundup
- Why are evangelicals supporting Ted Cruz and Donald Trump?
- Republicans wanted a national security election. They got one — and it may stick them with Donald Trump.
Steve Benen
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
WH Flickr
|
GM!
GM!
That tweet is just too funny, NW!
one down. how many more kkklowns still left?
Way too many!
Okay, I’m putting my money on Hillary Clinton in this match. She’s met and mastered smarter and better men than el Trumpo. For all his bluster and so called shrewdness, he’s not really that bright.
And he shrivels up and makes weird faces when he’s called out on something. Not my kinda guy. Ugh.
So this racists bigot have the dam nerve to demand an apology from Hillary, when all the people he has insulted, lied on, been disrespectful too. This man Trump is a disgrace. America can not afford this racists lying piece of crap.
No we can’t, Bella, which is why we all have to fight like the very devil to make sure he never comes anywhere near the White House.
I have a nagging feeling that this is a set-up because of the fact that Trump & Bill and possibly even Hillary are “good buddies”. I still believe that Trump is doing this to sabotage the GOP so that Hillary will slide into her Crown & Robe.
I could be wrong…
I am with you in this, GGail, I have felt this on an intuitive level all along. They will probably be having dinner together soon to laugh at it all - popping champagne. This is a smoke screen to deflect exactly what you and I, and I noticed last week even the thick brick known as JEB?! was saying the same. No doubt whatever they all read TOD - TOD is the only reality around, except of course, wherever PBO is!! But we are with him all the time anyway :bear:
Yes In_Deed MP, Yes Indeed :-)
GGail - My close friend in Florida is still betting on that conspiracy angle, too! Hope it’s right. And “ugh” on the crown and robe part, but that’s our best option!
Yup, J’OB, I cringe when I think about it, but I firmly believe that PBO will not let the insane ones take over and destroy what he painstaking built.
whether it is a conspiracy or not..(which i do not beleive).if DEMs and DEM leaning voters do not come out to vote….it means nothing
Exactly. It’s our job to drag Democrats to the polls! EVERYTHING depends on it.
He even sent PBO a congratulatory tweet in 2008.
I’ve wondered if he’s a ringer as well. He’s just so over-the-top reprehensible it feels like parody.
My hairdresser thinks he has liberal roots and is taking the GOP for a ride.
The scary part is the people who buy his act, who like his fascist spew, and WANT to get him to the White House.
And yet Trump is on record calling Clinton a big liar and President Obama a non-American. He needs to take several seats.
What’s a little name calling between friends?
Now about how Trump feels about the mighty & powerful President Obama - yes, it’s true, Trump is a hater - too bad/so sad :D
Even talking to himself, Santorum comes out the loser. If this dingbat had even a passing acquaintance with reality, he would have quit his silly campaign months ago or never started it at all. I will never forget the glorious night in November 2006 when the people of Pennsylvania booted this looney out of the US Senate. Unfortunately, they turned around and elected the notorious Pat Toomey just two years later.
Elections matter. VOTING MATTERS!
Virginia School Board Votes To Allow For Renaming Of Schools With Names Of Confederate Generals
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/12/21/3734187/changing-school-name-confederates/
Ironically, Matt Lewis wrote a book praising Sarah Palin.
Actually, that’s not ironic at all. He’s blaming a black man for white people’s racism. He’s just the sort to be googly over the Palin idiot.
Sure Matt Lewis blame the black man for racism, blame the black folks for slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK, the white supremacists, the tea party, the racists Fox so call news, right wing hate radio, yes Matt Lewis it’s all that Obama’s fault. You and your racists people are not responsible for anything.
Who the hell is Matt Lewis anyways? Just another stupid Rightwinger, I guess.
Good Monday morning all of TODville!! Looks like we will have a white Christmas. We love the snow. So glad the Obama’s are having a great start to their vacation. Finally one Christmas without too drama. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week preparing for Christmas. Off today to get my last package in the mail.
Good morning Marilyn. Yay, you’ve got Snow!!!! :-)
GM to you. So hopeful it will be a quiet holiday for all of us!
Until I meet up with the gang on Saturday after Christmas. I hope we don’t end up on the 11 o’clock news :D :D
You never can tell what Susan & Tally, JoJo, LL, PurpleshoesLA, & even Betsy will stir up! (Did I leave out anyone???) :D
I am putting a small box of treats in the mail today to Tally so I’ll be there in a small way. Hope you have a loud raucous and fun time.
Awwwww, Marilyn, you will always be among us when we gather {{{hugs}}}
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/opinion/the-donald-and-the-decider.html?_r=0
Good morning DF. Thank you for finding all these wonderful articles. You are a great finder! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Hi, stranger:) Thank you! I love to find these little nuggets of goodness to share:) Hope that you and the family have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the snow! I can’t even stand the cold that we’re having in the mornings here…forget the snow! One beautiful snow would be fun…after that, not so much. Hugs to everyone.
We will have a great Christmas, there is some family drama but we will survive it all. Hope you have a lovely time at home.
I am betting donald dreck loses in IA and drops out immediately? Any takers?
Nope, not from me amk, you see, I believe (see my comments above) that he’s a plant by Bill Clinton to disrupt the GOP campaign
i must say…i do not believe this conspiracy…..my concern is the turnout of the Dems and Dem leaning voters
I’ll take that bet. Trump has commanding leads in New Hampshire and elsewhere. His ego is a bottomless pit needing to be fed. He is headed to being his party’s nominee now and nothing will stop him.
Yep, I agree with Bill, Trump is a monster that can not be stopped. His ego won’t let him stop, the only way he gets out now is if he gets bored.
I unfortunately believe Trump not only will win the GOP nomination but that he will have a very good chance to win the Presidency. I do not want to be negative, but the voters historically have swung from one party to the next especially when they are afraid. If that happens we are in a lot of trouble not only of losing all the gains we have made from Obama’s Presidency, but by having all that Donald Trump represents in charge of our country. The world will rightly hate us. I will be embarrassed and ashamed. I had intended to vote only since I would not be as excited about the next President, but I see where I cannot afford to not fight to keep all that PBO has given us by my not being involved.
No, I’m hoping he is the Republican Presidential candidate. That would make it a cake walk for the Democratic candidate.
Terrible line of thought,pkayden. Take NOTHING for granted! Ever.
AMEN….
it took the President garnering 65 million votes (that were counted)…and folks standing line for hours….an awesome ground game …to win…not once but twice….do we have that kind of enthusiasm and organization to do it a 3rd time….this is my concern
Brent crude hits 11-year low.
Oil prices have fallen to levels not seen since 2004, surpassing the lows seen during the recession of 2008.
Brent crude sank to $36.05 a barrel - its weakest since July 2004 - before recovering slightly to $36.56.
A global oversupply has dramatically driven down the price of oil, with suppliers failing to reach agreements to address the glut.
A year earlier, the price of Brent stood at about $60 a barrel. In June 2014, it stood at $115.
The price of US crude was also down on Monday, dropping 40 cents to $34.17 a barrel - the lowest since 2009.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35152037
It’s that Dannon Yogurt that he eats :D
The thing about Cam is that he can beat you with his arm or with his legs, pick your poison.
It’s his brain
It’s always his brain, he reads defenses in a split second. The same way that Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers does, during the Combine some people compared Winston to Peyton Manning in being able to process information on the football field. But Cam can take it to a completely new level.
You & I agree brother :-)
Thank yoooooooooooou Nerdy!
Today is the day that my son and I will finally go see “Star Wars”, yes, I’m going to drag him to see a movie that he isn’t remotely interested in seeing just as when I was a kid my father dragged my brother and I to see “All the President’s Men.”
I hadn’t seen any of the previous SW movies but went to see the newest film. This one was okay. If you like adventure and sci-fi movies, you’ll like the new SW.
Thank you, pkayden, for that in depth analysis. I’m surprised you haven’t been picked up by any of the major newspapers as a movie critic.
Pkay, I <3 <3 , truly, the subtlety of your SW movie critique, :D in particular your concluding sentence! / sotto voce - I haven't seen *any* of them, and appreciate your brave and honest viewpoint. :D :D
<3 {{{{{ TOD }}}}} <3 VaHoo!! Mornin' y'all! Could just squeeze everyone who brought No-Spill Spout to 50% of the goal yesterday!! They are waving balloons and grateful, no champagne yet, but it's coming!! Thank you to all who got on board, keep sharing and caring. This is how we make a difference, isn't it? <3
I’m excited to get my samples! What a good idea!
He can’t have a quiet vacation…. so sorry for these troops and their loved ones.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-idUSKBN0U418520151221
Bringing this over from previous thread…
ICYMI: More interesting news from the NM governor’s office. Not only is the FBI investigation Susana Martinez’s campaign, her Secretary of State just began a jail sentence for theft of campaign funds. Now the governor is under fire for drunk dialing the police and trying to bully them and a desk clerk because of numerous complaints about a loud party in her room. This article is a little long but well worth the read…even the comments! LOL! Oh and BTW, she was just made Chair of the Republican Governors Association.
http://krqe.com/2015/12/18/governors-post-party-call-to-police-call-off-your-officers/
I think her behavior is typical of someone that is at odds with themselves. See people, the mind can only take so much of being at odds with its true nature, in other words being a Republican is antithetical to doing the right thing. And when the mind wants to do the right thing but can’t, then the mind will act out. Governor Martinez is her own worst enemy.
That’s a direct quote from All the President’s Men, isn’t it, Don?:)
Wow, no its not, I thought of that all on my own. I think I’m wasting my big brain here.
But we here are learning from you, Don. Daily. There’s that.
Actually, you remind me of my friends in New Jersey, when I lived there (most of my life), who always went to the heart of the matter! I kid you not.
Carry on.
True story, back in the day I used to submit comments to GQ magazine and they would publish them in their comment section. I used to sit back and get a kick out of it, I’d show my friends but they wouldn’t believe me, fun times.
Love it! Something tells me you saved the comments and the mags!
Ha! I bet he did too J’OB :-)
As well he should! That’s fabulous! :)
So one of the board members says southern history will be ignored- meaning she’s worried it will get the same treatment as the black history of slavery? And another someone says slavery is bad but it’s history; nothing we can do about that - except acknowledge it and stop revering its proponents! Although if we rename everything that’s named after a slave holder there’ll be a whole lot of renaming going on - including Washington, D.C. Not a bad thing; it would be a lot to get used to!! Shows what a grip slavery had on this country,
The right environment has to be in place for something like that to happen, with the election of the first black President the right environment is now in place. Marriage equality might be the greatest thing that President Obama has left us with, not only was it a change in policy, but it was a change in the way a whole group of people were being treated. I will miss the environment that President Obama has made possible. All Presidents are transactional, but only a few are transformative. We are in the midst of a President that is truly transformative.
I agree, Don, and as we approach his final year in office (sob!) it becomes clearer and clearer what a long view and long range strategy he has always had; that it has never been about him, but about us. It’s what is so hard about thinking about his successor, but electing a Democrat - any Democrat is our only hope of holding on to the environment he has created.
I saw the Ron Howard movie, In the Heart of the Sea.
I really enjoyed the visuals and the story.
I was hesitant about going to see this movie, but I think I will go see it now.
Oh, Don, you would really enjoy it! I was surprised myself.
Good Afternoon Everybody.
Good morning/afternoon JER :-)
This oil/gas price fluctuation is so confusing. In the last two days, I’ve heard (1) that the price went up & (2) the price went down.
By City News Service
POSTED: 12/19/15, 8:48 AM PST | UPDATED: 1 DAY AGO
LOS ANGELES >> The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County recorded its largest daily increase since Aug. 13 today, rising 4.1 cents to $2.809, one day after a 2.1-cent increase.
December 21, 2025 Ivan Penn Ivan Penn Contact Reporter
The nationwide average price for a gallon of regular gasoline Monday fell below $2 for the first time since March 2009 while most motorists in the Los Angeles area are paying closer to $3. In the L.A. region, the average price for a gallon of regular rose to $2.87, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. The statewide average was $2.72.
Except in California……
“Most notably, gas prices have begun rising in California, as we warned you last week due to several refinery kinks. The pain will continue for California motorists until these issues are resolved, and California will remain at a higher elevation until ExxonMobil’s Torrance, CA is fully repaired from its fire and explosion this past February. That’s expected in early 2016. Also seeing gas prices start rising today area motorists in the Great Lakes- due to a price cycling behavior. We’ve just sent out alerts to motorists in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, but hikes could also hit Kentucky, St. Louis and Minneapolis.”
Read more at https://blog.gasbuddy.com/#ZQllIc9xsDMqeqlG.99
This is such B.S. about California refinery fire from earlier this year is the reason prices are rising. Due to all these consolidation and closing of oil refineries to keep gas prices higher in California is ridiculous.
We’re getting ripped of JoJo!
*Ripped off*
Can one of you wonderful BT’S help a girl out here? Many thanks:)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251929995
Thank you, Honeybear:)
What??!! Santa’s on vacation the week before Christmas, too? #BlameObamaForTheGoodIdeas
As I posted earlier.
Let me guess…white and male
YOU WIN!!!
Hahahahaha DF!
Oh, check up thread and see if this was what you wanted posted.
Yup:) Thank you!!
My pleasure :-)
This guy can walk into any department store and not get followed, women won’t clutch their purses when he walks by them. This guy can get pulled over and scream at the police about is rights and not get shot. He is the rarest of men, he is afforded the benefit of every doubt, all of his failures will and can be excused. He is a white male and he is in pain, he has lost his country, his sweet beautiful country that he made is slaves build for him. And now all of his power is coming to an end, all because of some immigrant trying to come here to feed and house his or her family. Let us bow our heads and pray for the put-upon and beleaguered white male.
Follow the man to the end of the earth that ships his jobs to China…all those clothes he has…..China. This is what happens when brain’s cease to function. Sheeple.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2015/08/17/trump-the-hypocrite-investing-overseas-fine-for-him/
Donald Trump’s appeal is said to be his straight talk. But when it comes to international trade, he sounds like a hypocrite, the classic “Do what I say, not what I do” politician.
While bashing companies for investing in foreign countries, Donald Trump’s own company has shown no inclination to invest and build only in America. In fact, a significant percentage of his company’s hotels and major real estate properties are located abroad.
“Mr. Trump is either inexcusably hypocritical or inexcusably ignorant of economics,” according to Donald J. Boudreaux, a professor of economics at George Mason University. “There is zero economic difference between, say, a U.S. car company’s investments abroad in factories and Mr. Trump’s own investments abroad in hotels: both are meant to improve the bottom line of companies headquartered in the U.S. by taking advantage of profitable economic opportunities outside of the U.S.”
Notice that a lot of those who are exposed don’t seem very literate or educated, from the looks of their social media posts.
There’s probably an additional fear factor that they will lose ground to people who are better skilled or have higher aptitude if they’re kicked off their gravy train.
They’re freaking out about losing their ill-gotten gains and being unable to compete.
I am listening to a book that I wish every white adult person in the U.S. could be made to read. It’s called “The Half Has Never Been Told” and it’s about slavery as the economic engine that made the U.S. a successful nation. Now, I have to admit that over my life, I’ve read more British history than U.S., and the U.S. history I’ve read has been focused on certain areas: the waves of immigration in the late 1800s to early 1900s, the dust bowl, the Civil Rights movement, and biographies of various U.S. figures. So the information in this book may be already well-known to you. My U.S. history textbook in middle school was cited in Time magazine as an example of the racism included in such books as the Civil Rights movement was growing. However I always thought that slavery as an institution was an inefficient system and would have died eventually had the Civil War not happened and that the North was the engine of economic growth. In this book, the author describes how slavery was actually a very efficient system that drove the economy. One small thing that really struck me: the author always refers to the slave as enslaved people and the slave owners and sellers as enslavers. I was struck by the fact that calling someone a slave wipes away their individual humanity and their agency - the term ‘enslaved person’ restores it. In the introduction, the author points out that in the main, slavery has been defined as loss of civil rights, which he certainly agrees is terrible, but which also ignores the torture that was inflicted (he uses that word) and also the theft of the wages and profit from their labor. He argues that this makes it possible for people to think that because black people now have voting and other civil rights and because we have now elected a black president, that the debt has been paid in full, racism is gone, the debt has been fully paid. I’m finding it fascinating. I’m not an economist by any stretch and books about economics usually put me to sleep q
I remember reading a book that the name escapes me now, but the book talked about how slaves were made. Yes, slaves were made, they didn’t simply show up in America ready to be slaves. Every imaginable thing was done to that person to make him or her a slave. Yes, the physical hardships of slavery have long since gone, but believe it or not the psychological scares of slavery are still very much with us. The same way in which the Holocaust still is a psychological scare within the Jewish community.
That’s what this book makes absolutely clear. It also shows the strength of the people; those that escaped, and those that didn’t.
There is also a multi-part documentary called, ‘Africans in America’, which aired on PBS many years ago. It was the first time I learned about the deliberate creation of slavery as an economic tool.
That is, the creation of the ‘American Institution of Slavary’.
Maryl and Don—have you read Ta-Nehisi Coates “Between the World and Me?” It is a masterpiece and it looks squarely at what slavery was and how its legacy is still strong and pernicious. That and Mr. Coates long essay on Reparations tell us a lot about the horror and the economics of our long enduring national nightmare.
I have heard about it and want to read it! My book buying budget is limited right now, but it is on my list for the new year! Thanks for the recommendation.
Could you be thinking of the Willie Lynch Papers?
Sorry - cat stepped on keyboard. Economics usually puts me to sleep quite quickly, but this book is beautifully and clearly written. It also includes many original sources and quotes from enslaved people and gives the fullest picture of their lives I have every read.
Chat on
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/21/chat-on-131/