I found this so incredibly moving and such a tribute to our VP and also to our POTUS who has the heart and generosity to even think of this. Damn will we miss them. Thanks to all TODers for embodying and sharing the specialness of the Obamas.
Thanks for this Nerdy! This was just amazing, and of course the tears were flowing again.
Beyond that, I am so angry over the ACA vote in the middle of the night I simply cannot see straight. I didn’t think it was possible to be this angry at a political party. The heartlessness of these people is breathtaking. I absolutely despise them, and would not trust myself to speak with anyone who supports this party at this point in time. It is inhumane and cruel.
President Barack Obama presents Vice President Joe Biden with the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during a ceremony in the State Dining Room, Jan. 12, 2017. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
President Obama and Vice President Biden hug after Pres. Obama surprises VP Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. #presidentobama #vicepresidentbiden #president #vicepresident #MedalOfFreedom #politics #WhiteHouse
This is such a tremendous tribute to our VP. Watched a second time and still cried. What a perfect honor to a man who has truly done right by his country and we the people. And for Joe to give back so lovingly to POTUS in his speech. We have been one lucky country of people to have been a part of these 8 years. To have benefited from the persistence and graciousness of these two fine gentlemen and their loving families. I’m extremely grateful.
YES. May I suggest we post only Obama, Biden and admin remembrances here as well. Complete BOYCOTT of anything to do with that disgusting orange lizard.
I like that idea. This should be a Chump free zone. But I bet he will do something so awful that we will need to talk about it. Maybe I’ll save my direct complaints about him for Twitter.
Anyone here know how to get rid of automated posts, not friends posts on FB? I am getting these RW Western Journalist posts that look like they came straight from FOX News.
Thank you @POTUS for protecting California coast as national monuments! @CASenateDems took charge. #Humboldt #OC… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…— Kevin de Leόn (@kdeleon) January 13, 2025
Haven’t clicked on the article (will find a non-paywall article to find out more), but as a lifelong Californian who adores the western US, stunned to see California Coastal Monument and Cascade-Siskiyou on this list.
I’ve been to the CA Lost Coast (harrowing to get to — there’s only one road that leads to it, and as a passenger could look down sheer drops of at least 1,000 feet on the road’s hairpin turns) — gorgeous and desolate area.
And love camping in the Siskiyou mountains — not sure what it’s like now, but many years ago you could camp and not see another soul while there.
(Amusing to me that Twitter offers to translate this tweet from Romanian.)
Brimingham, Anniston, Beaufort, California Coastal Monument, Cascade-Siskiyou. By @Eilperin & @Brady_Dennis https://t.co/nhMCjAM20n
— Laura Helmuth (@laurahelmuth) January 12, 2025
More on the significance of today’s designations:
Big: Obama designates a Reconstruction Era National Monument, fulfilling scholars' long wishes. https://t.co/KCskhVayGv
— Matt Ford (@fordm) January 12, 2025
JUST IN: Pres. Obama designates 3 new national monuments in celebration of MLK Day, including the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. pic.twitter.com/Bds7W7ar67
Don’t have to tell you that we’re getting above-average rainfall (can’t believe that last year was the El Nino year), but thought you’d like to see:
It's been a very wet water year so far! #CAStorm#CAFlood #cawx pic.twitter.com/HZOvIf1Rmq
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) January 12, 2025
A look at the current snow pack across northern half of CA. Snow water content statewide is 158% of average for this date #CAStorm pic.twitter.com/LkggacbC77
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) January 11, 2025
I went out in middle of one of our fierce storms and I couldn’t believe the way the rainfall and wind were behaving. They were both coming at me from different angles every couple of minutes, including sideways. It felt like I would be swept away into the clouds, clinging to my umbrella. It was crazy. Amazing weather.
Things are calm here today. We’ve had a lot of damage and flooding, fallen trees, some deaths. This one packed a real punch.
Nerdy Wonka,
Please, know that Judith Fardig was asked by me and given my permission to submit two of my paintings of Prez Obama to be posted on TOD that I had used for the Postcard campaign in 2008. I no longer have the capability to reproduce the cards so am unable to physically share them due to computer, printer, adobe photo shop elements compatibility issues, but was asked by others on the blog to see them. Thank you if you can make that possible.
So love POTUS & VP Joey. This was so touching. Please continue to make their light shine so bright that the Orange darkness recedes forever into his murkiness. Amen. 🙂
U.S. Mint and Treasury unveil new gold coin that portrays Lady Liberty as a woman of color for the first time. https://t.co/AXO18JILXJ pic.twitter.com/ypqZHLptq5
— ABC News (@ABC) January 13, 2025
“In a press conference Thursday held in the Department of Treasury’s “historic” Cash Room, the two departments introduced the 2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin, which celebrates 225 years of coins being minted in the U.S.
In ‘a departure from previous classic designs,’ the new coin portrays Lady Liberty as a black woman wearing a crown of stars. The coin is inscribed with ‘1792,’ for the year the U.S. Mint was established, ‘2017’ and ‘IN GOD WE TRUST.’ The reverse side of the coin contains a ‘bold and powerful eagle in flight,’ according to the press release.”
Think you can still view event, even though this tweet refers to live event:
Watch today's 1:00 p.m. EST unveiling event LIVE at https://t.co/HkfcPN5Enq. #USMint225 #Gold #Numismatics @USTreasury pic.twitter.com/iDx5wa0X2h
We’ve only got a few more precious days for good news from the federal government. 😦
Saw lots of stuff on Twitter tonight that confirms my worst fears (re: DJT).
I really feel like we’re on our way to being a satellite state for Russia (shudder). And that the 3 key figures in the FBI scandalous actions before the election, Comey/Chaffetz/Giuliani must be Russian spies (or otherwise being paid by Russia).
Not only did Comey interfere with the election when he sent his letter to Congress linking Anthony Weiner’s laptop to HRC emails (12 days before the election, only to say “nothing to see here” 2 days before the election), but he obstructed David Corn’s and Franklin Foer’s reports that linked DJT to Russia by telling NYT “nothing to see here” 3 days after his letter to Congress.
how the hell did this story ever run??? pic.twitter.com/scUL5Hwzpr
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) January 11, 2025
Now we have word that Giuliani will be in charge of DJT’s “cyber security team,” which of course will miraculously discover that “there’s nothing to see here” and allegations that Russia hacked DNC servers will disappear into the memory hole, as if it never happened.
Just looked at his cyber security company website. It runs Joomla, unpatched since 2012. Worst security setup I've seen for a while. https://t.co/ged3uv4uGS
— Kevin Beaumont 🤗 (@GossiTheDog) January 13, 2025
JUST IN: Trump selects former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani to oversee effort on cyber security - transition team
Oh my, what a touching ceremony. I truly fail to understand how anybody cannot admire PBO and VP Biden. Such amazing families. One has to be completely blinded by racism and hatred and utter stupidity to not appreciate those two men and their families as well.
Anyway, a page I follow on facebook posted a link to some vintage c-span footage of our Joey, from 1986, taking on George Schultz, Secretary of State under Reagan. His part begins at the 1:38:50 point.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?150206-1/south-africa-policies
Then I decided to do a search on c-span for more videos, and came across two more gems. There are many more there of course. 🙂
https://www.c-span.org/video/?150153-1/naacps-77th-annual-convention
https://www.c-span.org/video/?3461-1/biden-campaign-speech
Yes, she does! I’m 9 years younger, so I really have to get back on track! Compare my pre- and post- illness pics — they don’t look like the same person! BTW, I loved her shoes — doubt if I could walk in them, but ❤ ❤ ❤ them!
Oh, yes, loved her shoes, too. I kept asking myself if I could wear them, were my revamped exercise program to work in ’17 !!! Not sure, but nice goal. ❤
So in addition to all his other wonderful qualities, Joe thinks Michelle is THE GREATEST first lady the country has ever had! Based on the clips I’ve seen, it said it in a interview with Andrea Mitchell today and I believe again this afternoon. Says we’ve had many great ones, but Michelle is the best-her intelligence, passion, etc. How could you not love this man?
Vice Pres. Biden: "Michelle is the finest first lady, in my view, that has ever served in the office." https://t.co/0X7rSpSI4K pic.twitter.com/O0lQ6O7kGq
“Far more buses have applied to secure parking through the city for the Women’s March on Washington the day after inauguration than for the inauguration itself, D.C.Council member Charles Allen said Thursday.
Allen (D-Ward 6) said at least 1,200 buses have applied for permits to park at RFK Stadium in Washington on Jan. 21, the day of the Women’s March on Washington, while 200 have applied for parking the day before, Inauguration Day. NBC4 first reported the figures. RFK has a capacity of 1,300 buses.”
snip /
“At President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, which saw record breaking attendance numbers, more than 3,000 charter buses registered for parking permits in the city that day.”
Video shows convoy carrying US troops entering Poland as part of NATO build-up that has drawn criticism from Russia. https://t.co/6afiyH8ccF pic.twitter.com/pl5Kcwdgre
RULES! LAWS! He doesn’t need any stinking rules and laws!
The @FEC just sent Trump a 250 page letter listing what appear to be illegal campaign contributions. Read it here: https://t.co/oQ1jS9uDIm pic.twitter.com/2t526e2dYi
why isn’t the rest of my post here? I posted from the article TWICE. Please check this out….precisely WHY Price should never , ever, ever have this job. Important Read
“Although this crime was meant to challenge the black community’s right to exist, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund opposes the death penalty for Mr. Roof. Such a sentence would have the perverse effect of justifying the routine, racially discriminatory imposition of the death penalty on black people”
For an important perspective on #DylannRoof and #deathpenalty read this excellent piece from @NAACP_LDF in @nytimes.https://t.co/zMMip0cpTD
— Frank A. Stabile (@FrankAStabile) January 12, 2025
Report: Flynn Phoned Russian Ambassador on Day Sanctions Were Announced
A column in The Washington Post on Thursday alleges that Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn repeatedly phoned the Russian ambassador to the U.S. on the very same day the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats over election hacking. The allegation, made by an unnamed senior U.S. government official, raises the question of whether Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national-security adviser, was in violation of federal law with this alleged phone call. As author David Ignatius notes, the Logan Act prohibits U.S. citizens from any communication that is meant to influence a foreign government involved in disputes with the U.S.
Trump’s Lies Tell the Story
by Nancy LeTourneau
January 12, 2025 4:15 PM
There are times when you can learn something from what a person like Trump choses to lie about. Yesterday morning he tweeted this:
Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2025
Then later at his press conference, the president elect said this:
So I tweeted out that I have no dealings with Russia. I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away. And I have no loans with Russia.
As a real estate developer, I have very, very little debt. I have assets that are — and now people have found out how big the company is, I have very little debt — I have very low debt. But I have no loans with Russia at all.
And I thought that was important to put out. I certified that. So I have no deals, I have no loans and I have no dealings. We could make deals in Russia very easily if we wanted to, I just don’t want to because I think that would be a conflict. So I have no loans, no dealings, and no current pending deals.
Did he repeat it enough to make you believe him? Or, like me, do you remember when the Washington Post reported on what Donald Trump, Jr. said back in 2008 at a real estate conference?
“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” Donald Trump Jr. added, “we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
How Much Do For-Profit Colleges Rely on Federal Funds?
by Robert Kelchen
January 12, 2025 3:45 PM
The outgoing Obama administration placed for-profit colleges under a great deal of scrutiny. This includes gainful employment regulations that will require graduates of vocationally-oriented programs to meet debt-to-earnings requirements and borrower defense to repayment rules (which will likely be quickly abandoned by the Trump administration) designed to help students who feel they were defrauded by their college.
But special federal scrutiny of the for-profit sector has been around for decades, with one rule shaping the behavior of many colleges. This post explores the extent to which for-profit colleges rely on federal funds. It turns out that many rely heavily on these funds, although it’s not always clear what the implications are for the public.
In the 1992 Higher Education Act reauthorization, Congress included a provision that only applied to for-profit colleges, limiting the percentage of total revenue that for-profits could receive from federal grant, loan, and work-study programs to 85%. (This notably excludes veterans’ benefits, which are a large source of revenue for some colleges.) This percentage was increased to 90% in the 1998 reauthorization, which led to the rule being commonly referred to as “90/10.”
For-profit colleges that exceed 90% of their revenue from federal financial aid in two consecutive years can lose access to federal aid for the following two years. Some Democrats have tried to move back to the 85/15 rule or include veterans’ benefits in the federal financial aid portion of revenue, but these efforts will likely be unsuccessful given the support Republicans have received from for-profit colleges. Notably, some for-profits get a sizable portion of their revenue from veterans’ benefits.
Update 9:30 pm: In a statement, C-SPAN said an initial investigation indicated that the interruption was caused by “an internal routing error” and was not the result of a hack.
Donald Trump, Not the CIA, Is the Bad Guy Here
by Martin Longman
January 12, 2025 3:23 PM
Steve M. makes a good point about Glenn Greenwald’s logic.
The intelligence agencies? Greenwald writes,
FOR MONTHS, the CIA, with unprecedented clarity, overtly threw its weight behind Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and sought to defeat Donald Trump.
And that’s a sign that the Deep State is an unbridled force of pure evil? If we accept Greenwald’s premise, it means that the Deep State wasn’t even powerful enough to throw the election to the favorite.
Personally, I don’t agree that there was a lot of clarity about who the CIA preferred in the presidential race, although I readily admit that DCI Brennan is close to the president and probably had a strong preference for Clinton. But the disposition of the CIA as a whole isn’t really my concern here.
I think Steve makes an obvious observation when he notes that Trump’s victory showed that the “Deep State” isn’t as all-powerful as Greenwald would like us all to believe. I mean, assuming the Deep State had a preference for Clinton and tried to do anything at all, they obviously failed.
It’s worth considering the idea that they they really didn’t do anything to help Clinton, which is a statement all by itself. Neutrality is what we expect, and James Comey’s actions at the FBI that appeared to stall Clinton’s momentum at a critical time have outraged Democrats for exactly the reason that it lacked neutrality or balance. But electoral indifference and inaction by the intelligence arm of a state (whether an ostensibly representative state or not) isn’t something that’s common or that should be taken for granted.
If the CIA has some kind of cultural preference, that’s one thing. If they ran operations to help one candidate and hurt another, that’s supposed to be out of bounds. It seems to me that there’s more evidence of pro-Trump sentiment at the FBI (with it’s pro-law enforcement anti-Black Lives Matter culture) than there is of any kind of monolithic pro-Clinton support at the CIA. And the FBI actually, visibly, crippled Clinton’s campaign.
WaPo reports “According to a senior U.S. government official, Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking.
May I just add that I was enthralled watching this….I love the respect and genuine love and admiration these men have for one another. Thank you for sharing this with us
They're telling their Israeli counterparts to beware: anything you tell Trump or his team could wind up in the hands of the Russians. Wow. https://t.co/nr6wFuFXUO
Why Was Michel Flynn Talking to the Russian Ambassador?
by Nancy LeTourneau
January 13, 2025 9:40 AM
David Ignatius has an interesting tidbit in his column about the Trump/Russian connections.
According to a senior U.S. government official, [Retired Lt. Gen. Michael] Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking. What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions? The Logan Act (though never enforced) bars U.S. citizens from correspondence intending to influence a foreign government about “disputes” with the United States. Was its spirit violated? The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
What we have is a president-elect’s national security advisor talking on the phone to the Russian Ambassador several times on the day the current president announced retaliation against Russia for hacking and releasing information about the president-elect’s opponent during the election.
We also know that Flynn has strong ties to Russia via his regular appearances on Russia Today (suggesting that it’s just like CNN). In the dossier released by BuzzFeed, Flynn is listed as one of four members of the Trump campaign who were in contact with Russia during the election (in addition to Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Michael Cohen).
Of course we don’t know the content of those conversations. But remember the days when the “appearance of corruption” was enough to send the entire media into fits about the Clinton Foundation? Perhaps these phone calls will turn out to be as easily dismissed as those allegations were after a thorough investigation. Let’s find out!
White House.gov
What a wonderful moving tribute to Joe and his tribute to our President. Thank you Nerdy for bringing it here.
Congrats, Jackie! This video made my day! Love this team so much.
I found this so incredibly moving and such a tribute to our VP and also to our POTUS who has the heart and generosity to even think of this. Damn will we miss them. Thanks to all TODers for embodying and sharing the specialness of the Obamas.
Evening TOD folks! What an amazing and beautiful tribute, fully deserved to Joe Biden, an extraordinary VP and faithful friend.
Thank you Nerdy for posting this treasure.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
it seem that that i have been crying for the last few days…..smilin..
Thanks for this Nerdy! This was just amazing, and of course the tears were flowing again.
Beyond that, I am so angry over the ACA vote in the middle of the night I simply cannot see straight. I didn’t think it was possible to be this angry at a political party. The heartlessness of these people is breathtaking. I absolutely despise them, and would not trust myself to speak with anyone who supports this party at this point in time. It is inhumane and cruel.
Bo-Joe. A classy act till the end.
JoeBama 🙂
This is such a tremendous tribute to our VP. Watched a second time and still cried. What a perfect honor to a man who has truly done right by his country and we the people. And for Joe to give back so lovingly to POTUS in his speech. We have been one lucky country of people to have been a part of these 8 years. To have benefited from the persistence and graciousness of these two fine gentlemen and their loving families. I’m extremely grateful.
Just posted this on the bottom of the previous one, before I knew there was a new thread here.
#Crying
Indeed.
A ‘black’ at heart country didn’t deserve this man and fully deserves the puke coming down the pike.
Yep. Problem is those of us who didn’t feel that way have to suffer, too. (Good to see you here!)
cognitive dissonance of a few = collateral damage for the rest (of the world). plato was so right.
Exactly.
Yep!!!Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do!!!
Yes, on Jan 20, my Twitter avatar will be all blacked out. And any tweet I post will have the hashtag #MourninginAmerica
Good idea.
Great idea.
I plan to tweet PBO & admin remembrances all day.
Another great idea.
That’s a very good idea meta - we will need bright spots in an ocean of sadness and despair….
YES. May I suggest we post only Obama, Biden and admin remembrances here as well. Complete BOYCOTT of anything to do with that disgusting orange lizard.
Yes, complete black out of anything related to orange rump on Jan 20th Please
I like that idea. This should be a Chump free zone. But I bet he will do something so awful that we will need to talk about it. Maybe I’ll save my direct complaints about him for Twitter.
Yes. I wonder how soon we will here from the President after he leaves
Yup. I will be highlighting things PBO did. No TV. I am not spending a dime, either. I will post his speeches, etc. That’s @barackobamaDay for me.
Never will I normalize that fool. Never!
{{{{FIST BUMP}}}}
Thank you Hopefruit2! I don’t do Twitter and that’s why I am grateful to you for your hashtag which captures the way I feel.
Thanks Nath. Although I can’t take any credit for the hashtag - I borrowed it from this Twitter user 🙂
Anyone here know how to get rid of automated posts, not friends posts on FB? I am getting these RW Western Journalist posts that look like they came straight from FOX News.
Thank you Nerdy for posting the entire ceremony for Joe Biden. How heartwarming this is. Two wonderful men.
12 reasons we’ll miss Michelle Obama, the fashion icon.
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/twelve-reasons-well-miss-michelle-obama-the-fashion-icon/20170112.htm
more great photos-thank you
OMG, this is so exciting!!!!
GE Meta.
Posted this in response to JER on the previous thread, and a fellow Californian, thought you might be interested in my comments there:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Haven’t clicked on the article (will find a non-paywall article to find out more), but as a lifelong Californian who adores the western US, stunned to see California Coastal Monument and Cascade-Siskiyou on this list.
I’ve been to the CA Lost Coast (harrowing to get to — there’s only one road that leads to it, and as a passenger could look down sheer drops of at least 1,000 feet on the road’s hairpin turns) — gorgeous and desolate area.
And love camping in the Siskiyou mountains — not sure what it’s like now, but many years ago you could camp and not see another soul while there.
(Amusing to me that Twitter offers to translate this tweet from Romanian.)
More on the significance of today’s designations:
Don’t have to tell you that we’re getting above-average rainfall (can’t believe that last year was the El Nino year), but thought you’d like to see:
I went out in middle of one of our fierce storms and I couldn’t believe the way the rainfall and wind were behaving. They were both coming at me from different angles every couple of minutes, including sideways. It felt like I would be swept away into the clouds, clinging to my umbrella. It was crazy. Amazing weather.
Things are calm here today. We’ve had a lot of damage and flooding, fallen trees, some deaths. This one packed a real punch.
Nerdy Wonka,
Please, know that Judith Fardig was asked by me and given my permission to submit two of my paintings of Prez Obama to be posted on TOD that I had used for the Postcard campaign in 2008. I no longer have the capability to reproduce the cards so am unable to physically share them due to computer, printer, adobe photo shop elements compatibility issues, but was asked by others on the blog to see them. Thank you if you can make that possible.
Nerdy - I sent you a Twitter DM and an email with these images. We so appreciate all you do!!!! XOXO
GE TODville.
Congrats Jackie4Obama on number 1, and amk, good to see you this morning!
Think I posted this here earlier this month, but in light of today’s historic, moving ceremony — could @VP *be* any more genuine? — ICYMI:
And about PBO’s Farewell Speech:
Meta RT’d this yesterday — worth the click to see Barack Obama’s 30-second video when running for US Senator from Illinois in 2004:
more…
And this was on Windows 10 newsfeed page yesterday (links to a short video) — sent 3 tweets w/ different screen captures (all from the one video):
What a remarkable ceremony…the love and respect….touched me
So love POTUS & VP Joey. This was so touching. Please continue to make their light shine so bright that the Orange darkness recedes forever into his murkiness. Amen. 🙂
If you need a laugh, Click on this link, and follow the story. HILARIOUS
LOL! Rikyrah! Thank you!
Rikyrah, that is hilarious! 😂
Darn, missed the beginning. Do you think they’ll post the whole thing online?
Do you know if ABC will air it again? Can’t seem to find it online, just on ABC TV network. And they don’t give other air times.
Usually if it’s on a network, they only air once … but may have the full video up tomorrow on the ABC website. Or the Smithsonian museum website.
Thanks so much JO’B! I so want to kick back & watch the entire fab show, especially next week! 😉
It’s a wonderful show. Be sure to have a box of kleenixs available.
😀
“In a press conference Thursday held in the Department of Treasury’s “historic” Cash Room, the two departments introduced the 2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin, which celebrates 225 years of coins being minted in the U.S.
In ‘a departure from previous classic designs,’ the new coin portrays Lady Liberty as a black woman wearing a crown of stars. The coin is inscribed with ‘1792,’ for the year the U.S. Mint was established, ‘2017’ and ‘IN GOD WE TRUST.’ The reverse side of the coin contains a ‘bold and powerful eagle in flight,’ according to the press release.”
Think you can still view event, even though this tweet refers to live event:
You always share the most wonderful and interesting things, Arapaho! That Lady Liberty coin is perfect.
GE nightowl JO’B.
We’ve only got a few more precious days for good news from the federal government. 😦
Saw lots of stuff on Twitter tonight that confirms my worst fears (re: DJT).
I really feel like we’re on our way to being a satellite state for Russia (shudder). And that the 3 key figures in the FBI scandalous actions before the election, Comey/Chaffetz/Giuliani must be Russian spies (or otherwise being paid by Russia).
Not only did Comey interfere with the election when he sent his letter to Congress linking Anthony Weiner’s laptop to HRC emails (12 days before the election, only to say “nothing to see here” 2 days before the election), but he obstructed David Corn’s and Franklin Foer’s reports that linked DJT to Russia by telling NYT “nothing to see here” 3 days after his letter to Congress.
Now we have word that Giuliani will be in charge of DJT’s “cyber security team,” which of course will miraculously discover that “there’s nothing to see here” and allegations that Russia hacked DNC servers will disappear into the memory hole, as if it never happened.
And our unified government isn’t hiding the fact that we’re now living in a plutocracy, with no oversight or scruples whatsoever.
more…
So tired right now, I shall have to check out your links tomorrow. Sleep well, when you get there! zzzzzzzzzzzzz
And now Google is overtly assisting white supremacy:
And Russian state propaganda:
Just too depressing for words. Feel like a gigantic black curtain will descend over this country at the end of next week. 😦
I think Chaffetz should be investigated too. Something stinks
GM Kate.
Posted my thoughts on this in comment to JO’B just upthread.
One thing I forgot to add is that now WaPo is tossing around violation of the Logan Act re: Michael (unhinged) Flynn:
Oh my, what a touching ceremony. I truly fail to understand how anybody cannot admire PBO and VP Biden. Such amazing families. One has to be completely blinded by racism and hatred and utter stupidity to not appreciate those two men and their families as well.
Anyway, a page I follow on facebook posted a link to some vintage c-span footage of our Joey, from 1986, taking on George Schultz, Secretary of State under Reagan. His part begins at the 1:38:50 point.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?150206-1/south-africa-policies
Then I decided to do a search on c-span for more videos, and came across two more gems. There are many more there of course. 🙂
https://www.c-span.org/video/?150153-1/naacps-77th-annual-convention
https://www.c-span.org/video/?3461-1/biden-campaign-speech
uncle joe !!!
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37972626
God love him:) Hi, amk! Nice of you to pop in!
Gladys Knight looks fabulous - and she’s two years older than I am - so I’ll be back on the exercise bike tomorrow!
LOL….yes she does.
Yes, she does! I’m 9 years younger, so I really have to get back on track! Compare my pre- and post- illness pics — they don’t look like the same person! BTW, I loved her shoes — doubt if I could walk in them, but ❤ ❤ ❤ them!
Oh, yes, loved her shoes, too. I kept asking myself if I could wear them, were my revamped exercise program to work in ’17 !!! Not sure, but nice goal. ❤
Recited by Common during the ABC special, tonight:
***
I, Too
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/47558
On tomorrow evening:
stupid, sentimental injuns.
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-there-couldnt-be-a-cuter-family-than-this/20170113.htm
nice 🙂
So in addition to all his other wonderful qualities, Joe thinks Michelle is THE GREATEST first lady the country has ever had! Based on the clips I’ve seen, it said it in a interview with Andrea Mitchell today and I believe again this afternoon. Says we’ve had many great ones, but Michelle is the best-her intelligence, passion, etc. How could you not love this man?
GE FFTX:
Here’s a clip of that moment:
After posting nothing but doom and gloom in my responses to JO’B and AfricaTimes2 upthread, here’s some good news:
From the article:
“Far more buses have applied to secure parking through the city for the Women’s March on Washington the day after inauguration than for the inauguration itself, D.C.Council member Charles Allen said Thursday.
Allen (D-Ward 6) said at least 1,200 buses have applied for permits to park at RFK Stadium in Washington on Jan. 21, the day of the Women’s March on Washington, while 200 have applied for parking the day before, Inauguration Day. NBC4 first reported the figures. RFK has a capacity of 1,300 buses.”
snip /
“At President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, which saw record breaking attendance numbers, more than 3,000 charter buses registered for parking permits in the city that day.”
What a day. The ceremony for VP Joe and then this wonderful special ” Taking Stage” I have cried many tears today. So emotional.
OK. HGTV on Inauguration Day it is! If I watch nothing that day it won’t affect the ratings.
ICYMI, this beautiful tribute for FLOTUS from Stevie Wonder:
That’s our Mom-in-chief.
YES WE CAN & WE WILL.
Hello everybody.
RULES! LAWS! He doesn’t need any stinking rules and laws!
This could be my granddaughter…she loves books
We might need to “read up” on Russian blackmail tactics….
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden will be on The View today.
Weekdays 11e/10c/p
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1615714
why isn’t the rest of my post here? I posted from the article TWICE. Please check this out….precisely WHY Price should never , ever, ever have this job. Important Read
“Although this crime was meant to challenge the black community’s right to exist, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund opposes the death penalty for Mr. Roof. Such a sentence would have the perverse effect of justifying the routine, racially discriminatory imposition of the death penalty on black people”
Report: Flynn Phoned Russian Ambassador on Day Sanctions Were Announced
A column in The Washington Post on Thursday alleges that Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn repeatedly phoned the Russian ambassador to the U.S. on the very same day the Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats over election hacking. The allegation, made by an unnamed senior U.S. government official, raises the question of whether Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national-security adviser, was in violation of federal law with this alleged phone call. As author David Ignatius notes, the Logan Act prohibits U.S. citizens from any communication that is meant to influence a foreign government involved in disputes with the U.S.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/01/13/report-flynn-phoned-russian-ambassador-on-day-sanctions-were-announced.html
I didn’t link to the Wash Post because Ignatius is whining about PBO in other parts of it. The usual shoulda done blah…blah…..nonsense.
uh huh
Trump’s Lies Tell the Story
by Nancy LeTourneau
January 12, 2025 4:15 PM
There are times when you can learn something from what a person like Trump choses to lie about. Yesterday morning he tweeted this:
Then later at his press conference, the president elect said this:
Did he repeat it enough to make you believe him? Or, like me, do you remember when the Washington Post reported on what Donald Trump, Jr. said back in 2008 at a real estate conference?
How Much Do For-Profit Colleges Rely on Federal Funds?
by Robert Kelchen
January 12, 2025 3:45 PM
The outgoing Obama administration placed for-profit colleges under a great deal of scrutiny. This includes gainful employment regulations that will require graduates of vocationally-oriented programs to meet debt-to-earnings requirements and borrower defense to repayment rules (which will likely be quickly abandoned by the Trump administration) designed to help students who feel they were defrauded by their college.
But special federal scrutiny of the for-profit sector has been around for decades, with one rule shaping the behavior of many colleges. This post explores the extent to which for-profit colleges rely on federal funds. It turns out that many rely heavily on these funds, although it’s not always clear what the implications are for the public.
In the 1992 Higher Education Act reauthorization, Congress included a provision that only applied to for-profit colleges, limiting the percentage of total revenue that for-profits could receive from federal grant, loan, and work-study programs to 85%. (This notably excludes veterans’ benefits, which are a large source of revenue for some colleges.) This percentage was increased to 90% in the 1998 reauthorization, which led to the rule being commonly referred to as “90/10.”
For-profit colleges that exceed 90% of their revenue from federal financial aid in two consecutive years can lose access to federal aid for the following two years. Some Democrats have tried to move back to the 85/15 rule or include veterans’ benefits in the federal financial aid portion of revenue, but these efforts will likely be unsuccessful given the support Republicans have received from for-profit colleges. Notably, some for-profits get a sizable portion of their revenue from veterans’ benefits.
Update 9:30 pm: In a statement, C-SPAN said an initial investigation indicated that the interruption was caused by “an internal routing error” and was not the result of a hack.
http://gizmodo.com/russian-propaganda-mysteriously-cut-into-c-spans-web-fe-1791133632?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=Gizmodo_twitter
Donald Trump, Not the CIA, Is the Bad Guy Here
by Martin Longman
January 12, 2025 3:23 PM
Steve M. makes a good point about Glenn Greenwald’s logic.
The intelligence agencies? Greenwald writes,
And that’s a sign that the Deep State is an unbridled force of pure evil? If we accept Greenwald’s premise, it means that the Deep State wasn’t even powerful enough to throw the election to the favorite.
Personally, I don’t agree that there was a lot of clarity about who the CIA preferred in the presidential race, although I readily admit that DCI Brennan is close to the president and probably had a strong preference for Clinton. But the disposition of the CIA as a whole isn’t really my concern here.
I think Steve makes an obvious observation when he notes that Trump’s victory showed that the “Deep State” isn’t as all-powerful as Greenwald would like us all to believe. I mean, assuming the Deep State had a preference for Clinton and tried to do anything at all, they obviously failed.
It’s worth considering the idea that they they really didn’t do anything to help Clinton, which is a statement all by itself. Neutrality is what we expect, and James Comey’s actions at the FBI that appeared to stall Clinton’s momentum at a critical time have outraged Democrats for exactly the reason that it lacked neutrality or balance. But electoral indifference and inaction by the intelligence arm of a state (whether an ostensibly representative state or not) isn’t something that’s common or that should be taken for granted.
If the CIA has some kind of cultural preference, that’s one thing. If they ran operations to help one candidate and hurt another, that’s supposed to be out of bounds. It seems to me that there’s more evidence of pro-Trump sentiment at the FBI (with it’s pro-law enforcement anti-Black Lives Matter culture) than there is of any kind of monolithic pro-Clinton support at the CIA. And the FBI actually, visibly, crippled Clinton’s campaign.
WHAT.THE.PHUCK?
May I just add that I was enthralled watching this….I love the respect and genuine love and admiration these men have for one another. Thank you for sharing this with us
I cringe.
Remember this?
THIS IS AMAZING!!!!
You’ll need to view in Firefox.
Direct link:
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2017/01/13/my-michelle-amour/
Hmmph
Why Was Michel Flynn Talking to the Russian Ambassador?
by Nancy LeTourneau
January 13, 2025 9:40 AM
David Ignatius has an interesting tidbit in his column about the Trump/Russian connections.
What we have is a president-elect’s national security advisor talking on the phone to the Russian Ambassador several times on the day the current president announced retaliation against Russia for hacking and releasing information about the president-elect’s opponent during the election.
We also know that Flynn has strong ties to Russia via his regular appearances on Russia Today (suggesting that it’s just like CNN). In the dossier released by BuzzFeed, Flynn is listed as one of four members of the Trump campaign who were in contact with Russia during the election (in addition to Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Michael Cohen).
Of course we don’t know the content of those conversations. But remember the days when the “appearance of corruption” was enough to send the entire media into fits about the Clinton Foundation? Perhaps these phone calls will turn out to be as easily dismissed as those allegations were after a thorough investigation. Let’s find out!