washington | The Obama Diary

Posts Tagged ‘washington

Jan

VC in DC

Categories: All Photos and Articles
Tags: dc, Inauguration, Obama, President, vc, washington

(No, this isn’t VC …. at least, I don’t think it is)

by VC

I never thought I’d see the day when I’m forced to admit that some experiences defy words. I’ll try to share, though I make no promises I can convey my inner feelings.

On Sunday, at the ‘T’ meet-up I ‘won gold’! Two tickets to a section of the action for which you had to be ‘vetted’! Who would have thunk that *I* would look forward to being patted and ‘wanded’ and having my purse pawed through?

But look forward I did. Can you imagine how it feels to get a surprise gift that puts you closer to SEEing President Obama and family, VP Joe and family, Nancy Smash et al, than you had ever dreamed of being? Of being in the midst of the action even though you hate crowds? My ‘win’ brought me the experience of having a dream I never dared dream in earnest, fulfilled! I was going to the Inauguration!

(Nancy spots an old friend in Georgetown)

I went out to supper with Theo and her mom at a posh restaurant (at least for me it was) in the heart of Georgetown after meeting with the ‘T’ crowd. As alluded to earlier, I saw Nancy Smash up-close and personal. Sadly, just like some of you, she didn’t recognize me. [It must have been the little bit of makeup I tried* to add to my features. (* = don’t ask).]

(DC, Inauguration morning)

Inauguration morning was fresh, cool, invigorating and pregnant with expectation and promise. I say fresh because the morning was ‘new’, the air sharp, and also because I left my hotel at 6:10am to meet my ‘guest’, Political Junkessa, who was going to be my partner to scout out the action. Not knowing my way around and knowing the subway stations would be busy, I arranged to meet PJ on the platform of a station common to both our routes, each of us coming to it from a different direction.

Yes, I arranged to meet someone in a subway system with which neither of us was greatly familiar, but what other option did I have? The station was a central change point but if we met on the lower level it should be simpler (so thought *I*), as the upper levels had several train lines to confuse us. I got there 15 minutes early – trains were running very fast with hardly any wait time in between – and realized the folly of my decision!

(No, VC and PJ aren’t actually in this pic, but it was the best I could find to illustrate the scene described)

Read it all here

Jan

Rise and Shine: It’s a Beautiful Day!

By Chipsticks 213 Comments

Categories: All Photos, Inauguration 2013, Joe 'Big Deal' Biden and Michelle Obama
Tags: Barack, Biden, day, dc, Inauguration 2009, jill, Joe, Michelle, Obama, photos, President, washington

The sun rises before the presidential inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, January 21

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8:45 am: President Obama, the First Family, the Vice President and Dr Biden will attend a church service at St John’s Episcopal Church

10:35: The President and First Family depart the White House for the US Capitol

11:20: President Obama’s Ceremonial Swearing-in

11:50: The President delivers remarks

1:05: Inaugural Luncheon at the National Statuary Hall, US Capitol

2:40: Inaugural Parade – Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues to the White House

3:45: Parade Review, White House

8:45: Commander-in-Chief’s Inaugural Ball

9:10: The Inaugural Ball

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Details of TV coverage here

C-Span * CBS * CNN

Live streaming from DC has started at all three links

C-Span: Sights and Sounds on Inauguration Day (live now)

C-Span: Inaugural Activities on Capitol Hill (live now)

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People gather on the mall in the early morning in front of the Washington Monument, January 21

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President Obama views a portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama before a church service at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden speak to supporters and donors at an inaugural reception for the 57th Presidential Inauguration at The National Building Museum in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 20

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President Obama greets volunteers at Burrville Elementary School in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Okay, the NY Daily News cracked me up …. again:

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OFA

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MoooOOOoooOOOooooOOoooOOOoorning!!!

Jan

A message from Donna Dem: TOD-ers meet up in DC!

By Chipsticks 296 Comments

Categories: All Photos, Articles and Inauguration 2013
Tags: dc, dem, donna, Inauguration 2009, photos, tod, washington

I don’t know who anyone is yet – we need them to identify themselves!

A message from DonnaDem:

Today it was an honor and a privilege to meet fellow TODers who are not just great supporters of President Obama but are great people as well…

I met someone who was first inspired to volunteer for PBO because of something she read on TOD. She went outside of her comfort zone and turned into a phone banking beast.

I learned that one of our fellow bloggers was a local civil rights pioneer and today we stand on her shoulders.

Then we have the fellow TOD’er (she was a hoot today) who was in da house to witness live when PBO crooned ~~ I’m So in Love with You ~~ at the fundraiser in NY.

Colorado, Ohio and Virginia, three battleground states, were won due in part to the strong work of three TOD’ers who worked their hearts out for a victory on election night. High Fives all around for those remarkable OFA Team Leaders who became their very own community organizers!

Talk about dedication, we had PBO supporters who traveled all the way from Canada to witness the second Inauguration of President Obama.

Thanks to one of our TODers who invited Cousin Henry Healy of Ireland who tried to make it to the meet-up today but was not able to get away from an Irish Embassy event. He actually sent his apologies.

We ate, we laughed, we hugged but most of all we shared our love and admiration for the greatest President evah and in the end three fantastic bloggers walked away with two tickets each to witness the Inauguration tomorrow!

It was a great time had by all!

Thank you soooooooooo much Donna, love you all!!!!! Have the best day EVER tomorrow!

Dec

At last …. Hawaii-bound

By Chipsticks 195 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and Michelle Obama
Tags: Barack, Christmas, hawaii, leaving, Malia, Michelle, Obama, photos, President, Sasha, washington

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Dec

Rise and Shine

By Chipsticks 147 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and Articles
Tags: Barack, Christmas, cliff, fiscal, Gingrich, in, Lawrence, Newt, o'donnell, Obama, President, rolling, stone, toons, video, washington

Hey, it’s this photo’s birthday today: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the 2009 Nobel Banquet in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Today:

10:50: President Obama departs the White House

12:30: Arrives in Michigan

1:35: Tours Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan

2:0: Delivers remarks

2:55: Departs Michigan

4:30: Arrives at the White House

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Detroit News: As President Barack Obama visits a Daimler AG plant in Redford Township today, the company plans to announce the investment of more than $100 million at the facility “in new technology, expanded production and jobs in the United States,” a Daimler official told The Detroit News.

The investment at Detroit Diesel — a unit of the German automaker — will add an unspecified number of new jobs to the 3-million-square-foot plant as it expands beyond diesel engines.

Detroit Diesel has 2,300 employees and builds four major engines, rear axles and 12-speed transmissions.

More here

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Washington Post: The contours of a deal to avert the year-end fiscal cliff are becoming increasingly clear. But progress has been slow, and time is running out for leaders to seal an agreement and sell it to restless lawmakers who so far have been given little information.

With hope still alive for a resolution by Christmas, President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) met Sunday at the White House, their first face-to-face meeting in nearly a month and their first one-on-one session since July 2011, when they last tried to forge a far-reaching compromise to tame the national debt.

Neither side would provide details, but White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage and Boehner spokesman Michael Steel released identical statements saying “the lines of communication remain open.”

More here

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The Atlantic: Goodbye, conciliator. Hello, Mr. Tough Love.

…. While Republicans are bemoaning the president’s intransigence in hewing fast to a position he ran and won on in 2012, they might do well to look to their own behavior in setting up this month’s epic power struggle with him – and why he feels he’s now in a strong enough position to stand firm on behalf of his agenda.

…. “The president’s idea of a negotiation is, roll over and do what I ask,” Speaker John Boehner complained earlier this month. But Obama just solidly won reelection after a very nasty race. Why would he forgo pushing hard for his agenda right out of the gate, right after it was reaffirmed by the public?

The bottom line: The odds we go over the cliff are high if the GOP doesn’t come around. Fortunately, it sounds like Republicans are starting to get the message.

More here

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More at ThinkProgress

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Greg Sargent: Leverage remains with Dems on taxes: A new Politico poll confirms it yet again: The public sides with Dems in the fiscal cliff fight. Sixty percent of likely voters — and 58 percent of independents — want taxes raised on those over $250,000. And there’s also this: Fifty eight percent say raising taxes on the rich won’t have a negative impact on the economy. Only 38 percent support the GOP position that it will. What this data confirms, yet again, is that Dems are the ones who hold the middle ground position in the talks.

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ThinkProgress: President Obama will “begin an all-out drive for comprehensive immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship” for 11 million undocumented immigrants, after Congress addresses the fiscal cliff, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation comes just as a top Hispanic Democrat, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), is calling on Obama to step-up his involvement on the issue and engage in discussions with lawmakers.

The Obama administration’s “social media blitz” will start in January and is expected “to tap the same organizations and unions that helped get a record number of Latino voters to reelect the president.” Cabinet secretaries and lawmakers from both parties are already holding initial meetings to iron out the details of the proposal….

More here

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