On This Day - Pete Souza: “Two days after the shootings at Newtown, the President traveled to Connecticut to meet with the victims’ families and give remarks at a prayer vigil. The President spent hours greeting family members. Difficult as that was for everyone, the one moment that helped sooth the pain was when he posed for a photo with the siblings and cousins of Emilie Parker, one of the 20 children who died that day in Newtown. I see both sadness and hope in this photograph, and I know after a lot of tears that day, it meant so much to the President that everyone was able to smile for a moment in this family photo. Thanks to the Parker family for allowing us to show this photograph publicly.” Dec. 16, 2012
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White House.gov
Good Morning Everyone!!
Moooooooorning Allison, morning everyone!
Gooood Morning Your Royal Sassiness! 😀
MoooooOOOOoooOOooooOOooooOOooooooorning Dame Deliciously Delectable!
Hi and Congrats Allison!
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Wednesday morning.
To all, I hope you have a bubbly, effervescent, and sparkling day today. <3 <3 <3
Thank God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
Congrats Allison, on being first this morning.
TY RanMan!
{{{{PBO}}}} {{{Little angels}}}} Morning everyone.
{{{{{ desert flora & fauna }}}}} 😄
LOL!
PRETTY DARNED DISGUSTING AREN’T THEY?
She is a pathetic liar
As usual, thank you President Obama
Good morning TOD family. Just got home from the Y. Busy day ahead, but I will be lurking and scrolling through. :) Hope everyone has a wonderful ‘hump’ day.
GM TOD
I remember back in 2008 - when I had zero understanding of how US elections worked - I was concerned that the democrats were going to select a woman or a black guy - and I did not believe that the US would vote for either.
So I was very wrong - and whatever I now think about Hillary Clinton as a future President - I do have faith that the American people would elect her over the clowns that are running for the GOP nomination. That the media refuses to call them out on their lies and stupid is beyond understanding. The GOP deserves Donald Trump - they have worked hard to make their political leaders the ignorant liars that they are - but hope springs eternal that the majority of Americans recognize what he is & the harm he could do.
Impossible to imagine any of these clowns replacing PBO.
The only way the media loses is if we stop clicking on their GOP biased stories, refuse to watch their GOP biased reporting on tv; when the moguls lose money, that’s when change happens. We the people need to vote the idiots out, but we also need to soundly reject the media’s one-sided view. Democratic leaders need to get angry and call out the media on their actual bias.
Congrats on 1st Allison :)
Good morning Chips and TOD
Thank you Chips for posting one of the most poignant photos of the Obama Presidency!
More updates in the sidebar, but let’s start with ….
#Hope4ALL
I’m leaving unsaid all the stuff about Saudi Arabia that all of you already realize ….
Diplomacy has consequences, many of which will not be pleasant for the oppressive, misogynistic House of Saud ….
A proper ‘Good morning’ ….
Wonder what it is about women ….
That terrify so many men …. guess I’m lucky because I’ve always just thought they were cool :)
Thank you President Obama ….
Some of us think you’re pretty cool too Bob!
That’s very kind of you, Dudette :)
I agree with Dudette.
These women are so amazing, Bob. They’re tough fighters, loving mothers, great friends and sisters to each other and they’re talented musicians. I wish we could highlight one or two of these women a week and then share those stories with those we know. What an inspiration they would be to young women.
Thank you Bob for always bringing this to our attention. I also admire these women!!! They are amazing and very inspiring. They are our future. I like jackiegrumbacher’s idea of really hearing their stories.
My pleasure, Marilyn!
Could not agree with you more, JackieG. You might consider tweeting your suggestion to Dilbar. Wouldn’t it be great if she started posting just such stories here at TOD!!
Cheers!
Sent the message, Bob. Hope she replies.
Hope she does, as well, JackieG!!
Take care ….
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
LOOKS LIKE TED CRUZ ON A GOOD DAY…I FINALLY FIGURED OUT CRUZ’S FACIAL FEATURES….COMPARABLE TO A CROW OR BUZZARD!
I like buzzard myself.
That picture says so much about the man and his compassion and also the writing says a lot about the photographer 💕
Just heard that Il Douche will be in LA today to appear on Jimmy Kimmel. Why????!!!
He’s click bait and ratings for shows he appears on. Part of that comes from his supporters and part comes from people who are fascinated by the banality of evil.
At this point JackieG, I would like to see his flame smothered and die out. We need the public to hear these other cray cray, Cruz & Rubio who will ultimately become the GOP front runner .
The corporations who own the news outlets do not care AT ALL about informing the public how dangerous or incompetent the GOP is. They want ratings $$.
At the end of the day, the corporate heads don’t care who’s running the country into the ground. They have far, far too much money to care. They’ll enclose themselves in lavish hideaways if things get bad enough on the outside.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
pitiful that it took this long.
…………..
Congress Finally Comes Through For Ailing Sept. 11 Heroes
Lawmakers have agreed to earmark $8 billion in this year’s measure to keep the government open.
Michael McAuliffSenior Congressional Reporter, The Huffington Post
Over 14 years after terrorists hijacked planes to strike the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, lawmakers on Capitol Hill cut a deal Tuesday to provide effectively permanent health care for the thousands of Americans who are now sick and dying because they came forward to help that day.
After remarkably difficult negotiations that prompted critics to create a #WorstResponders hashtag for Congress, legislators finally agreed to an $8.1 billion reauthorization of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, and attached it to the massive omnibus spending bill that will have to pass in order to fund the government.
The spending bill was expected to be posted online imminently Tuesday night, said a senior Republican aide who confirmed the 9/11 bill is included.
“This agreement is incredible news for our 9/11 heroes and their families, and it is a testament to the extraordinary power that Americans can have when they raise their voice and demand action,“ said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
About $3.5 billion will be designated for the World Trade Center Health Program, guaranteeing that more than 72,000 known responders and survivors will always have access to treatment, including more than 33,000 who already have 9/11-linked illnesses. The program will last 75 years, until 2090.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-sept-11-responders_566effdbe4b0e292150e9994?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics§ion=politics
Morning all. We’re heading off to spend the day with my MIL and then we’re going to a local Democratic Party Christmas gathering this evening. Tomorrow we host a Christmas party for the progressive Dems group we chair. Hope everyone has a fun-filled day.
remember, it was the Republican-installed ‘ Emergency Manager’ of Flint that did this.
…………….
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/15/15
Lead-poisoned children prompt emergency declaration from mayor
Mayor Karen Weaver of Flint, Michigan talks with Rachel Maddow about declaring a state of emergency after a change in water supply ended up delivering lead-tainted drinking water, and how she hopes to help her constituents recover - particularly the small children permanently damaged by lead poisoning.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/lead-poisoned-children-trigger-emergency-586757699558
water is wet news
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/15/15
Anti-Muslim attacks more than double typical US rate
Rachel Maddow reviews some recent anti-Muslim attacks, threats, and vandalism around the United States. Brian Levin, from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, joins to discuss whether there really is an uptick in anti-Muslim attacks and how that is assessed.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/anti-muslim-attacks-in-us-more-than-double-586666563809
Good morning, TOD!
He is a tall tree. He is amazing.
How fear won the GOP debate
By Michael Grunwald
—————————————-
Otherwise, it’s accurate to say that the debate was all about terrorism—how to fight it, how to keep Americans safe from it, and how much Americans should be freaking out about it. CNN’s panelists asked no questions about jobs, wages, the impending Fed rate hike, health care, energy, infrastructure, the federal budget, the federal deficit, the Supreme Court, financial reform, abortion, race, or any other domestic issue unrelated to homeland security. “Americans are more afraid today than they’ve been at any time since 9/11,” Wolf Blitzer declared, and the main theme of the debate—from the candidates, but arguably from the network as well—was that they ought to be even more afraid.
———————————————
Read more: http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/12/republican-debate-recap-fear-won-000010#ixzz3uUT6Cq8K
But, they don’t have anything else, if they don’t have fear. This is what they peddle in….and, since they don’t have anything else, the MSM will go along with it, because it’s the only way that they can pimp for the GOP.
I was feeling some kind of way this morning, and this post, as usual, got me to LOL. I’ve read it numerous times, and it STILL cracks me up.
………………….
Whose Wise Baby is This? (And Foolery From My Readers)
Awesomely Luvvie — October 16, 2025
I think babies are cute by default because they’re so little and small things lean towards cute. And some babies are born cute AND looking like they’ve been here before. You’ve seen those mini humans. They just look like they hold a wisdom of the years and these are the kids you gotta give strong names to. Names like Rufus, Jebediah, Orelius or Bertha. You can’t name babies who’ve been here before stuff like Jessica, Zach or Timmy. Nope. They need to be called Wilbur or Clementine from jump!
I came across a picture of this baby a while ago and I immediately wanted to get off his lawn, because I was sure he was gonna chase me off it.
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/10/wise-baby.html
“He looks like if you asked him what was going on, he’d sigh and say “Life, man.”‘ – JL
😂😂😂
Good Morning Chips & TOD, I’m wishing all of you a very good Wednesday.
hmmph…he wasn’t even born in this country….but, far be it from me to point this out…
……………
Tuesday, December 15, 2025
Would a Ted Cruz Candidacy Be Good for the Country?
In case you’ve forgotten, there was an insurgent vs establishment battle for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2012 too. One big difference was that Mitt Romney was clearly the establishment candidate back then. So conservative writer David Frum mapped out the four possibilities of a Romney vs Tea Party nomination and general election result.
Possibility 1: Romney is nominated, Romney is elected.
Possibility 2: Romney is nominated, Romney loses.
Possibility 3: A tea party Republican is nominated and loses.
Possibility 4: A tea party Republican is nominated and wins.
Being a good establishment conservative, Frum’s preference was #1. But he described #4 as resulting in a “political and economic crisis.” What is most interesting however, is how he described #3:
Yet within the disaster might lurk a silver lining. At least the GOP will get the ideological adventure out of its system. For three years, Republican activists have lived in a fantasy world in which fringe characters like Sarah Palin and Herman Cain somehow “speak for the common sense of the common people.” It seems incredible that anybody could believe such a thing. It seems crazy that anyone would actually need a presidential election to disabuse them of such notions. But as Benjamin Franklin said: “Experience is a hard teacher, but fools will have no other.”
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/12/would-ted-cruz-candidacy-be-good-for.html
If a Republican is freaked out by the “rising” of the useful idiots and bigots that they manipulate so easily to win elections so that they can do their corporate profits uber all thing, perhaps they think HRC winning would not be such a bad thing. I think they underestimate the resolve of the non idiots and bigots to move this country ever forward since the corporate GOP has become those that embrace the same ego driven mentality that Trump has. That’s why, by the way, they will never understand the decent humility that the President embodies. I suspect if a Bircher or fascist is nominated they will keep their corporate coffers powder dry and use it on Senate elections. They are wrong if they think the “base” that support Trump won’t come for them if they ever get the correct information on the issues.
The Democrats keep getting better at circumventing the MSM to get directly to the individual voter. This will work better and better as digital natives move into the majority.
Simply ….
Wishing all of you a superb Wed …
#Hope4ALL
Before departing for the day …. can’t forget ….
<3
Good morning, Chips and TODers. Happy Wednesday to everyone.
Great choice. I just came away watching his ripping of the shoot-at-anything americana culture.
I haven’t seen him but hear great things so I’m looking forward to this event. PBO should be CRAZY good since this will be his last dinner with these jerks!!
Meta, there is a great piece on our wonderful First Family “Framing the Obamas” in the Nov. Ebony Magazine; and Mr. Larry Wilmore made a great comment about the president and our first family. Being that his comment was so bold, I am looking forward to this last WHC Dinner. HZ
Thank you for the pointer, HZ. I’ll see if I can find the issue. I’m pretty sure this last WHPC dinner is going to be a DOOZY!!
IT’s ON! Trump et al better not show up, ’cause Larry will show out… Can’t wait!
I like him a lot!
Oh yes…
all these kkklowns who are bad mouthing countries like russia, china, india etc. just to give a woody to their neanderthal ‘base’, do realize that if elected, god forbid, they have to deal with those same countries day-in and day-out, right?
Good Morning Chips and TOD.
LIVE NOW: FBI Dir. Comey Speaks At NYPD Shield Conference - http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
Lindsey Graham may not approve of everything President Barack Obama does, but he believes there is an unhealthy dislike of the president within his party.
The South Carolina senator was asked on CNN’s “New Day” if he is worried that his comments last night about Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims will harm his standing with Republicans. Graham during the undercard debate on Tuesday night apologized to America’s “Muslim friends” for Trump’s inflammatory proposal.
“To those people that believe Obama is a Muslim and was born in Kenya I’ve lost ya a long time ago,” Graham said before continuing, “There’s a dislike for President Obama in my party that’s unhealthy. There was a dislike for President Bush in the Democratic Party that was unhealthy.”
Graham said that Obama is “my president” and that the two talked Tuesday about how they could work together to help the new prime minister of Iraq.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/lindsey-graham-gop-obama-216847
He has some nerve when he says some pretty unhealthy things about PBO just to get noticed when he’s with his lover, John McCain. His party built this unhealthy atmosphere in the GOP in 2008 by selecting $arah Palin and not neutralizing her hate speech.
The best news! Nickelby’s tumor was benign, my excellent vet got ALL of it. It’s not cancer, not even a kind of benign tumor that spreads. Chances of recurrence: virtually ZERO. Yea!
good news!!
You prayers have been answered! Know that is a load off your mind.
Now for Round 2: Kasper’s bladder stone surgery next Tuesday. At least I know that my Nickelby is okay. If I’d waited, that would have been an extra burden of worry. We are so grateful for everyone’s good wishes.
One down, one to go… Will be sure to include Kasper in my prayers. We’re here for ya; keep your chin up!
Best. Family. Ever! TOD!!!!!
Oh 57, what completely WONDERFUL news, I am so so so so so so happy for you and Mr 57 - and Nickelby! I wanna hug you all!!!!
I’m feeling the hugs, Chips. I really am! Now, Kasper’s bladder stone surgery on the 22nd. At least I know that my Nickelby is out of the woods.
Damn it, relentless worry for you these days, hope everything goes perfectly for Kasper and you all can have a blissful worry-free Christmas!
Thank you, my friend.
wonderful. my 2 rescues send Nickleby virtual treats.
Rescues are a special kind of love, aren’t they, otter44?
Great News, 57andfemale!
Yay! Great news! 🍸
Wonderful news, 57!
Beautiful music is beautiful even when you don’t understand the words.
The Plight of the Black Academic
Being a black professor at a predominantly white university can be just as uncomfortable as—if not more so than—being a black student at one.
ADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD DEC 15, 2025
In his new book, The Scholar Denied, the sociologist Aldon Morris writes that contrary to the discipline’s preferred origin story, the field of sociology was actually founded by W.E.B. DuBois, the first black person to receive a Ph.D. in the United States. DuBois earned his degree from Harvard, but due to rampant racial segregation at the time, he was shut out of many employment opportunities. He ended up working at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), a historically black college with few resources, but still managed to do pioneering work in the field of sociology.
Morris describes in clear detail the ways that DuBois’s emphasis on race as a socially constructed—rather than biological—phenomenon threatened white elites of his day, who much preferred Booker T. Washington’s message that blacks should accept and embrace their subordinate status. Furthermore, many white sociologists co-opted DuBois’s innovative research designs, empirical methods, and scientific approach, while failing to credit him as their originator. Morris argues that consequently, DuBois’s centrality to the discipline of sociology and his role as one of the preeminent analysts of race relations have been obscured.
DuBois lived and wrote his most famous books during the early part of the 20th century, but how different are circumstances for black academics today?
The recent student demonstrations at University of Missouri, Yale, Amherst, Emory, and other universities have drawn much-needed attention to the challenges that minority students, particularly black ones, face at predominantly white colleges and universities. There’s a great deal of research—including the work of the sociologists Joe Feagin and Wendy Leo Moore—showing that the conditions black students are protesting are serious, widespread, and often ignored. In one account, Feagin shares a story of a black student who waits after class to ask a white professor a question about that day’s lecture, only to be told “I thought you were waiting to rob me or something.” Another student describes “one of those sad and angry nights” when, walking to the dorm, white students drove by yelling racial slurs and throwing beer cans at him.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/the-plight-of-the-black-academic/420237/
The best tweet of the day (so far):
Good Morning TODVille.
I missed half of the GOP debate. But my sister said not to worry because she’s sure that SNL will have the replay.
Oprah Winfrey Buys Splashy Telluride Ski Home for $14 Million
The media mogul buys a furnished, contemporary home a year after buying 60 acres in Telluride’s Mountain Village
By Candace Taylor
Dec. 16, 2015 10:12 a.m. ET
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who last year bought roughly 60 acres near Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado, has bought a nearby property for $14 million.
In a deal that closed last week, Ms. Winfrey bought a fully furnished,
contemporary home in slope-side Mountain Village, according to people with knowledge of the transaction. According to the listing, the five-bedroom home sits on roughly 3.23 acres and measures about 8,700 square feet.
The home has a gym, a glass-and-steel bridge above the great room and a 45-foot-long walkway that leads to a tree-top observation deck with a fire pit, both suspended 35 feet above the ground, the listing said. According to the seller, retired tech executive Bob Wall, it also has a 56-foot-long wine cellar designed to “look as much like a mining tunnel as possible.” The house also has its own funicular to transport skiers directly to the slopes, Mr. Wall said.
…In 2014 Ms. Winfrey purchased about 60 acres of land in Mountain Village with plans to build a home there. This house will serve as a place for her to stay in the area while supervising construction of the new home, said people familiar with the transaction.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/oprah-winfrey-buys-splashy-telluride-ski-home-for-14-million-1450278778?mod=WSJ_GoogleNews
LIVE NOW: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson holds a news conference to discuss an update to the terror advisory system - http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
FYI -
Not sure if I missed chat about this?? When Carly Fiorina said last night “I buried a child”, I was taken aback, had no idea, so had sympathy for her. Am I the last to know that the ‘child’ was the 35-year-old daughter of her husband and his ex-wife, and was raised by the ex-wife who won custody when they divorced?
Apparently, Fiorina wrote about the step-daughter in her book and gave the impression she raised her, never once mentioned the real mother and that *she* raised her.
Jesus, that woman is sick.
A genuwine bilge rat!
This is the second time in a debate that she hauled out that less-than -truthful story.
Oh, I was spared the first time 57, how creepily weird - I know she’s desperate to look semi-human, but thinking this will do it? Good lord.
The more she lies, the more she doubles down.
Oh, wait - she’s a Republican. That’s in the By-Laws, isn’t it?
Her question concerning how to get along with N Korea leader had a very perplexing answer. Carly said we would need to enlist China to help with that as Obama has already done, but then she jabbered on about all the things we needed to take away from China and do to them before going back to needing to enlist their help with N Korea. Anyone listening to that would think why would they help us after all that you plan to do to them?
This women is not dealing with a full deck. Nearly everything she utters is an easily proven lie and her ads are just plain BIZARRE.
It really does seem like she’s a compulsive liar - I haven’t seen her ads, I think I’d be afraid to look.
Really, don’t look. PSYCHO.
Good morning me hearties…..
Mooooooooooooooorning Shipmate!!!!
ADMIRAL CHIPS…….ATTENTION ON DECK……HAND SALUTE! :-)
Saluting right back at ya, Shipmate - where’s my afternoon rum??
Spirits call before 6 bells can only be done in cases of emergency……Do you have one? 8-)
Yes I DO have an emergency, Shipmate - tomorrow lunchtime is the deadline for a worky thing that I reckon I won’t get done til Christmas Day. I feel pretty certain a drop of rum would speed me up.
Thousands of protesters are marching in South Africa to demand President Jacob Zuma is sacked.
The latest protests are a reaction to him sacking two finance ministers last week, further damaging confidence in the economy.
This comes on top of claims of widespread corruption, recent student protests and a succession battle in the governing African National Congress.
The marchers are using the hasthag #ZumaMustFall on social media.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35111636
FYI amk :)
OFF TO ERRANDS TODAY..HOPE IN MY TRAVELS TO FIND AN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH TO ATTEND IN OUR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TO BE ON CHRISTMAS EVE!…ADIOS! HAVE A BLESSED DAY EVERYONE!
Chat on
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/16/chat-away-735/
Hmmmmmmm………WHAT’S UP??
Something mighty is about to happen…
Sounds like big things are going to happen pf, and once again the rethugs will be sidelined talking about specters that don’t even exist. They can’t even hitch a ride on the train, because it left the station and they are standing on the platform yapping about nothing. I have come to the conclusion that they will never catch on, and truly they will be left in the dustbin of history.
Read this a day or so ago about the GOP…confirms what i have always believed