Randomness
****
Today
3:0 ET: The President presents the Commander-in-Chief Trophy to the United States Naval Academy Football Team, East Room
27
Apr
16
118 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
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Obama White House.gov
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WH Tumblr
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The People’s View
- Wednesday open thread—Emmanuel Macron addresses Congress Liberal Librarian
- Life and art: "The Purge" Liberal Librarian
- Really? "Confederate Memorial Day"? Liberal Librarian
- Weekend self-care open thread—Roots, rap, reggae! Liberal Librarian
- Well! It's been an exciting 12+ hours! Liberal Librarian
Steve Benen
- Farrow: US State Department in crisis, but not without hope
- Tillerson parroted China talking points written by Kushner: book
- Trump failure to consult Senate intensifies Ronny Jackson drama
- Details of Ronny Jackson colleagues' accusations deepen scandal
- Giuliani looks to restart Trump Mueller talks, Cohen takes 5th
Good morning Chips … I think this is a fine read … to start the day ….
To wit ….
gotta get to work …. will check in a bit later … hope your mom is doing as well as possible, Chips ….
I got up this morning and thought, “Bernie’s going to demand that party primaries be open to anybody and everybody. In essence, the parties will cease to matter because primaries will be about mischief and not about coalescing. I wonder how long I’ll have to wait today to hear this.”
And here it is.
I myself in my younger less politically aware years took a petition around in Oregon for an Open Primary. I wondered at that time why so many people wanted to choose their own candidate for their party, after all my husband was an Independent and did not get to vote for much in the primaries. After years of experience growing awareness of the importance of party platforms not just what candidates say but how they can get things done I have moved to the same place those people were at that would not sign my petition.
My brother who is supporting Bernie said to me yesterday that he thinks we should have Open Primaries. I talked on as to why we shouldn’t for near a half hour without his getting a word in and know I can never convince him, but Ron Paul supporter that he was he came around to voting for Obama twice. Unfortunately he is a conspiracy theorist, and Constitutionalist so he will never come around to Hillary since he thinks she is a killer, drug peddler, war monger and everything BS has accused her of besides.
Good Read bob…
Good Morning & Congrats Bob! Thanks for the share!
Thanks and congratulations, Bobfr! I’m going to incur some wrath on Facebook for re-posting Bruni’s excellent article. Thanks for sharing it!
fiiiiinally.
Mom?
Morning everyone,
Good Morning 😊, Everyone 😎
Morning all. Hillary Clinton wiped the floor with Bernie last night and there is NO possible path forward for him to the nomination. Anyone who now equivocates or creates false hopes has to be put straight. It’s past time for the Democrats to unite behind the presumptive nominee, no matter how much bile they have to taste. Looming ahead of us is the monumental nightmare of a Trump presidency, which we cannot allow to happen. It’s time to put away the daydreams and put our collective shoulders to the wheel.
Very soon now we’re going to see President Obama and VP Biden enter the race with their world class campaigning skills and personal charm. Everything our President has worked for is at stake here and I doubt he will rest one minute until HRC is elected on November 8.
Well Said, Jackie.
Good Morning TODVille!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday NCLB 💐
Wonderful Birthday Wishes…..
Hey there NCLB!
Happy Happy Birthday! 🎂🍰💥
Thank you Dudette for this wonderful video.
Thanks to you, too, GG and Prettyfoot!
This is my most favourite birthday video 🙂 🙂
HAVE A TRULY LOVELY AND ENJOYABLE DAY, NCLB!!!!
Happy Birthday, NCLB!!!! I don’t know how to post all the cute photos, but still wishing you the very best birthday.
Thank you 57!
Happy Birthday NCLB!!! Hope you have a beautiful day!!!
Happy Birthday NCLB you have a great day and can dance the whole day after last nights victories for “Iamwithher”.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, NCLB! Did we all miss Yardarm’s birthday a couple of days ago, or was it just me?
Happy Birthday, No Child left Behind!
GM Jackie….i thought long and hard re: Sestak..
.after the last Senatorial election..why didn’t Sestak build Bridges…seek some kind of reconciliation…at least try…i do not know the inside dish….but i do know that we need unity to defeat Toomey…and money…the President sees that….Wolf…Rendell…Clinton….the President all lined up behind McGinty….forming a wall of unity….i voted for McGinty….
Defeat Toomey on 2016
Yeo, amk, the irony truly “berns.”
Good Morning TOD
My guy won last night. Anthony Brown (who lost 18 months ago in his bid for Governor) won to replace Rep. Donna Edwards for the 4th Congressional District of Maryland
Have a great O’Day Everyone!
oh so glad to hear this Donna!
That’s great!
great…..
Good! MD, PA, CT, and DE came through for us and Hillary. Thanks, all you wonderful Pennsylvanians and Maylanders and any TOD folks from CT and DE.
When you wake up after winning 5 contests and yet know that the end of your campaign is coming in November…
Didn’t she win in 2008 also?
Yep. She did… following the “people cling to their God and guns..” revelation from a closed fundraising held by then Senator Obama.
good times. 🙂
I have not forgotten the shark she was in 2008. I am ready for her to turn those instincts on Trump. However, the kinder, gentler Hillary is very appealing to me. I wish the msm and the whiny left would actually look at her in this campaign – she is a radically different candidate. She’s just not that good an actress – she is comfortable in her own skin and it shows, if anyone would bother to pay attention.
Here’s the bile I heard this morning on progressive radio on the morning drive: Trump is “charismatic” and Hillary is “dull” and has no charm. Yada, yada. It was disgusting.
She won it in 2008, as well. PA loves Hillary.
Meaning Hillary and Bernie or Hillary and Trump?
NCLB, it’s beyond me where this woman thinks she gets her bargaining power. Nobody cares what you think, Jane. Your husband will be a footnote in history and nobody will even remember your name.
Boom shaka laka!
release, don’t release, no one cares. that moment has come and gone.
OMG! We will release more tax returns after Hillary release speech transcripts, now we know why the Bernie supporters are full of alot of B.S. It comes from the top. Not all of his supporters. To that Bernie supporter who wrote in Huff Puff Jane is the kind of First Lady that Americans need to represent them. No thank you.
I am so happy that the “momentum of the Feel-the-Bern” movement, including the fake revolution with all the issues that POTUS has been addressing since 2008, has come and gone. I’ve never felt the Bern before and will not have to deal with the Bern any more. For that, I am very grateful and happy.
Now, onto unifying the party against the juggernaut, the monster, the foul mouth across the pond.
Happy Birthday and I am so in agreement with you. Gratitude for the waning of the Bernie campaign!
Girl Bye
Ha! Count makes a Trump joke. Hahaha!
Awesomeness!
Did you see this?
Jimmy Fallon & questlove share a great story sbout Prince challenging Jimmy to a game of ping pong! 💜💜💜
Thanks Dudette!
Fastest 9-minute video I’ve seen, riveting and hilarious.
What a loss to the world, rest in peace, Prince.
Yeh, it’s still a shock to me that he’s gone.
Uh huh
Uh huh
……………
Arianna Huffington joins Uber’s board
by Dylan Byers @CNNMoney
April 27, 2016: 8:06 AM ET
Arianna Huffington has joined Uber’s board of directors.
The Huffington Post co-founder has been tapped to bring “emotional intelligence” to the the San Francisco-based transportation network and help it do a better job of marketing the brand, CEO Travis Kalanick said on Wednesday.
“That ability to tell stories is invaluable for an engineer like me, whose natural tendency is to rely on data. As I’ve discovered, that doesn’t always work perfectly. So it’s Arianna’s emotional intelligence that I am most excited to learn from,” Kalanick wrote in a statement posted on both Huffington Post and Uber.com.
The move marks Huffington’s first formal assignment on the board of a new technology company, and may signal further ambitions for her in Silicon Valley.
“emotional intelligence” yes, we can all learn something from Lady Huffington when it comes to emotional intelligence. Da phuc otta here.
back to work ….
Like many others on TOD, I never saw myself supporting Hillary in 2016. I prayed we would have Joe Biden to support or possibly someone like Martin O’Malley. But I’ve seen her act with incredible dignity under enormous pressure and I’ve heard the depth and breath of her knowledge about every important topic that faces the presidency. She is without doubt one of the most qualified candidates ever to run for that office. When I pressed the “vote” button yesterday in the primary, I felt the thrill of actually voting for a woman for president of the US. I remembered that day in 2008 when Hillary stood among the NY delegation and asked that Sen. Barack Obama be declared the nominee for the Democratic Party by acclamation and then she stood before the whole convention and gave us the reasons why we should vote for him. She joined his cabinet after that and gave her all as his SOS, setting an extraordinary record of achievement for that office. At this point in history she is the ONLY candidate who will further the legacy of our beloved president and I have NO reservations in supporting her with all my heart and doing everything in my power to help her win.
THE Supreme Court.
Period.
It’s really making me angry that Mitch McConnell et.al. is refusing to allow senators to vote for Merrick Garland… I really want President Obama to win this, but they don’t seem to be moving 😦
There are some voting issues (e.g. SC) that the GOP can win with a 4:4 vote by SCOTUS. When it becomes obvious that HRC will be the new President & it is too late for new cases to be heard I won’t be surprised if the Senate has a vote on confirmation.
GE 99ts.
Yes, you’re absolutely right.
Despite all the hysterical drama surrounding this abominable election (fueled by MSM’s “reporting” internal campaign processes as “news”) we will all have whiplash at how quickly the incredibly adorable and qualified SCOTUS nominee Garland is approved by Senate between Nov-Dec 2016.
Dems will have control of both WH and Senate in Jan 2017, and may even have control of House. Incumbent GOP Senators (many of whom will be peddling their resume next year) know that HRC will not hesitate to nominate a 2017 equivalent of Angela Davis to replace Scalia, LOL.
P.S. – Not disparaging Angela Davis (UCLA alum from her era there), but she’s dog-whistle code for RWNJ, like “Black Panthers” or “welfare queens” are to them.
This ^^^^^^^^
I agree wholeheartedly. Just look at her with an open mind, shelve the old prejudices. She is a candidate who has won my support, and I believe she has worked to earn it. She will be a fine President, and continue the legacy of our dear POTUS.
GM JackieG.
I think the majority of Obots (who viscerally *appreciate* and are grateful for PBO’s very existence and that his determination to use his abilities to serve others [i.e., a true public servant]) agree with you.
HRC has matured immeasurably over the last 7 years, and has forged a sincere bond with both PBO and @VP — they were cordial before, but WJC legacy’s got in the way 7 years ago.
Aside from the horror of the Tundra Twit and the global financial meltdown, my biggest concern in 2008 was the thought of WJC rattling around the WH with nothing to do. That is no longer a concern for me — WJC seems diminished now, and authentically seems to want to support HRC (grandchildren will do that to you, LOL) not sustain a legacy forged nearly 20 years now.
PBO and his inspired appointments have truly built the foundation for the next Dem administration.
Under the radar, but an important step in recognizing that respecting and enjoying Mother Nature is another inalienable right (from last week, posted last night in response to rikyrah’s YouTube post on the dearth of “Black birdwatchers.”
And David Plouffe posted this on Monday:
Doubt if this would have happened without @SecretaryJewell’s connections to REI:
Still brings tears of joy to my eyes. What a great moment in the history of the Democratic conventions!
Every word!
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
He’s back… but not attacking the front runner. Nice way to start the day.
Okay, I’m keeping my snark to a minimum on twitter today, but at TOD I don’t need a filter: Can we say that HRC has pulled BS to the LEFT on women’s issues? He really has been far behind on this.
An Open Letter to Bernie Sanders….
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2016/04/22/open-letter-bernie-sanders/AfEtRwYJmTJ5lTNIuw4q8O/story.html?event=event25
Rather than raising money to run more ads that likely aren’t going to move the polling needle, start raising money for liberal Democrats in swing districts, Democrats who, with that little extra boost from your supporters, might be able to win in November. After all, if you want a political revolution, don’t you need to elect a few more like-minded Democrats to Congress? And with Trump as the likely GOP nominee, the chances of a Democratic wave in the House and the Senate are that much greater. Maybe focus on local races in places like Florida or Ohio or North Carolina, where Republican-dominated state legislatures are putting up restrictions on abortion rights, voting rights, and LGBT rights. You have the megaphone and the money to get your supporters involved in the nitty-gritty of local politics that Democrats have ignored for far too long. You want to beat the Democratic establishment? Become the Democratic establishment.
Good Read
Apparently, it was quite the sting in PA. There was a progressive candidate who had backed Bernie, and practically begged for his endorsement and Bernie snubbed him. Now, I do not know the dynamics of PA politics; but BS cannot be a movement unto himself. He has never been supportive of others, so we’ll see. The few people he sent letters for (he has yet to give hardly any money to candidates) are running against some decent Dems, I hear.
The next few weeks and months will tell if BS is about BS or about furthering progressive change. We’ll see.
Yep! In the INDEPENDENT PRIMARIES, not as spoilers in the Democratic primaries. You and your candidate think that you are so witty!
we need more volunteers for bt positions. as it is, ut & bt are overloaded and elections are happening.
pay is …. what pay?
soo, hoo is up?
colbear
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/youre-the-weirdos-colbert-slams-republicans-obsessed-with-private-business-in-public-bathrooms/
You just can’t make this stuff up…
http://www.cbs5az.com/story/31825566/fundraiser-for-top-republicans-arrested-in-drug-bust?autostart=true
Undercover detectives and U.S. Postal Inspectors raided the north-central Phoenix home after the delivery. Matteson says detectives also found methamphetamines, LSD, heroin, cocaine, what appeared to be a meth lab, numerous chemicals and a large amount of cash. Matteson says drugs were “all over the home” and easily accessible by the 5- and 10-year old children living there.
Pitha declined to talk to deputies and was being booked into jail late Tuesday. Her boyfriend, 36-year-old Christopher Hustrulid, also was jailed.
Pitha is currently a consultant arranging fundraisers for Sen. John McCain. Her LinkedIn profile says she’s previously worked for Sen. Jeff Flake and former Sen. Jon Kyl.
The Olympics!
… that he has narrowed his choice for VP.
3rd party run? just.do.it.crud
That he’s dropping out AND rallying behind Donald Trump…
Carly Furina as VP candidate. 😉
He has “big hands” too??
LOL. I forgot about that important topic of the GOP primaries.
Ted Cruz is cringe-worthy.
Can’t wait! Go Team USA! Hope the First Family gets to go!
Aww! {{{{{ Dr. Jill }}}}}
She would have been a good First Lady to follow our wonderful First Lady Obama.
She certainly would have been! She’s been a terrific Second Lady, that’s for sure.
Thanks “Weak” Obama!
President Obama is going to Flint!!
“May the 4th” be with All of Flint! Thank you Mr. President!
So wonderful to see him visit there and talk with the residents affected by this terrible tragedy. I hope he has a chance to meet Mari. I have a feeling he’ll make a special effort!
GM Meta, thanks for info.
Looking forward to May 4th, CarolMaeWY and Audrey Hepburn birthday too!
Happy Wednesday, everyone! May the lights (both human and natural) in your lives shine brighter today than they did on your last sun-less day!
ty VC
PROUD
two jtp jrs just now ….. so far. fingers crossed.
Awww! I bet they’re adorable! Congratulations, Grandpa!
grrrr…
Wow!
Congrats. Didn’t know jtp was expecting.
Congrats!
Austria may build a border fence at a crossing with Italy, a provincial police chief has said.
The 400m fence would be located at the Brenner crossing in Tyrol, the Tiroler Tageszeitung newspaper reported.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said closing the Brenner pass would go “shamelessly” against European law as well the continent’s past and future.
The suggestion comes days after Austria’s far right came top in the first round of a presidential election,
Tirolean police chief Helmut Tomac told a news conference that the proposed border fence would depend on Italy’s willingness to co-operate.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36152927
The Catholic Archbishop of that area says Church property cannot be used to build that fence.
excellent. for all their braggadocio, the right wingers are real cowards.
Good Morning Chips and TOD.
Chat on
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/04/27/professor-potus-on-the-senate-and-the-supreme-court/