QOTD: Enough is Enough

 

Former President Barack Obama, speaking at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday for Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, noting that while we're stuck with the vile and corrupt Malignant Fascist for another two years, that doesn't hold for the upcoming mid-terms:

"We're not stuck with a spineless Congress and Republican governors who are handling lawlessness and carelessness and cruelty and indifference for working people. After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in modern times, you get a chance to say enough is enough."

(Obama also made some choice comments about the MF and his focus on autocratic decor.)

(photo: Acton, Obama and Brown campaigning. via CBS News) 

QOTD -- Trump's Focus

 

Former President Barack Obama, at a rally in Cleveland, OH, today, comparing the Malignant Fascist's tacky White House renovations to the golden palace of Saddam Hussein:

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but [Trump] seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV. The guy’s building a ballroom that’s bigger than the White House. Paved over the Rose Garden and put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn. And there’s gold everywhere, what’s up with the gold?

“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake factory, just gold everywhere."

In addition to being funny, it's absolutely true.  The Malignant Fascist's  focus, as always, has been on himself and aggrandizing his deeply insecure, fragile ego.  Are the American people finally getting it?  We'll see in 10 days.

Obamas' Speeches Electrify DNC

 

Last night's feature speakers at the DNC were former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, who came through with electrifying speeches.  ICYMI, there are full transcripts at the links below, and full speeches on YouTube and other platforms.  These are just a few highlights 

Barack Obama:

... And as we gather here tonight, the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question: 

Who will fight for me? Who’s thinking about my future; about my children’s future – about our future together?

One thing is for certain: Donald Trump is not losing sleep over these questions. This is a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. The childish nicknames and crazy conspiracy theories and weird obsession with crowd size. It just goes on and on. The other day, I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day.

From a neighbor, that’s exhausting. From a president, it’s just dangerous. The truth is, Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to his ends. He wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help himand his rich friends. He killed a bipartisan immigration deal that would’ve helped secure our southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign. He doesn’t seem to care if more women lose their reproductive freedoms since it won’t affect his life.

Most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them; between the real Americans who support him and the outsiders who don’t. And he wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you just give him the power to put those “other” people back in their place.

It’s one of the oldest tricks in politics – from a guy whose act has gotten pretty stale. We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie – and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse. 

America is ready for a new chapter. America’s ready for a better story. 

We are ready for a President Kamala Harris...

Michelle Obama:

... It couldn’t be more obvious: Of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great. 

Now, unfortunately, we know what comes next. We know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth. My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.

Wait, I want to know: Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?... 

There were other speeches worth quoting (including that of future First Gentleman Doug Emhoff), which we will touch on later in "Tweets...".  But last night really belonged to the Obamas and, characteristically, they delivered.

(Images: Andrew Harnik/ Getty Images;  Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images)

 

The Unconventional Convention -- Day 3

ICYMI last night featured speeches by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kamala Harris, and former President Barack Obama, a slew of videos on progressive issues -- and a message and musical performance by Billie Eilish.











Great night laying out the case for voting COVID Donnie out and for Democratic governance.

QOTD: Protest, Then Vote (UPDATED)

"So the bottom line is this: if we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform." -- former President Barack Obama, stressing the need to both mobilize and vote, not only in presidential elections, but at the state and local level where the people who are able to carry out police reform are elected.  As you might expect, the full op/ ed is worth the read, with the added feature of demonstrating how tragically far we've fallen in our choice of leaders.

UPDATE:  President Obama will take part in a town hall event to discuss the George Floyd killing and the subsequent unrest in the country, along with former AG Eric Holder and other police reform advocates.  The event starts at 5 p.m. today, and is being aired on his Obama Foundation website.

Tweet Of The Day -- A Real President For Presidents Day

Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history. pic.twitter.com/BmdXrxUAUf

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 17, 2020

BONUS:  Of course, this got under the thin orange skin of DOPUS.

BONUS II:  Steve Benen on why DOPUS shouldn't try to compare his economic record with Obama's.

President Obama's Statement On DACA

President Barack Obama has issued this statement on the Trump regime's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:

Immigration can be a controversial topic. We all want safe, secure borders and a dynamic economy, and people of goodwill can have legitimate disagreements about how to fix our immigration system so that everybody plays by the rules. 

But that’s not what the action that the White House took today is about. This is about young people who grew up in America – kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag. These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. They may not know a country besides ours. They may not even know a language besides English. They often have no idea they’re undocumented until they apply for a job, or college, or a driver’s license. 

Over the years, politicians of both parties have worked together to write legislation that would have told these young people – our young people – that if your parents brought you here as a child, if you’ve been here a certain number of years, and if you’re willing to go to college or serve in our military, then you’ll get a chance to stay and earn your citizenship. And for years while I was President, I asked Congress to send me such a bill. 

That bill never came. And because it made no sense to expel talented, driven, patriotic young people from the only country they know solely because of the actions of their parents, my administration acted to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people, so that they could continue to contribute to our communities and our country. We did so based on the well-established legal principle of prosecutorial discretion, deployed by Democratic and Republican presidents alike, because our immigration enforcement agencies have limited resources, and it makes sense to focus those resources on those who come illegally to this country to do us harm. Deportations of criminals went up. Some 800,000 young people stepped forward, met rigorous requirements, and went through background checks. And America grew stronger as a result. 

But today, that shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again. To target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating – because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. What if our kid’s science teacher, or our friendly neighbor turns out to be a Dreamer? Where are we supposed to send her? To a country she doesn’t know or remember, with a language she may not even speak? 

Let’s be clear: the action taken today isn’t required legally. It’s a political decision, and a moral question. Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn’t threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us. They are that pitcher on our kid’s softball team, that first responder who helps out his community after a disaster, that cadet in ROTC who wants nothing more than to wear the uniform of the country that gave him a chance. Kicking them out won’t lower the unemployment rate, or lighten anyone’s taxes, or raise anybody’s wages. 

It is precisely because this action is contrary to our spirit, and to common sense, that business leaders, faith leaders, economists, and Americans of all political stripes called on the administration not to do what it did today. And now that the White House has shifted its responsibility for these young people to Congress, it’s up to Members of Congress to protect these young people and our future. I’m heartened by those who’ve suggested that they should. And I join my voice with the majority of Americans who hope they step up and do it with a sense of moral urgency that matches the urgency these young people feel. 

Ultimately, this is about basic decency. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people – and who we want to be. 

What makes us American is not a question of what we look like, or where our names come from, or the way we pray. What makes us American is our fidelity to a set of ideals – that all of us are created equal; that all of us deserve the chance to make of our lives what we will; that all of us share an obligation to stand up, speak out, and secure our most cherished values for the next generation. That’s how America has traveled this far. That’s how, if we keep at it, we will ultimately reach that more perfect union.

You can now add the DACA decision to the list of very bad consequences that have flowed from the election. ("But Hillary's emails!")

Tweet Of The Day

Once, in the not distant past, we had a President who was everything the current occupant of the office is not. This is now the most liked tweet ever, and rightly so.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017

Please go to the feed and see the rest of the tweet thread and the author of those words.

Tweet Of The Day - Compare And Contrast

(click on images to enlarge)

Notes left at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial museum. Trump on left, Obama on right. So horribly tone deaf. pic.twitter.com/e15A0yq0Op

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 23, 2017

You can't be more oblivious than to use "so amazing" in reference to the Holocaust memorial. As Klass noted in another tweet, at least Trump didn't mention his electoral college victory.

(h/t Balloon Juice)

Brain-Dead Media

We're back to our chimp theme, since this is about the "main stream media." C&L has not one but two examples of what passes as thought for the fools and charlatans that overwhelmingly populate the media. Look and weep.

Change to Win Union Goes for Obama

The Change to Win consortium of unions, representing 5 million workers, is endorsing Barack Obama. This follows on the heels of the 1.5 million member Teamsters Union endorsement. In addition to the endorsement, the union is calling for Clinton to drop out of the race. It seems, especially since Wisconsin and polls showing Clinton losing support in Texas and Ohio, there is a realization everywhere but in the Clinton camp that Obama is headed for the nomination. Perhaps the time is coming soon for a group of party "wise men/women" to pay a visit to the Clintons and tell them what everyone else knows: that they will only hurt the party's chances in November if they persist in their restoration ego trip.

Make That 11 in a Row

Barack Obama has now won 11 primaries in a row, the latest the "Democrats Abroad," in which he garnered 65% of the vote.

Obama Landslide in Wisconsin

We knew our ancestral home would come through for Barack Obama, but it came through like a tornado!! Obama won 58% to 41% for Hillary Clinton, a larger margin than any poll had predicted before yesterday's primary. He gets 42 delegates and Clinton gets 32. The voters ignored the last-minute negative campaigning waged by the Clintonistas to give Obama this resounding, thumping victory in a state that was supposedly tailor-made for Clinton's constituency. In fact, Obama won every demographic except white women over 50 (which he just barely lost). His margin among independents was 2 to 1 (Wisconsin has an open primary system), an important group that Democrats will need in the general election.

Meanwhile, the Clinton camp is staying negative, despite all evidence that this is alienating more and more Democrats and independents. Look for this Thursday's debate in Texas to be one where Hillary attempts to throw Obama off his stride, commit a gaffe or come across as "too mean" to Hillary. It's said the Clintons don't give up easily, but for the good of the party, we hope they don't do too much damage before, inevitably we think, Hillary has to bow out.

(Oh, PS, Obama won in Hawaii, too. That makes 10 straight over Hillary, by increasingly large margins.)

Chesapeake Primary Day Postscript

The icy, rainy weather didn't keep the Democratic crowds down in Maryland, DC, or Virginia. It was a clean sweep for Sen. Obama, and not just that. It was a rout, with Obama garnering a minimum of 60% of the vote in each jurisdiction. His speech last night in front of a full house of 18,000+ at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI, was enough to generate some straight, middle-aged, white goosebumps for this Hackwhacker. Talk about transcending race, gender, politics, what-have-you!

This week features contests in Hawaii and Wisconsin, both of which Obama is expected to win. It will be difficult for the Clintonistas to turn around the momentum he's building in every region of the country, among all demographics.

Another reason to rejoice: progressive Democrat Donna Edwards unseated Rep. Al "No" Wynn (Hack-MD) by a substantial margin in the 4th Congressional District. This Hackwhacker is 2-for-2!

Shoulda Slugged Him

Several news agencies reported on the confrontation between Fux News prima donna Bill O'Really(?) and an aide to Senator Obama at a rally on Saturday. O'Really(?) pushed his ass up to the security cordon that separates the candidate from the press and public, wanting to catch Obama off guard. Seeing this, a number of Obama supporters greeted the Fux celebrity with the middle finger salute, and shouts of "hatemonger" and "f**k you" - - which was restrained, considering the Fux man's provocation.

After some shoving with the Obama aide and Secret Service men, O'Really(?) eventually got his 5 seconds with Sen. Obama. But it's a shame that the arrogant Fux man didn't get a nice knuckle sandwich first.

Dems Begin Forming Circular Firing Squad

It's never too early for feral Democratic campaign staff, whose interest in their candidate trumps party or national interest, to begin to lose focus on the target-rich authoritarian Rethugs and direct withering fire on their own. The Geffen/Clinton/Obama kerfuffle only feeds the right-wing agitprop machine and the MSM (MainStreamMorons) who love to intersperse their Anna Nicole and Britney coverage with anything damaging to adult public discourse. Already, the Murdick empire and Moonie press are feasting on the Dems' pot shots, and this time they don't have to manufacture a madrassas red herring. For example, why aren't the Dems blasting away 24/7 at Dead Eye Dick's assertions that they give aid and comfort to al Qaeda (Pelosi's comments notwithstanding)? Why aren't they continuing to hammer 24/7 the Assministration's incompetence, the latest example being the Walter Reed outrage? The inconvenient truth is that many of these campaign operatives have tactical skills, but act as if they have no sense of the greater good that would come from campaigns focused on the Rebunglecans' 6 misbegotten years of incompetence, arrogance, lying, and subverting the Constitution. If Dems can't muster the discipline to hone in on why they, as a party, are better equipped to lead the nation, they will be allowing Rebunglecans to establish the terms for the '08 election, using ammunition they themselves provided.

Biden Running (His Yap)!

To no one's great surprise, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Egoland) is announcing yet another unsolicited run for the White House. Biden, known for a lack of neurological connection between his cerebrum and his mouth, began his latest presidential quest inauspiciously, but totally in character, with a blundering interview published in the New York Observer. In that interview, Biden provided this example of his finesse as a thinker and communicator when asked about Sen. Barack Obama: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy...I mean, that's a storybook, man." Yeah, man!! Prediction: Biden will not be running for long -- it's too hard to run when you've permanently got two feet in your mouth.

More Moonie Madness

The wingnuts over at Reverend Moon's (aka Jesus Christ II) InsightMag.com claimed yesterday that CNN didn't debunk their "Obama is a Muslim Manchurian candidate" drivel (January 22 edition of CNN's "The Situation Room"- see below). InrightRag says, "To simply take the word of a deputy headmaster about what was the religious curriculum of a school 35 years ago does not satisfy our standards for aggressive investigative reporting." They also continue to claim that "Hillary's people" tipped them to the "story." Reaching new lows of absurdity, ImightGag thinks more digging into this should be done by "other news outlets -- such as Fox News -- who will look the facts straight on, without a vested ideological interest in downplaying Obama's Muslim heritage."

Pardon us, but UnsightlyBag HAS NO STANDARDS for ANY kind of reporting. It's purely an orifice for some of the most marginal wingnuts in the Right's panoply of wingnuts. And Fox News an outlet "without a vested ideological interest?" I think someone should check the offices of Roger Ailes, Bill O'Really?, Sean Hannity, John Gibson, Neal Cavuto, Brit Hume, Steve Doocy, and the other Rethug culture warriors at Fox to make sure they're all right and still have their positions.