They are going OFF in Iran (Video and Pictures)

Let's be real here.

We know that when you have unprecedented voting as in 80% in Iran that means CHANGE. We know this, we saw it on November 4, 2008, when Barack Obama became the next President of the United States.

So, to say Ahmadinejad won that election is well, bogus. Now the international community is looking at Iran and just letting it happen. In the meantime, the powers that be, are doing everything to keep the unrest down, but the information is getting out as to what is actually happening and it is not good. Folks voted and their votes were denied, not counted.

The challenger, Mosavi, is under house arrest. Here is Mosavi's letter to Iran. More here:

Mock not. As the regime shut down other forms of communication, Twitter survived. With some remarkable results. Those rooftop chants that were becoming deafening in Tehran? A few hours ago, this concept of resistance was spread by a twitter message. Here's the Twitter from a Moussavi supporter:

ALL internet & mobile networks are cut. We ask everyone in Tehran to go onto their rooftops and shout ALAHO AKBAR in protest #IranElection

That a new information technology could be improvised for this purpose so swiftly is a sign of the times. It reveals in Iran what the Obama campaign revealed in the United States. You cannot stop people any longer. You cannot control them any longer. They can bypass your established media; they can broadcast to one another; they can organize as never before.

It's increasingly clear that Ahmadinejad and the old guard mullahs were caught off-guard by this technology and how it helped galvanize the opposition movement in the last few weeks. That's why they didn't see what those of us surgically attached to modems could spot a mile away: something was happening in Iran. If Drum is right, the mullahs believed their own propaganda about victory until reality hit them so hard so fast, they miscalculated badly and over-reached.

And why is the mainstream media not on this story? Oh, yeah, right, they cut all their budgets for international coverage and don't have a voice, so we are relegated to re-runs of stuff like, Larry King Live, while one of the biggest news stories of 2009 is breaking. This is why the public has no trust in the MSM.

On-going information here
Live Blog of information here
Huffington Post Live Blog
Ahmadinejad Math Doesn't Add Up
Ben Smith
Stealing the Election in Iran
Second Revolution?




More Al Rodgers Pictures Here

More Video here

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GOP activist compares escaped gorilla to Michelle Obama

Wow.

And the Republican Party and GOP don't see how this type of language is a turn off to many Americans? To equate an escaped gorilla to the First Lady of the United States of America? With comments and actions like this they will never expand or grow their party, in the wilderness they need to REMAIN.

A state Republican activist has admitted to and apologized for calling a gorilla that escaped from the Riverbanks Zoo Friday an "ancestor" of First Lady Michelle Obama.

A screen capture of the comment, made on the Internet site Facebook, was obtained by FITSNews, the website of South Carolina politico Will Folks.

The image shows a post by an aide to state Attorney General Henry McMaster describing Friday morning's gorilla escape at Columbia's Riverbanks Zoo.

Longtime SCGOP activist and former state Senate candidate Rusty DePass responded with the comment, "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

DePass told WIS News 10 he was talking about First Lady Michelle Obama.

DePass has been involved in state politics for decades, and helped elect Republican Governor Jim Edwards in 1974. He was an early South Carolina supporter of former President George W. Bush in 2000.

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President Obama's Weekly Radio Address, June 13, 2006 (Video and Transcript)

Health Care Reform as the Key to Our Fiscal Future


Vimeo

Republican Response

Transcript

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Obama Movie....inspired by students....(Video)

This is why the Obama Campaign will go down in history as not only the most well run or funded, but the one campaign that people got INVOLVED and they went to VOTE, especially the young folk. Inspired by teacherken's students for a final project, originally posted over @ Daily Kos.



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President Obama and Prime Minister Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe (Video)

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Obama appoints more ambassadors....

More ambassadors announced by the White House. Check the past announcements, here.

President Barack Obama has tapped four big Democratic Party donors for plum ambassadorships in Europe and Latin America while naming six career diplomats to posts in Africa, the Mideast and the Pacific.

Washington lawyer Howard Gutman, who raised more than $500,000 for Obama's campaign and personally contributed the maximum $4,600 to it, was nominated to be the next U.S. envoy to Belgium, the White House said in a statement Thursday.

[snip]

Obama named former Virginia Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer to be ambassador to Switzerland and Luxembourg. Beyer, who made his money as a car dealer, raised more than $500,000 for Obama and also contributed $4,600 to his campaign, according to the center.

Vinai Thummalapally, a Colorado business executive and Obama friend who raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for the campaign and donated $4,500 to it, was named the next U.S. ambassador to Belize. Thummalapally's wife, Barbara, contributed $2,800 to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. read more here...

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Mike Murphy, Republican Strategist on morning joe, "The Ice Age Cometh" for the Republican Party (Video)

His article from Time Magazine, here, is spot on and true.

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President Obama's remarks on the swift passing of regulating the tobacco industry and comments on the Iran election (Video)

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John Harwood rebuffs Scarborough on the Haines/Franks tirade (Video)

John Harwood was correct and Joe Scarborough you are a bench warmer. Look at the video, and how dumbfounded Scarborough is. And yes, Barney Franks is one of the smartest individuals on the hill. And temperament problem? morning joe have you checked yours lately?



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morning joke or joe, trying to CLEAN up what he meant about the DHS report (Video)

No matter what Joe Scarborough tries to say or do, the fact and video tells it all, as he and Mika laughs it off about the DHS report and calls Janet Napolitano, "off her rocker". Now, he tries or attempts to say his point and anger on the report was due to former veterans joining these right wing hate groups, when it was an 88 year old, former military officer who was the shooter in Wednesday's Holocaust Museum tragedy.

The point is this, it does not matter how old or what war a former vet comes from, the point is how or why they decided to go down the rabbit hole of hate. It does not matter how old one is when a decision is made to go down this road of hate, the point is that hate and racism has no age barrier.

For Joe Scarborough to try to clean up his act is a tad bit late, because he was called on it. And as far as exploitation? Joe Scarborough does it every single damn day that he is on television, trying to twist and turn words about his conservatism, when he is one of the worst hosts on television.

Words matter Scarborough and your side, the right and all that bulls*it that is continually spouted out is the reason why Americans have decided to not LISTEN TO YOU. As long as the right have divisive characters to continue to trot out divisive and bigoted statements, the public will continue to rebuke you. And justly so.

See and read the whole thing here, with all the conservative media in an uproar on the DHS report that ended up being CORRECT. Again, are you laughing now Joe?



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Sarah Palin blasts David Letterman on the Today Show (Video)

I don't know why the Palin family continues to keep this feud going on. Folks, like Letterman, Stewart, Colbert, etc., are satirists, comedians. Sure call them out when they are way over the line, but Letterman was not talking about Palin's 14 year old daughter, Willow getting "knocked up" but her daughter who did, 18 year old spokesman, Bristol. Palin, again if you want to become the next POTUS will you please speak on issues that matter to the public, not this dribble. Just listening to her is a reminder of her "dumbness" when Katie Couric interviewed her during the campaign. Palin, please go to school and smarten up on the issues.

Here is what started it all, David Letterman.

Palin can't outsmart Letterman

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While FOX is hating on Obama, their poll shows the public DO NOT

The heads are EXPLODING at FOX...

Most Americans are unhappy with the actions the federal government has taken with General Motors, and people are uncertain about GM's future — even with the government's help, according to a FOX News poll released Thursday.

Considering economic conditions overall, most people say things haven't been this bad since the Great Depression. Views are split, however, over whether the economy is getting better or worse.

President Barack Obama continues to enjoy high job approval ratings — 62 percent of Americans approve and 31 percent disapprove. Last month 60 percent approved and 30 percent disapproved (May 12-13, 2009). Obama's average approval since taking office is 61 percent.

Full breakdown and tabs, here.

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Marsalis Family will perform jazz at the White House

Marsalis as in father, Ellis and his famous sons, Wynton and Branford.

The first installment, set for Monday, will feature members of the Marsalis family (father Ellis and two of his sons, Wynton and Branford), who will play jazz for about 150 students. The White House also said that country and classical events will be scheduled.

Since she moved into the White House, Mrs. Obama has placed quite an emphasis on the arts, including hosting a poetry jam in May. While in Paris recently, the Obama family went to Centre Pompidou, a modern art museum.

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President Obama's town hall meeting on health care in Green Bay, WI (Full Video, Transcript)

Transcript

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King Rush's new spin: Holocaust Museum shooter, von Brunn is a "leftist". From Hardball (Video)

Throwing that bulls**t on the left? Please. He is Mr. Hater, 24/7.



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Awwwww, Obama writes an excuse note for a kid's teacher in Wisconsin

Again, awwwwwww.....now this is a class act....

For ten-year-old Kennedy Corpus playing hooky from school to see the President’s speech paid off. You can’t get in trouble for skipping school when your excuse note is written by the President, can you?

When Kennedy’s father was called on to ask a question of the President’s town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin this afternoon he mentioned that his daughter was missing her last day of fourth grade to see the speech today.

“I hope she doesn’t get in trouble,” Mr. Corpus told the president.

“Do you need me to write a note?” the President asked and then proceeded to ask the girls name, take out a pen from his pocket, rip the corner of a sheet of paper at the podium, and then begin writing.

As the father began to ask his question about the timeline for health care reform, the President walked off the stage and delivered the note to Kennedy who was sitting a few rows back in the audience. read more here....

President Obama hands Kennedy Corpus her excuse note

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Norm Coleman owes Al Franken around 95K

That's it right.

Around $95,000. Says a three judge panel. It does not get any easier for the soon to be, ex Senator of Minnesota.

A three-judge panel today required Republican Norm Coleman to pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs in the seven-week U.S. Senate trial.

The ruling, by the panel that heard the trial, approves an administrative decision last month by the Ramsey County clerk's office. Franken's team had sought $161,510, but a deputy county clerk rejected a request that Coleman pay Franken for his cost of obtaining public records that made up many of the exhibits in the trial and some other expenses.

Also not included are $16,000 in attorneys fees that Franken wants Coleman to pay for sanctions the panel imposed after Coleman's lawyers failed to disclose information about Republican election judge Pamela Howell before her testimony.

Coleman will also have to pay interest on the $94,783 until the debt is paid. read more here.....

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Senate approves FDA regulation on tobacco

This is one reason that health care costs are out of control, the addiction to tobacco. And the reason this has never passed is because of the big money from the tobacco industry to lobby against any regulation.

The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in America Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco and to ban flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people.

President Barack Obama, who has spoken of his own struggle to quit smoking, said he was eager to sign the legislation after minor differences with a House version are worked out — and the House planned a vote for Friday. Cigarette foes said the measure would not only cut deaths but reduce the $100 billion in annual health care costs linked to tobacco.

Fierce opposition by the industry and tobacco-state lawmakers had prevented passage for years, along with veto threats by the George W. Bush White House. In the end, the nation's biggest tobacco company supported the measure, though rivals suggested that was because it could lock in Philip Morris' share of the market. read more here.....

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This is what the right wing, conservative media said about the DHS Report (Video)

.....and why they are quiet TODAY...and notice the shooter from the Holocaust Museum was a VETERAN.....and is morning joke laughing now?....



Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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Hardball's panel on the right winged hate, including the continuous hate of Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh (Video)

If the GOP wants to resurrect itself, it needs to cure its addiction to hate and bigotry

That is the reality, here. As long as the GOP continues to let all these right winged noise makers, craft and align their party to just old males who are pale and stale, then they will continue to have issues. Lastly, put the Lee Atwater playbook down. The book which divides this country on wedge issues, racial issues, social issues, sexual issues, this playbook is not relevant today. Why? Well, look at the make up of this country now, it is a melting pot of diversity and many are not welcomed into the Republican Party because they are not male, pale or stale. That is why. The more this old bigoted playbook is used by the GOP, the more they alienate the very voter they NEED.

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Obama on the road for health care to Green Bay, WI

Expect the President to ramp it up going forward in this fight.

President Barack Obama, facing challenges to his ambitious health care overhaul from Congress, is visiting supporters outside the capital and turning to them to muster up momentum for one of his top legislative priorities.

Obama on Thursday readied to fly to Green Bay, Wis., to talk directly with voters about his proposals to spend $1.5 trillion over the next decade to cover uninsured Americans. Administration aides said the visit was designed for Obama to build support for a health care overhaul that has eluded Democrats for decades, as well to inject a personal angle into a debate that affects some 50 million Americans without insurance.

Obama's trip comes as a possible compromise emerged in the Senate to one of the most vexing obstacles in the health care reform debate. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., offered a plan to create health care cooperatives owned by groups of residents and small businesses. They would operate as nonprofits and without the government involvement that troubles Republicans and others about other public plan options. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, said Wednesday the idea could be key to a bipartisan health bill. read more here....

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Statements by President Obama and Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar on the Holocaust Museum Shooting

Remarks by President Obama and Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar on the Holocaust Museum shooting:

The President and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar offer condolences.

President Obama:

I am shocked and saddened by today’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.

Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time.

Secretary Salazar:

Today, we witnessed an act of violence and hatred in one of our world's most sacred sites of remembrance. This horrible crime took the life of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, whose courage in the line of duty saved lives and protected the hallowed halls of the Holocaust Museum. Americans' thoughts and prayers tonight are with Officer Johns’ family.

We are also reminded of the great sacrifices our law enforcement officials, including security guards and the Park Police who protect the National Mall, make every day on our behalf. This tragic act of violence only reaffirms the lessons of peace and human dignity that the Holocaust Museum teaches.

Another angel got his wings today, Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns.

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Shepard Smith, FOX NEWS, "More frightening emails out there" (Video)

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Yes, the Holocaust Museum "does validate" the DHS report

I can't write this enough, YES IT DID.

Civil rights activists say a string of recent attacks blamed on right-wing extremists, including Wednesday’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum, show that conservative critics were too quick to fault the Department of Homeland Security over an April report warning about the potential for such violence.


The report was roundly criticized by Republicans for painting conservatives as a threat—particularly military veterans and those opposed to abortion or immigration – and DHS later withdrew the report.

And what has happened in a two week window? An abortion doctor was murdered by a far right winged extremist and a former military officer shot up the U.S. Holocaust Museum, killing an officer.

All this information was in the DHS Report. A report that conservatives and Republicans criticized HEAVILY. Now they are no where to be seen or heard from, because they were totally WRONG.

“I think this latest round of killing once again shows how ridiculous the criticism from the right of the Department of Homeland Security report was. That whole brouhaha was absurd,” said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Rush Limbaugh and John Boehner can go on until the end of time about how [the report] was an attack on conservatives, but in reality it was a perfectly sober assessment of what was going on out there.”


“We felt the DHS report was pretty right on,” said Deborah Lauter of the Anti-Defamation League. “Clearly the election of Obama, the current financial crisis, and the discussion of immigration reform –those things have certainly fueled the right wing extremist movement in this country….There are clear indications that the rhetoric is manifesting. We hope it’s not the tip of the iceberg.” read more here....

Again, why in the HELL should we listen to the Republicans?

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Chris Matthews, "RNC=Rush, Newt, Cheney" (Video)

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MSNBCs Contessa Brewer cuts the mic off on radio host, John Ziegler (Video)

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FOX NEWS, Shepard Smith on DHS report and Holocaust Museum shooting: "It was a warning to us all, and it appears now they were right" (Video)

To say that FOX NEWS is just as guilty for pushing against the DHS report is being kind here.

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Secretary Janet Napolitano and DHS was right about the growing RIGHT WINGED HOME GROWN TERRORISM

Remember when DHS put out a report on the rise of right winged home grown terrorism? Remember? And remember it was the Republicans who were angry about that report and slammed Secretary Napolitano and DHS? The push back made DHS retract some of the intial findings, remember?

Well, DHS was RIGHT.

Since the planned, blantant murder of Dr. Tiller in Witchita, Kansas and now the event today with an elderly white supremist shooting and killing at least one guard at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, brings everything to the front.

These are domestic terrorist acts. Purposefully planned, scripted to get the maximum effect by killing large number of persons or famous/controversial individuals.

Republicans and all the Republican chatter boxes, shut the f*ck up on this one, you were wrong. What happened today at the Holocaust Musuem was horrific, plain and simple. Maybe you need to realize that fighting every single thing that the Obama Administration releases is not for your own good, especially information on home grown terrorist groups.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, hate was on the march in St. Louis. About 85 members of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), the nation’s largest neo-Nazi group, gathered in the shadow of the famed Gateway Arch for a march and rally celebrating its 35th anniversary.

Clad in all black, with their pants tucked into tightly laced combat boots, the group carried swastika flags and signs urging immigrants to leave the country. They chanted “Sieg Heil,” a popular rallying cry in World War II Germany, accompanied by a Nazi salute: one arm outstretched, fingers tightly joined, palms facing down.

Their critics say that groups like NSM are the faces of homegrown hate, something the NSM denies. They instead call themselves a “white civil rights organization.” Its ultimate goal is to whitewash America. If they had their way, U.S. citizenship would be limited to “those of pure white blood”; minorities would live in the country as guests. All Jewish people and gays would be forced to leave and immigration would be prohibited.

As shocking as those views are, groups like this are more popular than ever. read more here...

If the DHS puts a damn report out with information for the public, especially about the influx and increase of domestic terrorist groups, it would be wise to listen and take this information for what it is. The totally irresponsible pushback from the right was not only wrong, but makes them look increasingly out of touch with what is really happening out there. And for that alone, they need to take a swallow of STFU and let DHS do its job.

From FOX NEWS, "Maybe we were wrong to attack DHS extremism report"
The Holocaust White Supremist Killer on Obama, here.
"Rev. Wiley Drake Prays for Obama's Death"
And Free Republic needs to be investigated

What does it take to arrest these people? Another domestic attack?

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Shooting at Washington DC Holocaust Museum (Video)

Shooting at the US Holocaust Museum.

A lone gun man shot 3 people, one is in critical condition. The shooter was shot. This is unbelievable.

Updating as information comes in.

Shots were fired at the Washington, D.C. Holocaust Museum Wednesday. According to NBC News and Fox News, two people, one of them a guard, have been shot. The Park Police, according to MSNBC, have said three people were shot.

Police say the suspect walked into the museum with a rifle.

The shooting is believed to have taken place inside the museum, according to Park Police.

One person is in custody in connection with the crime.

From MSNBC:

Authorities say at least two people have been shot at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes says a person walked into the museum with a gun and shot a guard. Hughes says the shooter was also shot.

Hughes says the victims' conditions were not known. Both were being rushed to a hospital.

U.S. Park Police gave slightly different information, saying three people had been shot.

The museum normally has a heavy security presence with guards positioned both inside and outside the museum. All visitors are required to pass through metal detectors at the entrance, and bags are screened.

The museum, just off the National Mall near the Washington Monument, is a popular tourist attraction. It draws about 1.7 million visitors each year.

More information on shooter here:

gunman exchanged fire with security guards inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday. One security guard and the gunman were taken to a hospital.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as James Wenneker von Brunn, born in 1920, from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, NBC News reported. NBC said he may have had connections to hate groups or anti-government groups.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said the suspect walked into the museum at about 1 p.m. ET with a rifle and shot a guard. U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser says one or more guards at the museum returned fire, hitting the suspect.

UPDATE

One casualty, Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, murdered by the right winged extremist and white extremist, James W. von Brunn. Video here.

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Keep calling Senator Mary Landrieu's office...she is against public option and a damn Democrat

I wrote here, yesterday, that she is a sell out. Louisiana has over 20% uninsured and one of the POOREST states in the nation and she has the GALL to be against the public option plan for health care??? Are you kidding me???

She has been in Washington, D.C. too long. At too many cocktail parties. More importantly, taking too much money from insurance companies to block this option to the public.

Keep calling her. I am!!

(202)224-5824

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Republicans are spiraling out of control, a new Gallup/USA Poll

Nothing new here.

No one is listening to the Republican Party and all these talk show hosts, etc., are not helping the party, either.

Republicans, out of power and divided over how to get it back, are finding even the most basic questions hard to answer.
Here's one: Who speaks for the GOP?

The question flummoxes most Americans, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, which is among the reasons for the party's sagging state and uncertain direction.

A 52% majority of those surveyed couldn't come up with a name when asked to specify "the main person" who speaks for Republicans today. Of those who could, the top response was radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh (13%), followed in order by former vice president Dick Cheney, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Former president George W. Bush ranked fifth, at 3%.

So the dominant faces of the Republican Party are all men, all white, all conservative and all old enough to join AARP, ranging in age from 58 (Limbaugh) to 72 (McCain). They include some of the country's most strident voices on issues from Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court to President Obama's policies at home and abroad. Two are retired from politics, and one has never been a candidate.

The emphasis above is mine's. That is the problem with the Republican Party, old white men: male, stale and pale. That sums the party up. And going forward, that is a very small minority and not enough to attract new voters, minorities, women, etc., to win national elections. That is a death nail. for real.

Read it all here

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Lawrence O'Donnell's opening CLASSIC, morning joke is speechless (Video)

from morning joe, remember joke is pedaling his book:

and h/t to sluggahjells over @ Daily Kos who runs it downs: Another Lawrence O'Donnell Teaching: This Time On Joey "Book Boy!"

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This is why we need the alternative, "public option" after listening to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Listen to what Gregg says very closely. He gives NO ANSWERS in his vagueness. He tells us NOTHING on insuring the millions that are uninsured or underinsured in this country. It is all about keeping the insurance companies in BUSINESS. Again, if the insurance companies were honest brokers with the American Public through the years, we would not even have this discussion NOW.

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morning joe or joke, going after Jon Stewart is a "NO-NO" (Video)

of course, joke is responding to what stewart said about him, here, so morning joke responds below....



morning joke, remember this????

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

and you rightly, STFU, after Stewart put you on blast. why not do this again? oh, willie and mika, unless you want to be butts of jokes, stay OUT OF IT.

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Obama Girls sitings in London (Video)

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Again, Bush policies linked to the the majority of the government defecit

Again, remember how we got here.

President Obama did not walk into the Oval Office with a balance sheet, with money in the coffers and without headaches.

The fake outrage of Republicans is just that fake outrage. Republicans did not stand in the way of George W. Bush and all the money he spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and as everything is unraveling we see more contractors who have made billions off the Americans back without nothing to show for it, especially in Iraq.

So, while the Republicans are ginnin' up to stand in the way of the public option plan, they need to remember how we got here. They had a lot to do with it, in fact they are mostly responsible for it.

There are two basic truths about the enormous deficits that the federal government will run in the coming years.

The first is that President Obama’s agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying. The second is that Mr. Obama does not have a realistic plan for eliminating the deficit, despite what his advisers have suggested.

The New York Times analyzed Congressional Budget Office reports going back almost a decade, with the aim of understanding how the federal government came to be far deeper in debt than it has been since the years just after World War II. This debt will constrain the country’s choices for years and could end up doing serious economic damage if foreign lenders become unwilling to finance it.

Now this is what happened when Bush came into office, the one who destroyed the proposed surplus.

The story of today’s deficits starts in January 2001, as President Bill Clinton was leaving office. The Congressional Budget Office estimated then that the government would run an average annual surplus of more than $800 billion a year from 2009 to 2012. Today, the government is expected to run a $1.2 trillion annual deficit in those years.

You can think of that roughly $2 trillion swing as coming from four broad categories: the business cycle, President George W. Bush’s policies, policies from the Bush years that are scheduled to expire but that Mr. Obama has chosen to extend, and new policies proposed by Mr. Obama.

The first category — the business cycle — accounts for 37 percent of the $2 trillion swing. It’s a reflection of the fact that both the 2001 recession and the current one reduced tax revenue, required more spending on safety-net programs and changed economists’ assumptions about how much in taxes the government would collect in future years. read more here....

For President Obama to implement his plans, the window of opportunity is NOW, not later. Why now? He has the political capital, that is why. Which is why we see the Obama Administration rolling everything out now, versus later.

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King Rush and lackeys, "Boycott GM" (Video)

Oh brother.

Does the Republican Party want to ever make in-roads outside of the South? If they do, it certainly is not this way.

This is all about wanting President Obama to fail.

A pair of right-wing radio hosts says there's only one choice for conservatives angry about government involvement in the auto industry: Boycott GM.

"Nobody wants to support an Obama company," Rush Limbaugh told his audience Friday, citing a poll showing that 17 percent of Americans backed a boycott of GM.

"Every dollar spent with GM is a dollar spent against free enterprise," conservative talker Hugh Hewitt wrote online last week.

Conservatives in Congress and elsewhere have criticized the federally sponsored restructuring plan GM will seek to execute in bankruptcy court.

The plan would give the federal government a 60 percent ownership stake in the company; lawmakers such as Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., have labeled that socialism.
The popular, controversial Limbaugh didn't outright call for a boycott, but said he understood why people would want to avoid GM vehicles. "They don't want to patronize Obama. They don't want to do anything to make Obama's policies work."

A GM spokesman declined to comment Monday.

But the Democratic National Committee, which has spent plenty of time in recent months cataloging Limbaugh's calls for the failure of President Barack Obama's economic policies, leapt at the chance to do so again.

"While it's not surprising that Rush Limbaugh would root for the failure of a national institution for partisan political gain, it is surprising that the other so-called leaders of the Republican party are silently going along with him given how many hard working Americans rely on GM for a living," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan.

Source

From the Ed Show and he is going off!!

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Good-bye Chrysler...... (Video)

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Is this why Terry McAuliffe lost the Democratic Primary in Virginia?

Well, I said if McAuliffe wins it would be GOTV, but obviously the Democrats of Virginia have just said, "ENOUGH of Terry McAuliffe!!!"

I don't know, maybe if he was more in tune with Virginians, than performing antics like below on morning joe during the primary season, he would have been taken more seriously. YES, that is alcohol in that picture.



Anyway, congratulations Creigh Deeds. He has a lot of work to do from now until the general.

Longtime Clinton ally and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe has conceded to state senator Creigh Deeds in the party's gubernatorial primary, calling on his supporters to back Deeds in his general election battle against Republican Bob McDonnell.

CNN

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Obama Girls visit Harry Potter set in London

They are on the move!!! They are popping up in London and surprising everyone!!

An evening meal of fish and chips at a pub rounded off an eventful day in London for First Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama.

The youngsters — ages 10 and 7 — dined with mom Michelle Obama at The Audley on Mount Street in Mayfair on Monday evening in a move that caught bar managers by surprise.

The children chose the fish supper while their mother opted for sirloin steak, say the pub's owners, Punch Pub Company.

[snip]

Earlier in the day, the girls also visited the set of the new Harry Potter movie at North London's Pinewood Studios and the Houses of Parliament, where they checked out the historic clock tower and its Big Ben bell, according to the BBC.

Mrs. Obama also met with Sarah Brown, the wife of Prime Minster Gordon Brown — someone she got to know well during her last visit to London back in April, when she accompanied her husband on a royal visit.

Source

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Chris Matthews on Joe Scarborough about conservatism and his views (Video)

morning joke can not even answer the questions straight. Can't have it both ways joke, while you are trying to peddle a book

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Cash of Clunkers bill passed in the House

We all know someone who has a clunker and may just benefit from this, especially if it helps in automobile sales. Now it is onto the senate.

The House passed a plan to boost auto sales by providing vouchers of up to $4,500 for consumers who turn in their gas-guzzling cars and trucks for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The House bill, which passed by 298 votes to 119, is aimed at stimulating car sales during a bleak period for the auto industry and increasing the nation's fleet of cars that get more miles to the gallon.

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have received billions of dollars in government aid and the entire auto industry has watched car sales plummet during the past year. In May, overall sales were 34% lower than a year ago.

"Our industry has been stuck in neutral and really has not started to move,'' said Larry Kull, president of Marlton, N.J.-based Burns Kull Automotive Group, which includes General Motors, Honda and Toyota dealerships.

President Barack Obama has urged Congress to approve consumer incentives for new car purchases as part of the government's efforts to reorganize General Motors and Chrysler through the bankruptcy courts.

The vehicle scrappage bill has been under negotiations for months as lawmakers try to find a solution that boosts car sales while providing some environmental benefits. Proponents have pointed to similar programs in Europe that have enhanced auto sales.

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Obama endorses "Pay as you go" (Video)

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Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) = SELL OUT to the insurance companies

Talk about Senators BOUGHT and SOLD by the insurance company, Landrieu is one of them. Also, talk about a poor state like Louisiana where most of those folks don't even have health care, let alone JOBS, and 20% of Louisiana population is uninsured?

And she is voting NO for public option?

Public Option is the compromise, Senator Landrieu.

It is will of the people time. Organize for America, time. for real.

And President Obama it is reconcilation time for health care reform.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said on Tuesday that she is opposed to the creation of a public health care plan patients could opt into that would compete with private insurance.

"No, I'm not open to it. I'm not open to a public option," said Landrieu. "However, I will remain open to a compromise, a full compromise. Public option is not something that I support. I don't think it's the right way to go."

Landrieu is a key swing-voting "centrist" Democrat. Her vote may be less valuable, however, if Democrats decide to move health care reform through the Senate using the reconciliation process, which requires only a majority vote.

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Hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor scheduled to start July 13, 2009

So much for the Republicans slowing this nomination down or starting hearings in September. In other words, the Republicans, again do not have the votes.

Expect Judge Sotomayor to be confirmed before the summer recession of congress, meaning she will be on the bench when the Supreme Court's fall session starts.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will convene on July 13.

Leahy said the date presents a "reasonable schedule" that would give members of the committee several more weeks to prepare.

President Barack Obama has urged the Senate to vote on confirming Sotomayor to the high court before it leaves for a congressional recess in August. Republicans have pressed for more time to consider the nomination.

And if you missed it, Judge Sotomayor broke her ankle yesterday, but still came to Washington, DC to make the senate rounds.

Sotomayor is resting a broken ankle, and is having senators come see her in the Capitol instead of hobbling through hallways to visit them.

Sotomayor said Tuesday she feels great one day after stumbling in the airport while rushing for a flight from New York to Washington.

But the appeals court judge, whose right leg is in a cast and is using crutches, plans to camp out all day in the office of the No. 2 Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois. His office is on the third floor of the Capitol.

It's an unusual way to conduct the so-called courtesy calls that all high court nominees make to meet the senators who will vote on their confirmations.

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Sarah Palin drama continues.... (Video)

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Adam Lambert's Rolling Stone cover: "I'm Gay"

And??? Who did not know this?

I still expect Lambert's cd rollout to be huge in the fall, of course, after the American Idol tour.

American Idol’s glamtastic runner-up Adam Lambert opens up in the next issue of Rolling Stone, speaking frankly about his sexuality, though he doesn’t think his revelation is particularly shocking.

“I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay,” Lambert says in the new issue of Rolling Stone, hitting newsstands this week. (Click here to check out exclusive video of his cover shoot).

read more here...

Wow, if Adam can get liberated, why not dismantle "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. Military? Ummmm.......Obama Administration are you listening??????



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In Case You Missed It: Newt Gingrich's speech at GOP Congressional Dinner, June 9, 2009 (Video)

You need to know what is being said. Watch this video and see the seething hatred towards President Obama, but more importantly look at the crowd. Male, Pale and Stale. That is the Republican Party's problem.



Fundraiser brings in lowest total in five years

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Obama on the townhall beat, first stop. GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN

He is on the townhall meeting move, again. This time to tackle health care reform.

If it's time to talk about healthcare reform, it must be time for a "town hall.''

President Barack Obama, pressing Congress for legislation making healthcare more affordable and available for more Americans this summer, will head to Green Bay, Wis., on Thursday for a town-hall styled appearance.

Just as the president used the campaign-styled town halls in Indiana and Florida to press his economic-stimulus earlier this year, Obama plans to call in some of his political capital for the fight over health care -- he carried Wisconsin last year by 13 percentage points, and the latest Gallup Polls have showed his job-approval holding at just over 60 percent.

The president will take the stage at a high school in Green Bay on Thursday afternoon to take and take questions from an audience which the White House says will be "randomly chosen'' from people seeking tickets at a Website or calling a phone line - those lines were open on Monday, the Web-site still open until noon today. read more here.....

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morning joke or joe, pimping his book, but...

morning joke says there are "2 conservatives for every liberal"? And cites one poll, the Pew Poll?

My question is this, "What the hell happened to them on November 4, 2008?"

Again, this constant bullsh*t that this country is center right is just that bullsh*t.

If this country was so center right, why has the Republican Party lost representation in New England? Down to 2 representatives in New York? Rapidly, losing ground in the Midwest? Lost ground out West? California is gone for a long time!!! And only has held onto the South?

If this every "2 conservatives for every liberal" is true, why the hell are the Republicans not in power?

Again, you don't win elections on the left or the right, only. If you don't get the independent voters, new voters, young voters, get disenfranched voters out to the polls, your party will look like the current Republican Party. If you don't have ideas that transcend to voters, they will continue to put you on mute. But more importantly, if you have relegated your party to a bunch of pale, stale, males then you got what we saw on November 4, 2008.

Joe Scarborough needs to take Keith Olbermann's advice and get a shovel for the sh*t he is saying. A throwback from 2008....



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President Obama commands General Odierno to cut Stephen Colbert's hair (Video)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Obama Orders Stephen's Haircut - Ray Odierno
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Keyboard Cat

Full Colbert Show from Iraq, Here

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Principle's Speech to Class of '09 from Iraq w/Stephen Colbert (Video)

Just awesome....



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Damn, Jon Voight...I feel for you Angelina.... (Video)

Jon Voight was the host tonight of the Republican Congressional Fundraiser. His criticism was harsh on President Obama....

Actor Jon Voight, who hosted the dinner, delivered a particularly harsh rebuke to Obama, saying he was "embarrassed" by the president and that Obama's leadership would cause the "downfall" of the country.

"We are becoming a weak nation," he said, calling Obama a "false prophet" and his administration the "Obama oppression."

Hollywood!!! He is an embarrassment!!!

Oh well, there are always those we have to deal with. I can see why Angie has nothing to do with him.

[UPDATED THE VIDEO CLIP]



Story over @ Daily Kos

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The Politics of Health Care from Countdown w/Keith Olbermann (video)

With Dr. Howard Dean

From the Ed Show, Ryan Grim from Huffington Post

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GOP Strategist, Michelle Laxalt does not want Rush Limbaugh "part of my party" (Video)

I have always respected Michelle Laxalt. She is a moderate, but more important reasonable. She tells it like it is. Expect King Rush to jump all over her tomorrow.



Here is the full exchange with Chris Matthews talking about "Cheney's troll like behavior"

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Obama Girls in London (Video)

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GOP sends a shot across the bow to Obama on health care private option

I said this was coming, it is just the beginning.

President Barack Obama is making a mistake on health care by insisting on a government insurance option for the middle class, several Republicans said in a letter to the White House released Monday.

It could cost him chances for broad support across the political divide, the nine lawmakers, all members of the Senate Finance Committee, warned.

Leaders of the Finance panel, which has the best odds of producing a bipartisan bill, are working against a self-imposed deadline for moving the legislation through committee this month. But tensions have been rising since Obama recently affirmed his strong support for including the option of a public insurance plan. read more here.....

Again, the GOP does not want any public option in the bill, this is what the fight will be about. The insurance companies are on the hill garnering votes and giving out checks to campaign chests. We were told it would not be easy. Get ready.

[UPDATE]

The Republicans Senators who President Obama the letter against public option in the health care plan have enjoyed major support, as in campaign contributions from the Health Care industry and Insurance Companies.

SENATORS WHO SIGNED LETTER OPPOSING PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN TOOK $17.7 MILLION IN CAMPAIGN DONATIONS FROM HEALTH CARE AND INSURANCE INDUSTRIES

Public Campaign Action Fund analysis finds that nine Republican Senators took nearly $2 million on average over their careers

Washington, D.C. – The nine Republican Senators who sent a letter today to President Barack Obama to express their opposition to a central part of his health care plan have benefited greatly from health care and insurance industry donations, a new analysis from Public Campaign Action Fund shows.

The Senators have collectively taken $17.7 million from insurance and health care interests, according to data analyzed at the Center for Responsive Politics website, opensecrets.org. That amounts to nearly $2 million per Senator over their careers. read more here.....

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Supreme Court throws out the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" lawsuit

This is back on the Obama Administration's doorstep.

A former Army captain who was dismissed under a federal law dealing with gays and lesbians in the military, lost his appeal at the Supreme Court Monday.

James Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans had sued the government over the "don't ask/ don't tell" law passed in 1993.

He was the only one who appealed to the high court, but the justices without comment refused to intervene.

The provision forbids those in the military from openly acknowledging or revealing their homosexuality, and prevents the government from asking individual soldiers and sailors about their sexual orientation.

The Obama administration had asked the high court not to take the case, and White House officials had said they would not object to homosexuals being kicked out of the armed services.

During the presidential campaign last year, Obama said he supported throwing out the federal law, but has taken no specific action on the controversy.

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Obama's remarks on the stimulus bill and spending (Video)

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell admits that private insurers can not compete with a public option plan

Folks, let that sink in about the health care battle.

Many want single payer, but the reality is this, "WE DON'T HAVE THE VOTES". So, steps in a public option plan for Americans.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) admits that:

"The private insurance people would not be able to compete with a government option."

I wrote last week about other Republican senators admitting that having a public option plan would practically bankrupt the current insurance providers.

Remember, the insurance lobby is laden with checkbooks to write campaign contribution checks to senators for their vote against public option. For the public option to be on the table, in the bill and a strong option, it will take the will of the people. The Republicans do not want any public option on the table, period. They are not alone because we have some weak knee Democratic senators who will take that insurance lobbyist check in a minute to vote against it.

Organizing for America had their first meeting this past weekend to organize for the health care fight. OFA is continuing to organize in all 50 states. Information is here.

Lastly, h/t to BenGoshi @ Daily Kos for the actual tape and the statements made by Mitch McConnell.

Here we have Mitch McConnell admitting that the American citizenry would find that a public health insurance option:

1. Is more efficient; and/or,

2. Less expensive; and/or,

3. Offer better coverage with less hassle

. . . than private health insurance. Uh, let alone no health insurance.

his remarks start around 8:30



President Obama is now stepping it up and will be the face of this legislation of health care. The Republicans against a public plan is all about control and money. Many Americans have issues with health care, starting with the cost. It is time for Americans to step it up and stand up for public option, if not continue to have the health care that we currently have in this country. And for many it just won't do.

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Terry McAuliffe looks like he is headed for defeat, ON PAPER

Al Rodgers had a diary up on Daily Kos last night about the eminent defeat of Terry McAuliffe's run for Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Man, I wish I could believe that, but I am skeptical. Highly skeptical.

The PPP poll for the Virginia Governor's race was released yesterday with Creigh Deeds leading in double digits. Now, we have the SUSA poll released today confirming Deeds double digit lead.

I am not a Terry McAuliffe fan. I think the man is a fair weathered friend, a bullsh*tter to the max, changes his course depending on the wind and highly suspect. But, he is a known entity to millions of Democrats due to his relationship to the Clintons. Do I want McAuliffe to win? NO.

The reality though is this, Deeds has the momentum, got a huge endorsement from Washington Post and is riding high now. The thing is that he let most of his staff go to wage an air war, at the time, which has helped him.

Winning elections is more about poll numbers, but a combination of things. Deeds has little or no ground support or ground game. GOTV (get out the vote) is critical for low turnout primaries/elections as the one tomorrow in Virginia. Deeds non-existent GOTV is the unanswered question here for any victory.

If Terry McAuliffe wins, it is because of GOTV and money. Simple as that.

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Here comes the reality on the stimulus package

I am for the stimulus package, but I have written that it won't make any difference if you are losing hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process. Job loss is a figure that the general public understands, which does not help the economy for spending and puts folks in the what we need only mode. The current job loss has slowed to the 340,000 area, but the overall unemployment in this country is 9.4%, and folks that is not good, overall.

Now that reality is setting in as the government has shelved out massive amounts of money, the knives are out for the Obama Administration and these so called jobs that are supposed to be saved or created and why the money is slow getting to the ground.

President Barack Obama is promising to deliver more than 600,000 jobs through his $787 billion stimulus plan this summer, repackaging a pledge the administration made weeks earlier as the economy continues to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.

Obama spotlighted billions in federal agency spending planned this summer in an announcement Monday designed to draw attention to his stimulus program. Much of the spending he announced already was in the works, including hundreds of maintenance projects at military bases, about 1,600 state road and airport improvements, and federal money states budgeted for 135,000 teachers, principals and school support staff.

Obama's promise to create large numbers of jobs — a vow that Vice President Joe Biden made last month — quickly drew criticism from oponents and economists who have argued his stimulus plan thus far hasn't delivered. read more here....

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Fareed Zakaria GPS: Panel discuss Obama's speech to the Muslim World in Cairo, Egypt (Video)

CNN's Fareed Zakaria talks to a panel of experts to discuss President Obama's Cairo speech and Muslim reaction.



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First Ladies in Paris

maureen, over at East Wing Rules is at it again. The continuous comparison of the Kennedys and Obamas. Oh, and the press and their over the top reporting of why the Obamas did not dine with the Sarkozys? Heads of State participate in something called protocol, which many of us forget when it comes to the Obamas. Barack and Michelle Obama was in France for the celebration of D-Day, along with celebrating Sasha's 8th birthday. Though the Sarkozys did have lunch with Michelle and the girls, as Barack left, the Obamas had no commitment to dine with the Sarkozys. Remember, when President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy ventured into Paris, France it was a State Visit, which is vastly different from the Obamas visit to Paris. Protocol, folks, protocol.

But, maureen breaks it all down here:

No first lady will be the recipient of the wild adoration that enveloped Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy when she landed in France in 1961 as the spouse of a head of state. For her in a sense, it was going home, back to a beloved city where she received her junior year of education on the Left Bank at the prestigious La Sorbonne. The 31 year-old was there for a European state visit with all the pomp trimmings and managed to charm the irascible President Charles de Gaulle with her Française, élan and savoir faire. She ably served as the interpreter between the French and American presidents. The French state dinner was a feast in the Hall of Mirrors at the palace of Versailles followed by a Jackie Kennedy favorite performance art, the ballet, as Rendezvous pirouetted in the Louis XV Theater.

On June 8, 1994 another First Lady stood in Paris in the shadow of Jackie and embraced her. Mrs. Onassis had recently passed away and it was a sad opportunity for Hillary Rodham Clinton to pay tribute to her. Five years later, Hillary was in Paris again to present an award at the Sorbonne. By that time Parisians embraced her and what she represented as a woman with grace weathering through triumph and tragedy in the White House. It is remarkable how many modern First Ladies travel to Paris in June. First lady Laura Bush in Paris, France June 11, 2008, for a cultural evening with the American Ambassador to France, Charles Stapleton on the evening before the International Support Conference for Afghanistan. read more and view the video, here

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Gingrich, Huckabee tells Christians to get involved in the political process

Yes, they did.

Two leading voices of the Republican Party's evangelical wing visited Rock Church on Friday for a forum aimed at recapturing some of the movement's political momentum.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee urged Christians to get involved in politics to preserve the presence of religion in American life.

"I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history," Gingrich said. "We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism."

Paganism? Well, it is all good to tell people to get involved in their government. People should. It is voices and pressure that makes a difference in congress votes, but the Republican Party already has this section of the vote within its own party. It is everyone else, meaning the rest of the country, that folks have an issue with the Republican Party.

They need to speak about how Iraq was an illegal war, a war of choice, not neccesity. How many people within the church are struggling with high health care costs or don't have any due to job loss or other factors. What about starting there? But when you ask for solutions from within the Republican Party, there are none.

Huckabee told the audience he was disturbed to hear President Barack Obama say during his speech in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday that one nation shouldn't be exalted over another.

"The notion that we are just one of many among equals is nonsense," Huckabee said. The United States is a "blessed" nation, he said, calling American revolutionaries' defeat of the British empire "a miracle from God's hand."

Did Huckabee understand what Obama meant? Obviously, not. The United States of America is not and should never have been a nation builder and one to tell other nations what to do. Case and point, IRAQ. We are one of equals, it is obvious that the damage done by the Bush Administration will require many hands to help resolve it in the Middle East. Yes, we are the leader and need to show leadership, but in that leadership requires tolerance, understanding and relation building.

I believe in God, firmly, but I don't believe God wanted us to march into Iraq and turn the Middle East into what it is now, a WORSE burning war zone. Thanks to the United States of America's interference.

This is why a definitive line should be crossed between Church and State. People go to church to get their souls, beings healed and yearned for God's word; not for the continuous use of the pulpit to misdirect folk for political rhetoric.

Finally, Newt Gringrich is the last person to tell any Christian what to do. His exemplary life, itself, is enough to disqualify him. To start, serving a current wife, (at that time) who is in the hospital struggling with cancer divorce papers, so he can marry his mistress? How hypocritical is that? No, Newt is surely not the one to speak about Christian values and what any Christian should or could do.

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Obamas sightseeing in Paris (Video)

And of course, Barack and Michelle dined quietly, last night.

The US media is of course missing the critical part of the story, which is what they ate. Naturally the AFP has that covered. President Obama had the leg of lamb and île flottante while the First Lady had filets de boeuf and crèmes brûlées. Both are very classical French dinners.

AFP

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It is health care time and Obama will lead the charge

He must.

I wrote here last week, that the GOP will fight against the public option.

Why?

It will more than likely put their insurance cronies out of business, that is why. (And don't think it is only the GOP, we have some spineless Democrats on our side that will be pressured by the insurance companies checkbook, so don't be shocked.) Big Pharma and insurance companies are working overtime to kill the public option in the health care bill. To be honest, why even have a health care bill, with only options from insurance companies? That is not a bill, it is a waste of time and a showing commitment that lobbyists still run it on the Hill.

I'ved poked around Washington today, talking with friends on the Hill who confirm the worst: Big Pharma and Big Insurance are gaining ground in their campaign to kill the public option in the emerging health care bill.

You know why, of course. They don't want a public option that would compete with private insurers and use its bargaining power to negotiate better rates with drug companies. They argue that would be unfair. Unfair? Unfair to give more people better health care at lower cost? To Pharma and Insurance, "unfair" is anything that undermines their profits.

So they're pulling out all the stops -- pushing Democrats and a handful of so-called "moderate" Republicans who say they're in favor of a public option to support legislation that would include it in name only. One of their proposals is to break up the public option into small pieces under multiple regional third-party administrators that would have little or no bargaining leverage. A second is to give the public option to the states where Big Pharma and Big Insurance can easily buy off legislators and officials, as they've been doing for years. A third is bind the public plan to the same rules private insurers have already wangled, thereby making it impossible for the public plan to put competitive pressure on the insurers.

This fight must be lead not only by President Obama, but must have a voice at the grassroots level. It must be the will of the people. Since President Obama sent a letter to Sens. Baucus and Kennedy with the insistance that public option must be a part of the health care bill, the Republicans are now digging in and saying no. In doing so, President Obama will ramp up his image and go straight out to the people.

After months of insisting he would leave the details to Congress, President Obama has concluded that he must exert greater control over the health care debate and is preparing an intense push for legislation that will include speeches, town-hall-style meetings and much deeper engagement with lawmakers, senior White House officials say.

Mindful of the failures of former President Bill Clinton, whose intricate proposal for universal care collapsed on Capitol Hill 15 years ago, Mr. Obama until now had charted a different course, setting forth broad principles and concentrating on bringing disparate factions — doctors, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, labor unions — to the negotiating table.

But Mr. Obama has grown concerned that he is losing the debate over certain policy prescriptions he favors, like a government-run insurance plan to compete with the private sector, said one Democrat familiar with his thinking. With Congress beginning a burst of work on the measure, top advisers say, the president is determined to make certain the final bill bears his stamp.

Again, I don't trust insurance companies, if their product and service was so exceptional, cost efficient there should be no issue, but that is not the case. We all know this show and we all have had issues with health insurance coverage in this country, cost and care. If you want to continue to pay the high priced premiums with not much to show for it, go ahead do nothing. But if you are one of the millions where this issue has bankrupted you, cost you, provided not enough for you, then you need to have your voice heard and now.

Now Mitch McConnell, the House Minority Leader states the following:

...."the key to a bipartisan bill is not to have a government plan in the bill."

This is about insurance companies keeping and retaining the iron clamp on this issue and to keep running the health care business (that is how they at look health care) more of same, nothing of change.

Time to get organzed and it starts here, find a meeting near you.

Lastly, congress has the best medical care in this country. Why they are holding back and siding with the insurance checkbooks against their constituents, the very people that PAY THEIR SALARIES is a question they need to answer. Why we, the people, can not have the same coverage and care is beyond me?

Sen. Kennedy Releases Draft of Health Care Reform Bill; Obama Pushes Reforms
NYT
h/t Terri @ Daily Kos

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