The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples' belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
The President hosts a Young Men’s Barbeque at the White House for students from local schools to discuss the importance of fatherhood and taking personal responsibility. He is joined by well-known fathers from across the country, as well as everyday fathers who have successfully managed to fulfill their obligations. All of these men serve as exemplary examples of the spirit of fatherhood, and can serve as examples for these young men and men across the country. June 19, 2009.
President Obama announced 7 new ambassadors today:
Matthew Barzun, Ambassador to Sweden John R. Bass, Ambassador to Georgia James B. Foley, Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia Kenneth E. Gross, Jr. Ambassador to the Republic of Tajikistan Samuel L. Kaplan, Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco Jerry P. Lanier, Ambassador to the Republic of Uganda Teddy B. Taylor, Ambassador to the Solomon Islands, the Republic of Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea
Since the Supreme Leader Ayatollah declared there was NO CHEATING in Iran's presidentail election and is prepared to put the HAMMER down on protestors tomorrow, the protestor's are MARCHING IN THE STREETS TOMORROW.
I absolutely do. First of all, let's understand that this notion that somehow these hundreds of thousands of people who are pouring into the streets in Iran are somehow responding to the West or the United States, that's an old distraction that I think has been trotted out periodically. And that's just not going to fly.
What you're seeing in Iran are hundreds of thousands of people who believe their voices were not heard and who are peacefully protesting and seeking justice. And the world is watching. And we stand behind those who are seeking justice in a peaceful way. Already we've seen violence out there. I've said this throughout the week, I want to repeat it, that we stand with those who would look to peaceful resolution of conflict and we believe that the voices of people have to be heard, that that's a universal value that the American people stand for and this administration stands for. And I'm very concerned, based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made, that the government of Iran recognize that the world is watching. And how they approach and deal with people who are -- through peaceful means -- trying to be heard will I think send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not.
But the last point I want to make on this -- this is not an issue of the United States or the West versus Iran; this is an issue of the Iranian people. The fact that they are on the streets, under pretty severe duress, at great risk to themselves, is a sign that there's something in that society that wants to open up. And, you know, we respect Iran's sovereignty and we respect the fact that ultimately the Iranian people have to make these decisions.
But I hope that the world understands that this is not something that has to do with the outside world; this has to do with what's happening in Iran. And I think ultimately the Iranian people will obtain justice. read more here....
And finally as I think about the protestors in Iran, I can only think of the fear they must feel but the importance of what they must continue to do.
Dear Lord:
Shield the Iranian Protestors from harm's way as they march their way, continuing on to getting their voices heard. Don't let the Ayatollah kill them in cold blood. Freedom and democracy is a right for every living being. Protect them as they continue to march their way to freedom. Iran we are truly praying for you.
Yes, Fox News the station that loves to talk about Democrats dirty laundry when caught, has been caught giving John Ensign heads up about a letter his former staffer sent to Megyn Kelly @ Fox News. The letter was written by Doug Hampton, the husband of Cynthia L. Hampton, Senator John Ensign's former lover.
Both Doug and Cynthia Hampton were employed by Ensign.
A week before John Ensign's admission that he'd carried on an affair with a former political aide, her husband wrote a letter to Fox anchor Megyn Kelly detailing the affair and appealing to Kelly and Fox for help.
The husband, Doug Hampton, told Kelly that Ensign's actions had ruined his family. "I am hoping you and Fox News can help," he wrote.
Fox News deliberately withheld this information, but did give Ensign a heads up so he could come clean. Also, remember Ensign insinuated that he was being blackmailed by Hampton? He has totally walked that back.
From the Washington Post:
Fox News passed up allegations that Sen. John Ensign had an extramarital affair with his former campaign treasurer, even after receiving a letter from the woman's husband detailing the relationship.
After the Nevada Republican acknowledged the affair Tuesday, a Fox producer failed to tell his bosses that he had the letter from Douglas D. Hampton, also a former top aide to the senator, and Fox never reported it. The Las Vegas Sun disclosed the letter's contents today.
"Sometimes a ball gets by," said Tom Lowell, senior producer of Fox's "American Newsroom." "This one got by." It was, he said, "my mistake."
Hampton had written to the program's co-anchor, Megyn Kelly, saying he was not giving the information to any other news outlet. Lowell said his primary concern was protecting Kelly, who "has any number of people who have stalked her."
Hampton's wife, Cynthia L. Hampton, has confirmed the affair through her attorney, but key questions about the couple's compensation from Ensign's office and campaign and other details remain unanswered. Ensign apologized for his conduct and relinquished his Senate GOP leadership post, and his office had no comment today.
Fox says it never received the letter that Douglas Hampton says he mailed to Kelly, but it was later attached to an e-mail that the network received at 12:21 p.m. Monday. read more here....
"Interns for embattled Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) are apparently jumping ship in the wake of his acknowledgment that he had an affair with a former staffer. In an e-mail sent to intern coordinators in Senate offices on Thursday afternoon, Ensign’s coordinator Jessica Walton said she is looking to place an unspecified number of the Nevada Republican’s interns in other offices."
This is opening up to be more than just an affair, but having both Hamptons on the payroll is bringing heavy questioning about federal dollars being spent on Ensign's dalliance. Sigh.
Lastly, Fox had no credibility. They purposely not only leaked to Ensign, but was the last news organization to report this. If this is not bias, what else is it. No wonder the Obama Adminstration has little to do with Fox News. To call themselves fair and balanced is a JOKE.
First, morning joke has its resident bigot and racist on Pat Buchanan, who is lock step in his trolling with morning joke of bashing any health care plan.
Remember folks, Joe Scarborough is a sheep in wolves clothing. For anyone to believe or even think that he cares about health care, think again. He is a right winged conservative, who's only there to drive any plan of the Obama Administration off course. He is designed to be a reasonable Republican, one that many moderates or independents will listen too. Finally, he is supposed to be our friend.
I hope you got all that.
Below is the resident idiot at FOX who has been called out so much for inaccuracies that I can not keep up.
Let me state something that is clear as day, this is another playbook that the Republicans and their 24/7 hate machine are promoting, "Obamacare". Sounds familiar? Remember, Hillary Clinton who was pushing for health care reform in the early 90s and it got torpedoed? It was Hillarycare.
The reason I am on this is because of the CBO report that morning joke keeps pounding and wanting to scare not only us, but those that have to take the vote, congress.
People frequently refer to the goal of health-care reform as "comprehensive reform." But this is what I'd term "comprehensive incrementalism." It makes everything a bit better. It is not radical. It is not root-and-branch reform. For all the concerns about cost, there is no strong public plan able to negotiate low rates and implement aggressive reforms. The health insurance exchanges are a step forward, but they're state-based, and there's even room for multiple competing exchanges in a single state. They could be made substantially stronger. Revenue sources are not discussed in this draft, but it's clear that the employer tax exclusion -- which is to say, the employer-based system -- is preserved, and there's even an attempt to "grandfather" existing insurance arrangements from the individual market.
Let me reiterate, a strong congress must take the vote. One thing morning joke was right about, it is those in DC that must have the will and they are shrinking like dead tulips here.
The price tag is being pounded in the press. The scare tactics are being pumped heavy. It is up to Obama to go out there and for these DEMOCRATS in DC to stand with him, explain what is needed and not only SELL it but for these SENATORS to get the votes needed to pass this legislation, period.
There is much that ALL OF US CAN DO. If you are one of the millions having health care issues, you can not afford to sit on the sidelines and your voice not be heard. Contact your senator today and demand a public option for the health care bill.
Another thing, morning joke don't like unions. He bashed Obama for not going to the mayor's conference in Oklahoma City, which his administration cancelled not to cross a picket line. And of course, the Republican mayor was on television in lock step with morning joke and his resident racist sidekick, Pat Buchanan. morning joke dropped another "Democratic senator told me" line, but of course, he could not provide any NAMES, just innuendos, as usual.
Wake up folks, we won in November but we did not win for what is unfolding in Washington, DC.
Finally, the CNBC nutjob whose ass was served on a platter by Jon Stewart said, "...everyone just wishes Obama would kind of go away..."
Basically, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei states that Ahmadinejad won the election and that anything going forward as protests, people will peril at their own risk.
People in Iran must make a decision. Keep protesting and remain the opposition or fall in line. It will get ugly because the protestors are still protesting.And funny that Ahmadinejad is still out of Iran. I don't expect to see that character until things settle in Iran, one way or the other. Correction, Ahmadinejad is there, behind the Supreme Leader in the videos below.
Reacting to reports that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile toward Hawaii, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he had concerns about such a launch and had ordered additional missile defense assets deployed to shore up defense of the islands.
Gates said he had ordered the deployment of a powerful sea-based radar that can help closely track the path of intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as terminal phase missile interceptors to Hawaii. Although Gates did not explicitly say that the U.S. would try to shoot down a missile test aimed in the direction of Hawaii, he noted that interceptor missiles in California and Alaska also were ready.
"The ground-based interceptors are clearly in a position to take action," Gates said. "So without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say, we are -- I think we are in a good position, should it become necessary to protect American territory."
Gates said the Defense Department was watching the North Korean situation and missile preparations closely.
"We're obviously watching the situation in the north, with respect to missile launches, very closely,'' Gates said. "And we do have some concerns, if they were to launch a missile to the west, in the direction of Hawaii.'' read more here.....
Fox did the very same THING for George W. Bush when he was in office. Fox also let John McCain have a televised town hall meeting during the 2008 campaign and McCain hand picked his audience.
The town hall meeting with President Obama is on ABC next week, with ABC randomly selecting the participants.
But Fox News again, got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. From Jed over @ Daily Kos.
As Think Progress noted, despite Fox's whining about ABC's upcoming special on health care reform which will include a town hall conducted in the White House, it turns out that when George W. Bush was President, Fox did exactly what they are accusing ABC of.
[snip]
Update, 1:10PM: And don't forget, as Al Rodgers commented, Fox televised a McCain Town Hall last June -- in which McCain handpicked the audience. They are the GOP Network indeed. That's fine...as long as they are treated like any other opinion or advocacy group. --Jed
The same senators, including some democrats, who voted for the Iraq War. Guess what? That war has cost us over 1T dollars!!! And we have not benefited from that war of CHOICE, at all!!
As they should. Like the idiot who compared Michelle Obama to a gorilla? People associate the party, not necessarily the person with racist statements like this. Again, bad news for Republicans.
State Republican leaders said they do not think online racist jokes by party activists will have a long-term impact on the party’s ability to attract black voters and candidates. But political experts and Democrats disagree.
Twice this week Republican activists have apologized for racist humor.
Wednesday, flanked by members of the NAACP, Columbia GOP activist Rusty DePass apologized for the Facebook remark that likened first lady Michelle Obama’s ancestors to an escaped Riverbanks Zoo gorilla. On Tuesday, Mike Green, an employee with Lexington GOP consulting firm Starboard Communications apologized for an online joke about President Barack Obama taxing aspirin “because it’s white and it works.”
Starboard has been hired by U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, an Oconee Republican who is running for governor.
Despite the apologies, observers said voters likely will remember the incident as part of a longer history of disputes that includes removing the Confederate battle flag from the State House dome.
And voting data show S.C. Republicans have a tougher time attracting black voters than do Republicans nationally.
“I think it makes a strain to invite African-Americans to the Republican Party,” said state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland. “This kind of behavior does not close that gap very much.”
Howard, former chairman of the State House Black Caucus, said he works well with Republicans often, but there are a handful of party members “that are completely out of control.” read more here....
Former President George W. Bush has no credibility, whatsoever, after he left this country in a terrible quagmire. Really, his adminstration was better? This coming from the man who ignored Katrina, ran up a massive deficit, put us in Iraq, lied to this country, let his cronies make billions on Iraq contracts, did not find Osama bin Laden, clueless on the economy, and he now talks?
PUHLEAZE on that noise.
Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were within the law, declaring the private sector -- not government -- will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care.
"I know it's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the former president said to applause from members of a local business group. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money."
Repeatedly in his hourlong speech and question-and-answer session, Mr. Bush said he would not directly criticize the new president, who has moved to take over financial institutions and several large corporations. Several times, however, he took direct aim at Obama policies as he defended his own during eight years in office.
"Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States," he said to huge cheers. read more here....
He along with Cheney were REJECTED by the public on November 4, 2008. He along with Cheney has soiled the Republican Party name so badly, that though Obama took a hit in the NBC/WSJ poll, the public still blames George W. Bush for where we are at.
I am highlighting this because the man was touted as a possible VP pick and thank GOD he was NOT picked. Don't expect him on the side for PUBLIC OPTION in the health care battle. Remember, I told you.
The sense of threat against the opposition was growing. Reuters reported that Mohammadreza Habibi, the senior prosecutor in the central province of Isfahan, had warned demonstrators that they could be executed under Islamic law.
"We warn the few elements controlled by foreigners who try to disrupt domestic security by inciting individuals to destroy and to commit arson that the Islamic penal code for such individuals waging war against God is execution," Mr. Habibi said, according to the Fars news agency. It was not clear if his warning applied only to Isfahan or the country as a whole, Reuters said.
Huffington Post has been doing a magnificent job live blogging everything. Read it all, here.
Yes, former Senator Tom Daschle is for removing the public option. So, what does he want? A watered down version and thrown to the states.
OBAMA, YOU BETTER NOT LISTEN TO THIS.
In an attempt at bipartisanship, three former majority leaders of the U.S. Senate, Tom Daschle, Howard Baker, and Bob Dole, offered their solution today to the biggest obstacle to achieving health care reform -- a public option.
"While I feel very strongly that consumers should have the choice of a national, Medicare-like plan, my colleagues do not. . . But we were concerned that the ongoing health reform debate is beginning to show signs of fracture on the public plan issue, so in order to advance the process of developing bipartisan legislation and to move it forward, it's time to find consensus here," Daschle said.
"We've come too far and gained too much momentum for our efforts to fail over disagreements on one single issue," he said.
In a blow to President Obama and many of his Democratic allies in the health care fight, the plan recommends that there be no federal public option, but rather state or regional public-sponsored networks that would compete with private health plans, according to the summary released today by the Bipartisan Policy Center. read more here.....
Again, I understand bi-partisanship, but how can you gain it when the other party says, "NO" to practically everything. Do we expect them, the Republican Party, to be any different?
HELL NO.
Don't cave in Obama. You see these poll numbers and the PUBLIC WANTS A PUBLIC OPTION. Too bad and so VERY SAD for insurance companies who have taken advantage of the American Public for far too long. The same industry that have hand-tied doctors from doing their jobs for the public good. So, what if some of these companies GO DOWN. I still say, if the insurance companies were RIGHT TO THE PUBLIC, there would be no issue for any of this. But we all know, THEY WERE NOT.
The health care bill will not be won with bi-partisanship but a reconciliation vote. 51 votes and put this puppy to BED.
With the continuous noise from the right, it is to be expected, but the Republicans have not gained any ground despite the question of the blowing deficit and the money being spent by Obama. And the public does not blame Obama for what he inherited, it is still being blamed on Bush, by the public.
On health care, the public remains open to persuasion. Without being told anything specific about the Obama plan in the survey, about a third of people said it's a good idea, about a third said it's a bad idea and the rest had no opinion. When given several details of his approach, 55% said they favored it, versus 35% who were opposed.
There was also support for the Democratic push to let people sign up for a public health-care plan that would compete with private companies, one of the toughest issues in the health-care debate. Three in four people said a public plan is extremely or quite important.
Finally, for the Republicans? They have no message.
[UPDATE]
CBS/NYT poll has Obama at 63%. But like the WSJ/NBC poll, the public has disdain for the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party is currently far enjoys far more popularity than its Republican opposition. Fifty-seven percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, while just 28 percent have a favorable view of the Republican Party. And while Democrats are united - 90 percent approve of their party - just 64 percent of Republicans approve of the Republican Party. Independents have a far more favorable view of the Democratic Party (51 percent approve) than the Republican Party (28 percent approve.)
President Barack Obama signaled to gay rights activists Wednesday that he's listening to their priorities by extending some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. But he didn't give them even close to everything they want, bringing growing anger against the president to the surface.
The president signed a memo giving the same-sex partners some benefits, but not not health care.
Obama aides urged gays and lesbians to have patience with the new White House's slow-and-steady approach to the politically charged topic. But his critics — and there were many — saw Wednesday's incremental move to expand gay rights as little more than pandering to a reliably Democratic voting bloc, with the primary aim not of making policy more fair but of cutting short a fundraising boycott. read more here...
I don't know who is advising Barack Obama on GLBT issues, but they needed to be fired, yesterday.
This is the same senator who said if he was caught, AS BILL CLINTON, he would resign from office. Still wating on that to happen.
Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has stepped down from his leadership post one day after admitting he carried on an extramarital affair with a woman who was on his campaign staff.
Ensign conveyed his decision in a phone call with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said he had accepted the resignation. Ensign was chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth-ranking spot in the leadership.
He remained away from the Capitol during the day, and aides declined to answer additional questions about the affair. read more here....
Well, that is the least he can do, especially since the LGBT community is lit up over his DOJ's rhetoric on DOMA. And I am sure he will have PLENTY to say tomorrow.
In the evening, the President will deliver brief remarks and sign a Presidential Memorandum regarding federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office. This event is pooled press.
I know, Obama and the "we must all try to get along" mantra. It is good and he has scored politcal points, but when you have the MAJORITY of this country that is for some kind of public option, like the members of congress get and we pay for it, time to roll up the sleeves and GET THE VOTES to make it happen. Even if it is reconciliation on the Republicans, straight 51 votes.
Health care is that vitally important.
And what made Reid change his tune? It is called the will of the people and poll numbers.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he'll ditch bipartisanship in the Senate if it means getting a health care reform bill.
“As important as bipartisanship is – and it is very important – it’s not as important as helping the millions of Americans that have no health insurance.” Reid stressed that Democrats have invited Republicans to the negotiating table, and he said that Democrats still wanted to achieve a bipartisan bill.
But Reid also stressed that the costs of not addressing health care this year were simply too high and that Democrats were ready to move a bill without Republican support. “The cost of inaction is really unacceptable,” Reid told reporters. “I repeat: 'Nothing' is not an option. We must pass health care reform and do it this year.” read it all here....
Again, politicians need to stop the preaching of family values, if their own family is screwed up. for real. Like this from Ensign:
Marriage is an extremely important institution in this country and protecting it is, in my mind, worth the extraordinary step of amending our constitution.
Some protection of his own marriage, by having an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in his senate office. Talk about creepin' and back stabbin', this man is one of the worst. Again, calling the pot.....calling the kettle..... Sheesh....
Sources in Washington and Nevada say Republican Sen. John Ensign, a rising star in the Republican Party considering a 2012 presidential bid will hold a press conference later today in which he will acknowledge an extramarital affair.
Ensign, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, flew back to his native Las Vegas today in anticipation of the public announcement, sources said, missing a vote considered key to the Nevada tourist industry.
Two senior GOP political strategists, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, said the announcement was imminent. They declined to say with whom Ensign had the affair.
In February 2002, Ensign took an unexplained two week leave of absence from the Senate citing "personal reasons."
UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has acknowledged an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer in a statement released by his office. "I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions," said Ensign. He is expected to announce the affair at a press conference at 6:30 pm tonight. The affair, which was with a woman who worked for both Ensign's re-election campaign and his Battle Born leadership political action committee, began in December 2007 and ended in August 2008. Ensign's wife, Darlene, said that the couple's "marriage has become stronger" and added: "I love my husband." read more here....
Why is it that the wives stand by these jerks? I know, I know, every marriage is different, but in political marriages the wives stand there while all their embarrassing dirty laundry is scattered for everyone to take a wiff. It is just sad. I guess the perks, outweigh the anger in the end.
Sometime later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money – at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public. In his Las Vegas press conference, Ensign declined to give specifics about the woman involved but did say she and “her husband were close friends and both of them worked for me.”
It is all about the language of the DOMA ( Defense of Marriage Act) brief filed by the Department of Justice. Frankly, I don't blame the Gay and LGBT communities being angry about a lot of things, especially the wording of that hideous brief. This is a community that has supported Barack Obama through some tough times and took it from him. This brief was a HUGE MISTAKE and may cost the DNC down the road. Obama Administration needs to not only clean it up but FIX it and make it RIGHT with the LBGT community.
Two prominent gay figures, activist David Mixner and widely read blogger Andy Towle, have pulled out of a Democratic National Committee fundraiser later this month amid growing calls to confront the administration at what was supposed to be its first large scale opportunity to bring in gay cash.
"I will not attend a fundraiser for the National Democratic Party in Washington next week when the current administration is responsible for these kind of actions," Mixner wrote of a motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act that drew a parallel between same-sex marriage to incestuous marriage. "How will they ever take us seriously if we keep forking out money while they harm us. For now on, my money is going to battles within the community such as the fight in Maine or the March on Washington! I am so tired of being told by Democratic operatives to 'suck it up' because so many other profound issues are at stake," Mixner wrote.
"I've had concerns about the lack of movement from the administration on LGBT issues for some time now but I wasn't comfortable attending after that DOMA brief came out," Towle, who writes the widely read Towle Road blog, said in an e-mail.
This is a party of the big tent philosophy, what happened here?
I don't have an issue with this. Roaming logs just put speculation out there on who is visiting and what it was about, besides the information gets leaked, ANYWAY.
The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.
Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.
CREW says it will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service. (Updated: Here's a copy of CREW's complaint.)
Ummmm, wonder if anyone filed suit against Bush White House for the same thing. Just sayin'.....
Q: Mr. President, on Iran, does the disputed election results affect — there’s been violence in the street — in any way change your willingness to meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad without preconditions? And also, do you have anything to say, any message to send to people who are on the streets protesting, who believe their votes were stolen and who are being attacked violently?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Obviously all of us have been watching the news from Iran. And I want to start off by being very clear that it is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran’s leaders will be; that we respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran, which sometimes the United States can be a handy political football — or discussions with the United States.
Having said all that, I am deeply troubled by the violence that I’ve been seeing on television. I think that the democratic process — free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent — all those are universal values and need to be respected. And whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they’re, rightfully, troubled.
My understanding is, is that the Iranian government says that they are going to look into irregularities that have taken place. We weren’t on the ground, we did not have observers there, we did not have international observers on hand, so I can’t state definitively one way or another what happened with respect to the election. But what I can say is that there appears to be a sense on the part of people who were so hopeful and so engaged and so committed to democracy who now feel betrayed. And I think it’s important that, moving forward, whatever investigations take place are done in a way that is not resulting in bloodshed and is not resulting in people being stifled in expressing their views.
Now, with respect to the United States and our interactions with Iran, I’ve always believed that as odious as I consider some of President Ahmadinejad’s statements, as deep as the differences that exist between the United States and Iran on a range of core issues, that the use of tough, hard-headed diplomacy — diplomacy with no illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries — is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests, specifically, making sure that we are not seeing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East triggered by Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon; making sure that Iran is not exporting terrorist activity. Those are core interests not just to the United States but I think to a peaceful world in general.
We will continue to pursue a tough, direct dialogue between our two countries, and we’ll see where it takes us. But even as we do so, I think it would be wrong for me to be silent about what we’ve seen on the television over the last few days. And what I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was. And they should know that the world is watching.
And particularly to the youth of Iran, I want them to know that we in the United States do not want to make any decisions for the Iranians, but we do believe that the Iranian people and their voices should be heard and respected.
While the Republicans are running around congress, nit picking at anything possible, and the GOP around the country continuing their racist lock step, the numbers of how they lost is a fact. It was pretty bad.
For the past few months, political analysts and demographers have been poring over the results of the 2008 election and comparing them with presidential results from the past two decades. From whatever angle of their approach -- age, race, economic status, geography -- they have come to a remarkably similar conclusion. Almost all indicators are pressing the Republicans into minority status.
Republicans are still capable of winning individual elections, but until they find a way to reverse, or at least minimize, these broader changes in the country, their chances of returning to majority status will be severely reduced.
Broader changes, as in being inclusive, not exclusive. Broader as in the young vote, the African-American vote, the Hispanic vote, the Asian vote was lost in gigantic proportions on November 4, 2008.
Democrats have won the popular vote in four of the past five elections, though in one case (2000) they did not end up in the White House. In years in which they have also won the electoral vote, Democrats have racked up sizable margins. Obama bested John McCain by 365 to 173, and Bill Clinton's two victories were in the same range. George W. Bush's two electoral-college victories were narrow; he won 271 votes in the disputed election of 2000 and 286 in his 2004 reelection.
What has brought this about? It's not just one thing -- it's everything. Start with the Democrats' success in the suburbs. Lang's formula is that demography and density have combined to help Democrats: They dominate not just the cities but also the urbanized suburbs that contain the largest share of the suburban population in America.
Democratic strength in the counties around Philadelphia, around Detroit and in Northern Virginia have squeezed Republicans dramatically. Increasingly, Republican strength outside the urban areas counts for less. "There's just not enough rural folks and small-city people left in America in the key states that determine the electoral college to offset that difference," Lang said. "You're out of people."
They have held on to white middle class vote, but the vote size has shrunk. They have held onto the rural areas, but there are not enough people, and the suburbs? They have lost it.
That's one geographical reality. The other, which became acute in 2008, is that outside the South, Republicans are in trouble. McCain won the South in November, but Obama swept the rest of the country by an even bigger margin. The same pattern holds now for House and Senate seats. Republicans may continue to win governorships in Democratic-leaning states, but in congressional and presidential elections the geographic divides are sizable.
Brownstein reeled off a list of statistics that all arrived at the same place: The South now accounts for a greater share of Republican strength than at virtually any time since the party's founding. That base is too narrow, as even Republicans know.
Well, again, the Republican Party is the Party of the South. Period. While McCain won the South, he lost everywhere else in huge numbers. The Republican Party can not be a serious contender when their base has whittled down to just the South. And the rhetoric coming from there is enough to make you turn your back on the Republican Party for good.
The days of how it use to be are over. Really, it is. We saw this in how the Obama Campaign ran in 2008. The Republican Party will continue to be male, pale and stale, if they do not change their rhetoric, forget these divisive wedge issues, show some leadership, and show they they want someone who looks like me, part of their party. Until then, they will continue to lose support and remain in the wilderness.
The White House sounded more like the music wing of a high school than a seat of government Monday — and that's just the way first lady Michelle Obama likes it.
Mrs. Obama launched a White House music festival that brought 150 students together with musical legends like Wynton Marsalis and Paquito D'Rivera for a workshop on jazz, which the first lady called "America's greatest artistic gift to the world."
A jazz ensemble is like a democracy, Mrs. Obama said, and proves that "when we work together, there's nothing we can't do."
[snip]
Kyle Wedberg, interim president of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, brought several students to Monday's workshop, and said the first lady is sending youth a powerful message.
"Normal, everyday Americans have a place in this White House," Wedberg said. read more here...
Earlier today, a legislative staffer forwarded well-known West Tennessee blogger Newscomaa picture they had been sent from another staffer. It's supposed to be an "historical keepsake photo" of the Presidents. But no picture of President Obama--instead, just a "spook."
The Republican Party is continuing to fall down a very long and narrow rabbit hole, one that will be hard to get out. These types of images, statements are directly reflective of the people running around in the Republican Party.
If they think that many Americans share this disgusting view, think again, they do not. After what happened at the Holocaust Museum, one would believe we need to step back, but no, the GOP is just ramping it up for all to see and listen to.
This is racism, hatred, pure and simple. The full story of this disgust, here.
A rally Monday by pro-reform presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi turned violent when gunshots were fired, apparently by pro-government militia.
An Associated Press photographer saw one person shot dead and several others who appeared to be seriously wounded in Tehran's Azadi Square. The shooting came from a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.
"There has been sporadic shooting out there ... I can see people running here," added a reporter of Iran's English-language Press TV.
An Iranian news photographer said protesters had attacked the compound, and that members of the Basij religious militia then opened fire.
Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi backers had defied an Interior Ministry ban to cheer their leader in his first public appearance since elections he claims were marred by fraud. The government says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election with 63 percent of the vote.
Monday's outpouring swelled as people poured from buildings and side streets wearing the trademark green of Mousavi's campaign.
Before the shooting, Mousavi had paused on the edge of Tehran's Azadi, or Freedom, Square to address the crowd, which was more than five miles long. They roared back: "Long live Mousavi."
"This is not election. This is selection," read one English-language sign at the demonstration. Other marchers held signs proclaiming "We want our vote!" and raising their fingers in a V-for-victory salute.
"We want our president, not the one who was forced on us," said 28-year-old Sara, who gave only her first name because of fears of reprisals from authorities. read more here....
Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) spoke to the Minnesota state Republican convention this past weekend -- explaining that his disputed Senate race is not just about him, but the issues that matter to the country.
Norm broke the ice with a joke. "People ask, how are you doing -- you know, the race, it never ends," he said. "And I tell them I've been counting and recounting my blessings since November."
He got serious, too:
"But winning isn't about me. You know, it's not about me or even us as Republicans. It really is about this country. And about the future of the country," said Coleman. "The one vote in the United States Senate, the one vote is a difference between possibly people losing the right to a secret ballot in a union election, or not ... One vote, one vote between the potentiality of a slippery slide into the path of government-controlled health care. If I am in the U.S. Senate, we're not gonna have a government-controlled health care. It's not gonna happen."
In front of the AMA, American Medical Association, one of the powerful lobbyist/organizations in the medical field, who continues to side with the insurance companies.
President Barack Obama will attempt to convince a skeptical American Medical Association Monday to drop its resistance to the most controversial element of his health reform effort, a government insurance plan.
In an address to the group's annual meeting in Chicago, Obama will pitch the public insurance plan as a necessary competitor to private insurers, and as a tool to ensure choice and lower costs for consumers.
Given its historic resistance to major reform efforts, the AMA would be a tough crowd under normal circumstances. But in pushing the public plan, Obama is looking to convince a constituency already distrustful of the government's role in health care that a government insurance program won't be as objectionable as they imagine.
"The president will be clear about what a public option does and doesn't mean for patients, physicians, and our broader health care system," according to an outline of the speech provided Sunday by the administration.
This is the start and don't expect it to be easy.
Remember, change, especially in Washington, D.C. as we are seeing is not easy. This is from lobbyists, massive organizations and especially congress. Congress is critical for health care reform to pass and the opposition, especially from the right, is really unforgiveable. Heath care reform affects not some of us, but all of us. All of us are dealing with high premium costs with reduced care, that is a fact. Those who can afford the best health care are the exception in this country, not the norm. I know people paying minimum $500.00 a month for premiums up to $1200.00 and this is for a family of four. That is not just outrageous, but cuts directly into a family's budget.
What stands in the White House's way is Congress. And, more often than not, it's the Republicans in Congress. Liberals, after all, will sacrifice almost anything to radically expand coverage. This leaves cost-conscious conservative facing a bit of a dilemma. They can attack the most vulnerable parts of the policy -- the cost controls -- in the hopes of bringing the whole thing down. The downside to that, of course, is that liberals simply jettison cost-controls to protect the coverage expansion. For a fiscal conservative, this should be considered the worst of all worlds.
The Republicans would rather score political points to bring down Obama or the Democrats than to look at what the reality is in front of them. No one can tell me that not a member of congress has not heard the health care horror stories, and from their own district or state. Instead of getting into the game, showing some bi-partisanship, the Republicans are continuing to show that they just don't care. Not when it comes to the American Public.
With the White House revving up its campaign for new health care legislation, ABC News will be offering a prime-time special June 24 on the issue featuring an "exclusive" interview with Obama by Diane Sawyer. I don't know how the White House convinces any network or cable channel that Obama is "exclusive" to them, but more power to the image-makers for selling it.
It looks like ABC News will be pulling out all the TV bells and whistles to make health care look like the most important issue in the world. Here's part of the network press release:
As the nation debates sweeping changes in healthcare, ABC News’ Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer will moderate a conversation with President Obama about this critical issue on the nation’s agenda. A special edition of Primetime “Questions for the President: Prescription for America” will air on Wednesday, June 24th from 10:00-11:00 PM ET on the ABC Television Network.
During the discussion from the East Room of the White House, President Obama will answer questions from an audience made up of Americans selected by ABC News who have divergent opinions in this historic debate. ABC News’ Medical Editor Dr. Timothy Johnson will also take part in the conversation which will focus on different ideas for how to fix the system and how proposed changes will impact our already fragile economy.
The health care conversation will continue on “Nightline” at 11:35pm ET.
The president's younger brother George Obama inked a six-figure deal...
A memoir by George Obama, the president's half brother and a resident of Huruma, Kenya, will be published by Simon & Schuster in January 2010. George Obama, 27, shares the same father with his famous, older half sibling, although George and Barack Obama — 20 years apart in age — did not grow up together and did not meet as children.
George is the youngest of the senior Obama's seven children and was born six months before his father died.
Little is known about George Obama. The book, tentatively titled "Homeland" and to be written with author-journalist Damien Lewis, will tell of George Obama's fall into crime and poverty as a teenager and his eventual embrace of community organizing — a passion shared by the president — and of advocacy for the poor, an identification so strong that he chooses to live among them.
"Even had George Obama not been our President's half brother, his story is moving and inspirational," David Rosenthal, Simon & Schuster publisher and executive vice president, said in a statement Sunday. "It is an object lesson in survival, selflessness and courage." read more here....
This is a start, because it can not continue as it is....
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed a Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time on Sunday, reversing himself under U.S. pressure, but saying the Palestinians would have to lay down arms, a condition they swiftly rejected.
A week after President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world, Netanyahu said the Palestinian state would also have to recognize Israel as the Jewish state — essentially saying Palestinian refugees must give up the goal of returning to Israel.
With those conditions, he said, he could accept "a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state." read more here....
from media matters....week in review....oh, note when Newt Gingrich states he is not a citizen of the world (a dig at Obama's Cairo speech), the Republicans are called out and reminded that Ronald Reagan in a speech said that he was a citizen of the world. videos can be a biatch, at times....
Vice President Joe Biden joins us for an in-depth, exclusive interview on all the issues topping the political agenda, including foreign policy, the economy and health care. Plus, the view from the other side of the aisle with our political roundtable: Republican strategist Mike Murphy and MSNBC's Fmr. Rep. Joe Scarborough.
Take Two, with Joe Scarborough and Mike Murphy on the state of the Republican Party
Well, after Shepard Smith gave his honest opinion of what happened after the Holocaust Museum shooting, even going to the length to say that maybe, Napolitano's report about domestic terrorists was correct, here comes the right wingers after him. They are definitely blasting him about the right wing hate email that he receives, the clip below:
So, King Rush with his right winged lackey, Michelle Malkin are after Smith, hot and heavy:
LIMBAUGH: As for Shepard Smith whining and moaning and complaining about e-mails, nobody needs to tell me about hateful e-mails, for crying out loud. I get the most vile, sick e-mails attacking me as a “Jew lover” that you can imagine. I don’t read ‘em. I hear about them. They’re in a public account, of course, as you know — and I’m a conservative. Who do you think these hate e-mails from coming from? Where are they coming from? Yeah, I get people, “You Jew lover, you Jew lover!” because I am faithful to Israel and a number of other things.
So, Shep, you got nothing on anybody out there. The vile hate that was 24/7 in most of the American media for the eight years of Bush — and particularly from 2003 on after the Iraq war — nobody, nobody at this point in time has ever done, in our society, anything comparable to the kind of hate that we got from mainstream sources.
Take a group of people who are politically conscious, add Internet access and anonymity, and elect the other party’s guy president and voila: You’ve got a perfect petri dish in which to grow your very own nutroots culture. And no, before people start whining, of course I’m not saying that everyone who fits those criteria is nutroots. Just that we’re seeing a strain of paranoia in some righty blog comments since The One took office that was formerly relegated to lefty assertions about how the Bushitler would cancel the elections and declare himself king or whatever. If that were Shep’s point, it’d be fair enough; as it is, this is his hamfisted attempt to draw a straight line between dopey “Hussein” invective and the sort of decades-long dementia displayed by the Jew-loathing nut who pulled a shotgun in the Holocaust Museum today. (And who, by the way, hated neoconservatives generally and the GOP’s last two nominees for president in particular.) I don’t know how else to read this clip except as Shep warning America that his own viewership is teeming with would-be presidential assassins. If he truly believes that, why doesn’t he quit? How can his conscience stand it?
For Smith to keep it honest, obviously is not shared by the many conservative writers out there. They want him gone and have started to rally this cry loud and strong. read it all here...
On Friday, the Iranian government announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidential election, though observers, including his main challenger, cited irregularities — like text messaging being shut off and websites being dismantled — to call the results a fraud. But neoconservatives Richard Perle and Frank Gaffney blamed the election results on President Obama:
Richard Perle, a neoconservative and former Pentagon adviser, said Obama must share the blame for Ahmadinejad’s power grab. “Normally, when you unclench your fist it benefits the hardliners, because Obama appeared to be saying we can do business with you even with your present policies.” [...]
“It underscores the folly of the president’s basic premise that the problem we have with bad actors around the world is that they don’t understand us,” said Frank Gaffney, of the Center for Security Policy, a conservative think tank. “These people are thugs and they have been emboldened by our weakness.”
Then Mitt Romney chimes in with the same talking points on This Week with George Stephanapoulous:
"[T]he comments by the president last week that there was a robust debate going on in Iran was obviously entirely wrong-headed. What has occurred is that the election is a fraud, the results are inaccurate, and you're seeing a brutal repression of the people as they protest.
"The president ought to come out and state exactly those words, indicate that this has been a terribly managed decision by the autocratic regime in Iran.
"It's very clear that the president's policies of going around the world and apologizing for America aren't working.... [J]ust sweet talk and criticizing America is not going to enhance freedom in the world."
Again, this is what the fight is about, PUBLIC OPTION. Massachusettes is an expensive state? Health insurance is expensive EVERYWHERE, Mitt!! But how would someone like Mitt Romney know? He has had the best health care since birth, along with money, he is in the exception not the norm, so any thing he has to say about health care is utter bulls*it.
We all know that if Obama's health care plan does not pass this year, forget it. Next year is mid term election time and no one will put their head on a platter, for either side, with proposed spending out of control.
Obama's job is to make sure the public understands what this spending is about and to REMIND THEM, why we are here thanks to the Bush Administration. This argument can still be used because the fact is that the Bush Administration left this country in a mess, financially, riddle with two wars, spending out of control, international partnerships strained and the story is endless. But one thing the Bush Administration did very well was to contract out the Iraq War, pay their cronies in the billions and left the books in tatters. That is a fact.
For any health care plan to pass it must be this year, as Obama has political clout, if not, FORGET ABOUT IT.
After enjoying months of towering poll numbers, legislative victories and well-received foreign policy initiatives, the White House has become increasingly concerned that President Obama's spending plans, which would require $9 trillion in government borrowing over the next decade, could become a political liability that defines the 2010 midterm elections.
The concern was reflected in the aggressive response from administration officials to criticism that money from Obama's stimulus plan is arriving too slowly to help the languishing economy, as well as in the president's public endorsement of "pay as you go" legislation, which would require Congress to make room for new non-discretionary spending with equivalent cuts to other parts of the budget. Saturday, Obama also outlined billions of dollars in savings that would be used to pay for his health-care reform proposal.
But there is evidence of growing public concern over his fiscal policies. As he traveled Thursday in Green Bay, Wis., Obama was greeted by demonstrators holding signs that said, "No socialism" and "Taxed Enough Yet?"
Republican leaders, who have been searching for a way to dent the president's popularity, are training their attacks on his economic policies as they look ahead to the 2010 midterm congressional elections. Their argument that Obama is spending recklessly, however, is complicated by the fact that the previous GOP administration's tax cuts, borrowing to finance wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and expansion of entitlement benefits remain the chief drivers behind the rising debt.
"The reckless fiscal policies of the past have left us in a very deep hole," Obama said last week. "And digging our way out of it will take time, patience and some tough choices." read more here.....
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