Arlington, VirginiaSeptember 8, 2009
Everyone needs to take a break from time to time. My daughter's wedding was Saturday.
I need a break. :-)
Henry M
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/31/olson-publi-option/
don't cha wish every repub town halls went this way?
Here is a link to today's Wash Post article on Jeremy Bird. We have got to keep fightin' the good fight!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR2009082202343.html?hpid=topnews
Please send this to everyone you know and ask them to do the same. Get the word out!
Get the Facts about the stability and security you get from health insurance reform Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase itKavita Patel, who works with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and who worked for years before as a physician, debunks the myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.The "euthanasia" distortion on help for familiesMelody Barnes, the President's Director of the Domestic Policy Council, debunks the malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors.Vets' health care is safe and soundMatt Flavin, Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, explains that nothing in health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget greatly expands coverage for veterans who have been denied access in the past.Reform will benefit small business - not burden itChristina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.
Get the Facts about the stability and security you get from health insurance reform
Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase itKavita Patel, who works with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and who worked for years before as a physician, debunks the myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.The "euthanasia" distortion on help for familiesMelody Barnes, the President's Director of the Domestic Policy Council, debunks the malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors.Vets' health care is safe and soundMatt Flavin, Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, explains that nothing in health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget greatly expands coverage for veterans who have been denied access in the past.Reform will benefit small business - not burden itChristina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.
Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase itKavita Patel, who works with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and who worked for years before as a physician, debunks the myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.
The "euthanasia" distortion on help for familiesMelody Barnes, the President's Director of the Domestic Policy Council, debunks the malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors.
Vets' health care is safe and soundMatt Flavin, Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, explains that nothing in health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget greatly expands coverage for veterans who have been denied access in the past.
Reform will benefit small business - not burden itChristina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.
Clinton: US Supported Iran Protesters ‘Behind the Scenes’ -- News from Antiwar.comSource: news.antiwar.comIn an interview today on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that while the US didn’t want to come out too publicly in favor of the protesters in the wake ...
I hope that people can appreciate that the current administration is doing more good than was ever done by previous ones. It's quieter, but it appears to be more effective. Any problem with that, or would it be better if they wore their hearts on their sleeves? Iran is a sovereign nation. Coming out "too publicly" concerning their internal ... Read Morepolitics would be just the kind of intervention that the left has always criticized, except when it suits them to criticize the center for "not doing more."If the left is so impatient with the current administration that they weaken it, they will empower Palin and her puppet-masters, in which case we may very well see a change that they won't like in 2012.
Happy Independence Day,
Happy Birthday, USA!
http://www.juddlegum.com/blog/2009/06/anne-arundel-county-gop-womens-group-compares-obama-to-hitler/
The Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, one of Maryland’s most prominent Republican organizations, has launched an outrageous attack on President Barack Obama. The website currently features a letter from Joyce E. Thoman, the organization’s President, comparing Barack Obama to Hitler.
Heny M
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMy6C2AiBsrQQ-jwPliaZANmi7kQD983HB282By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN WASHINGTON (AP) — Dick Cheney made clear Sunday he'd rather follow firebrand broadcaster Rush Limbaugh than former Joint Chiefs chairman Colin Powell into political battle over the future of the Republican Party.Even as Cheney embraced efforts to expand the party by ex-Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and the House's No. 2 Republican, Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the former vice president appeared to write his one-time colleague Powell out of the GOP.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMy6C2AiBsrQQ-jwPliaZANmi7kQD983HB282By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dick Cheney made clear Sunday he'd rather follow firebrand broadcaster Rush Limbaugh than former Joint Chiefs chairman Colin Powell into political battle over the future of the Republican Party.
Even as Cheney embraced efforts to expand the party by ex-Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and the House's No. 2 Republican, Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the former vice president appeared to write his one-time colleague Powell out of the GOP.
Asked about recent verbal broadsides between Limbaugh and Powell, Cheney said, "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."Powell, who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush and held the nation's top military post under President George H.W. Bush, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president last year. Nonetheless, since the election he has described himself as a Republican and a right-of-center conservative, though "not as right as others would like."
Asked about recent verbal broadsides between Limbaugh and Powell, Cheney said, "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."
Powell, who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush and held the nation's top military post under President George H.W. Bush, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president last year. Nonetheless, since the election he has described himself as a Republican and a right-of-center conservative, though "not as right as others would like."
Henry Mu
Tea Parties Forever By PAUL KRUGMANPublished: April 12, 2009 This is a column about Republicans — and I’m not sure I should even be writing it. Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.Beyond that, Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn’t feel right to make fun of crazy people. Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats.But here’s the thing: the G.O.P. looked as crazy 10 or 15 years ago as it does now. That didn’t stop Republicans from taking control of both Congress and the White House. And they could return to power if the Democrats stumble. So it behooves us to look closely at the state of what is, after all, one of our nation’s two great political parties. One way to get a good sense of the current state of the G.O.P., and also to see how little has really changed, is to look at the “tea parties” that have been held in a number of places already, and will be held across the country on Wednesday. These parties — antitaxation demonstrations that are supposed to evoke the memory of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution — have been the subject of considerable mockery, and rightly so. But everything that critics mock about these parties has long been standard practice within the Republican Party. Thus, President Obama is being called a “socialist” who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration. Bizarre.But the charge of socialism is being thrown around only because “liberal” doesn’t seem to carry the punch it used to. And if you go back just a few years, you find top Republican figures making equally bizarre claims about what liberals were up to. Remember when Karl Rove declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to the 9/11 terrorists?Then there are the claims made at some recent tea-party events that Mr. Obama wasn’t born in America, which follow on earlier claims that he is a secret Muslim. Crazy stuff — but nowhere near as crazy as the claims, during the last Democratic administration, that the Clintons were murderers, claims that were supported by a campaign of innuendo on the part of big-league conservative media outlets and figures, especially Rush Limbaugh.Speaking of Mr. Limbaugh: the most impressive thing about his role right now is the fealty he is able to demand from the rest of the right. The abject apologies he has extracted from Republican politicians who briefly dared to criticize him have been right out of Stalinist show trials. But while it’s new to have a talk-radio host in that role, ferocious party discipline has been the norm since the 1990s, when Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, became known as “The Hammer” in part because of the way he took political retribution on opponents.Going back to those tea parties, Mr. DeLay, a fierce opponent of the theory of evolution — he famously suggested that the teaching of evolution led to the Columbine school massacre — also foreshadowed the denunciations of evolution that have emerged at some of the parties. Last but not least: it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News.But that’s nothing new, and AstroTurf has worked well for Republicans in the past. The most notable example was the “spontaneous” riot back in 2000 — actually orchestrated by G.O.P. strategists — that shut down the presidential vote recount in Florida’s Miami-Dade County.So what’s the implication of the fact that Republicans are refusing to grow up, the fact that they are still behaving the same way they did when history seemed to be on their side? I’d say that it’s good for Democrats, at least in the short run — but it’s bad for the country.For now, the Obama administration gains a substantial advantage from the fact that it has no credible opposition, especially on economic policy, where the Republicans seem particularly clueless. But as I said, the G.O.P. remains one of America’s great parties, and events could still put that party back in power. We can only hope that Republicans have moved on by the time that happens.
Tea Parties Forever
By PAUL KRUGMANPublished: April 12, 2009
This is a column about Republicans — and I’m not sure I should even be writing it.
Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.Beyond that, Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn’t feel right to make fun of crazy people.
Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats.But here’s the thing: the G.O.P. looked as crazy 10 or 15 years ago as it does now. That didn’t stop Republicans from taking control of both Congress and the White House. And they could return to power if the Democrats stumble. So it behooves us to look closely at the state of what is, after all, one of our nation’s two great political parties. One way to get a good sense of the current state of the G.O.P., and also to see how little has really changed, is to look at the “tea parties” that have been held in a number of places already, and will be held across the country on Wednesday.
These parties — antitaxation demonstrations that are supposed to evoke the memory of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution — have been the subject of considerable mockery, and rightly so. But everything that critics mock about these parties has long been standard practice within the Republican Party. Thus, President Obama is being called a “socialist” who seeks to destroy capitalism. Why? Because he wants to raise the tax rate on the highest-income Americans back to, um, about 10 percentage points less than it was for most of the Reagan administration. Bizarre.But the charge of socialism is being thrown around only because “liberal” doesn’t seem to carry the punch it used to. And if you go back just a few years, you find top Republican figures making equally bizarre claims about what liberals were up to. Remember when Karl Rove declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to the 9/11 terrorists?
Then there are the claims made at some recent tea-party events that Mr. Obama wasn’t born in America, which follow on earlier claims that he is a secret Muslim. Crazy stuff — but nowhere near as crazy as the claims, during the last Democratic administration, that the Clintons were murderers, claims that were supported by a campaign of innuendo on the part of big-league conservative media outlets and figures, especially Rush Limbaugh.
Speaking of Mr. Limbaugh: the most impressive thing about his role right now is the fealty he is able to demand from the rest of the right. The abject apologies he has extracted from Republican politicians who briefly dared to criticize him have been right out of Stalinist show trials. But while it’s new to have a talk-radio host in that role, ferocious party discipline has been the norm since the 1990s, when Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, became known as “The Hammer” in part because of the way he took political retribution on opponents.
Going back to those tea parties, Mr. DeLay, a fierce opponent of the theory of evolution — he famously suggested that the teaching of evolution led to the Columbine school massacre — also foreshadowed the denunciations of evolution that have emerged at some of the parties.
Last but not least: it turns out that the tea parties don’t represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News.
But that’s nothing new, and AstroTurf has worked well for Republicans in the past. The most notable example was the “spontaneous” riot back in 2000 — actually orchestrated by G.O.P. strategists — that shut down the presidential vote recount in Florida’s Miami-Dade County.
So what’s the implication of the fact that Republicans are refusing to grow up, the fact that they are still behaving the same way they did when history seemed to be on their side? I’d say that it’s good for Democrats, at least in the short run — but it’s bad for the country.
For now, the Obama administration gains a substantial advantage from the fact that it has no credible opposition, especially on economic policy, where the Republicans seem particularly clueless.
But as I said, the G.O.P. remains one of America’s great parties, and events could still put that party back in power. We can only hope that Republicans have moved on by the time that happens.
Asked who was responsible for the economic meltdown, 80 percent in the poll blamed banks, financial institutions and corporations. Some 70 percent also blamed consumers for taking on too much debt and the former Bush administration for lax regulation. Only 26 percent said the Obama administration was not doing enough to turn the situation around.Two-thirds of respondents approve of the way Obama is handling the presidency, and 60 percent approve of the way he is handling the economy.Sixty-four percent said were confident Obama's policies will improve the economy, down from 72 percent just before he took office in January.Forty two percent said the country was now heading in the right direction, a five-year high. Late last year, when then-President George W. Bush was in its final months, as many as nine in 10 American said the country was heading in the wrong direction.
Asked who was responsible for the economic meltdown, 80 percent in the poll blamed banks, financial institutions and corporations. Some 70 percent also blamed consumers for taking on too much debt and the former Bush administration for lax regulation. Only 26 percent said the Obama administration was not doing enough to turn the situation around.
Two-thirds of respondents approve of the way Obama is handling the presidency, and 60 percent approve of the way he is handling the economy.
Sixty-four percent said were confident Obama's policies will improve the economy, down from 72 percent just before he took office in January.
Forty two percent said the country was now heading in the right direction, a five-year high. Late last year, when then-President George W. Bush was in its final months, as many as nine in 10 American said the country was heading in the wrong direction.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama took a break from politics Friday to sit courtside at a basketball game between his hometown team Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/28/obama-attends-wizards-gam_n_170731.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA4P50_hDbY
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama took a break from politics Friday to sit courtside at a basketball game between his hometown team Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/28/obama-attends-wizards-gam_n_170731.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA4P50_hDbY
Unlike the former owner of the Texas Rangers, our new POTUS sat courtside and obviously really enjoyed the watching the Bulls, even though they lost to the Wizards.
President Barack Obama you were perfect in the delivery and content of your speech on the 24th of Feb, 09. You are doing the best job anyone could ask for. You and your team have developed a very good plan to get us out of the financial mess we are in. And you have explained your plan and intentions to the fullest. No other President has been so open in the explanation of the plans for our country. I believe you will be successful in achieving the goals you have made for the improvements we need in this country. Mostly because it's a good plan but also because when you put your mind, heart and soul into something your level of success rates go up. And I can see that you believe what you are telling us and together we will fix the nation. Thank You for being who you are. Thank You for the HOPE you have given us all. Thank You for the wise decisions you have made for the betterment of our nation. Just Thank You, President Barack Obama I will pray for you, your family and your cabinet to be safe, make future good choices and to be successful.
Way to go Hampton Roads!!
Too soon to color Henrico, Chesterfield blue, but they have become battlegrounds Sunday, Nov 09, 2008 - 12:09 AM
If you think Barack Obama cruised to victory in Virginia based on his strength in Northern Virginia alone, think again. On Tuesday, Obama won Hampton Roads by nearly 79,000 votes. In 2004, President Bush beat Democrat John Kerry there by 48,000. In greater Richmond, Obama beat John McCain by 39,000 votes. Four years ago, Bush won by 55,000.
On four Sundays leading up to Election Day, the Richmond Times-Dispatch took detailed looks at four key regions -- Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Southwest Virginia and central Virginia. Here's what Tuesday's results tell us about each: As the polls projected, Obama roared out of Northern Virginia with a big lead. The key here is that Obama more than tripled Kerry's margin from 2004. Kerry won Northern Virginia by 68,000 votes. Obama beat McCain by 233,000. Obama carried Fairfax County alone by 109,000. He also knocked down the Republicans' firewall by winning the big outer counties of Loudoun and Prince William, which voted for Bush in 2004.
In Hampton Roads, Obama expanded Kerry's margins in cities with large black populations, such as Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton. The stunner here is that even with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on the ticket, McCain got no boost in the state's religiously conservative base. In Virginia Beach, where Pat Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Christian Coalition and Regent University, McCain edged Obama by only 1,184 votes. Bush had carried the city by 33,000 in 2004. Obama beat McCain by 1,369 votes in Chesapeake, a city that Bush carried by 13,500 votes in 2004. In greater Richmond, the results recall a warning that Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-11th, issued to fellow Republicans last May. "My argument to the downstate folks [is that] Henrico and Chesterfield [counties] are becoming more like Northern Virginia than they are like the rest of the state," Davis told Neil Simon of Media General News Service. It's premature to color those counties blue, but they have become battlegrounds, reducing Republicans' ability to make up big Democratic margins in Richmond.
In Henrico, a county Bush carried by nearly 11,000 votes in 2004, Obama won by nearly 19,000 on Tuesday. In Chesterfield, which Bush carried by 34,000 votes, McCain won by just 12,000. Meantime, Obama carried the city of Richmond by 54,700 votes, up from Kerry's margin of 30,500 four years ago. So with all that going for him, why didn't Obama win Virginia by more than 6 percentage points? McCain dominated in the state's rural regions. In the 9th Congressional District, most of which is in Southwest Virginia, Kerry had taken only one of 27 localities in 2004, the tiny city of Covington. On Tuesday, Obama didn't do much better, carrying Covington, Montgomery County -- home to Virginia Tech -- and Radford -- home to Radford University. McCain captured 59 percent of the vote in Southwest Virginia to 40 percent for Obama. As Virginia politicos turn their attention to the 2009 governor's race, Sen.-elect Mark R. Warner is tempering his fellow Democrats' glee, saying he sees no sign of a permanent realignment. Warner knows well that in Virginia politics, the pendulum swings. Since 1969, each party has won the governorship five times. Then there's this: Since 1976, Virginians have followed every single presidential election by electing a governor from the other party a year later. Time will tell whether Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the likely GOP nominee for governor, can find a silver lining in Obama's Virginia victory.
Contact Andrew Cain at (804) 649-6645 or acain@timesdispatch.com.
The country is the winner in this election. We have so much to look forward to, but on a personal note, permit me to look back again for a moment.
I was gratified that Virginia went for Barack after the long, hard work of so many VA, MD, and DC volunteers. We did it! (with a little help from Barack's Election Eve Rally :-)
Sorry, WV. We tried.
For far too long fear and greed and bigotry and hate ruled our lives and darkened our days, for far too long our hopes and dreams searched for that unyielding ray of light
that breaks the longest nights for far too long we feared for the light… But then we heard the voice of our dreamssaw the color of our hopesand stood up to look we saw "us"we reached and locked arms we fought the night away and we believed that we could that we should And one autumn nightsun broke through and spring arrived and set us freefree from our fears, free from our bigotry*
This is our moment to rememberthis unyielding ray of light ours to keepthis dream ours to realize
Let’s dream again!We know we can! -------------*Inspired by a quote from a good friend, Dr. Rafi who wrote last night: ”Over a century ago Abraham Lincoln freed blacks from slavery. tonight a black man freed whites from their bigotry.”
