To the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama II…
Official portrait of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
Dear President Obama,
As the close of your 8 years is upon us, I find it so hard to write this post.
I remember watching your speech in Boston in 2004, and I was fine with it. I was so happy that you were running for Senator, that I didn’t think more of your possibilities. When the Illinois Republican Party insulted us by running Alan Keyes, I became more settled in that we would once again have a Black person as Senator. I followed your positions, and how you tried to define yourself, and I couldn’t say that I was upset about it at all.
Then came 2007, and the rumbling that you would run for President. I didn’t go down to Springfield that day, but I did watch it on C-Span. I didn’t give you great odds, but I was hoping for a ‘ good run’ for you.
I don’t know when I first went downtown to volunteer, but it was after I paid the first time to see your wife. Before I believed in you, I believed in Michelle. She was dynamic, and that’s when I took myself to volunteer. I was only going the one time, you see…but then, one time got me to do another, and then your campaign received my weekends. Next thing I knew, I was on my way to Iowa, of all places. I don’t know if I believed that you could win All-White Iowa, but, I enjoyed going there with the varied people that I had met along the way, the only thing we had in common was that we knew this country was in serious trouble, and that it needed someone who wanted to turn it around. I volunteered for my whole family. My mother, born in the Police State known as Jim Crow Mississippi, tried to warn me about getting my expectations too high. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in you, after all, she had voted for you against Bobby Rush in that Congressional race. There was no doubt in her mind of your qualifications…she just didn’t want me to hang my hopes ‘ on those folks doing the right thing when they get into the voting booth.’ I understood her fears; I shared them, but there was no down side in supporting you. If you were going to have a shot, then I was going to work with the others to help you get it.
I went back and found the ‘ Endorsement’ that I did on you on January 2, 2008.
My summation:
So, for me, Barack Obama is:
Qualified
Progressive
Electable
My best chance to rid this country of the Imperal Presidency
Would be the First Black President
Add all these together, and it’s the sum total of why I support Barack Obama and wish him well tomorrow in Iowa.
The next night was absolute magic.
Magic.
Unbelievable.
In a state with only a 3% Black population, you just didn’t place, you won. And, won big. It was the moment that made the impossible plausible. I remember the look on my mother’s face. This daughter of the Jim Crow South was beaming, yet her eyes expressed the disbelief that many of us felt. Did it really happen?
And, then you came onto the stage with Michelle and your daughters, and we knew that it was very very real. That night sealed the deal. I didn’t know how far you were going to go, but I was all in. Whatever hours I had to volunteer were yours. What I could squeeze out of the paycheck each month would be my financial contribution. I was IN.
DES MOINES, IA – JANUARY 03: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) thanks supporters following the Iowa caucuses January 3, 2008 in Des Moines, Iowa. Obama came in first in the Democratic caucus and will now move his campaign for the American presidency to New Hampshire which holds its primary next week. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The journey took us through caucuses and primaries. Phone banks, and canvassing. Following polls and pundits. The ups and downs. Yet, you were a consistent, level-headed presence throughout it all.
I remember you going back to Iowa, where it all began.
— PHOTO MOVED IN ADVANCE AND NOT FOR USE – ONLINE OR IN PRINT – BEFORE NOV. 6, 2016. — FILE — Sen. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on stage for a victory rally in Des Moines, Iowa, May 20, 2008. Once reluctant to engage in partisan politics, the first lady has evolved into a powerful presence, with soaring approval ratings that cut across party lines. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
I remember the ‘terrorist fist’ bump.
Who could forget those marvelous days in Denver, culminating with your acceptance speech. They mocked you. Who was this man with the confidence to book a football stadium for his acceptance speech? How did he think that he would fill it? But, fill it, you did. And, give us a vision of America. One of hope and promise.
Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia, 10, second from right, and Sasha, 7, wave after his acceptance speechat the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
The Convention was over, and we had to make it to Election Night.
November 4, 2008.
Was it possible? Would it happen? Would this long journey wind up making history?
Yes, it did. It was a warm night in November in Chicago. Almost tailor-made to cap the ending of this story. Watching the returns come in, state after state. Counting the math. Doing the tallying. Then came 11 pm EST. Watching the West Coast and Hawaii put you over the top in the Electoral College is a moment I won’t ever forget. The celebration. The worldwide elation. We were living in actual HISTORY.
You were the 44th President of the United States.
That time, post-election and pre-inauguration, was one of promise and hope. You had captured the imagination, and we wondered how it would all work out. After all, you were become President in a country on the absolute financial skids. We were in serious trouble. We were anxious. We had not seen times like this since the Great Depression.
January 20, 2009, we looked forward to history, but also assurance that this country would rebound, and in true fashion, you were the steady hand, telling us that, it would be hard work, but not impossible for us to come back. That there were better days ahead.
You and the First Lady looked like a dream. From standing on the Capital Steps, having the Queen of Soul singing a patriotic lullaby…to you taking the oath on the Lincoln Bible…to walking in the parade….to the dream of watching the two of you dance at the Inaugural Ball, introduced by Denzel Washington and serenaded by Beyonce. It was wonderful.
WASHINGTON, DC – January, 21: President Barack Obama takes the oath of office from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia Obama and Sasha Obama look on during the 57th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony at the United States Capitol on Monday, January 21, 2013. President Barack Obama was sworn in for his second term of office.
(Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
The first four years went by…watching in awe….as you just did you job…with competence and excellence. You worked hard, faced resistance that you didn’t know how just how evil, traitorous and sociopathic they went.
You understood the depth of the shape this country was in. While you chose patriotism, the other side chose Economic Treason against this country. Yet, you pushed forward.
I remember the ups and downs. How you and Nancy Pelosi, when all seemed dark, strapped the promise of Universal Healthcare onto your backs and began a process of having America join the rest of the civilized world. Watching the vote in the House…it was another moment of history. Presidents since Theodore Roosevelt had wanted to tackle healthcare, but one after another, they failed. You didn’t.
You changed lives. You brought peace of mind to over 20 million Americans. You shored up Medicare. You helped the least of us with the Medicaid expansion. You brought forth the largest expansion of the American Social Safety Net –without excluding huge swaths of the American population – the first President to do so.
I watched you step onto the International Stage and wow them. How much they appreciated the change in leadership. How they appreciated your calm and deliberate demeanor and leadership. You were strong, but not a war monger. You went after the bad guys, and slowly, but consistently, you were racking up quite a count of those bad guys.
Then came one Sunday Afternoon, and it dropped that the President was going to be addressing the nation. The President addressing the nation on a Sunday? What could possibly be that important? Nobody addresses the country on a Sunday….then slowly the leaks came…and the news was so incredulous that it seemed too surreal to be true. Had you done it? Had you really done it? Had you killed the shadowy demon architect of 9/11? Indeed, you had.
Soon, the election cycle of 2012 was upon us, and it was time for those of us who took up your charge in 2008 to give it another try. After all, it was obvious that your foes were determined to make you a ‘ one term President’ to try and minimize your importance. But, we followed your lead, buckled down, and did the work that needed to be done, and we were able to celebrate once again in Chicago.
President Barack Obama and the first family take the stage Tuesday, November 6, 2012, in Chicago, Illinois, after the president was re-elected. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT) ** HOY OUT, TCN OUT **
WASHINGTON, DC – January, 21: President Barack Obama takes the oath of office from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia Obama and Sasha Obama look on during the 57th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony at the United States Capitol on Monday, January 21, 2013. President Barack Obama was sworn in for his second term of office.
(Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
You have so many accomplishments, here’s a small list of them:
1. 73 straight months of private sector job growth – the longest in our country’s history. Consequently the unemployment rate, which reached 10% in the early months of the Obama administration, now stands at 4.9%.
2. The auto industry, which was on the verge of collapse when Obama came into office, has been saved and is now thriving, while remaining on target to meet significantly increased fuel efficiency standards.
3. The number of uninsured non-elderly people has dropped to 10.5% – the lowest number on record.
4. Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan serve as Justices on the Supreme Court.
5. Osama bin Laden is dead.
6. Iran has halted its development of nuclear weapons.
7. The stimulus package pumped $90 billion into renewable energy projects, transitioned medical records from paper to digital and expanded access to broadband so that 98% of Americans now have access to fast 4G/LTE service.
8. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau brought $11.7 billion in relief for more than 27 million harmed consumers.
9. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has ended and marriage equality is the law of the land.
10. 750,000 DREAMers were able to come out of the shadows.
11. 548 million acres of land and water were protected as national monuments.
12. The high school graduation rate hit an all-time high of 83% in the 2014/15 school year.
13. The federal deficit has been reduced from 9.8% of GDP in 2009 to 3.2% in 2016.
14. Medicare’s solvency has been extended from 2017 to 2028.
15. The Pigford Settlement with African American farmers
16. The resolution of 86 long-standing disputes with Native tribal governments for $2.8 billion.
There are so many more accomplishments…I could go on for awhile. Bottom line, you got stuff done!
Aside from all your measureable accomplishments, there is the pleasure of watching your navigate these past 8 years with elegance, intelligence, grace. Watching you and the First Lady show, by example, all that is possible. Watching you in awe, as you withstood the disrespect on so many levels from many corners. Those of us who know that we didn’t have the character couldn’t help but be humbled watching you and the First Lady give us repeated lessons in how to vanquish enemies. Your strength of character was comforting…reassuring.. even during those times when I disagreed with your policy positions.
As we watched in horror the Election of 2016, you and your legacy become even more pronounced.
I believe, though, that your greatest legacy is yet unseen. That we’ve only touched the edges of it. The haters didn’t win. They didn’t overcome. You did.
A poster on another blog summed it up quite well:
Town
THIS is the legacy that Barack Obama leaves behind. The GOP and their Democratic minions can dismantle every program Obama put in place but they cannot undo an entire generation of black and brown and yellow and red children seeing somebody who looks like them or somebody from their neighborhood having power, being a leader…not the trashman, not the mailman, not the local dope boy but the President.
GOP can NEVER undo that. Just because you chop down the tree doesn’t mean the roots and seeds aren’t there, waiting to sprout.
ICAM. And not only here in America, but abroad. The seeds you have planted are GLOBAL.
As your term comes to an end, I look forward to seeing what you will do Post-Presidency. I think we haven’t seen anything yet.
It has been an honor to live in the Era of Obama.
Thank you.
Did they even listen to the lyrics of the song “I Will Always Love You” that they picked to dance to..?
If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So I’ll go but I know
I’ll think of you every step of the way
And I… will always love you, ooh
Will always love you
You
My darling, you…
Mmm-mm
Bittersweet memories –
That is all I’m taking with me.
So good-bye.
Please don’t cry:
We both know I’m not what you, you need
LOL..
OMG, that was their song?
Strange.
That was the song they danced to at the military ball…the first was, I did it my way…which is just as troublesome..
Resistance…
Copy copy copy..
Plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DPblwwWQz9E
Please always know and remember that God has them AND He has us too. We have been so watchful but God never sleeps nor slumbers. So let your heart be glad.
Amen
It just feels like some impostors have hijacked the President and First Lady titles…and invaded the Obamas home..
I’m having a very hard time with this..
Every time President and First Lady is mentioned in the same sentence as those people, I get a serious jolt and startle..
I’m never going to get used to this…NEVER…
Even my immune system has completely broken down, and for the first time in years, I have a terrible cold…
Awwwww!
You’re not alone, Eliihass. At least half of the country is in mourning. I’ve never seen anything like this, so much angst and sorrow and pain.
I hope this is our low point, and it very likely might be. Going forward, everything they do, every evil act, strengthens the resistance.
I’ve never felt like this ever Lisa…and no, it’s not my head cold…
I found myself alternately crying and laughing in disbelief …
It’s like a bad, bad dream you can’t wake up from…I actually think that I once had this exact dream a few years ago, but it was all so entirely implausible and ridiculous, I completely dismissed it…and didn’t even think about it..
And now we have the invasion of the walking dead…all of these people seem like some part of an evil robotic takeover…and then there’s Jared the undertaker..
Even the former presidents all looked like they’d seen ghosts…all looking scared …like they were all summoned and threatened if they failed to show up…A madman and his nazi handlers now not only controls the nuclear codes…but also controls the various institutions like the Secret Service and the various intelligence agencies that protect them and their families…and protect their secrets…which as part of their brotherhood, until now protected each other – across parties…notice how warmly they all greeted Hill..
Even the republican Supreme Court justices – except coward and enabler Thomas, all looked visibly shaken and alarmed…
Paul Ryan is so busy sucking up partly for his own aggrandizement – and partly out of fear of being destroyed…but his ‘that should have been me’ expression when botox-face Pence was taking his oath, was hard to miss…he’d sell his soul to the devil too if he could fall into the vice presidency out of a fluke…
Its crazy..
This is what they were awkwardly trying to recreate…LOL..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LKVmrfPNX1g
Oh. My. God!! WTF!! LOL..
I knew it!!
The buffoon and his people have been practically trying to recreate the Obama inauguration playbook verbatim…down to even the kisses and intermittent waving the Obamas did while they were dancing…
Oh my God. So awkward…
You’d be hard-pressed to imagine that these folks actually sleep together…so stiff …so awkward…
LOL..
Trump sold his SOUL to Putin.
Yeah. The Devil didn’t want it.
Putin and more..
https://twitter.com/lizzzbrown/status/822555021409652737
https://twitter.com/TomJackmanWP/status/822551092496109569
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/822575244875563011
I unfollowed all potus and flotus twitters because I don’t want chimp to inherit My First family’s followers.
Hi, Vitamin
Michelle & President Obama are back to using @MichelleObama and @BarackObama Twitter handles again. They’ve unveiled a new website too and tweeted about it today. Go sign up.
https://www.obama.org/
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/822550300942856193
Check and see if you’re following him, Vitamin. Some ISH going on with Twitter.
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/822627245722308612
I will check.
Warning
THERE is something hanky going on
https://mobile.twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/822627281482973185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Obamas have so much class
https://twitter.com/dannykarapetian/status/822499303545409536
I’m gonna be petty Betty but here you go…
President Obama 2009 Inaugural Parade Crowd
Trump 2017 Inaugural Parade Crowd
LOL OK BETTY
bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha
Betty, did you know the MSM is making excuse for the low turnout. His supporters just want change, they are at home watching. SMGDH
And Trump supporters are claiming republicans have jobs and were at work. I swear these heathens are something else. They so wanted the crowd to outdo our President Obama.
Betty be as petty as you’d like. Truth us the truth!!
Also chumps supporters would have to drive their mobile homes up there cause they can’t afford hotel rooms among other things and where would they cook their road kill?
bwa ha ha ha ha ha
nothing petty about the truth
https://twitter.com/HaidaPrincess/status/822572713785098241
https://twitter.com/SKZCartoons/status/822556737228197889
Obama Legacy: The True Impact Of Having Two Black Lawyers In The White House
By Paula Edgar
Jan, 20, 2017
0
I could never have imagined as a child that the leader of the free world and his wife would both be Black lawyers. Their presence in the White House reminded me of the responsibility we as lawyers have to use our legal training to become servant leaders.
“I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours.” – President Barack Obama’s Farewell Address, January 10, 2017
Everyone will have their individual take on the legacies of Barack and Michelle Obama. We know Barack Obama’s resume. He is America’s 44th President and our first Black President. Before becoming President he was a community organizer, a law Professor, and a Senator. His impact as our President stands alone, but for me, as a Black attorney and leader, his legacy is inextricable with that of his wife, Michelle.
Michelle Obama’s legacy and impact as a mother, health and education advocate, lawyer, wife and advisor to the President is unparalleled. She is from the south side of Chicago, and like her husband, attended Harvard Law School and later worked at a top law firm. After private practice, her career went on to local government, nonprofit, community organizing and finally a position in healthcare administration. Mrs. Obama has been our most experienced and accomplished First Lady to date.
………………
Together, the Obamas made the roles of the President and First Lady approachable and authentic. They opened the doors of the White House to all of us, but I could never have imagined as a child that the leader of the free world and his wife would both be Black lawyers. My most memorable exposure to a Black lawyer as a child was the role of Claire Huxtable in the Cosby Show. As an adult, I remember that having a Black actor portray the President on “24” was controversial.
https://twitter.com/Fusion/status/822535240338051074
https://twitter.com/uniwave/status/822479312993603584
https://twitter.com/C4Ciaran/status/822498259830640640
That’s Bob and Elizabeth Dole..
Aging does suck..
7 year age difference. Yes, 7year difference.
Historic First black FLOTUS is 53 years old and the other lady is 46.
And if they keep up with the ‘Moochelle’ crap …the gloves will come all the way off…they better believe it..
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/01/20/16/3C53EBDC00000578-4140702-image-m-90_1484928242682.jpg
I’m fairly certain that Trump’s current wife won’t be spared in the daily sh!!storm that is going to rain down on this administration. Her safest bet is to keep a low profile.
Trump himself played a huge role in defining the new normal for how presidents are going to be treated. The gloves are already off.
Why Trump’s Inauguration is Not the Beginning of an Era — but the End
Peter Leyden
Founder & CEO of Reinvent, a media company
…
Trump is a symptom of something much bigger and more fundamental going on in the world. So are the people behind Brexit in Great Britain. They are not driving the change, they are reacting to the change. They are not showing the way forward, they are making desperate attempts to cling to the past, a past that is gone forever.
The world is in the relatively early stages of an almost inevitable transition to what can be best understood as a new 21st-century civilization. Relatively early — meaning roughly one-third of the way through. And almost inevitable — meaning it can be derailed if we make some catastrophic political choices.
There are three fundamentally different characteristics of this civilization: One, it will be run totally on digital technologies, smarter and smarter, more and more interconnected computers. Two, it will be totally global and operate on a planetary scale. And three, it will have to be sustainable, in its energy usage and its impact on the planet.
All three of these shifts are well underway and can be tracked and explained by pointing to investments, the morphing of the advanced economy, the positioning of leading companies, and just following what innovative people are doing. In many ways, these developments are happening despite what governments do. Governments can make things better, and accelerate changes, or slow down changes, but they can’t stop them at this macro level.
…
It’s easy for politicians to whip up public fears against these changes and rally people to go back to the old ways, to make America great again. This is the standard playbook for right-wing nationalism.
…
I think Trump ultimately is going to do America and the world a service by becoming the vehicle that will finally take down right-wing conservative politics for a generation or two. He is getting the entire Republican conservative establishment to buy into his regime. He is creating an administration that is blatantly all about rule by — and for — billionaires, sold out to the oil and carbon industries, and celebrating an out-of-control corporate capitalism. It will be a caricature of conservative policies. In short order he will completely and irrevocably alienate all the growing political constituencies of the 21st century: the Millennial Generation, people of color, educated professionals, women. He’ll eventually do the same for a significant number of more moderate Republicans. And does anyone out there really think Trump will do anything for the white working class that got him elected? Watch as repealing Obamacare blows up in his face.
I think the backlash will be fast and furious. And it won’t just be Trump that goes down — it will be large swaths of conservative Republicans who will be almost helpless to stop Trump or distance themselves from him. They will pay the price for creating the conditions that created him. I think the next 4 to 8 years are going to see a serious sea change in politics — to the left, not the right. The analogy is closer to what happened to the conservative Republicans coming out of the 1930s — they were out of power for the next 50 years.
…
California is the Future
…
Today California is totally run by a new generation of progressive Democrats. Every single state-wide office. Super majorities in both Houses. There are no conservative Republican elected officials to speak of in California right now. The conservative ideology, those policies, are dead.
I’ve long been thumping the idea that California is the future. The San Francisco Bay Area is obviously ground zero for Silicon Valley and tech. It’s about as good a melting pot of global influences as anywhere on the planet. And it’s on the front lip of clean energy and sustainability. So that would be a good place to look for how those three massive 21st-century shifts will play out.
…
The Real Beginning is Still Obama
…
Obama’s decade of work will be seen, in the decades to come, as the truly enduring foundation. He laid the groundwork for what will certainly become the all-digital, fully global, sustainable civilization of the 21st century.
https://medium.com/@peteleyden/https-medium-com-peteleyden-why-trumps-inauguration-is-not-the-beginning-of-an-era-but-the-end-72a86833f0a3#.sdqyzg24c
What a beautiful tribute, rikyrah. I finally broke down in tears after being in denial all day. Thanks to all of you ladies for what you do. I am going to miss the Obamas so much.Their picture was my Facebook profile picture today.
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/822550300942856193
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/822550536469803009
https://twitter.com/MichelleObama/status/822552602558734336
Be not afraid
Liberal Librarian January 20, 2017
The day is here. It is a day we all feared: when a demagogue with no inkling of how to run a state takes the reins of power.
We began 2016 certain in the knowledge that Hillary Clinton would succeed President Barack Obama. We begin 2017 unsure of anything, save that at least the next two years will bring pain.
It’s easy to be afraid. More than that: it’s understandable. On New Year’s Day I was seized with a fear and a depression I had yet to feel since the election. Fear is the evolutionary trait bred in us to help us survive. We fear the unknown, the uncertain, the dangerous.
But, I say now: Be not afraid.
Isaiah says: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Not all of us believe in God. I myself am of the very agnostic variety. But this Scripture comforts me. We must strengthen ourselves, uphold each other. This solidarity will get us through perilous times.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2017/1/19/be-not-afraid
In his inaugural address, Trump vows to end ‘American carnage’
01/20/17 01:42 PM—UPDATED 01/20/17 01:46 PM
By Steve Benen
The story of Donald Trump’s political trajectory is one of a series of “pivots” that were predicted but never seen.
After Trump’s belligerent campaign kickoff in June 2015, many observers said he’d soon pivot towards a more responsible campaign message in order to extend his appeal to more Republican constituencies. That didn’t happen.
After he secured the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, many assumed Trump would pivot away from his primary persona and become a general-election candidate with a message that resonated nationally. That didn’t happen, either.
After Trump won the election, much of the country expected him to pivot from campaign mode to governing mode as he prepared for the awesome responsibilities of the American presidency. That didn’t happen, either.
After he actually became president this afternoon, Trump was supposed to pivot, embracing the fact that he now represents the nation and its people, and recognizing that the time for deliberate divisiveness has passed.
………………………..
There will be no pivot. The Donald J. Trump we saw riding down an escalator in New York 19 months ago is the same Donald J. Trump who’s on his way to the Oval Office. The nuances of his personality don’t really exist. What we saw is what we have and we’ll get.
The result was an inaugural address intended for Trump’s base – and no one else. Those waiting for an uplifting message were left wanting. The expected olive branches were set on fire.
The speech was, to be sure, deeply and unapologetically populist, which was only surprising because I thought everyone knew better by now. Sure, Trump exploited populist anger throughout his campaign, but during the transition period, the new president appointed billionaires and Washington insiders to help lead his administration, started selling access to megadonors, and moved forward with an agenda built on tax cuts for the wealthy elite.
Yep, that rat bastard’s going to give America back to the people, alright
White House website promotes Melania Trump’s modeling and jewelry line
Visitors to the newly revamped White House website get more than a simple rundown of first lady Melania Trump’s charitable works and interests — they also get a list of her magazine cover appearances and details on her jewelry line at QVC.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/first-lady-melania-trump
THIS IS SOME SCARY AZZ SHIT RIGHT HERE
https://twitter.com/DanJGross/status/822489914847662080
1963 March on Washington crowd listed as 250,000
Trump 2017 Inauguration Crowd
President Obama 2009 Inauguration Crowd
LOL Ain’t nobody out there in the those streets hooping it up for the DUMPSTER but those CaCs wo think he’s gonna to make America whiter
https://twitter.com/Nupe117/status/822520209265176576
President Obama Departs Capitol on Executive One
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/822534110480629760
https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/822496289204080640
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/822518670538645504
Congress to give away Federal lands
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/bureau-land-management-federal-lease?CMP=share_btn_tw
The old white boys club think they are LARGE & IN CHARGE now, don’t ya know!
https://twitter.com/SamNBCBayArea/status/822505774203084800
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/822511039631753218
Ha! and the low turnout today for the continued unraveling of our country proves it.
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/822500068246683648
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/822506400232468482
https://twitter.com/deray/status/822508481492226048
https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/822500595630215169
As power shifts, Trump’s team remains unprepared to govern
01/20/17 11:08 AM—UPDATED 01/20/17 11:23 AM
By Steve Benen
When one U.S. administration transfers power to another, it’s not uncommon for various officials to remain at their posts for a while, which is why this Associated Press report, published yesterday, may not have seemed especially surprising.
Just on the surface, there is a certain irony to the appeals: much of Trump’s campaign platform was predicated on the idea that President Obama’s team was an incompetent and disastrous failure, unfit for power, who must be replaced by people hand-picked by the Republican amateur.
Evidently, as of yesterday, Trump decided Obama administration officials aren’t so bad after all – because the people he spent a year bashing are now being asked to keep doing their jobs a while longer.
Note, we’re not just talking about random, low-level officials in obscure government offices. Team Trump has pleaded with top members of Obama’s team – professionals who work on highly sensitive tasks related to national security, for example – to stick around, for an indefinite amount of time, while the incoming administration gets its act together.
And therein lies the broader point. Trump and his team have known for months they needed to prepare a vast executive-branch team to take the reigns of power this afternoon – and they blew it badly. The Republicans didn’t just ask dozens of Obama appointees to keep going to work because of the officials’ competence; Trump World is also scrambling because it’s desperate.
What Trump’s White Cabinet Says About Race and Class
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/20/what-trumps-whiter-less-academic-cabinet-says-about-race-and-class-in-america/
How America’s anti-elitism might be creating a whiter White House
By Tracy Jan
January 20 at 11:15 AM
As his Cabinet nominees were grilled by the Senate on the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump declared that “We have by far the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled!”
It’s a grandiose assertion, one that’s impossible to know. But by another metric, Trump’s nominees fall short: academic degrees.
As a whole, Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s government agencies have fewer advanced degrees than any first-term Cabinet in at least 24 years.
A third of the nominees in Trump’s 15-member executive team hold only a bachelor’s degree. A quarter obtained up to a master’s degree, and 40 percent achieved a law or medical degree. No one has a doctorate. Compare that to President Obama’s original Cabinet, which conservatives derided for being stacked with intellectual elites: Only two members held a bachelor’s degree alone. A third stopped their educations at a master’s degree, and more than half held doctorates, medical or law degrees — often from the nation’s most prestigious universities.
Certainly, education comes in many of forms. For some of Trump’s nominees, what they lack in classroom education has been made up for in relevant career experience. But there’s something uniquely important about schooling — it’s supposed to be America’s great equalizer, the traditional gateway to the higher levels of society. At least for people of color.
In 2008, it wasn’t lost on people that Obama’s nominated Cabinet was both loaded with academic credentials and among the most racially and ethnically diverse in history. Six of the 15 nominees belonged to minority groups, all of whom held advanced degrees. Obama himself has a Harvard law degree and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. (Bill Clinton’s first Cabinet included just as many minorities as Obama’s, and it was even more educated, with all but one Cabinet member holding doctorate or law degrees.)
Trump’s Cabinet also happens to be the wealthiest in modern history — illustrating how it’s possible for some to reach the top without racking up college degrees. That level of success without years of advanced education is nearly impossible for black and brown Americans, say sociologists, economists and political scientists who study the link between race, education and achievement.
“Rarely will we find an example of an uncredentialed black person in an elite position,” said Darrick Hamilton, an economist at The New School in New York. “That black person is usually certainly qualified, if not overqualified, with regard to their education.”
……………………………….
“As higher education has become more accessible to more diverse groups of people, the general population has become more distrustful of education and expertise,” said Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. “They think there must be something suspect about education, because how great can Harvard really be if someone like Barack Obama got there?”
“In this country, diversity has gotten tied up in the idea of a liberal academy,” she said. “The election of Trump is a critique and rebuke of that.”
https://twitter.com/vj44/status/822498682163646465
Trump World tries to explain away broad unpopularity
01/20/17 09:22 AM
By Steve Benen
As President Obama passes the torch to President-elect Trump, Americans are witnessing all sorts of firsts, including the largest-ever gap in popularity from one leader to his successor.
Obama is exiting the stage on a high note, with an approval rating at 60% or higher in several new surveys. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is the least popular new president since the dawn of modern polling, with the latest CBS News poll giving an approval rating of just 37% and a favorability rating of just 32%. A Fox News poll released last night showed similar results.
For his part, Trump seems to believe there’s a giant media/polling conspiracy underway – he insisted this week that the polls are “rigged” – and his team is under the impression that the data doesn’t matter.
It’s not quite that simple. Polls were right when they showed Trump dominating in the Republican presidential primaries, and they were right again when they showed Trump trailing Hillary Clinton in the popular vote by millions.
Always a thief…
https://twitter.com/Slate/status/822497716991303681
https://twitter.com/NewsHour/status/822495293996486661
HA! the camera’s lying, huh?
https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/822470348725698561
https://twitter.com/PovediitzBDL/status/822482078914768896
The FLOTUS shade is EPIC
Another example of a picture that is worth tens of millions of words.
Michelle is just on the verge of projectile vomiting.
Ha ha ha. Only you could make me laugh on a day like this, Ametia.
https://twitter.com/TheLinkTweet/status/822484447987695617
She ugly.
https://twitter.com/BCAppelbaum/status/822478866035986435
LOL But the media is lying & fake, DONNY!
https://twitter.com/Latinos4Bernie/status/822482565416239104
https://twitter.com/blogdiva/status/822485148038000640
https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/822480072854499328
Heads up, Chicas. President Obama will be unveiling a new website.
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/822478045252616192
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/822466637538410496
“I believe, though, that your greatest legacy is yet unseen. That we’ve only touched the edges of it.”
Thank you for this letter, Rikyrah. We need it. I’m sure I will return many times in the course of the day.
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/822452191688527873
https://twitter.com/TomNamako/status/822455674286338048
https://twitter.com/AlexR_DC/status/822371527962271745
WTF does Kellyanne Conway have on? The fuck is this ISH?
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/822466597352837121
Ugliest.Dress.Ever.
How long, Lord?
I weep for my country today…
I can’t even define my own sadness, SG2. I refuse to watch the spectacle or participate in any way. I have no idea how long this will last or even what might happen.
I pray that most Americans have moved way past what these people are trying to do to this cpuntry. I hope that the resistance is so immense that it cannot be overcome.
Me too. What the Trump’s presidency means—–> People didn’t learn their lesson, so we’re back to the days of predatory capitalist scamming the middle class and poor. Their ideology is grab all you can, while you can…economic genocide.
The GOPs’ idea of business is to legitimize stealing money from the people. And allow the hungry wolves of predatory & cannibalistic greed. The GOP’s political agenda is to give more money to the rich so the rest of the working class remains at their mercy as indentured slaves. Business fraud once again becomes a lucrative enterprise on Wall Street with government sanctioned fraud that allows them to exploit people.
Today is not a day of celebration, it’s a day of mourning.
Mourning for our country..We’re in big trouble.
Good morning, Lovelies! Thank you ALL for your unwavering commitment to documenting this presidency. The world has witnessed the personification of the truth our ancestors instilled us -BLACK EXCELLENCE on every level- and no matter what they try to do, it cannot, nor will it ever be contained.
There is much to do sisters. Today we mourn. Tomorrow and every day that follows, we’ll never let them forget the truth of who WE are. #notgoingback
Thank you so much, Diva! I feel so sad. Thank you for lifting our spirit and standing by our side.
Hi Diva. TELL THAT TRUTH!
Worst. Negotiator. Ever.
Donald Trump’s nuclear arms gambit shows he’s a loser.
by Mike Lofgren
January 20, 2017
If there is one thing Donald Trump wants us to know, it’s that he negotiates great deals. He has also been shrilly disdainful of Obama’s foreign policy handiwork, particularly the nuclear agreement with Iran (which, it must be pointed out, involved not just the United States and Iran, but all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany). This, Trump said, was the worst agreement ever, presumably including the 1938 Munich agreement, presupposing he has ever heard of that one. Nothing so criminally naïve as the Iran deal would ever happen on his watch.
Yet it appears that we may be on the road to a diplomatic agreement under President Trump which will make the Iran deal look as if that country had unconditionally surrendered to the United States.
In interviews with The Times of London and Bild that occurred less than a week before his inauguration, Trump said he could envision dropping economic sanctions against Russia in exchange for nuclear arms reductions between the two countries. A simple quid pro quo, right?
As someone who has long favored a U.S.-Russian nuclear builddown, I can understand the superficial attractiveness of Trump’s trial balloon. But there are compelling reasons why it is a bad idea.
First, nuclear arms negotiations should not be linked to extraneous issues. Agreements such as the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 were complex, highly technical treaties with years’ worth of negotiations and even “pre-negotiations” before they were signed. Dragging in additional issues could very well have killed them.
Second, the United States negotiated multiple nuclear agreements with the Soviet Union even when the latter was under considerably more stringent sanctions from the allied powers than Russia is today. Under the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM), exports of even some of the most basic Western technologies were under a strict embargo. (By contrast, Western high-technology firms such as Intel, Google, and HP now operate software development centers in Russia). Somehow, the Soviet Politburo saw fit to negotiate solely over arms even when under more stringent economic sanctions than those faced by Vladimir Putin
It’s Jan 20, 2017, 7:13 AM CST, and this is the final shot of the White House website under the @BarackObama Administration
Godspeed, sir. pic.twitter.com/9WbO3Y946r
— Adrian C. Jackson (@AdrianCJax) January 20, 2017
From TOD:
Zizi2
Our 2,922+ Days with Prez Obama
Rest at link above.
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone.
Rik, you hit this post out of the park! Thank you.
I love your post. Beautifully said, rikyrah. And what a pleasure watching those beautiful daughters grow up.
What great memories. We all will miss this man. Thank you for writing this.
Iowa Old Lady
The DC metro this morning
https://mobile.twitter.com/AliceOllstein
Thank you, Rikyrah. You have created a beautiful historical record and tribute honoring President Obama.
Oh Rikyrah, you did it again…
I believe that he will be the best President of my lifetime.
Good Morning,Everyone😐😐😐
How beautiful!