WEEKLY REMINDER

SHAME ON YOU!

Think Progress reports:

The Daily Advertiser, a Gannett-owned paper serving central Louisiana, is standing by its decision to run an advertisement today in which a far-right extremist group suggests that President Obama and Democrats are conspiring to murder Catholics and Christians.

Publisher Karen J. Lincoln and the other deciders at the newspaper judged the ad shown below not to include "blatantly false, overly offensive or otherwise inappropriate content" for its market.

For shame!  As a citizen of the State of Louisiana, I am offended, ashamed, mortified beyond description that a newspaper would permit such an ad, no matter the market.

OBAMA - 'YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT VALUES?'

I keep on hearing these same folks talk about values all the time. You want to talk about values? Hard work has a value. Looking out for one another has a value. The idea that we're all in this together, and I am my brother's and my sister's keeper, that's a value.

President Obama's press secretary, Jay Carney, said Obama was not campaigning. All right, then.

AND ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME?

From the AP:

Drawing clear battle lines for next year's elections, a combative President Barack Obama on Monday demanded that the richest Americans pay higher taxes to help cut soaring U.S. deficits by more than $3 trillion. He promised to veto any effort by congressional Republican to cut Medicare benefits for the elderly without raising taxes as well.

"This is not class warfare. It's math," Obama declared, anticipating Republican criticism, which was quick in coming.

Now if only President Obama and the Democrats hold the line on the taxes in the plan. And I want to know more about the details of the cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

The Republican reaction was swift and bluntly dismissive.

"Veto threats, a massive tax hike, phantom savings and punting on entitlement reform is not a recipe for economic or job growth-or even meaningful deficit reduction," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. "The good news is that the Joint Committee is taking this issue far more seriously than the White House."

If the Republicans want to call it class warfare to ask the very richest people in the country to pay their fair share in taxes, that's fine with me. Right now the poor and middle income folks are losing the class war, and it's time to fight back against the greedy people and their supporters in Congress. The president's plan won't make it through Congress, but - Damn! - the Democrats will have a decent issue to run on in the coming election.

DEAR MR PRESIDENT AND DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:

You gave away the store in your "negotiations" with Republicans. Why bother with the circus mockery of "negotiations"? Just give the Republicans what they want up front.

Sadly, it seems we have truly come to the end of two-party governance. We now have the Republican Party and the Republican-lite Party (aka the Democratic Party). Where do we go from here?

A CERTAIN JUSTICE

Stolen from Padre Mickey. I don't know who did the shop job, but, if I find out, I will give credit.

As I said at Padre Mickey's:

"Mission Accomplished" was surely one of Bush's most embarrassing moments. As others, especially the press, fawned over Bush in his flight suit, I laughed. It was one of the most ridiculous performances I had ever seen. (Lightly edited)

I was wrong to laugh. It wasn't and isn't funny to the service members and civilians who have been killed or maimed since Bush's day of "triumph", nor is it funny to their loved ones. The wars go on, so the picture isn't true today, either. Still, I see a certain justice in the photoshop.

UPDATE: Image from BartCop.

PAIN AT THE PUMP

From the Washington Times:

Feeling pain at the pump? Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took office. According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has arrived on average throughout California, and a number of other states are headed in that direction.

And it's all Obama's doing.

Wait! This is the Washington Times. Cook that red herring and eat it, but remember that it might not have anything to do with the price of gas.

ABOUT RIGHT

OBAMA SPELLS IT OUT

Click on the image for the larger view.

OMG! I can't believe that I'm linking to MadPriest two days in a row. He's already so full of himself and puffed up with pride as to be nearly insufferable, and this sort of encouragement will only egg him on. But what can I do? He put my thoughts into the balloons.

STILL PROUD - STILL TEARY

As I reread the text of President Obama's speech at the memorial service in Tucson, Arizona, for those who died in the shootings, I cried all over again - so many fine and eloquent moments in one speech. The cadences, the repetition of key phrases demonstrate his mastery of the art of speech-making. Most of all, his words seemed sincere and to come from his heart. Today, I note especially the words below:

So sudden loss causes us to look backward—but it also forces us to look forward; to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. (Applause.)

We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we’re doing right by our children, or our community, whether our priorities are in order.

We recognize our own mortality, and we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame—but rather, how well we have loved — (applause)– and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better. (Applause.)

And that process—that process of reflection, of making sure we align our values with our actions—that, I believe, is what a tragedy like this requires.

I think of the times that I was impatient with the president in his many efforts to forge alliances with Republicans. And I realize now that's the sort of man the president is, a man who will try, in the face of seemingly impossible odds, to find common ground and establish bonds with those who oppose nearly all of his ideas and policies. And he will continue his efforts, and perhaps that's the kind of president we need now. More and more, I see Barack Obama as the man for the hour.

I WAS PROUD

As I watched President Obama's speech at the memorial service for those who died in the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, I was proud. The presidency is a bully pulpit, and Obama excelled tonight in striking all the right notes with his words and his demeanor.

From the Miami Herald:

President Barack Obama played the part of "healer in chief" Wednesday night, honoring the victims of Saturday's mass shooting while seeking to calm an increasingly angry political debate, urging all Americans to stop pointing fingers and "make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."

And the president was able to announce the good news that Representative Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time tonight. Thanks be to God and to all who cared for the congresswoman since her injury.

OBAMA SIGNS REPEAL OF DADT INTO LAW

From the Advocate:

In front of several hundred LGBT advocates, President Barack Obama Wednesday signed legislation that will allow the military to lift the 17-year-old ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military. The president said the achievement marked a turning point for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocates across the nation.

“We are not a nation that says ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ We are a nation that says ‘out of many we are one,’” Obama said from the stage, where he was accompanied by Adm. Mike Mullen, Zoe Dunning, Eric Alva, House speaker Nancy Pelosi and majority leader Steny Hoyer, Rep. Patrick Murphy, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, and senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins. Collins joined the group late and was met with enthusiastic applause, and Murphy received a extended standing ovation when Obama called out his name from the stage.

The repeal of DADT is a major victory for justice and fairness. The time for ending the discriminatory and unworkable policy was long past, but perhaps, we would not have arrived at the repeal of the policy today, had the years since Clinton set the policy in 1993 proved that DADT was unworkable.

I will never forget that a number of gay Arabic languages specialists were discharged under DADT around the time we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Brilliant! Read the New York Times to see what the DADT policy cost the US military, just in the area of Arab language specialists. And that's not to mention the valuable personnel in other service specialties.

Obama and the Congress can take victory laps for the repeal of DADT and for what appear to be sufficient votes to ratify the nuclear treaty with Russia. Thanks due to the Democratic leaders in the US Senate and House for keeping the Congress in session until their work was done and their goals accomplished.

HELEN HAS ENOUGH!

From Margaret and Helen:

Margaret, please tell Howard that I love him because he loves you. But that is about all the reaching across the aisle that I can handle. A few years back, millions of people across this nation and across the globe marched for peace. George Bush ignored us and we had to endure his lazy ass being in the White House for eight years.

So now a black man named Barack Obama, elected by the will of the people, has decided to fight for the poor, and work for world peace… and a bunch of white guys who think Fox really is News just can’t stand it.

Well, they can kiss my ass because I am tired of their belly aching.

Go, Helen! Read the rest of Helen's post, "We survived Bush. You’ll survive Obama.."

Thanks to Wade.

COMING INTO HIS OWN

 

With flourish and fanfare, President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia signed a nuclear arms control treaty on Thursday and opened what they hoped would be a new era in the tumultuous relationship between two former cold war adversaries.

Meeting here in the heart of a once-divided Europe, the two leaders put aside the acrimony that has characterized Russian-American ties in recent years as they agreed to bring down their arsenals and restore an inspection regime that expired in December. Along the way, they sidestepped unresolved disputes over missile defense and other issues.

“When the United States and Russia are not able to work together on big issues, it is not good for either of our nations, nor is it good for the world,” Mr. Obama said as his words echoed through a majestic, gilded hall in the famed Prague Castle. “Together, we have stopped the drift, and proven the benefits of cooperation. Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and nonproliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations.”

Mr. Medvedev called the treaty signing “a truly historic event” that will “open a new page” in Russian-American relations. “What matters most is this is a win-win situation,” he said. “No one stands to lose from this agreement. I believe this is a typical feature of our cooperation. Both parties have won.”

Our president is getting his groove, and I like what I see. Obama restores dignity, intelligence, rationality, and a host of other good qualities to the presidency. He is truly a graceful man. It's great to have the burden of being embarrassed by my president lifted.

Thank you President Obama and President Medvedev for your efforts to make the world a safer place.

From the New York Times.