Barack Hussein Obama II: 44th President of The United States

[fishcakes]

Oh, for fuck's sake.

[stillshimpy]

I'm not going to claim that I understand what's going on in Obama's head because I don't.  However, there was one time in his presidency where I was livid with him.  Just fucking pissed off beyond the telling of it and it had to do with Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Early on there was an opportunity for that to just go the hell away and essentially all the Obama administration had to do was ....nothing....to get that done.  Just sit back and let it happen. 

That's not what he did, though.  He forced it to the courts.  For days I could be heard ranting, "Apparently, doing nothing was more than you could handle!!" and other such words of condemnation.   It turned out, he had a plan.  The initial death of Don't Ask, Don't Tell would have been an easy thing to overturn.  Obama's plan to force it through the courts killed it dead and for all time.  

I try to remember that whenever he's not behaving in the way that seems the most obvious, "All you have to do is ___________" that there may be a reason I'm not grasping.  His chill attitude about all of this makes me wonder if this isn't another case of my simply not understanding the carefully thought out plan.  The man knows the constitution and he knows the law.    Maybe he's not freaking out because of things that we can't see yet.  

Or he's just rolled over and submissively peed.  I don't know.  What I do know is that Barack Obama  didn't just wake up one day and decide, "Hey, you know what would be fun?  Running for president.  I'm going to be the first African-American President!"  on a whim.   He had to structure the ever living fuck out of his life to make any of this possible, long before any of us ever clapped eyes on him.    The more guarded he is, the more likely there's more going on.  

I could be wrong.  Maybe he's just thrown-up his hands and given the fuck up on us and I'd be hard pressed to blame him because behold but every time I've lost faith in him in the past, I haven't just been wrong, I've been wrong, wrong, the very opposite of right.  

The quieter he is, as this barbarian is at the actual gate, the more intrigued I become because the guy who structured his life, and asked a tremendous amount from the people he loves, cannot truly be contemplating this "I'm out to destroy the fucking world" shit-show so complacently.  

[slf]

Quote

 

Oh, for fuck's sake. 

 

Their "newest revelations"? Do these people have any pride or self-awareness whatsoever? Attempts to prove a hated politician isn't A Real American isn't usually so literal, and boy am I shocked that they've only targeted our first black President this way. This must be one of the longest-running attacks on a major political figure in the past twenty or thirty years. Of course, look what they've been doing with HRC; investigation after investigation after investigation after investigation after investigation after investigation after investigation after investigation...

Gee, what do they have in common...?

Edited December 15, 2016 by slf

[Padma]

1 hour ago, fishcakes said:

Oh, for fuck's sake.

 

Yeah. Did Sheriff Joe (Trump's good buddy) just lose his election? My guess is this "big reveal" is (1) to start fundraising for his next campaign and (2) to remind Tubby, "I'm still available! People die in my jails! C'mon, give me a chance!"

Re: Obama. I appreciate the idea that he's playing the "long game", because I know he's a brilliant man. But.... if your game about Russian hacking is so long that the election's over when you get to it.... or your game to prevent genocide in Aleppo takes over five years and there's no one left to save.... well, I'm disenchanted and cynical about him of late. Don't listen to me. :)

[navelgazer]

49 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

I'm not going to claim that I understand what's going on in Obama's head because I don't.  However, there was one time in his presidency where I was livid with him.  Just fucking pissed off beyond the telling of it and it had to do with Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Early on there was an opportunity for that to just go the hell away and essentially all the Obama administration had to do was ....nothing....to get that done.  Just sit back and let it happen. 

That's not what he did, though.  He forced it to the courts.  For days I could be heard ranting, "Apparently, doing nothing was more than you could handle!!" and other such words of condemnation.   It turned out, he had a plan.  The initial death of Don't Ask, Don't Tell would have been an easy thing to overturn.  Obama's plan to force it through the courts killed it dead and for all time.  

I try to remember that whenever he's not behaving in the way that seems the most obvious, "All you have to do is ___________" that there may be a reason I'm not grasping.  His chill attitude about all of this makes me wonder if this isn't another case of my simply not understanding the carefully thought out plan.  The man knows the constitution and he knows the law.    Maybe he's not freaking out because of things that we can't see yet.  [emphasis mine]

Or he's just rolled over and submissively peed.  I don't know.  What I do know is that Barack Obama  didn't just wake up one day and decide, "Hey, you know what would be fun?  Running for president.  I'm going to be the first African-American President!"  on a whim.   He had to structure the ever living fuck out of his life to make any of this possible, long before any of us ever clapped eyes on him.    The more guarded he is, the more likely there's more going on.  

I could be wrong.  Maybe he's just thrown-up his hands and given the fuck up on us and I'd be hard pressed to blame him because behold but every time I've lost faith in him in the past, I haven't just been wrong, I've been wrong, wrong, the very opposite of right.  

The quieter he is, as this barbarian is at the actual gate, the more intrigued I become because the guy who structured his life, and asked a tremendous amount from the people he loves, cannot truly be contemplating this "I'm out to destroy the fucking world" shit-show so complacently.  

Are you telepathic?  That is exactly what I have been thinking.  

[stillshimpy]

Quote

or your game to prevent genocide in Aleppo takes over five years and there's no one left to save

I was referring solely to the situation with Twitler.  Aleppo is a crime against humanity and a disgrace to all the countries who have allowed it to happen, then tried to bar the door for refugees fleeing for their actual lives.  This is a disgrace and it is on Obama's record.  No spin attempt on that one. 

Just saying, he's too chill about the Orange Menace and he doesn't even sound strained.  This Thing is set to destroy his life's work, everything Obama personally sacrificed for and shaped his entire reality for almost all of his adult life around, and Barack Obama seems very calm and not like, "I must respect the process, I must help ensure the smooth transition of power, I'm also actively downplaying Russian hacking right now and making conciliatory sounds about a man who has appointed a white supremacist to his transition team and there's not even an underlying chill in my tone..." 

Meanwhile, that cabinet is like the Rogue's Gallery in Obama's Personal Hell.  

It remains possible that they just pulled out the Federal Levels of Xanax and have that man blissed the fuck out, but it's not fitting.  It keeps really distracting me because it doesn't make sense.  He sounds unconcerned and he built his entire life around loving this country and attempting to make it better.   It's not like I'm buddies with the man but I have more faith in him than really believing he's just  this accepting of the ruination of his life's work.  

Edited December 15, 2016 by stillshimpy

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Padma said:

Did Sheriff Joe (Trump's good buddy) just lose his election?

Yep, his long reign of terror is finally ending; he lost by nearly 10 percentage points.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Bastet

[onthebrink03]

2 hours ago, fishcakes said:

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Uh-huh!  This corrupt fucking asshole lost his election.  Go away Joe and stay away. No one gives a shit what you have to say.  

[Ceindreadh]

5 hours ago, onthebrink03 said:

Uh-huh!  This corrupt fucking asshole lost his election.  Go away Joe and stay away. No one gives a shit what you have to say.  

Why isn't anyone asking for trumps birth cert to prove that he slithered out from under an American rock?

[shok]

17 hours ago, DollEyes said:

ITA. As someone who comes from a military family, I know that there are some things that the President can't say/do publicly because there may be covert ops involved with innocent lives at stake. Re the Russian hacks, I believe that President Obama wanted to make sure that he had all the facts before he said anything, which IMO was the right thing to do. While he's not "perfect," Obama's willingness to at least try to take the presidency seriously is just one of the many reasons why I'll not only miss him, it's why I think the country will be worse without him. 

I think a lot of the blame here has been misplaced (not on your post Dolleyes, on this thread in general). The media's part in reporting the hacking has, as usual, been dreadful. Obama released a letter/notice on October 7 revealing as much information as he was able to at that time and it was very definitive in blaming the Russians for the hacks. However, the tape of the orange buffoon bragging about how he could grab as much pussy as he wanted also came out the same day and the media all lost their collective minds and talked about nothing else for several weeks, completely ignoring the news about Russia.

Now, of course the info about Trump needed to be out there and covered but they just don't seem to have the capability to walk and chew gum and report on two different things at one time. After the weeks of wall to wall coverage of Dump on the bus, the next SQUIRREL! they started chasing was Comey's letter about Hillary. There were dribs and drabs about the hacking from various sources but nothing could compete with the media's sensationalizing of pussy and emails.

Hell, Hillary even talked about it specifically in the third debate but what did the media go nuts over? SQUIRREL! "Puppet? Puppet? I'm not a puppet! You're the puppet!", completely ignoring the facts that Hillary had brought up. I'm sure there were a few irrational late night tweets in that time period too that the media had to concentrate their irresponsible unprofessional coverage on. Let's put the blame where it belongs and that's not on Obama.

Edited December 15, 2016 by shok
To clarify my first sentence.

[windsprints]

Obama to hold press conference at White House on Friday

[PatsyandEddie]

22 hours ago, onthebrink03 said:

Uh-huh!  This corrupt fucking asshole lost his election.  Go away Joe and stay away. No one gives a shit what you have to say.  

So did anything happen today at 4 or was this just posturing from another windbag?

[stillshimpy]

Eventually, it was 4:20 and some people felt a whole lot better?  Other than that?  Haven't heard anything. 

Edited December 16, 2016 by stillshimpy

[Duke Silver]

My liberal friends are not happy with Obama's responses at the presser....  I'm on multiple platforms carrying on conversations trying to upack all of it.

This basically sums up what my liberal friends are expressing to me since the presser ended:

[Deanie87]

Except that "we" chose to live with the evil stepdad.  Part of me is disappointed that he wasn't more forceful, but at the same time he has been warning people about voting and apathy for years.  And not enough people listened.  He left this election in the hands of "the kids" and the kids let in an unstable "celebrity" who burned the house down.  So as much as I would have appreciated an angry vengeful Obama, that's not who he is and frankly, what is he supposed to do?  I hope he goes to Hawaii, enjoys his holiday and drinks 50 Mai Tais a day and thinks as little about the American electorate as possible. He has more than earned it.

Dad's not angry he's disappointed and that makes me feel a lot worse. 

Edited December 16, 2016 by Deanie87

[Duke Silver]

^^Basically how I'm viewing Obama as well, which is weird.  I have excoriated him for many policy decisions (e.g. the much talked about lack of response when the Syria "redline" was breached), but have softened on him ever since Trump became the GOP nom.  I'm someone who wants our highest levels of government to have discourse, smart debate.  I just rarely feel like we get that with Republicans in charge, and we most definitely won't get that with Trump & his gang of thieves who can barely repress their sheer joy at the coming looting.

[PatsyandEddie]

Deanie, your last sentence speaks volumes. In our house,that truly was the worst thing one of us could do,disappoint our father. He never railed at us or was unreasonable. But he had a look and tone that could reduce you to an ashamed puddle in minutes. I saw and heard that same disappointment in President Obama today. He looks exhausted. 

ETA: BBC has a clip of Obama pausing his news conference to get aid for a reporter who was feeling faint. He sent someone for the White House doctor and patiently waited. I canNOT fathom drumpf being that kind or that patient. 

Edited December 16, 2016 by PatsyandEddie
Addition

[ari333]

Where can I see his speech from today? My DVRcutoff early TIA

[navelgazer]

Begin around 31:00.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfh342F96fs

[Keepitmoving]

2 hours ago, Deanie87 said:

Except that "we" chose to live with the evil stepdad.  Part of me is disappointed that he wasn't more forceful, but at the same time he has been warning people about voting and apathy for years.  And not enough people listened.  He left this election in the hands of "the kids" and the kids let in an unstable "celebrity" who burned the house down.  So as much as I would have appreciated an angry vengeful Obama, that's not who he is and frankly, what is he supposed to do?  I hope he goes to Hawaii, enjoys his holiday and drinks 50 Mai Tais a day and thinks as little about the American electorate as possible. He has more than earned it.

Dad's not angry he's disappointed and that makes me feel a lot worse. 

Exactly!

I agree with every word of this.  Which is why I haven't said much to criticize what I may think Obama isn't doing, no way. I'm just waiting for the inevitable to see what the rest of the sorry as democratic party will do when he's gone, when they can't hide behind him anymore.  They keep talking about grass roots but I know I NEVER see signs up in my neighborhood inviting the community to meetings to meet with my representatives. But when those turds want your vote they line the streets sticking those signs in the grass with whole lot of names I've rarely heard about. Rolland Martin was right when he looked at his watch and wondered where the hell Tim Ryan had been, now that he was suddenly showing his face in run for minority leader.  Rolland was right when he said that  if you want a leadership position, then you need to show leadership, you need to lead long before you put your name in the hat for the position. I had no idea who Tim Ryan was and I should have, because I think I watch enough news that if he was doing shit for the party as a whole and not just in his little neck of the woods I would have taken notice. At any rate, I shouldn't have to call after them, they need to show up in my neighborhood. What the hell else are they doing?  They haven't been able to get shit done in congress for the most part for quite a few years now since they are outnumbered, and in all that time they could have been showing up in communities all across this country, putting a face and taking credit for any of the policies that we know damn well the democrats are responsible for that work in rural communities. They need to get their asses to the small neighborhoods in the cities, to the suburbs, etc.they ARE NOT DOING THIS,  you DO NOT see them, they are lazy, complacent asses, period. Did they expect Obama to? Did they expect him to hold their damn hands? He showed them how to do it, take some fucking initiative and follow suit. 

Edited December 16, 2016 by Keepitmoving

[ruby24]

2 hours ago, Deanie87 said:

Except that "we" chose to live with the evil stepdad. 

 

But we DIDN'T choose this. Hillary won by nearly 3 million votes and the voter's choice was ignored. We're stuck with this because of an archaic system that has no reason to exist.

[millennium]

Does anyone still believe there's a "long game?"  

Obama Avoids Criticizing Trump on Russia, but Spreads Blame Elsewhere

I don't.  Movies have instilled in us a hope that despite all signs to the contrary we will be rescued in the end.   The cavalry will come over the hill.   A hero will rise.

As a people, we are not prepared for the uncinematic reality that is about to hit home.

[Padma]

3 hours ago, millennium said:

Does anyone still believe there's a "long game?"  

Only if by "long game" you mean "Protecting my legacy by being measured and non-confrontational, exciting no controversies and stirring up no potential "trouble" with anyone, especially with Republicans, in the last month of my presidency."

I was really turned off by that press conference. I think Obama lives in a fantasy about how strong our institutions, and democracy are to fight off injustice and hate.  I really think the emotion of outrage--over anything--is alien to him. From what I saw, not only was he bland to the nth degree about Trump, but did he even say anything about what the Republicans just did in NC in stripping the  incoming Democratic governor of normal powers of the governor? 

I thought his comments about Russians' general inferiority were so arrogant and also completely missed point.

I respect him as a human being, but it is frustrating to have a president who is incapable of outrage while that's the Republicans' specialty.

[Deanie87]

4 hours ago, ruby24 said:

But we DIDN'T choose this. Hillary won by nearly 3 million votes and the voter's choice was ignored. We're stuck with this because of an archaic system that has no reason to exist.

Well that's why I have the quotes around we.  I voted for Hillary, as did the majority of those who voted.  Nonetheless, and however much we make excuses, it just wasn't enough st the end of the day to win it all. Plenty of people who should have known better either threw their vote away on a third party or didn't bother to show up to vote at all.  That isn't on Obama and honestly I wouldn't blame him or Hillary if they gave the entire country the brush off and disappeared into normal civilian life. I hope they don't, but I wouldn't blame them a bit.

[Padma]

Conceding on election night -- so prematurely "giving up"--is on them, particularly on Obama who apparently gave her that recommendation.

And neither have shown any backbone regarding the results ever since.  Given odd results, Republicans would have NEVER conceded so quickly. As votes were tallied further, they  would have kept the pressure on--constantly "educating" Americans to see it their way.  If the situation were reversed, they would still be fighting for Electoral College change., even if it just meant throwing it to the House and "letting Democrats be accountable if they vote for a demagogue."

If the next year doesn't get Democratic leaders fired up, nothing ever will.

[millennium]

Hillary and Obama both failed early on regarding the Russian hacks.  They should have been condemning it loudly and angrily and indicting the news media as accomplices for trafficking in stolen information.  Instead they referred to it in a "by the way" manner that made them look weak and ineffectual.  They never responded to any of the specifics of the leaks for fear of giving it more attention or credibility but all that did was paint them as people who could be shat upon without much likelihood of consequence.  

More so even than Trump, the media destroyed Hillary Clinton with the death of a thousand cuts.  Every day, some new piece of innocuous nonsense from John Podesta's emails would be featured in the news and spun like it was state secrets that were being given away.   It went on for weeks and weeks.   And Hillary's camp just watched.

It would be interesting to know what psychological effect that had on voters, seeing a Presidential candidate stand by, failing to adequately defend herself against the media's full participation in an espionage campaign carried out by an enemy of America.   Maybe some people wondered, even subconsciously, how will she protect us from the enemy if she can't even protect herself from the media?

[shok]

4 hours ago, millennium said:

Hillary and Obama both failed early on regarding the Russian hacks.  They should have been condemning it loudly and angrily and indicting the news media as accomplices for trafficking in stolen information.  Instead they referred to it in a "by the way" manner that made them look weak and ineffectual.  They never responded to any of the specifics of the leaks for fear of giving it more attention or credibility but all that did was paint them as people who could be shat upon without much likelihood of consequence.  

More so even than Trump, the media destroyed Hillary Clinton with the death of a thousand cuts.  Every day, some new piece of innocuous nonsense from John Podesta's emails would be featured in the news and spun like it was state secrets that were being given away.   It went on for weeks and weeks.   And Hillary's camp just watched.

It would be interesting to know what psychological effect that had on voters, seeing a Presidential candidate stand by, failing to adequately defend herself against the media's full participation in an espionage campaign carried out by an enemy of America.   Maybe some people wondered, even subconsciously, how will she protect us from the enemy if she can't even protect herself from the media?

I saw many campaign operatives condemning the leaked emails often, some of them getting quite emotional and irate about how they (the emails) were being treated by the media. I don't know why it's Hillary, and now Obama, getting so much grief about this. She was the VICTIM for heaven's sake, it wasn't her fault that the Russians hacked the DNC and a private citizen's email account and leaked them.

I totally blame the media. They were completely irresponsible and unprofessional about it all. More than a few of them acknowledged that yes, there was something discomfiting about the whole situation of them being hacked and leaked but they used the pathetic lie/excuse that it was news and they were obligated to report on it.

They totally bought into the constant Republican lies and whining that the orange buffoon was being mistreated by the librul lamestream media and with their longstanding habit of false equivalence, they had to look for minute and imaginary transgressions from Hillary to even up their daily stories about all the wacky Trump stuff that he and his campaign was doing everyday. The thing is, the Republicans told so many lies and made so many false claims and there was so much Trump shit to report every day, no one story except for the pussy grabbing ever stuck to him whereas with Hillary, they had virtually nothing so it was email email email email email day in and day out, 24/7. Even the media couldn't come up with what was actually wrong in those emails (plus they massively screwed up in never making it clear that her private server and work emails was a totally separate issue from the Wikileak emails) so email email email became the slam they used against her and it worked, and look at the existential mess the country and possibly the world is in right now because of them. 

[millennium]

1 hour ago, shok said:

 

I totally blame the media. They were completely irresponsible and unprofessional about it all. More than a few of them acknowledged that yes, there was something discomfiting about the whole situation of them being hacked and leaked but they used the pathetic lie/excuse that it was news and they were obligated to report on it.

 

This a hundred times over.   It sickened me and made me ashamed of the press in this country.   The false equivalence was another insurmountable problem.   And the surrogates.   The damnable surrogates.   

Employing surrogates is no different than hiring lobbyists to comment on the news.   They do not add insight or understanding.   They are not news analysts.   They are paid shills whose sole purpose is to sell, sell, sell a message spoon-fed to them by those they represent.

[MulletorHater]

3 hours ago, millennium said:

This a hundred times over.   It sickened me and made me ashamed of the press in this country.   The false equivalence was another insurmountable problem.   And the surrogates.   The damnable surrogates.   

Employing surrogates is no different than hiring lobbyists to comment on the news.   They do not add insight or understanding.   They are not news analysts.   They are paid shills whose sole purpose is to sell, sell, sell a message spoon-fed to them by those they represent.

I'm looking at YOU, CNN, acting all butt hurt and selectively outraged about Donna Brazille.  Meanwhile, Corey Lewandowski wasn't an issue for you.  Even when called on it, the tone deafness and supreme disingenuousness of the network's head honcho was simply astonishing. 

[BBDi]

3 hours ago, millennium said:

Employing surrogates is no different than hiring lobbyists to comment on the news.   They do not add insight or understanding.   They are not news analysts.   They are paid shills whose sole purpose is to sell, sell, sell a message spoon-fed to them by those they represent.

Surely this is a big contributor to the distrust people feel toward the media. You turn on CNN and they are just talking to "Hillary's person" or "Trump's person." 

Where is our person?

[Padma]

7 hours ago, shok said:

I saw many campaign operatives condemning the leaked emails often, some of them getting quite emotional and irate about how they (the emails) were being treated by the media. I don't know why it's Hillary, and now Obama, getting so much grief about this. She was the VICTIM for heaven's sake, it wasn't her fault that the Russians hacked the DNC and a private citizen's email account and leaked them.

I totally blame the media. They were completely irresponsible and unprofessional about it all. More than a few of them acknowledged that yes, there was something discomfiting about the whole situation of them being hacked and leaked but they used the pathetic lie/excuse that it was news and they were obligated to report on it.

They totally bought into the constant Republican lies and whining that the orange buffoon was being mistreated by the librul lamestream media and with their longstanding habit of false equivalence, they had to look for minute and imaginary transgressions from Hillary to even up their daily stories about all the wacky Trump stuff that he and his campaign was doing everyday. The thing is, the Republicans told so many lies and made so many false claims and there was so much Trump shit to report every day, no one story except for the pussy grabbing ever stuck to him whereas with Hillary, they had virtually nothing so it was email email email email email day in and day out, 24/7. Even the media couldn't come up with what was actually wrong in those emails (plus they massively screwed up in never making it clear that her private server and work emails was a totally separate issue from the Wikileak emails) so email email email became the slam they used against her and it worked, and look at the existential mess the country and possibly the world is in right now because of them. 

I wish I'd been watching whatever you were. All I saw were Dems trying to downplay the hacked email and redirect attention to something important (but the media--and Trump--made THAT important, and character-defining.)

I agree with your second part, disagree somewhat with the last. It wasn't that they didn't have time to fact check. It's that they wanted to use their time for other things--mostly emotionally charged ones that, I assume, they found held audiences better like the ridiculous panels on CNN.

They could have kept up and kept rehashing Trump's MAJOR missteps if they wanted to. And they could have acted like journalists and not collaborated with Russia to undermine our election with the email blatherings (Rubio was the only one I saw who actually said this--I assumed it was because his own email probably isn't something he wants made public, but...no matter. He said it, "The press shouldn't be helping the Russians to undermine Hillary" (well, words to that effect).  He was the only one that I saw make that point and it was shown just one day.

The email release was also generally about very unimportant things re: presidency. But the media --with Russia's help (or vice versa)--gave Trump the chance to turn it into a weapon against her--and he did.  

[sistermagpie]

25 minutes ago, Padma said:

The email release was also generally about very unimportant things re: presidency. But the media --with Russia's help (or vice versa)--gave Trump the chance to turn it into a weapon against her--and he did.  

Am I dreaming this, or didn't Trump in one of the debates challenge the moderator by asking why he didn't ask Hillary about the emails when he'd literally just questioned her about them? Like he either wasn't listening, forgot, or he knew it wouldn't feel like she was asked about them enough because they didn't break out a firing squad?

Had Trump had something like that, of course, he would have been more on the offensive--challenging the media for bringing up this stuff and basically calling them idiots for acting like it was anything. The man got away with admitting to sexual assault by calling it locker room talk and they let him do it. Him and his surrogates. I totally agree, why do we have to listen to these guys? They knew what they're going to say every time, that they're never going to give you actual insight into what Trump is doing or thinking, so why play into it? Seems to me it would be more informative to get some non-Trump-affiliated analyst on to talk about his actions and what they could mean than Kellyanne who's going to do everything but that. There's more actual information in one of John Oliver's 20 minute looks at things than anything KAC has said all put together.

[Guest]

On 12/16/2016 at 5:07 PM, PatsyandEddie said:

ETA: BBC has a clip of Obama pausing his news conference to get aid for a reporter who was feeling faint. He sent someone for the White House doctor and patiently waited. I canNOT fathom drumpf being that kind or that patient. 

I can't imagine Trump will ever have a press conference. 

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

I think Trump will have a press conference after Obama leaves office. My take is Trump is already unofficially taking the spotlight off Obama's last days in office, so he doesn't feel the need to officially do it with a press conference. 

So you actually do think this is all one big episode of a reality show we're watching.

[galaxygirl76]

On 12/16/2016 at 4:07 PM, PatsyandEddie said:

TA: BBC has a clip of Obama pausing his news conference to get aid for a reporter who was feeling faint. He sent someone for the White House doctor and patiently waited. I canNOT fathom drumpf being that kind or that patient. 

We both know he would just mock the reporter for 'being weak'.

[shok]

Superb interview with Cornell Belcher about how he thinks racism and tribalism affected the country in the wake of Barack Obama's election and now subsequently Donald Trump's. It's not a read you can just scan over, you have to absorb all he's saying and really think about what it all means. The two short paragraphs I quoted are just a taste of what he talks about. I can't recommend it enough. He's written a book, A Black Man in the White House, that I definitely want to get a copy of and read.  http://www.vox.com/identities/2016/12/12/13894546/obama-race-black-white-house-cornell-belcher-racism

 

Quote

Jenée Desmond-Harris

I can see how pretending it doesn’t exist would be an important first step. It’s always strange to me to hear people say that Obama “triggered political polarization,” without explaining the race part. As if it’s a total mystery why that happened.

Cornell Belcher

One of the great tragedies is that the election of the first black president, as opposed to being a racial breakthrough, has in fact given rise to the opposite. It really has triggered an antagonism, or uncertainty, or fear that was dormant, at least up until now.

Jenée Desmond-Harris

A question a lot of people ask around the question of the role race and racism played in Trump’s election is, “How can you say Americans are concerned with race when they elected Obama?” I know the long answer is in the data presented in your book, but what’s the simple response to that?

Cornell Belcher

They didn’t. That’s the thing here. The majority of whites did not elect Obama, and that’s the wolf at the door. The vast majority of whites did not support President Obama and President Obama won back-to-back majorities, and that caused the realization of their power waning. Mitt Romney ran up a higher score among white voters than Ronald Reagan, when Reagan had a landslide in 1984.

[stillshimpy]

I respect him as a human being, but it is frustrating to have a president who is incapable of outrage while that's the Republicans' specialty.

I respect President Obama tremendously as a person and a human being.  There have been times when his great faith in democracy, our country and the people in it have made him an ineffectual leader because people need a rallying cry.  

Both Hillary Clinton and President Obama, as well as the democrats in general, made such a key tactical error:  they seemed to believe that if they just stood back and let Trump and his ilk speak long enough, they would provide more than enough rope to hang themselves and truly, they ought to have been right.  

But it turns out people are so entrenched in their foolish beliefs about boogeymen and the made-up nefarious schemes of the most qualified person to ever run for President, Hillary Clinton, that the only ones left dangling from the scaffolding were the American people.  

Do I still believe something will save us?  Yes, I do, but I don't think it is the calvary.  I think it is the constitution.   That Orange Misanthrope is in violation of a lot conflict of interest problems.  Believing in the law of the land is not some childish "I watch movies, so I think a hero will rise!" belief.  

It may still fail us because we really may be that lost as a country but by the very rules upon which this country was formed, we should be saved from that fucking drain clog with the curdled soul. 

[millennium]

3 hours ago, stillshimpy said:

 

Do I still believe something will save us?  Yes, I do, but I don't think it is the calvary.  I think it is the constitution.   That Orange Misanthrope is in violation of a lot conflict of interest problems.  Believing in the law of the land is not some childish "I watch movies, so I think a hero will rise!" belief.  

It may still fail us because we really may be that lost as a country but by the very rules upon which this country was formed, we should be saved from that fucking drain clog with the curdled soul. 

But those rules have failed us, a fact that is painfully obvious today more so than at any time I can remember.

Need I say it?   The Electoral College.

A collection of partisan hacks, no more committed to safeguarding the democracy than those determined to destroy it.   What should be a sacred trust is apparently doled out as patronage.   How could anyone have believed, even for a moment, that the electors would muster the conscience and courage necessary to do the right thing?

Our system, anchored by the Constitution, has permitted a demagogue to rise to power, has allowed the legislative branch of the government to become the exclusive property of one party, and has reduced more than half the population of the United States to the status of "them."   Our system, anchored by the Constitution, has enabled a relatively small cabal of men to effectively end the America we grew up in, the one left to us by generations of men and women who sacrificed their lives to preserve it,  while also placing the safety of the entire world in jeopardy.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I don't hold much faith in that system saving us now.

[stillshimpy]

They are grounds for impeachment.    if not resolved. 

He has not resolved them.  

If he is not impeached then you will be right and the constitution will have failed but at this point, the Tangerine Tool will have grounds for impeachment upon inauguration.  It would be impressive if it wasn't so sickening but we have a lot of "well, we're well and truly screwed" things to go through before abandoning any hope of getting rid of that fucker is warranted.   

It truly isn't that I'm trying to downplay how screwed we are if the laws of the land are not upheld but by those laws, there ought to be a way out of this.  Admittedly, then we're stuck with that hateful ghoul, Pence but for as awful as he is, I do think he's not such a fool as to piss off China.  

Edited December 19, 2016 by stillshimpy

[izabella]

The Republicans in Congress don't want to impeach Trump.  They are pleased as punch at his billionaire Cabinet that's going to help them loot American taxpayers, and are foaming at the mouth at the opportunity to roll back our civil rights to the 1950's as well as the regulations that prevent greedy billionaires and corporations from pillaging and then killing us with hastened climate change.

Republicans also do not want to admit they fucked us over when they first nominated him and then elected him.  Putin will start releasing dirt he's hacked from Republicans' emails if any of them get out of line and start making impeachment noises, and that will serve to blackmail anyone else from speaking up.  Republicans, thy name is Self-Serving!

The Constitution is worthless if no one enforces it.  And who is to enforce it?

Edited December 19, 2016 by izabella

[millennium]

25 minutes ago, izabella said:

 

The Constitution is worthless if no one enforces it.  And who is to enforce it?

Yes.

[BBDi]

Well, the Supreme Court could be helpful in that. However, we're down a justice and the incoming president gets to choose the next one. 

This here is a good example of Dems wimping out or failing to get shit done.  Of course, I'm not sure what could have been done differently. But we need a 9th justice who is moderate at worst, liberal at best. 

Is it possible for citizens to sue Congress for depriving us of due process by failing to even vote on Obama's candidate?

[stillshimpy]

Quote

The Republicans in Congress don't want to impeach Trump.  They are pleased as punch at his billionaire Cabinet that's going to help them loot American taxpayers, and are foaming at the mouth at the opportunity to roll back our civil rights to the 1950's as well as the regulations that prevent greedy billionaires and corporations from pillaging and then killing us with hastened climate change.

 

They could (sadly for all of us) still accomplish all of that with Pence which is why it remains a possibility despite the Republican control in both branches.  

Sure, they are giddy that they have such control over so much at the moment but the one good thing about Trump's instability and unfitness is that it actually doesn't serve their cause.  China could crash our economy.   Most of those creatures are incredibly self-serving and since Trump doesn't even understand the scope of the presidency hopefully (and again, hopes may be dashed and we could all be so fucked we might as well open houses of ill repute) they are still capable of being predictable brands of assholes.  

I hate Twitler, but he is actually unstable, unpredictable and dangerous....and they can accomplish all their end goals with that woman-hating Puritan, Pence.  Plus, Paul Ryan has a lot of reason to want Trump out because he's a self-serving, disgusting piece of shit as a human being.  Self-interest, not decency, may still save the day. 

Edited December 19, 2016 by stillshimpy

[callmebetty]

If he was impeached and Pence moved up, who becomes VP? Is it Ryan?

Edited December 19, 2016 by callmebetty

[izabella]

3 hours ago, BBDi said:

Well, the Supreme Court could be helpful in that. However, we're down a justice and the incoming president gets to choose the next one. 

This here is a good example of Dems wimping out or failing to get shit done.  Of course, I'm not sure what could have been done differently. But we need a 9th justice who is moderate at worst, liberal at best. 

Is it possible for citizens to sue Congress for depriving us of due process by failing to even vote on Obama's candidate?

We don't even have to sue - we had a chance in November to vote the obstructionists out of office, but instead voted them back in plus more.  We could have fired them all for not doing the jobs they were elected to do, but we gave them a raise and a promotion.

3 hours ago, callmebetty said:

If gmhe was impeached and Pence moved up, who becomes VP? Is it Ryan?

Pence can nominate whoever he wants, though both Houses of Congress have to confirm by majority vote.  So it could be Ryan, or Palin, or anyone else he chooses and can push through Congress.

Edited December 19, 2016 by izabella

[stillshimpy]

Quote

Pence can nominate whoever he wants, though both Houses of Congress have to confirm by majority vote.  So it could be Ryan, or it could be his minister, whoever he wants and can push through Congress.

 

That is true, but what is also true is that Pence, if he has any sense,  has his own reasons for wanting Trump out of the way because he is dangerous and hampers Pence's end goals simply by virtue of being a fucking unstable lunatic who has already flipped the fucking bird to a country that could end us in a huge variety of ways, but the most likely is a murdered economy.   Gigantic recessions don't do much to help any party hold onto power.   So there's even reason to believe that it is a "before the midterm elections" menu item. 

So he would have actual reasons to promise it to someone would could be instrumental in pushing the entire process through.  

 We could all yet have reason to fill a glass with despair, make a bride of hopelessness, while treating Dante's Inferno as a travel guide with helpful tortuous tips on what demons are likely to snack on our souls, but unless someone has a crystal ball they are bogarting, we're not there yet. 

Edited December 19, 2016 by stillshimpy

[millennium]

So most of the "faithless electors" defied the Democratic party and voted AGAINST Hillary Clinton.

‘Faithless’ Electors Mostly Came From States Clinton Won

Trump must be laughing his ass off.   I would be.  Even now, in the face of this devastating defeat, the petty Democrats still can't get their shit together.   Oh sure, they'll make a comeback in 2018.   ROFL(and crying).

[Padma]

8 minutes ago, millennium said:

So most of the "faithless electors" defied the Democratic party and voted AGAINST Hillary Clinton.

‘Faithless’ Electors Mostly Came From States Clinton Won

Trump must be laughing his ass off.   I would be.  Even now, in the face of this devastating defeat, the petty Democrats still can't get their shit together.   Oh sure, they'll make a comeback in 2018.   ROFL(and crying).

Oh, brother. Who are the 3 "Clinton electors" in Washington state who voted for Colin Powell?

And Bernie votes to take down Hillary's total against Trump? Now?

[Padma]

The only hope now is (1) Obama doesn't suppress the CIA report on hacking -- and its thorough, honest, and implicates Trump.

(2) It's found Trump is a collaborator with Russia  in time for a January 6th uprising in Congress before the vote is finalized.

Okay, that one's not happening.  So I hope:

(3)  That Congressional Republicans don't want Trump either, but want the power he will give them to DUMP him and install Pence. As scary as Pence is (and the Pence-Ryan-McConnell troika would be) it is still better than Trump, who is not only nuts but dangerous in an even worse way than a typical Republican.

That's the hope. Wow.

[millennium]

9 minutes ago, Padma said:

Oh, brother. Who are the 3 "Clinton electors" in Washington state who voted for Colin Powell?

And Bernie votes to take down Hillary's total against Trump? Now?

Republicans are able to cast aside their internecine differences and adopt a hive mentality to achieve their objectives.  Democrats are too obsessed with being noble or making a point regardless of the cost.