Tag: Pres. Obama
Obama Takes a Last Look
Andrew Kacynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) at Buzzfeed tweeted this bittersweet snippet of film, just after Pres. Obama’s inauguration today.
The president stops as he leaves the reviewing stand and looks back at the capacity crowd gathered to celebrate the start of his second term, and explains to those around him, “I want to look out one more time. I’ll never see this again.” After Kacynski tweeted the moment, @BarackObama himself retweeted it.
Take a moment and watch.
Obama Has a Lot of Fight Left in Him. We Need to Be Equal to the Job Ahead.
No matter how unhappy it makes Rep. John Boehner (at least that’s how he looks in this great picture from The Atlantic), Pres. Obama is in Day Two of his second term. His address to the inaugural crowd included the first explicit reference to gay Americans during an inaugural speech. The Washington Post has the full transcript.
He also promised to address climate change, but only with the help of those of us who support that, and reminded us that our help didn’t end when we voted for him. If you haven’t signed up for Organizing for Action yet, hurry. There’s no time to waste.
Slow Learner? No – Obama Shows He Doesn’t Have to Make the Same Mistake Twice
John Aravosis at AmericaBlog applauds the announcement from the Obama Inauguration Committee that a Christian pastor who has preached that homosexuality is a “malfunction” that can be cured (cue Macklemore) has been pulled from the roster of the day’s events. Aravosis:
This statement makes it sound more like Giglio was asked to leave, rather than his having parted ways amicably:
Below is a statement from the Presidential Inaugural Committee on Rev. Giglio’s decision to withdraw from the Inaugural Ceremony:
“We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this Inaugural. Pastor Giglio was asked to deliver the benediction in large part for his leadership in combating human trafficking around the world. As we now work to select someone to deliver the benediction, we will ensure their beliefs reflect this administration’s vision of inclusion and acceptance for all Americans.“ – Addie Whisenant, PIC Spokesperson
That is a GREAT statement. It’s exactly what we could have asked for. Yes, I’d have preferred that this snafu didn’t happen in the first place. But they fixed it perfectly, directly, head-on with no waffling. I didn’t expect this.
[…]Record Numbers in Florida Locked and Loaded
The news that nearly 800,000 people in Florida requested the background checks needed to purchase a firearm in 2012 gives the rest of the country one more reason to avoid the Sunshine State. If you come, keep in mind that one in every 24 people around you is probably armed.
A bulletproof Hawaiian shirt to go with those black socks and shorts might not be a bad idea.
Gun sales surged after Obama’s re-election, but really took off after the recent shooting with semi-automatic weapons in Newtown, Conn. killed 20 children and six adults (plus the shooter).
In December alone, there were 131,103 background checks requested through the [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] — the highest number the agency has recorded in any single month. That beat the previous record, set only a month earlier, when 84,745 background check requests were submitted in the same month that Obama was re-elected.
It doesn’t hurt that the NRA and Gun Owners of America keep telling people that Obama is going to take their guns and then turn the country into a socialist dictatorship.
That Wouldn’t Happen If Mitt Had Won
Boehner ‘flabbergasted’ that Obama offers actual campaign promises as part of “fiscal cliff” negotiations
— Mike Poller, tweeting as @FatherGator
The Truth About the Deficit: It’s Shrinking Faster Than Anytime Since the End of WWII
The problem isn’t the deficit, which has fallen faster over the past three years than it has since the end of World War II, but employment, says economic analyst Jed Graham. So let’s not go down the path of Europe and apply unneeded austerity measures that plunge us back into recession.
Believe it or not, the federal deficit has fallen faster over the past three years than it has in any such stretch since demobilization from World War II.
In fact, outside of that post-WWII era, the only time the deficit has fallen faster was when the economy relapsed in 1937, turning the Great Depression into a decade-long affair.
…From fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2012, the deficit shrank 3.1 percentage points, from 10.1% to 7.0% of GDP.
