President Obama listens to hunger striker Eliseo Medina as he and the First Lady visit with immigration protesters in their tent on the Washingon Mall November 29. Since November 12, immigration advocates comprising “Fast for Families” have abstained from food as they call on congress to take up action on the immigration issue.
I'm sorry, but how cool is it to see the President kicking it in a tent, with protestors who came there to convince Congress to do something for the millions of undocumented immigrants in this country, by starving themselves during Thanksgiving weekend?
Could you imagine George Bush doing that? Hell no!
Update: And this really ought to blow the minds of the religious right.
Why he is hated by the neo-cons and adored by moi.
ReplyDelete@BarackObama & @MichelleObama & the fasters today - "it's not a matter of if, but of when" #Fast4Families
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/fast4families/status/406499618063536128/photo/1
I’ve been following Fast for Families on twitter since day one. Unlike a lot of “keyboard activists,” these folks are showing their courage and commitment by putting it all on the line. I watched as union, faith and civil rights leaders visited these fasters in a show of solidarity. And then something interesting started happening. Gawd, I LOVE this President!!!!! Think about the last time we saw a POTUS provide this kind of support for an activist movement. I’ll give you a hint…never.
ReplyDeletehttp://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/11/an-activist-white-house.html
http://obamadiary.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/bartzmxcmaar4v3.jpg?w=1278&h=851
ReplyDeleteOn day 18, “Fast for Families” welcomed the visit of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. SEIU’s Eliseo Medina, NAKASEC’s Dae Joong Yoon, DREAMer and Mi Familia Vota’s Cristian Avila, FIRM‘s Rudy Lopez and Sojourner‘s Lisa Sharon Harper, along with 22 other advocates fasting in solidarity, met with the President and First Lady in a private session at the “Fast for Families” tent where both listened closely to the fasters’ personal stories.
ReplyDeleteThe President said that this fast and their sacrifice are receiving immense attention. He expressed great concern over their health, urging them as well to continue to pray over their decision on the time they intend to fast.
During their meeting, the President also held the shoe of an immigrant who perished in the desert trying to seek a better life, which the fasters hold in reverence as a symbol of why they are fasting to underscore the plight and suffering of immigrants.
The President reassured the fasters that he truly believed Speaker John Boehner is sincere in wanting to get immigration reform done. The fasters were uplifted and encouraged by the President and First Lady’s words. Avila, a DACA recipient from Arizona, thanked the President for his support and decision to institute deferred action for millions of DREAMers.
“The President and First Lady’s visit has reignited our spirits,” stated 67-year-old Medina who has abstained from all food for 18 days. “Their encouraging words reconfirm their commitment to immigration reform and the countless aspiring Americans who seek to come out of the shadows of fear and repression.”
Adding, “We appreciate the President’s words and concern over our health. We connected on a human level, discussing the moral crisis impacting our country and our immigrant communities. We are moved by their visit and hope to continue efforts in making immigration reform and citizenship a reality.”
http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/president-and-first-lady-visit-fast-for-families-on-the-national-mall/
A young guy with a university degree, after working a couple of years in New York, doesn't head out to Chicago to work as a low-paid community organizer because it will look good on his resume. It's not surprising at all to see the President sitting in a tent with immigration protesters. His life has been one long story of looking to see how he can be of help to those who have no one else.
ReplyDeleteLet's see now.....who would he be emulating?
Betty Bowers? -:)
DeleteJust think of how much he could have accomplished for those who have been neglected for so long, if the GOP hadn't blocked everything he tried.
DeleteOur country would have been so much closer to providing a safe, secure and prosperous life for all of its citizens.
Keyword is citizens. These are not citizens. They came here breaking the law and now want us to change our laws so they can become citizens.
DeleteI would love to see true immigration go through. The 'amnesty' bill that has been proposed is junk! It does NOTHING for legal immigrants who have been doing things the right way, and allows ALL illegal immigrants virtually immediate citizenship, and penalties and fines levied on workers processing their application if they bring to light any falsehoods on applications whether the illegal immigrants intentionally lied, or mistook the question. Make it harder for illegal immigrants to cross, and easier for them to come in legally.
ReplyDeleteBoston bomber.. Illegal immigrant, 9/11 had illegals. The authorities need to know who is in the country, and they are doing what they told us they are doing here... ie going to school.
Wow. You are really fucking stupid and ignorant. The Boston bomber, I believe, was indeed a LEGAL immigrant and the 9/11 bombers weren't "immigrants," they were here on visas that might have expired. So, maybe among the millions and millions of people here illegally, four ended up being terrorists, so we should ban them all?
DeleteImagine applying your piss-poor logic to the THOUSANDS of LEGALLY owned guns that are used in crimes every year. Using your logic, that means all gun ownership should be banned…but I'm sure you're not in favor of that. You're obviously a knuckle-dragging, Fox-watching, conservative idiot who uses his internet connection to read conspiracy theories and stupid conservative web sites instead of reading the news.
Please, leave this country and go somewhere else, you MORAN.
I was working as an Immigration Paralegal on 9/11. One of the hijackers had submitted the paperwork for a visa (forgot which type) which was APPROVED a couple of days/weeks after 9/11. Needless to say the INS officer lost their job.
DeleteThe really big problem with immigration, is the lack of staffing to enforce the laws we already have and to process visa petitions correctly.
10:31 - How many of the systems in this country would work much more effectively if the agencies responsible for enforcing them hadn't been cut to the bone, with staffs and budgets slashed?
DeleteThe GOP Method of Government: Let me cut your staff and your budget, and repeal all of your regulations and I'll prove that your agency doesn't work. Then I'll crow to the media how poorly you're doing your job and how we should eliminate you altogether.
Just like the money they refused to approve for improving security at our foreign embassies and then blamed the Democrats for what happened at Benghazi.
See how well that works???
It is never a good idea to lose track of who is in this country. Opening the door the way this 'immigration' bill has done is horrific. We need REAL immigration reform. Get those already in the system accepted or declined. No more... Wait for 12+ yrs, and resubmit paperwork dozens of times. We also do not need to be blind to the fact that some illegal immigrants shouldn't be accepted, and many should. We need balance. The current bill doesn't have it, Dumbass.
DeleteAnon 11:29
DeleteThere is more to Benghazi than budget cuts. If you don't think so, then you are more of a Dumbass than DumAss!
1:49 -
DeleteI'm sure there is a lot more to the Benghazi story than any of us will ever know. That was not my point and there was no cause to resort to calling me offensive names.
A simple blog comment should not reduce you to such an angry response, and you might want to take a breath and figure out why you reacted so nastily.
Every holiday the Obamas spend some time helping out. Maybe I'm wrong but I do not remember that George W. or Laura did anything like that for the eight years they spent in the White House. I have such enormous respect for both President and Mrs. Obama and for their daughters who live in the glare of reporters' cameras.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Even when Bush did help out, he wiped his hands on Clinton's shirt after touching one of the "others" in Haiti.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqcoKzCZ0DM
You have two entirely different backgrounds as to President Obama and President Bush. Our current one was a community leader....big difference. I think it lends him to being more hands on than was President Bush. One pro war and other not...they are very, very different.
DeleteNot taking anything away from either - I'm sure they think they are doing what is best for America and it's citizens.
I tend to lean more toward President Obama though. This is a time we need to respect and care for one another! The hate and racism that some on the right project is getting very, very old!
Hey. so what are you saying? That since GW had a prep-school upbringing it's harder for him to be more "hands on?" You know, Bushie could have wiped his hand on his own pant leg for cripes sake. He couldn't even get that right.
DeleteI suspect that also had to do with the way the two men were raised. President Obama was raised in a variety of geographic locations and cultures by a struggling single mother and, later, by grandparents, all of whom seemed to be active in social causes and placing a strong emphasis on community service. Obama had to work hard for everything he accomplished.
DeleteThen there was the Bush family who had more money that they knew what to do with and privileged lives from the beginning. Any time any of the boys screwed up, Daddy came to the rescue and made everything all better. Anything they wanted, from an ivy league education to cushy military assignments, was given to them.
Anon 10:12
DeleteIt am a middle grounder, but I must disagree with you... That it is not just the right! I personally know that there are just as many, if not more on the left with the race baiting, hate mongering etc. I made a comment that I feel everyone should have freedom of expression, even those for traditional marriage, and received death threats for me, someone would tweet about where exactly my kids were, and what they were doing, and how easy it would be to get to them, and far worse!
When I stated that some gun control isn't necessarily a bad thing, I got some folks that called me an idiot, of course, but more was... 'If you don't want to carry, then don't, but I have the right to' type stuff.
Much worse has come from the left for me.
Mr. Bush has his plastic turkey for the troops in Iraq.
DeleteObviously, these so called "protesters" are just more of the same of the slew of trained actors who have been playing their parts as we've been seeing in so many of Obama's staged events.
ReplyDeleteThe lame stream media is too lazy and corrupt to point out this glaring fact.
Some people say that Aaron Sorkin is writing the script and Obama has to follow it word for word or risk disclosure of his murder of the love-child from his affair with a woman during the time he was gay-married to a transvestite revolutionary atheist.
I really hope that was satire. Anyone who believes that tripe you just spewed is certifiable and anyone who would post it as fact is beyond help.
DeleteAnd you forgot the part about him being muslim & being born in Kenya also, too. You betcha!
Ahhhhh....now I understand why he's not all mavericky and roguey....
DeleteI was all riled up by that first paragraph!! Lucky I kept reading. LOL.
DeleteOh LAWD, the stupid burns. Aren't you late to your "Assassinate Obama" meeting, 7:52 AM? Everest Wilhelmsen hates tardiness.
DeleteAhhh...so THAT'S why he reads from the teleprompter so much!
Delete(And 8:17 - I think you meant a musliN, didn't you?? And the very worst, terrible kind of muslin who attends an unAmurkan church for 20 years...oh, the horror!)
I thought yesterday was the day the USS Palin was going to hit the iceberg. Anybody know what happened? Or what didn't happen? These false alarms are getting tedious.
ReplyDeletePeriodically someone will declare that an upcoming iceberg supposedly will be bringing the Palins down, then nothing. Sort of like the end of the world being predicted on a specific day by some loony group and then again nothing happens and the world continues to spin on its axis.
DeleteTake these iceberg rumors with a big grain of salt.
O/t but skank's "book" is now.......wait for it-#459 in books!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBaaawwwwaaaahhhh!!!!
Only took two weeks to make a complete crashing dive!!!
When it hits "666", I'm opening the champagne!
DeleteTrolling the RWNJ's again!
ReplyDelete-SJP
he is a freaking awesome President and the First Lady is beyond incredible. we are very fortunate to have some wonderful souls leading our nation.
ReplyDeleteIMPEACH OBAMA
ReplyDeleteSEND THEM ALL BACK TO HIS HOMELAND OF KENYA
TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY
Each time you post this someone asks take it back from whom? The 5,000,000 more people who voted for the president than for his opponent? And you have never once provided an answer. You sound like a parrot with very limited vocabulary. Please fly away.
DeleteI'd stop responding to 12:42...he or she keeps saying the same thing over and over on the blog. Not worth a response in any way, shape or form!
DeleteFUCK YOU and all your little fuck lump buddies. When a pickpocket meets a saint he see's only his pockets. I'm 64 and this is the greatest prez I've ever known. If your statement is "snark" you need to get better at it. It's an art.
ReplyDeleteThis President goes above and beyond - when he does an 'expected' thing, like pardon the turkey, then he does something totally unexpected - always thinking ahead and thinking outside the box. A very smart man, and I congratulate him and Michelle for achieving as much as he has in spite of the "sky is falling", negatively thinking, anti-president, misinformed obstructionists.
ReplyDeleteHe goes where he's needed most. What got to me most when I saw this on the news, was the symbolism of the shoe the protesters in the tent have for inspiration, the shoe of an immigrant who died trying to make it here.
ReplyDeleteThe closest President GWBush came was the "Elian Gonzales" kerfuffle, and not much came of it except for a great series of photoshopped email bombs.
President Bush DID contribute at thanksgiving with a surprise visit with the troops and a photo op of a plastic turkey w all the fixin's.
gotta love this man. if you've got a heart.
ReplyDeleteWe have got to push Hillary into the White House after this guy. After the eight demonstration of how important a compassionate and intelligent president is, we don't dare indulge The Big Stupid again.
ReplyDelete