President Obama is doing his part to support small businesses.
Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha dropped in Saturday at Washington's Politics and Prose bookstore and purchased what he said was a "long list" of books that included The Kite Runner,Harold and the Purple Crayon, and The Sports Gene.
The president said he bought a reader for every age, from 5 to 52 — his age. He paid by credit card. The total was not announced.
(Well I can tell you which book he didn't buy!)
I have to admit that I am feeling a little sentimental towards our President right now.
After the holidays I might come back and bitch about the NSA or complain that the Healthcare.gov website should have been ready to rock and roll on day one, but right now I can't bring myself to do any of that.
During Thanksgiving the relatives waited until I was full of turkey and wine before going at me over Obamacare, but I am happy to report that I had little trouble knocking heads together and correcting talking points.
However at one point somebody said that President Obama was a failure, the worst President ever in fact, and I have to admit that I got pissed! Really pissed!
Instead of rationally explaining why that was incorrect, I lost my shit and demanded examples.
When they started throwing out talking points and quotes from Facebook I explained that if they were going to come at me with shit they read on Facebook they were going to walk away with stumps for arms.
I sat them in their chairs and went through the entire build up to the Affordable Care Act, from Hillary's attempt in the 90's, to the fact that it was really an expansion of Mitt Romney's Massachusetts plan, to the steady stream of Right Wing attacks it has endured since its inception.
I also asked my family to consider the purpose of the law, and why they thought this man considered it important enough to risk his entire presidency on.
They stuttered for awhile, so I explained the benefits from the program, and even explained why THEY should be building a damn statue to the man instead of running him down.
In the end I think they had their perspective shifted quite a bit, but I came away angry that the Republicans had been so successful that such a conversation had to take place.
So now I am just raring for a fight.
Who's next?
Gryphen, you are a Champion !!!! Thank you for your clear-visioned support of President Obama and all his efforts for the betterment of the lives of people.
ReplyDeleteYou need to go on Faux Snooze and educate that audience.
Namaste.
Gryph, I hate to be the one to break it to you, you seem to be an observant guy and all (which I guess is why your relations didn't tell you this), but... President Obama is--a Negro.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning Massachusetts -- the health care plan that Mitt thought he could ride on into the Presidency. We're in our seventh year. Nothing's perfect, but I'll bet we're the healthiest, most universally covered at reasonable rates of any U.S. citizens. No fears about catastrophic accidents or loss of coverage because of changing a job. I've got the same GP I've had for 15 years, and can go to virtually any Boston specialist, if necessary.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mitt, for paving the way for the ACA.
Bravo to you, Gryphen, for speaking out. Today's NYTimes headline "iInside the race to rescue the website, and Obama."
ReplyDeleteNow I agree that the website needed work (what website when first initiated doesn't) but Obama was NOT failing as a result. The troubles, hugely exaggerated by the media and Fox News, with the federal website. The real problem, as we well know, was the refusal of most states, with GOP leadership, to create state sites. Had every state participated fully, there would never have been any glitches in the federal site beyond the tech-y glitches that are inevitable.
Fortunately we had Thanksgiving dinner with family members who are true Democratic supporters of the President. They are one of my many reasons to be thankful this and every year. The next day we visited with relatives who are very conservative. Fortunately politics was not discussed but i can guarantee that the parents are relieved that their two children, both of whom will be graduate students a year from now and over 21, will be able to continue on their parents' good health insurance.
At least they waited till you'd eaten. We all have dumbasses in our families, not just you. You're doing a service to the rational people among us.
ReplyDeletePLUS -- supporting small business is crucial to the economy, as the President's demonstrating.
ReplyDeleteAnd the power of the written word -- and the peace that comes with a solitary reader sitting down with a book -- are values he's underscoring for all of us. No battling each other at 2 a.m. on Black Friday to buy the latest electronic gizmo, but the quiet joy of perusing the shelves of a bookstore to choose the very right book for a friend.
4:50 Gosh I LOVE your comment! Thanks for sharing. That's how I feel and wish everyone could learn to read and to love reading---if only for the personal JOY they'll get from it. All the days of their reading life.
DeleteWe have an unspoken holiday rule, no politics and no religion because my sister loves Glenn & Rush and Jesus, the rest of us are liberal atheists, my mom is whatever someone tells her that day... we just avoid it and stick to how cute the baby is.
ReplyDeleteThey listened to you? My relatives are so indoctrinated they won't or can't listen to reason or facts. Consider yourself lucky.
ReplyDeleteTexasMel
Mine, too. They'll go to their deaths insisting that two plus two equals seven, because the drug-addled child predator and the believer in secret gold plates with Egyptian writing told them so.
DeleteIt should be noted that at 53 I am now the eldest male at the holiday table.
DeleteIt should also be noted that my history is one of aggression, though I have been mostly mellow, at least physically, for over thirty years.
Besides that I had facts on my side.
But Gryphen, are your relatives evangelical Christians? Doesn't matter if you have the facts on your side when they live in the fact-free zone!
DeleteSarah Palin’s miserable hackish attempt to profit off Christmas totally bombed on Black Friday to the point where it was outsold by comedian Rob Delaney’s book.
ReplyDelete...Sarah Palin is at 435 for “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas”. Additionally, he’s still leading Palin in Kindle sales with Palin at 4, 5, and 6 in her specific genres while Delaney is at 2,3, and 4 in his specific genres. (Amazon lists update constantly.) Ms. Palin was nowhere to be seen in the top 100, while right wing “entertainers” Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck scored big.
Many unhappy customers took to Amazon to vent their displeasure with her book.
Here’s a taste of the public reaction.
George Waters wrote, “Despite its title, there is no “great joy” to be found in this book. I also could not find the good tidings. In fact there is mostly petty griping about various entities seeking to “destroy” Christmas (but only Christmas as defined by Sarah Palin). Palin manages to both rehash the War on Christmas and wage her own war on hope and charity (AKA love). Her sense of irony is as dead as is her sense of reality.”
Priscilla Wood wrote, “I truly thought Palin was going to make a case for why Christmas is important, instead the book is full of rants, misleading assumptions while showing more love with the idea of Christmas rather than the real meaning of it. Her argument makes it scary to think that she held public office at some point. If you enjoy reading juvenile literature you’ll enjoy this book.”
Then there are the loads of sarcastic 5 star reviews, which must be read in order to be appreciated.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/30/war-christmas-rob-delaneys-book-outsells-sarah-palins-black-friday.html
Thanks for posting those all too true comments.
DeleteThe Media Is Forced to Admit That The Obamacare Website is Fixed
ReplyDeleteLittle by little the media is finally realizing what many of us have known for weeks, the ACA website is fixed and people are signing up.
...None of these real live news reports will stop the media narrative that there is high drama surrounding the health of the ACA website. Expect the Sunday talk shows to be loaded with breathless Beltway insiders proclaiming that, “The deadline is here, and it’s make or break day for the ACA and Obama’s presidency.”
Not a single one of these reports will be accurate, true, or even close to reality. Republicans will throwing their propaganda out there that the website is doomed, and cable news will be happily lapping it up. MSBNC has been particularly galling with their ability to pretend that the healthcare website will never, ever, EVER work, so the Democratic Party is doomed. You can expect more of this kind of “reporting” from the supposedly liberal network.
As the vastly improved enrollment numbers come in, the media will have no choice but to admit that the ACA is working. Once they admit that people do want access to affordable health insurance, they will never talk about it again.
There is an onslaught of mainstream media hand wringing coming, but the truth is that people are getting and liking their Obamacare. The Republican Party and our disgraceful mainstream press were both wrong.
The ACA could be the crowning gem of Barack Obama’s presidential legacy.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/30/media-finally-catches-aca-website-fixed.html
What I really wanted to comment on was how it pleases me that every Thanksgiving weekend President Obama takes his daughters Christmas shopping for - books. My husband told me last evening that my Christmas was going to be very "bookish"; I said "that's great!" When I looked over what gifts for family members I've already accumulated, at least half are books and I still need to get a few more. No grandchild unwraps gifts from us without getting at least one book. So, good for you, President Obama and Malia and Sasha! Books are perfect gifts!
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
If you haven't checked lately, the reviews are BRUTAL and spot on.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Good-Tidings-Great-Joy-Protecting/product-reviews/0062292889/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#RRAWF7005STRD
Those are excellent. Some beyotch keeps re-posting Brian Anus posts from C4P, and getting smacked down rather well for it.
DeleteSarah Palin losing the ‘War on Christmas’, book flops on Black Friday
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/review/R3G1IEUTJYALKZ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0062292889&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
http://freakoutnation.com/2013/11/30/sarah-palin-losing-the-war-on-christmas-book-flops-on-black-friday/
Administration: We Have Met Our Goals For Fixing HealthCare.gov
ReplyDeleteThe White House announced Sunday that Healthcare.gov works for the vast majority of users. According to a progress report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 50,000 users can access the website at once.
"While we strive to innovate and improve our outreach and systems for reaching consumers, we believe we have met the goal of having a system that will work smoothly for the vast majority of users," the report reads.
HealthCare.gov Progress Report Final
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/administration-we-have-met-our-goals-for-fixing-healthcare-gov
It is truly amazing when you hear that Obama is the worst president ever....I guess Bush is their #1,now that is really sad.
ReplyDeleteIf he was white and a republican...he would be the best president ever. I love books, always have and always will. I spent most summers on the beach catching up on the good ones, the kindle is for the waiting rooms or lines. The Obamas are role models for all of us and when you consider what the Bush twins were like, no contest.
Bravo. Wish I had been there!
ReplyDeleteAs with the hunger strike and hecklers during speeches, President Obama is a man of the people. That's why he's HATED, other than the color of his skin, and he's accused of planting these people for photo ops. They're "all" actors, don'cha know. Yeah, RIGHT. Remember when he invited the two men over for a race discussion in '09 over beers on the White House patio?
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't changed one iota in his wish for mankind. Beautiful man, beautiful soul, beautiful family.
Sucks to be YOU, $arah of the serpent tongue!
Get 'em Tiger!!!
ReplyDeleteCan you come to my house Gryphen? We're celebrating my Grams's 96Th birthday on January 1st. She and my aunt (my aunt has brainwashed her I think) and my cousin and my cousin's husband and....need to be talked to. All in a nice way of course cause she really is a nice, little (4"10 now I think) old lady. Thanks. I'd appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteFrom how you describe your family I'd have to assume that very few of them are insured at the moment. Forgive me if I'm wrong but they sound like perfect candidates for Obamacare. Have any of them tried to sign up?
ReplyDeleteI know each family is different, and sometimes one finds themselves in other people's homes where the "rules of engagement" are different, but you've shown quite a bit of restraint at your Thanksgiving Gathering.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why we started our own tradition of celebrating a "chill out" Thanksgiving on the saturday following. It's where everyone can vent about their family gatherings and be thankful among like minded people. Yeah, it's double the work, but my relatives NEVER give out leftovers for guests to take home, and to us, the leftovers are the best part.
I love the clip of President Obama. He unabashedly and joyfully wished everyone a "HAPPY HOLIDAY"!!! (I hear cans hitting a fridge in Arizona). What a thoughtful man and what great gifts!
I'm sure President Obama has bought Palin's books, remember the photo of him shooting a gun? Guess what his target was? That's all it's good for, that, or toilet paper.
My Dad always got us kids a book or two for Christmas and chose the perfect ones for each kid's tastes. I miss him this time of year.