Here is Trump talking about doing away with Russian sanctions back in 2015.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:  

While researching the strange story of two Russian gun aficionados who cultivated Donald Trump’s presidential campaign via the National Rifle Association, we came across a little-noticed but noteworthy episode concerning Trump and US sanctions against Russia. Sanctions have been a source of extraordinary conflict between the president and Congress and a matter of clear significance to special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation. 

Just a month after Trump announced his campaign for the White House, he spoke directly to Maria Butina, the protégé of the powerful Russian banking official and Putin ally Alexander Torshin. During a public question and answer session at FreedomFest, a libertarian convention in Las Vegas in July 2015, Butina asked Trump what he would do as president about “damaging” US sanctions. Trump suggested he would get rid of them.

Trump does some riff about Putin and Obama, and then Butina asks her question:

“My question will be about foreign politics,” Butina continued. “If you will be elected as president, what will be your foreign politics especially in the relationships with my country? And do you want to continue the politics of sanctions that are damaging of both economy [sic]? Or you have any other ideas?” 

After going off on Obama and digressing into trade policy, Trump responded: “I know Putin, and I’ll tell you what, we get along with Putin… I believe I would get along very nicely with Putin, OK? And I mean, where we have the strength. I don’t think you’d need the sanctions. I think we would get along very, very well.”

Is it any wonder why Putin wanted this guy running America?

Clearly Trump has been Putin's bitch since the very beginning. 

US Intelligence agencies overheard Russian officials discussing Donald Trump and his associates way back in 2015.

Donald Trump sitting with a number of people mentioned in Junior's collusion email in 2013.

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal: 

Investigators are re-examining conversations detected by U.S. intelligence agencies in spring 2015 that captured Russian government officials discussing associates of Donald Trump, according to current and former U.S. officials, a move prompted by revelations that the president’s eldest son met with a Russian lawyer last year. 

In some cases, the Russians in the overheard conversations talked about meetings held outside the U.S. involving Russian government officials and Trump business associates or advisers, these people said.

The 2015 conversations were detected several months before Mr. Trump declared his candidacy for the White House. The conversations have been in investigators’ possession for some time, but officials said the Donald Trump Jr. news this week prompted them to look at them again.

In 2015, intelligence agencies weren’t sure what to make of the surveillance reports, which they viewed as vague and inconclusive, the current and former officials said. But the volume of the mentions of Trump associates by the Russians did have officials asking each other, “What’s going on?” one former official said.

Now, in light of the release of emails Tuesday by the president’s eldest son, describing a 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer, investigators are going back to those early reports. They are seeking new leads as they probe whether the Trump campaign colluded in what several U.S. intelligence agencies say was a Russian government-sponsored effort to meddle in the election to benefit Mr. Trump.

As the Cheshire Cat would say,  "Curiouser and curiouser."

But wait, there's more.

Courtesy of McClatchy:

Investigators at the House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are examining whether the Trump campaign’s digital operation – overseen by Jared Kushner – helped guide Russia’s sophisticated voter targeting and fake news attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

Congressional and Justice Department investigators are focusing on whether Trump’s campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in key states – areas where Trump’s digital team and Republican operatives were spotting unexpected weakness in voter support for Hillary Clinton, according to several people familiar with the parallel inquiries. 

Also under scrutiny is the question of whether Trump associates or campaign aides had any role in assisting the Russians in publicly releasing thousands of emails, hacked from the accounts of top Democrats, at turning points in the presidential race, mainly through the London-based transparency web site WikiLeaks. 

At this point I think that there is no longer any question that members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to change the outcome of the 2016 election, the only questions remaining are how many of them were involved, and what exactly did they do?

Sarah Palin makes attempt to poison Hilary Clinton. (Well that's at least the way I'm reading it.)

What Palin is making reference to is a story that was reported two day ago in which Hillary once made a reference to Palin in a 2015 interview and her team decided that it was beneath her to do so.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

In an interview with Times Magazine journalist Mark Leibovich last July, Clinton reminisced about spending time in Alaska during one summer in college, where she came face to face with “a huge moose.” 

“I've eaten moose, too. I've had moose stew,” Clinton told the magazine, according to a transcript made public from the hacked email account of Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. 

“In Alaska, moose stew. So that's why I always got a big kick out of Sarah Palin with all of her, ‘We're cooking up some moose stew here,’” she added, with a laugh. 

Clinton’s presidential campaign later asked Leibovich not to include the reference to Palin. 

“Fine to use the moose, but appreciate leaving the mention of Sarah Palin out,” Clinton spokesperson Jennifer Palmieri told the journalist in a July email made public on Tuesday.

So in a nutshell Hillary made some off the cuff reference to Sarah Palin, and her people realized that the freak show would use it as a chance to dance around shouting "Look at me, look at me, I am still relevant, even Hillary Clinton is talking about me."

And of course, as this demonstrates, that is exactly what she did.

Well this is good news, but I am still never going to Bangladesh.

Murdered Atheist Ahmed Rajib Haider

Courtesy of BBC: 

Two students have been sentenced to death in Bangladesh for the killing of an atheist blogger there in 2013. 

Six others were convicted of involvement in the murder of Ahmed Rajib Haider, who was hacked to death as he was returning home from a rally in the capital, Dhaka. 

A five-year sentence was given to the head of Ansarullah Bangla, the group suspected of carrying out the attack. 

Five more secular bloggers and writers were killed in Bangladesh in 2015.

As hard as it is to be an outspoken Atheist in America, it is NOTHING compared to the dangers of speaking out about religion in countries where the faithful believe such apostasy is justifiably punishable by death.

I cannot think of a better way to close out 2015 than a video of President Obama with Jerry Seinfeld appearing on "Comedians in Cars getting Coffee."

Okay I am positive that the conservatives are going to have all kinds of nasty things to say about this, but just speaking for myself I think Obama is the coolest cat around.

My favorite part was the President's admission that sometimes he has to cut loose with the four letter words when the stupid gets to be too much to handle. We are so alike.

Now all I want before I die is to go get coffee with Barack Obama.

P.S. Here are some great photos of the President just in case the video was not enough Obama for you this evening. 

P.P.S. If they block it again go here.

Not to rub it on this special day, however according to a new poll there are 5% fewer self identified Christians in American than at the beginning of President Obama's first term.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Three-quarters of Americans identify as Christians, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday — down from the beginning of President Barack Obama's first term. 

While a significant portion of Americans still follow Christianity, the percentage has steadily fallen since 2008, when 80 percent of Americans identified as Christians. Story Continued Below 

But as fewer associate themselves with Christianity, more are identifying themselves as people with no religious affiliation. The percentage of Americans who follow no religion has risen from 14.6 percent in 2008 to 19.6 percent this year. 

Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who follow a non-Christian religion remains largely unchanged from 2008, still hovering around 5 percent. 

75% is still a huge number, so we still have quite a ways to go before we can call ourselves an enlightened nation, but baby steps are still steps on that journey.

The other day somebody accused me of hating Christians. That of course is ridiculous.

However it is true that I despise organized religion, and what it does to people.

Having said that all I really want is for religious people to keep their beliefs and superstitions out of our schools, our politics, and out of our faces.

While I don't agree with ANY religious faith, I do have a lot more respect for the Amish, the Quakers, and the Jains who keep their worship mostly private, than I do for those who come to my doorstep and suggest that I am doomed if I do not attend their particular church.

But putting all of that aside I DO love Christmas and all of its traditions, though I cannot help but wonder if it would not still be just as much fun, or perhaps even more fun,  if we called it by its original name, Saturnalia? 

Support for the tea Party hits an all time low. Well finally some good news.

Courtesy of Gallup:  

Americans' support for the Tea Party has dropped to its lowest level since the movement emerged on the national political scene prior to the 2010 midterm elections. Seventeen percent of Americans now consider themselves Tea Party supporters, and a record 54% say they are neither supporters nor opponents.

The Tea Party emerged in 2009 in opposition to the fledgling Obama administration, and many Americans took sides for or against the movement in the midterm elections the next year. Support peaked at 32% in November 2010, just after those elections, in which Tea Party supporters were widely credited with helping the Republican Party gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

As support gradually eroded over the next year, opponents of the Tea Party gained the upper hand and have led supporters in all 10 Gallup polls measuring views of the movement since the start of 2012. Since August 2012, support has failed to reach 25%, and it has fallen below 20% in each of the last two polls.

Well that's all good news of course, and it explains why it appears that the moderate Republicans are starting to get the upper hand in the choosing of a new Speaker of House to replace John Boehner.

(Yes I know Paul Ryan sucks, but hey at least it's not Louie Gohmert!)

However here's the part that still bothers me.

If there is still 17% support for the Teabaggers, and 54% who seem agnostic towards them, then that leaves only 29% of us who are openly against them.

That seems like a much too low of a number to me.

I will not be happy until more than two thirds of the American people recognize that the Tea Party is made up of a bunch of ignorant racists, who could not pass a test on US History with a gun held to their head. 

A year ago Michael Moore expressed his exasperation at the gun culture in America, and made a terrible prediction. One that came true, with a vengeance.

From Moore's Facebook page in 2014: 

With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.

"Rest assured it will happen again." Well there was an understatement.

So far in this year alone we have seen 247 mass shootings, and the year is not yet over.

Michael Moore, and others, to their credit tried to warn us back when this was happening with less frequency, but nothing changed.

And the terrifying part is that even in the face of what seems like a silent civil war on our streets, in our classrooms, and in public gathering places, there still does not seem to be a will to do anything about it. 

(H/T to Democratic Underground.)

Anchorage FINALLY has a law protecting LGBT people. And it only took six years.

Source

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Anchorage’s new law adding discrimination protections for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people is now officially on the books, with Anchorage Assembly Chair Dick Traini signing the legislation Friday morning in a brief ceremony at City Hall. 

The Assembly passed the law in a 9-2 vote just before midnight Tuesday. Normally, the chair signs legislation with little fanfare, Traini said. But he said he wanted to have a ceremony to give the law’s supporters closure. 

Traini signed the law with Assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson at his side. About two dozen onlookers cheered as he handed out the pens he used to sign the measure. 

“It’s been a long road,” Traini told the room after the signing. “And this will help a lot of people in Anchorage who have been discriminated against. So hopefully we’ve sealed that. And we’ll just move on.”

Man has this been a long time coming.

Some of you long time IM visitors may remember the Summer of Hate back in 2009 when Jerry Prevo had Fundamentalist Christians from the Valley bused in to argue against the ordinance. Resulting in some rather angry confrontations.

Despite the best efforts of Prevo and his religious homophobes, that ordinance passed.

However Anchorage's newly elected mayor, Dan Sullivan, promptly vetoed it which put us back at square one.

Now with a new mayor in place we can finally provide protection to some of our most vulnerable citizens.

And that my friends is why local elections matter.

Donald Trump's core constituency revealed in Q and A. They're birthers.

Courtesy of Little Green Footballs:  

Audience member: We have a problem in this country — it’s called “Muslims.” We know our current President is one. 

Trump: Right. 

Audience member: You know he’s not even an American. Birth certificate, man! 

Trump: We need this question! 

Audience member: But anyway [laughter], we have training camps growing, where they want to kill us. 

Trump: Mm hmm. 

Audience member: That’s my question. When can we get rid of ‘em? 

Trump: We’re gonna be looking at a lot of different things. And you know, a lot of people are saying that, and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We’re gonna be looking at that and plenty of other things. 

Holy crap! It looks like Trump is still convinced that Obama is secretly a Muslim who does not have a valid American birth certificate, and is allowing secret Muslim training camps to be built in this country for the purpose of training terrorists to kill Americans.

Ooookay.


And his supporters are the same knuckle dragging dipshits who applauded his efforts to "prove" Obama had no valid birth certificate back in 2012.

Of course the Trump camp made a rather pathetic attempt at damage control.

Trump camp: "Mr. Trump was referring to the need to protect Christians religious liberties as his previous statement says and nothing more."

— Kailani Koenig (@kailanikm) September 18, 2015

Okay, what?

Second attempt.

Now NEW response: "To be clear, Mr. Trump's response to the question regarding training camps in this country was we will look into it."

— Kailani Koenig (@kailanikm) September 18, 2015

Once again, what?

Of course this whole thing is being compared to John McCain's 2008 town hall response to a woman who claimed that Obama was an "Arab."

Yet here we are in 2015 and Donald Trump is at the top of the polls.

That tells you something both interesting and very frightening about today's Republican party.

New poll shows Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton in head to head match up. Oh that can't be right.

Courtesy of Yahoo:  

Donald Trump may have a good reason to smile this weekend. 

A new poll by SurveyUSA shows the GOP frontrunner leads Democrat contender Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup if the presidential election was held today. 

Among the 1,000 adults polled, Trump won 45 percent to Clinton’s 40 percent with 16 percent of respondents “undecided.” 

Trump also beats out Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by 44 percent to 40 percent and Vice President Joe Biden by 44 percent to 42 percent.

The poll goes on to point out that  while 44 percent of respondents believed that Hillary would be the Democratic nominee only 30% thought that Trump would win the Republican primary.

You know maybe it's just too early, or maybe I have not had enough coffee yet, but I cannot even begin to process the idea that Donald Trump beats Hillary Clinton in a general election to be President of the United States of America.

If that were to actually happen there is NO way that any other country would ever take us seriously again.

White House Correspondents Dinner open thread.

For my money this is the must watch TV for the evening.

The host tonight is Cecily Strong who I think really has her work cut out for her considering some of the amazing hosts of the past. (My favorite? Stephen Colbert in 2006. Still just about the bravest performance I have ever seen.)

Here is the list of invited guests. Which includes:

ABC - GWU Alumni and Scandal star Kerry Washington 

Christian Broadcasting Network - Newt and Callista Gingrich 

CBS News - Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and TV’s Madam Secretary Sec. of State Téa Leoni. 

CNN - Actress (and ex-wife of CNN founder Ted Turner) Jane Fonda Fox News - Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, and reality TV star Brody Jenner 

Huffington Post - YouTube and Vine stars like Bethany Mota, Nash Grier, Marcus Johns, Jerome Jarre, and Tyler Oakley 

USA Today - Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, Naya Rivera of Glee, and Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty 

AOL - Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick 

The Hill - Actresses Lucy Liu and Connie Britton 

The Washington Post - Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and Chairman of Case Foundation and Revolution, and Megan Smith, United States Chief Technology Officer in the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

(Yes you're correct, she wasn't invited here either.)

Lately my favorite part of the night is Obama's comedy routine.

He was great last year and I have every expectation that he will be even better this year.

I will update this post as new material becomes available.

Update: Some tweets about the WHCD.

Update 2: Here's Obama's entire monologue. POTUS lounge. http://t.co/bLXImBTejs #WHCD pic.twitter.com/bL6M13pzSg
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 26, 2015

"Being black-ish only makes you popular for so long." pic.twitter.com/MQHSBIYYVg
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) April 26, 2015

"Khaleesi is coming to Westeros." #whcd pic.twitter.com/RY8tNYctjT
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) April 26, 2015

The President killed it tonight.

Update 2: Here is the President's entire monologue.

President Obama's approval ratings going up right along with confidence in the economy.

A comparison of past President's approval rating during their seventh year in office.

Courtesy of CNN:  

President Barack Obama's approval rating is shifting back toward positive territory, as the public's take on the economy hits a new high mark for Obama's tenure, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. 

For the first time since May of 2013, more Americans polled say they have a positive impression of how Obama is handling the presidency than a negative one: 48% approve of the way Obama is handling his job, while 47% disapprove. 

While the share saying they approve is not significantly larger than the share disapproving, it's a notable shift in perceptions of Obama's presidency. 

Obama's numbers are on the rise at the same time the public gives the economy the highest ratings of his presidency. 

The poll finds 52% describe the U.S. economy as very or somewhat good, while 48% call it very or somewhat poor. That marks the first time since Obama took office that significantly more people describe the economy as "good" than "poor," and only the second time since then that a majority has described the nation's economy as "good." 

The last time significantly more Americans called the economy "good" than "poor" in CNN/ORC polling was September 2007.

You know considering how the Right Wing goes after the President on a constant basis, it is almost a miracle that his numbers are even this high. And those numbers for the economy are nothing short of miraculous, considering where we were when Obama took office.

Speaking of the Right Wing how are the Republicans faring in the polls?

You know at this rate President Obama might crack 50 or even 60% approval before he leaves office, while Congressional Republicans look like they are headed toward negative numbers.

(H/T to Politicususa.)

Congressman introduces bill that would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.

Courtesy of Congressman Thomas Massie's website:  

Yesterday, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced H.R. 86, the Safe Students Act, which would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. 

The bill, originally introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) in 2007, repeals the Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) of 1990, which makes it “unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” In 1995, the Supreme Court held the GFSZA unconstitutional, which prompted Congress to amend the bill in 1996. The Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutionality of the amended Act. 

“Gun-free school zones are ineffective. They make people less safe by inviting criminals into target-rich, no-risk environments,” said Massie. “Gun-free zones prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves, and create vulnerable populations that are targeted by criminals.”

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massey. Would you let THIS man carry a gun around children?

Actually this bill was introduced last week, so to be clear in the first week of this new Congress they have introduced bills to ban abortions after 20 weeks, allow guns around our school children, and are working to undermine social security.

In a nutshell that is less money for old people, less control for women over their reproductive organs, and more places for Ammosexuals to walk around showing off their metal penis extenders.

And they have only just begun.

Nicolle Wallace reveals "the most challenging thing about working with Sarah Palin."

Courtesy of Mediaite: 

“It was when she started to go rogue, for real,” Wallace said, quoting the title of Palin’s campaign memoir. “You know, it was when she sort of didn’t care what, like, McCain thought anymore.” 

“So that got a little dicey,” Wallace said, before admitting that it was “totally legit” for Palin to be mad at her after she set up interviews like the one with Katie Couric in which the vice presidential candidate could not come up with the names of any news publications she read. “I was making decisions about who should interview her, the interviews didn’t go well, so that was totally fair game for her to talk about.”

You know I hate that Wallace always has to add that little addendum at the end saying that Palin was right to be pissed off at her because she was too stupid to answer simple questions.

I myself have some issues with Nicolle Wallace, and her use of ridiculous conservative talking points, but she is needs to stop beating herself up over this. Palin was, and is, a bitch on ice and NOBODY would have made her happy during that campaign.

By the way I think that this is a good place to put Alternet's take on Palin's latest scandal, "Dogazi," which they entitle What Sarah Palin's Latest Meltdown Tells Us About Conservatives' Victimization Fantasy: 

It should be surprising that Palin was able to spin a silly little dustup over a dog into a full-blown the-world-is-out-to-destroy-conservatives paranoid meltdown, but sadly, it’s par for the course. And it’s not just Palin who sees liberal bogeymen out to get her around every corner, either. The world of right-wing punditry is one where conservatives are under constant assault by liberals who want to destroy everything they hold dear, often for hazy reasons that amount to little more than “because liberals are evil.” 

The great irony here is that the biggest threat to conservatives doesn’t come from liberals at all, but from the conservative pundits themselves, who readily exploit their audiences by feeding them a bunch of scary lies in order to extract money and political support from them. In many ways, the right-wing of this country is less a political movement than a bunch of charlatans conning the rubes out of their hard-earned money. 

 .......... 

That’s why the Sarah Palin dog dustup matters, because it’s not just a matter of some paranoid, easily rattled ex-politicians wildly overreacting to some deserved criticism. Palin’s words are part of a larger lie that exists only to fill the coffers of right-wing leaders and to scare up votes for people who aren’t qualified to run for dogcatcher, much less national office—the lie that liberals are out to destroy conservatives, because liberals are a bunch of action movie villains who are motivated by pure evil. Palin is able to convince thousands of Americans that some critical comments about how she treats her dog are part of a vast conspiracy to destroy their way of life. That kind of paranoid thinking is the fuel that powers the modern American right.

Exactly!

People have asked me why I spend so much time covering Sarah Palin and the answer is because she is a microcosm of what is happening on a much larger scale.

When Palin decided to "go rogue" in the middle of a presidential campaign she was essentially inspiring a large group of criminally under educated morons, only vaguely aware of current events and politics. And those poor paint chip eating morons have become the financial lifeblood of pseudo politicians and cable news personalities like Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck, Herman Cain, Mark Levin, and Ben Carson.

Today she is only one of hundreds shearing the sycophantic sheep until their clippers are too hot to handle, but there was a time when she was trailblazer. Essentially blazing a trail to the end of the conservative movement as we know it.

Happy New Year!!!

Okay well that is another year now in the rear view mirror as my own mortality looms before me on the horizon. Whee?

Okay seriously that was a pretty damn good year.

I mean sure it had its ups and downs, but it featured the Palin family brawl so fuck everything else.

I have made some New Year's resolutions and they are as follows:

I resolve to spend less time worrying about politics and more time worrying about the environment.

I resolve to exercise more and eat less.

And since I make that last one every year, I promise to really do it this time.

And since I always say that second part every year I promise to really, really do it this time.

I resolve to do more housework this next year. (Yeah I have already decided not to do this one.)

I resolve to spend less time in front of my computer and more time interacting with people face to face. (Probably on Skype.)

And I resolve to continue revealing the truth about Sarah Palin until there is nothing more than a smoldering crater where her reputation use to be.

Gonna be a good year folks, I can feel it in my bones. My rapidly aging and increasingly brittle bones.

President Obama has a message for Republicans in 2015. I have a veto pen and I am not afraid to use it.

"Nice try Boehner."

Courtesy of the Chicago Sun Times:  

Warning from President Barack Obama to congressional Republicans: I have a veto pen and, come January, I won’t be afraid to use it. 

Since taking office in 2009, Obama has only vetoed legislation twice, both in fairly minor circumstances. But with Republicans set to take full control of Congress next year, Obama is losing his last bulwark against a barrage of bills he doesn’t like: the Senate. 

“I haven’t used the veto pen very often since I’ve been in office,” Obama said in an NPR interview airing Monday. “Now, I suspect, there are going to be some times where I’ve got to pull that pen out.” 

He added: “I’m going to defend gains that we’ve made in health care. I’m going to defend gains that we’ve made on environment and clean air and clean water.”

Yeah I have a feeling that the President might want to stock up on pen refills, because there is little doubt that the Republicans are going to try to repeal Obamacare repeatedly and pass all kinds of crazy legislation that he cannot let stand.

If we thought there was a contentious relationship between the President and the Congress before, I believe we have not seen anything yet.

Robert Reich gives us all hope for 2015.

You know when you really think about it, despite attempts by the Right to obstruct progress at every turn, we are really moving forward at a fairly impressive pace.

President Obama's poll numbers on the rise. Just in time to ruin the new year for Republicans.

Courtesy of CNN:  

Improving views of the economy have helped hike President Barack Obama's approval rating to a 20-month high, a new CNN/ORC poll showed Tuesday, as markets climbed to record levels at news of an economy in overdrive. 

More Americans still disapprove of the job Obama is doing as President. But at 48%, Obama's approval rating is at its highest point in CNN polling since May 2013. 

The gains were driven by newfound backing among women, independents and millennials — groups where Obama's approval numbers jumped 10 percentage points from a month ago.

You know the only thing better than good news, is good news that you know will irritate the GOP.

I have a feeling that if the President continues his new "Fuck you I'm going to do it anyway" attitude that his poll numbers will probably keep right on climbing.

And if he manages to get Gitmo closed....well then all bets are off.

President Obama brought an early Christmas present for the Democrats, and the rest of the country.

Courtesy of The Hill:  

Democrats on Tuesday received a gift high on their wish list — an invigorated economy that they believe will give President Obama much-needed clout when he faces off with a Republican Congress next year. 

Current and former Obama aides say they expect the White House to get a year-end boost from the 5 percent expansion rate of the economy in the third quarter, and expect the president to aggressively talk up the gains in the months to come. 

The growth figures also could give the White House new leverage as it seeks common ground with Republicans on a range of policy areas, such as trade and taxes, and as it prepares for battle in others, like changing the healthcare law. 

"The proof is in the pudding," one former senior Obama administration official said. "There's really nothing else to say."

Yeah there really is nothing left to say is there?

It seems the minute that the polls closed on November 4th, and before the Republicans could even uncork their champagne bottles to celebrate what they thought was a victory, the President was already opening the can of whoopass that he was planning to present them with for the next two years.

God I love the holidays, don't you?