For his birthday this year Barack Obama got his own holiday.

Courtesy of NBC Chicago: 

Former President Barack Obama got a special treat for his birthday this year - his very own holiday. 

Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law Friday a measure to designate Aug. 4 as "Barack Obama Day" across Illinois. 

The newest state holiday will be celebrated each year on the 44th president's birthday, beginning in 2018. 

The holiday will be "observed throughout the State as a day set apart to honor the 44th President of the United States of America who began his career serving the People of Illinois in both the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate, and dedicated his life to protecting the rights of Americans and building bridges across communities," Senate Bill 55 reads. 

You mark my word folks, someday this will be a national holiday. 

It may not happen within my lifetime, these things can take time, but it will definitely happen.

We were fortunate enough to have lived through one of the most consequential presidencies in our history, and that will become ever more clear with the passage of time.

In twenty years I expect to see Obama National Airport, Obama High School, and many, many Obama avenues and parkways.

Some day the whole country will celebrate the man who the Republican party tried desperately to destroy, and some how that makes it all the sweeter. 

President Obama makes the historic Stonewall Inn a national monument.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News: 

President Obama has declared the Stonewall Inn a national monument, making the iconic West Village bar the first national monument of the LGBT rights movement. 

"Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story for the struggle for LGBT rights," Obama announced in a video released Friday. 

The President honored the Stonewall patrons who fought back against a police raid on June 28, 1969, igniting the national gay rights movement 47 years ago. 

"They stood up and spoke out. The riots became protests. The protests became a movement. The movement ultimately became an integral part of America," he said.

I remember the first time I heard about Stonewall.

I was in my early 20's working at a car dealership, and my direct supervisor was an out of the closet gay man.

The guy was hysterical, always cracking jokes. Many at his own expense.

But one day while we were talking he got dead serious and started to tell me about his experiences during something called the Stonewall riots. I swear it was almost like hearing a veteran talking about Nam.

By the end of the conversation he was literally shaking with emotion.

I think that was the first time I really understood how much hatred there was toward the LGBT community.

President Obama has a lot to be proud of, many accomplishments under his belt, but what he has done to protect and inspire LGBT folks in this country is completely unprecedented.
 

Are you ready? Say it with me, "President Hillary Clinton."

This from CNN:

So many girls for so long were told -- overtly and subtly -- what they could and could not be. Housewives? Yes. Teachers? Sure. President? Unlikely. 

They were told to not express their opinions too strongly -- it's not polite. To not challenge a man -- it's not ladylike. 

For those girls -- many of them now mothers with daughters of their own -- what happened Tuesday night was more than a political triumph. 

Regardless of party persuasion, Hillary Clinton's victory is the definition of historic: She became the first female presidential nominee of a major political party. 

Her chances of becoming president -- the first woman head of state in America's 238-year history -- are now much closer to reality.

I predict her chances of winning the Presidency are right around 100% personally.

I think once Hills unleashes her surrogates, which will include the likes of Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, and of course President Obama, they will chew Donald Trump and spit him out.

And once it really sets in for the largest voting block in the country, the women, that this election will be just as historic for them as the 2008 election was for African Americans, I imagine they will flock to their polling places to take their place in history.

And Hillary understands that as well.

Take a look at this recently released advertisement:

I'm just a guy but I certainly feel a surge of pride that my daughter will soon realize that NO door is closed to her, and that she can now be literally anything that she wants in life.

You know on the day that my daughter was born I promised to work hard to make a better world for her.

Well here it is, though to honest I cannot take much credit. But by gosh I did what I could.

President Obama's full speech in Cuba today.

Courtesy of PBS:  

The speech was carried live by Cuban state television, giving Obama a chance to speak directly to the Cuban people. Cuban President Raúl Castro sat in the balcony of the theater, where he heard Obama issue a tough rebuke of the Cuban regime's crackdown on dissent. 

"I believe citizens should be free to speak their minds without fear," Obama said. 

He went on to acknowledge the many struggles of American democracy — how it is still dealing with the scars of slavery, how there is too much money in politics. Obama used himself as an example of why a democratic system works. When he was born, he said, it would have been illegal for his mother and father to marry. 

But people organized and they protested and they debated the issue, Obama said. And today, he is the first black president. 

"We, like every country, need the space that democracy gives us to change," Obama said. 

Then he addressed Castro directly. "You do not need to fear a threat from the United States," Obama said. 

"You do not need to fear the different voices of the Cuban people."

I watched this speech this morning while I was trying to get my work done.

I have to tell you that I stopped several times and just stared at this man as he talked about the bright future the Cuban people could have with America's help, and I am not ashamed to tell you that I got emotional a couple of times.  

This man will be missed. 

President Obama's full speech in Selma, Alabama on this the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Damn, that was an amazing speech!

How nice it is that one Republican lawmaker actually made the trip to hear it.

Here is the transcript courtesy of Vox.

Republicans demonstrate their dedication to obstructionism by blocking confirmation of President Obama's choice for Secretary of Defense. Only two Republicans refuse to go along.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You know I RARELY get the opportunity to say anything nice about Republicans these days. And it seems I NEVER get to say that nice thing about an Alaskan Republican.

But I have to say that I am damn proud of Senator Lisa Murkowski for refusing to bow under to pressure from her GOP colleagues and join them in this embarrassing partisan display of obstructionism.

I have said for awhile now that Murkowski is virtually bullet proof here in Alaska after soundly defeating the vaguely bearded one in 2010, and I am very pleased to see her using that knowledge to demonstrate her independence from an increasingly ridiculous political party.

Good on ya, Lisa.

Perhaps the most remarkable moment from yesterday's inauguration.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Courtesy of MSNBC:

Perhaps the most remarkable moment from today’s inauguration was an unscripted one. After delivering his speech, President Obama was leaving the dais and heading into the Capitol building when he stopped, turned around, and gazed out at the scene of people gathered on the Mall, a wistful smile on his face. 

“I want to look out one more time,” the president said to someone standing near him, “because I’m not going to see this again.” 

Hard to blame him for wanting to soak that in, don't you think?

Below is a gif of the President stealing a kiss from his wife as his two girls tease what other, You know like a perfectly normal family NOT having the head of their household sworn in as the most powerful man in the country.

I was thinking yesterday that this may be one of the most normal families to occupy the White House in decades. The Right Wing keeps trying to suggest that the President is "other" than us, but to me he, and his family, seem just as goofy, playful, and loving as the rest of us.

By the way I love that look that Michelle shoots at the girls after her smooch.

(H/T to Gawker)

Update: Here is the video that the gif was taken from.

President Obama's new political ad. Now this is how you do it!

This administration has made numerous historically positive policy decisions, such as the repeal of DOMA, the ACA, the end of the Iraq war, just to name a handful, and yet we are still hearing liberals talk about a "failed administration" and their disappointment that Obama did not change water into wine while walking across it.

It is time for progressives to put their big boy pants on and get behind our President.

There is a vicious battle on the horizon and we are going to need all hands on deck.

Unless of course you want to spend the next four years wondering how YOU could have helped stop the Romney or Gingrich presidency from taking place?