Michelle Obama's portrait is so popular that the Smithsonian had to move it to handle the crowds.

We’re always changing things up here 👀 Due to the high volume of visitors, we’ve relocated Michelle Obama’s portrait to the 3rd floor in our 20th-Century Americans galleries for a more spacious viewing experience. Reubicamos el retrato de Michelle Obama al tercer piso del museo pic.twitter.com/OnBgmf6bQq

— Portrait Gallery (@NPG) March 9, 2018

Courtesy of The Root: 

Who wouldn’t want to go see the real first lady Michelle Obama, even if that meant “settling” for an amazing, intricate portrait rather than the real deal? 

As it turns out, everyone was just waiting to see the unique portrait Baltimore artist Amy Sherald painted of the former FLOTUS after it was unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery last month. 

So much so that the museum was forced to relocate the portrait because of the demand.

I am not so sure that it is the painting itself which draws so much attention, or that it represents one of the greatest First Ladies who has ever graced the White House.

We were so lucky to have them both.

BTW this is the message that the Obamas sent to those Parkland students.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s the letter @BarackObama and @MichelleObama wrote to the #ParklandShooting survivors. In it, the former president and first lady tell the teens that they’ve “inspired” them, and commend them on “awakening the conscience of our nation.” https://t.co/FOQYVguNFw pic.twitter.com/xEPHE6iUL2

— Mic (@mic) March 21, 2018

Even out of office they are still supporting Americans and their quest to end gun violence.

The world's respect for American leadership hits record low.

Courtesy of NPR:

The global approval rating for U.S. leadership now stands at 30 percent — lower in President Trump's first year in office than it was under former President George W. Bush, according to the Gallup World Poll. The image of America's leadership now trails both Germany and China, Gallup says. 

International regard for U.S. leadership fell sharply from the 48 percent approval rating for 2016, former President Barack Obama's last year in office. The previous low of 34 percent was reached at the end of the Bush administration. 

The new survey was conducted between March and November of 2017. Gallup found that approval of U.S. leadership had fallen by double digits in nearly half of the 134 countries and areas it surveyed. 

The Gallup report also cites another record: for disapproval. Worldwide, a median 43 percent disapprove of U.S. leadership — more than the median disapproval for Germany (25 percent), China (30 percent) or Russia (36 percent). According to Gallup, that's a record for any major world power, not just the U.S., in the past decade.

Some of the more dramatic losses came from American allies like Germany and Mexico, while America only gained approval of ten points or more in four countries, Israeli, Liberia, Macedonia, and Belarus.

Yeah they really dig ole Trump in Macedonia.

A loss of respect also means losing the ability to lead, and that leaves a vacuum for other nations to take our place.

I guess I better start preparing my taste-buds for a lot more Chinese food. 

Donald Trump today accused President Obama, and other former presidents, of not calling the families of fallen soldiers.

12 days after it was announced soldiers were killed in Niger, Trump says "I will at some point during the period of time call the parents." pic.twitter.com/vPh85JNF4x

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 16, 2017

Courtesy of TPM:

During a press conference on Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump made the dubious claim that former President Barack Obama and other former presidents did not personally call the families of soldiers who died in combat. 

Trump quickly walked back the claim when a reporter followed up. 

The President first told reporters that he had written letters to the families of soldiers who died in the recent attack in Niger and said he would soon call the families as well. He then claimed that his approach was unique, and that not all past presidents made those calls. 

“The traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls,” he said. “I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it. They have made the ultimate sacrifice so generally I would say that I like to call. I’m going to be calling them.” 

That was more than one former Obama adviser could stand.

that's a fucking lie. to say president obama (or past presidents) didn't call the family members of soldiers KIA - he's a deranged animal.

— Alyssa Mastromonaco (@AlyssaMastro44) October 16, 2017

I absolutely do not blame her for that response.

They did not call President Obama the "Consoler-in-Chief" for nothing.

He met with the families of fallen soldiers. (Mostly in private.)

Met the caskets of soldiers who lost their lives in battle.

Attended multiple military funerals for those who lost their lives.

And visited the hospital beds of men and women who had been wounded fighting for their country.

Here was what Pete Souza the White House photographer under President Obama had to say.

Pete Souza: 'I photographed [President Obama] meeting with hundreds of wounded soldiers, and family members of those killed in action.' pic.twitter.com/01pICn3YVo

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 16, 2017

We know that Donald Trump is a lying POS but this is low even for him.

This 90 yr old stood up, Obama told him he didn't have to stand. He said, "No Sir, you're the President."

Source

Now that is how you show respect to your President.

I wonder if he could give lessons to the Republicans. 

Lindsey Graham on Joe Biden: "He's as good a man as God has ever created."

Courtesy of Newsmax:  

"I called him after Beau died, and he basically said, 'Well Beau was my soul'," Graham said, his voice trembling, adding that Biden gave a speech at Graham's retirement party from the Air Force Reserve "and said some of the most incredibly heartfelt things that anybody could ever say to me." 

"He's THE nicest person I've ever met in politics," Graham said. "He's as good a man as God has ever created." 

I have to admit that I did not think that Lindsey Graham could ever do, or say, anything that would ever make me feel something positive about him. 

But I was wrong.

Parenting like a boss.

Hopefully somewhere there is a father, or mother, telling their little boy how to respect women and helping him grow up to be the kind of man that this little girl deserves.

Milwaukee police chief responds to questions from press with epic response.

Courtesy of Inquisitr:  

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn made a national name for himself on Wednesday after an impassioned video went viral on YouTube. 

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel posted a three-minute clip of Flynn responding to police protesters, who turned out to a Fire and Police Commission meeting to slam the department over the shooting of a mentally ill man. 

Dontre Hamilton suffered from schizophrenia but was non-violent, according to family members. When Officer Christopher Manney approached Hamilton, he reportedly violated protocols that escalated the confrontation, and he ended up shooting Hamilton 14 times, killing him. 

Flynn responded by firing Manney, taking flak from the police union in the process. When police protesters showed up to verbally attack him and other members of the police at the meeting, Flynn was having none of it. He shouted back at many of them and took a phone call, much to the chagrin of the protesters. 

This led the press to ask Edward Flynn about his actions following the meeting. His response is not only angry, thought-provoking, and impassioned, but it also symbolizes what many law enforcement personnel feel about doing their jobs in the 21st Century. 

I think that sometimes people forget just how stressful of a job police officers have.

They deal with people at their very worst, and often they are confronted with numbing amounts of domestic abuse, death, and human despair.

This of course is no excuse for the cop who guns down an unarmed person, or uses excess force to make an arrest. But it does help us to understand just how frustrated police officers must get with constant attacks on their profession, and disrespect from their communities.

I thought Police Chief Edward Flynn's remarks were quite appropriate, and I think they help to remind us that these are just human beings trying to hang onto their humanity, in the face of incredibly heartrending experiences.

Is it any wonder that teachers are becoming more and more fed up with their profession?

This description from the YouTube page:  

This presenter was one of several consultants flown in from California and the United Kingdom for the Chicago Public Schools' Office of Strategic School Support Services' special network. This is a professional development for teachers of Saturday ISAT preparation classes.

To be clear this are accredited teachers, many with years of experience, being treated as if they themselves are children. 

Here is how one educator described what they were seeing on this video: Yes, you can make a lot of things look bad taken out of context, but I don’t think a case can be made that this is appropriate for any professional development, or classroom, context…

I may be somewhat hyper sensitive to this personally because I myself am in the last month of a three month mandatory training process that has provided me with NO new information, and during which I have been called upon repeatedly by the newly hired instructors to provide context or clarification for what they are trying to teach.

I have been more than slightly irritated during this training, but at least they have never treated us as poorly as the Chicago teachers in the video.

I can assure all of you that if anybody addressed me in such a manner I would gather my things and walk out never to return again. And I would not give two shits if it were mandatory or not.

Something to think about the next time you are considering how much to tip your waitress.

This comes to you courtesy of my sister who has worked her entire life as either a waitress or a bartender, and in honor of my mother who raised three children while working as both a waitress and a bartender.

I have only ever once forgotten to tip my waitress. It happened the night of my prom, while eating at the restaurant my mother was working at.

Our waitress was her best friend, and somehow between three couples none of us remembered to leave a tip, even though two of us were working as busboys at the time.

The next morning my mother burst into my room and started yelling at me, telling me that I had made her friend cry because she thought she had done something wrong and that I was mad at her.

I was both horrified and embarrassed.

Needless to say she got her tip, and it was quite generous, I have NEVER once forgotten to leave a tip since.

And I never will.

An advertisement in India that I think a few American men could stand to read through as well.

You know my mom made just about every mistake in the book, but she drilled into my head repeatedly that I needed to respect women and treat them as equals, and it was perhaps the advice she ever gave me.

I think there are many men, some sitting in Washington right now, who would have benefited from having a mother like mine.

A couple of photos that should help put a certain rationalization to rest for good.

I grew up in the sixties and seventies, which was essentially right in the middle of the women's movement, and I well remember the kind of trash that my male peers spoke about girls in those days.

They were essentially separated into three categories:

Sluts.

Bitches.

And dykes.

If they dressed to attract attention they were sluts. If they were unimpressed with the juvenile antics of the boys they were bitches, And if they turned down their advances they were dykes.

And the sad thing is that many of those young men really bought into that mindset. The even sadder thing is that many of today's young men still do.

You might want to make sure you have your morning cup of coffee ready and are sitting down before reading of the horrendous incident that recently happened to a young girl in Steubenville, Ohio.

P.S. For those of you wondering if I joined in with my peers who referred to women as sluts, bitches, and dykes, no...no I didn't.  But to my eternal shame I did not stop them either.

Of course that is no longer the case. Since those high school years I have not only stopped conversations like that, I have also trained dozens of women in how to defend themselves against attack and taught dozens of young men how to properly respect a lady.

In my opinion the latter is more important than the former, and if EVERYBODY taught their boys how to treat women as all men should, then our society would be much the better for it.

What happened in Steubenville should NEVER happen in this country, and the distasteful fact is that of course it does. And it happens far more often than any of us would like to believe.

This is my body.

 Have you ever noticed that NOBODY ever tells a man what to do with his body?

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker might be an anti-labor douchebag, but at least he knows how to welcome the President to his state.

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:

 Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who rose to national fame last year for his crackdown on union bargaining, greeted President Barack Obama, who called Mr. Walker’s labor policy “an assault,” with a smile. He gave the president a white Milwaukee Brewers baseball jersey with “OBAMA” and the number “1” stitched on the back. 

Mr. Walker scrapped plans to tour this city’s Master Lock manufacturing plant, citing the stomach flu. He said the change of plans had nothing to do with politics. “If it was politics, I wouldn’t have greeted him here,” Mr. Walker told pool reporter David Nakamura of the Washington Post. 

“We’re certainly pleased the president’s here,” he continued. “It’s a great focus for Wisconsin. We love manufacturing. That’s our No. 1 industry. The bottom line is we’re one of the biggest, most dependent on manufacturing of any state in the country. We appreciate the fact that the president’s focusing on manufacturing.” 

Mr. Walker, who just days ago delivered a blistering speech about Mr. Obama to a gathering of conservative Republicans in Washington, said Wednesday wasn’t the time for that sort of thing. 

“Today’s the president’s day,” he said. “I’m appreciative he’s in Wisconsin, appreciative he’s focused on manufacturing. We’ll leave politics for another day.”

I have few nice things to say about Governor Walker, well none really, but at least he knows how to be a good host and to put his differences with the President on the back burner when the man makes a visit to his state.

President visits Masterlock company in Milwaukee

I am going to give him credit for being a gentleman and giving our President the respect he deserves. Well done sir.

Perhaps he would be willing to give Arizona Governor Jan Brewer some lessons on how to be a human being?

I have a request for IM commenters as we move into the new year.

Click here to see image enlarged.

First I would like to point out that I REALLY try not to reject any more comments than I absolutely have to.

However having said that, I will admit that I have been less than pleased with how some of the discussions have quickly deteriorated into nothing more than pissing matches, and name calling sessions reminiscent of a Middle School cafeteria.

I would hate to start rejecting more comments, but I also hate to see people attacked for expressing a reasonable disagreement with something I have posted here, or with a comment addressing something I have posted here.

My other choice is to no longer allow anonymous comments, which I am also loath to do because I believe it would affect the freedom with which people feel they can speak their minds here.

So if we could try to keep our comments in the yellow or above portion of this pyramid, that my go a long way toward making this a much more welcoming place to come and have intellectual discussions, respectful disagreements, and stress relieving rants.

Remember, even the comments on a blog can determine if more people read the content or not, so when we ugly the place up we are essentially telling possible return visitors to go someplace else. If that is your goal, then you are one of our trolls and you serve a different purpose. But it if not, then I could really use your help in making IM a more welcoming place to visit.

Namaste my friends.

They often say that Democratic Presidents have trouble connecting with the military.

I guess these soldiers did not get that memo.

Check out one soldier's reaction after shaking the President's hand.

Yeah, think that just about says it all.

President Obama responds to Occupy Wall Street "mic check" with class.

Now look everybody who comes here knows that I support this President.

I also support the OWS protesters, and I find no conflict with that.

So of course it is perfectly reasonable to expect our President to get a mic check just like any OTHER politician who has not done enough to address the fact that Wall Street and banks have done such damage to our economy and today remain virtually unscathed. 

However having said that I have to point out how incredibly well the President handled himself during that interruption. He did not storm of the stage like Michele Bachmann, or yell back at them like Karl Rove, he handled it calmly and even quieted his own supporters who were trying to shout the protesters down.

I watched the entire speech and the President also made a point to go back and mention the protesters, and his support for their cause, a couple more times.

That is how a REAL leader handles dissent.

Piper the Diaper gets a promotion from child care to security staff.

Raw Video: Sarah Palin In Philly: MyFoxPHILLY.com

I have to say that if this were MY child body checking an adult she would find herself on that RV so fast it would make her little head spin, and she would be getting a lecture on showing respect to her elders and basic good manners.

Of course I would NEVER have subjected my family to this three ring circus in the first place, since I am a REAL family values progressive, and not a pathetic phony like the Grizzled Mama.

Now for all of you who came over the other day to give me a hard time about reporting that Piper has been described as a "diva" at her school, what do you have to say now?

(If the video will not play you can try visiting here.)