Obama: II GOP: 0
I fell back in like with my President this week. Not back in love — there’s way too much for Obama to do, way too much he needs to change — about Obama — for that to happen. Yet.
Go ahead, laugh, make jokes, tell me I’m a fool. Ridicule me.
But here’s what I’ll tell you: Obama started to grow a pair this week.
The State of the Union address was an unqualified success. Yes, it was short on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal details, but, it would appear, his message was received. We’ll know more Tuesday when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates makes his “major announcement” at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. I’m cautiously optimistic there will be significant movement. I’m also concerned Gates will present a long, drawn out process. Kind of like the way a crack addict would plan his own kicking the habit.
Obama faltered Thursday as he talked about equality in Tampa. That was a disappointment, because it seemed he really couldn’t find the words to show what we had hoped he believed.
Today, at what has now been christened “Question Time,” in a meeting reminiscent of British Parliament debates with the Prime Minister — albeit more civil — Obama found his voice. He spoke strongly and unreservedly to GOP Representatives at their retreat in Baltimore. He used phrases like, “You know that’s not true.” He quoted specific details that no president before, at least to my memory, ever could have. he called them on the carpet. In one exchange with GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling, he interrupted the endless wind-up to a question that never came, and accused him of posturing and cited his rhetoric as exactly what is wrong with politics today. It was classic.
David Corn just wrote,
“The event was gripping. As word spread through Washington, people rushed to their televisions and became fixed on it. CBS News reporter Mark Knoller, a veteran White House correspondent, tweeted that this was a first. It marked a giant step forward in political and governmental transparency. (It was not certain that the House GOPers would allow cameras into the session until the morning.) The debate was serious and intense. It just so happened that Obama cleaned the clocks of the GOPers, referring to them repeatedly as “you guys,” while they called him “Mr. President.” (“Interesting session,” Republican leader John Boehner tweeted afterward.) Consequently, Republicans may want to think twice before providing Obama another opportunity. Yet this was a good moment for the republic.”
I agree. A “good moment for the republic,” indeed.
The GOP Reps whined. Literally. Cries of, “We have ideas too” were embarrassing.
Obama accused the GOP of engaging in the “Politics of no.” When one lawmaker misquoted the president’s State of the Union speech, Obama said, “That’s not what I said. And I should know what I said because it was just two days ago that I said it.”
THIS is my president.
(West Wing aficionados will remember the episode with “Dr. Jenna Jacobs,” whom President Bartlet slams for her beliefs on homosexuality. In no way was THAT President Obama this week. But the last part of the clip, where Bartlet says, “Toby, that’s how I beat him.” THAT was Obama this week.)
Unsurprisingly, the GOP wind machine has been hard at work, attempting to put a good spin for their side on this. They got their clocks cleaned by the President of the United States, and they know it.
Here’s what the National Review had to say,
“Pence calls today’s Q&A session with the president in Baltimore a “useful†tool for the House GOP in spreading its message. “It’s not widely known, but Republicans have actually been offering positive solutions on the economy, fiscal discipline, energy independence, and health-care reform,†he says. “It’s not widely known because this administration has done a real number on us, smearing the GOP as the ‘party of no.’ Today we were able to push back on that, and even the president acknowledged that Republicans have been offering substantive alternatives on every major issue.â€
“Republicans, he adds, “gave as good as they got†in the question period. “We confronted the president with some very direct questions and statements — focused on policy, not politics. He responded, occasionally, with similar directness. It was productive.†So is Pence open to more House of Commons-like debates? “We welcome them,†he says.”
Yes, Obama has a LONG way to go on equal rights — and in no way, shape, or form am I letting him off the hook for what he hasn’t accomplished — or even attempted.
But this week, my president found his backbone. And it was a welcome relief to the millions who feared he had lost it.
What happens next week is anyone’s guess. But this was an excellent (re)start.
You can watch Obama’s meeting with the GOP from earlier today at C-SPAN. Sadly, the video cannot eb embedded. I’ll ty to get a copy of it over the weekend. Watch it. It will raise your heart a bit.
See what Julie Gulden at DailyKOS says, in, “Luke Russert nailed it…updated w/video.”
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President Donald Trump is drawing mockery after telling a CBS News reporter that his war in Iran is “very complete, pretty much,” as the administration’s military priorities continue to shift rapidly.
In the early hours of the war, Trump had strongly suggested it was about regime change, only to have his defense secretary days later specifically state it was not.
On Monday, apparently around the time he had a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said Iran has “no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made similar remarks earlier on Monday.
“The goals of this mission are clear, and it’s important to continue to remind the American people of why it is that the greatest military in history of the world has engaged in this operation,” he told reporters. “It is to destroy the ability of this regime to launch missiles, both by destroying their missiles and their launchers. Destroy the factories that make these missiles, and destroy their Navy.”
Days earlier, Trump had called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Professor of Strategic Studies Phillips P. O’Brien responded to Rubio’s remarks, saying: “If this is actually the new set of strategic goals, the Trump administration is admitting that they have strategically failed and this has been a disaster.”
Specifically referencing Trump’s remarks to CBS News, Professor O’Brien added, “So is this Trump looking to throw in the towel?”
Foreign policy analyst Jimmy Rushton observed, “No mention of removing the regime. No mention of destroying the Iranian nuclear programme. No mention of destroying Iran’s ability to project power via proxy forces. The administration’s war aims are constantly changing.”
Similarly, political scientist Ian Bremmer noted, “declaring victory and ending war with iran much easier with these goals. not mentioned: -regime change -uranium enrichment/stockpiling -attack drones.”
SECRETARY RUBIO: The goals of the mission against the Iranian regime are clear:
– Destroy their ability to launch missiles
– Destroy factories making these missiles
– Destroy their navy pic.twitter.com/KPUpMGNtDf— Department of State (@StateDept) March 9, 2026
Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump told CBS News on Monday that his war in Iran could be almost over — just after the Pentagon tweeted, “We have Only Just Begun to Fight.”
“In a phone interview, President Trump told me the war could be over soon,” reported CBS’s Weijia Jiang on Monday afternoon, less than one hour after the social media post. “I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.”
Trump added that the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial 4-5 week estimated time frame,” Jiang added.
The Commander-in-Chief’s prediction also came just days after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that this is “just the beginning” of the war in Iran, as The Washington Post’s John Hudson reported.
Earlier on Monday, the Pentagon posted another Iran tweet: “This is just the beginning—we will not be deterred until the mission is over.”
READ MORE: ‘Blatant Racism’: House Republican’s Remarks Spark Backlash
One week ago, after President Trump specifically alluded to the war in Iran being about regime change, Secretary Hegseth declared it was not.
“Trump repeatedly emphasized regime change was a goal — and possibly even the goal,” CNN reported.
“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force,” Trump said to the Iranian opposition in the early hours of the war. “Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”
“When we are finished, take over your government,” Trump added. “It will be yours to take.”
Barely days later, Hegseth told reporters, “This is not a so-called regime change war.”
READ MORE: ‘Good Luck in the Midterms’: Anti-Trump Conservatives Smell Weakness in the President
Image via Reuters
Some Washington Post readers are mocking the paper and its op-ed that suggests a link between Starbucks’ lattes, and loneliness and the destruction of society.
The op-ed’s author, professor of politics Jakub Grygiel, writes that the “atomization of society begins with your morning coffee.”
He immediately points out that 46 percent of Americans have had a specialty coffee drink in the past day, and “54 percent of U.S. adults feel isolated and half of them feel bereft of companionship ‘often or some of the time,’ according to the American Psychological Association.”
Grygiel then says that ordering a latte your way is wasting everyone else’s time, which, he surmises, makes you feel lonely.
“As specialty coffee consumption has surged (84 percent since 2011), so has the loneliness epidemic. Just a correlation? Consider what your coffee order reveals,” he suggests.
READ MORE: ‘Blatant Racism’: House Republican’s Remarks Spark Backlash
“The salted caramel mocha latte, the iced brown sugar soy milk shaken espresso, the white chocolate macadamia cream cold brew are the triumph of hyper-individualization over communal norms,” he writes. “When you order a dirty spiced chai with oat milk, you are not only wasting the time of other customers in line but also are signaling that your personal appetites demand an elaborate, customized response. You are asserting your primacy, unique in the complexity of your desires, and stand apart from your nation’s simple rituals. No wonder you’re alone.”
Grygiel makes no mention of the fact that a significant portion of Starbucks’ business model is based on customized coffee drinks.
Some readers slammed Grygiel, with several questioning whether his work was satire.
“This is satire, people. This has to be satire. I know it’s satire. Please tell me it’s satire,” wrote one reader.
Others tried to bring the conversation back to politics, which is the author’s stock in trade.
“The atomization of society begins with you taking about coffee and not the Trump administrations efforts to destabilize our democracy,” chastised another.
READ MORE: ‘Good Luck in the Midterms’: Anti-Trump Conservatives Smell Weakness in the President
“I think the largest problem with American society is all the fascists, but that is just my opinion,” suggested a reader.
“I don’t know,” said another reader. “I think the American obsession with assault rifles and the fact that the number of guns in private hands in America far exceeds the population may be a bigger threat to our society. But that’s just me. I can’t remember the last time a salted caramel mocha latte killed someone.”
Others blasted the paper.
“Here’s some more compelling evidence that we’re confronting the end of days: WaPo is running this fluff piece while Trump is hard at work starting WWIII,” warned a reader.
And while some declared they “agree with every word,” others lamented the “absolute swill coming out of the WaPo opinion section these days.”
“This might be the thing that finally prompts me to cancel my WaPo subscription,” wrote an apparent subscriber.
READ MORE: White House Confirms Trump’s Shift That Pushes SAVE Act Further Right
Image via Shutterstock
‘Looking to Throw in the Towel?’: Trump Mocked as Administration Again Switches Priorities
‘Blatant Racism’: House Republican’s Remarks Spark Backlash
‘Good Luck in the Midterms’: Anti-Trump Conservatives Smell Weakness in the President
‘Tell Me It’s Satire’: WaPo Roasted for Op-Ed Linking Lattes to Destruction of Society
Trump Once Again Directly Contradicts Pentagon Chief on Key Element of Iran War
‘Looking to Throw in the Towel?’: Trump Mocked as Administration Again Switches Priorities
Trump Once Again Directly Contradicts Pentagon Chief on Key Element of Iran War
‘Tell Me It’s Satire’: WaPo Roasted for Op-Ed Linking Lattes to Destruction of Society
‘Blatant Racism’: House Republican’s Remarks Spark Backlash
‘Good Luck in the Midterms’: Anti-Trump Conservatives Smell Weakness in the President
News4 days agoWhite House Confirms Trump’s Shift That Pushes SAVE Act Further Right
News4 days ago‘Dreaming of Gilead?’ WaPo Hit for Op-Ed Mourning Lack of Evangelicals in ‘Halls of Power’
News4 days ago‘Pure Amateur Hour’: Trump Slammed for ‘Absolutely Racing to Betray His Voters’
News4 days ago‘Flashing Red’: Jobs Report Sparks Expert Warnings of Recession — or Even Stagflation
News16 hours ago‘Looking to Throw in the Towel?’: Trump Mocked as Administration Again Switches Priorities
News21 hours ago‘Blatant Racism’: House Republican’s Remarks Spark Backlash
News23 hours ago‘Good Luck in the Midterms’: Anti-Trump Conservatives Smell Weakness in the President
News18 hours ago‘Tell Me It’s Satire’: WaPo Roasted for Op-Ed Linking Lattes to Destruction of Society
