“The end of the Republic has never looked better.”
“Next year, someone else will be spending in this spot, and it’s anyone’s guess who she will be.”
Whatever happens this November, President Barack Obama’s speech at his final White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., last night makes clear that the White House will be at least 50% less cool next year.
Senator Bernie Sanders skipped South Dakota’s McGovern Day Dinner in Sioux Falls last night in favor of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The Sanders campaign sent a professional comedian to represent Sanders in Sioux Falls; Senator Sanders heard a sharper, funnier speech in Washington.
The President of the United States acknowledged Senator Sanders’ presence. “I am hurt, though, Bernie, that you’ve been distancing yourself a little from me. I mean, that’s just not something that you do to your comrade.”
The remarks of the President of the United States begin at 7:40 in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYB-NuW_SRo?t=7m40s
In a serious conclusion, President Barack Obama then praised the journalistic ideals of Dakota Free Press:
At home and abroad journalists like all of you engage in the dogged pursuit of informing citizens and holding leaders accountable, and making our government of the people possible. And it’s an enormous responsibility. And I realize it’s an enormous challenge at a time when the economics of the business sometimes incentivizes speed over depth, and when controversy and conflict are what most immediately attract readers and viewers. The good news is there are so many of you that are pushing against those trends and as a citizen of this great democracy, I am grateful for that.
For this is also a time around the world when some of the fundamental ideals of liberal democracies are under attack and when notions of objectively and of a free press and of facts and of evidence are trying to be undermined or in some cases ignored entirely. And in such a climate it’s not enough just to give people a megaphone. And that’s why your power and your responsibility to dig and to question and to counter distortions and untruths is more important than even ever.
Taking a stand on behalf of what is true does not require you shedding your objectivity. In fact, it is the essence of good journalism. It affirms the idea that the only way we can build consensus, the only way that we can move forward as a country, the only way we can help the world mend itself is by agreeing on a baseline of facts when it comes to the challenges that confront us all. So this night is a testament to all of you who have devoted your lives to that idea, who push to shine a light on the truth every single day [President Barack Obama, remarks to White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Washington, D.C., 2016.04.30].
Thank you, Mr. President.
I am going to miss the President when his time in office is over, I truly believe history will show him to be one of the best Presidents ever.
Meanwhile, President Obama keeps his cool, confident that he’s doing the right things and that history will bear out the judgment Tim predicts.
Tim is absolutely correct in his assertion. For all his faults, Obama is the closest to a presidential statesman we have had in my memory.
Wingnut naysayers will gripe he played too much golf while wingnut controlled congress tried to destroy America over and over. I am curious about which standard(s) wingnuts will come up with where they say America is worse off than before.
President Obama wasn’t even in office when republicans were calling him the worst president in history.
It is said that republicans have chosen to defy President Obama these past 8 years, I conclude that he has chosen to defy them.
Presidential historians have already stated that President Obama will be the most relevant president of contemporary America.
Regardless of what happens with the fall election, Democrat and republicans may well wish that he was around for another 8 years. I know I will.
He will be missed…. Given the country he was handed versus the country he will hand-off next January, there is no comparison….
I can pretty much guarantee this- wingnuts that hate Obama because of his skin color will blame Obama for dividing the country along racial lines. They will blame the man for their racism towards him.
Mike they are already doing that
Makes me clairvoyant,doesn’t it? :)
Also a cool dad: Barack and Michelle plan to stick around in Washington after President Clinton takes office so that their younger daughter Sasha can finish high school and graduate with her friends in 2019. Malia graduates from Sidwell Friends this year; she’ll take a year off, then go to Harvard, the First Lady announced this weekend.
Cory, that reminds me of Obama’s comment that he constantly hears complaints from young folks in Washington about bossy politicians obstructing their goals. Nevertheless he said that after he leaves office he and Michelle still will not let Malia to go to Burning Man.
It is my fondest hope that Obama will open up and blast wingnuts in congress for their racist, obstructionist attitudes the minute he is clear of the White House. He is probably better than that, but those arrogant a$$hats deserve to be reamed with a red hot poker.
Am I the only liberal here that has been disappointed in Obama, especially the second term?
I think filmmaker Michael Moore said it best in that Obama will be remembered for being the first black president and that’s it. A true liberal, Moore knows that Obama could have done much more, so much more to shake up Washington. :(
If keeping the status quo is being a great president then he was very good in that aspect.
Jenny,
Obama could have done more if he had a Congress working with him. And why didn’t he have that sort of Congress? Much of the Democratic base doesn’t bother to vote in off-year elections, so they ceded power to Obama’s obstructors. Yeah, maybe Obama could have provided more leadership in the party and lit more of a fire under the base folks, particularly students and minorities, to get them off their asses to vote, but at some point, people have to take responsibility for their own citizenship. They get the government they don’t bother to vote for.
Well stated Donald and so true. It is past time for Democrats to quit whining about the president and take responsibility for their role in our electoral process.
Additionally, I lay blame on Democratic candidates that didn’t use President Obama’s accomplishment to strengthen the party and his agenda.
So many candidates in 2014 acted like they were ashamed of the president and distanced themselves from him.
President Obama has taken heat not only from obstructionist republicans, but from the silent Democrats.
jenny-I drove all night across the state Saturday back from sx falls’ McGovern Day event, where we dems are trying to elect democrats for the 2016 election and protect the state and the nation and the world with the obvious danger from republicans. please get involved in the election if you are not already. our values are markedly different than republicans’.
Obama has been the right president at the right time and it is easy to “diss” his accomplishments or lack thereof, discussed above. I like Michael moore but he may not be completely reliable and pragmatic in his assessment. I like bill moyers too but am not convinced his disappointment with Obama is accurate either. this is complex stuff.
btw, conspiracy theorists might say republicans poisoned us at our convention center dinner as a few of us immediately came down with sore throats. hopefully what ever bug we picked up will be harmless. but I would not put something like this past republicans’ hate for democrats in this state.
All the Obama love is great. Yes he had terrible resistance from the congress when attempting to pass National Health care. Now let me think, what party was in control of the congress? oh ya, it was the DEMOCRATS! What we ended up with was a congress and President that backed down at every turn. Now my deductible and copays are out of control. Thank you Obama for standing strong and fighting for that single payer you said you wanted. Looks like we score another one for the insurance companies. Also I would like to know which prisons all those wall street and banster thieves are residing. I would like to know why the lawsuits brought against wall street and the banksters were dropped by the justice department? Why did the American people get eviction notices while citigroup and goldman sachs received handouts in the billions of dollars. Tell me why Obama moved out of the way and allowed the corporate criminals that brought this country to its knees run the show while he was in charge? I want to know why the govt continues to lie about the real unemployment stats? Obama sold out the minute he agreed to run for president and continues to do so now!!! How many more drilling rights will he hand out before he leaves. Let Exxon off the hook for $20 Billion when the damage is closer to a Trillion dollars. Pushing a trade agreement the will increase corporate control and take even more jobs from Americans…………….. Wow the Gays and Lesbian community have the right to hold hands in the unemployment line now. How many Planned parenthood clinics have been closed and how much voter suppression and gerrymandering has taken place unopposed and uninvestigated by this guy? This is who you believe is going down in history as the great president? History will be the judge of that. I suppose you all believe Hillary will do as well as Obama. I think she will exceed Obama in bringing this country closer to a third world status and is now and will be a corporate lacky………BERNIE IS OUR ONLY WAY OUT OF THIS MESS
Amen
Bernie is no longer a way out of this mess. He is part of this mess. If Bernie Democrats and Independents don’t back Clinton, we will be swearing in Der Fuhrer Trump in January.
Blame Republicans for his lack of accomplishments all you want, but he can be on Conan tonight to make an appeal for the citizenry to put pressure on Congress on any issue. Even our guaranteed to be re-elected Congressional members would take notice when they receive hundreds or thousands of phone calls and letters. The talk shows, all of them, will clear their schedules for him on a moments notice, but he is so confident in his own beliefs that he doesn’t need us; he is the “decider” for what is needed or not.
http://www.ohio.com/blogs/mass-destruction/blog-of-mass-destruction-1.298992/when-obama-had-total-control-of-congress-1.332977
Out of a total 96 months as our legally elected Potus, Obama/Dems TOTALLY controlled congress for four of those months. That is all!
Thank you, Donal, exactly how I feel. Obama needed some bad ass LBJ brashness to get things done like universal healthcare.
He’s been a huge disappointment but when lobbyist corporatists buy Washington that’s what we get.
Darin, liberals will stay home or write Bernie in the ballot. He was not part of the problem and you know it.
Roger Cornelius at 23:08 made good points.
Democratic candidates seemed like scared rabbits when it came to Obama supporting them. It was a stupid mistake.
BUT, the real problem is that the Democratic National Committee and others decided to more or less ignore local and state elections prior to a census which the newly elected GOP thugs then used to Gerrymander nearly every district in the country. Koch was driving this as well. SD is no exception as Weiland, et al have pointed out. Republicans are 46% of SD voters, but they have 80% of the legislative seats. Since we have only one US representative they could not automatically foul that nest here however. But, a bungled Democratic campaign allowed no-brain Noem to get into Congress and vote a straight retrograde line.
So our political future depends on late show TV shows? We can not remove Republicans by going on TV as the vote has already been suppressed, gerrymandered, fixed the voting machines, reduced the voting ability in democratic districts, gone back to Jim Crowe tactics all over America thanks to Obama, and now Hillary is doing the same via the DNC.
The Democrats controlled congress at a time when the most important and future legislation could have and should have been enacted to prevent what we are dealing with now. However, this was the time when we, who bothered to pay attention, discovered the Democrats were all serving corporate masters along with the Republicans. The millions of new supporters Bernie has awaken will vote for him but will not vote the lessor of two evils as it is still evil. When trump wins, do not blame it on Bernie, Bernie attempted to save this democracy and Clinton just showed how cheating and lying her way through an election would help her win. We will tolerate the corporate politicians.
How anyone could say that Bernie is part of the problem must be a corporatist or a republican as Bernie has awoke the silent majority in the country despite the dirty tricks of the DNC and the blackout by the corporate media. Too state Bernie is the problem, reveals you have not done your research in to both candidates. Hillary is the wolf in sheep’s clothing and Bernie is the real McCoy. You may not have suffered due to your station in life but to forget or to not understand the “Depression” the rest of us in the country are still experiencing is a huge mistake that is going to come back to haunt us all.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
John F. Kennedy
correction: We will NOT continue to tolerate Corporate Politicians.
Wowser, both Mr. Cornelius and Mr. Wiken in agreement? Well, me too!! The DNC must go and go quickly. They have done nothing since Howard Dean was at its helm but stoop as low as then can to go further to the right and not stand for anything. Democratic voters see this and see the DNC chosen ones, as nothing more than yes men so they stay home. Say what you will about lackadaisical Democratic voters, but they know when the fix is in. Bernie Sanders will change that and keep the enthusiasm and demands for better Democrats to run in the mid-terms. Republicans, on the other hand, follow a cult like trail to the voting booth cycle in cycle out.
I am really surprised at how so many folks, including people who see themselves as liberals or progressives have fallen for the right wing’s attempts to characterize Hillary as dishonest. For example, donal declares that she is a “cheating and lying” candidate.
In any event, here is long post fact-checking all of the presidential candidates. Hillary’s score for making truthful statements is not perfect but it is way ahead of Trump, Cruz and Kasich, as well as being slightly ahead of Bernie in the “false claim” category. Judge for yourself:
http://2016-presidential-candidates-fact-check.silk.co/
One of the most gracious; well-educated and well-spoken – best Presidents ever in my opinion. I will miss him and he did accomplish much during his Presidency — would have done more had Congress viewed him differently.
Hillary may usually get to some technical correctness and truthfulness, but it is hard to listen to her (no matter what the GOP propagandists have claimed) and believe she is sincere. She should have been an actress, but her campaigns seem more like an act than anything with real conviction. I will vote for her despite my misgivings, but it will not be with much conviction or enthusiasm.
Bernie seems to me to be the best of the bunch, but maybe that is because he communicates sincerity better.
The coming election seems to put us in a situation too much like that when Lincoln gave his Gettysburg addresss….we are testing whether any nation with such an election system……
I didn’t vote for bill the 1st time and certainly didn’t vote republican.
but if you think young people have the right sense, then by all means make sure Paula Hawks gets elected. she has a fire in the belly. whether its DCCC, Reid, Pelosi or the rest of the “corporate co-opted dems” that can help her financially to beat Noem, DO IT NOW. she has heart, is young, tall, pretty, and has personality for miles. corrina had it too but we ignored her, a combat vet to some degree. so did rick weiland.
for that matter, so do Jay Williams and his wife. we couldn’t ask for better candidates. dems and independents, and left leaning republicans, as will rogers once said sorta: “you’ll get who you didn’t elect”.
it takes effort of every one of us against the tens of millions of dollars thune and noem and ultimately rounds will have to keep republicans in power. volunteer!!!!
Donal-when did Dems control congress???? Do you recall any wingnut filibusters?? Where you even alive???
During the White House Correspondents Dinner President Obama acknowledged Bernie’s presence and asked him ‘why he was distancing himself from me’. It just shows that Bernie and other Democrats, even at this late date of the Obama Presidency, don’t support him.
On the other hand, Hillary has had the courage to own President Obama’s successful presidency.
Will Bernie ask President Obama to campaign for him? I know Hillary will ask for his help.
The reality is that Bernie Sanders campaign is quickly becoming out of reach for him. Late last week he was forced to layoff a large portion of his staff and today is calling for a brokered convention, an act of desperation.
In the end our Bernie will probably grudgingly end up supporting the witch. After all, who knows what the Clintons would do since they play dirty.
OK. mike from iowa: I was around when Harry S Truman was President sonny! Please don’t be a dumb ass.
From January 27 to April 28, 2009, when Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) joined the Democratic caucus, there were 56 Democratic Senators, 41 Republicans, two independents and one undecided seat in Minnesota. That vacancy was filled as an additional Democratic seat on July 7, 2009, with the swearing-in of Al Franken, bringing the totals to 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans and 2 independents. Seven weeks later, on August 25, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) died, lowering the Democratic total to 57 for a month until Paul G. Kirk Jr. (D) was appointed and sworn in as Sen. Kennedy’s interim replacement on September 25, 2009. Just over four months later, on February 4, 2010, Scott Brown (R) who had won a special election for the seat, succeeded Paul Kirk, returning the Republican caucus to 41, and again reducing the Democratic caucus to 57 plus two independents. [The Democratic caucus dropped again briefly to 56 in the 18 days between the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) on June 28, 2010 and the seating of his interim successor, Carte Goodwin (also D) on July 16.] The appointed Democratic Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris was succeeded on November 29, 2010 by Mark Kirk, a Republican elected earlier that month, once again dropping the Democratic caucus to 56 with 2 independents facing 42 Republicans for the last month of the 111th Congress. December 2011 Congressional
Roger Cornelius, If you want to learn about the real Hillary Clinton, please take a few minutes and view this report……………… https://youtu.be/PV_PLCC6jeI
I have been a life-long democrat! I finally woke to what the Democratic Party has become and it is not the party of my father or grandfathers. I am deeply sad and hurt at what has been done to the party that put people and country before money and power. I will not vote for any republican as they are the party of corporate greed and arrogance.
Donal-
Kennedy was active in the senate for approx 2 months of Obama’s presidency. From April until June of 2009 Kennedy did not vote once. His seat went unfilled until Fall, leaving Dems a vote short.
I still make it about 4 months of a f-p majority.
Donal, I am a Democrat, born that way you know, the thought of the alternative is reprehensible. If you choose to vote for Trump in the general election, so be it.
Since the Clinton’s first came on stage there has been so much anti-Clinton Fox “News” type propaganda it has become ridiculous.
Yes, the Clinton’s have had their fair share of legitimate scandals and have survived them and moved on.
The links provided on this blog about Hillary and her purported scandals aren’t worth reading. If a Hillary scandal can’t be produced, someone will manufacture one or exaggerate something. As we all know, the more we repeat something the more it is to be believed.
@mike in iowa: 60 votes is not the requirement for cloture in the Senate, it is 3/5 of the seated Senate. Since the Senate doesn’t count vacant seats in it’s calculations for super majorities there were times in the 111th Senate that cloture only needed 59 votes because of 1 or 2 vacancies (3/5 of 99 seats is 59.4). While it wasn’t 2 years, the Democrats did have control of the Senate for quite a bit longer than just 4 months.