Obama & Hamilton

First of all, Happy 59th Birthday to President Barack Obama.

What better way to celebrate than with one of the greatest cultural events in White House history from the first spring of the Obama presidency. On May 12, 2009, 'An Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word' gave us a sneak peak at a song from a proposed hip-hop album that would become the Broadway classic 'Hamilton' six years later.

Will we ever have a White House that has such cultural highlights again?

Who, for example, visited the current president for a photo op (there are no musical or poetry performances there since 2017) during his first spring in the office?

All Praise to Dear Leader Kim Il Trump From His Inner Circle of Ass-Licking Yes Men and Yes Women! #MAGA! #MAGA!

For a man who claimed that he never would have demanded a pledge of loyalty from his fired FBI chief James Comey, this Cabinet meeting today seems to demonstrate the opposite, namely that nothing is more important to him than public pledges of fealty from his sycophantic underlings.

This has to be seen to be believed:


Only one question remains after watching this, so I posted a quick one-day poll on Twitter to determine the answer:

When performing #ExtremeVetting on potential cabinet members, what is the most important quality that #DearLeader Kim Il Trump looks for?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) June 12, 2017

Senator Schumer's short parody shows how ridiculous this would look if an actual politician... an actual human being... did it:

GREAT meeting today with the best staff in the history of the world!!! pic.twitter.com/ocE1xhEAac

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 12, 2017

So which decade is Melania Trump living in?

 According to an article in the French edition of Le Huffington Post, many are reminded of 1980s soap operas when they see the First Lady's new official portrait, but according to Germany's Der Spiegel, it's the 1990s (and PhotoShop) that are evoked by this bland glamour shot.

So, which is it?

Click Here for the Der Spiegel article.

Click here for the Le Huffington Post article.

I thought it was the 1970s.

A Surprise for the Next Sean Spicer Press Briefing?

In his first two appearances, Donald Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer has shown himself to be an aficionado  of "alternative facts" and a master practitioner of the Fine White Whine of blaming the press, but the press shouldn't get too comfortable with the routine verbal back and forth.

They should remember that Richard Nixon built the Press Briefing Room over FDR's indoor pool and Sean might be saving his trump card for just the right moment.

Will Trump Revive this Blast of Past American Greatness?

The president elect made a statement published today about military parades and flyovers that brought to mind images of goose-stepping German troops and rows of Red Square missiles and choreographed Pyongyang multitudes; it also made me wonder if he's going to bring back one of the signature looks of one of his Republican forerunners who tried to install some old-world grandeur at the gates and doors of the White House.

I don't know if Americans under a certain age will remember the immediate reaction to Nixon's Palace Guard uniforms when he introduced them after a European trip in 1970, but they were almost immediately seen as a joke and retired. Americans in those years had a gut reaction to anything that had echoes of faux central-European grandeur and militarism (and toy soldiers and movie ushers and high-school bands). Like Nixon though, I can't help thinking that Donald Trump would look at these gold braids and buttons over double-breasted white tunics topped with gold-encrusted tall black caps and think, Classy! Great! Call Ivanka's best Chinese seamstresses and get them busy!

The Best Video on YouTube

This video from the early months of the Obama White House is even more bittersweet as those eight golden years are in their final months.

42 years ago today on the White House lawn.

Nixon's famous helicopter departure from the White House lawn as narrated by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather on CBS News on August 9, 1974.

Monsanto to frightened children: "We'll save you from those nasty bees (and the President who enables them)."

Obviously these bees at today's annual White House Easter Egg Roll are the fault of Barack and/or Michelle Obama and they need to be wiped out by Monsanto's magical and profitable insect-eradicating wonder chemicals:


"They sting and they're scary!" yells a little girl at the 11-second mark, obviously having been raised on all the valuable informational materials available from the ABEA, America's Bee Elimination Association.

Lies from a War Criminal. Eleven Years Ago Tonight.

President Bush Addresses the Nation  

The Oval Office 

March 19, 2003 10:16 P.M. EST

My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. 

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense. 

To all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you. That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American military. In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military -- a final atrocity against his people. 

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment. 

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people. 

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent. For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people. And you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly -- yet, our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities. 

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory. 

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail. 

May God bless our country and all who defend her. 

END 10:20 P.M. EST

Still shocking. 

Still awful.

Photographic proof that Barack Obama is an alien!!

For all my right-wing friends out there, you need look no further than the hand signal from another planet that President Barack Obama was flashing in the Oval Office when he was photographed with Nichelle Nichols (alias Lieutenant Uhura) for your final proof that the current occupant of the White House is an illegal alien: