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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / President Obama’s Final Press Conference: Live Feed

President Obama’s Final Press Conference: Live Feed

by Adam L Silverman|  January 18, 20171:50 pm| 170 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics

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Reader Interactions

170Comments

  1. 1.

    chopper

    January 18, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    he should wear a tan suit, cause fuck em.

  2. 2.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    Ok. I just see Wolf and Tapper(?) bloviating. Tell me when someone smarter starts talking.

  3. 3.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 18, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    I’m hoping for a mic drop at the end.

  4. 4.

    Spanky

    January 18, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    And for those of us at work (“I’m working boss! I’m working!”) without video capability, don’t forget the commentary. It’s all we’ve got.

  5. 5.

    Calouste

    January 18, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    Now on the BBC front page: What are the checks on Trump launching a nuclear strike?

  6. 6.

    trollhattan

    January 18, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    @chopper:
    RussianSoviet flag lapel pen!

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:01 pm

    @Spanky: will do.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    Didn’t watch the last speech and don’t plan to watch this press conference. I feel like a 12-year-old hiding out in my room, refusing to say goodbye to my dad because I know when he leaves, my mom will marry that creepy, evil, leering boyfriend. So I’m just gonna sit in the closet and sing la-la-la-la-la.

  9. 9.

    Timurid

    January 18, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    @chopper:

    He should wear a turban, cause fuck em.

  10. 10.

    catclub

    January 18, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    @Timurid: I am really in favor of resigning so Biden is 45th president.

  11. 11.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 18, 2017 at 2:08 pm

    @Betty Cracker: You should watch his last speech once you’ve gotten your bearings. It was great and touching. I wasn’t weepy until I saw Malia wiping away tears. That’s when I lost it. His tribute to his wife was especially moving. Their love is palpable. We had 8 good years with that family.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    @catclub: Me too.

    Now Barbara Bush is hospitalized too? CNN saying GHWB is intubated; sounds like pneumonia.

    BriWi had his deathwatch voice on. MSfuckingNBC. Hunting for Cspan now.

  13. 13.

    Spanky

    January 18, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    @Elizabelle: Cheeto Benito will go insane if GHWB AND Barbs both snuff it early Friday.

  14. 14.

    Timurid

    January 18, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    This tan suit. That should be the one…

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    There’s a gif from Luvvie about her fantasy of his last presser. I crack up everytime I see it.

  16. 16.

    laura

    January 18, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    @Elizabelle: who am I to stand in the way of her immenant demise.
    Good riddance to her and her beautiful mind.

  17. 17.

    MomSense

    January 18, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @Timurid:

    HAHAHA!

  18. 18.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Ok. I just see Wolf and Tapper(?) bloviating. Tell me when someone smarter starts talking.

    When does nap time end for DC area pre-K classes?

  19. 19.

    zhena gogolia

    January 18, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    same here

  20. 20.

    dogwood

    January 18, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    I haven’t commented here since the election. And it’s still hard for me to talk about this. Been calling representative and trying to figure out my most effective response though. Sometimes it’s the little things that really get to me. Thinking about the Obamas having to go to the White House for the unveiling of their official portraits sickens me. Trump at the opening of the Obama library is unthinkable. And with HW dying in intensive care and Barbara hospitalized with exhaustion, the thought of Trump parading around at a state funeral makes me crazy.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    @laura: They are truly awful people. And their family has done incalculable damage to our nation and the world. The worst thing is I am terrified the family is not yet done pillaging our nation.

  22. 22.

    RareSanity

    January 18, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Like Patricia Kayden said, you should watch it when you think you’re ready for it.

    When I saw it, I was amazed at how he was able to still find optimistic things to say about the current state of our politics. The recognition of his wife and daughters was extremely moving, as well as his call to arms to get involved in the process of bringing about change.

    ETA: That is a figurative call to arms, not a literal one. I know it doesn’t need clarification for most, but there’s always the trolls.

  23. 23.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Now Barbara Bush is hospitalized too? CNN saying GHWB is intubated; sounds like pneumonia.

    Cue “Bush Family ALWAYS trying to steal my attention, and on MY big week, too! Sad!” tweet in 3, 2, 1…

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    @Spanky: Ack, you beat me to it! (see #23)

    You’re right though, he will lose his shit.

  25. 25.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    Chuck Todd is a bloviating ass.

    Will switch to C-SPAN when they stop taking idiotic phone calls.

  26. 26.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    This actually looks like it might be right up Balloon Juicers’ alley: a Russian-themed pop up bar for the Inauguration

    I especially like how they printed over-sized menus, to make it seem like everyone’s hands are tiny…=)

  27. 27.

    Josie

    January 18, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    @Betty Cracker: You have described exactly how I feel.

  28. 28.

    ? Martin

    January 18, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    @catclub: As am I. Too bad Walker is gov of Wisconsin, because Biden could also resign, Ryan would be forced to vacate his seat in the house, and then vacate the presidency on Friday. But Walker would just reappoint him. Missed a chance at getting Ryan out of Congress…

  29. 29.

    The Moar You Know

    January 18, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    Now Barbara Bush is hospitalized too? CNN saying GHWB is intubated; sounds like pneumonia.

    @Elizabelle: There’s been a nasty respiratory thing going around SoCal; since it seems to last four fucking weeks, it’s getting hard to find anyone who doesn’t have it.

    Feel bad for them, there’s worse ways to go, but going sucks no matter who you are or how you go.

  30. 30.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    HA! TAN SUIT JOKE OFF THE TOP!

  31. 31.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    @Jeffro: Shades of Carrie and Debbie.

    I am back to Law & order reruns. Cspan had some caller gushing over Tom Price. Then to Chuck Todd, saying Pbo is not good at press conferences.

    CNN: Schumer calls Trump picks “swamp cabinet”

    OBAMA UP. JOKES ABOUT TAN SUIT.

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    @chopper:

    Obama’s first line: “I was sorely tempted to wear a tan suit.”

  33. 33.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    GHW just released a statement saying that he’s fine, but will not be able to attend the shitgibbons coronation because his “doctor says if he sits outside in January he will end up 6 feet under”.

  34. 34.

    MomSense

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    HA! Tan suit to open!

  35. 35.

    catclub

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    @Spanky: It would highly suitable to have a month or so of flying flags at half staff to start his presidency.

    ABC Tonight: America in Mourning – 2017… and counting.

  36. 36.

    Spanky

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    @Jeffro: GHWB:” I’ll show you a ‘low energy Bush!'”

    And, scene.

  37. 37.

    randy khan

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    @ Martin:

    Ryan would have to go through another election – Governors only appoint replacement Senators. So it could work.

    So, Obama resigns tomorrow morning, and Joe resigns at, oh, 11:00 a.m. Friday. It totally would work.

  38. 38.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    Six part questions! Ha!

  39. 39.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): @Elizabelle: @MomSense:

    Can’t believe it…”tan suit”…

  40. 40.

    ? Martin

    January 18, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @Jeffro: That’s awesome.

  41. 41.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @The Moar You Know:
    GHWB says she is just tired.

  42. 42.

    Spanky

    January 18, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    Will switch to C-SPAN when they stop taking idiotic phone calls.

    You mean, never?

  43. 43.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @hovercraft: Ooooo. Cagey old CIA Director pulls another fast one.

  44. 44.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    He shouldn’t be thanking these assholes. Notice now he is telling them to do their fucking jobs, you are not supposed to be sycophants. Dig about them being in the building.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    @Corner Stone: Those press fuckers gonna miss him. He just lightly snarked at them. Well informed populace?

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    @hovercraft: yeah. The message is pretty clear.

  47. 47.

    Spanky

    January 18, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    @hovercraft:

    GHWB says she is just tired.

    Pining for the fjords of SoCal?

  48. 48.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    Ahhh, Chelsea Manning question. Thanks, Obama.

  49. 49.

    The Moar You Know

    January 18, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    Cagey old CIA Director pulls another fast one.

    @Corner Stone: I hate that old son of a bitch and his entire rotten family, but damn if he isn’t a slick operator.

  50. 50.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    He spent pretty much the entire preamble telling them to do their job
    Love it!!

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    I was wondering if Obama was going to use a pronoun to describe Chelsea or just keep saying her name.

  52. 52.

    patroclus

    January 18, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    The Dow was a little below 8,000 when Obama took office – now it’s a little below 20,000. I’m pretty sure no President has ever matched a 12,000 point rise during their administration(s) and probably no President ever will.

  53. 53.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    I’m loving him throwing shade on Snowden, she took responsibility, she went to trial. Justice has been served, she did her time, but he’s comfortable justice has been served. Message sent.

  54. 54.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    I love a good thunderstorm but this is damn POOR TIMING THOR!

  55. 55.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    I don’t pay a lot of attention to Mr Assanges tweets. I refer you to the justice dept. and the IC.

  56. 56.

    chopper

    January 18, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    HAH! called it, motherfuckers!!

  57. 57.

    Yoda Dog Democrat

    January 18, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Im right there in that metaphorical closet with you. This isn’t happeing. BHO will still be my president after friday and I won’t hear anything to the contrary.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 2:37 pm

    @Spanky:

    Heh. At least no phone calls when Obama is talking. Although I left it on MSNBC because those idiots aren’t talking either while Obama’s talking.

  59. 59.

    Miss Bianca

    January 18, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I feel you.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    January 18, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    Trump Continues Going After Lewis: ‘He Got Caught In A Very Bad Lie’

    Just so gross and needy. “You WILL love me!”

    The President is like some kind of crazed stalker.

    Why doesn’t he go find something useful to do and stop bugging us?

    We DO NOT like him, Sam I am, he is a yam.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    Fucker asking about Dems sitting out the inauguration.

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 18, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    I’ve updated the video link. Just got to a computer. Sorry the original one died!

  63. 63.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:43 pm

    God damn but I can not express how much I hate these preening camera whore WHPC motherfuckers. JUST ASK YOUR FUCKING QUESTION YOU FUCKING GAPING ASSHOLE!

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    This is the last intelligent presidential press conference we are going to see this decade. Unless PBO ends up pulled to another one by current events.

  65. 65.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @Kay: I hate it that Lewis gave him such a tiny little inconsequential thing for Trump to hang his hat on. Now all the rest of what John Lewis said is going to get buried under that stupid insignificant non-attendance garbage.

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:46 pm

    Declines to answer the Q re Dems skipping the inauguration. Well done.

  67. 67.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:46 pm

    Right-wing noise machine: BAMZ CALLED MANNING A “SHE”

    Right-wing noise machine 2: BARRY SEZ HE LEAVES HARD WORK TO THE 20- AND 30-YEAR OLDS

  68. 68.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    He wants to be a quiet a little bit, not hear himself talk so much.

    (True, but subtle too.) Wants to spend more time with his precious girls.

  69. 69.

    Yoda Dog Democrat

    January 18, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @Corner Stone: What did Lewis give him? Excuse my ignorance, I’m still mostly in media blackout mode..

  70. 70.

    ruemara

    January 18, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    I’m not in the closet about BHO. I didn’t really care about him in the slightest when he started his run, but he won me over to thinking he could be good. It took 3 years for me to like him. Nothing about him as a person was unlikeable, but when it comes to an elected office holder, i need to see who they are with power over time. We are going to miss him as a nation and really perceive the lost opportunities. But I will never, ever consider Donald Trump legitimately elected and a successor in the line of American presidents. I pray his name is struck from the records and his number is buried. And I have great faith in him, his cabinet and his party to do untold levels of damage to the world so that this will be so. I wish I were kidding. Just as my hunches told me Obama most definitely would be president if he wanted it, back in the 07 primaries, they have been telling me that if HRC didn’t win, we will be facing things our ancestors thought they had already sacrificed enough to destroy. Not even unease, just the sense that now is a good time to deal with anything you have as a loose end and to prepare for… a very long period of evil. We have 2018 to stop it from being fully entrenched and even then, it will be after much harm is caused.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    @Yoda Dog Democrat:

    Lewis said that he did not consider Trump a legitimate president and that he would not attend the inauguration.

  72. 72.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Much like his endless, pointless tirade against Mr Khan made him look bad, so does this. For him and Steve King to continue to bash Rep. John Lewis makes them look small and petty. One is a pathological liar, calling a civil right icon a liar, the other is an ignorant racist loudmouth saying that apart from his work during the Civil Rights Era, he has never done anything for this country. If that was all John Lewis had ever done, it would be more than enough. All Steve Kin has ever done is show us who and what he is, a disgrace.

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    @Yoda Dog Democrat: JL added a small little addendum when he spoke to Chuck Todd that this would be the first inauguration he would miss since he was elected to Congress. He has since confirmed he did not attend GWB’s first inauguration.
    It’s nothing, really. I mean it amounts to absolutely nothing when looking at every thing about this situation in context.
    But Trump is seizing it like a wounded pitbull and not letting go of this lie that is responsible for the deaths of thousands.

  74. 74.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    @Corner Stone: Me too. I wish he hadn’t said it that way. The point of the illegitimate president still stands.

  75. 75.

    patroclus

    January 18, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    @Yoda Dog Democrat: Lewis said/implied that he never had skipped an inauguration before and Fox checked and discovered that he had also skipped Dubya’s 1st inauguration as well.

  76. 76.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Trump is seizing it like a wounded pitbull and not letting go of this lie that is responsible for the deaths of thousands.

    Well, with Hillary gone, we need a new History’s Greatest MonsterTM …

    Which is only partially funny, as slamming Lewis in this way and holding him to this ridiculous standard is exactly what we used to mean by “Clinton Rules”

  77. 77.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @Corner Stone: @Yarrow:

    Guys…they will ALWAYS find some small, inconsequential thing to harp on, ALWAYS. We shouldn’t let it deflect our attacks on Trump, the GOP, not for a second.

  78. 78.

    Pogonip

    January 18, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    @Elizabelle: What is Briwi?

  79. 79.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    @Jeffro: That’s not what I’m saying.

  80. 80.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    @Pogonip:
    Brian Williams.

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Oh, yeah, forgot about that.

  82. 82.

    laura

    January 18, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    @Corner Stone: Word! Cornerstone, I couldn’t agree more and Bar is the one I have the most.contempt for. Her callousness in reaction to the drownings and all that came after Hurricane Katrina revealed a most malevolent “heart.”
    Her sole concern was that Neill and his edu-grift Excite made boatloads of money.
    C U N(ext)T(uesday) bitter, gristled old she-hag.

  83. 83.

    Shell

    January 18, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    because his “doctor says if he sits outside in January he will end up 6 feet under”.

    Who was the president who died a month after his inauguration? Got sick after standing out in the cold rain.

  84. 84.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    @Spanky: They should steal his thunder. I’m of the firm belief that people can will themselves to die towards the end; I’m positive my mother did. Anyway, if that’s what GHWB & BB want (as sweet revenge for JEB or just because it’s their time) then I say to them, go for it.

  85. 85.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    @Jeffro:
    This, people misspeak, this is FOX and the Shitgibbon trying to distract from the criticisms by JL. If misspeaking is now an issue, then basically no interview should get beyond the first line of anything he says, since it’s all lies and bullshit, they rest of the interview should be spent drilling into that. If not stop taking the bait, JL is right to call him illegitimate.

  86. 86.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    @Shell: William Henry Harrison?

    GHWB’s quip was not far off the mark. Even traveling could be hard for him.

  87. 87.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 18, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    @Shell: William Henry Harrison

  88. 88.

    Yoda Dog Democrat

    January 18, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Well I knew that… What the fuck, where is the lie!???

  89. 89.

    SenyorDave

    January 18, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    I think Lewis should say he will apologize and attend the inauguration if Trump apologizes to the American people and the Obama family for his years of birtherism (which he should specifically call a racist narrative).

  90. 90.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    SHUT UP APRIL RYAN! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP. ASK A GOD DAMN QUESTION FOR FUCK’S SAKE!
    AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    @hovercraft: Amen and I’m forever grateful to JL for calling Orangemandias out like that.

  92. 92.

    Shell

    January 18, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Well, we can dream, can’t we?
    Another thing I hate about Trump, he’s turning me into an awful person.

  93. 93.

    Pogonip

    January 18, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    @hovercraft: Thank you! Didn’t know he was still on.

  94. 94.

    Yoda Dog Democrat

    January 18, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    @patroclus: Ahhh, gotcha. Sigh… yea dammit, I hate when shit like that gives those fuckers any traction.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    @Yoda Dog Democrat:

    Corner Stone explains further.

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    I love this discussion of the Olympics and Title IX opening the door to women in competitive sports.

  97. 97.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    January 18, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    @Shell: It’s a bit of a myth, sadly. He didn’t get sick until three weeks after the inauguration.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    “We are the only country in the advanced world that makes it harder to vote, not easier.” Boom!

  99. 99.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    HAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Passwords used by Donald Trump’s incoming cyber security advisor Rudy Giuliani and 13 other top staff members have been leaked in mass hacks, a Channel 4 News investigation can reveal.

    Passwords are publicly available for key members of Trump’s cabinet, White House policy directors and aides and some of his most senior advisors, this programme has discovered.

    Link.

  100. 100.

    GregB

    January 18, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    The utter blizzard of lies by Trump are never held against him and he is never accountable.

    Yet John Lewis must account.

    Nope, no privilege.

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    “We are the only people in the advanced democracies that makes it harder to vote than easier …. traces straight back to Jim Crow and slavery.”

    “This whole notion of voting fraud — this is something that has been constantly disproved. This is fake news.”

    Thwack. That will take some pressure off John Lewis as this week’s biggest liar.

  102. 102.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    January 18, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    I’m starting to think that expanding voting rights is the one non-negotiable position that all Democrats should take. Democracy itself should be our guiding principle.

  103. 103.

    Yoda Dog Democrat

    January 18, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    It wouldn’t be a fucking issue if our leaders stood behind him 100%. This is about shitface and his obvious indebtedness and longing for his lover, Putin. Its not about John Lewis or Maxine Waters or Saul Alinsky. Every single elected dem should be boycotting the shitshow and demanding that he release his fucking tax returns or else STFU about John Lewis or anyone else.

    I don’t get it.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    Making a case for what he will be doing post-presidency. Voting rights and removing gerrymandering is HUGE.

    Says USSC will have to reexamine the endless flood of $$$ that goes into our politics. Um …

  105. 105.

    tarragon

    January 18, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet):
    Little bit his inner Luther there.

  106. 106.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    @Elizabelle: They are performing a great public service with the timing of these illnesses. They’ve both had a good long run and they could do the most patriotic thing the crime family has ever done still …

  107. 107.

    Calouste

    January 18, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    @Thoroughly Pizzled: I could wait three weeks.

  108. 108.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    @Thoroughly Pizzled: President Obama’s energy increased as he was talking about voting rights. He’s passionate about it. He’ll be working on that post-presidency.

  109. 109.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    @Thoroughly Pizzled: Yep. Especially since voting fraud is a fantasy. Yes, it can happen. But it does not, and not in the numbers thrown about. It’s rare.

    Get some hard-working registrars out there talking up ballot security. From deep red states, too. It’s often the gadabouts shrieking about voter fraud. It’s not that often the actual registrars and poll workers. Why should their work be so demeaned?

  110. 110.

    randy khan

    January 18, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    @patroclus:

    As an absolute number, no President has had an increase of 12,000, but over time it wouldn’t be a surprise for someone to top it eventually (as the Dow grows, 12,000 becomes a smaller percentage – for instance, a 12,000 increase over the next eight years would be just about 60%, which isn’t that much higher than the historical average). What surprised me when I looked at this was the number of Presidents who’ve had percentage growth higher than Obama, including Clinton (maybe not a big surprise) and Coolidge. Right now Obama is neck-and-neck with Reagan, even. He’s also far behind Roosevelt, who had the double advantage of coming in during the depth of the Great Depression and of serving more than 12 years. If you just count Roosevelt’s first eight years, Obama actually is comfortably ahead.

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Last question. To someone who covered him from Illinois.

  112. 112.

    hovercraft

    January 18, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Voter fraud is bullshit, and has been disproven over and over again. We are the only developed country that makes it harder to vote, and there’s only one reason for that, race. He goes there, we have a lot of work to do on race, but things are getting better. during times of stress we fall back into old bad habits.

  113. 113.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    January 18, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Is it legal to pay for other people to get voter ID? If so, buy one fewer ad in 2020 and instead spend the money on getting everyone ID.

  114. 114.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    Breaking news about the FBI investigating Russian hackers and the election…

  115. 115.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    @Yarrow: Yeah. It’s a great point to rally around, too. It’s positive. It’s patriotic.

  116. 116.

    Calouste

    January 18, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    @Yarrow: They talk about hacks on DropBox, LinkedIn, and a few others, but they didn’t even talk about what undoubtedly would be the greatest source of passwords for nominees for the incoming administration: the hack of Ashley Madison.

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    Link here

  118. 118.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    Teaching their daughters: Resilience and hope, and the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world.

  119. 119.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    @Yarrow:

    President Obama’s energy increased as he was talking about voting rights. He’s passionate about it. He’ll be working on that post-presidency.

    Mine too. It’s an absolutely bullet-proof, all-American topic and a must for our democracy. (ETA: just like Elizabelle said at #115)

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    @Kay:

    Trump Continues Going After Lewis: ‘He Got Caught In A Very Bad Lie’

    They REALLY want to go back to the one where the Presidency was decided by the SUPREME COURT?

    They really wanna bring that up?

  121. 121.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I am shocked—shocked!—to hear that Rudy Giuliani is no good at the cyber. I mean, he has a consulting firm that is all about the cyber! Surely you are mistaken.

  122. 122.

    SenyorDave

    January 18, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    @Shell: Another thing I hate about Trump, he’s turning me into an awful person.

    One of my New Year’s resolutions was to stop wishing terrible things on Trump and his two sons (I don’t have any use for Ivanka, she’s a grifter like her old man but I have to assume that a male Trump is by definition much worse than a female Trump). I did break that resolution early on Jan 1, but I’m still working on it. But than I think of how awful those three are, they are essentially worthless human beings, and I start over again. My friend reminded me recently of Donald Trump Jr. and his skittles tweet (compared Syrian refugees to a bowl of skittles with three poisoned skittles among them), and all I could think was that perfectly embodied the Trump family.

  123. 123.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    “As bone fucking stupid as most of them are, I still believe in the American people.”
    /PBO

  124. 124.

    Timurid

    January 18, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    @Jeffro:

    They’ve got just under 48 hours to find the smoking gun. Good luck.

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    “It is true that behind closed doors I curse more than I do in public….”

    He’s so upbeat. I am not. I dread what is coming.

  126. 126.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    Ends with, “Thank you very much press corps. Good luck.” Ha! One last dig.

  127. 127.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    @Corner Stone: Yeah, true that. Luther.

  128. 128.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Tears. A huge rush of emotion.

  129. 129.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @Kay:

    The President[elect] Putin’s Circus Peanut is like some kind of a crazed stalker.

  130. 130.

    Mustang Bobby

    January 18, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    “Good luck!” [thump thump on the podium, the press room version of mic drop].

  131. 131.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @Yarrow: Oh yeah. The stiletto was out throughout, and those assholes are probably tuned in enough to suffer the cuts.

    PBO is so graceful. And lethal.

  132. 132.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Golly, Nicole Wallace is also a bloviating ass. Who knew? Click goes the TV.

  133. 133.

    David Hunt

    January 18, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    @randy khan: Totally wouldn’t work. Ryan would simply refuse to take the Oath. Whoever, was the President Pro Tempore of the Senate would also refuse. SecState Kerry would be next in line of succession and be sworn in for a for however long. I’m not sure how Kerry would feel about occupying the office he previously sought for so short a time.

    Of course, beyond the fact that this would never work, it is a dick move that is unworthy of the Presidency and especially beneath President Obama who has too much class to do it even if it would work. Plus, if something like that would work, the GOP might shamelessly be doing it at any opportunity. I only use “might” because Presidents at this stage are all thinking about legacy and how they’ll be remembered. They don’t want that type of dick move to be last thing on their record.

  134. 134.

    Timurid

    January 18, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    @SenyorDave:

    No, the Trump family is a bowl of cyanide pills with three random Skittles in it.

  135. 135.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    @Mustang Bobby: Missed that. Well done.

    Those press corpse fuckers deserve what mistreatment they get.

    Citizens > consumers. Their bosses don’t see it that way.

    Jesus Fuck. Rick Santorum. CNN. Where’s the remote. He says this was a painful thing for conservatives to listen to. Uh huh?

  136. 136.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    Santorum is upset that Obama sounds like he is going to stick around. Says Obama is not a guy who was helpful on getting things done in Washington. That he took a hard left, progressive turn.

    Van Jones: I find it odd to hear a Trump supporter making a case for normalcy.

    BOOM!

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    January 18, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    Gap year. This is still a concept that is fucking baffling to me.

  138. 138.

    Rommie

    January 18, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    “Good Luck”

    Way to make me feel full of dread there, Mr. POTUS sir.

  139. 139.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): I take that was MSNBC?

    I was stuck with Santorum on CNN, but Van Jones used a howitzer on him. So that’s good.

  140. 140.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @SenyorDave:
    You think you have turned into a terrible person? I had a flash of an evil thought about dual deaths for GHWB and Barbara…timed for f*cking up parties, balls, and the actual inauguration. Loathe the Bush family but I’m ashamed of myself for wishing for coordinated deaths.

  141. 141.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @Timurid:

    They’ve got just under 48 hours to find the smoking gun. Good luck.

    They can’t stop the inauguration, but the IC will get the info out down the line, I have no doubt about that.

  142. 142.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    Santorum appalled that Little Sisters of the Poor are being forced to “buy abortions.” CLICK.

  143. 143.

    Jeffro

    January 18, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Santorum is upset that Obama sounds like he is going to stick around. Says Obama is not a guy who was helpful on getting things done in Washington. That he took a hard left, progressive turn.

    Van Jones: I find it odd to hear a Trump supporter making a case for normalcy.

    BOOM!

    Van’s awesome.

    Santorum knows that Obama is departing with a 60% approval rating, and that’s he’s about to turn his focus on the big-picture stuff that’s keeping the GOP minority in power. Cue the JAWS theme music…

  144. 144.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    January 18, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @SenyorDave: You and me. I’ve found myself thinking things that I never would have thought before the election. Nobody’s going to get through this unscathed.

  145. 145.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @Quinerly:

    I’d be OK with a really long deathwatch, split screens and all, and then a return to health. It could be like Groundhog Day, with intubation.

    So they can do it again and again during the Orange Maniac’s term.

    Although I continue to hope he will not be inaugurated.

    Good luck, press suckers.

  146. 146.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 18, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    @Jeffro: Here’s the link:
    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article127231799.html

  147. 147.

    Yoda Dog Democrat

    January 18, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    @SenyorDave: Don’t blame yourself like that. You just need to reframe this, but don’t lose that “hate”. We need that. We need you. But just we all need to both harness that energy AND stay positive. We are the unequivocal good guys in this story. Full stop. We second-guess ourselves too much, self-analysis is in our blood, sometimes to our detriment. This is just like when the germans bombed pearl harbor. No need to wish ill on him, I simply wish for him to receive all that he wishes on others. I hope he one day gets exactly like he gives and I have faith that one day he will. Him and all his minions and sycophants.

    But it won’t happen if we all don’t make it happen. As its going now, if it keeps on raining, the levee’s going to break. I dunno, Im getting fired up to call some fucking MoC’s, I dont know about you guys..

  148. 148.

    SenyorDave

    January 18, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    In case anyone was wondering,when you google santorum the first couple of hits are the Dan Savage definition, that Santorum is the the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. It must be nice to leave a legacy.

  149. 149.

    Timurid

    January 18, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    @Jeffro:

    They can leak what they already have. Finding something new will be much harder after they’ve all been fired…

  150. 150.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    @Quinerly: I was worse: I called such timing of joint deaths the most patriotic thing the Bush Crime Family could ever do. In this thread, and I’m not ashamed.

    ETA: Not that I’m competitive.

  151. 151.

    clay

    January 18, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    You know, seeing all these stories on TPM, Kos, et al, about GOP reps getting reamed out by their constituent over the ACA… this reminds me of what was being said 7, 8 years ago…

    Back in the early days of Obama’s administration, when the health care debate was raging, the Tea Party was ramping up, and it was up in the air as to whether anything would get done, the more practical-minded liberals were begging, pleading for anything to get passed… the idea being that, once benefits were in place, people would realize that they enjoyed having them, and wouldn’t want to give them up.

    And once these benefits were accepted by the public, then future generations could go about expanding it and fixing it. A lot of people fussed about passing a watered-down bill, of course, but this was letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

    So what the Republicans are now seeing is what happens when they try to take away benefits that are not only accepted by the public, but have actually made their lives better. It’s early yet, and repeal could still happen, but I bet a lot of them are thinking long and hard about how much they actually want to go through with this.

    And if we can get over this hurdle, then the ACA is here to stay (even if in an amended form), and future generations can fix it.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Yes, MSNBC. She’s one of their regulars, but every time I forget how vacuous she is.

  153. 153.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    So Fiona Apple is not playing the inauguration either. But the day after…. per NYTimes:

    On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of women are expected to march in Washington after Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. This past Tuesday, the singer-songwriter Fiona Apple gave those preparing to protest a signature chant.

    The chant is on a new one-minute track called “Tiny Hands,” which repeats 10 words recorded by Ms. Apple on a phone:

    “We don’t want your tiny hands/anywhere near our underpants.”

    Not elegant. But amusing.

    Ms. Apple’s new song is not the first time that Mr. Trump’s comments from the incendiary recording have been repurposed by his opponents. A group of knitters united online to form “The Pus sy hat Project,” dedicated to creating 1.1 million hats for protesters to wear at the march on Saturday.

    “Tiny Hands” is also not the indie singer’s first protest song aimed at Mr. Trump. Last year, Ms. Apple released a Christmas tune on Tumblr that made such ferocious use of a double entendre that its title can’t be published in The New York Times.

    OK. What is it?

  154. 154.

    ET

    January 18, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    @Spanky: Because of course they would have died to take attention away from him. Sad!

  155. 155.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
    Well, I bet you didn’t try to work a W death into the scenario,too…heart attack from stress. I did for a brief moment. I smiled, too.?

  156. 156.

    mai naem mobile

    January 18, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    I dnot put it beyond the Bushes to make this us so none of the Bushes have to attend. Kinda think it’s bad karma but shut if he is pulling it I think the Clintons and the Carters should pull the same sheet.

  157. 157.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @Elizabelle: I don’t know what it’s called but the first line is “Trump’s Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” Link to her Tumblr.

  158. 158.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 18, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    “Trump’s Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire.”

  159. 159.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: OK. Answering my own question: Rolling Stone (with video):

    Singer’s holiday parody “Trump’s Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire” is one of several anti-Trump, end-of-2016 spoofs

    Fiona Apple gave a fiery version of her anti-Trump “Christmas Song” parody, “Trump’s Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire,” during the all-star Standing Rock benefit concert at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theatre on Sunday.

    The reclusive singer released a casual a cappella recording of the song earlier this month. But her live takedown featured a smooth, quietly jazzy backing band. Like the original version, Apple’s live performance swapped Bob Wells and Mel Tormé’s holiday lyrics to call out Trump’s misogynistic and racist remarks.

    With a jazz band. BOOM again.

    “Everybody knows some money and entitlement/ Can help to make the season white,” Apple sang. “Mothers of color with their kids out of sight/ Will find it hard to sleep at night.” Apple ended the performance by screaming a cathartic “Donald Trump, fuck you!”

    I am liking this Fiona Apple.

  160. 160.

    Elizabelle

    January 18, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    @Yarrow:
    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    Why, yes.

    You know, the fuck the fucking New York Times is too precious. It could have said “Trump’s N___ Roasting on an Open Fire.” But no.

    Although if it sends readers off to find more compleat coverage, so much the better.

  161. 161.

    PaulW

    January 18, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    If the Republicans want to craft a fantasy world where tax cuts work, health care is unnecessary, and rich white guys ruled forever and ever, I’m creating a fantasy world where Obama is still President.

    Take THAT, Fox Not-News

  162. 162.

    Mart

    January 18, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @patroclus: To be fair think you need percent increase in stocks, not gross. Have not looked, but assume nobody had a 250% increase in eight years either.

  163. 163.

    Mart

    January 18, 2017 at 4:14 pm

    Randy Khan already covered more better.

  164. 164.

    randy khan

    January 18, 2017 at 4:19 pm

    @mai naem mobile:

    I still think Hillary should release a statement saying she’s going to remind him that he is supposed to be President of all the people, including the majority that didn’t vote for him, and that they’ll be watching him.

  165. 165.

    Aussie Sheila

    January 18, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    @Thoroughly Pizzled:

  166. 166.

    Aussie Sheila

    January 18, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    For what it’s worth-this lurker and observer of the current cluster$&@k of the US centre left agrees that voting rights should be the número uno political campaign going forward. Of course defending the ACA must be front and central to mobilising people to resist.

    But until the US centre left (and left if it comes to that) deals with the international scandal of voter suppression in your polity, claims about the ‘greatest democracy on earth’ are risible.

  167. 167.

    debbie

    January 18, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    I listened at work. What a sense of loss I felt when it was over.

    Maybe he’ll donate his beige suit to the Smithsonian.

  168. 168.

    sukabi

    January 18, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    Adam, is this one of the other shoes that needed to drop pre drumpf installment

    The informal, inter-agency working group began to explore possible Russian interference last spring, long before the FBI received information from a former British spy hired to develop politically damaging and unverified research about Trump, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the inquiry.
    …

    A key mission of the six-agency group has been to examine who financed the email hacks of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The London-based transparency group WikiLeaks released the emails last summer and in October.

    The working group is scrutinizing the activities of a few Americans who were affiliated with Trump’s campaign or his business empire and of multiple individuals from Russia and other former Soviet nations who had similar connections, the sources said.

  169. 169.

    sukabi

    January 18, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    @Elizabelle: well aren’t they precious. This is the same paper that published all Judith Fucking Miller’s bullshit that lead directly to the Iraq invasion, excused torture, and refused to take any responsibility.

    And they can’t bear to print “nuts”?

    Useless tools.

  170. 170.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @debbie:

    Didn’t hear or see it in real time, but just finished watching the whole thing, and I agree with you. I feel an enormous sense of loss that we are no longer going to have this smart, well-read, thoughtful, witty, giving, and compassionate man as our president, as well as a real sense of impending doom that our incoming president is the exact opposite in every respect: unintelligent, essentially illiterate, incurious, humourless, grasping, and uncharitable.

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