DramatistDreamer

If you ever saw that PBS documentary on the history behind D.W. Griffith's Birth of A Nation, including the fight of a Boston based Black man who fought (unsuccessfully) to prevent the movie from being screened in Boston (a documentary I highly recommend, if you can find it), you know that Obama's mixed heritage makes him more of a target for venom in their eyes. According to the novel the movie was based on The Clansman, white supremacists have particular ire for 'mixed' Black men who they regard as every bit as cunning as a White man but have the beastly tendencies of a Black man (according to white supremacist logic). This is why white supremacists and their cohort often regarded Obama as untrustworthy and dishonest (e.g. the hidden Muslim identity) and were constantly of the belief that he was going to take their guns away (no matter how often he said that he would not) and then redistribute all the wealth and give it to 'the Blacks' (we know that was never going to happen).

Apparently, Paul Ryan has forgotten all about this. In the House, people will be making notes on who votes yes as it may make for an effective strategy to vote some of them out in 2018.

Usually I roll my eyes at sports analogies being used in other arenas besides actual sports but listening to a radio interview where comedian Chris Rock mentioned that even as he is on the left politically, he thinks there's a certain hysteria that permeates certain sections of the left. He said that, at this point, Democrats are too busy complaining to the refs when they should be playing defense and trying to get some steals.

Sad that both Nick Kyrgios and Juan Martin Del Potro lost their grandfathers over the space of a few days. Both withdrew from the Estoril Open to be with family.

Funny how the outcry about how much money Bush made post Presidency was almost negligle and he left the economy in tatters. Then again, a good portion of the Democratic party craves cannibalizing themselves. There once was a time when I would've looked forward to supporting a Warren bid for Presidency- now I just hope that others emerge in the next few years, so that Sanders and Warren can both recede into the background and away from the national spotlight. In the interest of injecting a bit of humor in otherwise stressful times, spare a thought for this guy who has a very unfortunate name.

Michelle Obama sent a tweet this morning that seemed to hint at the possibility of reviving the Let Girls Learn initiative through the Obama Foundation. The announcement is very timely, given that the Trump administration announced that they were eliminating the program (along with the Healthy Lunches program).

Lying Trump will likely dispute this but-

This is why I had to roll my eyes and scoff when some people were bragging about the Stock market surge or the supposed rise in the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) because these things rarely reflect what is truly going on in real life. The reality is that the uncertainty of Trump's policies and his unstable temperament has been causing people to be more cautious and ambivalent in their discretionary spending. Many have been tightening the purse strings. Retail stores continue to close by the hundreds while Trumpists focus solely on the coal industry. Yes, some of these changes may happen regardless of who is in the WH but Trump's lack of focus and instability is accelerating what might normally be a yearslong regression. Trump likes to talk but there's an old saying: "Money talks and..." US auto sales slump 4.7% in April U.S. Auto Boom Seems to Be History, Just as Trump Counted on Jobs

Presented without comment.

Apparently the government ethics office knew nothing about Ivanka Trump's new job. Ethics office says it wasn't consulted about Ivanka Trump job

So far 20 Republicans are a No. I believe that if two more say no, the bill will likely be DOA. GOP Health Care Bill: A Running Count of Republicans Voting No on Round Three

It would be so nice if there were episodes somewhere (Dailymotion, YouTube) with an episode or two where we see this. As it is, there seem to be so few episodes featuring Penny online for fans to see.

So Trump invited Duterte to the White House without clearing it with the State Department, huh? Two awful men unite. Trump did not clear Duterte invitation with State Department: report Well, here's a clue as to the timing of the meeting.

This entire thread is so funny. If you get the chance, read/look through it. Here's one example.

Yeah, Blake is a classic.

Not bigger than Tiafoe's though.

OMG whyyyy Dominic??! Change those immediately!

This looks very disturbing though.

I'm guessing you mean GamesmanshipMessyMund. I'm just hoping that she'll be happy with her Stuttgart title and fade by the time Madrid, Rome and Paris roll around.

Speaking of stupidity, The New York Times, after experiencing a boon in subscribers, is not content to be a roaring success in the era of Trumpism but has decided to tank their success by adding a climate change denier to their columnist roster, all in the name of supposedly adding an opposing view. Well, subscribers are now cancelling their subscriptions in droves. Some people think it's stupid for people to cancel subscriptions due to one columnist whose opinions they find distasteful but oh well, freedom of choice and all that. New York Times staff, social media accounts push back against new opinion columnist Bret Stephens’ first op-ed Speaking of the press, did anyone watch the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner last night? I have only seen various clips, but thanks to the power of the Internet, I did find this link to it on You Tube's CSPAN channel. Or actually, it found me as was on Twitter's Moments feed (which I occasionally look at).

Spanish booty vs. Austrian booty.