Obama: "AK-47s belong on battlefield, not streets" (with video)

Darren Samuelsohn (Politico) with video (00:30):

Obama’s remarks in the Big Easy about guns were the most extensive of his term, going further than what he said after the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona. White House aides have acknowledged new gun laws are still politically impossible in the current election-year climate, but Obama’s comments suggest he’s at least willing to talk about the issue. MORE...

My friend Ben reports from the POTUS ropeline at Boeing Field (with photo)

"U.S. President Barack Obama high-fives a young supporter as Air Force One lands at Boeing Field during a visit to Seattle on Thursday . The president was scheduled to attend two fund raisers during the visit." Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

Hi Howie,

I just wanted to tell you I had a momentous meeting yesterday for about 15 seconds with the President of The United States. A couple of days ago, I had to provide some security information about myself to Organizing For America for possibly greeting President Obama at Boeing Field.

I did not think much of it. I was assuming they wanted a group of us to hold some signs and cheer the President as he disembarked from Air Force One. Yes, exciting, but still doing my duty as a grassroots volunteer for Organizing For America.

Yesterday, as I was nearing Boeing Field, there was security all over the area, as much as a few blocks away. It gave you the feeling of something very important was going to happen. I met our OFA contact at the terminal and we went through Secret Service security. We were then escorted to a waiting room. They had snacks and drinks to make us comfortable for our wait. It was in this waiting room, I found out, we were to line up at the bottom of the stairs of Air Force One and President Obama would shake each of our hands.

My heart was pounding a little faster than normal. What was I going to say? Everyone was dressed super special, except me in my casual attire, jeans, short sleeved shirt. What I would have wanted to say was a long list of my appreciation for what President Obama was doing for our country, but that would not have worked in a few seconds. I could have picked one item, but it would not do justice for all he's done. I could have said I would like to have been there in Reno to support him at the VFW National meeting, to which I was invited. None of those ideas seem to fit for my 15 seconds.

So, after Air Force One landed and approached the final landing spot in front of our waiting room, there were 'staffers' disembarking from the rear of the plane. The stairway was brought to the front of the airplane and there were 2 Air Force Staff enlisted personnel saluting the President at the bottom of the stairs. They were sharply dressed, well decorated, and appeared to be in top physical shape. There were TV crews and Cameras with very expensive camera lens taking pictures about 100 feet away. The crowd of well-wishers was about 200 feet away.

As President Barack Obama appeared at the top of the stairs, he waved to the crowd and walked down the stairs. President Obama was very impressive looking, well-dressed, energetic, and I could sense he had the weight on his shoulders of the United States of America. As I envisioned many leaders, he was even more so in person. What would I finally say when he came to me about 8th in line. I said: I'm sorry Mr. President, I did not get the memo about wearing a coat and tie. He said, that's OK, you're a lot more comfortable than me as he put his hand on my shoulder. Then he asked me my name. I said, Ben, and he said thank you for your work! My 15 seconds was up, but what a thrill!

As he finished shaking hands with us, he started walking toward the open door limousine, but walked right past it to the well-wishers near the terminal. He wanted to greet them as well. What a 'down-to-earth' President. We were told not to move from our spot because once he got into the limo the motorcade would take off. As President Obama finished with the cheering crowd he again walked toward the limousine and bypassed it to get a last minute group photo. We were told we would get a copy. He thanked us as a group, got into his limo and the motorcade drove off.

I then returned to our West Seattle Phone Bank at OFA HQ told the people there of my experience and started making calls. I was extremely grateful for the opportunity and wished others could have been there as well. So while the meeting and handshake took about 15 seconds there were many minutes before that meeting and endless time afterward that will stay with me forever.

Ben

"Ask Jane Mayer Anything: Should Bush Officials Be Tried For War Crimes?" (video)

Andrew Sullivan with video (01:35).

Howie P.S.: The spoiler is "it's not going to happen. They didn't want to take the CIA on."

Obama's 'moment of honesty' (video)

MSNBC-Martin Bashir, video (06:01).

Howie P.S.: Joy Reid and Ari Melber discuss. I would venture to say that Obama has many "moments" like this, although we may not read about them in the press.

John Lewis: "What would Martin Luther King Jr. say to President Obama?"

"Civil rights leaders remember Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington."

John Lewis (WaPo op-ed):

As a minister, never elected to any public office, Dr. King would tell this young leader that it is his moral obligation to use his power and influence to help those who have been left out and left behind. He would encourage him to get out of Washington, to break away from handlers and advisers and go visit the people where they live. He would urge him to meet the coal miners of West Virginia; to shake the hands of the working poor in our large urban centers, juggling mutiple jobs to try to make ends meet; to go to the barrios of the Southwest; and to visit native Americans on their reservations. He would urge Obama to feel the hurt and pain of those without work, of mothers and their children who go to bed hungry at night, of the families living in shelters after losing their homes, and of the elderly who chose between buying medicine and paying the rent. MORE...

(Updated) My 19 year old daughter just got doorbelled by an Obama volunteer

UPDATE: I just remembered that the doorbeller was NOT a volunteer. He is an official OFA staffer. Other volunteers are out doorbelling, however.

My daughter is a first time voter and as such, was a priority voter on the Organizing For America list here in West Seattle. Since she is 19, she was still asleep. And since I know the volunteer (he is the West Seattle "grassroots" staff lead from the Organizing for American HQ @ 901 S. Rainier where I also volunteer), I entertained the doorknocker for a brief visit on our deck, with an orange juice cocktail (non-alcoholic). Jus sayin'.

"How Loss Of Enthusiasm Among Youth Voters Could Cost Obama The Presidency" (with video)

Peter S. Goodman:

“He was intelligent, clever, and totally composed," Terrell says. "I know I'm only 22, but I still remember well when our president wasn't any of those things. I left thinking, ‘Man, it’s just so cool that this guy’s the president.' He’s all the things I would want in a president. He hasn’t done all the things I would like him to do, but he still is that person." MORE...

Greg Sargent on the "centrist dodge"

Greg Sargent:

A little while back I suggested that many pundits are regular practitioners of what you might call the “centrist dodge.” Paul Krugman defines it for us very nicely:

A Very Serious, chin-stroking pundit argues that what we really need is a political leader willing to concede that while the economy needs short-run stimulus, we also need to address long-term deficits, and that addressing those long-term deficits will require both spending cuts and revenue increases. And then the pundit asserts that both parties are to blame for the absence of such leaders. What he absolutely won’t do is endanger his centrist credentials by admitting that the position he’s just outlined is exactly, exactly, the position of Barack Obama.

Krugman, of course, is talking mainly about his Times colleague Tom Friedman, though plenty of others fit the mold. MORE...

"Stung by Recession, Many Young Voters Looking Past Obama"

"Chad Tevlin, 19, on the back porch of his father's house in Elkhart, Ind. A student trying to pay for college by cleaning portable toilets, he cannot recall if he registered to vote at all."

Susan Saulny (New York Times):

Polls show that Americans under 30 are still inclined to support Mr. Obama by a wide margin. But the president may face a particular challenge among those voters ages 18 to 24. In that age group, his lead over Mr. Romney — 12 points — is about half what it is among 25- to 29-year-olds, according to an online survey this spring by the Harvard Institute of Politics. And among whites in the younger group, Mr. Obama’s lead vanishes altogether. MORE...

"How Liberals Win"

"President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the National Recovery Act."

Bill Scher (NY Times op-ed):

President Obama has endured much criticism of his legislative skills from his fellow progressives. His conciliatory approach has been compared unfavorably with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s gleeful pugnacity and Lyndon B. Johnson’s relentless arm-twisting. His willingness to strike deals with corporations has been tagged “business as usual.” Many progressives, frustrated over the past three years, have concluded that the political system is fundamentally broken because corporate power has been allowed to suffocate popular liberal policies.

But the Supreme Court’s upholding of Mr. Obama’s health care law reminds us that the president’s approach has achieved significant results. If his liberal critics paused to assess how he achieved such results, they would not see a system paralyzed by corporations; they would see that the most liberal reforms in more than 40 years have been brought about because Mr. Obama views corporate power as a force to bargain with, not an enemy to vanquish. MORE...

Howie P.S.: The Money Quote-

The realities of corporate power cannot be wished away by any president, no matter how tough the talk, because corporations can and will spend freely during the legislative process. And when they are unified, they have the resources to dominate debate. Even the progressive holy grail — a constitutional amendment banning corporate campaign donations — would not stop that.

Sandra Fluke: "Why Obamacare is worth fighting for against Mitt Romney's repeal threat"

Sandra Fluke (GuardianUK):

Now that the supreme court has declared, once and for all, the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, much of the debate has turned to the politics of the ruling and what it means for the coming election. It's events like Thursday's that shine a light on the stark contrasts between our two presidential candidates.

In the hours after yesterday's ruling, Governor Romney wasted no time reminding us that repealing Obamacare will be a top priority if he's elected, egged on by congressional Republicans who had already scheduled a vote to dismantle the law. Meanwhile, President Obama continued to focus on the real-world benefits this law will bring to millions of Americans.

I agree with the president that we cannot lose sight of the human impact this law will have on young women and men just graduating from college; on mothers, fathers, and children alike. And while the supreme court's decision was a decisive victory for the American people, it does also underscore just how much is at stake in this election. MORE...

"Obama’s Big Health Care Win: An Incredible Stroke of Luck"

David Goldman / AP/"Supporters of President Barack Obama's health care law celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 28, 2012, after the court's ruling was announced."

Michael Grunwald (TIME):

During the Tea Party summer of 2009, when suburban revolutionaries with funny hats and nasty signs began screaming about Obamacare and tyranny, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel urged the President to settle for a less comprehensive health plan. But Obama said no, he felt lucky. At the end of the summer, after Obama’s approval ratings had sagged and Obamacare’s approval ratings had plunged, Emanuel asked during an Oval Office meeting whether he still felt lucky.

“My name is Barack Hussein Obama and I’m sitting here,” said Obama, in an anecdote first reported by Jonathan Alter in his book The Promise. “So yeah, I’m feeling pretty lucky." MORE...

Melissa Harris-Perry on the SCOTUS Decision (video)

MSNBC, video (05:29).

"Howard Dean on Healthcare Ruling: 'The President Won' " (interview by Ari Berman)

Ari Berman (The Nation):

Few politicians know as much about healthcare as Howard Dean, a former physician, five-term governor of Vermont and president candidate. Dean has long been an advocate for universal healthcare, although he was critical of the Obama Administration’s handling of healthcare legislation in 2009-2010, particularly the lack of a public insurance option in the final bill (which Dean ultimately supported). I interviewed Dean today about the political and policy ramifications of the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

Ari Berman: What was your reaction to the healthcare ruling?

Howard Dean: I was surprised. Like many people, I was shocked that Justice Roberts sided with upholding the bill and somewhat surprised and disappointed that Justice Kennedy voted to get rid of the entire thing along with the three right-wing justices.

I was glad that the president won a victory. But this pretty much ends the debate about the nature of the private sector in the healthcare business—it’s here to stay in a very big way. This is, after all, a Republican bill. Not the Republicans that we see today, but the moderate Republican wing under Mitt Romney in Massachusetts—this is their bill. For the foreseeable future there will be those who wish we had a single-payer healthcare system, but that’s not going to happen in Washington anytime soon. MORE...

"How the Supreme Court's Healthcare Ruling Boosts Obama's Reelection Bid"

Tim Dickinson (Rolling Stone):

"It's constitutional. Bitches." —Patrick Gaspard, Executive Director, DNC

Obamacare lives. And, with it, Barack Obama's case for a second term.

In laying the groundwork for 2012, Obama and Mitt Romney have had dueling imperatives: The president needs to make sure that the November election is a choice. Romney needs to make it an up-or-down referendum.

In Team Obama's frame, choosing to reelect the president is a vote to continue moving "Forward"; choosing Romney is a vote to return to the policies that created our current pain.

That frame only works, however, if you can demonstrate that you're, in fact, creating forward progress that's easing the pain. And June has been a hazardous month for that narrative. The nation's slow, steady economic recovery appeared to stall out. Job growth flatlined. Then Obama gaffed, calling the private sector's stagnating performance "fine."

The June gloom played right into Team Romney's frame: "Obama isn't working." The president hasn't delivered. You need to vote him out of office (by, oh yeah, voting for me.) The upshot of this referendum model is that you don't even have to like Romney, just so long as you want to oust Obama.

Now, imagine for a moment that the president's signature legislative accomplishment had gone down the tubes this morning, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the dissenters in finding the Affordable Care Act "invalid in its entirety."

The Romney camp could have rightly blasted Obama for two years of wasted effort. MORE...

H/t to Ari Berman.

WA: "Inslee says it's time to make health care law work"

AP:

Congressman Jay Inslee, the Democrat running for governor of Washington, says the Supreme Court upheld the health care law despite "enormous political pressure by Republican attorneys general."

In a statement Thursday, Inslee says he hopes Republicans do not see the ruling as an opportunity for further partisan bickering.

Inslee says both parties need to make the law work for the American people.

Howie P.S.: Or as Tim Gunn says, "Make it work!"

"Obama prepping thousands of lawyers for election"

Mike Baker (AP):

OLYMPIA, Wash. — President Barack Obama's campaign has recruited a legion of lawyers to be on standby for this year's election as legal disputes surrounding the voting process escalate.

Thousands of attorneys and support staffers have agreed to aid in the effort, providing a mass of legal support that appears to be unrivaled by Republicans or precedent. Obama's campaign says it is particularly concerned about the implementation of new voter ID laws across the country, the possibility of anti-fraud activists challenging legitimate voters and the handling of voter registrations in the most competitive states. MORE...

Matt Taibbi: "On Hunter Thompson and Why Barack Obama Isn't a Great Shark"

Eric Sundermann (Village Voice):

What do you think Thompson would say about Obama?
I think he'd be disappointed. I think he would've liked him at first. I think he would've wanted to believe in him. Obama would've been his McGovern in '08. And I think he would've been disappointed afterwards. I hope. That's my impression. He went through that cycle with a number of politicians, I guess Carter comes to mind. He really liked Carter at first, but then he got turned off to Carter over time. His tendency was to fall in love with politicians and then fall out of love after he got a good look at them.
(SNIP)
It's not like, you know, he (Obama) tried to fight the good fight and he couldn't overcome the bureaucracy in Washington. There just was never a fight. He never tried. That's got to be on him. MORE...

"How Badly Will SCOTUS Screw Up Obamacare?" (Updated)

"Uninsured patients receiving care at a free clinic."

Jonathan Chait:

The Supreme Court is likely to announce soon if it has decided to declare the individual mandate unconstitutional. (Which is to say, it’s announcing whether Anthony Kennedy hates health care reform a lot or only a little, because everybody assumes the other four Republican justices hate it so much they’ll declare it unconstitutional.)

As you can tell, I’m already bitter about this, as the constitutionality of the individual mandate is so obvious that the mere fact that the controversy exists suggests a frightening will to power by the legal arm of the conservative movement. But, as we consider the possible outcomes, it’s worth keeping in mind something that is not likely to come through in the news coverage: The vast majority of the bill is likely to stay in place. MORE...

Howie P.S.:

Pithy quotes from Chait-

"Conservatives tend toward triumphalism, liberals tend toward despair, and the news media tends to overplay the importance of whatever thing just happened."

"If the Court strikes down the mandate, I will lose my shit. But striking the mandate would not end the law, or even most of the law."

Howie P.P.S.: Public Option Advocates To Push Medicare For All If Supreme Court Strikes ‘Obamacare.’

"Fact: President Obama Doubled funding for Pell Grants"