And yet he becomes a father figure to all those young men.

The President is a father figure to so many Americans. This President is probably more relatable to more Americans than ANY other President who came before him has. This President probably has more in common with more Americans than any other President who came before him could claim to have. And ironically, as much as President Obama DOES share so many more common threads with more Americans, many of those same Americans still feel compelled to oppose him and refuse to accept him - in that office or anywhere else.

Go figure.

I think this is a very dear moment. When you can look up at the President of the United States and realize that he actually walked in the shoes you walk in now - in a very personal way. When you realize he actually knows, in the deepest and most personal ways, how it is for you now because he's actually, personally, intimately BEEN THERE, HIMSELF, and lived it himself. AMAZING moment! THAT'S the kind of moment that truly reaffirms what the America we all grew up believing in - really is.

Reminds me of one of those quotes from his landmark 2004 Democratic Convention keynote speech - (paraphrasing here) "there is no other country on earth where a story like mine is even possible."

I wonder how many of his fellow Americans even get that.

PROUD this man is our President. ASHAMED that so many of my American sisters and brothers despise him and fight him on every turn and want somehow to negate him and everything about him. I'm PROUD to have him as our President and America's face to the world. I'm proud I supported him and voted for him twice (well, three times counting the 2008 California Primary). I have no regrets and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And I'd support a THIRD term for him, too if that were possible (if only to piss off the republi-CONSS and other assorted haters and knuckle-draggers and Bronze-Age thinkers).

Pretty much. Because THEIR "freedom-freedom" is what's important here.

THEIR alleged "victimhood" is what's important here.

Yeah, makes a lot of sense to me, too.

Go figure.

Honestly, who really knows with idiot assholes like him?

Welcome to DU, Beach Rat!

Glad you're here! GREAT observation. They are indeed dark hollow souls. And that's about the best one can say about them. Now they're weasels trying to cover their tracks and finagle some sort of protection so they don't have to pay for their criminal behavior.

I'd sign up for that! Make 'em own it.

Same thing as with the fracking guy who's just FINE with it as long as it happens near YOUR house. But heaven forbid he has to deal with it in his own back yard!!!!! What an outrage! Unfair! Freedom-freedom!

I agree with that completely. What if there were a law that all drilling, all dumping, all strip-mining, all fracking, all oil/gas/coal production, all toxic manufacturing, and all over-development MUST be located within one mile of the company's executives' homes?

I realize it's just a pipe dream. But it's a sweet one. Taste of their own medicine. See how they like it.

You might be able to get tax-free status like he probably enjoys!

It just shows how deeply ingrained it is, within her.

She can't not bring it up. Race is clearly a major undercurrent in her life. The color of that particular football player was irrelevant to the reason he's in the news. But she did have to throw it in, didn't she?

Sigh…

I guess some people just can't get beyond it.

And … um … I do notice that she's certainly used her time out to get a facelift. She's definitely had more work done. Getting ready for more camera work, girlfriend?

I had to go get more kitty litter, dog & cat food, and creamer for coffee!

Lay in some supplies to help us ride out the storm. Really looking forward to this. We haven't had a good rain storm or anything "with attributes" like thunder or high winds, in a long time.

Well, inside, we are!

VERY happy and celebrating! And knowing all the little plants outside there are getting a welcome drink!

Very happy to be able to add - L.A. is now getting rain, too!

FINALLY!!!!! We're SO parched here! I just got home in the nick of time! BIG drops plopping on the windshield! What a relief! Thank you, God!