Jack & Jill Politics

Happy New Year JJPer's! I stopped posting some time ago post election. I wasn't sure why but now have an idea of what I was feeling. I knew I was very emotionally invested in wanting Obama to win and spent many hours on the net posting, reading, researching. Once I stopped I soon noticed how much of my personal affairs were getting done easier and more quickly! My days were more relaxed and I wasn't fixated on the news. What a vacation it has been. I guess there is some truth in that old saying about things in "moderation" is best. (lol)

fyi from the Canadian Press

How normal will life be for Malia and Sasha, Obama's famous tweens?
16 hours ago

NEW YORK — They're only 10 and seven, and already designers are angling to dress them. They've been on the cover of People and Us Weekly. And there's that standing invitation - unlikely though it is to be redeemed - to the set of "Hannah Montana."

Malia and Sasha Obama are unquestionably the world's most famous tweens, and they haven't even moved into the White House yet. When they arrive, do they have even a chance at the normal existence their parents have often said they want for them?

A look at history suggests that the media, at least, will keep their distance. Chelsea Clinton, 13 when she entered the White House, was largely left alone at the request of her parents. Amy Carter, who came at age nine, was allowed to live a fairly normal life. And the much younger Kennedy kids were kept from the public glare by their mother, Jackie, who even set up a school for Caroline at the White House.

But this is a different world, one where photos and video can be snapped not just by mainstream photographers but anyone with a cellphone, and uploaded to the web within minutes. It's also a world where kids, now a powerful consumer force, eagerly devour news about celebrities closer to their own age: Miley Cyrus, for example, or the "High School Musical" bunch.

Are the Obama girls celebrities in their own right? "If you're talking about people who fascinate the public, then yes, absolutely," says Larry Hackett, managing editor of People, which has featured the Obama family on its cover three times. "But if you mean celebrity in the sense that we can cover their every move, then no. These are kids."

Figuring out just how public the Obama girls can and should be, Hackett says, will be a tricky process, not just for the media but also for the Obama family.

"I think the Obamas are clearly aware there's a fascination with the girls and how they're going to lead their lives," Hackett says. "They're going to try to chart a course."

Although the Obama girls weren't constant fixtures on the campaign trail, they were hardly invisible, either. They occasionally appeared at rallies, spoke onstage to a video image of their father at the Democratic convention, and, with their parents, gave an interview to "Access Hollywood," a move Obama later said he regretted.

"I think that we got carried away in the moment," he said. "We wouldn't do it again."

Yet the girls, who captured many hearts with their poised, joyful, colour-co-ordinated appearance on election night in Chicago, were clearly an asset to Obama the candidate, says Janice Min, editor of Us Weekly.

"These images of the Obama kids have been incredibly heartwarming," says Min. "No one could doubt that these were great parents, and that they have great girls."

But now, says Min, "it's time for business, and I expect there will be far fewer pictures." Except, of course, for the inauguration - "everybody wants to see them in something super-cute" - and perhaps a flurry of activity whenever their hotly awaited puppy makes his or her arrival.

Certainly, there will be slip-ups, no matter how protective the Obamas try to be. Paparazzi shots of a shirtless Obama on a Hawaii beach were one thing, but those of daughter Sasha in a blue bikini may have been another - at least according to some angry commenters on the photo agency's website.

But once safely in the White House, the girls will be well protected and nurtured, says Ann Stock, who was White House social secretary during the Clinton administration.

"Will there be the occasional photo? I'm sure. But the people around these girls are going to work very hard to let them go about their routines," says Stock, now at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Can the girls live a normal life, or close to it? Stock, who watched Chelsea Clinton spend her preteen years in the White House, thinks they can. "I know it can work," she says. "Chelsea went to her ballet rehearsals. Then she came home, did homework, ate dinner with her parents, went to bed."

"You try very hard to make their lives be a childhood," says Stock. She remembers the White House ushers setting up a scavenger hunt for Chelsea when she came, so she could get to know the place.

And the Obama family is starting with one huge advantage over the past few years: Dinner together, every night. "Remember, essentially they're living above the store," says Stock. "They'll see each other seven days a week."

We know the Obama girls like their dance classes, their soccer, their sleepovers. Those will likely continue. And surely we can expect President Obama, like candidate Obama, to never miss a parent-teacher conference at the private Sidwell Friends school.

Former White House curator Betty Monkman recalls the little Amy Carter, famous for once reading a book at a state dinner, engaging in lots of the normal activities of childhood - like hanging out in a tree house designed by her dad, or carving pumpkins with friends.

"I think they had enjoyable lives," says Monkman of Amy and the other White House children she came to know during 30 years there. "Their families worked hard at it. Their fathers were there probably more than before. The media was not too invasive."

One author on presidential children has a somewhat more pessimistic view. In "All the President's Children," Doug Wead, a former aide to president George H.W. Bush, details the various difficulties he says White House children have experienced later in their lives. Not least of them, he says, is an identity crisis.

"Most White House children live in the shadow of the White House for the rest of their lives," says Wead. "For all their accomplishments, they are forever defined by something they said or did there."

If that's true, it could be one reason so many White House children decline now to speak to the media, Carter and Clinton among them. But it's not a problem the Obama girls will be facing anytime soon.

First, they'll have to make new friends. At school, one can assume that neither Malia nor Sasha will be the odd girl out.

"You're probably not going to be the picked-on girl," jokes Min, of Us Weekly. "You're already going in as the queen bee."

On the other hand, even that can be difficult, says Carol Weston, an author of books for young girls and the advice columnist for Girls' Life magazine.

"I don't think they'll get left out of anything," says Weston. "But you want to feel you're invited because you're you, not so your parents can get invited to the White House! In New York, we see this all the time with kids of regular old celebrities."

Weston thinks that if anyone can successfully navigate the pitfalls of newfound celebrity at such a young age, it's the Obama family.

"I truly believe the Obamas have laid a good foundation," she says. "You get a sense that there's a lot of love there, a lot of back and forth. Michelle says she wants to be mom-in-chief - how wonderful is that? And Barack Obama says 'I love you' to his kids right up there on the stage. That wins me over."

Of course, the tricky part comes with adolescence - something Malia, at least, would be experiencing at the end of a first Obama term. With middle school comes all sorts of issues: rebellion, body issues, mean-girl stuff. But there's plenty of time to think about that. Right now, there are rooms to decorate and lots of people to meet.

And will the Obama girls be treated like celebrities? Weston thinks that's a given.

"This is America," she says. "And who's more famous than the Obama family? We're curious. Who wouldn't be?"

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! :-)

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

It is time for the digging to begin on Burris...

http://www.propublica.org/article/in-90s-burris...

I tell ya, it has got to be hard to be in the public eye politically in the age of the internet. Everything is brought to light. Sometimes good, but mostly bad so people can get the "shock" value. More power to the good people that still choose to serve.

Happy New Year JJP Fam! Just got home from church on the east coast--yes, we did the electric slide in church tonight/this morning, lol. Could someone please recommend a good church in Los Angeles to a brotha?

Happy New Year JJP---It still won't be New Year's for a while here on the West Coast---but I celebrated with Eastern Standard time since that is where "home"is.(I'm so homesick this year!!)

Be safe and best wishes.

Happy New Year JJP Fam. Best wishes for your new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY. Still got about 2 hours to go!

Happy New Year!

2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year, JJP. Have safe holiday and a blessed & prosperous year.

Are you guys watching this biker guy on ESPN??? He keeps psyching himself out instead of going through with this jump. He did the same thing last year!!!!!

Happy New Year, JJP!!!

Happy New Year to all!

Still 2008 for another hour (10:54pm CT) in my neck of Neckville, USA.

(aka Alabama)

But thanks, and Happy New Year to you too!

Looking at Lionel Richie 'dancing on the ceiling' at Times Square, per Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Am I the only one?

Nate: Wellllllll, since you "axed":

Dancing On The Ceiling (Lionel Richie)

ENJOY!! :>) :>)


HAPPY NEW YEAR!! :>) God Bless YOU/YOURS!!

Nope. I saw him

"All Night Long".... It sure sound good to me!

Justice58: Welllllll, since you "axed" 2:

All Night Long (All Night) (Lionel Richie )

ENJOY!! :>) :>) ***dancin'****

Thanks GreenLady!

It brings back the memories!

Justice58: U R welcome. 4 me 2!! :>) :>)

Still pimpin. I'm not mad. I think I'll order that charm..

I'm getting one of those bags. Either the tote with the seal or the DvF bag.

It makes sense in a way. If the PIC is trying to raise money to fund the inauguration, it goes along with limiting individual donors. Sell Union-Made goods, putting money into those businesses and provide keepsakes. I know if I saw an Obama bag, I'd be trying to find out how to get one.

WASHINGTON (AP) President-elect Barack Obama should set an example for Americans by not moving into the lavish White House, an activist group says.

Americans for Responsible Living says that the president-elect and his family should not use taxpayer funds to live in a mansion but should live in a small rental house just like ordinary Americans.

"It would be highly insensitive as well as irresponsible for Barack Obama and his family to use taxpayer funds to live in an opulent mansion while Americans are losing their homes due to foreclosure," says Joe Sikzpach, president of the organization.

"If Obama is serious about Americans 'tightening their belts,' what better way to set an example than to tighten his own belt, and not move into a mansion on the public dime?" he asks.

Ordinary, everyday Americans don't have lavish, opulent homes, Sikzpach explains. Nor do they have the money to operate large homes anymore. "People don't want to see their President living it up in a big house when they have the foreclosure notice tacked onto the door."

Sikzpach is not concerned about the security risks that Obama would face were he to live in housing among working Americans. "I saw his wife on TV saying he could get shot going to the gas station because he was black," Sikzpach said. "Regular black guys, regular people period don't have security details. How much are the taxpayers having to pay the Secret Service to protect Obama?" he asks.

Sikzpach says ultimately if Obama decides to move into the White House he should have to pay a monthly rent to lessen the burden from the taxpayers. "If Obama can pay for a fancy beach house in Hawaii then he can afford to pay a monthly rent to live in the White House just like regular Americans have to pay a monthly rent to live in their homes."

"If Obama can't afford to stay at the White House, then he shouldn't be able to live there. If I or any other regular American can't afford the rent or the mortgage on our homes, then we can't stay there. I don't ask the taxpayers to pay my rent and Obama shouldn't ask the taxpayers to pay his."

Spokespersons for the Obama transition team declined to comment for this article.

TOWN! TOWN! TOWN! Now there you go, AGAIN, "gosh darnit!! :>) **WINK**

Dija know that the "Pigs with 'lipstick'" wanted to live on the White House FRONT LAWN? The ACLU [Attorneys without a CLU] are "defending" them!! :>)

News at 11:00! :>)

Where the hell was this group when Bush decided he wanted taxpayers to foot his $50 million dollar shindig back in 2004 when we were still in a war and cutting programs left and right to pay for it?

I'm with Craig - the People for Responsible Living need to GTHOH with this shyt; if they didn't call out Bush, they need to shut up on Obama's gig - DAMN DOUBLE STANDARD...AGAIN.

LOL it's a joke

"Joe Sikzpach"

LOL but can't you imagine this coming from the AP?

You got me.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

No, that's the most ridiculous bullshit you've ever heard.

Obama's not supposed to live in the whitehouse - that's what they really mean.

Let me see if I got this straight....

Obama and family staying at a Best Western until the Inauguration...and now he's hawking his official "inaguration" wares?

Excuse me....who said he wasn't black enough?? LOLOL

Okay.

Now all he needs is a trunk of his car to sell them from.

<<<ducks and LOL>>>

LMAO!! And don't forget his official campaign CD will be right there in the trunk too!!

Straight outta the Masta P. playbook! LOL!

Make 'em say, "CHANGE!" Na-na-nuh-na!

LMAO!! OWWW! Na-Nuh- Na NU-NUH!

We wrong for this! LOL

LOL

you.so.bad

LOL

hilarious.

rikyrah: I'm thinkin' that "WRITERS" need ta just "LINE UP" at any door of any person that has gotten "kicked out"/"pushed out" or any other type of termination, 'cause SOME TELL-ALL BOOK WILL be written! TRUST!!

Gonzales To Write Tell-All Book



The Wall Street Journal reports that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is writing a book:

Alberto Gonzales, who has kept a low profile since resigning as attorney general nearly 16 months ago, said he is writing a book to set the record straight about his controversial tenure as a senior official in the Bush administration.

In his interview with the paper, the disgraced appointee expressed frustration that "for some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with."

"I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror," he added.

Apparently, the book's publication has already hit a few snags.

Mr. Gonzales, 53 years old, doesn't have a publisher for his book. He said he is writing it if only "for my sons, so at least they know the story."


The chapters on the Bush administration's surveillance program, which involved eavesdropping without court warrants, and other controversial aspects of his work, remain blank. That is in part because he remains under investigation regarding allegations of political meddling at the Justice Department.

Another reason he might be writing the book: he can't find a job. Gonzales has had trouble getting employment since resigning from the Justice Department. In July, he suddenly began appearing in D.C. again after months of absence -- leading the Washington Post to speculate that he had landed a gig. Read more about Gonzales here. Read more excerpts from his WSJ interview here.

Annnnnnd, the person/persons that are the SUBJECTS of the TELL-ALL need ta keep a STAFF of ATTORNEYS!! :>)

***shakin' my head*** LAWD HA'MERCY!! :>)

Another one of those "Legacy" shyt books.

Even if it winds up in the .99 cent bin at Borders or Barnes & Noble, I STILL WON'T BUY IT.

I heard enough lies when he testalied to Congress and they didn't throw him in jail for perjuring himself when he politicized the Justice Department. <<<side eye>>>

CPL: LOL!! .99 cent bin :>) :>) :>)

Happy New Year!

rorysmomma: Heeeeeey! HAPPY NEW YEAR To YOU/YOURS!! :>) :>)

Happy New Year all JJPers!

Enjoy the Holiday & Stay Safe!

Happy New Year JJPers!!! I posted a Christmas drink recipe and now I'll post a New Years Punch (called the Shark Attack):

Ingredients:

2 cups ice cubes
1/4 cup lemon slices
1/4 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup Triple Sec
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup high alcohol content rum (recommended: Bacardi 151)
Splash grenadine
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, plus more for garnish

Directions:

In a pitcher, add all the ingredients and stir to combine. Garnish with maraschino cherries, if using. Pour into rocks glasses, garnish with maraschino cherries and serve.


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/sh...

See you guys next year!!!!

Reads DEADLY when drunk....!

Let me try that one! Thanks, CG.

Oh, BTW, Happy New Year, yall!

Happy New Year blksista!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!11! *typing while durnk* LOLZ

Happy New Year!

And after that recipe, CPL is house bound and watching New Year's Rocking Eve through a mild purple haze... LOL

Happy new year cpl!!!!! :o)

carolinagirl: HAPPY NEW YEAR!! :>) :>) God Bless!!

happy new year glh! i look forward to your comments in 2009. :o) much love and god bless!!!

carolinagirl: Reving up my 2009 brain - - e'en as we speak!! :>) :>)

Happy New Year JJP!!!

I will be home tonight because I have a horrible cold..I mean the kind where the director of my department actually looked at me at about 10am today and said "leave...please....for the love of God...go home and get some rest"...yep...I look that bad!! Cool that they gave me the laptop so I can sit here in my flannel PJs and watch a rerun of Martin while praying to the heavens for my nostrils to open up just a little.

All of you going out (whereever "out" may be): BE SAFE!!

Ew, that's like the "please shoot me now" kind of sick. I prefer to hibernate on New Years Eve, so hopefully you are not disappointed to have to be home.

I did the whole party scene for years in my early twenties, but finally had a revelation that I actually hated it (LOL) and now I stay home with pizza, cheap champagne, my dog and some movies.

It is.....I'm getting drowsy now so hopefully I'm outta my misery in another 30 minutes.

I totally feel you on the "party scene".......I too ask myself "what the heck was I thinking? My feet hurt in those 4 inch strappy sandals, I was uncomfortable, I hated the crowd, I hated the meat market scene"...........I realize I spent a decade of my life torturing myself when nothing beats a good movie night of Boomerang, Waiting to Exhale and Love Jones.

Girl, where's that Vicks Vapor Rub for those passages? And the hot toddy to knock out those germs with a quickness?

Happy New Year - you can drink the toddy for the body and welcome the New Year relaxed as all get out! PEACE!

Happy New Year, Miranda!

Hope you feel better! Nasal spray works for me to open nasal passages.

Good wishes for a Prosperous New Year!

Awwwwwww Miranda: Vicks Vaporub, steamer, nasal spray, etc.

Oh, Yeah - - - chicken noodle soup!! Plenty of water. :>) :>)

Feel betta!! :>) :>)

Happy New Year, GreenLady!

Wishing you everything good in the coming year!

Bless you!

Justice58: Heeeey! :>)

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009! to YOU/YOURS!! :>) God Bless!!

Got the Vick's Vapor rub (the sass, as my grandmama calls it).....my nose is so stuffed up I can't even smell it. I just took a Mucinex (think that's right, I cant get up to check the spelling)...........this really sucks. I felt sick yesterday, but I woke up feeling like death warmed over....seeing as I have not one day left to take off (I never do, I dont understand how others have days to carry over) - I had to get up and go. Good thing tomorrow's a company holiday too!

Well since you took Mucinex make sure that when you bend over you have a tissue in your hand. Your nose should run like a faucet in a little bit.

JJP FAMILY: **virtual hugs to all** :>) :>)

Happy 2009 New Year

ENJOY!! :>) :>)

icebergslim: GREAT PICS!! Loved the "sweaters around the waist" style!! :>) :>)

2 cute!! I mean - - the girls!!! :>) :>)

thank you iceberg. Not only for this diary, but all the others. You have kept us steady this year and informed.

JJP Family: New Year Sayings/Inspiration:


We Wish You All a Happy New Year 2009

ENJOY!!! :>)

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked for a 90-Day EXTENSION of his Indictment deadline of Blago.

Miranda

Ok.....what are we being distracted from? This is all bogus...what the hell are they diverting our attention away from? I don't trust the justice department as far as I can throw'em.....and we are still in a Bush-Cheney administration...what the hell are we being distracted from?? The McConnell plane crash?? More investigations regarding Katrina deaths?? What? Something...we are being distracted from SOMETHING.

I just listened to a great conversation about this on the radio between Joe Madison, Roland Martin, Cliff Kelley (WVON), Robert Starks (a local political science Professor and former political strategist) and Harmene Hartman (N'Digo Magazine).

Roland was hilarious as well as being on point. He said that this could be placed at the doorstep of Massa Michael Madigan - Speaker of the Illinois House and Chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. He thought that he could bully Blago out, and didn't do the ' work' that would have taken the decision out of Blago's hand. When Blago called the bluff, that's when it all went to hell.

Of course, when you get 5 educated Black folk together, you know the tinfoil hat came out..LOL

It was a great hour.

Oh....this is just hysterical to me! LMAO! Dang I wish I could have heard that radio show!

(CNN) — Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick of a prominent African-American to succeed Barack Obama in the Senate has led to suggestions that the move is calculated, but the governor says he's just doing his job.

Blagojevich on Tuesday announced he'd appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace Obama in the Senate, ignoring warnings from Senate Democrats who say they will block anyone he appoints.

Obama said Tuesday that he agrees with the Senate Democrats' decision to block an appointment by Blagojevich, but it's unclear if the Senate has the right to do so.

FBI agents arrested the governor on December 9 after federal prosecutors alleged, among other things, that he had tried to sell Obama's former Senate seat. Blagojevich denies wrongdoing and has ignored calls to resign.

Blagojevich's announcement left observers asking — whether the governor was playing a game of racial "chicken," daring Senate Democrats to snub a respected African-American.

Conservative radio host Larry Elder said race was clearly a part of Blagojevich's plan.

"What he has done is this: He's chosen a black person and dared the Democratic Senate not to seat him because there would then be no black senators in the Senate whatsoever.

"I'm not saying that the former attorney general isn't a man of integrity and wouldn't otherwise, in his own right, be able to serve competently as a senator.

"But you don't have to be a cynic to understand that race was part of Blagojevich was doing right here," he said.

LOL!!! I wished I could have heard it!!!

Now you know us Negroes good for a good conspiracy theory!!! We NEVER believe things are just as they seem!!

Token Negress Alert: The way so-called liberal groups use black women to push an agenda.

while you use it for Black women, we all know Black folks who have been chosen at the token. The thing is, either you give into it, or you wind up exploding. There's no middle ground.

And, you are never allowed to be 100% black, or they will show you the exit!