At the White House, Dec. 11

[DFW]

Taken by my brother.....
1.) Me under WJC's portrait (you can see the resemblance.....)
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

2.) Me with my favorite of all time: TJ
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

He also got a ten second video of BHO and Michelle descending the stairs, but I don't know how to upload or post that.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R!! These are wonderful!

Thanks so much for sharing them!

[DFW]

2. I didn't dare post a pic of the buffet

It could cause a calorie overdose just by looking at it!

[KMOD]

3. Very cool, DFW

[progressoid]

4. Which one is you?

Very presidential.

[DFW]

5. 2016 isn't THAT far off

I have to start practicing.......

[Rhiannon12866]

20. I'd vote for you!

You're certainly a better choice than most of the likely candidates!

[DFW]

22. I think I'd be a terrible candidate

I tend to speak my mind, like Howard, and look where that got HIM!

[Rhiannon12866]

23. I think you're forgetting how much those of us on this-side-of-the-fence value honesty...

Mike Gravel had a lot of supporters here!

[DFW]

24. Maybe so, but it doesn't seem to be in great demand nationally

45% of this nation was willing to have Sarah Palin one heartbeat away from the Presidency, and also voted for the clown who acquiesced to her being his VP after knowing her for 15 minutes.

That doesn't sound like a place that would vote me into the Oval Office

[Rhiannon12866]

25. But they lost, didn't they?

And they lost badly enough that they couldn't find a way to steal it - again.

[DFW]

26. Well sure they lost in 2008

But in 2008, no Republican ticket was ever going to win after what Cheney did to us. Besides, in 2008 even I could have beaten McCain/Palin, and that with having a cigar store Indian as my running mate. With McCain's daily gaffes and Palin practically providing the jokes for half the comedy seen nationwide, they practically handed the Oval Office to Obama, and McCain knew it well before the election was held (I'm sure Palin didn't). That's why Hillary and Obama fought tooth and nail for the nomination in 2008. Both of them knew that in 2008, the fight for the Democratic nomination was really the fight for the presidency.

[Rhiannon12866]

27. That's an excellent point

And we've just had a huge national reminder of what a Cheney presidency was like. I'm just hoping against hope that these memories last until the next election. I'd sooner vote for the cigar store Indian, but I'd prefer it if you led the ticket...

[Hekate]

6. Very cool! What was the event?

Nice to see your cheery face, btw.

[DFW]

9. Just some holiday thing they do every year.

Party people (like me), people that have helped with specific programs (ACA, e.g.), etc. You always meet SOMEBODY you know at these things. Paul Begala, Boyd Ritchie of the Texas Democrats and the son of a rare Democratic State Senator from Tennessee who's a good friend of mine. I like to come over for it in part because some of us are invited over for a policy session before the reception, and meet with WH staff members in charge of certain areas who ask for input (see my post about the SOTU), which I am only too happy to give, probably more than they would have liked

[lovemydog]

10. Thank you for your help with the Affordable Care Act.

It has saved lives.

[DFW]

14. Your gratitude is misplaced, I'm afraid

I live in Germany and had precious little to do with the ACA beyond some tiny input about the German health care system for some comparison. I don't even know if it was looked at. Some people, like actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell, took personal time to go around actively promoting and explaining the ACA. SHE deserves your thanks. I was just there as a member of Democrats Abroad.

[lovemydog]

19. Thank you to Jurnee Smollett-Bell

thank you to Democrats Abroad and thank you to all who supported the Affordable Care Act.
Next step: single payer health care.

Have a good weekend DFW. I'm protesting police violence tomorrow at a big rally in New Mexico. We are also of course marching in solidarity with the huge protest action in Washington, DC. Black lives matter!

[DFW]

21. In that case

Thank YOU for getting out there to be where it really counts!

[Hekate]

13. Thanks for sharing with us, and for the work you do that the rest of us cannot

It would be the fulfillment of a personal dream for me to get to shake hands with this POTUS (or, as he seems to be known at Toys for Tots, the Big Elf). Ah well.

Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year to you and yours, DFW.

[DFW]

15. Thanks, Hekate!

If you're ever around in a situation when I have the chance, I'll be glad to introduce you!

This year, as usual, we'll all be together for Christmas in the Düsseldorf area (I head back to Europe in Sunday), and head for Charleston, South Carolina on the 26th.

I always assumed everyone even slightly involved in DC politics knows everyone, but I learned years ago that I was completely wrong. Remember that time 4½ years ago when I introduced Helen Thomas to Howard Dean? I had thought that they must have known each other forever, but I couldn't have been more wrong. They had never met.

[lovemydog]

7. Jefferson looks like he's cracking up

at a joke you just told.

Way to go DFW!

[DFW]

8. Chalk that one up to my brother's photo skills n/t

[OldRedneck]

11. My daughter . . .

My daughter was at a White House Christmas party/reception on Friday, 5 Dec, and had a friend take her photo in front of the Bill Clinton painting!!

[DFW]

16. Probably the same kind of reception I was at

They hold more than one of them. Good for her! Hope she had a great time.

[ReRe]

12. I like that "air table" you've got going on in the top photo ;-)

Thank you for these fun moments with your brother while visiting the WH.
And Happy Holidays to you and your family!

[DFW]

17. Thanks for that

They won't be very tranquil. Between now and two weeks from now, I have to be in Virginia, Germany, Belgium, France, and South Carolina (in that order), and probably a few places in between!

[ReRe]

18. Sorry to hear that...

... hope you can sleep while you're up there flying around. Bon voyage!

[pinboy3niner]

28. 007s must use their license where directed

But far be it from me to "out" you. That probably wouldn't be healthy for me.

[DFW]

29. Have no worries

I'll tell "M" you were only joking

[prairierose]

30. DFW, you look fabulous....

have you been working out? Seriously, you look great in those pics. Thanks for sharing.

[DFW]

31. I've definitely lost some weight

Probably stress-related, not good for a cardiac basket case, but I manage until I don't. Much of my work of late has been in "walking cities," i.e. where the fastest was between two points is often on foot. Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, Zürich, Düsseldorf, etc. So I'm getting in my mileage. But now comes the holiday season, so I'm bound to put some back on. That White House buffet was a bad start--I don't know if it was the White House chefs or the Obamas who picked the buffet, but WOW, was it a feast!

[prairierose]

32. Keep walking...

I have to get started on that too but I don't live in walking city. I live in a don't walk city.

[rury]

33. That's wonderful!

A friend of mine who is on the Organizing For Action Board of Directors went last year.
She took her husband and said the food was scrumptious!

[tblue37]

34. Email the video to a friend who does know how, and ask him/her to post it under your name here. nt

[DFW]

35. I'll see if I can find a victim n/t

[steve2470]

36. big kick and rec nt