President Obama

[47of74]

I thought I'd start a thread to talk about the last (to date) legitimate President of the United States.  No it's not Fuck Face von Grand Wizard.  It's President Barack Obama. 

He had this to say about the Parkland anniversary today;

I have no interest in what aforementioned Fuck Face has to say about the anniversary cause it's probably just a bunch of horseshit.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Coconut Flan

[fraurosena]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

I have no interest in what aforementioned Fuck Face has to say about the anniversary cause it's probably just a bunch of horseshit.

You think he has something to say??

Nah, he's going to ignore it altogether.

[fraurosena]

What an inspiring and wise human being. I love Steph Curry's reaction at the end.

 

[47of74]

A real President being greeted at a basketball game.

[fraurosena]

 

This is not only true for Americans. To my dismay, I got my polling pass in the mail today. Why my dismay? I'm ashamed to say I had no idea there were elections coming up. To be fair, these are elections for our Watermanagement Boards and Proviincial Governments, and these entities aren't in the news much, if ever. They simply aren't that high profile, and I wouldn't know who's on them at all. But I will be taking Obama's words to heart and looking them up. And I will be voting. 

Edited February 21, 2019 by fraurosena

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘Where are the Obamas?’: Paintings of Barack and Michelle brought a million more people to Portrait Gallery"

Spoiler

Justin Philip was back in line for the second time that day, waiting for another chance to snap a selfie with Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of Barack Obama.

“It’s the only reason I’m here,” the New York resident said of his visit to Washington’s National Portrait Gallery, where the paintings of the former president and first lady Michelle Obama, by Amy Sherald, have drawn millions of visitors in the year since they were unveiled. “He was the first president I ever cared about.”

“I bring everybody to see them,” said Merene Philip, Philip’s cousin and weekend host.

The Obama portraits have catapulted the Smithsonian museum to the top tier of the city’s attractions by dramatically increasing attendance. The Old Patent Office Building — the historic home to the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum — had a record-breaking 2.3 million visitors in 2018, about a million more than in 2017.

The paintings have elicited smiles, tears and prayers from the steady stream of visitors who have queued up to see them. Some gaze with admiration, some with reverence. Almost all snap photos.

“I thought this is the closest that I’ll probably ever get to [Obama], and of what he represented — hope and love and progress,” said Kamilah Chambers of Katy, Tex., after viewing — and photographing — Wiley’s work.

The portrait hangs on its own wall at the end of the “America’s Presidents” gallery, which features the 43 men who have been president. The Sherald portrait of Michelle Obama is displayed in a third-floor gallery alongside a Wiley portrait of LL Cool J and portraits of Beyoncé, Denyce Graves and Toni Morrison.

Unveiled with fanfare on Feb. 12, 2018, the portraits attracted attention for the historic choice of African American artists as well as their popular subjects. The paintings, which were commissioned by the gallery and paid for with private funds, are part of its permanent collection.

The Obamas selected Wiley and Sherald from a slate of artists suggested by museum officials. Wiley’s unconventional portrait shows Obama leaning forward in a wooden chair and surrounded by vibrant green foliage and flowers, including jasmine, lilies and chrysanthemums, which reference elements of his personal history. He is dressed in a suit but no tie, and his casual pose draws attention to his intense gaze.

In the Sherald portrait, the first lady is wearing a dramatic geometric gown in front of a pale blue background.

“She looks regal, and yet soft,” said Chambers.

The Obama portraits are a big reason for the dramatic jump in attendance, museum staff said. Visitors used to approach the information desk with the question “Where are the presidents?”

“Now it’s ‘Where are the Obamas?’ It was eight for eight this afternoon,” said volunteer Mary Francis Koerner.

Koerner, of Kingstowne, Va., and fellow volunteer Carolyn Kulik of Bethesda have witnessed firsthand what National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet calls “the Obama effect.” Both women, who have worked at the museum’s information desk for 12 years, said they have never seen new works have such an impact.

“They have brought in so many people,” Koerner said. “After 4:30 there’s an uptick of the younger generation, and that’s who they come to see.”

The museum’s efforts to capi­tal­ize on the paintings’ popularity are most obvious in the gift shop. Books by and about the Obamas greet visitors at the entrance, while inside there are more than two dozen items, including mugs, prints, magnets, scarves, umbrellas and coasters, all emblazoned with the Wiley and Sherald designs.

Sajet said a visit to see the portraits seems to be a kind of secular pilgrimage, a journey to witness something both communal and personal. And conversations with visitors bore this out.

One woman said she was seeking reassurance by visiting the Obama portrait on the day President Trump declared a national emergency on the southern border, while Winsome Daley of Washington said she came for the history.

Tershia Ellis of Troy, N.Y., who had just left a Black Lives Matter protest, posed with her children — Zaryus, 10, and Zoey, 7 — in front of the presidential portrait.

“We love the Obamas. We’re deeply into them,” she said.

“He’s the first black president,” Zaryus said, adding that he thought the painting was “amazing because of the all of the flowers representing the places he’s from.”

Ivhannya Wong, a D.C. resident who was visiting the gallery for the first time, said the Wiley portrait shows how times have changed. Most of the other portraits in the popular “America’s Presidents” exhibition are formal, stuffy even, and they’re all similar.

Not Wiley’s depiction of the 44th president.

“It’s awesome,” Wong said, adding that the painting reflects the subject. “He made change, he made history.”

 

[Audrey2]

22 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"‘Where are the Obamas?’: Paintings of Barack and Michelle brought a million more people to Portrait Gallery"

  Reveal hidden contents

Justin Philip was back in line for the second time that day, waiting for another chance to snap a selfie with Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of Barack Obama.

“It’s the only reason I’m here,” the New York resident said of his visit to Washington’s National Portrait Gallery, where the paintings of the former president and first lady Michelle Obama, by Amy Sherald, have drawn millions of visitors in the year since they were unveiled. “He was the first president I ever cared about.”

“I bring everybody to see them,” said Merene Philip, Philip’s cousin and weekend host.

The Obama portraits have catapulted the Smithsonian museum to the top tier of the city’s attractions by dramatically increasing attendance. The Old Patent Office Building — the historic home to the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum — had a record-breaking 2.3 million visitors in 2018, about a million more than in 2017.

The paintings have elicited smiles, tears and prayers from the steady stream of visitors who have queued up to see them. Some gaze with admiration, some with reverence. Almost all snap photos.

“I thought this is the closest that I’ll probably ever get to [Obama], and of what he represented — hope and love and progress,” said Kamilah Chambers of Katy, Tex., after viewing — and photographing — Wiley’s work.

The portrait hangs on its own wall at the end of the “America’s Presidents” gallery, which features the 43 men who have been president. The Sherald portrait of Michelle Obama is displayed in a third-floor gallery alongside a Wiley portrait of LL Cool J and portraits of Beyoncé, Denyce Graves and Toni Morrison.

Unveiled with fanfare on Feb. 12, 2018, the portraits attracted attention for the historic choice of African American artists as well as their popular subjects. The paintings, which were commissioned by the gallery and paid for with private funds, are part of its permanent collection.

The Obamas selected Wiley and Sherald from a slate of artists suggested by museum officials. Wiley’s unconventional portrait shows Obama leaning forward in a wooden chair and surrounded by vibrant green foliage and flowers, including jasmine, lilies and chrysanthemums, which reference elements of his personal history. He is dressed in a suit but no tie, and his casual pose draws attention to his intense gaze.

In the Sherald portrait, the first lady is wearing a dramatic geometric gown in front of a pale blue background.

“She looks regal, and yet soft,” said Chambers.

The Obama portraits are a big reason for the dramatic jump in attendance, museum staff said. Visitors used to approach the information desk with the question “Where are the presidents?”

“Now it’s ‘Where are the Obamas?’ It was eight for eight this afternoon,” said volunteer Mary Francis Koerner.

Koerner, of Kingstowne, Va., and fellow volunteer Carolyn Kulik of Bethesda have witnessed firsthand what National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet calls “the Obama effect.” Both women, who have worked at the museum’s information desk for 12 years, said they have never seen new works have such an impact.

“They have brought in so many people,” Koerner said. “After 4:30 there’s an uptick of the younger generation, and that’s who they come to see.”

The museum’s efforts to capi­tal­ize on the paintings’ popularity are most obvious in the gift shop. Books by and about the Obamas greet visitors at the entrance, while inside there are more than two dozen items, including mugs, prints, magnets, scarves, umbrellas and coasters, all emblazoned with the Wiley and Sherald designs.

Sajet said a visit to see the portraits seems to be a kind of secular pilgrimage, a journey to witness something both communal and personal. And conversations with visitors bore this out.

One woman said she was seeking reassurance by visiting the Obama portrait on the day President Trump declared a national emergency on the southern border, while Winsome Daley of Washington said she came for the history.

Tershia Ellis of Troy, N.Y., who had just left a Black Lives Matter protest, posed with her children — Zaryus, 10, and Zoey, 7 — in front of the presidential portrait.

“We love the Obamas. We’re deeply into them,” she said.

“He’s the first black president,” Zaryus said, adding that he thought the painting was “amazing because of the all of the flowers representing the places he’s from.”

Ivhannya Wong, a D.C. resident who was visiting the gallery for the first time, said the Wiley portrait shows how times have changed. Most of the other portraits in the popular “America’s Presidents” exhibition are formal, stuffy even, and they’re all similar.

Not Wiley’s depiction of the 44th president.

“It’s awesome,” Wong said, adding that the painting reflects the subject. “He made change, he made history.”

 

Hmmm.... Where should they hang the Orange Menace's picture? A bathroom? A Janitor's closet? The sub basement?

And could they please paint him in an orange jumpsuit and emphasize his tiny hands?

[onekidanddone]

8 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

Hmmm.... Where should they hang the Orange Menace's picture? A bathroom? A Janitor's closet? The sub basement?

And could they please paint him in an orange jumpsuit and emphasize his tiny hands?

We should launch it to space and land it on Venus. A little sulfuric acid would add a nice touch.

[Jaamillion]

On 2/26/2019 at 8:48 PM, Audrey2 said:

Hmmm.... Where should they hang the Orange Menace's picture? A bathroom? A Janitor's closet? The sub basement?

And could they please paint him in an orange jumpsuit and emphasize his tiny hands?

Honestly, a truck stop urinal would be more than he deserves 

[GreyhoundFan]

I miss having a president who has compassion.

 

[WiseGirl]

I miss having a president.

[GreyhoundFan]

I forgot about this huge scandal:

 

[thoughtful]

58 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I forgot about this huge scandal:

How could you? It was worse than BeigeSuitGate. Everyone remembers where they were when Obama used a selfie stick./s 

Love the quick shot of Reagan they slipped in there.

 

 

[JMarie]

Interesting that they kept mentioning Reagan, a former Republican president, and not G. H. W. Bush or G. W. Bush, more recent Republican presidents.

[GreyhoundFan]

39 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Interesting that they kept mentioning Reagan, a former Republican president, and not G. H. W. Bush or G. W. Bush, more recent Republican presidents.

Because they have to invoke the name of Saint Ronnie.

[GreyhoundFan]

There are no words to express how much I miss having a first family who is an actual family, not a cheap knockoff of a mafia family:

 

[47of74]

God fucking dammit I miss him. 
 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!’ Michelle Obama surprises D.C. elementary school with big gifts."

Spoiler

Her jaw dropped. The young girl jumped from her chair and gave a long screech before covering her mouth in shock.

She was barely able to look at the woman who walked through the door.

“Obaaama,” the child exclaimed. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.”

And then, Michelle Obama, former first lady, walked in the drab computer lab at Randle Highlands Elementary.

Obama visited the school in Southeast Washington in October as part of the holiday special “Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways” for NBC, which aired the first episode Tuesday. In the three-part series hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, celebrities deliver gifts to unsuspecting recipients.

Among them: Randle Highlands. Obama surprised the school with $100,000 in cash, Apple computers and a new outdoor basketball court. Adults dressed as elves delivered iPads to each student.

“When I look out at all of you, I see a room full of future doctors and teachers and engineers and presidents,” Obama told a packed gymnasium. “And I want to make sure that you have the tools you need right now to help make that happen.”

The students jumped out of their seats cheering. Some danced. Teachers cried.

Students at the school come from mostly black and low-income families. Nearly 65 percent are considered at-risk, meaning they are in foster care, homeless or the families qualify for public assistance.

The principal, Kristie Edwards, said in the segment that teachers use their own money to help students, take families grocery shopping and purchase classroom supplies. A laundry machine on campus ensures students have clean clothes.

One Randle Highlands employee who was not identified said in the segment that the school makes the best with what it has but told Obama that when it comes to the computer lab, “unfortunately we don’t have a lot.”

While students and teachers celebrated the gifts from the NBC show, education advocates and some city leaders questioned why a school system with a budget nearing $1 billion a year required a donation so students could have adequate technology.

According to city data, the 400-student school received $4.3 million this academic year — a $300,000 drop from a year earlier despite a citywide increase in education spending.

The budget allocates $9,000 to educational and office supplies. And $4,300 is slated for technology-based learning.

Education leaders have said the school system shifted some support service expenses to its central offices, which accounts for budget drops at some campuses.

“We have a city that is capable of ensuring that schools do not need to rely on donations from anyone,” said Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union.

The school system said in a statement the surprise Obama visit brought well-deserved attention to a school that has experienced significant academic gains in recent years.

D.C. schools spokesman Shayne Wells said the donation complemented city funding. He said the school system is purchasing technology devices for every children in third grade through high school, although students won’t start receiving them until next year.

Council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) pushed last academic year to allocate more city dollars to schools such as Randle Highlands, which sits in Ward 7, a poor swath of the District.

He said he hopes the high-profile donation brings attention to the funding that is still needed in D.C. schools.

“I hope this will also send a message to those who are preparing budgets for the next cycle that we need to make sure that these kids have the resources that they need,” Gray said.

Cornelius Bailey Jr., president of the Randle Highlands Civic Association, said he’s thrilled with his neighborhood’s moment in the spotlight. He sent his children to the school in the 1980s and is glad Obama and DeGeneres lent their celebrity to highlight the school.

“For any of the wards where you have median incomes that are not super high like they are in other parts of the city,” Bailey said, “a little help is always useful.”

And for Randle Highlands staff, the gifts added to the love they hope their students feel each day on campus.

“If nothing else,” Edwards said, “my legacy will be that they knew they were loved by me.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

There are no words to express how much I miss Obama:

 

[smittykins]

The “heart” reaction is for Obama’s comments.  There isn’t enough ?? in the world for the Orange Menace.

[47of74]

Pay attention Fuck Face, this is a real President in action. 
 

 

[47of74]

Excellent

Quote

A freeway in Los Angeles was named after former President Barack Obama on Thursday.

A portion of Freeway 134 between the Glendale CA-2 and the 210 Freeway was named the President Barack H. Obama highway, news station CBSLA reported. The highway will run through parts of Glendale, Pasadena and Eagle Rock, according to the station.

The 44th president lived in Pasadena, California, and attended Occidental College in Los Angeles from 1979 to 1981. California State Senator Anthony Portantino announced he wanted to name the freeway after Obama in September 2017, KTLA reported. State lawmakers gave the final approval for the freeway renaming in September this year.

"The President has often mentioned his fond memories of living in Pasadena and attending Occidental College, so it was very appropriate to name the portion of the freeway he traveled after him," Portantino said in a statement on Thursday. "Our community came together to make this happen. It is an honor to be in a position to have helped facilitate this wonderful symbol of our collective respect for the grace and dignity embodied by our 44th President."

I hope the orange hemorrhoid will be lucky to get a toilet in West Texas named after him. 

[fraurosena]

35 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Excellent

I hope the orange hemorrhoid will be lucky to get a toilet in West Texas named after him. 

His name will forever be synonymous with treason. 

[47of74]

His name will forever be synonymous with treason. 

I think I said it before but hopefully by the time all is said and done people will come up with something else to call trump in euchre.