(via huffpostpolitics)

msnbc:

“I want to look out one more time because I’m not going to see this again.” -President Barack Obama

(Watch the video.)

shortformblog:

Today, President Obama announced sweeping set of policies, including 23 executive orders, aimed at reducing gun violence. The unveiling was the result of the Joe Biden-led task force Obama formed last month in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, and proposed policies include an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and improved access to mental health care. The Washington Post calls it “the most expansive gun-control policies in a generation,” and the fact that the president issued no less than 23 executive orders suggests that he wants to avoid congress as much as possible with this (which, given his first term, is understandable). Here’s the flashy White House document outlining the proposals, here’s a list of the executive orders (one of which, somewhat amusingly, is “Nominate an ATF director”), and here’s audio of the event (courtesy of Matt Keys). Photo credit: AP source

shortformblog:

Love at first blight: Let’s say you’re a fun-loving young single person, and you use the internet to help set up dates with men or women of your choosing. You might expect a few awkward dates here or there, garnished lovingly with some spam email. What you probably wouldn’t expect, however, is for such an email (from the service OKCupid) to contain this weird, apocalyptic anti-Obama image. The body text conspicuously didn’t mention it, but rather played up the 2012 doomsday paranoia (“We’re screwed. You should be too!”) — so, um, who exactly put this image together, or green-lit it?

nbcnews:

Obama’s viral Spider-Man pic tops his adorable moments with kids

(Photo: Pete Souza / White House)

TIME Magazine named President Barack Obama its person of the year on Wednesday, dubbing him the “beneficiary and the author of a kind of a New America,” according to managing editor Rick Stengel. The announcement was accompanied by an instantly iconic photo of the President horsing around at the White House with a tiny Spider-Man.

Read the complete story.

(via nbcnews)

thedailyfeed:

President Obama made it clear yesterday that he’s fed up with a do-nothing Congress and won’t be intimidated by GOP attacks.

At his first news conference since being re-elected, Obama dared Republicans to raise taxes on the richest Americans, and slammed two powerful GOP lawmakers for picking on his U.N. ambassador, challenging them to “go after me” instead.

With another four years in the White House stretching before him, a stern Obama took Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham to task for their “outrageous” swipes against Ambassador Susan Rice.

Rice has been under fire for remarks she made days after the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. She called the assault, in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed, a “spontaneous” act spawned by protests against an anti-Islam film. She later corrected herself, saying that intelligence subsequently had determined that it was a terrorist attack.

“If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me,” Obama told reporters in the East Room of the White House. “And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi, and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous.”

vanityfair:

V.F. contributing editor Michael Lewis had unprecedented access to President Obama in the White House, on Air Force One, and on the basketball court for his October feature. Read a preview of the story and see more photos here.

Photograph by Pete Souza/Official White House Photograph

firstfamily:

Just one question at the end of an amazing night—are you in? http://OFA.BO/w76s16 –mo

After that speech, even Walter White is back in!

thedailyfeed:

The presidential race is going back to school, with President Obama and Mitt Romney both showering young voters with attention at college campuses across the country. 

President Obama’s campaign got a big boost from college voters in 2008. This November, he needs their support even more. Going into the national conventions, the Obama-Biden ticket holds a narrow lead — 48 percent to 44 percent — over the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan campaign, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. The numbers are only slightly changed from July, when Obama led Romney by six points.

Four years ago, voters in the 18-to-24 age group broke 68 percent for Obama to 30 percent for GOP nominee John McCain, according to exit polling. Republicans are hoping to make this election a different story.