Obama: Fatherhood and families

[jefferson_dem]

Obama: Fatherhood and families
Posted June 19, 2009 8:45 AM
by Mark Silva

The president's day starts with a prayer and closes with a joke - but in between, the president will be promoting the "importance of fatherhood.''

President Barack Obama's public day starts at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast this morning and closes at the annual Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner, which he will address at the Washington Convention Center. The prayer breakfast is part of a serious presidential ritual, the correspondents' dinner part of a ritual trail of presidential humor.

But there is no ritual in this event:

The president is starting a "national conversation on responsible fatherhood and healthy families'' today, the White House says, with Obama taking part in a series of appearances at nonprofit organizations across the Washington area featuring other political and business leaders, educators, media personalities and star athletes.

The lineup:

At Year Up, in Arlington, Va.:The president.

<SNIP>

Afterward, this afternoon, the president plans to host a conversation on fatherhood in the East Room of the White House featuring five fathers from the area, who will tell their personal stories about commitment to fatherhood and personal responsibility. Among them, Etan Thomas, of the Wizards. They will close that with a "mentoring session'' for youth on the South Lawn.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/06/obama_fatherhood_and_families.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jefferson_dem]

3. Wow. You convinced me.

President Obama doesn't actually care about fatherhood.

Well done.

[hileeopnyn8d]

5. what a nasty post

and it's pretty sad when someone on a liberal message board resorts to talking points supported by the John Birch Society and Phyllis Schlafly.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Rep. Conyers would be ashamed that these bitter words are associated with his image, no doubt.

nt

[HopeOverFear]

8. Fatherhood is a touchy subject for most people

I'm willing to guess most if the whiners in this grew up without one, so when they see Obama talking about being a dad , it brings out the envy.

[jefferson_dem]

11. The irony is...the President himself takes a personal interest in this issue...

because of what he grew up without, in large part.

[HopeOverFear]

13. Exactly

[Cha]

18. I have abandonment issues

with my father and wish I could have had a father like Obama and a lot of other people's nurturing fathers I've known.

[Drunken Irishman]

24. I think if you read my lounge posts, you'd see I have a difficult relationship with my father.

Let's just say I am extremely jealous of the Obama girls.

And that isn't a bad thing. I think Pres. Obama is a wonderful father and a role model for all of us males who strive for a good family.

I think the Obamas are the ideal 1950s family everyone said couldn't exist.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[midnight]

2. The father's I know are working harder than ever to get food.

Things should not be this hard when we have bankers who we can make sure earn salaries that make them feel good at 250,000. You want good fathers, start with good jobs.

[Autumn]

4. Very true , excellent post.

He could also end the Iraq war and bring home a lot of Fathers and Mothers to their children.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jefferson_dem]

14. Obama is doing exactly what he promised during the campaign.

Is integrity an acceptable "paternal" value to promote?

[Autumn]

15. Yes it certainly is and

I happen to think he is capable of doing multiple things at the same time.

[Diabolita23]

16. Ditto

He sure could, and I hope that he is trying to do everything he can to bring that about.. I agree with the comments on courts and the rights of fathers and the economic reality that many commenters pointed out. I do think, however, that we need to distinguish between Obama's political efforts towards change, and his cultural efforts towards change. The message he is trying to promote is aimed at changing the hearts and minds of American people, because that is easier than moving the stiff wheels of government. As the Co-Founder of Ecodads it's awesome to hear Obama talk about the importance of fatherhood, because that's where I stand, only I emphasize the role of the father in teaching our children to be better stewards of the environment. Please visit our website, coming out of beta on Father's Day: http://www.ecodads.org And Happy Father's Day everyone!

[Cha]

19. Amazing! A bunch

of deleted posts on a Father's Day thread regarding Pres Obama and his view on the importance of Fatherhood..just too hard for them not to dump their load of bitter venom..sssssssssssss.

[firedupdem]

20. What the hell?

I couldn't believe I was scrolling through deleted messages on this thread! Wow, he can do NO right with some people. Ridiculous!

[Cha]

40. I think it's because everything

is bitter in their lives and they take it out on the president on an internet..that way they don't have to take responsibility.

They want everyone to be as miserable as they are..ain't gonna happen.

[Number23]

30. I was just thinking that EXACT thing

How in HELL could a Happy Father's Day thread on the President result in a thread full of deleted messages? What the hell is wrong with some of the people on this site??

[Cha]

41. They're miserable and

they want everyone else to be.

[zalinda]

21. What a load of crap

Yeah, let's put out this feel good, touchy feely garbage, while good men are killing themselves because they think they have failed their families by not being able to support them. If a man can't get a job to support his family, no amount of "mentoring sessions" will make him feel like he is a good father. Bring back the God damn jobs Obama!!!!!!!!! We don't owe them to Canada or India, they belong HERE. Then you can start "schooling" men on how to be good dads, but until then, it's a bunch of nonsense.

Ever wonder why there are so many poor absentee fathers? It's because they know that their children will be taken care of, because they can't find a job. It's really easy to sit in judgment when your basic survival is taken care of, but when you are just struggling to stay alive, it's scam time. You can only get government assistance when you are so broke that you are practically homeless. They make sure that you are drowning, and going down for the third time before they will help you, and then they make you wait just a little bit longer. I watched it from the outside, and now I'm seeing it first hand from the inside. It's not pretty. Dad's are staying away because they know they can't support their kids, and the only way to make sure that they can eat, is to leave.

This government fucks over poor people, and now Obama tells them how they should act as a parent. I'd like to ask Obama when was the last time he had to make the decision on whether he would eat or his child?

zalinda

[jefferson_dem]

22. Thanks for your perspective.

Now...please stop the hate. It's not healthy.

[zalinda]

27. Neither is not having health care

but hey, let's all cheerlead Obama. Obama after all is the "Savior". :sarcasm: Let's all forget all the pain the poor go through everyday. Obama speaks!

zalinda

[Autumn]

23. My father passed when I was little

I remember my Mother making that choice many times.

[Drunken Irishman]

25. It must be so shitty being so bitter.

[zalinda]

26. Yeah, let's see how your perspective changes

when every day is a struggle to have a roof over your head and food on the table for 40 years. When you got passed over for a good job because you're a woman, because the man you are competing against has a family to support (whether he's married or not). Take on being relegated to the shittiest, lowest paying jobs, and see how you feel. Do the exact same job as a man and make less money. Learning computers were supposed to give us good paying jobs, and those jobs have been shipped over to India, all that time and money wasted. We are now competing for jobs against college graduates, with masters degrees.

Keep getting shit on by so called "liberals", who elect do nothing Presidents and you will find yourself bitter. What is the use of working hard all your life and playing by the rules, when the government takes away any chance you have at having life even a little bit easier. Not asking for much, but just a chance to breathe a little easier, and not having everything taken away from you at their whim.

And yet, many "liberals" here on this board, will vilify fat people, homeless people, dems who've strayed in their marriage, poor people, and any one who doesn't sing the praises of Obama. Actually there is a huge long list of non-perfect people that "liberals" love to bash. Obama is using the Reagan trickle down theory, it didn't trickle down in Reagan's time and it isn't trickling down now.

The sad fact of the Democrats, is that if you aren't bitter, you haven't been paying attention. My party left me decades ago, and they just proved it by electing Obama. If you can't support REAL family values, what the hell are you doing trying to school parents.

zalinda

[jefferson_dem]

28. Ok. I wish you well but i seriously cannot relate to your level of crudely irrational

hate and bitterness.

You will now be the only resident on my ignore list.

[Drunken Irishman]

29. Oh please.

You don't know me or my story, so don't act like you hold higher ground in this argument than me.

Sure, I haven't lived 40 years, but I grew up poor, in the 90s, when everyone was supposedly moving up the economic ladder.

You want to know where my dad worked for a majority of my childhood? 7-11. He was a fucking manager at 7-11. My mom ran a small daycare out of our fourplex unit. We lived in a housing project with government assistant. I lived in a ghetto. I lived in a neighborhood where I saw men shot, stabbed and beat senseless. I watched as my living room was shotup one evening because they mistook our unit for the one next door. The person who lived in that one? A Tongan-Crip. Yeah, gang members.

So don't come at me with this bullshit sob fest. Because I'll match you shit for shit, crap life for crap life.

My dad also was an abusive drunk who spent his nights off drinking and yelling at my mom, brother and I.

I grew to dislike my father to the point where I even wished him dead.

Have you ever wished your father dead?

Yet I didn't allow this to ruin me. I didn't allow this to make me bitter. I also don't use it as an excuse to piss on a president who is providing his daughters with something I never had: a good father.

I wish my dad could be half the man Pres. Obama is. But I'm not going to attack him or use this moment to piss on him for trying to be there for his children and for trying to make other fathers understand the importance of being a dad.

Yeah, life sucks at times. It sucks hard. But you know what? You're not the only person sitting there caked in shit. So stop acting like you are.

:eyes:

[zalinda]

36. Live a little before you talk experience

I'm 60 years old. I've been on my own since I was 17 and I didn't leave willingly. I was homeless, without a car, without a job. Granted gangs weren't as prevalent as they are now, but I did live through the Detroit riots. I moved from one flop house to another. I traded sex for a hot shower and a bed and food, many a time. I've been down more times than I've been up. And each time I've been up, something would happen that would stomp me down again. When you've lived for 60 years with a someone's boot on your neck holding you down, then tell me how you still see rainbows in shit.

I don't give a damn about Obama. He could give speeches until the cows come home. What I do care about is that this speech giver is the President of the United States, and he has done more for the corporations of the world in 5 months, than he has for the poor. He is headed in the wrong direction, he is a Democratic Reagan, and that's what I care about. I lived through the Reagan years, I saw the changes, and they were not good.

So once again people here on this forum are beaten up verbally for saying the Emperor has no clothes. Those of us who have seen Presidents who had balls, know the difference. We don't need to have 4 years of a speechifying President to know something is wrong, we lived through Reagan's pretty words.

So don't even pretend to know what it's been like until you've lived as long as I have. I, too, had hopes and dreams when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties. My bitterness started when once again people were swayed by pretty words rather than concrete actions. Obama wasn't a leader in the Illinois Senate, I didn't expect much from him when he was crowned President. But, he has out Reaganed, Reagan, and privatization of just about everything will be just around the corner. But, please, go ahead and listen to his pretty words and nod, glorying in all that is Obama.

zalinda

[hileeopnyn8d]

39. I have a question for you

who was it you wanted elected?

btw - he wasn't "crowned" President, he was elected President.

[zalinda]

42. Yes, he was crowned President

The media was all for him, he had more press and better press than ANY of the candidates. It was a regular love fest for Obama. Clinton, on the other hand, couldn't get good press even if she bought it. EVERY candidate but Obama and Clinton was locked out of the primaries by the press and the Democratic party. There was going to be a "historic" Presidency, no matter who won, and that's what the media wanted.

It doesn't matter who I wanted elected, it matters who the President is NOW. He is a Reagan Democrat, through and through. I was hoping that he wouldn't be as bad, but as the months went on and I saw who he surrounded himself with, it was more and more apparent.

All the Obama supporters told every one of us that had doubts about him, that we shouldn't worry. Once he was elected, he would move more to the left. We were told that he would end the war, we were told that we would get health care, we were told he would be a great President, that he was a JFK clone. And, now, when he is moving even more right, we are told to wait, he's playing a chess game, we're pouting because we didn't get the pony. But, waiting is killing us, don't you have any concept of that? Oh, but wait, now we're told be are bitter.

You dance with the one that brung you, that's the old saying. Like it or not we are stuck with Obama. But, he is nothing like the person who his supporters sang praises about. The only thing that has held true, is that he gives pretty speeches. I and millions more like me, are dying a little more, day by day, while Obama supporters are singing his praise that he's giving a pretty speech about fatherhood.

zalinda

[sandnsea]

47. Yeah, he's governing like Hillary would have.

So I don't know what her supporters are upset about. We wouldn't even have had as decent a foreign policy because she agrees with McCain that we should get in the middle of the Iran rebellion and she'd have never drawn any lines on the Jewish settlements or two state solution. So we're forced to buy health insurance, that was her plan to begin with, remember?

[zalinda]

50. Wow, you guys can't get over the primaries can you?

It is not about the primaries, it is about NOW. Obama is the President and for the vast majority of this country, he has done nothing. This is not a sporting event, it is not my team or your team. It is about issues, and people's lives. While you are high fiving Obama for giving a great fathers day speech, people are dying.

I didn't shut up when Bush was President, and I won't shut up just because it's Obama. Wrong is wrong, no matter what party you belong to.

zalinda

[Baltoman991]

54. You're the

one who can't get over the primaries. Read the thread, it was YOU who brought up the press and it's handling of the primaries.

What utter bullshit you're spewing on this thread. He was "crowned"? What the fuck is that? Freeper speak?

Hillary lost, she got over it, why the hell don't you?

[zalinda]

56. Right, when all else fails, call me a freeper. n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

44. So because you've lived a good 35 years longer than me...

You're better than me? Your opinion is more important than mine?

I'm sorry your life has sucked. I'm sorry you feel it's Pres. Obama's fault. I'm sorry you're so bitter with life that you can't even accept a Father's Day message from the President of the United States. I truly am sorry for that because I find it extremely unfortunate when someone is consumed with this type of hate and disdain. It is not healthy and it's very similar to what I faced from my father growing up.

You see, my father, when drunk, is exactly like you. He always looked at the bad moments in life.

His father died when he was five years old. His mother turned around and became extremely abusive to all her children. One by one, they abandoned her for the streets and a life of drugs and crime.

My dad left at 16, lied about his age and got his mom to sign off joining the military. He was shipped off to Vietnam, where he fought for this country. He then returned hooked on heroin, which the military knew and did nothing about. That led him to prison in North Carolina for two years of his life. Two years he won't talk about. Hell, two years probably worse than the years he spent in Vietnam.

After an early life of drugs, my dad eventually realized it was doing nothing for him. Too bad no one else in his family did. They all kept doing the drugs and in 1994, he even lost his brother because of it.

But, like all in my dad's family, he traded one addiction (drugs) for another (alcohol). So instead of getting high, he was just getting drunk. And drunk, my dad was not a nice man. He was abusive. He was violent. And he was stupid. Not a good combination, if you ask me.

Later in life he starts getting sick. We don't know what it is until finally the VA diagnosed him with Agent Orange. Yeah, it causes cancer all over his body. It also began to shrink his brain. Which meant he would start losing memory and maybe even die from it. This coming only in his 40s.

So what does my dad due? He gets pissed and bitter and drinks more and more. So much he loses his job, forcing him into early retirement because his health is so bad, no one will hire him.

Then we find violent mood swings. Worse than they were before. He threatens to kill my mom and I. He has these strange and scary flashbacks to Vietnam. He talks about killing men bigger than me, as if a warning.

Has your father ever told you he'll kill you and actually mean it?

So we get that checked out and sure enough, my dad suffers from PTSD with the trigger being alcohol.

What does he do? Well the asshole does what he does best, drinks and drinks and drinks.

Some nights, when I was younger, my mom would have to call the police because of his actions.

Some nights, he'd just leave and drive off to Vegas, spending all the money and not phoning home for a week.

And every single time he sobered up and tried to find an explanation for why he did all this, he kept coming back to one: My life sucks.

His life sucks.

Do you know how great that made my mom and me feel?

He had a loving -- too loving, if you ask me -- wife. A son who was in college. Another who worked and provided for his family. A house and security, yet he hated his life. It was a bad life. It was horrible because of his childhood.

So instead of fixing those mistakes, he just pushed them onto my brother and I.

We grew up with the abusive parent, just like him.

We were driven from the home because of that parent, just like him.

But you know what? He never took any responsiblity for his actions. Ever. It was always other people's fault. It was my fault he drank because I didn't show enough love to him. It was my mom's fault because she always questioned whether he was drinking and that pissed him off. It was the government's fault for putting him in Nam -- even though he volunteered. It was his mom's fault for giving him such a lousy childhood.

He passed the buck.

He made it about us and not him.

And that appears to be what you're doing.

Your life might suck. Your situation might suck. But I've got news for you, a whole lot of people are facing similar situations.

They just don't blame everyone else.

Well unless you're my father.

[zalinda]

51. And after all the rambling about a crappy life

you made my point. "Your life might suck. Your situation might suck. But I've got news for you, a whole lot of people are facing similar situations." Obama is not changing the situation, and I refuse to congratulate him on making a speech when people are dying and losing their homes.

I am not bitter because my life sucks. I am not bitter at all. I am angry. I am angry that so called "liberals" think a speech about fatherhood is so important. People are suffering, and not just me. Hell, a lot of people are worst off than I am, and I'm raging for them too. I was pissed at Bush for ignoring Katrina, and yelled and screamed about that. What you fail to realize is that this whole country is going through a Katrina moment and Obama is giving a speech on fatherhood, and so called liberals are applauding him. Yeah, I get it, Obama is not Bush, but that is not enough for me to celebrate. Just because a Democrat is in the White House doesn't magically change the direction of this country, it takes work, and Obama is heading in the wrong direction.

Should I not tell someone that they will fall off a bridge if they keep going the way they are going, just so I won't hurt their feelings, or should I yell and scream that there is danger ahead? THERE IS DANGER AHEAD!!!!!! Believe it or not, that is your choice.

zalinda

[Drunken Irishman]

53. Obama has been in office five months.

It's unrealistic to expect him to fix every issue facing every American in two terms, let alone five months.

You're just passing the blame to him because your life is out of your control. That isn't right.

What also isn't right is that you act like you're the only one on this planet who has had it bad. Well you're not, so stop acting like it.

There are many DUers here who have had it just as bad, if not worse, than you. The difference? They don't just dwell on the negative, allowing it to corrupt their soul. No, they enjoy the other aspects of life instead of blaming their lot in life on every other person.

Trust me, I see what you're doing. You're no different than my dad.

You're bitter about life, so you're going to take it out on everyone else. :eyes:

[Jennicut]

59. Very obviously bitter.

And they are not over something that happened in the election or in their life so they blame it all on one person. Even I get that Bush did not give me diabetes or make me almost die from it, not did he cause my husband's father and step fathers to walk out on his mother. Bitterness only eats up what is left of your humanity at the end of the day. What a way to waste a life.

[Autumn]

57. Like you I want more than a speech

we have had enough of those. The Reagan years were a nightmare, we lost our jobs , our home was foreclosed and we were homeless for a while. I want Obama to use the support and popularity he has behind him to kick ass and take names later, lead on the issues that are important to us, not give into the fucking republicans. Bill Clinton did that some and we know how that ended . For Gods sake we know that the war was a lie, Obama does too ,we know the crap that was forced down our throats by Bush, Obama knows it too . He knows how hard it is for a single Mother to raise her children alone and then lay dying wondering if her insurance would take care of her illness . I voted for him to change it, not for him to ignore it and in some cases continue it. I'm not optimistic, I'm just hoping I live long enough for these Democrats to realize that if you fuck over the one who brung you to the dance by ignoring them ,you go home alone. Thanks for sharing your story and you hold a special place in my heart.

[HopeOverFear]

61. Don't be angry at Obama because you failed at life nm

[Autumn]

62. replied to wrong post

.

[VespertineIconoclast]

38. I appreciate you sharing your personal story.

I truly believe that people must make decisions about how they want live their lives. We all have our personal hardships and "crosses to bare" in life. "Nothing very, very good or very, very bad lasts very, very long." All difficult times will pass if given time even if we cannot appreciate the changes in our own finite lives. It is up to each person how they choose to proceed in life after life has hit them down to rock bottom. They can choose to persevere, get stronger, learn, prosper, forgive, and move on in life. Or people can become stagnant, weakened, bitter, distrustful, spiteful, hateful, and only look at the bad things in life. Those embittered individuals are some of your most dangerous people because some of them are willing to kill to stop the "injustices" of the world. Von Brunn and the many examples of extremists out there are perfect examples of this.

I hope that the poster that you responded to finds some sort of peace of mind because the amount of vitriol that person has is corrosive to everything around it. Not only to that individual's psyche, but to the people exposed to it.

[treestar]

35. Why limit it to just the president then

Hate on everybody who is not struggling. That'll make them more eager to pay higher taxes to help you.

No wonder there are so few on the left - this kind of attitude just turns people away. No wonder there are so few liberals in Congress.

[zalinda]

37. And why would I do that?

I don't hate those who have it easy, or who aren't struggling. They have no say in what happens to the poor. How could I blame someone in Iowa for what happened in Katrina, that doesn't make sense at all. Sorry, but I was a hippie with all the rainbows and attitudes, and it didn't change one thing. I'm not even sure if our protests for the Vietnam war even really helped.

The President of the United States is supposed to be the leader of the United States, for ALL the people, not just for those who are rich or are corporations. Didn't we just have a President who did the same thing? He got skewered on the board, all the time. If he did, by accident, do something right for the people, NO ONE here gave him a pat on the back. He was pretty much monkey boy from the first day he took office. And yet, Obama does most of the same things as Bush, and we are supposed to cheer? If Bush was giving a speech on fatherhood, would you be applauding?

I really don't get the cheerleading "for our side". This isn't a sporting event, this is really people's lives. I care about the issues ONLY, not the person in the White House.

zalinda

[Jennicut]

32. My husband's father abandoned him...because he was an alcoholic

Not because any politician ruined the economy or this or that. It was that man's own damn fault. He also pretty much abandoned my husband's younger half brothers too. Sorry, laying blame for the mistakes of fathers abandoning their kids on Obama who has been in office for say...5 months is ridiculous. Fathers abandon their kids for many different reasons...selfishness, drugs and drinking, lack of role models themselves...not just economic reasons and not because of one politician. Its lack of responsibility more then anything to me.

[zalinda]

33. You don't get it, do you

I has nothing to do with Obama, he's just the current jack off. It has to do with issues that are important. Obama is great at making speeches, but those speeches mean shit when people are dying because they don't have health care, or housing, or food or jobs, or are in a stupid war.

All I see is people here patting Obama on the back like he has done something really important, something that will change "fatherhood" forever. That's a bunch of bull. There are other celebrities who has spoken out about fatherhood.

I actually don't care who is President, as long as they are doing the job FOR THE PEOPLE, and not for corporations. I want a President who actually cares about the issues of real people. And don't start sobbing the excuse, it's only been 5 months. He is heading in the wrong direction, and that is obvious to anyone who doesn't adore him because of whatever (you name the reason). If he was heading in the right direction, you would see most people here applauding him.

zalinda

[Jennicut]

48. I see. You seem to be very caught up in the primaries still. I hope you

and your anger enjoy each other. Bitterness gets you no where in life. I learned to drop it long ago. There are people who have better lives then you and many many that have worse lives (look at Iran right now). If you live each day with anger you will have wasted it. I am 32. I have been through some crap in my life but I refuse to let others bring me down and ruin the rest of my life. I got diagnosed with diabetes at 29 and my doctors could not really tell me why. I have passed out and have almost died because I was close to being in a coma from low blood sugar. Its sucks to have this disease but I refuse to be bitter about it. Everyone has been through something. My husband grew up with out his father and with two step fathers who also left but he refuses to let that influence his life with his kids now.
I think the real issue is your candidate did not win and you are bitter. Good luck with that.

[zalinda]

49. Why don't YOU let go of the primaries?

I never mentioned the primaries, I mentioned Obama. I am intelligent enough to know the difference between the two. I don't like what this President is doing. I was able to say that when Bush was President, but apparently not when it's Obama.

zalinda

[Jennicut]

58. You mentioned it in a different post above! LOL.

[MarjorieG]

55. Changing the imbedded corporate culture is a real lift, and Obama is making some good decisions from

the bad choices he's been given. And he can cajole all we want, Congress is needed, too.

Some people appreciate a good symbol of fatherhood, so I wouldn't knock it out of hand.

[treestar]

34. How powerful do you think the POTUS is? Read the Constitution

did you criticize Bush for whatever fluff he did for father's day last year the same way?

[zalinda]

43. The President sets the tone for the country

He is supposed to LEAD the country, and get the reps to get the country on the right track. He doesn't sit back and wait until the ball is handed to him. BTW, that is why the President is called the LEADER!!!!!!

As for Bush, I criticized Bush all the time, and so did every other person on this board. But, no one would EVER praise him if he made a heart felt father's day speech.

zalinda

[sandnsea]

46. Leaving is the wrong choice

And no it is not necessary to leave for a child to eat. It may be difficult, there may be periods when you are homeless and in a shelter even. But fathers do not have to leave. That's the whole point. He's trying to create an environment where men stay, along with the programs to help them do that.

http://www.obama-mamas.com/blog/?p=279

[butterfly77]

52. Yeah, we know why their are so many poor absentee fathers...

because of Reagan,bush,cheney and the republicon and blue dog Democrats bullshit policies. Why don't you ask the fucking republicons about whether they had to make a decision or not their children could eat or not.

These are the assholes who don't give a damn about you and no one else but their families,corporations and other countries and their affairs. THey are the ones who are telling you to fuck off,jack off or whatever the hell, don't get me started!!! Now I notice all of the silly MF are coming out of the woodworks.


Where was all the fucking outrage for the last eight,ten,twenty,thirty damn years!!! What you can do is try to help get rid of all of Bush,Reagan,Bush,Nixon leftovers out of the government who keep destroying our country. Now these crazy motherfuckers want to go spread some more fucking Democracy, in Iran and the question I will ask is " With who and what army? Our president is trying to fix all of the Bushit!!!

No one is going to get everything they want when and how they want it exactly. GROW THE FUCK UP! I know damn well you knew what the situation was before PResident Obama took office so where in the hell were you when Bush and Cheney sat on their asses and did nothing in the last months of his fake ass presidency, where was all of the questioning then by you and the rest of your crew the damn media and the republiCONS..HAVE A NICE DAY BABY...

[Autumn]

60. There was a lot of outrage, but no one in power was listening.n/t

[lunatica]

31. I for one, commend him for making this effort

He obviously lives what he's preaching when it comes to fatherhood. If anyone expects him to take on one catastrophe at a time and go on to the next one only after the first one is fixed, then nothing is going to get fixed. Nothing.

And by the way, it isn't just fathers who are losing their jobs. At the very least everyone where I work is facing furloughs and cut in salaries, and many will be laid off. We just don't know who will lose their jobs. They've been keeping us apprised of developments. I work at UC Berkeley where the majority of the staff are women. All the departments on all the UC campuses are getting hit.

[Dr Fate]

45. Happy Father's Day, Mr. President! n/t

n/t