Leslie Beckwith

ODU '75, proud to be a liberal

[Leslie Beckwith @BeckwithLeslie]

@nypost That’s because in their country it’s already added in.

[Leslie Beckwith @BeckwithLeslie]

@MegynKellyShow @RichLowry @charlescwcooke The Obamas live rent free in these people’s heads.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Dear Joe,
I wish I could sit down with you face to face and explain why so many of us were offended by the UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House.
For me, it had nothing to do with the UFC or who showed up for the fights. The brand you and Dana have built is a bona fide American success story. More power to you. As for the fighters, in my book, anyone brave enough to put it all on the line in the arena is remarkable to witness. Their dedication and discipline inspire me. I don’t understand anyone who can’t admire that.
And as for the people who attended, I, for one, love Shane Gillis. I think he’s hilarious and brilliant. It was a show. A once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to witness it firsthand.
My problem is that I believe some of our public spaces are sacred. And unlike many of the great powers that came before us, these American monuments belong to all of us. Not to whoever happens to hold power at the moment.
The White House does not belong to Donald Trump. It does not belong to any President. It belongs to the people. To treat it as Caesar treated the Colosseum is antithetical to everything our founding fathers fought for.
This is not Rome. Presidents are not emperors doling out bread and circuses for the peasants. The White House is the People’s House. This “celebration” could have happened in any stadium within a stone’s throw of the South Lawn. No one would have had an issue with it.
But that was obviously Donald Trump’s whole point. By holding the event on the South Lawn, what he was saying to the rest of us is:
“This is my house. I own it. I will do with it what I please. I’ll build a colosseum and have the gladiators fight under my gaze. I’ll tear down the East Wing. I’ll pave over the Rose Garden. I’ll cover everything in gold and marble. I’ll erase the names of all the men who came before me.”
The fights were an exhibition of imperial domination, not a celebration of our 250th anniversary as a democracy.
The White House is not Buckingham Palace. It is not the Palace of Versailles. It is not the Forbidden City of Beijing. It does not belong to an emperor, or a king, or a commissar.
The White House belongs to us. All of us. The person who sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office is nothing more than an honored guest. A temporary caretaker.
The President is our servant. Not our Caesar.
Respectfully, Hunter

P.S. Cage match between me and Don Jr.? Your call on the venue. Anywhere but the South Lawn.

[Deb @DontCallMeDebby]

‘‘ strong men - men who are truly role models - don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful.’’

- Michelle Obama

[Leslie Beckwith @BeckwithLeslie]

@BeschlossDC I remember but not sure what we did. July 4 was my Mom’s birthday so most of the time we were celebrating her. We must have done something special though!

[Senator Tim Kaine @SenTimKaine]

Happy Loving Day! 59 years ago, Virginia couple Mildred and Richard Loving won a landmark Supreme Court case that ended state bans on interracial marriage. Today, let’s celebrate their love, strength, and perseverance, while committing ourselves to fight against racism and discrimination.

[Leslie Beckwith @BeckwithLeslie]

@FitFusion__ Doesn’t matter but Jewish.

[Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski]

We just want to afford gas, groceries, housing and health care.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

To everyone so eager to cancel someone for a tattoo they got at age 22, a drunk text, a selfie they took in the middle of a mental health crisis:

Show us your laptop.
Show us your iCloud.
Open your entire digital life to your worst enemy. No context. No filter. No explanation.

You won’t.

You won’t because you know what I know. Any one of us, frozen at our worst moment, photographed in our lowest hour, looks like a monster. Looks like a stranger. Looks like someone who deserves to be cast out.

That is not who we are.

My mom and baby sister were killed in a car accident when I was just a kid. Cancer took my brother Beau, my best friend and my rock. I battled alcoholism. I battled addiction. I chose the coward’s way out more times than I can count.

For years I believed the defining chapters of my life were written by tragedy, loss, and shame.

I no longer believe that.

Pain can shape us. Loss can humble us. Failures can leave scars that never fully fade. But none of them have the authority to define us.

And it sure as hell ain’t the critic that counts.

That authority belongs to us alone-the person in the arena.

Every setback presents a choice. Play the victim, or cut the bullshit and take ownership for who we become next.

Life does not determine our character. It reveals it.

Again and again we are asked the same question. When shit happens, what next?

We are not defined by what happened to us. We are not defined by the worst photo, the worst text, the worst tattoo, the worst night. We are defined by the person we choose to become. And by the courage to choose that person, every single day.

So before you reach for the gavel - show us your laptop.

You won’t.

The whole world saw mine. And I am still here. Still becoming. Still choosing. Still standing.

That is the only definition that matters.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

@iamno1s2hold He is a recovering crack addict that has now found a new addiction- it’s apparently called shit posting.

[James Talarico @jamestalarico]

There’s been a lot of talk in this race about what makes a "real man."

A man does what’s right when no one is watching. He upholds his commitments to his family and neighbors. He doesn’t lie, cheat, & steal his way through life.

Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Glorification? There was zero glory in my addiction. It was truly the most excruciatingly humiliating and degrading experience you could possibly imagine. I wanted to commit suicide almost daliy, but didn’t have the courage for even that. Instead I’d reach for the pipe or the bottle. The cowards way out. The guilt. The shame. The hurt. The absolute misery of it. Yet here I am. And I am not alone. There are millions upon millions of us. We don’t all agree on politics or people or who we root for on Sunday. But we all have the shared experience of walking through that fire and surviving. I chose to live. That’s not a joke.

[Leslie Beckwith @BeckwithLeslie]

@factpostnews Pay it out of his own pocket then.

[Meacham @MeachamDr]

It’s like a meth family moved in….

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

This is what Trump's done to the people's house:

A third of it is rubble.

Another third is a cage match.

What a metaphor.

[Joe Biden @JoeBiden]

Generation after generation, men and women put on the uniform knowing the risk — and went anyway knowing they might not come home. Knowing their families would carry that for the rest of their lives.

To the families still carrying that weight — I see you. The pain doesn’t go away, but neither does the pride.

Freedom has never been guaranteed. It has to be earned, defended, and sometimes paid for in the hardest way imaginable. Today on Memorial Day, we stop, we slow down, and we remember those who did.

We honor them.

We thank them.

And we work hard to live up to what they died for. Keep the democracy they believed in worth believing in. That is the ultimate tribute for their sacrifice.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the brave men and women in uniform who gave their lives for this country that we love. It is a debt we can never fully repay, but we must never stop trying. I’ll always be grateful to our fallen heroes and their families, whose sacrifice reminds us of what it means to live for something greater than ourselves.

[𝓜𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓟𝓸𝓷𝓭 @CollinsportME]

Obama didn’t cause any division in this country. It was caused by all the bigots who couldn‘t handle a Black President. If you think it was Obama who caused the division, it’s because you’re one of those bigots.

[Richmond Times-Dispatch @RTDNEWS]

Virginia’s redistricting mess isn’t hopeless — If both parties admit they want the same thing | Guest column https://t.co/r8o1LzaAta

[ODU Unfiltered @OduUnfiltered]

There were 15 @SunBelt basketball All-Conference players. Every single one of them is gone from the conference. This is not sustainable. #SunBelt #CollegeBasketball #TransferPortal
https://t.co/YtGqD26DWS