HJ Strong

Business ,Politics, and Sports

[The Obama Foundation @ObamaFoundation]

“Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you don’t matter, or like you don’t have a place in our American story — because you do. And you have a right to be exactly who you are." — Mrs. Obama

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

Reminder that banning elected officials from trading stock is a total no brainer.

They can use privileged information to make money on the stock market, while they’re supposed to be working for you.

Make no mistake — it’s legalized corruption.

[Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @RepAOC]

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom is hard fought, but guaranteed when we organize and refuse to back down.

The work is not done. Today, we celebrate Black American resistance and resilience, and recommit to the transformation required to deliver real equity and justice for all.

[Marc E. Elias @marceelias]

We are suing to prevent Donald Trump from controlling mail-in voting by dictating to the Postal Service of whose ballot they will and won't deliver. All of this is laddering up to Trump trying to dictate who gets to vote and who doesn't.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

This is Trump donor and Mar-a-Lago neighbor John Cafaro who got the no-bid contract to install a water purification system for the reflecting pool. He has 2 prior convictions, one for bribing a member of Congress and another for an illegal loan that violated campaign finance laws.

[Amunet @freakoutsideofx]

Happy Juneteenth!!

[Really American 🇺🇸 @ReallyAmerican1]

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s crusade to purge women and people of color from our Armed Forces has never been subtle.

But today, a New York Times exposé revealed exactly how far he’s gone to dismantle the careers and achievements of our finest servicemen and women.

More than a dozen military insiders — both active duty and those already purged — spoke to the Times anonymously to unmask a horrific ongoing attack.

They detailed a process used by Hegseth and his team to halt senior officer advancements for reasons completely unrelated to merit, job performance, or fighting wars.

Hegseth’s efforts are part of a quest to advance his white-and-male centered worldview, facts, history, and actual service be damned.

In the absence of any such evidence, insiders confirmed that he has used his position to withhold promotions from qualified, decorated veterans. The Times cited several enraging examples:

• Last fall, Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll to remove two Black and two female officers from a 29-person promotion list. Driscoll repeatedly refused, citing their decades of exemplary service. In March, Hegseth bypassed him, removed their names, and sent the modified list to the White House.

• In total, Hegseth has removed 32 officers from Air Force and Navy one- and two-star promotion lists. He also pulled the only Black officer and the only female officer from a Marine Corps list, leaving their promotions in limbo.

• Vice Adm. Sara Joyner, a highly decorated three-star fighter pilot, saw her advancement stalled over a 2021 Navy recruiting ad where she said, "I’m not just a girl with a dream. I’m a sailor with one." Hegseth deemed the line a "big problem." Joyner has since retired.

• Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett was recommended for a promotion after successfully managing the aftermath of a massive Navy fuel spill in Hawaii. Hegseth blocked his advancement after Barnett participated in a Navy-sponsored Pride event back in 2018.

It is an outrage to watch a media personality whose greatest battles have been with hangovers intentionally harm the careers of people who risked everything to keep America safe. Hegseth’s actions are insult to all who have served and a risk to national security.

[Image: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov]

[Michelle Obama @MichelleObama]

Barack: You told me all those years ago that you couldn’t promise me the world, but you could promise me an interesting life. Of course, you outdid yourself and managed to give me both.

Eight years in the crucible, and not once did you melt from the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence: your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage, your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency, your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.

[Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 @joncoopertweets]

Trump’s humiliating Iran surrender in one chart:

Obama: 98% uranium cut, enrichment capped, sanctions in place, 0 American lives lost.

Trump: $25B unfrozen, sanctions lifted, Hormuz tolls for Iran, 15 dead + 543 injured Americans, $2.2 TRILLION cost.

So weak!
#TrumpSurrendered

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

After the Supreme Court first gutted the VRA in 2013, Black voter turnout decreased — especially in the South.

After the Supreme Court gutted it again this year, multiple Southern states have already begun trampling on Black voting power.

This is Chief Justice John Roberts’ legacy.

[Saganism @Saganismm]

“Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think.”

— Albert Einstein

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

here's Barack Obama's entire speech commemorating the Obama Presidential Center. He reflected on his administration's successes and failures, critiqued the moral rot of contemporary America, and outlined a positive vision of the future -- all without ever mentioning Trump

[Maine @TheMaineWonk]

It’s the most destructive and weak American foreign policy in history:

- Surrendering to Taliban
- Surrendering to Iran
- Bending knee to Russia
- Bending knee to China
- Attacking NATO & weakening alliances
- Pretending to end 8 wars & world thinking you lost the 1 you started

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

BREAKING: HAHA! Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton burst out laughing at the dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center after Michelle brilliantly shades Trump over the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is just too good...

"You were unflappable at every turn, always focused, always calm, always looking at the long view," the former First Lady said to her husband. "How absurd it is to even imagine that you might have buckled under the pressure even once, lashed out in frustration, lost your temper. How absurd it is to imagine that you might have done anything but make our family and this entire country proud."

We can think of another President who regularly loses his temper, buckles under pressure the moment that difficulties arise, and lashes out in frustration on Truth Social daily. There is an infuriating double standard at play. Obama had to always keep his cool to avoid getting labeled with the "angry Black man" racist trope. As an entitled white man, Trump can blow his top whenever he wants and nobody bats an eyelash.

"No, you were too busy. I'm not done, y'all! Not done," Mrs. Obama continued as the crowd roared with approval. "So much to say. You were doing the people's work, rescuing our economy, expanding healthcare, ending a war, ordering the Bin Laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a peace prize."

She paused and smiled at that point in the speech, giving the audience a chance to cheer. Seated in the wing, Hillary Clinton burst out laughing at the obvious jab and President Obama laughed along with her.

It's well-documented that Donald Trump is absolutely obsessed with the fact that Obama has a Peace Prize while he himself has been denied the distinction. Trump aggressively lobbied in vain for one, cajoling foreign leaders to nominate him.

He was so incensed by the Norwegian Nobel Committee's refusal to award him that he wrote to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre: "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace."

He lived up to the implicit threat in that letter by going on to launch a pointless, costly, child-murdering war against Iran that ultimately ended in defeat and surrender for the United States.

And Michelle wasn't done there...

"Keeping us safe from Ebola, regulating the banks, standing up for marriage equality, listening to science, and comforting an entire nation in the face of unspeakable tragedies," she continued, listing more of her husband's accomplishments. "And you did it all with such grace and class and cool that you made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park."

The Ebola bit is another jab at Trump who, with the assistance of RFK Jr. and Elon Musk gutted research and pandemic prevention. This is the most virulently anti-science administration that this country has ever seen.

One thing is certain. The Obamas will have a lasting, radiant legacy in this country. Trump will be reviled by future generations, his name used a byword for incompetence, failure, and corruption.

Please ❤️ and share if you love the Obamas!

[💥☠️BklynRayder☠️💥🏈🇺🇸♈️⚾️🏀#screwtheDemsnRepub @bkrayder]

@Acyn Why does @JDVance @VP continue to outright lie to American people and say it was American money that Obama released. Straight up liar that can be debunked in 5 seconds with a search. He cannot tell the truth on simplest things.

[DILLIGAF 🐶🍿🌻🐝 @SharonCoryell3]

@Acyn Oops

[Malcolm Nance @MalcolmNance]

The Iran Deal:

Trump has officialy lost the US-Iran War.

Trump authorized up to $400 Billion to end a war he started.

He signed the instrument of surrender at Versailles palace just like the Germans did in 1919 ... at Versailles palace.

At Hegseth's insistence, America wasted thousands of stealth missiles and advanced air defense weapons only to make the IRGC stronger and give them uncontested control of the Strait of Hormuz and by extension the entire Persian Gulf region.

Obama didn't do any of that.

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

What did we get out of Trump's "little excursion" in Iran? Thousands killed. Skyrocketing oil and food prices. $100 billion spent while cutting healthcare and food stamps for people at home. A "deal" that leaves Iran's nuclear capabilities unresolved. Hello?

[Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson]

After reading the details released on the deal with Iran, let's get give them a battleship so we can sign our unconditional surrender.

What a colossal foreign policy disaster.