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6:43 PM PT: Populist Obama is great.
6:44 PM PT: Here's Obama reminding John McCain that he's the president:
"My first duty as Commander-in-Chief is to defend the United States of America. In doing so, the question is not whether America leads in the world, but how. When we make rash decisions, reacting to the headlines instead of using our heads; when the first response to a challenge is to send in our military – then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts, and neglect the broader strategy we need for a safer, more prosperous world. That’s what our enemies want us to do."
6:48 PM PT: Calls for use of force against ISIL. Yes, we need to finally put to bed the Authorization to Use Military Force for Afghanistan that is still what the administration is operating under. A new AUMF needs to rein in the executive in war-making powers.
6:48 PM PT: Here's the bit to make Rubio pout:
"In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new. Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. And this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo. As His Holiness, Pope Francis, has said, diplomacy is the work of ;small steps.'"
6:49 PM PT: (No love for the Pope from the GOP, though they are applauding Alan Gross, who was finally released from prison in Cuba and is home.)
6:51 PM PT: Here's another veto threat: any new sanctions bill that undoes the process the administration is undergoing to keep Iran from getting nukes.
6:52 PM PT: On cybersecurity, he's urging Congress to finally pass the crappy bill that they've warmed over from last session. This isn't a good Obama. A lot more work needs to be done on that one.
6:52 PM PT: EBOLA! Boehner half-heartedly claps ending Ebola. These guys are iffy on ending disease.
6:53 PM PT: "I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what – I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it."
6:55 PM PT: He's pretty good at trolling these guys. He's making a case to the entire nation, a nation that's on his side of pretty much every issue. Watching Republicans refuse to acknowledge that, refuse to even give him the respect of applauding him, well, that helps his case.
6:56 PM PT: As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world. It’s why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims – the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace. That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they’re right, but because they make us safer.
6:57 PM PT: (The GOP hate human rights.) Yes, it's time to finally close Guantanamo. "Its not who we are."
6:59 PM PT: Now discussing NSA/CIA/FBI and privacy. "Looking to the future instead of the past." Well, that's still not working out so great on intelligence abuses OR cybersecurity OR torture. It'd be good to reconsider some of that looking back in his final two years.
7:00 PM PT:
2014: We'll reform the NSA. 2015: We've got this report...
— @astepanovich
7:03 PM PT (Barbara Morrill): New thread here.