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A Los Angeles Lakers player has gone on record to state that former President Barack Obama was the reason that the NBA players decided to resume the basketball season, according to Insider. The completion of the season was in jeopardy after some of the players didnt want to play after Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officers shot an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake.

The players had unofficially decided to protest on Aug. 26, when the Milwaukee Bucks took a stance and didnt take the court, during the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Orlando Magic. After making that unprecedented move, the remaining playoff teams followed suit and the NBA decided to suspend the playoffs.

On that night, the players and coaches decided to meet to vote on what would be the next move. Both LA teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers had voted to end the season and vacate the bubble. The vote had starkly divided the players and placed the season in jeopardy.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley, while appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, had concluded that the season was most likely over. But then, President Obama had spoken to some of the players on the phone and that conversation solidified that they would continue playing.

I think Obamas phone call to Chris Paul, [Andre] Iguodala, and LeBron [James] to seal the deal of how he would handle it, getting a leadership group together, how we were going to attack the owners. And then once we put that to bed, it was time, after talking to Bron after he talked to Obama, it was like, If Obama said it, what other better advice can we get? Dudley said.

I said, Theres nothing else to talk about. Were playing.'

It was reported that Obama had encouraged the players to use the moment to come up with actionable items to help fight racial inequality, social injustice, and police brutality.

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LA Lakers' Jared Dudley Says Obama's Phone Conversation With NBA Players Was the Catalyst to Resume Playoffs - Black Enterprise

Donald Trumps most often repeated claim in his reelection campaign is that hes been a great job creator. To hear him talk, youd think that job creation skyrocketed after he became president.

But data from the Department of Labor tells quite a different story. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the best three-year span of job creation in this century was 2014, 2015 and 2016. That was while Barack Obama, not Trump, was president. During those three years, the economy added 8.07 million jobs.

By contrast, during Trumps first three years as president (2017, 2018 and 2019), the economy only added 6.5 million jobs. Thats right, job creation slowed down after Trump became president and has never reached the level it was at during Obamas presidency.

The facts show that it was Obama and not Trump who turned our economy around and gave us low unemployment, high job creation, a record-setting stock market and a shrinking budget deficit. Although Trump tried to take credit for Obamas economy, were now seeing the results of the Trump presidency on our economy.

Excerpt from:
Letter: Obama's economy | Letters to the Editor | qconline.com - Quad-Cities Online

Read: When Obama talked Biden out of running for president

Everyones been wondering how you campaign in a pandemic, and were trying to show them how, says Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to the former president.

Obama will spend much of the next few weeks texting, tweeting, and recording web videos. Hes agreed to a few interviews with podcast hosts he can count on to let him say what he wants: One with his former campaign manager David Plouffe, and another on Pod Save America, whose hosts met while working for him. A very important question after the election, even if it goes well with Joe Biden, is whether you start seeing the Republican Party restore some sense of Here are norms that we cant breach, because [Trumps] breached all of them, and they have not said to him, This is too far, Obama told the Pod Save America hosts yesterday.

Obama has raised more money for the Biden campaign via text and emails with his name on them than anyone other than Biden and Harris themselves; a text of his from late September is one of the top 10 of all time for money raised. Sitting at his table at home, he has appeared at several fundraisers for the Biden campaign, for House Democrats, and for All on the Line, the redistricting group that he helped found and that merged with his Organizing for Action group two years ago.

Over the summer, Obama advised LeBron James as the NBA star was figuring out how to get more involved in politics. Obama has stayed involved with Jamess group, More Than a Votea surprise appearance in the virtual fan section for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, alongside past Lakers stars and poll workers, led to a tripling of the number of volunteers who signed up as poll workers. Hes a figure of cultural significance now, not just political significance, says Addisu Demissie, the groups executive director, explaining why he thinks Obama was able to help in a way that other politicians couldnt.

This is the first election cycle in 20 years that Obama hasnt been out on the trail. As much as he enjoys not having to interrupt his schedule, he misses the crowds cheering for him. He misses whipping people up in person, especially against Trump, whom he despises so deeply. But he did draw 120,826 viewers to the grassroots fundraiser he appeared at in June for Biden, raising $11 million in small donationsway more people, and probably more money, than he could have raised at a single live event.

Obama has also continued to make endorsements, including many for down-ballot racesand after years of Democrats distancing themselves from him when he was in the White House, the number of swing-district candidates now chasing his public support has gratified him. Hes thrown his weight around a little, endorsing Reverend Raphael Warnock in one of this years Georgia Senate elections. That earned Obama a brushback from another Democratic candidate, Matt Lieberman, who tweeted at Warnock, Congrats on endorsement from 44 who has endorsed every DC-approved Senate candidate.

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Here Comes Obama - The Atlantic

The previous day at the White House the day after the election the shock was palpable throughout the building. Obama often used the phrase zig zag to describe the ups and downs of our countrys existence. In my head, I heard the lyrics of a Bruce Springsteen song, one step up and two steps back, as I walked into the West Wing that morning.

Watch "The Way I See It," a new documentary co-presented by Focus Features and MSNBC Films, on MSNBC tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET.

Being one of the older members of the staff, I had watched the country go through many challenging times. The assassination of John Kennedy in 1963, the civil rights riots in the 1960s, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy in 1968, the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974 and the 9/11 attacks, to name a few. As difficult as those times were, our country did eventually recover from all of them.

I told myself that the Trump election was another such episode a zag, two steps back or maybe a few more. Yet there was an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach as I sat in my cubby hole office early that morning after the election. I noticed an open door and light across the hall chief speechwriter Cody Keenans office. I poked my head in.

Cody wasnt there but his young assistant a writer in her own right was seated at her desk.

You doing OK? I asked.

She looked up at me and, while nodding yes, began to cry. I reached out to give her a hug, and the tears flowed onto my suit jacket. Later, I noticed mascara stains on my lapel.

That scene repeated itself throughout the day. I tried my best to buck people up. Itll be OK, I repeated. Yet I wondered myself how much damage a Trump presidency could do, and how long it would eventually take for the country to recover.

Trump eventually arrived at the White House and met with the Obamas in the Diplomatic Reception Room. With him was Melania, Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks and a handful of others. President Obama escorted Trump along the colonnade to the Oval Office. Michelle Obama escorted Melania upstairs to the residence.

In the Oval Office, Obama showed Trump the private study and private dining room that are part of the Oval suite. As they were about to sit down for their private meeting, Obama said to Trump, this is my White House photographer Pete Souza.

I reached out to shake his hand and said, Congratulations, sir. I was following the presidents lead to be respectful.

Youre famous, Trump said back to me. Which puzzled me so much that I just let his reply hang in the air.

Thinking about that comment almost four years later, I still think it was such an odd thing for him to say. First, I wasnt really that well known outside the building (yes, thats changed a bit in the past few years). So how could he possibly know who I was? But more telling, why would the next president of the United States choose those words, and only those words, upon me congratulating him?

But watching the reality show nature of his presidency the last four years, maybe it makes perfect sense. I guess he thought I had good ratings.

Many people are aware that I began throwing shade at Trump and his administration in the early days after his inauguration. What began as subtle and humorous jabs has morphed into much more direct commentary, bolstered mostly by my Obama photographs as a comparison.

There are some who believe that I, as a former photojournalist and a former official White House photographer, should keep my mouth shut and not criticize the current president.

I disagree.

I worked for arguably the most iconic Republican president of my generation (yes, I worked as an official photographer for Reagan) and for arguably the most iconic Democratic president of my generation. So I feel I have a unique vantage point, having observed two presidents from two different political parties as an insider.

The presidency deserves someone who is competent and honest. Someone who has empathy and compassion. Someone who upholds the dignity, and shows respect to, the office. Someone who has character and knows ultimately the presidency isnt about him (or someday her), but about us.

Originally posted here:
I photographed Obama and Reagan. Here's why Trump's White House is a national disgrace. - NBC News

In Joe Biden's acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination, he said "Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot," adding "the choice could not be more clear."

While that could have come off as a political clich, in 2020 it's true. In fact, one could argue that the biggest issue in the election isn't the pandemic, economy, or racial justice, but that Americans want a leader with character.

They want someone who has compassion for those who are hurting right now and they aren't getting it from the current president.

Nothing better exemplifies Trump's callousness towards the COVID-19 pandemic than when a reporter pressed him on the fact that 1,000 Americans are dying every day from the disease he replied, "It is what it is."

Trump on 1,000 Americans a day dying from COVID-19: 'It is what it is' http://www.youtube.com

Earlier this month, a poll by Newsweek found Biden was rated much higher for compassion than his opponent, 67% to Trump's 34%. He is also seen as a better role model, 54% to 28%.

Throughout the campaign, people have touted Biden's compassion for others as his greatest selling point. During the Democratic National Convention, there were countless stories of how Biden gives his phone number out to everyday Americans.

It's often said that his natural empathy stems from the tragic loss of his wife and daughter when he was 29 and his son at 72.

via Matt Johnson / Twitter

One person who knows Biden's character more than just about anyone is president Barack Obama who worked with Biden for over eight years in the White House and on the campaign trail.

Obama shared his thoughts on Biden's natural empathy on the Pod Save America podcast released on October 14. He later shared a clip of his appearance on Instagram.

"I take my time in rope lines," Obama said, referring to campaign meet and greets. "And if [Biden] and I were campaigning, you know, I would have been really giving everybody a lot of attention and I'd be at the end of the rope."

"I look back, he was a third of the way through when he was still, you know, telling a story or listening to somebody. And that heart is who he is," he added.

"A lot of times when you're thinking about the presidency, it's great to look at policy, Obama said, "but a lot of it is what's their basic character?

"Are they people who instinctively care about the underdog? Are they people who are able to see the world through somebody else's eyes and stand in their shoes? Are they are they people who are instinctively generous in spirit?" Obama continued. "Right. And that is who Joe is."

The day after Obama's appearance on Pod Save America, Biden provided a perfect example of his character. After a live presidential town hall even on ABC, Biden stuck around and answered all the questions from audience members he couldn't get to long after the cameras were off.

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Obama opened up about the personal qualities that make Joe Biden such an exceptional leader - GOOD Magazine