Obama:'I'm standing right here'

With a hug, a crime victim speaks As Lisa Marie Iyotte stood in front of supporters of the Tribal Law and Order Act at the White House on Thursday, ready to introduce President Obama, she began to cry.

The bill aims to reduce violence against American Indians like Iyotte, a rape victim who is a member of the White Clay People tribe. The measure would give tribal law enforcement agencies more authority to combat crime..

As Iyotte struggled to give her introduction, President Obama walked over.

“You’ll be fine,” he said, hugging her. “I’m standing right here.”

With Obama by her side, Iyotte talked about her past, including being beaten and raped by a man who wasn’t punished. As she introduced Obama, he hugged her again.

“I want to start out by thanking Lisa for her introduction and for having the courage to share her story with all of us today,” Obama said. “I intend to send a clear message that all of our people ... have the right to feel safe in their own communities and to raise their children in peace and enjoy the fullest protection of our laws.”

Video
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0710/im_standin...

That Native American vote cannot be underestimated.

Apparently he's an adopted child of the Crow nation.

and just at the moment of that signing, it was much more than about a hug;
it was about a real demonstration of support via policy and funding changes
by this administration, which is what was promised to them from Barack Obama.

So yeah....they should never have been misused....and today appears to be
the start of something different. Some call it good change or progress,
while others refuse to see anything as change but what they themselves
decided that should mean.

of indigenous Americans.

so.

I heard Mitch McConnell says he has 41 votes against it.

He's not sure what IT is, but he's got 41 votes.

That's not surprised
Akin
Austria
Bachmann
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bishop (UT)
Blunt
Boehner
Boustany
Broun (GA)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite,
Ginny
Burgess
Buyer
Campbell
Cantor
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Conaway
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Dreier
Duncan
Flake
Fleming
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett (NJ)
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Hall (TX)
Harper
Hastings (WA)
Heller
Hensarling
Herger
Hunter
Inglis
Johnson, Sam
Jordan (OH)
King (IA)
Kingston
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lee (NY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Manzullo
Marchant
McCotter
McMorris
Rodgers
Mica
Miller, Gary
Neugebauer
Olson
Paul
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Price (GA)
Radanovich
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schmidt
Schock
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Stearns
Thompson (PA)
Tiberi
Westmoreland

PRICKS!

They all have the dreaded "Scarlet R" behind their names

probably the same ones who didn't want to prosecute those who raped our female troops. They should be called "pro-rape republicans" every time a camera is on.

PRP......acronym Pro Rape Rethugs...luv it!!!

How can they even sleep at night?

Two of these idiots are from my state, and one of them is MY rep in congress! How anyone could vote NO on something like this is beyond me, but it keep happening over and over with the moron republicans we have in this congress! I hope someone makes a list of all the bills, like this one, that the republicans have voted NO on, and it this list is used to show just how sick these people are, and how they do not care about the people, only the big corporations.

I have already wrote to my rep and told her what I think about her being in lock step with the party of NO! It won't make a difference sine my district is very red and she always wins, but at least she knows how I feel! As for the other moron from Washington state I recognize on the list, Doc Hastings, he has need to go for a long time, and I hope this year is his last! He used to be my rep till they redid the districts, and he was useless, he only gets elected because so many republicans live on the east side of the state.

"that all of our people ... have the right to feel safe in their own communities", although I wish he hadn't said "in their own communities" because that smacks of segregation, something one would think he was a little bit sensitive to.

Mr President, I don't feel safe with pictures of nooses on placards describing what some fanatics/fascists think should happen to me and my same-sex husband. The time for talk and platitudes has passed, Mr President. Repeal divisive DoMA now.

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... for reference to nooses

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And if you think all that is going to end once DOMA is repealed, you're fucking kidding yourself. Repealing DOMA will do a lot of great things, but making people suddenly more tolerant or imposing harsher penalty on bigots that decide to become violent aren't two of them.

And we can't be bothered to remember anything good that the president has done, don't you know.

What DOMA has to do with this new law, I'll never know. This should be reason for celebration by all of us, but then that would mean we would all need to be mature and unselfish, wouldn't it?

Score one for the good guys, indeed!

Good for "us". Just a nice story to see and something that deserves and approving nod from me, for what that is worth.

This is great news.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/signin...

Thank you for linking that, Jen. Hard to deny the true human compassion this man has inside of him.

just a description of it doesn't do it justice. Strange how this wasn't covered in the MSM-the same MSM that often calls Obama "cold" and "too cool for school" and say he "doesn't have the ability to connect to people in a personal way."

My pleasure.

they must be heartless assholes who don't see it when it is in their face and 10' tall.

they say he's cool and detached, doesn't have the Bill Clinton ability to "feel your pain," is too intellectual, etc. Maybe if they'd actually watch what he did in situations like this instead of covering Lindsay Lohan or the latest American Idol shake-up, they'd know better.

Requires patience to watch.

Plus no "here's the other side" give-and-take that they love. Who exactly wants to get up and explain why they wanted to defeat this?

Thank you for posting the link, it is much appreciated.

Recommended.

To see the pain that this woman still felt after all those years...the crime she was exposed to is a permanent wound that will never heal and the asshole that did it got away with it.
But the uplifting part was to see the genuine compassion Obama showed to her...not that phony shit we see from lesser men but real compassion.

Thanks for the link!

Thanks for posting this!

you mean he's finally going after cheney and the banks?

now let's see how Fox spins this.

I have gotten into some debates (poorly, sorry madhound) about the president not being a turncoat. I have read that he is about restoring the laws of our land and making sure that the wealthy are held accountable. An article like this makes calling him a corporate shill, difficult. I am confused about many things he does, charter school that bust unions, not prosecuting torture, but I guess I feel that it is just to risky for him to attack from the top and that he is using a bottoms up approach. We are all ready questioning city counsel salaries, prison guard unions which lobby for sentences that increase prison business, and a lot more.

All in all, I am touched by his words and actions.

Does my heart good to see this.

the real compassion here was truly evident. The support very real.

the kind of compassion his predecessor was not capable of even imitating

He is not perfect - but boy, he sure values the non-elite more than most other presidents of recent times.

A kind and gentle man with compassion. I'm so glad he's our President.

Moving.

Thanks for posting!

Julie

to see how important it was for her.

I just wish that he had chosen a staff that also had compassion and cares about human beings.

Larry Summers, Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner have to be three of the coldest fishes in the sea. Obama would be better served with aides more like him.

Obama needs to have Elizabeth Warren on his team. She shares his ability to feel empathy. He would get along very well with her.

I havve major disagreements with the Prez but this was a beautiful moment.

Thank you Lisa Marie Iyotte for sharing your story and thank you President Obama for your kindness and compassion...

I always knew that Barack Obama was a compassionate man, I am glad that you all got to see how compassionate he can be. Lets help him by electing Dems in November.

Video is a must see. Can't even put into words what the first several minutes said without saying a word.