concerned with protocol.

But if that is his main fault... wow, we lucked out with one of the greatest presidents of all time this past 8 years.

I disagree with President Obama. Secretary Clinton SHOULD have waited.

Unlike many younger DU members, I'm old enough to remember the Carter--Reagan race. President Carter conceded BEFORE all the West Coast polling stations had closed. That cost us good guys some seats by discouraging our voters before they voted.

Carter, who I still respect very much, should have waited until the next morning to concede.

I can't believe he didn't know that he would be helping the GOP win Senate & House seats by his early concession.

...as a chance to get electoral payback in a state where most Dems had voted against him five months earlier..

I've aso thought that that was part of the reason he gave a national radio address right before Election Day announcing that there was NO deal to free the hostages in Iran. To my mind Jimmy already knew he was going to lose, and he wanted to take as many Dems, especially Kennedy Dems, down with him as possible. Why else would you give a speech you knew would enrage the nation as it went to the polls? And why else would you concede when you knew people were STILL voting in states where Dems were in tight races?

"The amount of Democratic energy and money being wasted on recounts instead of trying to win the Louisiana Senate Race is mind boggling,"
former Obama White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer tweeted on Thursday."

WHAT "Democratic energy and money" is being wasted on recounts?

Has the Clinton campaign spent one dime on recounts?

Only Jill Stein has.

I am very disappointed in both Obama and Clinton.

After all, Clinton didn't HAVE to follow his advice, did she?

OK, it was probably Democrats mostly who donated money to Stein, but it sure as hell wasn't the Democratic Party, the DNC, or the Clinton campaign, was it?.

The right wingers insist it is all a conspiracy that Hillary is behind this.

I know better than to think that, but I wonder if she is secretly happy. She knows it won't overturn the results, but it still must feel nice to know that so many people still love her.

All the attention are on recounts that won't change one state in this election, let alone enough to overturn Trump's electoral vote lead. It's all for show. There is no chance of the recount yielding the votes needed. It ain't happening. Not at the margins we're seeing.

All the while there's a huge run off election no one is paying attention to. Imagine if Democrats and liberals throwing their money at a recount that won't change a thing, did the same for an election where that money can actually impact the outcome?

Liberals are going to be very disappointed when the recount is complete and Trump still leads.

and I'm disappointed in Obama for:
1) Calling her & asking her to concede
2) Appointing James Comey as Director of the FBI
3) Not firing Comey's ass the same day he sent that anti-Clinton letter to Congress 10 days before the election
4) Not directing his AG Loretta Sanchez to seek an indictment against Comey for violating the hatch Act.

I could go on..

I think he did violate that act. I don't think he did it on purpose. I think he is ideologically pure, foolish, and misguided. But I do think he violated that act and should be asked to resign.

Writing a letter to Congress as part of his job, however unprecedented, is not using his official capacity to actively participate in a political campaign.

He knew the stakes involved. the letter was poorly worded - it resulted in a tsunami of bullshit for a week.

It was like his announcement to not recommend prosecuting Clinton - He just had to involve himself and make it about him by interjecting his feelings that her actions were "careless" -

what is CARELESS is the Government using an outdated , clunky system of communication for state officials, resulting in them having to find creative means to streamline correspondence related to work and personal. Like the email fiasco, the letter fiasco was also poorly reported on - because of Comey's vagueness - and claims of Hillary facing an indictment gained traction.

Comey was irresponsible and dare I say - careless.

Losers concede. I would be irate right now if Trump hadn't conceded. And you would be too.

The election is over. Clinton lost. We can squabble over the fairness of the Electoral College but we all knew the rules when the election began. She didn't win 270 electoral votes.

I would NOT be irate right now if Trump hadn't conceded; in fact, that wouldn't have surprised me at all...Trump is the most dangerous person to ever win a major political party's nomination, and he probably wouldn't have conceded....He would probably urge his followers to take to the streets and protest violently.

She lost?

Oh, really?

How could Trump have won Florida with the massive, insurmountable lead Clinton had in that state?

What about the Russian hacking of the election?
"NCA Chief Says Russia Hacked The 2016 Election"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512619985

"It was a coup...end of story"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512618383
(From this OP)
"In North Carolina, a software program called "Crosscheck" was used to strip thousands of Democrats from voting"

(Crosscheck in action)
- Trump victory margin in Michigan: 13,107
- Michigan Crosscheck purge list: 449,922

- Trump victory margin in Arizona: 85,257
- Arizona Crosscheck purge list: 270,824

_ Trump victory margin in North Carolina: 177,008
- North Carolina Crosscheck purge list: 589,393

The election may be over, but "Clinton lost"?
I don't think so.
She didn't lose...Trump, the GOP, Comey & Putin STOLE the election!


Thank God for Jill Stein..at least she gives us a ray of hope, which is more than Clinton or Obama have given us.
.

And the NSA chief never said the election was hacked.

While I agree that the use of Crosscheck probably kept thousands from voting, that's not election fraud. States have an obligation to keep their voter rolls clean, but Crosscheck is a lousy way to do it.

From the right

Can you do the same?

It's unfortunate. But she lost.

the lack of probable action by the AG, if not the complete reason for the loss, was a major contributing factor, and President Obama's landmark achievements and legacy are now at risk because of it

For one, Obama should have known about Clinton's server and put the kibosh on it knowing she'd likely be the nominee at the end of his presidency. We can blame Comey all we want, but Hillary is not a dumb person, she's very smart, and had to have known the problems of having her own private e-mail server would cause, especially with the scandal-happy media. Yet she continued.

doing. He never "reopened the investigation", but allowed MSNBC, CNN, and of course fox to spew the LIE that the email investigation was being reopened. A LIE.

At the same time fox news, google news, and other so-called news sources were spewing that an indictment was being prepared against the Clinton Foundation. A LIE.

The Benghazi misinformation spewed by the media, the Boston Marathon bombing which misidentified the bombers, where the media had so many errors in their reporting it was embarrassing.

As for the email server, the State Department didn't do their job, but the fact was that in July, it was determined that nothing criminal happened, period, and Comey's action 11 days before the election was to absolutely interfere with the election.

Of course those self-identified progressives who refused to vote for Hillary were the ultimate deciders

What they did was awful but what she did was stupid.

manipulation

Extremely stupid. Even Hillary admits it was a mistake.

It should have never been an issue. But she made it a much larger issue by doing it. Hillary knew she was running for president, even back when she set up that server. Something should have told her that the scandal-happy media would run with it if it ever got out. Even if she didn't do anything remotely illegal, the look was a bad one - it made her look like she was trying to control information and potentially hide it, especially with the deleted e-mails. Hillary has been around the political block long enough, dealt with the countless made up scandals of her husband's presidency, to know this would hurt her. Yet she did it anyway.

Was the FBI right? Of course not. But had Hillary never established a private server, she's president-elect right now.

..Comey knew exactly what he was doing. He never 'reopened the investigation' but allowed MSNBC, CNN, and of course fox to spew the lie that the e-mail investigation was being reopened. A LIE."

First you say, "The FBI deserves full credit for interfering in the election"
and then you blame "the media" for this, as well as for "the Benghazi misinformation spewed by the media"?

Which is it?

Does "the FBI deserve full credit for interfering in the election"?
Or does the "media"?

The Benghazi "misinformation" wasn't "spewed by the media."
It was "spewed" by the Republicans in Congress, the right-wing talk show hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage et al, and, ultimately, by liars like Donald J. Trump.
Except for Fox News, Breitbart, Rense.com & others, the "media" had little to do with the "Benghazi misinformation."

In fact, I remember articles in "the media" defending Hillary Clinton, and telling the truth about Benghazi, including how Secretary of State Clinton warned the Republican Congress NOT to cut funding for security at US embassies, but the Repubs did cut funding for embassy security,
THAT was in "the media".

Don't blame "the media" for everything.
As the adage goes "Don't blame the messenger."

As far as your statement:
"Of course, those self-identified progressives who refused to vote for Hillary were the ultimate deciders",
That's pure hogwash!

"The ultimate deciders" were Trump, Comey, Putin & the GOP...period!

likely

As for Benghazi, the media came late to the game in reporting the actual facts:

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/10/16/wsj-calls-clinton-mute-on-benghazi-attack-days/190662

60 minutes had to issue an apology, and Laura Logan was asked to take a leave of absence because of it.

They were giving airtime to every right wing hack.

We pretty much agree though.

However, not on the point of those self-identified progressives who refused to vote for Hillary we don't agree, they did make the difference:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/noam-chomsky-donald-trump_us_58385d81e4b000af95ee1fda


Hillary lost Michigan by .3%. Jill Stein received 1.1% of the vote

Similar situation in Wisconsin, and other key states

Yes, they made a difference

but she chose not to.

Bernie Sanders won 22 states..Hillary won 28.
Bernie got more than 6 million Democratic votes
Hillary got 9 million.

By convention time, the Democratic Party was split into two factions:
1) - The "Hillary" wing, Democratic conservatives
2) - The "Bernie" wing, Democratic liberals (progressives)

All Clinton had to do was to choose a running mate from the "Bernie" wing of the party, such as either Bernie himself, or someone like Elizabeth Warren
and she would have gone into the election with a united Democratic Party behind her, including nearly all of the millennials who voted for Sanders.

A Clinton-Sanders ticket would have beaten Trump by 5 or 10 million votes
A Clinton-Warren ticket would have done the same.

But instead, she chose to give the finger to the 6 million Democrats who voted against her in the primaries, and chose a Conservadem from VA.

Comey, Putin & WikiLeaks notwithstanding, the GOP has stolen 3 of the last 5 presidential elections...2000, 2004 and now 2016.

The only reason they couldn't steal it from Obama in 2008 & 2012 was because he had such a huge lead over both McCain in '08 & Romney in '2012.

IMO, Clinton is as much to blame for the horror that is about to engulf us under Trump as Comey, Putin, Assange & the GOP vote-flippers are,
and I say this as someone who voted for her 2 weeks ago.

Don't blame the progressives...t's not their fault..It's Clinton's own fault.

..I read the entire article, and I do think "it's right"

As far as Obama's role in this, he did call Clinton & asked her to concede, THAT is a fact!

the media reports and its accuracy.

When Chuck Todd several months ago made it clear that it wasn't the medias job to correct falsehoods that people make, (in this case he was referring to the ACA), that left me very cold with what has happened to journalism in this country

I, too, am "skeptical of what the media reports and it's accuracy."

But this particular "media report" sounds true to me.

I don't know about Chuck Todd, or whatever "falsehood" about the ACA he was referring to, but that has nothing to do with this.

It's one thing to "be skeptical" but if you don't believe ANY of what the media reports on, that's something entirely different.

But also it would be incredibly unethical for Obama to tell Lynch who to indict or Lynch to listen to such an instruction. It's an absolutely horrible idea. If you'd like to see what happens when the President tries to give direct orders like that, please go research the Saturday Night Massacre.

Likewise the appearance of the President doing something like firing the director of the FBI for partisan gains is also a horrible idea.

raising money to support the Louisiana Senate race. Those of us who want to contribute to fund a recount vote have that right as well. Some of us are tired of the Democratic Party's lack or willingness to fight for what probably was stolen not once, not twice, not three times, but possibly four times. First by the GOP Voter Suppression Laws. Second by Wikileaks and Russian hacking of the DNC databases to include Voter Registration databases. Third by Comey putting his thumb on the scale and violating the law at the 11th hour and Fourth, the possibility that some battleground states with the GOP Secretary's of State in charge of election results may have manipulated voting results or the data could have been hacked by outsiders compromising the election results. I don't have the proof but people who do this for a living have said that the numbers don't add up and that there are enough questionable results to provide grounds for a recount. If some Dems want to finance that recount at our expense, that is OUR money and OUR business. WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE GOT TO LOSE????

I don't think that anyone considered it competitive before Trump won the state by twenty points.

I think there's very little chance that recounts will show anything, but a few million dollars is better spent there - even if just to slay the nuttier conspiracy theories - than trying to win a seat in LA.

Russian interference in the election than we do. I wonder how this is going to play out.

Every shocking revelation has been met with such tepid ambivalence, but there's a price for doing that and with each new thing that comes out it feels like a pressure building to a breaking point.

I hope they have an extensive plan to save this country and our party.

I wish I could have been with her to tell her how much we love her and will always love her, despite the loss.

I can't imagine how she must have felt in that moment. I was so upset, that I threw up. I got physically ill and had to take a Klonopin to curb an oncoming panic attack. I know she had to be crushed. Not only was she facing the end of America as we know it, but a massive rejection on a scale most of us will never experience.

Clinton is such a great woman. Is she perfect? Of course not. Not even my Mom is perfect. But, she would have made an amazing president.

I voted for Sanders during the primary, but I also read Living History and Stronger Together. Both of her books really show how intelligent she is and how good she would be for our country.

Her life and time on this planet has been a gift to the world. I hope she knows that.

and apparently he asked for the election not to be questioned because he wants a smooth transition? WTF???

WTF is more important? A smooth transition, or a sane president in power and Obama's legacy upheld???

Arrgghh.

Just fold and hand it to the fat bastard maggot?
FATTER chance!

I'm waiting patiently for evidence that she was cheated. Not innuendo. Not minor issues. Major issues that could overturn the result. If people here are going as a defense mechanism, I can understand that, but don't expect my support until solid evidence exists that would surely or at least likely overturn the EC result.

I've been asking for the same thing, to no avail.

Might be considered chicken shit.

I wish Al Gore had as well.

We are not going to get this moment back again. She won by over 2 million votes. Recounts should be done everywhere possible. Fight Fight Fight.

She lost. The pattern was the same in every contested state and then some. Trump won 200 Obama counties all around the country. He also narrowed the margin in many blue counties. By 9:30 pm it was already apparent she was losing. By 1:30 am it was over. Having Podesta clear the hall was smart. Hillary made the right call at the right time. If Obama helped with that so much the better.

And there is nothing, nothing bad about recounts and forensic voting machine investigation.

Michigan hasn't been declared yet.

So, there you go.

We need closure. Then again, many people still think Kerry won in 2004, so perhaps I'm being naive.

examination there as well.

We always have to win with huge margins. This isn't the way it should be.

you're not going to buy the outcome here either.

At any rate, we aren't playing by the same rules as Republicans, I agree with you there. Obama won by 10 million votes in 2008 and got treated like an interloper for eight years. That's an illegitimate hard truth and there are many others. It doesn't mean there aren't actual legitimate hard truths, but it does make them harder to accept.

for Trump.

But yes, Stein will request a recount there.

... than an article "quoting" unnamed people identified only as being "sources from Clintonworld"?