par for the course

President Obama golfs the Klipper Golf Course on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe, Hawaii, Dec. 23

west wing week: “aka santa claus” (december 24)

hot dog!

merry christmas everyone!

There’ll be lots more posts between now and the new year (I have waaaay too much time on my hands during the holidays!), but I just wanted to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday and thank you so much for your support these past months – it’s been hugely appreciated. It’s genuinely been a real pleasure ‘meeting’ every one of you, you raise my spirits every day.

Love you all 😉

plucked

Thank you cat48 🙂

he was at the gym first thing this morning. seriously.

President Obama leaves Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, December 23, following a morning workout

‘obama bested gop in extraordinary lame duck session’

Washington Post: So this afternoon, the Senate voted to ratify New START after months of partisan wrangling and passed the bill giving health benefits to 9/11 heroes … on the same day that Obama signed the repeal of don’t ask don’t tell, a civil rights milestone. All in all, a pretty productive day.

It’s obvious enough that Obama’s rebound was remarkable, in that he has defied expectations of gridlock to rack up a fusillade of major accomplishments that have placed him in a stronger position than many expected. But there’s more: It turns out he will also emerge from the session with far more kudos from the public than Republicans have earned.

So finds a new CNN poll, which seems to confirm that Obama “won” the session hands down. It finds that voters approve of his handling of the session, 56-41. By contrast, only 42 percent of Americans approve of the GOP’s handling of it, versus 53 percent who disapprove.

The poll has more. It finds that Americans think that Obama has done enough to compromise with Republicans, 59-37. By contrast, a big majority, 68 percent, thinks Republicans have not done enough to compromise with Obama, while only 28 percent think they’ve done enough.

…It’s an extraordinary and remarkably smooth conclusion to an extraordinary and very bumpy two years.

aloha!

… arriving at Hickam Air Force Base, December 22, in Honolulu, Hawaii

NYT: President Obama’s delayed Christmas vacation began at 11:42 p.m. (Hawaii time – 4:42 a.m. on the East Coast) when Air Force One touched down at Hickam Air Force Base. Mr. Obama stepped off the plane into the sultry Hawaiian darkness with two members of Congress, Senator Daniel Akaka and Representative Mazie Hirono, both Democrats of Hawaii, who accompanied him for the 10-hour flight home. The president hopped into his S.U.V., and his motorcade sped off in a hurry to take him to his wife and daughters, who left Washington Saturday for their luxury rented beach home at Kailua, on the windward shore of the island of Oahu. He got there at half past midnight. The White House hopes Mr. Obama, who is scheduled to be here until January 2, will have 11 days of relative quiet. (He was originally scheduled to return home on the first, but has decided to extend his stay by a day.)

….with Senator Daniel Okaka and Rep. Mazie Hirono