wednesday

Today:

8:30 The President departs the White House

10:0 Arrives in New London, Connecticut

11:30 Delivers the commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy

4:10 Leaves New London, Connecticut

4:45 Arrives in Boston, Massachusetts

6:15 Delivers remarks at a DNC event

8:25 Delivers remarks at a DNC event

9:55 Departs Boston

11:30 Arrives at the White House

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President Obama greets members of the U.S. Coast Guard in Panama City, Fla, Aug. 14, 2010

Sacbee: President Barack Obama is delivering his final commencement address of the season at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Although rain threatened to dampen the outdoor festivities, the commander in chief was headed to New London, Conn., on Wednesday to watch 229 cadets receive bachelor’s degrees and be commissioned with the rank of ensign in the U.S. military branch that enforces the laws at sea.

…After the pomp and circumstance, Obama was headed to the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts to rally 1,000 supporters at separate campaign fundraisers in Boston. The events include an intimate dinner for 30 people at an undisclosed private home, followed by a reception for about 900 people at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End neighborhood, a Democratic official said.

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President Obama shakes hands with Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, following his statement detailing the mission against Osama bin Laden

Michael Tomasky (The Daily Beast): When presidential campaigns hit crunch time, both sides reach for their most visceral arguments … For conservatives, it’s the people in the world who want to do America harm, and the longtime Republican conviction, going back at least to the early 1950s “Who Lost China?” debate, that those feeble Democrats won’t keep America safe.

…But now, the killing of Osama bin Laden is changing this equation dramatically. Alleged Muslim Barack Obama did in two and a half years what Bush couldn’t do in seven and a half. It wasn’t just the result. The nature of the operation is still breathtaking, weeks later, and the risk Obama took, which he conveyed with masterful cool in his 60 Minutes interview, is mind-blowing (imagine if bin Laden hadn’t been there!). You can call the president who oversaw the operation many things, but weak isn’t one of them.

Watching some Republicans’ first stabs at responding to the event was both sad and hilarious. Some were gracious (even Dick Cheney), but the propaganda machine and its envoys cranked out the usual bluster. They tried the this-proves-that-torture-works argument….

Absurd. But Democrats need to avoid becoming cocky. Republicans will not give up their narrative of liberal weakness so easily. Over the coming weeks, the GOP is likely to strike back on three fronts… Israel … the Pentagon … Afghanistan and other hotspots….

….but for now, Obama is perched on a pedestal with a prize—a scalp—no Republican can wrest from his hands. “For years and years,” an administration official told me, “Democrats have wondered about how you look tough on national security. Turns out the way you look tough is by being good at it.”

Full article here