night everyone

Columbus, Ohio, Oct 17, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Why have I posted this 2010 photo? Hey, because I love it!

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Just to clarify, the ‘please donate’ image on the top right of the sidebar is a link to this blog’s fundraising drive at BarackObama.com – any money donated goes to the official Obama/Biden 2012 campaign, not to this blog! I will never ever ever seek or accept donations – and that’s an absolute promise.

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While I’m asleep (which is most of the time!) lots of you have your comments parked in ‘pending’. That’s a pain in the butt for you, especially when you’re trying to take part in a ‘live’ discussion, but unless you register with WordPress the blog will always, automatically, detect you as a first-time visitor, and, so, will dump you in ‘pending’ – so that I can figure out if you’re a Teabagger, Professional Leftie, or someone with a brain. 😉

So, to avoid the ‘pending’ fate, register an account with WordPress.

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Thanks everyone, see you tomorrow.

welcome home

From Bobfr

Dear Mr President,

Welcome home and thank you for the enormous achievement your trip to Ireland, UK and Europe represents.

You have won the hearts and minds of countless individuals; you have warmed them with the generosity of your spirit; and, you have restored respect for America – no small task given the vast damage GW Bush and his Administration did to our values and our reputation as a Nation of Laws and one that respects the life of every person.

To the Future!

Bob

Yes.We.Can. … DO.More.Together!

saturday

All times Eastern

3:55 AM The President attends a U.S. Embassy meet and greet

4:30 AM Participates in an arrival ceremony

4:35 AM Holds a bilateral meeting with President Komorowski of Poland

5:25 AM Makes a statement to the press with President Komorowski

5:50 AM Participates in a discussion on democracy with President Komorowski

6:40 AM Participates in an arrival ceremony at the Chancellery

6:55 AM Holds a working lunch with Prime Minister Tusk of Poland

8:10 AM Holds a joint press conference with PM Tusk

9:15 AM Visits the memorial to the victims of the Smolensk plane crash

9:55 AM Departs Warsaw

6:50 PM Arrives at Andrews Air Force Base

7:05 PM Arrives at the White House

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USA Today: President Obama, who returns from a five-day European trip on Saturday, heads to Joplin, Mo., on Sunday to tour the damage from last week’s devastating tornadoes.

He’ll also make brief remarks at a memorial service for those who died and thank first responders who have been searching for survivors and consoling victims. He and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate also will meet with state and local officials to discuss the federal-state response to the disaster.

The service will be held at 2 p.m. CT at the Taylor Performing Arts Center at Missouri Southern State University.

berlusconi …. bonkers

I have only two words of Italian – Paolo Maldini – so I have no clue what’s been said in this video. 😳

But read below, and watch the ‘WTF’ body language of the President!

Reuters: Silvio Berlusconi’s latest international gaffe, when he complained to a bemused President Barack Obama about his problems with magistrates, was met with mockery, embarrassment and scorn at home on Friday.

Obama looked baffled when television cameras picked up the Italian prime minister buttonholing him at a Group of Eight meeting in France and treating him to one of his trade mark tirades about magistrates who have hauled him into court for four concurrent trials.

Microphones picked up Berlusconi telling Obama during a pause in the G8 meeting: “We have presented a justice reform that is fundamental to us. In Italy we have almost a dictatorship of leftist judges.”

“The prime minister has clearly lost his head,” said left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper in a front page editorial.

Pierluigi Bersani, leader of the largest opposition party, quipped that Berlusconi was probably asking Obama for NATO military action against the judges…..

(Berlusconi, 74, is currently on trial for having sex with an underage prostitute)

a very, very smart fire alarm

😆

Meanwhile….

ThinkProgress: Mitt Romney took his presidential campaign to the next level on Thursday, eschewing mud slinging to instead engage in the far more delicious smear tactic of pizza slinging.

You know that old prank where you send a bunch of pizzas to someone who never ordered them? Well that’s sort of what Mitt Romney did during a campaign stop in Chicago, sending the leftovers from his meal to Obama’s campaign headquarters.

Romney announced his prank via Twitter, complete with a picture of a delivery guy about to set off with the pies.

More here

Good grief.

Thanks Doris

this is a bfd

NYT: Russia has offered to use its contacts in the Libyan government to expedite Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s departure from power, top officials announced Friday at a meeting of the Group of 8 countries in Deauville, France.

….The announcement, which came after intensive talks between President Obama and the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, represents a sharp shift in Russia’s tone on Libya….

Mr. Medvedev told Mr. Obama in their meeting that Russia is committed to seeing Colonel Qaddafi leave office …The offer articulated on Friday would remove Russia from the sidelines and cast it as a central player in resolving the conflict.

Full article here

Thank you Naijas

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When Medvedev was a law student he used to read articles in the Harvard Law Review by a guy with a funny name. He was, he said, hugely impressed. Now? Medvedev is Russian President, Barack Obama….well, you know.

From April 2010:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you make of Barack Obama the man?

MEDVEDEV: He’s a very comfortable partner, it’s very interesting to be with him. The most important thing that distinguishes him from many other people – I won’t name anyone by name – he’s a thinker, he thinks when he speaks. Which is already pretty good.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You had somebody in your mind, I think. (LAUGHS)

MEDVEDEV: Obviously I do have someone on my mind. I don’t want to offend anyone. He’s eager to listen to his partner, which is a pretty good quality for a politician. Because any politician is to a certain degree a mentor. They preach something. And the ability to listen to their partner is very important for the politician. And he is pretty deeply emerged in the subject, so he has a good knowledge of what he’s talking about. There was no instance in our meetings with Mr. Obama where he wasn’t well prepared for the questions. This is very good. And after all, he’s simply a very pleasant man with whom it’s a pleasure to deal with.

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Not for the first time, brains, diplomacy and mutual respect have paid off 😉

‘the big lie that obama can’t lead is crumbling’

Walter Rodgers (Christian Science Monitor): “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,” instructed the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, “people will eventually come to believe it.”

….the big lie repeated about President Obama has been that he’s not a real leader … Some of this maligning reflects darker bigotry toward Mr. Obama. But it also shows our outdated and wrongheaded notions of leadership.

American culture mistakenly prizes bravado and arrogance as sure signs of leadership. Public showmanship – like donning a flight suit in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner – is easy. Quiet, cool, competence that gets results – like pulling together an international coalition to protect civilians in Libya in record time – is hard. It’s a bias we learn as kids. Our history books lionize war heroes, yet are often silent about the diplomats who prevented conflict.

Let’s recall the herculean tasks Obama has already accomplished (see here)

….Forgetting these and other accomplishments …. Goebbels-style nihilism that rejects anything Obama does as odious remains a powerful narrative. The good news is that Obama’s shrewd and calculated management of the hunt for bin Laden shows how hollow these critiques are…

….Obama’s hawkish critics chide him for allegedly “sitting on the sidelines” during recent uprisings in Yemen, Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. Take it from someone who has reported from across the Middle East: Sitting out potential Arab civil wars isn’t abdication of leadership; it is wisdom.

And yet, when facing near-certain humanitarian disaster, Obama wisely and rapidly put together a broad NATO coalition to deal with the Libyan revolt while keeping American involvement to a minimum – no boots on the ground and no dead Americans.

…A friend, a center-right voter, told me recently, “The reason I voted for Obama is because he has no hatred in him.” In another era of divisive bitterness, Lincoln preached, “with malice toward none, with charity toward all.” It’s worth noting how closely Obama’s philosophy of leadership approaches that.

Full article here

hic

😆

and those figures just keep on tumbling….

😉

😆

PPP

poland

There’s live coverage of the Polish visit at CNN – thank you Professorx10

President Barack Obama walks past the honor guard as he steps off Air Force One as he arrives in Warsaw, Poland

President Barack Obama pauses after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw

President Obama talks to World War II veterans near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during his visit to Warsaw

President Obama lays a wreath at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial, a monument to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

President Obama meets with Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors after laying a wreath at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial

President Obama is welcomed by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski to the Presidential Palace in a formal dinner in Warsaw