The White House Correspondents Dinner 2009-2013

****

2009

The Comedian: Wanda Sykes

****

****

What The President Wore

****

What The First Lady Wore

****

Text of the President’s remarks here

****

2010

The Comedian: Jay Leno

****

****

What The President Wore

****

What The First Lady Wore

****

Text of the President’s remarks here

****

Happy Presidents’ Day, 44!

Memories

****

A History Lesson

****

Against that backdrop, the private gatherings among the sisterhood are a source of both power and perspective. They occur every few weeks or months, depending on the need. Venues include the Senators’ homes—and occasionally the unlikely confines of the Capitol’s Strom Thurmond Room, a space named for one of the chamber’s most notorious womanizers. “We started the dinners 20 years ago on the idea that there has to be a zone of civility,” says Mikulski. Once a year the group also dines with the female Supreme Court Justices. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Select Committee on Intelligence, holds regular dinners for women in the national-­security world. Even the female chiefs of staff and communications directors have started regular get-togethers of their own.

In April the Senate women breached their no-outsider rule by agreeing to dine at the White House with President Obama. Going around the table, California Senator Barbara Boxer remarked that 100 years ago they’d have been meeting outside the White House gates to demand the right to vote. (“A hundred years ago, I’d have been serving you,” Obama replied.)

****

This excerpt is from a TIME Magazine article about the adults in Washington being women. The interaction between Sen. Boxer and President Obama stood out to me. You can read the rest of the piece here

****

The Adult In Government

****

A Funny Thing Happened Today

****

VP Biden: “I hear you had a meeting today with John ‘Tan Man’ Boehner.”

Pres. Obama: “Yes indeed.”

VP Biden smiles: “That look says it all.”

****

****

VP Biden: “Did you see the new NBC/WSJ poll on ObamaCare and the Republican shutdown?”

Pres. Obama chuckles: “Carney might have mentioned something.”

****

****

VP Biden: “So, what are you getting?”

Pres. Obama smiles: “Oh, I’m getting a big juicy delicious burger.”

****

September – The Month Of Pictures

President Barack Obama shares a laugh with Jean Meyer, the grandmother of Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer, second from left, as they and members of the Meyer family walk along the Colonnade of the White House, Sept. 15, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

****

First Lady Michelle Obama talks with Washington, D.C., area high school students who attended the Teen Design Fair, in the Red Room of the White House prior to the Cooper-Hewitt Design Awards luncheon, Sept. 13, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

****

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden greet a group of teachers, veterans, first responders, and business owners in the Roosevelt Room of the White House before making a statement on the American Jobs Act, Sept. 12, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

****

Oslo, 2009

If only some of his opponents – not least on the left – actually listened to his words….

Good time for everyone who thinks they know Obama’s views on war and peace to re-read his Oslo speech: http://t.co/O7H3aa3D8Q

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 30, 2013

Rise and Shine

****

Today (All Times Eastern):

9:05 AM: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart the White House en route Joint Base Andrews

9:20: Depart Joint Base Andrews

11:15: Arrive in Orlando, Fla.

12:0: President Obama delivers remarks at the Disabled American Veterans National Convention in Orlando. He will be introduced by the First Lady.

1:05: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart Orlando

3:30: Arrive Cape Cod, Mass.

****

President Obama walks out of the East Room after holding a news conference, August 9

****

https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/366017490179989504

****

The People’s View: President Obama Slays Edward Snowden’s “Whistleblower” Myth

The president also hit the nail on the head on head when he called out the canonization of a traitor (Edward Snowden), by pointing out the fact that he and not Edward Snowden had called for a review of the surveillance programs and their transparency – and that Snowden’s only contribution to that process was to disrupt it and hurt the actual debate by generating heat rather than light, as well as the fact that it was the president that provided safeguards for whistleblowers within the intelligence community.

If Edward Snowden actually believed himself to be a whistleblower acting in the interest of his country rather than for the political benefit of himself and the global attention whores like Glenn Greenwald, he would have noticed that President Obama has, since taking office, been the strongest advocate for whistleblowers that has ever occupied the oval office. He took pains to stop agency retaliations against whistleblowers. Just a few examples

More of this fantastic MUST READ here

****

****

****

****

****

@PPact

****

RT and help me spread the word! On Oct. 1, 30 million w/out health insurance can signup for affordable quality care: https://t.co/DDwz6oF9t8

— Kathleen Sebelius (@Sebelius) August 9, 2013

****

You have to check out Tommy’s timeline from last night. 140 characters never looked and felt so good

YES! The solution here is to give POTUS a congress that will fix this bullshit, not fuck us in the midterms with this "WORSE THAN BUSH" shit

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 10, 2013

You can *have* my phone number. I type "What" in google, it knows I'm about to ask "the fuck is the name of that cartoon about the shark?"

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 10, 2013

He's an authentic coward. MT @ritaag: Snowden is a phony coward. In 09, he called for the execution of NYT reporters who published leaks

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 10, 2013

More here

****

****

****

Cape Cod…..

2009:

…. touring the Gay Head lighthouse in Aquinnah while on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 27, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

… with lighthouse keeper Joan LeLacheur

….. with his young niece, Savita, Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 25, 2009 (Pete Souza)

….. during a round of golf at Farm Neck golf course, Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 24, 2009 (Pete Souza)

….. waving to an onlooker while playing golf, Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 24, 2009 (Pete Souza)

****

2010:

Pete Souza: “On vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, the President was golfing at the Vineyard Golf Club. I switched my digital camera to the black-and-white setting to capture the ominous clouds.” Aug. 22, 2010

…… at Mink Meadows Golf Club in Vineyard Haven, Aug. 25, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)

****

2011:

****

Signs of the Times?

My rusty old brain is 98.27% sure I posted these pics before…. did I? 😕

I took them when I arrived for the We Are One concert in DC, two days before President Obama’s 2009 inauguration (Pete Souza need have no fears, his job is safe) – I’m sure lots of you saw the same, or similar, when you went to election rallies.

The funniest thing was the reaction of the crowd to the nutters, who were charmingly abusive, not least that of my sports nut pal who was especially upset by ‘sports nuts’ featuring on the banner between ‘porno freaks’ and ‘drunks’.

Was she as offended by, say, the ‘baby killing women’ and ‘Homos’ references? “‘Yeah! Of course! But WTF?! Sports nuts?!” (As a sports nut, I felt her pain).

Any way, it kinda struck me today, especially after seeing the photo in the post below, that back in January 2009 we could dismiss these people as freaks …. now, you know, it’s beginning to feel like this level of insanity and hate is the ‘conservative’ mainstream.

All that was missing from the banners was a racist slur or two, and a call for the Voting Rights Act to be shredded.

But, yep, ‘mainstream’ insanity and hate, 2013 style.