This and That

@petesouza: Pres Obama pokes his head through a hole where visitors pose as the President at the Women’s Rights Park

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In 2010 President Obama greeted Sgt. First Class Cory Remsburg at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where Remsburg was recovering from severe injuries sustained in Afghanistan

NYT: President and Soldier: 3 Meetings, And a Lesson in Resilience

Three times, mainly by chance and in very different circumstances, Sgt. First Class Cory Remsburg has met President Obama.

They were introduced near Omaha Beach in France in 2009, when Sergeant Remsburg was part of a select Army Ranger group chosen to re-enact a parachute drop for celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in World War II.

The second meeting came less than a year later at a military hospital outside Washington, where Mr. Obama was stunned to see among the wounded troops from Afghanistan a familiar young man — now brain-damaged, a track of fresh stitches across his skull, and partly paralyzed.

The third time was two weeks ago in a private visit in Phoenix, where Sergeant Remsburg did something that neither Mr. Obama nor military doctors would once have predicted: he stood up and saluted his commander in chief.

More here

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The University of Buffalo:

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Henninger High School, Syracuse:

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RT if you agree: Every kid in America should be able to afford a higher education. #MakeCollegeAffordable, pic.twitter.com/oHdoYQbpTN

— The White House (@whitehouse) August 23, 2013

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Let’s make sure every kid in America has a shot at a great education. #MakeCollegeAffordable #ThrowbackThursday, pic.twitter.com/LnSdZnpqcn

— FLOTUS (@FLOTUS) August 23, 2013

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@petesouza: Pres Obama at the Women’s Rights Natl Historical Park in Seneca Falls

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This is how the President deals with a heckler…..pure class:

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WH.gov

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Lovely:

President Obama called, thanked Antoinette Tuff who persuaded the gunman in the Georgia school to lay down his guns

— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) August 22, 2013

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More in the morning

Enthusiasm Gap:

President Obama at the University of Buffalo today (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Magnolia’s Deli and Cafe in Rochester, New York

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Next up:

5:55 ET: President Obama delivers remarks at Henninger High School, Syracuse

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More pics later, chat on!

Chat Away

@BeauBiden: On our way home! Can’t wait to get back. Thank you, Houston. -bb

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Maybe media is right, no one loves President Obama any more. I mean, look at the hostility at the Univ. of Buffalo: pic.twitter.com/cFdZztKnTB

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 22, 2013

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Next up:

5:55 ET: President Obama delivers remarks at Henninger High School, Syracuse

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Oh Baby: President Obama makes a new friend at the University of Buffalo pic.twitter.com/6QWdlBNYFC

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 22, 2013

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For everyone wondering exactly where I’ll be from 12-1pm EST, tune in to @NowWithAlex on MSNBC.

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 22, 2013

Heads Up: President Obama at the University of Buffalo

11:05 ET: President Obama delivers remarks at the University of Buffalo

Also at:

White House Live * C-Span * CBS (Ustream) * WGRZ

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The President is talking college affordability today & I’ll be answering some of your Qs at 1ET. Ask with #WHChat: http://t.co/C9mCO9hMDS

— Katie Beirne Fallon (@Katie44) August 22, 2013

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FACT SHEET on the President’s Plan to Make College More Affordable: A Better Bargain for the Middle Class – see here

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Obama looks to shrink college tuition bills. Read the full plan | http://t.co/67MYEN2r0I

— TIME.com (@TIME) August 22, 2013

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President Obama greets New York Governor Andrew Cuomo upon his arrival in Buffalo

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Later:

5:55 ET: President Obama delivers remarks at Henninger High School, Syracuse

his master’s voice? well, no….

Wisconsin Governor takes call from prankster posing as a Koch brother

From Buffalo Beast – the link now appears to be down, presumably because of the traffic

Read about it on Salon

‘David Koch’: “We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.”

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: “You know, well, the only problem with that – because we thought about that…..”.

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‘Koch’: “You’re the first domino….”

Walker: “Yep. This is our moment….”

‘Koch’: “Now what else could we do for you down there?”

Walker: “Well the biggest thing would be – and your guy on the ground is probably seeing this…..”

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‘Koch’: [Laughs] “Well, I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.”

Walker: “All right, that would be outstanding.”

Read all about it at Buffalo Beast

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Ezra Klein: “….if the transcript of the conversation is unexceptional, the fact of it is lethal. The state’s Democratic senators can’t get Walker on the phone, but someone can call the governor’s front desk, identify themselves as David Koch, and then speak with both the governor and his chief of staff? That’s where you see the access and power that major corporations and wealthy contributors will have in a Walker administration, and why so many in Wisconsin are reluctant to see the only major interest group representing workers taken out of the game.

The critique many conservatives have made of public-sector unions is that they both negotiate with and fund politicians. It’s a conflict of interest. Well, so too do corporations, and wealthy individuals. That’s why Murphy – posing as Koch – was able to get through to Walker so quickly. And it shows what Walker is really interested in here: He is not opposed, in principle, to powerful interest groups having the ear of the politicians they depend on, and who depend on them. He just wants those interest groups to be the conservative interest groups that fund him, and that he depends on.

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“The governor takes many calls everyday,” Walker’s spokesman, Cullen Werwie, said in a statement. “Throughout this call the governor maintained his appreciation for and commitment to civil discourse. He continued to say that the budget repair bill is about the budget. The phone call shows that the governor says the same thing in private as he does in public and the lengths that others will go to disrupt the civil debate Wisconsin is having.”

paying it forward

flashback … hovering around

President Obama convinces New York Times reporter Sheryl Stolberg to demo a small hovercraft at Industrial Support Inc., a manufacturing services company in Buffalo, N.Y. May 2010.

(Thank you Donna!)

it’s barack time!

President Barack Obama points to an employee’s watch with the President’s picture, during a tour of Industrial Support Inc., in Buffalo, N.Y., May 13, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

err, hottie-in-chief

President Barack Obama hugs Luann Haley at Duff’s Famous Wings Restaurant in Buffalo, New York, May 13, 2010. Haley said to Obama “You’re a hottie with a smokin’ little body”.

The New York Times’ Sheryl Stolberg provided one of the better White House pool reports in recent memory Thursday while covering President Obama’s jobs-and-the-economy tour of upstate New York. Here’s how Stolberg opens the recap of their lunch stop at Duff’s Famous Wings in the Buffalo-adjacent town of Cheektowaga:

“You’re a hottie with a smokin’ little body.”

Yes indeed, some people will say just about anything to get a hug from Barack Obama. Those words were spoken by Luann Haley, 45, to the president, during his unannounced visit to this local landmark. He replied by giving her a big hug. (“He gave me a squeeze,”‘ she said afterward.) She swooned and he said Michelle would be watching on television. “That’s all right,”‘ Ms. Haley said as the cameras rolled. “Hi Michelle, eat your heart out.”

Huffington Post

🙂

Breaking, Err, News: Hottie Lady Speaks Out :

And here

The President, The NY Times and the Hovercraft

President Obama convinces New York Times reporter Sheryl Stolberg to demo a small hovercraft at Industrial Support Inc., a manufacturing services company in Buffalo, N.Y.

Photos here