President Barack Obama leans over to allow Caleb Edwin, right, touch his hair during his visits to a first grade classroom at Gen. Clarence Tinker elementary school at MacDill Air Force Base
****
****
President Barack Obama reaches over to touch the spiked hair on Blake Diego, during his visits to a first grade class at Gen. Clarence Tinker elementary school at MacDill Air Force Base
See Andrew Sullivan’s Newsweek article here
****
Tonight at the Kennedy Center:
****
Tuesday:
In the morning, the President will meet with the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness at the White House.
In the afternoon, the President will host King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Later, the President will welcome the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals to the White House to honor the team and their 2011 World Series victory.
Monday: The President will travel to Las Vegas to make remarks on the American Jobs Act. He will also participate in a campaign event while in Las Vegas. In the evening, the President will participate in campaign events in Los Angeles and spend the night there.
Tuesday: The President will tape an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” before departing for San Francisco. In San Francisco, the President will participate in a campaign event. In the afternoon the President will travel to Denver and participate in campaign events. He will spend Tuesday night in Denver.
Wednesday: The President will deliver remarks on the American Jobs Act in Denver. That afternoon, the President will return to Washington, D.C.
****
Psst, you might not read this anywhere, but in the space of a week the President’s approval has gone up six with Gallup (to 44), and his disapproval has gone down seven (to 47) – a swing of 13 points. In one week. And that was before he announced the Iraq war was over.
I know, sensible people ignore these things, but we’re always told about the bad polls, so I thought I’d pass on the encouraging news 😉
****
Clarence Page (Chicago tribune): How important is it to have presidential candidates who, when talking about Libya, know where Libya is?
Rep. Michele Bachmann accidentally raised that question last week during the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas …. “The president, he put us in Libya,” she complained. “He is now putting us in Africa.”
…. Bachmann’s flub would not be a big deal if it didn’t appear amid a Republican field infected with a nose-thumbing strain of willful ignorance about the rest of the world.
This was evidenced recently, for example, by Herman Cain …. “When they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, I’m going to say, you know, I don’t know,” he remarked in an interview…
For the record, if he meant the Republic of Uzbekistan, that former part of the Soviet Union has been an important ally in America’s actions in neighboring Afghanistan….
…. A recurring theme of this pre-election year has been the search for “the grown-up in the room”. As Moammar Gadhafi’s death vindicates President Obama’s Libya policy, his persistent critics are looking more like munchkins. I mean no disrespect to munchkins, by the way, wherever they may be on the map.
Full article here
****
LA Times: Why is Barack Obama’s presidency a tale of two situations?
On the foreign-policy front, the administration has had a string of successes: Osama bin Laden killed; major Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen killed; and this week, of course, Moammar Kadafi killed. And on Friday, the president announced that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by year’s end.
An unpopular war will be officially over for us soon. Terrorists and terrorist groups that threaten us are dead or on the run. Libya’s longtime strongman has been overthrown, thanks in part to Obama’s policy that had the U.S. and NATO working together.
But here’s a question: If Obama has been so successful in foreign policy, why has he been so unsuccessful on domestic issues?
…. domestically the problem is that Obama’s opponents have turned criticism into obstructionism. Unlike his foreign policies, Obama’s efforts to fix the economy have been thwarted at every turn by Republicans. Take the president’s jobs bill …. Republicans won’t even agree to spend $35 billion on teachers, police and firefighters ….
The bottom line? It’s wrong to say the president’s domestic policies haven’t worked when those policies haven’t even been given the chance to work.
Abroad, Obama has been allowed to set policy, and those policies have been given time to work. And, for the most part, they have.
Perhaps if Republicans gave the president that same leeway on domestic policy, we might be winning some battles at home, too.
Full article here
Thanks Layhawke and bjw2
****
Link to NYT article
Thanks Marlz
****
****
Clarence Clemons January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011
*****
If you have any news/links you can post them in the comments here, will catch up later 😉
Humbled! The blog was infested by creatures from that well known hate group, the Arizona Tea Party, today.
The target of their hatred? No, not President Obama this time, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. eg:
These delightful hatemongers are upping their campaign to destroy Sheriff Dupnik, so show the wonderful man some love:
Fight the Teabag hate and leave a supportive message here
KVOA: Those wishing to oust Sheriff Clarence Dupnik are taking action this afternoon. The Pima County Tea Party Patriots have organized a “Dump Dupnik Rally” at the Sheriff’s Office, claiming Dupnik is no longer fit to be sheriff after controversial statements he made surrounding the Tucson shootings.
Meanwhile, Dupnik supporters have also planned a rally at the Sheriff’s Office today. “People tend to poo poo this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences,” Dupnik said during a news conference hours after the shootings at a Tucson Safeway on January 8th.
Tucson resident Mary Cuevas agrees with the Sheriff’s words. “I feel that he was coming straight from the heart and that it needed to be heard and that it was the perfect time actually for him to start this debate,” Cuevas said.
Cuevas says she is planning to come support Sheriff Dupnik peacefully and silently. “When I heard that the Tea Partiers were going to protest against Dupnik, and try to have him resign, I’m just against it,” Cuevas said.
Read full article here
There’s a ‘Support Sherriff Dupnik’ Facebook campaign here
And you can send a supportive message here (People for the American Way)
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Sheriff Clarence Dupnik at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
Washington Monthly: RIGHT FOCUSES ON DUPNIK…. On Saturday night in Tucson, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik lamented societal factors — most notably, the toxicity of our political discourse — that he fears may have contributed to the day’s violence.
….It appears many conservatives believed the sheriff was referring to them, and began responding in kind.
…Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said he didn’t think the sheriff’s words “had any part in a law enforcement briefing.” Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said he was “disappointed” in the sheriff. Conservative talk show host Neal Boortz said Dupnik was looking for political gain, and Fox News anchor — in an interview with the sheriff — wondered aloud why he would “inject political speculation” into the story.
And that’s really just the start. Dupnik has also drawn fire from Malkin, Red State, one of the Breitbart outlets, and National Review, among others.
It’s not entirely surprising the right wouldn’t care for the sheriff’s concerns, but (a) they hardly seemed excessive, under the circumstances and they weren’t partisan in the slightest; and (b) if conservatives are really concerned about intemperate rhetoric from Arizona sheriffs, Dupnik is hardly Exhibit A.
As John Cole noted, “Oddly enough, I’ve never seen wingnuts react this way to any of Joe Arpaio’s briefings.”
What’s more, as Media Matters noted, conservative outlets have “repeatedly praised a different Arizona sheriff, Paul Babeu, who regularly engages in vitriolic attacks against President Obama and Democrats.”
Read the full article here
Thank you Ladyhawke for the link
People For The American Way: Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik, the most visible law enforcement official handling the incident thus far, has come under attack from the Right for speaking the truth. He has acknowledged that the Tucson gunman, Jared Loughner, appears to be a deeply disturbed individual. But the sheriff has rightly noted that the increased inflammatory and violent rhetoric over the last several years in our national political debate has created a dangerous climate that could contribute to senseless acts of violence like this one, which claimed the lives of six innocent people and injured 12 more.
Voices on the Right are now accusing him of politicizing the tragedy. How long until Sheriff Dupnik is featured on Glenn Beck’s chalkboard?
It’s important that when someone gets smeared and attacked for telling the truth, we stand up to defend them. If you would like to show your support for Sheriff Dupnik, please take a moment to sign a letter solidarity with him against the increasing smears he is facing from the Right.
Dear Sheriff Dupnik,
Thank you for your forthrightness in your public discussion of the recent tragedy in Tucson. It’s painfully clear that angry, hateful and, yes, violent rhetoric has made toxic our national political discourse. The overheated debate which crosses the boundaries of civility is an important reality to acknowledge in assessing the nature of Saturday’s massacre and potential for future acts of violence.
For telling the hard truths, you risk attack from some powerful people and interests. Please know that I stand in solidarity with you, and reject the wholly undeserved smears and attempts at character assassination which are already starting to bubble up in certain spheres of our political debate.
Signed….
Send the letter from here
Thank you Sarah for passing on the link
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik: “The kind of rhetoric that flows from people like Rush Limbaugh, in my judgment he is irresponsible, uses partial information, sometimes wrong information. He attacks people, angers them against government, angers them against elected officials and that kind of behavior in my opinion is not without consequences.”
“I don’t have a problem with heated arguments. As a matter of fact you are kind of getting a little heat out of me now, and it is because I am very angry at what has transpired. Not because it’s Tucson, Arizona, but because of two beautiful people – one almost dead and one assassinated – that were personal friends of mine (Gabrielle Giffords and U.S. District Judge John Roll) and outstanding individuals and public servants.”
Obama White House.gov WH Tumblr The People’s View Smartypants Steve Benen
The Obama Diary 
You must be logged in to post a comment.