Posts Tagged ‘Egypt
Deepest Sympathies
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President Barack Obama speaks by phone with his National Security Staff regarding the situation in Egypt, while in Chilmark, Mass., Aug. 15, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
Rise and Shine
President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel during the National Anthem at the start of an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the suspension of the 1950-1953 Korean War at the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. July 27
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Today:
The President has no public events scheduled
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Darlene Superville: Obama Says Korean War Veterans ‘Deserve Better’
President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to take time from their “hurried lives” to listen to the heroic stories of Korean War veterans who returned to a country weary of war and deserved a better homecoming.
“Unlike the Second World War, Korea did not galvanize our country. These veterans did not return to parades,” Obama said in a speech at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, making the 60th anniversary of the war’s end.
“Unlike Vietnam, Korea did not tear at our country. These veterans did not return to protests. For many Americans tired of war, there was it seemed a desire to forget, to move on,” Obama said.
They “deserve better,” the president said, adding that on this anniversary, “perhaps the highest tribute we can offer our veterans of Korea is to do what should have been done the day you came home.”
More here
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ThinkProgress: Growing Number Of States Are Reporting Lower Than Expected Health Care Premiums
Health premiums in Maryland’s exchanges will be “among the lowest of the 12 states that have available proposed or approved rates for comparison,” the state’s exchange — Maryland Health Connection — announced Friday. The news comes just as New York,Oregon, Montana, California, and Louisiana are also reporting lower than expected premiums.
In Maryland, a 25-year-old will be able to purchase a plan that is more comprehensive than policies currently available on the individual market for $114 per month, while a middle aged adult will have to pay approximately $260 per month for insurance. A 21-year-old non-smoker can start as low as $93 a month. Officials say they used their authority to deny rate increases to reduce the proposed premiums by “more than 50 percent.” Thirty other states have have similar authority.
More here
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GOP, is this a description of you?
https://twitter.com/UberFacts/status/361460287502680064
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ThinkProgress: Steve King: In Private, Republicans Actually Agree With My ‘Cantaloupe-Sized Calves’
A growing number of Republicans are publicly distancing themselves from Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) claim that many undocumented youths are drug mules with cantaloupe-sized calves, but the conservative congressman claims that GOP lawmakers are backing him in private.
During an appearance on Fox News on Saturday, King said that Republicans are in fact standing by him, but are afraid to publicly support him for fear of sparking outrage and losing their legislative leverage…..
More here
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Always interesting how some hacks refuse to give “Obama” his ‘title’, but are happy to do so for his predecessors… pic.twitter.com/OefXPn97Xk
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) July 28, 2013
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Hunter Walker: John Kerry: ‘This Is A Pivotal Moment For Egypt’
Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement Saturday after at least 65 people were killed and over 1,000 were injured in Egypt during clashes between security forces, armed men, and protesters demonstrating against the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi.
Kerry said he spoke with Egypt’s Interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei and Interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy Saturday morning to express “our deep concern about the bloodshed.” He also described the situation as a “pivotal moment for Egypt” and called for an “independent and impartial inquiry into the events of the last day.”
Read the statement here
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This is the unvarnished NYT interview with President Obama. Read it. This is him in his own words.
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Click on the craigconnects link. It’s very informative
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/361304091986624512
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Asawin Suebsaeng: Obama Says Ho Chi Minh Was Inspired By Founding Fathers, Conservatives Freak Out
After a meeting with Vietnam’s president Truong Tan Sang on Thursday, President Barack Obama said the following to reporters (emphasis mine): At the conclusion of the meeting, President Sang shared with me a copy of a letter sent by Ho Chi Minh to Harry Truman. And we discussed the fact that Ho Chi Minh was actually inspired by the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the words of Thomas Jefferson. Ho Chi Minh talks about his interest in cooperation with the United States. And President Sang indicated that even if it’s 67 years later, it’s good that we’re still making progress. (Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese communist and nationalist revolutionary leader who died in 1969. He fought alongside Allied forces during World War II, but fought American forces during the Vietnam War.)
Several conservative media outlets blasted the president on similar terms. “Obama may have just been trying to flatter his guest who was obviously eager to show that Ho was not the monster history shows him to be,” Chris Stirewalt, digital politics editor for Fox News wrote. “But his connection between the American founders and Ho shows either a massive lack of historical knowledge on the part of the president or a remarkable degree of moral flexibility.”
Yes, it is true that the United States once waged a disastrous, pointless, and horrific waragainst Ho Chi Minh and the people of Vietnam. But Obama’s comment wasn’t a gaffe or insult to American war vets. What Obama said is literally a historical fact. In September 1945, Ho Chi Minh delivered the Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi to a crowd of nearly a million Vietnamese. Not only was the “The Star-Spangled Banner” played by a Vietnamese band during his address, but he opens his speech by quoting Thomas Jefferson.
More here
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The fantastic Sarah Slamen (@VictorianPrude).
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A year ago today:
First lady Michelle Obama watches the women’s singles tennis match between Serena Williams of the U.S. and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia at the All England Lawn Tennis Club during the London 2012 Olympics Games, July 28
.. with Venus Williams and former gymnast Dominique Dawes
Serena Williams gives a thumbs up gesture toward her sister Venus and first lady Michelle Obama after she defeated Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic
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Have A Great Day! 😀
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This and That
President Barack Obama meets with members of his national security team to discuss the situation in Egypt, in the Situation Room of the White House, July 3 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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Statement by President Barack Obama on Egypt:
As I have said since the Egyptian Revolution, the United States supports a set of core principles, including opposition to violence, protection of universal human rights, and reform that meets the legitimate aspirations of the people. The United States does not support particular individuals or political parties, but we are committed to the democratic process and respect for the rule of law. Since the current unrest in Egypt began, we have called on all parties to work together to address the legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people, in accordance with the democratic process, and without recourse to violence or the use of force.
The United States is monitoring the very fluid situation in Egypt, and we believe that ultimately the future of Egypt can only be determined by the Egyptian people. Nevertheless, we are deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsy and suspend the Egyptian constitution. I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process, and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsy and his supporters. Given today’s developments, I have also directed the relevant departments and agencies to review the implications under U.S. law for our assistance to the Government of Egypt.
The United States continues to believe firmly that the best foundation for lasting stability in Egypt is a democratic political order with participation from all sides and all political parties —secular and religious, civilian and military. During this uncertain period, we expect the military to ensure that the rights of all Egyptian men and women are protected, including the right to peaceful assembly, due process, and free and fair trials in civilian courts. Moreover, the goal of any political process should be a government that respects the rights of all people, majority and minority; that institutionalizes the checks and balances upon which democracy depends; and that places the interests of the people above party or faction. The voices of all those who have protested peacefully must be heard – including those who welcomed today’s developments, and those who have supported President Morsy. In the interim, I urge all sides to avoid violence and come together to ensure the lasting restoration of Egypt’s democracy.
No transition to democracy comes without difficulty, but in the end it must stay true to the will of the people. An honest, capable and representative government is what ordinary Egyptians seek and what they deserve. The longstanding partnership between the United States and Egypt is based on shared interests and values, and we will continue to work with the Egyptian people to ensure that Egypt’s transition to democracy succeeds.
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Obama administration was too cozy to Morsi. Obama admin didn’t do enough for Morsi. #TVcoverageOfEgypt #obamasfault #nomatterwhat
— Steve Weinstein (@steveweinstein) July 3, 2013
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Conservatives think the employer mandate delay is going to hurt Obamacare. They are wrong. http://t.co/kilNwwGEh7 via @jonathanchait
— The Lovely Plains (@DaRiverZkind) July 3, 2013
Everyone mad about the delay in #HCR employer mandate: read why it’s good policy and great progressive politics http://t.co/Z8Ef3sBPMC
— The People’s View (@thepeoplesview) July 3, 2013
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NYT: Congressional Budget Analysts Release Positive Economic Assessment of Immigration Overhaul
Congressional budget analysts on Wednesday released a positive economic assessment of the broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws that passed the Senate last week, saying that the new legislation would cut more than $800 billion from the federal deficit over the next two decades and lead to 9.6 million new legal residents in the country.
Though the Congressional Budget Office had offered in June a similar estimate of the immigration bill that was then being debated in the Senate — in a report that found the benefits of an increase in legal residents from the immigration overhaul would outweigh the costs — the new report provides an analysis of the actual bill recently passed by the Senate.
More here
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This is freaking genius from @RobDelaney. A woman’s reproductive decisions should be controlled by her. http://t.co/p7MEfYZDvV
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) July 3, 2013
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Proposal: actual journalists would be investigating the obvious connections behind the TX/OH/NC/KS abortion bills and not Shiny Ball Crap.
— Zandar (@ZandarVTS) July 3, 2013
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The HUGE consequence of the Texas abortion legislation that you won’t hear about from the mainstream media —> http://t.co/7CuZ6V3eOa
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) July 3, 2013
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Steve Benen: Koch brothers push GOP officials to sign anti-climate pledge
The Republican Party is certainly fond of its pledges. Grover Norquist, of course, has his infamous anti-tax pledge that has interfered with federal policymaking in recent decades, and in 2011, GOP presidential candidates were pushed to endorse an anti-gay pledge from the National Organization for Marriage.
But as it turns out, there’s another pledge that’s taken root in Republican politics that’s received far less attention. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer reports this week on the “No Climate Tax Pledge” pushed by Charles and David Koch….
More here
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Too funny….
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Atlantic Wire: The Tale of the Re-Routed Bolivian President’s Plane Is Falling Apart
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Rise and Shine
The front pages, five years ago today
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Today:
10:30: The President delivers a statement, The Rose Garden
11:10: The President and Chilean President Sebastián Piñera hold a bilateral meeting; the VP also attends
1:0: Press Briefing by Jay Carney
2:20: The President departs the White House
2:30: Arrives Bethesda, Maryland
2:50: Visits the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
4:35: Departs Bethesda
4:45: Arrives at the White House
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From left: Cornelia Pillard, Patricia Millett and Robert L. Wilkins
NYT: President Obama will nominate a slate of three candidates on Tuesday to fill the remaining vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a White House official said Monday.
The president will name Cornelia T. L. Pillard, a law professor; Patricia Ann Millett, an appellate lawyer; and Robert L. Wilkins, a federal district judge, to fill out the appeals court, which is often described as the second most powerful court in the country because it decides major cases and often serves as a launching pad for future Supreme Court justices.
By making his choices in a group, the president and his strategists are hoping to put pressure on Senate Republicans to confirm them.
More here
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Steve Benen: …. At the outset, let’s emphasize how uncontroversial this is – there are vacancies on an important federal bench, so the president is sending qualified nominees to the Senate for consideration. Republicans are characterizing this as a scandalous power-grab, while many political reporters are describing this as Obama thumbing his nose at his political rivals. In reality, it’s neither – presidents filling judicial vacancies is basic American governance. It’s Civics 101. That today’s announcement is seen as somehow remarkable is evidence of just how broken the process has become.
…. This is far more consequential than much of the public realizes …. the D.C. Circuit is likely to have considerable influence over the future of the Affordable Care Act, Wall Street reform, immigration reform, and perhaps most importantly, efforts to combat the climate crisis.
This is, in other words, a fight worth having, and the outcome will have a lasting impact for many years to come.
More here
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last 30 days: car sales way up. home prices way up. Dow way up, consumer confidence way up. so yeah, makes sensecable obsesses over IRS
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) June 4, 2013
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Michael Tomasky: Obama’s Economic Triumph
It’s increasingly clear that the president has steered the country back from the brink – and, in the process, exposed (yet again) the central lie of conservative economics…..
More here
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If Romney were president and the Dow were up 20 days in a row, would today be a national holiday or would we all just get Mitt tattoos?
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) June 4, 2013
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Greg Sargent: As I’ve been saying here for some time, behind all the GOP noise and hoopla about Beltway scandal-palooza is a stark reality that can’t be obscured. House Republicans are confronting two major challenges – what to do about the debt limit and about immigration reform, both of which will require cooperation from House conservatives that they aren’t prepared to give — and they don’t have an answer to either one.
This is driven home in fresh and vivid detail by today’s big Post story on the deep divisions within the House GOP caucus.
More here
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Steve Benen: We talked yesterday about the new report from the College National Republican Committee, detailing their party’s difficulties in connecting with younger voters. As the College Republicans explained, it’s a “dismal present situation” with focus groups, led by GOP pollsters, finding that voters under 30 consider the party “closed-minded, racist, rigid, [and] old-fashioned”…..
…. In focus groups in January, the report said, young voters were asked to list leaders of the Democratic Party. “They named prominent former or currently elected officials: Pelosi, the Clintons, Obama, Kennedy, Gore. When those same respondents were asked to name Republican leaders, they focused heavily on media personalities and commentators: Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck.”
More here
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This — in 1 powerful photo — is why wingnuts are losing it. The browning of America. Giddy up. (h/t @nerdywonka) #TFY twitter.com/AngryBlackLady…
— Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) June 4, 2013
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As long as we’re listing Eric Holder’s accomplishments at DOJ, let’s not forget this one immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2013/06/as-lon…
— Smartypants (@Smartypants32) June 4, 2013
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Rise and Shine
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NYT: President Obama skipped dessert at a long summit meeting dinner in Cambodia on Monday to rush back to his hotel suite. It was after 11:30 p.m., and his mind was on rockets in Gaza rather than Asian diplomacy. He picked up the telephone to call the Egyptian leader who is the new wild card in his Middle East calculations.
Over the course of the next 25 minutes, he and President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt hashed through ways to end the latest eruption of violence, a conversation that would lead Mr. Obama to send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the region. As he and Mr. Morsi talked, Mr. Obama felt they were making a connection. Three hours later, at 2:30 in the morning, they talked again.
…. The White House phone log tells part of the tale. Mr. Obama talked with Mr. Morsi three times within 24 hours and six times over the course of several days, an unusual amount of one-on-one time for a president. Mr. Obama told aides he was impressed with the Egyptian leader’s pragmatic confidence. He sensed an engineer’s precision with surprisingly little ideology. Most important, Mr. Obama told aides that he considered Mr. Morsi a straight shooter who delivered on what he promised and did not promise what he could not deliver.
Full article here
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President Obama talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel during a phone call from his hotel suite in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 19 (Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, aboard Air Force One during the flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Washington, D.C., Nov. 20. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon listens at right. (Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in the Oval Office, Nov. 21. Chief of Staff Jack Lew, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough listen in the foreground. (Pete Souza)
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone
Rise and Shine
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Michael Cohen (NY Daily News): Romney’s reprehensible reaction to the violence in Libya and Egypt ….. A couple of days ago, I wrote here at the Rumble that Mitt Romney was one of the worst national politicians I’d ever seen.
I spoke too soon; it’s even worse than I thought. His reaction to the violence in Egypt and Libya over a film mocking the religious beliefs of Muslims is truly one of the most brain-dead political acts that I’ve ever witnessed – and it speaks volumes about his personal character and fitness for the nation’s highest office.
…. what does it say about a candidate who would issue a statement based on incomplete information and then double down on it even after it’s been disproven? What does it say about a candidate who actually accuses the President of openly siding with those who would harm U.S. diplomats? What does it say about a candidate who would, in a moment of grief over the death of U.S. personnel serving overseas, take the opportunity to cravenly engage in a dishonest political attack?
What it says to me is that this is a man who simply is not up to the awesome responsibilities of being President of the United States.
Full article here
(There are dozens and dozens of articles like this out there today – literally)
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USA Today: President Obama continued to criticize Mitt Romney for what he called an inappropriate and premature response to protests in Egypt and Libya.
“This wasn’t the time for politics,” Obama said in an interview with Telemundo, the Spanish language television network. “I have observed that there’s a tendency to shoot before you aim.”
“As President, Obama added, “my obligation is to focus on security for our people, making sure that we gather all the facts, making sure that we’re advancing American interests and not having ideological arguments on a day when we’re mourning.”
More here
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Gail Collins (NYT): Mitt’s Major Meltdown ….. Mitt Romney broke our deal.
Perhaps he didn’t know he’d made it, although, really, I thought it was pretty clear.
He could do anything he wanted during this campaign as long as he sent out signals that once he got in the White House he was not likely to be truly crazy.
…. It didn’t seem to be a lot to ask, but when the crisis in the Middle East flared up, Romney turned out to have no restraining inner core. All the uneasy feelings you got when he went to London and dissed the Olympic organizers can now come into full bloom. Feel free to worry about anything. That he’d declare war on Malta….
……We’re stuck with the task of evaluating Mitt Romney, who went for a cheap attack at a time when any calm, mature adult would have waited and opted for at least a brief show of national unity.
…. Two months to go and we’re rethinking our presumption that the Republican primary voters picked the most stable option.
Full article here
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Erik Wemple (Washington Post): Fact-checkers say no to Romney ‘apology’ claims
…. Need yet more evidence that fact-checkers conduct their business in a silo separated from impact on politicians? Try the Romney apology-tour fact-check, Chapter Umpteen.
The fact-checkers seemed a bit fatigued by Mitt Romney’s latest round of allegations that the Obama administration goes around apologizing for America…..
…. A Romney pollster said a while back that the campaign won’t be “dictated by fact-checkers.” Now we have a clean shot at fact-checking that claim. If it’s true, expect to hear more “apology”-oriented attacks on the Obama administration in the home stretch of this election.
More here
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NYT: … For the first time in three years, the share of Americans without health insurance declined, with the number of uninsured dropping by 1.3 million people from 2010 to 2011.
A major factor was an influx of newly insured young adults, many of whom benefitted from a provision in the 2010 health-care law requiring insurers to let parents keep adult children on their plans up to age 26.
More here
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by Rita
Attended an event in San Francisco yesterday where Valerie Jarrett was the speaker. It was held at the Laborer’s Local 261 center, a beautiful location. The event was a Victory Fund celebration organized by the Americans with Disability (Bay Area, I presume?), who have raised $180K for President Obama’s campaign. It was a very cordial, well-attended event. But Valerie was a revelation. I know that she’s referred to as the President’s right hand, that she has his ear, and his back :), but she is also a wonderful person in her own right. A Stanford educated lawyer (yay, Bay Area!), she has worked tirelessly for people with disabilities. Her first internship was in Chicago, advocating for children with disabilities.
Valerie is a dynamic speaker! She recounted how she met the President and First Lady 21 years back, when she was trying to recruit both of them to Mayor Daly’s campaign. She said that she was struck, even then with the inherent decency in both of them. She spoke forcefully in support of the Affordable Care Act and how events in the President’s own life, his mother’s suffering from cancer and her insurance woes, and his younger daughter Sasha’s grave illness as a child, made this piece of legislation so very important.
She recounted how the President said that when Sasha was so sick, he couldn’t breathe, like the world was closing in on him, but the fact the they had good health insurance was such a blessing. He thinks about parents who do not have that luxury and how important it is to stop the ACA from being repealed (won’t happen, PBO will be re-elected!!!). She also said that making sure the ADA is strengthened and followed is very important to the President. He believes firmly in the principle that everyone, including those with disabilities, want to achieve their maximum potential. And something I didn’t know, that he had promised to hire 100K people with disabilities into his administration in 5 years, and that they were well on the way to completing that goal.
All in all, a wonderful evening. And, did I say there was food… and wine? 🙂
And, if you’re ever in the 16th and Mission are a of San Francisco, take a walk around. So many wonderful murals!
Thanks a million Rita, what a gorgeous report!
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Today:
12:0: VP Biden delivers remarks at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wis.
1:10: President Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at Lions Park in Golden, Colo.
2:0 First lady Michelle Obama speaks at the Carpenter Theater, Richmond, Va.
2:50: President Obama departs Colorado en route Washington, D.C.
5:0: First lady Michelle Obama speaks with grassroots supporters in Fredericksburg, Va.
7:05: President Obama arrives at the White House
8:15 (?? listed as 7:30 by CNN): VP Biden delivers remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 35th Anniversary Awards Gala
CNN have all these speeches listed for live streaming coverage
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President Obama greets people after arriving at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, Sept 12
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Morning everyone 😉
Rise and Shine
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TPM: …. we have two simultaneous crises washing over Washington from the Middle East. First, the US-Israel blow up …. Next, riots which escalated into full-scale attacks on US embassies in Cairo and Benghazi….
…. In the midst of this, the Romney campaign put out this statement …
“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”
So Romney jumps to politicize a genuine crisis in which a Foreign Service Officer has been killed. And the attack itself is based on a falsehood …. The entire thing is based on a lie….
More here
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See Mother Jones
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Steve Benen: …. The Romney campaign, which dismissed foreign policy as a “distraction” yesterday, now hopes to exploit the violence to advance Mitt Romney’s political ambitions.
…. I genuinely want to know what kind of person sees a foreign attack on Americans – an attack that has reportedly led to four U.S. deaths – and thinks it’s acceptable to lie about the violence to gain a few points in the polls. The campaign isn’t going Romney’s way right now, but is that an excuse to exploit the death of Americans with cheap rhetoric? In the face of violence abroad, this was Romney’s first instinct?
More here
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Steve Kornacki (Salon): Mitt’s shameful Libya statement
That it’s fundamentally dishonest hasn’t stopped Mitt Romney from repeating his central critique of Barack Obama’s foreign policy over and over – the idea that the president “went around the world and apologized for America.” So it shouldn’t be surprising that Romney’s response to the attacks on U.S. diplomatic installations in Egypt and Libya was rooted in the same caricature of Obama as apologizer-in-chief.
…. The foolishness of Romney’s reaction is glaring. Pretending that the statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo was anything other than a completely understandable and reasonable attempt by its occupants to save their own lives borders on disgraceful. Romney’s implication that the statement was issued at the height of the attacks is also false; it was actually released earlier in the day, a preventive measure aimed at keeping the protests from turning violent.
More here
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Michael Tomasky: An American ambassador, Christopher Stevens, is dead, as are three other Libyan embassy staffers; public servants who answered the call for service to their country and the world in one of its most dangerous places, and who paid the ultimate price for it.
….. So what did Mitt Romney do? He politicized it of course. He issued a statement blasting the State Department for its statement condemning the film – a statement that was issued before the violence erupted. And he was cutesy about it. The statement was given to the press last night (i.e., still Sept. 11) around 10 pm, but the campaign asked the media to wait until 12:01 am to run with it, so that this partisan attack would technically happen on September 12.
More here
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This is just beyond belief:
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President Obama:
I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.
I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.
On a personal note, Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States. Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As Ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya’s transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my Administration, and deeply saddened by this loss.
The brave Americans we lost represent the extraordinary service and sacrifices that our civilians make every day around the globe. As we stand united with their families, let us now redouble our own efforts to carry their work forward.
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Vice President Joe Biden visits the site where Flight 93 crashed, following a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., Sept. 11, 2012. Pictured with the Vice President, from left, are: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood; and Patrick White, President of the Families of Flight 93. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
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Today (all times ET):
12:30: VP Biden delivers remarks at a campaign event at Wright State University
1:15: President Obama departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
1:30: Departs Joint Base Andrews en route Las Vegas, Nev
6:00: Arrives in Las Vegas
8:25: Delivers remarks at a campaign event at the Cashman Center
9:40: Departs Las Vegas en route Aurora, Colorado
11:10: Arrives in Aurora
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Morning everyone
Michael Tomasky (Daily Beast): Yes, the economic recovery is too slow. But events in Libya suggest that this may be a truly great foreign-policy president in the making.
…. Yes, of course, let’s stipulate: the war isn’t actually, you know, over. And even after it is, Libya could descend into chaos or extremism or both (although it is heartening to read that the National Transitional Council, the recognized new governing body, apparently has detailed governance plans in place). So could Egypt, and Tunisia, and so on and so on. Lots of things could, can, and undoubtedly will go wrong….
All that said, the administration has already handled a lot of these changes well (and in the face of absolutely constant know-it-all criticism)…..
Obama took a lot of stick for not being more forceful on Egypt in February, but he was right to be cautious … He then took heat for moving too slowly on Libya, but here again he was correct…..
….. That’s starting to sound like a doctrine to me. Call it the doctrine of no doctrine: using our power and influence but doing so prudently and multilaterally, with the crucial recognition that Egypt is different from Libya is different from Syria is different from someplace else. According to the foreign-policy establishment, if you want to have a self-respecting big-D doctrine, you’re not supposed to recognize differences…..
…. there’s work to be done. But it’s hardly impossible to envision an Obama administration in a few years’ time that has drawn down Afghanistan and Iraq, helped foster reforms and maybe even the growth of a couple of democracies around the Middle East, and restored the standing of a country that Bush had laid such staggering waste. And killed Osama bin Laden. If this is weak America-hating, count me in.
Full post here
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Tomasky has been hugely critical of the President recently on domestic issues, without ever really acknowledging the opposition he faces when he tries to get anything done. He’s critical of him again in this article (click the link to read it all), but at least he gives credit where it’s due on the foreign policy front.
The Obama Diary 
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