Diplomat In Chief

The Handshake

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President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cuba’s President Raul Castro

President Castro blocks out reporters’ questions

 President Obama holds a news conference at the conclusion of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City

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Obama: "Cuba is not a threat to the United States."

—
NBC News (@NBCNews) April 11, 2015

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President Obama meets with Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff

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Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne (front L), Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (front R), U.S President Barack Obama (back L), Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell (second row R) and Uruguay’s President Tabare Vazquez (top R) wave during the family photo of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City

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Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa smiles as he listens to remarks by President Barack Obama during the first plenary session of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama

President Obama, flanked by National Security Advisor Susan Rice, gives remarks at the first plenary session of the Summit of the Americas

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With Secretary John Kerry

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Homeward bound

pic of the americas

President Barack Obama gestures during the official photo at the sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. Obama is flanked by Presidents Sebastian Pinera of Chile, front left, and Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala, front right. Pictured behind the three leaders are Presidents Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, middle row, left, Felipe Calderon of Mexico, middle row, second from left, Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, middle row, right, and Trinidad and Tobago

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President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during a bilateral meeting at the Americas Summit in Cartagena. April 14

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From yesterday:

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Meanwhile….

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Back later, chat away 😉

chat away

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AP: Some of the money from President Barack Obama’s health care law is flowing to places you might not expect.

Two Texas public employee programs are among the top 25 beneficiaries of a $5-billion fund to shore up employer coverage for early retirees, despite Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s vow to repeal what Republicans derisively call “Obamacare.”

And records show the Huntsman family business, where GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman was once a top executive, received about $1 million.

Some see a gap between dire Republican rhetoric about the health care overhaul and the pragmatic impulse to cash in on a new government benefit.

“Lots of Texans are already benefiting from health care reform,” said Anne Dunkelberg, a health care expert at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities. “Other than for political theater, there would not be the kind of opposition there is.” The nonpartisan center advocates for the poor.

Full article here

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The Week

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Uggh, he’s at it again:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

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…. with Spain’s PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

… with Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff

…. with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

… with International Labor Organization Director-General Juan Somavia

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CNN: President Barack Obama leads all of his potential Republican challengers in hypothetical 2012 matchups among Pennsylvania adults, according to a new poll.

The Franklin and Marshall College poll released Thursday in the battleground state, shows Obama ahead of potential rivals Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, but the results are closest when the president is paired with Romney.

Obama leads the former Massachusetts governor 35% to 26% and Cain, the former pizza executive, 38% to 24%. He enjoys a 20% lead over Texas Gov. Perry, 40% to 20% and a 13% advantage over former two-term Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum, 38% to 25%.

Full post here

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McClatchy

Thanks amk

west wing week (“6 principals” july 16, 2010)

The President speaks about the economy in Las Vegas, celebrates 100 years of the Boy Scouts of America, meets with President Bill Clinton, meets with President Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, visits with the 2010 Principal of the Year award winners, announces the new Director of the Office of Management and Budget ….