The judge in the NSA case is a Bush appointee. Remember him? Bush? The father of this NSA stuff, FISA amdts. and Patriot Act.
— Ｇｕｓ (@Gus_802) December 16, 2013
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Today’s NSA judge: “He sought to intimidate Iran-Contra-related witnesses who came forward to expose GOP wrongdoing” http://t.co/ooqe0zH9cA
Today’s NSA judge: ‘Built legal framework for GOP presidents to ignore law… he conducted cover-ups of their crimes’ http://t.co/ooqe0zH9cA
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) December 16, 2013
President Obama embraces outgoing Defense Secretary Panetta during an Armed Forces Farewell Ceremony to honor Panetta at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Feb. 8
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Morning/afternoon/evening everyone! Was out all day, so I have no clue what’s been happening – will catch up …. tomorrow, probably.
USA Today: President Obama announced a new military strategy on Thursday that will cut the Pentagon budget by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.
Speaking from the Pentagon, Obama said the plan is “smart, strategic” and sets priorities.
…. The new military strategy includes $487 billion in cuts over the next decade. An additional $500 billion in cuts could be coming if Congress follows through on plans for deeper reductions. The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. officially ended the Iraq War and after a decade of increased defense spending in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Dana Milbank: If this is Mitt Romney’s idea of a victory rally, one shudders to think what would have happened if he had lost the Iowa caucuses. The day after his impossibly thin eight-vote victory …. he flew here for a town hall meeting at Manchester Central High School, where he was to bask in the endorsement of his 2008 arch rival, John McCain.
But the senator grimaced when he was introduced, and as Romney delivered his own stump speech, an increasingly impatient McCain pulled up his sleeve and checked his watch. McCain gave his endorsement address without mentioning Romney’s Iowa win until the end. “By the way, we forgot to congratulate him on his landslide victory last night,” he said, laughing. Romney ignored him.
….. Romney continued to wrestle with words when he took the stage … “What a, uh, big night we had last night, or what a big morning we had, uh, last morning, this morning, in, uh, Iowa,” he began…..
Washington Monthly: What If Obama Loses? … there’s a widespread assumption that extreme positions taken in the (GOP) primaries will fade in the general election as candidates “move to the center,” and will disappear entirely once the serious business of governing begins. Surely President Newt Gingrich would not get rid of child labor laws. Surely President Perry would not seek to eliminate three cabinet departments.
We don’t think that this year, with this GOP, those assumptions are warranted. And so we asked a distinguished group of reporters and scholars to think through the hitherto unthinkable: What if one of these people actually wins?
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1
President Obama during one in a series of meetings in the Situation Room of the White House discussing the mission against Osama bin Laden, May 1. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon is pictured at right.
The Situation Room, May 1
… the conclusion of one in a series of meetings discussing the mission against Osama bin Laden …. Gen. James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is seen on the screen.
….editing his remarks in the Oval Office prior to making a televised statement detailing the mission against Osama bin Laden
….delivering a statement in the East Room of the White House on the mission against Osama bin Laden
Senior administration officials listen as President Barack Obama delivers his statement. Seated, from left, are: James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; CIA Director Leon Panetta; Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Vice President Joe Biden.
President Obama shakes hands with Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the Green Room of the White House following his statement. CIA Director Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are pictured at left.
President Barack Obama speaks as Leon Panetta, Army General David Petraeus, Marine General John Allen, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, listen during an event to announce national security personnel changes. The President has tapped current CIA Director Leon Panetta to succeed Robert Gates as the next Secretary of Defense, General David Petraeus to be the next CIA Director, Ryan Crocker to be the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, and General John Allen to succeed Petraeus as commander for ISAF and commander for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The Obama Diary 
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