7:30: First Lady Michelle Obama will join former University of Kentucky President Dr. Charles Wethington and Kentucky author Silas House as speakers at Eastern Kentucky University’s spring commencement ceremonies
President Barack Obama talks with Council of Economic Advisers Chair Alan Krueger following a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, March 4 (Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama is pictured with Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Australian Major-General Peter Cosgrove after Obama laid a wreath at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra
…. with John Hogg, President of the Australian Senate
….. addressing the Australian Parliament in Canberra
…. visiting Campbell High School in Canberra
… with U.S. Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich before a tree dedication ceremony at the U.S. embassy compound in Canberra
President Obama waves from the steps of Air Force One upon his departure from Canberra
I hate to ruin this post with a photo of Rusty, but bjw2 (thank you!) saw this at the brilliant Democrats for Progress – Rusty Bawls Through Congressional Award Ceremony:
Most of the local channels have posted either their full interviews with the President, or clips:
Portland – KGW, NBC, Tracy Barry
Phoenix – KSAZ, Fox, John Hook (no video yet)
Denver – KUSA, NBC, Adele Arakawa
Minneapolis – WCCO, CBS, Amelia Santaniello
Houston – KTRK, ABC, Dave Ward (no video yet)
Omaha – KETV, ABC, Rob McCartney
Tampa – WTVT, Fox, Mark Wilson
Hampton Roads – WAVY, NBC, Tom Schaad
Philadelphia – WPVI, ABC, Brian Taff
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Daily Beast: ….. Dorothy Rodham’s early life was difficult, and at the age of 8, when her parents divorced, she and a younger sister were sent alone by train from Chicago to Alhambra, Calif., to live with grandparents. It was not a happy home, and at 14, she left to make her way on her own, first as a mother’s helper, then after returning to Chicago, doing clerical work. There she met Hugh Rodham, a traveling salesman eight years her senior, and after a five-year courtship, they married in 1942.
…. Dorothy Rodham was a secret Democrat …. Hugh Rodham was a staunch Republican … After Hugh Rodham died in 1993, Dorothy spent much of her time at the White House, caring for Chelsea and bucking up her daughter through a minefield of policy and personal setbacks…..
WH: In 2009, President Obama challenged the Federal Government to lead by example by becoming leaner, greener and more efficient. He asked agencies and departments to become more energy efficient, reduce waste and water use, and use its purchasing power as the largest energy consumer in the U.S. economy to support more environmentally responsible products and technologies in their operations.
The GreenGov Presidential Awards celebrate extraordinary achievement in the pursuit of President Obama’s challenge. Given in six different categories, the awards honor Federal civilian and military personnel, agency teams, agency projects and facilities, and agency programs that exemplify President Obama’s charge to lead by example toward a clean energy economy.
Meet this year’s winners and learn about the award they are receiving – here
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Steve Benen: …. “Last Friday, at the swanky Barley House tavern in Concord, N.H., Rick Perry took a little jab at the Occupy Wall Street crowd, referencing an amusing quote his son had sent him from a protester occupying Toronto (see video)
…..So what’s the problem? There is no “Jeremy” – the quote Perry paraphrased appeared in a satirical piece that ran in Toronto’s Globe and Mail. The piece became a chain email, Perry’s son sent it to him, and the governor failed once again to separate fact from fiction…..
TPM: A potentially huge shoe is dropping in the Herman Cain harassment scandal: one of his accusers indicated through her lawyer on Tuesday that she wants to come forward and tell her side of the story.
Joel P. Bennett, an attorney to one of the two National Restaurant Association employees who allegedly accused Cain of sexual harassment, told the Washington Post on Tuesday that his client is currently barred from speaking by a mutual non-disparagement agreement with the organization. But he says that agreement is being violated by Cain already, who has taken to the press to slam the harassment claim as “baseless,” and that she now wants to come forward and reveal herself to set the record straight.
Daily Beast: The Tea Party Pork Binge – They brought the nation to the brink of default over spending, but a Newsweek investigation shows Tea Party lawmakers grabbing billions from the government trough. Plus, view the letters submitted by the ‘Dirty Dozen.’
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the Republican leadership’s tether to the Tea Party, flutters the hearts of the government-bashing, budget-slicing faithful with his relentless attacks on runaway federal spending. To Cantor, an $8 billion high-speed rail connecting Las Vegas to Disneyland is wasteful “pork-barrel spending” ….
But away from the cameras, Cantor sometimes pulls right up to the spending trough, including the very stimulus law he panned in public. Letters obtained by Newsweek show him pressing the Transportation Department to spend nearly $3 billion in stimulus money on a high-speed-rail project – not the one he derided in Nevada, but another in his home state….
CBS: Individuals making more than $1 million a year could see an average tax cut of more than $500,000 under Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry’s complicated tax proposal, while some taxpayers at the other end of the income spectrum would see a tax hike compared to the current tax rates, according to an analysis released Monday.
Perry’s plan would also reduce federal tax revenues by hundreds of billions of dollars, forcing the government to make dramatic spending cuts – long a goal of many conservatives pushing for a smaller federal footprint…..
ABC: While President Obama hosts a global economic summit for the first time this month, the first lady will take spouses of the world’s leaders to the valley where ABC-TV’s “Lost” and the classic ”Jurassic Park” were filmed.
When the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit opens in Hawaii Nov.12, Michelle Obama will take as many as two dozen spouses to Kualoa Ranch, where the lush vistas and remote access lured the producers of Hawaii Five-0, Magnum, Fantasy Island, the film Pearl Harbor and Karate Kid, among many others.
This is the first time President Obama has played host to such a big summit – APEC is the conference of economies that ring the Pacific Basin. He chose his home state of Hawaii for two days of meetings, centered in Honolulu.
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Rich Iott, second from right, in a Nazi SS Waffen uniform
Washington Jewish Week: Notorious Nazi impersonator Richard Iott, who’s also a former GOP House candidate, donated $2,400 (the maximum amount permitted) to Rep. John Boehner earlier this year via the House speaker’s political action committee, according to recent FEC filings.
Iott came to prominence late last year when it was revealed that the one-time candidate in Ohio apparently spent his weekends prancing around in a Nazi SS Waffen uniform, reenacting battles….
…. given what we know about Iott’s pastime, should a leader like Boehner keep the contribution? …. I asked the speaker’s office for comment and was told, well, nothing ….The National Jewish Democratic Council called on Boehner to give back Iott’s money this afternoon.
Hi everyone, I’ve set up a new Twitter links section in the sidebar on the right – if you’d like your Twitter account listed just let me know in the comments. If the list gets too long I’ll set up a new page containing all the links.
Thanks everyone 😉
PS I’ve also added links to YouTube channels on the sidebar – all part of the springcleaning!
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Okay, that list is getting very long – thank you everyone for passing on your usernames! I think what I’ll do later is make a page for the Twitter links and put your TOD names in brackets after your usernames so you can all find each other in Twitterland (I’ll put them in alphabetical order too – they’re all over the place at the moment). Thanks again everyone, keep adding those names 😉
President Obama (March 2011): “…. With the time and space that we have provided for the Libyan people, they will be able to determine their own destiny, and that is how it should be.”
The head of Libya’s National Transitional Council tells Al Jazeera that Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam has been captured – live updates at The Guardian site here
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Live coverage at Sky News (UK) here and Al Jazeera (here)
(Apologies for the Murdoch/Sky link, but it’s one of the few channels I can find covering this live)
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President Obama (March 2011): “…. As the bulk of our military effort ratchets down, what we can do and will do is support the aspirations of the Libyan people. We have intervened to stop a massacre, and we will work with our allies and partners as they’re in the lead to maintain the safety of civilians. We will deny the regime arms, cut off its supply of cash, assist the opposition and work with other nations to hasten the day when Gadhafi leaves power. It may not happen overnight, as a badly weakened Gadhafi tries desperately to hang on to power.
But it should be clear to those around Gadhafi and to every Libyan, that history is not on Gadhafi’s side. With the time and space that we have provided for the Libyan people, they will be able to determine their own destiny, and that is how it should be.”
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As drdaddy1970 mentioned in the comments, John McCain is our current expert on Libya!
CBS: Sen. John McCain said Sunday he thought Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s rule in Libya was “nearing the end” and that it would be a “matter of hours” before his ouster. McCain, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said that “we will be rid of a guy who has practiced the worst kind of brutalities.”
What changed in two years, John?
Politics Daily (August 2009): Sen. John McCain, visiting Libya this past week, praised Muammar Gaddafi for his peacemaking efforts in Africa. In addition, McCain called for the U.S. Congress to expand ties with Gaddafi’s government, according to Libya’s state news agency. McCain had a face-to-face meeting with Gaddafi, which he detailed on his Twitter page with the following message:
“Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his “ranch” in Libya – interesting meeting with an interesting man.”
Hey you lovely people – thank you so much for helping the blog reach its Obama/Biden 2012 fundraising target at barackobama.com – massively MASSIVELY appreciated! There are so many grassroots fundraising pages over there, just imagine what they’re raising when you combine the totals. It’s completely fantastic.
Rather than upping the target again, I’ve decided just to simplify things and direct anyone who wants to donate to Obama/Biden 2012 to the main donation page at barackobama.com (here) – I’ve update the link in the right sidebar, click the logo and it’ll take you there.
Thank you again everyone – sounds to me like you’re fired up and ready to go 😉
The Obama Diary 
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