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President Obama speaks on the US-Laos relationship at the Lao Natural Cultural Hall in Vientiane, Laos
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President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye hold a meeting
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President Barack Obama and Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith toast during an official lunch at the Presidential Palace
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang during his visit to the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. He kicks off a landmark visit that caps two decades of post-war rapprochement, as both countries look to push trade and check Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea
President Barack Obama reviews a guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony
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President Barack Obama shakes hands with Vietnam’s Vice Minister of Defence Nguyen Chi Vinh
President Barack Obama and National Security Advisor Susan Rice walk with Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan
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President Barack Obama attends a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang at the Presidential Palace
President Barack Obama flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, holds official talks with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at Phuc’s cabinet office
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President Barack Obama and President Tran Dai Quang take part in a joint press conference at the International Convention Center in Hanoi
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BREAKING: U.S. fully lifts decades-long ban on sale of lethal arms to Vietnam cnn.it/25aRuPo cnn.it/1XLV9Rr
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(@CNN) May 23, 2016****
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Vietjet CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao shakes hands with President Barack Obama while Ray Corner, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes shakes hands with Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang (2nd R) during a signing ceremony that Vietjet will buy 100 Boeing aircraft from the US manufacturer
President Barack Obama proposes a toast during a state luncheon
President Barack Obama meets with Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Office in Hanoi
President Obama at the Associated Press Luncheon in Washington, D.C., April 3
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Steve Benen: This was, as advertised, an aggressive, unapologetic condemnation of the Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney budget agenda, and the ideology that led to its creation. Indeed, Obama practically mocked Republicans for having tested their trickle-down philosophy, failing spectacularly, and then becoming even more right wing as a consequence.
….. Of particular interest, though, was Obama’s take, not only on the GOP’s right-wing budget plan, but also on the GOP’s right-wing trajectory in general….the Republican Party in 2012 bears no resemblance to the Republican Party of years past.
… Republican leaders issued some press releases this afternoon, complaining that the president’s remarks were “tired” and “partisan.” None, however, could point to anything Obama got wrong in this speech.
More here
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James Downie (Washington Post): “This is not conjecture. I am not exaggerating,” President Obama declared in a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors Tuesday afternoon. “These are facts.”
Those lines sum up what was best about a strong speech …. The president peppered it with facts…. Compare Obama’s words with Paul Ryan’s budget speech two weeks ago. The moment nonpartisan groups looked at the numbers Ryan and the Heritage Foundation had cooked up, Ryan’s claims collapsed ….the nonpartisan vetting exposed Ryan’s program, to put it in the president’s terms, as “laughable.”
More here
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President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden talk as they walk up a staircase in the West Wing of the White House, April 3. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Joe Klein (Time): …. here’s what Mitt Romney had to say about immigration on Monday:
“This has always been a priority for the president he chooses to do nothing about,” Romney said. “Let the immigrant community not forget that while he uses this as a political weapon, he has not taken responsibility for fixing the problems we have.”
This is hilarious on several grounds….
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Washington Post: A survey from the Public Religion Research Institute finds that most Jewish voters are sticking with President Obama despite concerted efforts from Republicans to woo this voting bloc. Sixty-two percent of Jewish voters would like to see Obama reelected, about the same as at this point in the 2008 campaign. Only 7 percent of those who backed him in 2008 would like to see a Republican win.
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LA Times: President Obama will introduce a new restoration of the 1962 courtroom drama “To Kill a Mockingbird” on April 7 on the USA Network.
…. “I’m deeply honored that President Obama will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by introducing it to a national audience,” Harper Lee said in a statement. “I believe it remains the best translation of a book to film ever made, and I’m proud to know that Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch lives on – in a world that needs him now more than ever.”
USA is broadcasting “To Kill a Mockingbird” as part of its “Characters Unite” public-service campaign, a bid to combat discrimination through on-air programming, digital content and events….
Thanks Jovie
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Andrew Cohen (The Atlantic): ….. Who wins? It all depends upon Justice Kennedy’s conscience, Chief Justice Roberts’ sense of history, and whatever powers of persuasion the Court’s liberal wing has upon those two conservatives. Me? If I were explaining it to my son, I would say, “The Constitution is what the justices say it is, nothing more and nothing less. But this law is clearly within Congress’ power. And if the Court strikes it down, it will mean that five unelected judges will have blocked a good faith effort by elected officials to fix a problem that everyone acknowledges exists in this country.” If the Roberts Court strikes down this law, in other words, it ought to end any reasonable political debate about the source of “judicial activism” in America.
More here
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Liberal Librarian: But Both Parties Are The Same
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Wednesday
9:30 AM: PBO hosts an Easter Prayer Breakfast; VP Biden also delivers remarks.
11:30 AM: Michelle Obama holds a conference call with reporters in the week leading up to the one-year anniversary of Joining Forces.
11:55 AM: PBO signs the STOCK Act; VP Biden also attends.
1:30 PM: Jay Carney briefs the press.
2:00 PM: Michelle Obama will visit the Fisher House located at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
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Thank you 4morefor44 😉
October 25: Luncheon with First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator Patty Murray, Dr Jill Biden, Governor Christine Gregoire, Susan DelBene, and Ellen Malcolm
Obama White House.gov WH Tumblr The People’s View Steve Benen
The Obama Diary 
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