I won't go there, but did we really want this in the White House? Yes, this really could have happened!!! Sorry, advocating abstinence? Calling pot!!! Calling kettle!!! It takes Rachel Maddow to call it what it is.
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Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sarah Palin drama continues....now Levi tells all....(Video)
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Obama riding high in CBS/NYT Poll
When you have nothing good to say, and if you said all the negative, eventually you have nothing to say. That is the D.C. Republicans. No matter how they attempt to spin it, the European trip of Obama and ending in the Muslim country of Turkey is or was a hit. For people who understand why this trip was important, let's start with the hatred that Europe and the Muslim world had of former President George W. Bush. This trip was a reintroduction of the United States of America to these regions. Obama had to do it, the distrust that the international community had of Bush can not be understated. The Bush Administration destroyed our international standing, period. Obama has started to clean it up. Simple as that. And this country approves of how Obama is doing, just that.
As President Obama concludes his well-publicized trip to Europe, Americans are more positive about the respect accorded to a U.S. president than they have been in years, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.
Sixty-seven percent say world leaders respect Mr. Obama, while 18 percent say they do not respect the president. That's a sharp contrast to the response when this question was asked about Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, in July 2006: Just 30 percent then said the president is respected by the leaders of other countries.
Mr. Obama's overall approval rating, meanwhile, has hit a new high of 66 percent, up from 64 percent last month. His disapproval rating stands at 24 percent. Nearly all Democrats and most independents approve of the way the president is handling his job, while only 31 percent of Republicans approve.
While some in the media have tried to spin that Obama is polarizing, don't listen to the psycho talk. If you look at the polling data, many are not identifying themselves as Republicans, which throws many more in the pile of the independents. Remember, this is the same group that abandoned the Republican Party in November and we saw what happened.
Most Americans - 60 percent - agree with the argument articulated by the president at the G20 summit last week that the United States needs to work with other countries to fix the problems facing the global economy in order to fix the economic problems back home.
Thirty-seven percent disagree with the argument that the United States should be working with other countries to fix its economy. (Click here for poll data on Americans' views on trade with other countries.)
Americans remain concerned that the United States may lose its position as the world’s economic leader. Nearly eight in 10 are at least somewhat concerned, including 40 percent who are very concerned.
Still, the percentage of Americans who are very concerned is down 10 points from last July.
Again, Obama has not even hit the 100 day mark, but for all those haters out there, this is just the beginning.
Read more, here and full poll metric, here.
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US confirms assassination plot against Obama
I know, we don't like to read this, but it is what it is. We live in a world of crazy folk, here and abroad. Never think al-qaead is not alive and well, THEY ARE.
US authorities confirmed that Turkish police have arrested a man who claims to have plotted to kill US President Barack Obama when he visited Turkey.
The Secret Service in Washington said Monday night that Turkish National Police arrested the man last Friday in Istanbul. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said the president was never in any immediate danger, as Obama arrived in Turkey on Sunday, two days after the man's arrest.
As standard procedure involving a threat against the president overseas, the Secret Service is following up with Turkish authorities regarding the case and is not releasing any information about the suspect, Donovan said.
On Monday, the Saudi daily Al Watan reportedm that Turkish security services has arrested a man of Syrian descent who was planning to assassinate Obama during his trip to Turkey.
According to the report, the man, who was arrested on Friday, was carrying a press card identifying him as an employee of Al Jazeera. He reportedly confessed to his intention to stab Obama with a knife and said that he was aided by three accomplices.
The report stated that Turkish authorities were still unsure as to whether the press card was a fake or whether it had actually been issued the man by the Qatari news network.
Al-Jazeera's Ankara bureau chief, Yussef al-Sharif, told the paper that news of the suspected assassination plot had come as an utter surprise to the network's staff in Turkey, adding that all of Al-Jazeera's employees in the country claimed that they were not acquainted with the suspect.
Sharif said that the ID card had "most certainly" been forged.
He said that Turkish authorities knew all of the employees of Al-Jazeera's Ankara offices.
UPDATE
The official, who is close to police operations in Turkey, said police detained the suspect — a Turkish national — on Friday after receiving an anonymous e-mail which even gave the suspect's address in Istanbul. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar civil servants from speaking to the media without prior authorization.
"There was nothing serious. Police released the man and said he was mentally disturbed," the official said. "The tip turned out to be a hoax. The IP address from which the e-mail was sent was traced to the United States."
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said Monday the president was never in any immediate danger. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who was with Obama in Istanbul on Tuesday, declined to comment on the incident.
Obama did not arrive in Turkey until Sunday, two days after the man's arrest.
"There was no threat to Obama's life," the Turkish official said. "But the police naturally took such a tip seriously."
Source
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Monday, April 6, 2009
Ed Schultz slams Newt Gingrich during his "Psycho Talk" segment (Video)
I am glad Ed Schultz got a show because I catch his radio program, when I can. He puts Gingrich on blast, as he should be.
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David Shuster, MSNBC, slams the right wing rhetoric on Hardball (Video)
This video needs to be seen. I happen to see it live as I got home. The Glenn Becks, Hannitys, Rush Limbaughs, Bill O'Reillys are dangerous. Why? They continue to stir right wing rhetoric with no backing of facts. We saw some of this during the campaign, but the hate train is out in full force. Fox News should be ashamed of themselves to allow this nonsense on their stations, but hey they don't care as long as it brings in ratings and money. In other words, fact and truth, need not apply. h/t jed lewison from Daily Kos
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Obama's visit to Turkey a Muslim State, very important
The distrust of the Muslim region after George W. Bush is not hard to understand, so Barack Obama's visit is vital and may be the most important of his European trip. Muslims all over the world are watching this trip very closely and many are hoping the beginning of something new after the former President George W. Bush.
President Barack Obama paid tribute to the memory of modern Turkey's founding father on Monday as he reached out for help to wind down the war in Iraq and bring stability to the Middle East.
He is also counting on the only major predominantly Islamic member of NATO to remain a steadfast ally in the Afghanistan conflict.
"I'm honored to pay tribute to his name," Obama said at wreath-laying ceremony during a morning visit to the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
[snip]
Obama's visit is being closely watched by an Islamic world that harbored deep distrust of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama was spending two days in Turkey as he wraps up an event-packed, eight-day international trip that also saw stops in Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
He arrived in Ankara late Sunday. He was to meet with Turkish leaders and speak to parliament. He will then go on to Istanbul for events on Tuesday.
In his inaugural address in January, Obama pledged to reach out to the Muslim world.
[snip]
Americans remain unsure of what to make of Islam even as most people in the United States think Obama should seek better relations with the Muslim world, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. About 55 percent of Americans say they lack a good, basic understanding of the religion, the poll found, and 48 percent have an unfavorable view of it.
Obama's trip to Turkey, his final scheduled country visit, ties together themes of earlier stops. He attended the Group of 20 economic summit in London, celebrated NATO's 60th anniversary in Strasbourg, France, and on Saturday visited the Czech Republic, which included a summit of European Union leaders in Prague.
Turkey is a member of both the G-20 and NATO and is trying to get into the EU with the help of the United States.
[snip]
"Obama starts with a great advantage because his name is not George Bush," said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
While Bush was extremely unpopular in Turkey and the Islamic world, "there's a sense of goodwill toward the United States — and particularly toward President Obama. And the entire Islamic world will be watching" Monday's speech to the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Aliriza said.
Source
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Sunday, April 5, 2009
Meet the Press, April 5, 2009 (Video and Transcript)
Less than a week after the White House asks the CEO of General Motors to step down, we go live to Detroit to speak with the new CEO, Fritz Henderson, about his plans to fix the American auto icon. Plus, Obama on the world stage. Our roundtable weighs in: Fmr. speechwriter to Pres. Bush, Michael Gerson; CNBC's John Harwood; BBC's Katty Kay; author Joshua Cooper Ramo; and Fmr. Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, Dr. Bill Rodgers.
Transcript
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"I Trust Him."
"I trust him. I don't need guarantees. I trust him. I trust his word. And I trust his intelligence," Sarkozy said of Obama.
This came from President Sarkozy of France.
This is the statement that President Barack Obama of The United States of America will walk away from his European trip.
There is much concern trolling on Obama's trip to Europe. The what did he get or the what he did not get.
Fair criticism. He did not get, nor was he going to get, everyone to agree with him from the economic strife that is hitting every nation to the muddled mess of Afghanistan. But what he did get was the tag, "A new sheriff in town for the United States of America."
I don't care what anyone says, Barack Obama's energy and enthusiasm was infectious and all over the place. Can anyone ever imagine former President George W. Bush holding a town hall meeting in France? No, you can't. Over 25,000 invaded Prague to hear President Obama's speech today. Would or could former President Bush bring a crowd to listen to him and the American platform? No, he would get that many to protest his very existence in their town. Yes, we know this is true.
President Obama's main job was to restore our image to the Europeans. He needed to let Europe know that we want to work with them, not against them. He had to listen and absorb their concerns. Not to grandstand or give the "you are with us or against us" speech. That single statement from former President George W. Bush did more harm than good for this country and our international standing. A statement this country is still paying a price for.
The economic and international mess is one that former President George W. Bush created. It was the arrogance of that administration that killed his presidency in the end. He could not pick up any phone to ask for any help, he killed all the pragmatic thinking and good will to these European countries and they watched him and this country go downhill.
President Obama's speech at the town hall in France is one of the best he has given. He pointed out all our faults, as well as Europe's faults and pointed that it is time to try a different approach and direction. He is right.
The United States of America is not the police of the world, but former President Bush pinned that tag on us by invading Iraq. We have a lot of work to do and this trip was a beginning. We have to reach out to the Middle East and let them know we are still here and we want to work out the peace in that region. We need to remove ourselves from Iraq, permanently. We are responsible for what has happened to that region and we need to do as much as possible to make it right, but it starts with Iraq taking care of Iraq. Afghanistan is a problem and more troop involvement will not change it, history speaks for itself, but we must make Pakistan take responsibility for protecting al-qaeda terrorists, as they continue to take aid from the United States of America.
We are going through some very difficult times here domestically, but much what is happening is also tied internationally. I trust Barack Obama to do the very best that he can. He will make decisions that I will not always agree with, but I rather have him at the helm than imagining John McCain there. Sorry, for one, McCain would not have been able to keep up. For real.
Finally, I have to post a clip by JedReport from CNNs Cristiane Amanpour's push back of the right-winged criticism of President Barack Obama and WHY Gitmo needs to be condemned and CLOSED. Anyone with intelligence will get it.
COSTELLO: Well, but some people might say that President Obama is giving the French some of what it wants and other European leaders like the closing of Guantanamo Bay and supposedly we’re moving the troops from Iraq very soon. These are things that Europeans wanted.
[SNIP]
COSTELLO: I’m being devil’s advocate because some critics say, you know, President Obama is giving too much away, he’s deferring too much.
AMANPOUR: Can we just be counter-devil’s advocate? Obama is not closing Guantanamo for the Europeans; he’s closing it because it has caused the single biggest anti-American sentiment around the world and because it violates America’s principles, its morals, its rules of law and all of the rest of it. He’s not doing it for the Europeans, he’s not bringing the troops out of Iraq for the Europeans. He’s making his own considered judgment on the war Iraq for American reasons, those happen to be shared by the Europeans and that will help in that way, but he’s not outsourcing American foreign policy for any other country. It’s national interest and it happens to be one that converges with one of the rest of the world.
Source
Obama, Sarkozy Press Conference
Obama's Town Hall Meeting in France
••
Prague Spring, photos by Al Rodgers
cross-posted @ Daily Kos
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President Obama at EU Summit in Prague, Czech Republic and FLOTUS (Pictures)
List of other pictures, videos of the Obamas European trip here
Note: First Lady Michelle Obama will leave Prague, Czech Republic for Washington, D.C., today while President Obama will continue to Turkey and return to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
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