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Did Barack Obama want to assassinate Osama bin Laden? He may have at some point, because he gave the ultimate order, or allowed it to happen. But I suspect the president was deeply ambivalent. It’s not just his postmodern worldview that suggests this reluctance. It is the discombobulated aftermath of the killing, the weirdly botched reportage featuring such events as cabinet members in the situation room supposedly watching a (we learned) non-existent streaming video of the action and the statement that bin Laden — who had been under surveillance for months from a CIA safe house — was living in...

Breaking news: Barack Obama chooses not to lead … again. TPM DC’s Brian Beutler reports that the White House strategy on Social Security will be to wait until everyone else has decided to act before discussing its own approach to reforming what is perhaps the most straightforward of entitlement reforms. This will surprise, well … no one: The White House will not prominently inject itself into congressional negotiations on Social Security reform until after key legislators in both the House and Senate unveil their plans to reduce projected long-term deficits, according to administration officials.That won’t please Republican leaders on Capitol...

President Barack Obama will take his first official trip to Brazil this weekend where he will speak in the popular Cinelandia Square in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Access, of course, will be tightly restricted and security measures so secretive that not even the Embassy or US Consulate in Rio know exactly how it’s all going to go down. Obama’s speech will be free and open to the public and take place around 15:00 local time (14:00 EST). Access to the square will begin at 11:30, and is sure to draw a crowd. Obama is popular in Brazil. One politician seeking...

Frustrated with Sen. Jim DeMint’s support for a move to require an oral reading of the START nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia – a move that could take as long as 12-15 hours in these waning lame duck days -- an Obama administration official notes that DeMint only attended five of the 12 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on START, nor was he present for the final vote to order the treaty reported on the 16th. DeMint attended the May 18 and 19, June 15 and 24, and July 14 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings, plus the Committee markup session...

Poole and Rosenthal found that the House and Senate grew steadily less polarized from around 1900 to 1980. Then something happened; polarization has been sharply increasing ever since. A statistical method is fundamentally sound only if it tells you things you already know. The DW-NOMINATE maps tell us, first of all, that throughout the last 100 years both houses of Congress have split into two grand clusters, Democrats and Republicans. Within the Democrats, the Northern and Southern members form two clusters. Sometimes the Northern and Southern Democrats meld into each other without a gap, and other times (especially in the...

BAGHDAD – Built by the Persians on the northeast bank of the Tigris River almost 1,500 years ago, an arch from the ancient city of Ctesiphon still stands today as an impressive monument to the talents of ancient builders. A U.S. Soldier stands in front of the Arch of Ctesiphon, built by the Persians nearly 1,500 years ago in what is now Salman Pak, Iraq, May 31, 2010. The arch used to be an important tourist attraction, and Iraqi authorities hope to revive that tourism in the coming years. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Rebecca Schwab.Considered the oldest and largest...

Even now, Mr. Obama looks like a spectator, albeit an angry one, barking at White House aides to "plug the damn hole" (now that's a good idea no one has thought of) and telling NBC's Matt Lauer he's in search of an "ass to kick." But the main political behind that's being kicked is Mr. Obama's. The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll says Americans give the federal government a 69% negative rating for its handling of the spill, compared to a 62% negative rating for Washington's handling of Katrina in August 2005. This pattern of being merely present has been...

Grade Obama's First Year

A man reportedly set off firecrackers on Delta Flight 253 that was carrying 278 passengers to Detroit from Amsterdam. "The president was notified of the incident this morning between 9:00 and 9:30 Hawaii time by the president's military aide," White House spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

Iran just announced a radical expansion of its uranium-enrichment facilities. The news followed the recent disclosure of the country’s previously secret nuclear facility near the city of Qom — and came just two days after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s censure of Iran for its failure to halt enrichment. In other words, instead of complying with international requests to stand down, Iran has decided to step up efforts to enrich uranium, which, despite the government’s denial, is all but certainly intended for a bomb. First, remember, Iran does not need nuclear power for electrical generation. It has the world’s second-largest...

The beauty of being a narcissist is that even when disaster stares you in the face, you feel neither doubt nor remorse.” —Carl Vogel, A Field Guide to Narcissism Former Senator Rick Santorum added, “The international community now is beginning to become aware that not only is [Obama] naive in his pursuit of a whole bunch of things including complete nuclear disarmament, but that his ego gets in the way of him learning anything about why he’s wrong on these things. That’s a very dangerous combination - to not know anything and to think you know everything.”

A website often used by al Qaeda supporters said it would soon carry a "present" to Muslims from Osama bin Laden on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

It has occurred to me tonight that I do not remember hearing that the President had planned to have a two week long vacation. I had understood that he would take last week then, come back to Washington and go back to work. I heard today that he is "taking the rest of the week off". Did I miss something? If not, I cannot recall a time when a healthy President suddenly took an unplanned week off. Can anyone offer some clarity to this mucky water? I am concerned...

BAGHDAD – The top U.S. military commander in Iraq on Tuesday accused Iran of continuing to support and train militants who are carrying out attacks, including most of the ones in Baghdad. Gen. Ray Odierno said the attacks have fallen in number but are still a problem. He made the comments just after the U.S. relinquished security for Baghdad and other urban areas to Iraqi forces, part of a security agreement that will see all American soldiers out of the country by the end of 2011. "Iran is still supporting, funding and training surrogates who operate inside of Iraq. They...

A leader leads. Obama is a follower!From today's press conference: QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Your administration has said that the offer to talk to Iran's leaders remains open. Can you say if that's still so even with all the violence that has been committed by the government against the peaceful protesters? And if it is, is there any red line that your administration won't cross where that offer will be shut off? OBAMA: Well, obviously what's happened in Iran is profound, and we're still waiting to see how it plays itself out. My position coming into this office has...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama went golfing and the Department of Health and Human Services is short a secretary, so other U.S. officials took the controls Sunday as the Obama administration ramps up efforts to find and isolate U.S. cases of swine flu.During a White House briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that HHS will issue a public health emergency warning that will free up resources to address the outbreak that has hit 20 Americans in five states. Richard Besser, acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency is prepared to move millions of doses...

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - [snip] Obama was asked to comment on the situation several times by reporters at a White House event on refinancing for homeowners. Obama, however, stuck closely to the script and replied that he wanted to remain focused on housing.

41 Senate Republicans Send Letter To President Obama Urging Consultation On Judicial Nominees March 2, 2009 President Barack H. Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C.  20500 Dear Mr. President: We look forward to working with you as you consider nominees for the federal judiciary.  Unfortunately, the judicial appointments process has become needlessly acrimonious.  We would very much like to improve this process, and we know you would as well.  It is in that spirit that we write early on to suggest two steps your Administration can take to achieve that shared goal.   First, in the beginning...

For example, Dr Eugenie Scott of the staunchly anticreationist National Center for Science Education (NCSE) revealed their agenda when she said: “ … I would describe myself as a humanist or a nontheist. I have found that the most effective allies for evolution are people of the faith community. One clergyman with a backward collar is worth two biologists at a school board meeting any day! … What we [such clergy and atheists] have in common is that we want to see evolution taught in the public schools … .”4

Barack Obama has often said Americans need to keep a close eye on their leaders. "I learned long ago, when working as an organizer on the South Side of Chicago, that when citizens join their voices together, they can hold their leaders accountable," he said in a campaign blog last summer. "I'm not exempt from that. I'm certainly not perfect and expect to be held accountable too." He made the same point in a September campaign speech on education. "I want you to hold our government accountable," Obama said. "I want you to hold me accountable." Okay, we will. PolitiFact,...