Free Republic

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - The White House says President Barack Obama is "deeply disappointed" by Iran's sentencing of an American journalist. A lawyer for journalist Roxana Saberi said Saturday the 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen was convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison. Obama's deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough, says Saberi is an American reporter who was simply practicing journalism. The U.S. is working with Swiss diplomats in Iran to get details about the court's decision and to ensure Saberi's well-being.

Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking ...

Obama issues warning as North Korea readies rocket By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 3, 12:56 am ET WASHINGTON – As North Korea fueled a multistage rocket Thursday for its threatened satellite launch, President Barack Obama promised a "stern" response and Japan vowed to press for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council. Senior U.S. defense officials said that trailers and vehicles carrying rocket propellant were in place at North Korea's coastal launch site and that fueling had begun. A U.S. counter-proliferation official said the fueling process could take "up to a few days." But a senior...

Return to the Article March 08, 2009 Maybe we should schedule some nap time for our president Rick Moran A little more than a month in and our president already needs a vacation. Everyone knows the presidency is a killer job - everyone, that is, except the current occupant of the oval office who is surprised at the amount of work he has to do. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Barack Obama is amazed at the amount of paper that flows across his desk and that the economic crisis has so sapped his energy, he is not even paying...

Perhaps it's just some Obama ally speaking out of school. But these are probably some of the most terrifying words to come from an unidentified source in some time: Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest. Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.A well-connected Washington figure,...

Two big stories emerged from Pres. Obama’s interview with New York Times reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday: 1. we have a whining, self-pitying president. 2. The Times scrubbed from its article the worst of the president’s comments, the ones that revealed him in that self-pitying light. Fortunately, the Today show had the tapes, and played them this morning. According to Today, when President Obama met with reporters from the New York Times yesterday aboard Air Force One, his goal was “trying to sound hopeful and reassuring.” Mission not accomplished. As ambivalent as were the president’s putatively reassuring words on...

All we're getting is whispers from the press, of course, A raised eyebrow here, a sad shake of the head there. But the picture that is emerging of Barack Obama, the executive, is not very flattering if you look between the lines. Jennifer Rubin: Well, it's becoming obvious he's not really much of a manager, decider, legislation-craftsman, or supervisor. His vetting process is in shambles and key Treasury slots are still vacant. His Treasury Secretary is a classic under-performer and Obama encourages that tendency by talking about everything other than our immediate recovery needs. He lets Nancy Pelosi and Harry...

Barack Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president has facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest. British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a...