Defense Secretary Bob Gates says the U.S. has not had good intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden in years. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders should be killed or captured.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in [...]
Director Roman Polanski has begun his house arrest, on $4.5 million bail, in the Swiss chalet he’s long owned. Polanski was arrested by Swiss police earlier this fall on a three decade-old sex charge and is still under possible extradition to Los Angeles. Polanski was working on The Ghost, [...]
Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testified today that mistakes were made in allowing gate-crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi (he’s a UC Davis grad, in winemaking) into last week’s state dinner at the White House. The Secret Service agents who allowed the security breach have been suspended.
** NEW COLUMN COMING [...]
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says President Obama’s new surge-and-endgame strategy in Afghanistan will help military forces find a better focus for their mission.
** QUICK HITS. Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hit the evening newscasts on the East Coast to push [...]
“The Forgotten War” no more. President Barack Obama reveals his new strategy for Afghanistan in tonight’s much anticipated speech at West Point.
** QUICK HITS. Obama continued talking with world leaders today about his new Afghanistan plan, which he announces tonight in a nationally televised speech at West Point. .. [...]
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today previewed President Obama’s Tuesday night speech at West Point on the new Afghanistan strategy.
** NEW ESSAY COMING UP … NORTH BY NORTHWEST‘S 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: ITS ENDURING APPEAL AND THE MAD MEN FACTOR.
** THE NEW SENATE REPORT ON BIN LADEN’S DECEMBER 2001 [...]
President Barack Obama had a lovely first state dinner heading into the holiday season, honoring India a year after the shattering terrorist attacks in Mumbai. But for the Secret Service’s incredible security failure, that is.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his [...]
President Barack Obama said today that he plans to “finish the job” in Afghanistan but its people “ultimately have to provide for their own security.”
** QUICK HITS. The Perm 5 +1 group (United Kingdom, China, France, Russia, the United States — the permanent five members of the UN Security [...]
President Barack Obama, celebrating intellectual endeavor, says he will have a national science fair next year to honor young inventors with the same gusto that college and professional athletes celebrate their victories at the White House.
** 7 PM UPDATE ** … Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will hold a press conference [...]
President-elect John F. Kennedy declares victory at the Hyannis Armory on November 9, 1960. He was assassinated 46 years ago in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Neither does Vice President Joe Biden.
Obama won a [...]
President Barack Obama got a big reaction from the troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, saying that their work has helped transform millions of lives in the region.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama conferred privately today with generals and other advisors on his new strategy for [...]
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is encouraged by Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s pledge to battle corruption and get his security forces sufficiently trained to take the lead within five years. Clinton attended Karzai’s inauguration today in Kabul.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … CONSIDERING MAD MEN.
** QUICK [...]
President Barack Obama concluded his first-ever trip to China early today by visiting the Great Wall of China. This is what we call a metaphor.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia continues in Korea. … At 5:10 PM Pacific, Obama visits US Embassy staff and their families [...]
With the Obama Administration criticized for not going after Wall Street malfeasance, Attorney General Eric Holder and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today announced the creation of a joint task force to combat financial crimes.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia continues. … At 8 PM Pacific, Obama [...]
Earlier today in Shanghai, President Barack Obama said that individual expression is not an American ideal but a universal right that should be available to all.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE INEVITABLE FLUKE THAT IS SARAH PALIN.
** RUSSIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev [...]
President Barack Obama said Sunday that the United States and Russia will have a treaty on reducing nuclear arms ready for approval by year’s end, an announcement designed as an upbeat ending to the Singapore summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in [...]
NASA said today that there appears to be plenty of water on the moon, according to data from a spacecraft intentionally crashed onto its surface. Significant amounts of water could make it easier to set up a base camp for astronauts.
** QUICK HITS. A big Republican backlash, predictably, to [...]
President Barack Obama observed Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery, saying the nation owes a great debt to those who chose to pursue a higher cause by serving their country. He’s off today for his big Asian trip.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … OBAMA IN FLUX.
** POLITICS NEVER SLEEPS. [...]
President Barack Obama took part in the memorial service yesterday at Fort Hood and also delivered an address, one of his best, on the enduring nature and value of military service in the changing world of the early 21st century.
** VETERANS DAY began as Armistice Day, proclaimed by President [...]
President Barack Obama, honoring the 13 soldiers slain in last week’s Fort Hood shooting rampage, discussed the long tradition of military service in this country.
** ** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama is getting some rave reviews for his speech today at Fort Hood. It was delayed, as was his [...]
With prayers, music and pomp, Germany, with world leaders in attendance, today celebrates the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell.
** QUICK HITS. Word is that President Barack Obama will likely split the difference on troop requests for Afghanistan. Not a surprise. … It looks more [...]
In a victory last night for President Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed landmark health care legislation to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama has returned to Washington [...]
Ex-neighbors of the Army psychiatrist reported to have shot 13 people to death at Fort Hood, Texas recall him as a nice and giving person.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD HAS BEEN CLEARED.
Lloyd: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a [...]
President Barack Obama told Native American tribal leaders today that he is determined to reverse the federal government’s history of marginalizing and ignoring the plight of Indian nations.
** QUICK HITS. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that her house of Congress will vote out national health care on Saturday. … A [...]
President Barack Obama is urging states to get their education policies in line with his administration’s reform priorities. And he has an economic incentive for them to do so: $5 billion in grants known as “Race to the Top.” California is moving forward on this.
** QUICK HITS. AARP [...]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — which is still a few days off — on Tuesday in a speech to Congress urging the world to “overcome the walls of the 21st Century.”
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE [...]
President Barack Obama welcomed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s re-election with as much admonishment as praise. The Saturday run-off election was canceled after the top challenger withdrew, citing massive electoral fraud.
** QUICK HITS. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s finance director, Mike Genest, resigned today after four years of hard service. The veteran [...]
As expected, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the only challenger left to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, officially withdrew from next Saturday’s run-off election, citing ongoing massive fraud.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey today.
Obama is going all out today to secure the re-election [...]
President Barack Obama announced that former Senators Chuck Hagel, a Republican, and David Boren, a Democrat, have agreed to serve as co-chairmen of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The previous members, who included former California Governor Pete Wilson, all appointed by former President George W. Bush, agreed to resign [...]
President Barack Obama spent early Thursday morning honoring the return of fallen soldiers. Obama attended the return of 18 soldiers killed this week in Afghanistan at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
** QUICK HITS. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today unveiled a national health care reform bill that has won [...]
Hours after a car bomb in Peshawar killed at least 91 people, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kicked off a three-day visit to Pakistan, where she praised the country’s fight against jihadists and pledged U.S. support.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … AFPAK, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT [...]
President Barack Obama today announced $3.4 billion for the nation’s power transmission system to foster new technologies. He likened the effort to the ambitious development of the national highway system 50 years ago.
** QUICK HITS. Senator Joe Lieberman says he’ll filibuster against national health care if it includes the [...]
Three helicopter crashes killed 14 Americans in Afghanistan on Monday. It was one of the deadliest days of the war for U.S. troops. Two of the helicopters collided. In the other incident, the helo was engaging opposition troops.
** QUICK HITS. Had a disaster with my new Mad Men review, [...]
Two powerful car bombs exploded in downtown Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 38 people in an apparent attempt to target the fragile city’s government offices, Iraqi authorities said. Others say well over 100 were killed.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
He has no scheduled [...]
President Barack Obama, declaring today that passage of comprehensive energy legislation is key to America’s future success, said opponents are using “cynical claims” aimed only at stopping change.
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. In one of the great ironies, the 35th anniversary edition of Chinatown [...]
More than 100,000 people have fled their homes in South Waziristan. The Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan is the setting for intense fighting between troops and the Taliban.
** QUICK HITS. ABC News says that Senator Harry Reid has the votes for public option in the national health care bill. At [...]
Afghanistan is hurriedly preparing for its presidential run-off election on November 7th.
** QUICK HITS. Former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe and former John McCain (and Arnold Schwarzenegger) campaign manager Steve Schmidt are joining forces to establish a center for political communications at the University of Delaware. Both attended [...]
President Barack Obama said this morning that he phoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai in appreciation for what he called Karzai’s welcoming of a run-off, at last, for the August 20th presidential election. Yes, and I’m noticing bats circling in the skylight.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … OBAMA IN THE [...]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is “hopeful” about a successful resolution of the hotly disputed August 20th Afghan president election.
** AFGHAN ELECTION RESULTS AGAIN DELAYED, UNTIL TUESDAY. Amidst word that a UN-backed elections commission is declaring as many as one-third of his votes to be fraudulent, [...]
NASA researchers are finding that ice sheets are shrinking around the world, with warmer underwater ocean currents especially affecting the Antarctic.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama has received his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.
In Iran today, internal [...]
President Barack Obama made his first trip as president yesterday to New Orleans.
** QUICK HITS. That wildly-disputed Afghanistan presidential election of August 20th seems headed at last for a run-off, likely to be announced tomorrow. … Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is emerging as a hawk advocating a big [...]
Islamic jihadist terrorists carried out three attacks in Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, on Thursday in advance of a Pakistani Army offensive against the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan.
** OBAMA’S POST-NOBEL BOUNCE FADES. With President Barack Obama winging his way west to San Francisco from New Orleans for a fundraiser [...]
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cut multi-billion dollar deals on energy and space yesterday with Chinese leaders. Today in Beijing he threw cold water on the idea of sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program. “The joint Russian-Chinese position in international affairs,” he said, “is often a restraint for some of [...]
Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, heavily lobbied by her party to vote no, instead voted today in the Senate Finance Committee to approve a national health care reform program. With reservations.
3:45 PM NOTE: POWER OUTAGE. The big Pacific storm has knocked down my electric power until later tonight. That means [...]
President Barack Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington on Saturday night, pledging his support for gay and lesbian rights.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
Happy Columbus Day! After the holiday, another major week in presidential politics. And look for some action in California politics.
President Barack Obama expressed optimism over the [...]
The Pakistani Army has ended a hostage crisis inside its headquarters. Taliban raiders, dressed in Pakistani Army uniforms and with proper vehicle decals, assaulted the HQ yesterday in advance of an Army offensive in the Taliban’s greatest stronghold.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today. [...]
President Barack Obama spoke this morning following his surprise win of the Nobel Peace Prize.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama is dealing with the shock wave reaction to his winning the Nobel Peace Prize. His initial statement was a good start, but he needs to be adept to find [...]
“Welcome to the Hotel California … You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” The Eagles, veteran Jerry Brown backers, perform the song in a recent concert in Australia.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama’s AfPak strategy sessions continued today in the White House. Obama’s [...]
U.S. Navy Seals in action a few years ago in Afghanistan. The war began, in the aftermath of 9/11, eight years ago today.
** QUICK HITS. Pentagon sources say that General Stanley McChrystal is going to stop making speeches in London, or anywhere, advocating his big escalation in Afghanistan. That’s [...]
Bill Clinton says the “vast right-wing conspiracy” has a new target.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama met today with leading members of Congress on the situation in Afghanistan. He says he will have [...]
