Annals Of The Obama Administration

July 30, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

The President announced today  this year’s recipients of America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  He said: “These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds.  Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs.  Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change.  Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way.”

2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom

* Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s leading breast cancer grassroots organization.

* Pedro José Greer, Jr. is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Florida International University School of Medicine. He is also the founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to over 10,000 homeless and low-income patients each year in Miami.

* Stephen Hawking is an internationally-recognized theoretical physicist, and is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.

* Jack Kemp was a U.S. Congressman, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Republican Nominee for Vice President in 1996. He died in May 2009

* Sen. Edward Kennedy is one of the longest-serving and greatest Senators of all time. He has worked tirelessly for health care reform over the last five decades.

* Billie Jean King is known for winning the famous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, and championing gender equality issues not only in sports, but in all aspects of life.

* Rev. Joseph Lowery has been a leader of the civil rights movement since the 2950s, and co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King.

* Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow is the last living Plains Indian war chief, and author of works on Native American history and culture who has served as an inspiration to young Native Americans across the country.

* Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, and encouraged LGBT citizens to live their lives openly.

* Sandra Day O’Connor was a Supreme Court Justice from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She was the first woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court, and has received numerous awards for her outstanding achievements.

* Sidney Poitier is an actor known for breaking racial barriers. He is the first African American to be nominated and win a Best Actor Academy Award.

* Chita Rivera is an actress, singer and dancer, who has broken barriers and inspired a generation of women. In 2002, she was the first Hispanic to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.

* Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Since 2002, she has been the President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative.

* Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., is the Blum Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago. She discovered the first consistent chromosome translocation in a human cancer.

* Desmond Tutu is widely regarded as “South Africa’s moral conscience,” and was a leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa.

* Muhammad Yunus is a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, and pioneered the use of “micro-loans” to provide credit to poor individuals

Annals Of The Obama Administration

July 27, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

Annals Of The Obama Administration

June 9, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration, Presidents, Richard Nixon, Sports | 1 Comment 

In today’s WaPo, Richard Leiby    “Just the Sport for A Leader Most Driven” describes the President’s Sunday afternoon:

Although far better known as a hoops man, President Obama seems to be morphing into a golf nut these days. He’s hit the course five times since late April — rushing out to the links on Sunday afternoon just 90 minutes after returning to the White House from his overseas trip. The wife and kids were still back in Paris; no time like the present to get in nine holes.

Mr. Obama, who is, apparently, approaching the links with the same oxymoronic intense sangfroid he brings to most of the things he does, is the fifteen of the last eighteen presidents to play golf.

The attraction would seem simple. It’s a great escape; the game demands such attention that nothing else matters. It’s time spent with friends, an unhurried afternoon in loose clothing (shorts seem to be Obama’s preference). Yet nothing is without deeper meaning where the presidency is concerned. The golfer in chief’s approach to the game is subject to analysis in psychological and political contexts.

To some, Obama’s frequent outings reflect a cool self-confidence. “Given all the things that are going on in the world and with the economy,” says sports psychologist Bob Rotella, “you’d think he wouldn’t be caught anywhere near the golf course . . . To some degree it says: ‘I’m not going to worry about what people say about me. I’m going to do my job, and I’m going to play, too.’ ”

Obama’s predecessor said he quit golfing just as the Iraqi insurgency began to escalate in August 2003. “I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” George W. Bush told interviewers in 2008. “I think, you know, playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

Obama, who shoots in the mid-90s by most estimates, seems to be taking every opportunity to improve his game by hitting the courses at Andrews Air Force Base and Fort Belvoir. On Sunday, he enlisted Ben Finkenbinder, a White House press assistant, and Marvin Nicholson, his trip scheduler, who once caddied at Augusta National Golf Club, for the round.

Illinois state Sen. Terry Link, one of Obama’s early golfing buddies, sees a direct connection between the president’s calm, methodical approach to the game and his personality. “He has a competitiveness in him, no doubt about it. But he has a smart competitiveness in him. He does not get to where he’s going to blow his cool,” Link says. “He’s going to have a calculated aggressiveness, and that’s how his life is, too.”

Obama, whose grandfather Stanley Dunham golfed, toyed with the game while in high school in Hawaii. He returned to it in 1997 as an Illinois state senator. He stank. But “he kept his head in the game to improve it,” Link recalls. Hacking away, failing to get frustrated, taking lessons and practicing, Obama lowered his score. His playing is still erratic. His swing knocked his BlackBerry off his belt during one of the rounds he played while on vacation post-election in Hawaii.

Leiby, who acknowledges the preeminence of the New York Times’ Don Van Natta where presidential linksmanship is concerned, characterizes the styles of some previous presidents.

– Clinton: Garrulous on the course, hates to lose, stretches the rules. These traits were well-chronicled by Van Natta in a 2003 Sports Illustrated piece that gave birth to the term “Billigans” for the former president’s unique do-over shots, traditionally known as mulligans.

– Gerald Ford: Caricatured as the Chevy Chase of the links, clumsy, known for wild shots. But it should be noted that when Ford played in a 1995 Bob Hope tournament with Clinton and George H.W. Bush, both former presidents drew spectator blood with their errant drives. Despite his rep, Ford was ranked third by Golf Digest, after Eisenhower.

– Bush 41: Capable, quick, thoughtful. “He may not be the greatest presidential golfer, but he may be the fastest. He’s great to play golf with because he is fast. No fooling around,” says sportswriting legend Dan Jenkins, a friend and golfing buddy of the former prez.

– Bush 43: Unreflective, daring, cocky. He drew criticism early in his presidency for opining on serious world events from the greens. Referring to a suicide bombing in Israel while teeing up in August 2002 at Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush said, “I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive.”

RN, who had only taken up the game as Eisenhower’s Vice President, made a hole in one on the second hole at LA’s Bel Air Country Club on 4 September 1961.  Holding the ball and his Spalding five iron for a commemorative photo, he said it was  “the greatest thrill in my life — even better than being elected.”

Annals Of The Obama Administration

June 5, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

Annals Of The Obama Administration

June 4, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 1 Comment 

On Wednesday afternoon, while POTUS was entering Saudi air space, FLOTUS 44 was entertaining FLOTUS 40 to luncheon in the Family Quarters.  The meal —at which the two met for the first time— was served on the colorful (and once controversially costly) Reagan China, specially brought out for the occasion.   Mrs. Reagan will celebrate her 88th birthday a month from tomorrow.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

May 29, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 1 Comment 

The President left the White House this afternoon on another hamburger run.

This time he sampled the limited offerings but manifest delights of Five Guys — a local-joint-made-good that is the subject of some pride in these parts.

The good news is: He has lost none of his charm and suavity, and he still knows how to work a room like nobody’s business — all the while snacking on the unshelled peanuts available by-the-box at each red-and-white tiled Five Guys.

The bad news is: It takes him almost a minute to decide on the toppings for his burger (with lettuce added later as an afterthought) and almost three minutes to place the order for his small coterie.

The unspoken etiquette of Five Guys is that you know what you want before you reach the head of the line.  If just some dude took a minute to choose his toppings, he would be pelted with peanuts from the disgruntled ranks behind.

Where any POTUS is concerned, even free time is too precious to be wasted (a rule that equally applies to placing orders at Five Guys), so the entire outing was filmed by NBC as part of a “Day In The Life” special.

The prominently displayed choice of free toppings that caused such cogitation on the part of POTUS:   Mayo, Relish, Onions, Lettuce, Pickles, Tomatoes, Grilled Onions, Grilled Mushrooms, Ketchup, Mustard, Jalapeno Peppers, Green Peppers, A-1 Sauce, Bar-B-Q Sauce, and Hot Sauce.

 

Annals Of The Obama Administration

May 23, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

 

The President gave the commencement address on Friday at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.  He then shook hands with each of the 1,036 graduates of the Class of 2009.  Among them was Ensign John S. McCain IV, the youngest son of Senator John McCain.   The President could be seen saying, “God bless you,” as Jack McCain turned to walk off the stage.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

May 18, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 1 Comment 

The Vice President’s garrulousness may have led to the verbal equivalent of Air Force One’s $300K+ New York flyover.  If, as Eleanor Clift reports reports in this week’s Newsweek, Mr. Biden has disclosed the whereabouts of the “undisclosed location,” a new multi-million dollar hidey hole will be required.

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.

According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.

The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.

Eleanor Clift, Newsweek magazine’s Washington contributing editor, said Biden revealed the location while filling in for President Obama at the dinner, who, along with Grover Cleveland, is the only president to skip the gathering.

According to Clift’s report on the Newsweek blog, Biden “said a young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment.”

Clift continued: “The officer explained that when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested we shouldn’t be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall.

Presidents And Popularity

May 15, 2009 by Jack Pitney | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration, Barack Obama, Economic issues, Presidents, Public Opinion, Richard Nixon, economy | 1 Comment 

In The New Republic, John Judis writes:

Almost four months after his inauguration, President Barack Obama is still riding high in the polls. According to Gallup, 66 percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing. But I expect that Obama’s popularity will begin to fall, even plummet, as the leaves turn brown. That’s not to say he is doing a bad job, but that the tasks he faces in fixing the economy remain daunting, and beyond resolution in his first year or, perhaps, even first term.

History suggests that Judis is right about the general trajectory of the president’s popularity.  Political scientists speak of the “decay curve,”  the tendency of presidential approval ratings to decline after the first few months of a new administration. The reason for the decay is straightforward:  the more decisions that a president makes, the more chances there are of alienating people.

For instance, RN’s first Gallup numbers in 1969 were 59 percent approve, 5 percent disapprove.  (That is not a typo: only five percent disapproved of his performance during his first days in office.)  By late June of 1971, the approve/disapprove ratio was a much closer 48-39 percent.

Economic conditions have a great deal to do with approval ratings.  In good times, they tend to stay high.  The boom of the 1990s buoyed Clinton’s numbers and helped him survive impeachment.  In bad times, presidential popularity plummets.  The recession of Ronald Reagan’s early presidency drove his approve/disapprove ratio to a dismal 35-56 percent in January 1983.

Obama still enjoys the benefit of the doubt and can still blame the current economic turmoil on his predecessor.  But as Judis suggests, the public will eventually hold him accountable for the results of his policies.  In that respect, he might ponder what RN wrote about his own bold experiment with big-government economics:

What did America reap from its brief fling with economic controls?  The August 15, 1971 decision to impose them was politically necessary and immensely popular in the short run.  But in the long run I believe that it was wrong.  The piper must always be paid, and there was an unquestionably high price for tampering with the orthodox economic mechanisms.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

May 9, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was on the Daily Show the other night. It all started so well — even though he walked on wearing a cowboy hat and carrying a gift bag.  On air gifts are  every host’s nightmare and every segment producer’s nemesis.  They are never as funny as the guests know they’ll be; most often they barely manage to rise to the rank of mildly amusing.  And they slow things down in a business where every moment counts.  

The accomplished Stewart takes the gifts —including the worst of all, a funny hat— in stride.  And the initial exchanges were warm and friendly — as why shouldn’t they have been. Secretary Salazar is a skillful and successful politician with an interestingly mavericky career — first as the Colorado’s AG and, after 2004, as one of its US Senators, until Mr. Obama tapped him last January for the Interior gig.

So I sat back, only half engaged, figuring that I was in for several minutes of home runs about the evils of 43 hit off friendly softballs about the virtues of 44.  And then I watched, increasingly grimly fascinated, as things started going south fast.  

Secretary Salazar seemed so clueless about the operations of his Department that his interlocutor was finally forced to observe, “Now you’re looking at me like you don’t know.”  When those words pass the host’s lips you know that things aren’t going real well.   And that was only about half way through.

The clip is far from recommended viewing.  Its main interest will be for connoisseurs of the format — to see how a seasoned host struggles to steer a train wreck into the next commercial station with the least possible damage to passengers and observers.  That, and to try to figure out exactly what the hell was up with Ken Salazar.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

May 1, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

From “Best of the Web Today” from today’s Wall Street Journal:

Last night found us at the Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner, an annual Manhattan Institute extravaganza. One of the guests of honor was Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state, and in introducing Kissinger, institute trustee Peter Flanigan mentioned something that had escaped our notice until now, and that we confirmed via a February story from London’s Daily Telegraph:

Kissinger, the pioneer of Cold War detente during the Nixon era, has made a return to frontline politics after President Barack Obama reportedly sent him to Moscow to win backing from Vladimir Putin’s government for a nuclear disarmament initiative.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that the 85-year-old former US secretary of state met President Dmitry Medvedev for secret negotiations in December. According to Western diplomats, during two days of talks the octogenarian courted Russian officials to win their support for Mr Obama’s initiative, which could see Russia and the United States each slashing their nuclear warheads to 1,000 warheads.

The decision to send Mr Kissinger to Moscow, taken by Mr Obama when he was still president-elect, is part of a plan to overcome probable Republican objections in Congress.

There’s nothing unusual about a president (or, in this case, a president-elect) calling on an elder statesman for help, but this one caught our attention because of what happened the last time Kissinger was in the public eye. As The Wall Street Journal wrote in a December 2002 editorial:

In yet another sign that American liberalism has lost its bearings, we are now being told that Henry Kissinger is unfit to be President Bush’s choice to lead a probe into government actions prior to September 11, 2001. What did he do, lie under oath in a legal deposition?

Well, no. Under recent liberal standards, that would be a qualification. The former Secretary of State instead stands accused of consulting for corporate clients and of being part of foreign-policy “power circles.” These apparently are an incentive for him to cover up embarrassing details and protect the powers-that-be, maybe even Mr. Bush. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who wants to be President himself, has averred that Mr. Kissinger should sever all ties with his clients.

Now, we remember when it was some conservatives who worried about the Trilateral Commission and other supposed establishment conspiracies. Liberals were the folks who defended experience in government and foreign-policy judgment, both of which Mr. Kissinger has in abundance and would seem to be useful for such an investigation. He has served six Presidents in one capacity or another, and while we’ve tangled with him on the merits more than once, we find it preposterous to suggest he’d sell out his country for a fee.

As for protecting Republicans, Mr. Kissinger’s vice chairman will be George Mitchell, the former Democratic Senate majority leader. The other eight commissioners, half to be appointed by Democrats, aren’t likely to be conned into a coverup.

The banal truth here is that at age 79 Mr. Kissinger probably knows this will be the capstone of his public career; maybe he even thinks he can do some good. Liberals used to believe this mattered more than phantom “conflicts of interest.”

Kissinger was hounded off the 9/11 Commission, and so for that matter was Mitchell, who is now President Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East. It speaks well of Obama that he was willing to ask Kissinger for help. It says something far less flattering about Kerry* and the others who joined the campaign against him back in 2002.

* The haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way served in Vietnam.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 27, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

Researchers at George Mason University in Virginia and Chapman University in Orange County conducted joint research regarding the TV evening news coverage of President Obama on the major broadcast outlets: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox; the study also included the front page of The New York Times.

The results were released yesterday by The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University.

The executive summary supports the headline that President Obama has attracted more coverage in his first hundred days than did Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush —combined— in theirs. And, although the majority of the coverage of the new President’s personal qualities and leadership  has been favorable, the treatment of his proposals and policies have been considerably less enthusiastic. 

During his first 50 days in office, the three broadcast network evening news shows devoted 1021 stories lasting 27 hours 44 minutes to Barack Obama’s presidency. The daily average of seven stories and over 11 minutes of airtime represents about half of the entire newscasts. By contrast, at this point in their presidencies George W. Bush had received 7 hours 42 minutes and Bill Clinton garnered 15 hours 2 minutes of coverage, for a combined total airtime five hours less than Mr. Obama’s.
The networks varied in their attention to the Obama administration. CBS led the coverage with 365 stories and 10 hours 46 minutes of airtime, followed by NBC with 327 stories and 9 hours 38 minutes, and ABC with 329 stories and 7 hours 20 minutes. Thus, CBS has given more coverage to the Obama administration than all three networks combined gave to the first 50 days of George W. Bush’s presidency.

In addition, the first half hour of Fox News “Special Report” (which most closely resembles the broadcast network newscasts) devoted 10 hours 24 minutes to the Obama administration, nearly as much airtime as CBS gave him. And the New York Times devoted 115 front-page stories running 3385 column inches, the equivalent of over 28 full pages of text, to the Obama presidency.

Mr. Obama has received not only more press but also better press than his immediate predecessors. On the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news, fifty-eight percent of all evaluations of the president and his policies have been favorable, and 42 percent were unfavorable. CMPA’s previous studies of network news found that George W. Bush received only 33 percent positive evaluations by sources and reporters during the first 50 days of his administration in 2001, and Bill Clinton received only 44 percent positive evaluations during his first ten weeks (70 days) in office in 1993. (As noted above, these figures are based on judgments by reporters and sources not affiliated with either political party.)

The three networks have evaluated Mr. Obama very similarly – 57% positive comments on ABC, 58% positive on CBS, and 61% positive on NBC. But he fared far better in New York Times stories, where nearly three out of four evaluative comments (73%) by sources and reporters were favorable. And he fared far worse on Fox News, where only one out of eight such comments (13%) were favorable.

While Mr. Obama’s personal qualities and leadership abilities have drawn mostly praise from the mainstream media, his policies have not fared so well. On the broadcast networks fewer than two out of five evaluative soundbites (39%) praised his policies and proposals. ABC’s policy coverage was relatively balanced (48% positive), while source and reporter comments ran over two to one negative at both CBS (32% positive) and NBC (31% positive).

TV news coverage of the president’s economic policies, which focused mainly on the economic stimulus and the various proposed and enacted industry bailouts, garnered support from only 37% of evaluative soundbites. He fared better on domestic issues other than the economy, where praise for his health care proposals and new stem cell research policy brought balanced coverage overall (50% positive). But only one out of four comments (24%) praised his foreign policy decisions, including the war on terror.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 27, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

He who lives by the sword can be embarrassed by the sword.

Some will see this as just desserts — the inevitable result of overdependence on the Teleprompter.

Others will see it as an example of a smooth mastery of the limitations of a particular technology.

All should see it as the shape of things to come.  In 2012 every national candidates will be a Telepromptie, and the notion of using a text or referring to notes —in other words, of the quaint notion of even any limited, modified spontaneity— will be as old fashioned as the whistle-stop.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 26, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 1 Comment 

The very model of a modern major POTUS: with not a moment to be wasted, the President maximizes even his walk to work.

Candidate Barack Obama joked that, if he were elected POTUS, his beloved BlackBerry 8830 would have to be pried from his hands.

And, in fact, it was.   But only briefly.  The NSA convinced him that his handset wasn’t sufficiently secure and foisted one of their imprimatured Sectera Edge smartphones.

But this week POTUS took delivery of his super duper new 8830.

His BlackBerry 8830 will run encryption software called SecureVoice, which has been developed by security firm Genesis Key with the NSA to ensure complete defence against hackers, the Washington Times claimed.

The software will allow Mr Obama to view documents classified as Top Secret while out of the White House, as well as letting him stay in touch with wife Michelle and other family members, who will also be issued with the handsets.

US law demands that all emails and other messages sent or received by the president be retained, so Mr Obama’s staff have been working on an archive system to ensure that all his BlackBerry communications are preserved.

It has been reported that the president may have to wait up to 50 minutes to receive emails while they are scanned to ensure they do not contain are viruses.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 23, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

Obama administration Auto Czar Steven Steven Rattner suddenly finds himself the focus of some very unwelcome attention.

Mr. Rattner has —along with his power wife, former DNC fundraising chair Maureen White— cut a very wide swath through New York and American finance, politics, and society for the last few decades.

His rise was stylishly profiled by Michael Wolff In his 2003 book Autumn of the Moguls.

In the latest Spectator (London), the Czar is given a serious grilling by no less a connoisseur of pretension and corruption than Taki Theodorocopulos.

After the usual ad hominem digression, Taki gets down to business — in this case of the financial and monkey kinds.

The reason I’m writing about this social climber is because of his involvement in a scandal of gigantic proportions, yet as recently as last Friday a White House spokesman said President Obama had full confidence in the Rat. I find this very strange. I know a man is innocent until proved guilty, but I also know about Caesar’s wife. A new administration that is printing trillions of dollars and taxing everyone to the limit cannot afford types like Steve Rattner cutting corners. After leaving journalism, the Rat joined Lazard Freres and became Felix (the Fixer) Rohatyn’s minion. He angled for the top spot after Felix’s departure, but the big boss, Michel David-Weill, told him it was no go. Rattner quit and began a fund of his own, Quadrangle, around the year 2000. It invested in media properties, including semi-porn magazines. Some of these investments proved to be duds, and the Quadrangle Group had to call upon other investors, drawing on Rattner’s social and political connections. One of the investors was Cerberus, a giant private equity firm which had bought Chrysler some time back. When the porn business faltered, Rattner played hard ball with Cerberus, which had loaned Quadrangle 120 million big ones.

Then, out of the blue, Rattner was named Obama’s front man to deal with the auto mess. How can Chrysler get a fair deal — not that it should after the lousy cars it’s made these past 75 years — from a man that owes it a fortune? Rattner, of course, left Quadrangle once he got the Washington job, not that it means much. He still has his equity in the group and knows which side his bread is buttered on.

Now for the big one: in a 123-count indictment issued last month, two people were accused of selling access to investment firms in the New York state — get this — $122 billion pension fund. In other words, two men working for the comptroller are said to have taken kickbacks in the millions for giving access to the pension fund. Among the firms given access was — yes, you guessed it — Quadrangle Capital. Quadrangle won $100 million worth of business from the pension fund. Rattner is supposedly co-operating fully and is not accused of breaking any laws or paying kickbacks. Before accepting the Obama offer Rattner was angling for Treasury, but wiser heads prevailed.

Mind you, the bigger the corner cut, the less people are likely to resign…. Rattner should never have gotten the job of car-tsar, and the new administration should have appointed someone with no questions to answer and with less access to billionaires who became billionaires on the back of Wall Street and Washington insiders. It goes to the heart of public integrity, but integrity is a word few know how to spell nowadays. The Rat should resign and go back to social climbing in New York.

Personally —and barring further revelations— I think that this this Rattner flap is probably just the latest example of the problems of appointing anybody who had anything to do with Wall Street.  The outrageously privileged Rattners are clearly people that many find easy to hate, and the schadenfreude is already knee deep.  But just because a wide leeway is in order doesn’t mean that close scrutiny isn’t required.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 12, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 2 Comments 

 

The President and First Lady leave St. John’s Church after Easter Sunday services this morning.

The First Family attended Easter Sunday services at St. John’s Episcopal Church —”the President’s —and Presidents’— church”— just across the street (and over Lafayette Square) from the White House.  President-Elect and Mrs. Obama last attended a service there on the morning of his Inauguration on 20 January (the ninth POTUS —not including RN— to observe this inaugural morning custom initiated by FDR).

There has been some recent speculation and controversy because the President hadn’t attended any public church service in the eleven weeks since he was sworn in.

USA Today reported some details of this morning’s service:

The service began with organ, brass and percussion fanfare. Obama and other worshipers heard readings from the book of Exodus, the Gospel of Mark and other traditional Easter selections from the Bible.

Among prayers offered during the service were those for Obama and others in public life: “Guide and bless us in our work and play and shape the patterns of our political and economic life. We pray for Barack, our president, the leaders of Congress and the Supreme Court and all who are in authority; for Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and the Middle East, that all people may be fulfilled through the bounty of your creation.” The congregation responded, “We are made in your image, O God. Guide us in your grace.”

In his sermon, the Rev. Luis Leon welcomed believers and non-believers alike and called Easter an event based on faith, not logic.

“I can’t explain Easter to anyone. It just can’t be done. It’s like a professor trying to explain one of e.e. cummings’ poems,” he said. He added, “It takes time to be a believer. … Faith cannot be forced, and faith cannot be coerced.”

Leon made no mention of the Obamas in his sermon. Instead, he talked about the North Carolina Tar Heels, the college team that recently won the NCAA men’s basketball championship, and the start of the baseball season.

“I’m a fairly charitable person,” the pastor said, “but I hate the Yankees.”

Pew 54 at St. John’s Lafayette Square is the traditional President’s Pew. There is a 1789 Prayer Book in the Church’s archives bearing in gold letters the inscription “President’s Pew.”

Every POTUS since (and including) James Madison, who was the “occupant” of the (recently burned and reclaimed) Executive Mansion when the church first opened its doors in 1815, has attended service(s) at St. John’s.

St. John’s Episcopal —”The President’s Church”— on Lafayette Square across the street from the White House.

UPDATE: Here is the pool report — by Washington Times White House Correspondent Christina Bellantoni.  It may be more information than you want or need.  But the funny thing about information is — you never know when it will come in handy.

Happy Easter, folks.

News – President Obama and the First Family went to Easter Services at
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square. All four took communion.
Also, we have a lid.

Color – Not much, but some egg roll details below.

Tick-tock – At 10:48 the First Family emerged from the residence. From
where we were in the motorcade, we could only see FLOTUS Michelle Obama
and one of the Obama daughters. At that point we could not see outfits,
but later in church Mrs. Obama and the girls appeared to be wearing
matching white or cream-colored sweaters. The first lady was wearing a
white or cream-colored floral skirt or dress. POTUS wore dark suit even
though we spotted at least 4 parishioners in seersucker suits.

When we returned back, we saw more yoga demonstrating and someone was
singing on the stage for a sound check. A young woman, sorry no news on
who it was.

One of the agents in our van said they were doing yoga practice in
preparation for a fitness demonstration at tomorrow’s egg roll. The
agent said there also will be soccer and basketball.

As we waited for POTUS in the van, about a dozen young looking, barefoot
people were spotted on a colorful fabric mats on the lawn right in front
of the residence. They were stretching and doing both handstands and
headstands.

There’s an “egg roll enter here” sign and oversized bunnies and other
signs sprinkled on the lawn.

As the motorcade (en route less than 2 minutes) stopped and we ran to
catch up with POTUS, huge cheers erupted from the gathering Easter
crowd.

We arrived at 10:53 am.

Service started right at 11, and from press pool spot in back pew, I at
first could not see POTUS or first family. Fortunately AP superstar, the
much-taller-than-me Phil Elliott, spotted POTUS. He sat at least six
rows back from the front of the church, and it was impossible to see the
girls even from standing position while everyone else was seated. Two
agents were seated in the pew behind POTUS.

Parishioners arriving went through two mags set up outside the entrance.
Your pool spotted several little girls in their Easter best with their
arms straight out as they went through security.

Rev. Luis Leon, rector, told congregants it was his 15th Easter service
at the church.

His sermon included references to famous poets E.E. Cummings and Emily
Dickinson, hating the New York Yankees and a shout-out to POTUS-picked
NCAA tournament winners the UNC Tarheels. Some quotes to follow in next
pool report.

A writer’s pool only was allowed into the church while the others had to
wait with the motorcade.

The service was heavy with songs performed by lovely choir and brass
ensemble. Among the selected hymns – Alleluia, Jesus Christ is risen
today, A song of praise, Come, ye faithful, Welcome happy morning.

Readings were:
Exodus 14:10-14, 21-25, 15:20-21
Acts 10:34-43
Mark 16:1-8

A brief mention of President Obama in the program, which served for both
the 9 am and 11 am services.

During prayers of the people, led by Robert Black:

“Guide and bless us in our work and play, and shape the patterns of our
political and economic life; we pray for Barack, our President, the
leaders of Congress, and the Supreme Court, and all who are in
authority; for Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the Middle East, that all
people may be filled through the bounty of your creation.”

Response from entire church: “We are your servants, O God. Guide us in
your grace.”

Other than that, there was no mention of president during the service.

The president and first lady stood to briefly greet parishioners during
the “peace be with you” portion. FLOTUS had her hair down and straight.

We also could not see if they placed money in the offertory dish as it
went by. No one from press pew contributed.

As communion began, congregants snuck peeks at the president and his
family. For those wondering, the demographic was at least 90 percent
white.

The first family stood to get in line for communion, all smiling.

POTUS went first with communion, followed by Sasha, Malia, and then
FLOTUS and an unidentified young girl who looked to be Malia’s age.

Smiling wide and seeming to be in great spirits, POTUS returned to his
pew. He kept leaning over FLOTUS to talk to his daughters. Several
parishioners stopped to say hello to the first family during the long
communion session.

Pool escorted out at 12:21, and huge crowds had gathered behind police
tape lines on the corner of 16th and H and in Lafayette Park.

A few minutes later, POTUS left from same side door where he’d entered.

Motorcade rolled again at 12:29. Back at White House and stopped at
12:31. Lid called 12:33.

For more, visit church Web site at stjohns-dc.org

Also per Phil – Obama attended a private service here the morning of the
inauguration. It’s known as the church of the presidents.

Former President George W. Bush has attended services here.

Egg roll color:

Our gather time was around 10:20 and we walked to the south lawn
driveway where the motorcade was waiting.

Before getting in the van we caught an early glimpse of the egg roll
preparation for tomorrow.

Oversized cutouts in the shape of tulips framed the fountain on the
south lawn, where several makeshift fences, tents and a large stage have
been erected. Various stereo equipment and speakers have been set up in
spots on the lawn. 

 

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 9, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration, White House | Leave a Comment 

By the time you read this, a major “first” will have taken place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  The President and First Lady will have marked Passover by inviting friends and staff to a White House Seder — the first ever to have taken place in the Executive Mansion attended by a President.

This afternoon’s AP report rather ungraciously characterized the event (in the story’s lede) as “part of the new president’s effort to reach out to Jewish voters.”  Nothing any President does is ever entirely non-political, but the guest list indicates a more personal and familial —and symbolic— purpose.

Among the invited is Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama’s closest advisers, and family friend Eric Whitaker, who is visiting from Chicago and attended a Seder last year with the campaign. First lady Michelle Obama and the family’s two daughters also plan to attend.

The staff guest list includes aides from the campaign trail who marked last year’s Passover at the Sheraton hotel in Harrisburg, Pa. Obama’s personal aide, Reggie Love; Michelle Obama’s deputy chief of staff, Melissa Winter; personal aide Dana Lewis and associate social secretary Samantha Tubman all received invitations.

Also on the guest list are Eric Lesser, a personal aide to senior adviser David Axelrod, and his family. Lesser worked during the New Hampshire primary and later handled baggage for traveling reporters. White House videographer Arun Chaudhary — a constant presence on the trail — landed invitations for his family.

Others in the exclusive group include Michelle Obama’s counsel and friend Susan Sher; Herbie Ziskend, a staff assistant to Vice President Joe Biden’s policy and economic advisers; and White House deputy director of advance and special events Lisa Kohnke.

Two of the administration’s highest-profile members of the Jewish faith will miss the dinner. Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel doesn’t plan to attend and Axelrod expects to be in Chicago with his family.

The White House says the Seder meal will be traditional, including matzo, bitter herbs, a roasted egg and greens in the family dining room in the executive mansion. The evening will feature the reading of the Haggadah, the religious text of the holiday.

White House aides say they believe this is the first president-hosted Seder at the White House. President Bill Clinton’s aides planned Seders, but Clinton isn’t known to have attended.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 3, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 1 Comment 

The bow heard round the world:

Of course President Obama is a tall man with superb posture.  From his height a normal upper torso tilt of recognition —and, yes, respect— can look like a borderline obeisance.  

And before the dudgeon about Mr. Obama kowtowing to foreign potentates gets out of control, it’s useful to remember a not too distant time:

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 2, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | Leave a Comment 

 

Annals Of The Obama Administration

April 1, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration | 1 Comment 

President Obama’s gifting skills were called into question —and rightly so— when he presented British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with the underwhelming gift of  a box set of 25 DVDs (of “classic” American movies to be sure) that weren’t compatible with British DVD equipment.

But now some troublemakers (Drudge) and some ingrates (you know who you are Toby Harnden) are trying to diss the President for his presentation earlier today of an iPod to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

We are amused: the news of the Queen’s purchase of an iPod caught the British fancy.

Some of the criticism has been based on the fact that HM already has an iPod (a 6GB silver classic model bought from the Regent Street Apple Store in 2005).  But fair’s fair, and when it comes to “the woman who has everything,” the Queen is in a category of her own.

So usability isn’t the criterion.  Aptness is.

And, this time around, I think POTUS got it just right.  What is more emblematic of American invention and style than an iPod?   Not to mention that they are eminently regiftable (unless, of course, he ordered it engraved with “EIIR”).

Better still, this iPod came preprogrammed with video of the Queen’s 2007 trip to the USA, including her visits to Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmond.

Later reports have added that the President also gave the Queen a song book signed by Richard Rodgers.  If that’s true, it’s a real home run and shows that someone at the White House or over in Foggy Bottom is really using their noggin.  

The song “People Will Say We’re In Love” —from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!— was popular at the time when Princess Elizabeth and  Lt. Philip Mountbatten were trying to keep their early courtship from the prying press.  It became a private signal between them.  It was among the songs they requested to be played at their wedding, and it has been a favorite ever since.

No two ways about it, that’s a great gift.

Less skillfully diplomatic, alas, were Mr. Obama’s remarks at the end of his joint press conference with Prime Minister Brown earlier today.  The President said: ”There’s one last thing that I should mention that I love about Great Britain, and that is the Queen.  And so I’m very much looking forward to meeting her for the first time later this evening. And as you might imagine, Michelle has been really thinking that through — because I think in the imagination of people throughout America, I think what the Queen stands for and her decency and her civility, what she represents, that’s very important.”

While undoubtedly heartfelt and sincere, the statement is also inappropriate and condescending.  First, there’s an implication that the Queen is sort of a souped-up First Lady, so dealing with her falls into Michelle’s bailiwick.  

Second, there’s the notion that the stands for “decency and civility.”  Now,  those are undoubtedly fine things to stand for, and, in her conduct and demeanor, HM truly exhibits and embodies them.

But what Queen Elizabeth II actually “stands for” is  the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a score and more of Commonwealth countries, and, while she’s at it, the Church of England, of which she is Defender of the Faith.  

But Mr. Obama made it sound more like he was looking forward to meeting some kindly old lady Gordon Brown keeps stashed away in a luxurious attic (on the lines of Nanny Hawkins in Brideshead Revisited‘) instead of the Head of State.

And even the monarchy’s strongest opponents and detractors don’t deny that —after fifty-seven years of diligent devotion— the Queen is one of the most politically astute people in her realm.

Another variation on the Queen’s acquisition of an iPod from the Apple Store in Regent Street in 2005: a proposed stamp design for the Royal Mail.

UPDATE 8.30 PM: Jake Tapper’s excellent ABC News blog —The Punch— supplies the content preloaded on the iPod the President presented to the Queen:

• Photos from the Queen’s 2007 White House State Visit
• Photos from the Queen’s 2007 Jamestown, Va., Visit
• Photos from the Queen’s 2007 Richmond, Va., Visit
• Video from the Queen’s 1957 Jamestown Visit
• Video from the Queen’s 2007 Jamestown Visit
• Video from the Queen’s 2007 Richmond Visit
• Photos from President Obama’s Inauguration
• Audio of then-state senator Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and
• Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration Address

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