When It's One of His, It's Okay...

--Sarah Palin Toys with the Media
Her magical mystery tour has gotten under their skin.

Sarah Palin hitched a motor cycle ride with Rolling Thunder over the weekend.

http://www.rollingthunder1.com/

The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize POW-MIA issues: To educate the public that many American prisoners of war were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future veterans from being left behind should they become prisoners of war-missing in action.

We are also committed to helping American veterans from all wars.

Palin has been criticized for "drawing attention away" from Rolling Thunder with her presence (and indeed, most of the photos I've seen of her, during that event, are closeups of her with her helmet on. Only one long shot, showing her seated behind a female t-shirted veteran on her Harley.)

Now, if it had been Obama or Clinton who'd done this, Rush would have accused them of politicizing what should have been an event for veterans..but because Sarah Palin (or any Republican) does it, it's okay.

31 May, 2011, Tues, Rush Limbaugh Headlines

--Welcome to Obamaville, 2011: Downsizing the American Dream
Unbeatable? With a housing double dip, riots, no jobs?

--The Obama Stimulus Has Failed
The question is: Did they really think it would work?

--Caller Sparks Outrage By Claiming We Need a Miracle to Beat Obama
After all these years, why do you still doubt your host?

--Sarah Palin Toys with the Media
Her magical mystery tour has gotten under their skin.

--Weinergate: Too Small to Matter
Weiner is irrelevant. We're trying to save the country.

--The Left Sells Doom and Gloom
A look back on some great liberal doomsday scenarios.

31 May, 2011, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
11:00 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

1:15 pm The President makes a personnel announcement
State Dining Room
Open Press

4:15 pm The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.

Booklist: How To Talk To A Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter

"I am often asked if I still think we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. The answer is: Now more than ever!"

I've never cared for Coulter - I dislike people who use never-ending sarcasm as "razor sharp wit and incisive commentary," but I just had to comment on this statement of hers. Replace Islam with Christianity in the sentence above, and you've got exactly what fundamentalist Muslims want to do to the Christian world. But because it's Christians wanting to do it to Muslims, that's all right? That's civilized? [Don't get me wrong, Islam is a lot worse than Christianity, and I feel fortunate to live in a secular country with a Christian history, but still....)

The only hope for peace in the world is for everyone to be converted to atheism. After 4,000 years of bloodshed over who is the "one true God" (in particular in that holiest of cities of all the world, Jeruselum, it would seem obvious that that is the only recourse.)


How To Talk To A Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter, by Ann Coulter
Crown Forum, 2004
344 pages plus index. No photos
Library: 320.513 COU

Description
"Historically, the best way to convert liberals is to have them move out of their parent's home, get a job, and start paying taxes. But if this doesn't work, you night have to actually argue with a liberal."

Welcome to the world of Anne Coulter. With her monumental best sellers Treason, Slander and High Crimes and Misdemeanors, Coulter has become the most recognized and talked about conservative intellectual in years-and certainly the most controversial.

Now, in How to Tslk to a Liberal (If You Must), which is sure to ignite impassioned debate, she offers her most comprehensive analysis of the American political scene to date. With incisive reasoning, refreshing candor, and razor-sharp wit, she reveals just why liberals have got it so wrong.

In this powerful and entertaining book, which draws on her weekly columns, Coulter ranges far and wide. No subject is off-limits, and no comment is left unsaid. After all, she writes, "Nothing too extreme can be said about liberals because it's all true."

How to Talk to a Liberal (If you Must) offers Coulter's unvarnished take on:

* The Essence of being a liberal: "The absolute conviction that there is one set of rules for you, and another, completely different set of rules for everyone else."
*JOhn Kerry: "A reporter asked Kerry, "Are you for or against gay marriage? As usual, his answer was'yes.'"
* Her 9/11 comments: "I am often asked if I still think we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. The answer is: Now more than ever!"
* The state of the Democratic party: "Teddy Kennedy crawls out of Boston Harbor with a quart of Scotch in one hand and a pair of pantyhose in the other, and Democrats hail him as their party's spiritual leader."
*Her philosophy for arguing with Liberals: "Tough love, except I dont' love them. My 'tough love' approach is like the Democrat's 'middle-class tax cuts'-everything but the last word.
*The "Treason Lobby": "Want to make liberals angry? Defend the United States."

In this full-on Coulterpalooza, you'll find the eal, uncensored Ann COulder. A special concluding chapter even includes the pieces that squeamish editors refused to publish - "What you could have read if you lived in a free country," says Coulter.

How to Talk to A Liberal (If you must) is a stunning reminder of why Ann Coulter's commentary has achieved must-read status.

Table of Contents
1. How to talk to a Liberal

2. This is war
-How 9/11 happened
-This is war
-The Hun at the gate
-Attack France!
-My I turn down your bed, Mohammad?
-Build them back
-This whistle-blower they like
-My name is Adolf
-Beauty pageants can be murder
-War-torm Democrats
-"Will of Allah" preempts Iraq invasion
-Kissing cousins: New York literati and Nazis
-The Enemy within
-At least Saddam wasn't at tailback!
-Liberals meet unexpected resistance
-We don't care
-Taking liberties
-How to lose a war
-"The plan"
-It's like Christmas in December
-Al Qaeda barks, the Spanish fly
-Tit for Tet
-This is history calling - quick, get me rewrite!

3. A Muslim by any other name blows up just the same
-John DAvis: American hero
-Where's Janet Reno when we need her?
-HillaryCare for the airports
-The new Roman arena: Airports
-Would Mohammed Atta object to armed pilots?
-Thank you for choosing United, Mr. Bin Laden
-Arab hijackers now available for pre-boarding
-Even with hindsight Liberals can't see straight

4. At least they didn't run Jimmy Carter this time
-American women to Kerry: We don't think you're so hot, either
-General Democrat
-The Party of ideas
-The Jesus thing
-What happened to your queer party friends?
-Just a gigolo
-Boobs in the news
-In Desperate move, Kerry adopts puppy

5. Barbra Streisand feels your pain (according to her publicist)
-I like black people too, Julia!
-Dumb hires dumber
-Checks and balances, but mostly checks
-The Robert C. Byrd bridge to poverty
-Chair-warmer on the hot seat

6. When Bad Ideas (Liberalism) Happens to Good People (You)
-The New York Times crusade against capitalism
-It's just about money
-This just in: Proce controls cause shortages
-The Democratic laboratory: The host organism dies
-Nine out of ten caribou support drilling
-All the news we heard from a guy at handgun control, inc.

7. More Liberal Ideas! Sex, Segregation, Gay marriage, and banning the G-word (God)
-Chicks with D****
-Democrats: A Lott of trouble
-Ashcroft and the blowhard discuss desegregation
-Bizarre political sect ousted from Judicial nomination process
--Liberals shocked-Rush not Jesus Christ
-It's the Winter Solstice, Charlie Brown!
-Massachusetts Supreme Court abolishesc apitalism!
-The passion of the Liberal
-WWJK? Who would Jesus kill?
-Let's rewrite one for the Gipper

8. The Battle Flag.

9. Give us 22 Minutes, We'll Give Up the Country
-Great grey lady in spat with saloon hussy
-How a white male from Alabama learned the craft of journalim from a young reporter named Jayson Blair
-The Weather's Great, Wish I Were here
-Here's a Traior!
-CBS Should show Augusta how to really discriminate
-Give us 22 minutes
, we'll give up the country
-Journalism: Where even the men are women
-I guess you're right: there is no media liberal bias

Say, Does Anyone Know if Max Cleland Lost His Limbs in Combat?
-Cleland Drops a political grenade
-My readers respond
-File under: Omission accomplished
-My readers respond (pt 2)

11. The Only Cop the New York Times likes is the one in the Village People
-They weren't overzealous this time
-Murdering the bell curve
-The New York Times goes Wilding on the Central Park jogger
DNA Evidence exonerates Hitler!
-Media Support Citizenship awards for Central Park Rapists

12. What the Clinton's Ghostwriters Should Have Written
-At least with Monica he only bit his own lip
-Hillary-Pro-dung
-We're number two!
-These charges are false-Reel no. 857
-Liberals shocked: Impeached felon took ottoman
--Tell him there's a stopover in Bangkok
-True Grit
-Moby's dick

13. Elian Gonzalez: The Only Immigrant Liberals Ever Wanted Deported

14. The Democrat's New Symbol: Two sets of standards
-Elections in Clintonville
-New equal protection clause: one man, several votes
-The liar next time
-This is what the Electoral College is supposed to prevent
-The law, not the court, has the last word
-Certify the electors, then the judges
-Things only a Democrat will say with a straight face
-National Lampoon's Florida Supreme Court Vacation
-My court is bigger than your court

15. Hello, Room Service? Send up a bottle, a blonde and a gun
-Ruger is a girl's best friend
-I'd burn my neighbor's house down
-Drug shills
-Capitol punishment
-A Republican tribute to John

16. What You Could Have Read if you Lived in a Free Country
-Call Me Ms.
-This Congressman bought for you by the New York Times
-Sally does Monticello
-If you sup with the devil, use a long spoon

Acknowledgments
Index

27 May, 201, Fri, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
2:30 am The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Sarkozy of France
Local Event Time: 8:30 AM CEST
Deauville, France, Hotel Royal Barriere
Pool Spray at the Bottom

3:30 am The President participates in a G-8 Working Session
Local Event Time: 9:30 AM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Closed Press

4:15 am The President participates in a G-8 Working Session
Local Event Time: 10:15 AM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Pool Spray at the Top

5:30 am The President participates in an expanded group G-8 Working Session
Local Event Time: 11:30 AM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Pool Spray at the Top

6:45 am The President participates in the expanded G-8 Family Photo
Local Event Time: 12:45PM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Press Information
Stills Only Pool Spray

7:00 am The President participates in an expanded working lunch with G-8 Leaders
Local Event Time: 1:00 PM CEST
Deauville, France, Villa Le Cercle
Closed Press

8:25 am The President departs Deauville, France en route Paris, France
Local Event Time: 2:25 PM CEST
Deauville, Deauville-Saint-Gatien Airport, France
Travel Pool Coverage

9:10 am The President arrives in Paris, France
Local Event Time: 3:10 PM CEST
France, Orly Airport, Paris
Travel Pool Coverage

9:40 am The President departs Paris, France en route Warsaw, Poland
Local Event Time: 3:10 PM CEST
France, Orly Airport, Paris
Travel Pool Coverage

11:50 am The President arrives in Warsaw, Poland
Local Event Time: 5:50 PM CEST
Poland, Warsaw, Warsaw Chopin Airport
Open Press

12:25 pm The President participates in wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Local Event Time: 6:25 PM CEST
Poland, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw
Travel Pool Coverage

1:00 pm The President participates in wreath laying at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial
Local Event Time: 7:00 PM CEST
Poland, Warsaw, Warsaw Chopin Airport
Travel Pool Coverage

1:25 pm The President arrives at the Presidential Palace
Local Event Time: 7:25 PM CEST
Poland, Presidential Palace, Warsaw
Open Press

1:30 pm The President and President Komorowski of Poland host dinner for Central and European Union Leaders
Local Event Time: 7:30 PM CEST
Poland, Presidential Palace, Warsaw
Pool Spray at the Top

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.

Saying It's Embarrassing Doesn't Make it So

President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had a joint press conference yesterday. Of course Limbaugh characterizes it as embarrassing, and he tries to say why...but his objections don't make any sense.

RUSH: All right, let's listen. This is, I guess, the joint press conference yesterday in London at Lancaster House; David Cameron, the PM, joining President Obama. Reporter said, "Mr. President, you've talked about the need for robust action on your country's deficit and debt positions. Do you agree with the Prime Minister's supporters that he led the way on the issue, or do you feel that in fact he's traveled too far and too fast?"

OBAMA: One thing that I'm absolutely clear about is David and I want to arrive at the same point, a point in which we're making sure that our governments are doing what they need to do to ensure broad-based prosperity.

RUSH: They can't.

OBAMA: The other point I think David and I would agree on is that this is going to be a constant process of trying some things, making adjustments. There are gonna be opportunities for us to make investments. There are gonna other areas where we think those were good ideas at the time, programs that were started with the best of intentions and it turns out they're not working as well as they should. If a program's not working well we should get rid of it and put that money into programs that are working well. It means that we've gotta make sure that we take a balanced approach and that there's a mix of cuts but also thinking about how do we generate revenue so that there's a match between money goin' out and money comin' in.

RUSH: (pause) Hmm? (pause) Sorry, folks, I don't think there was any "there" there. Okay, that was pretty meandering. That was wandering aimlessly in vain search of a coherent thought, and I don't think he found one. That was just gobbledygook. On Libya, another reporter: "Mr. President, you've said that Moammar Khadafy's exit from Libya is inevitable and that the US will continue with the campaign until his attacks stop. Does that also mean that you will commit the US to that campaign until Khadafy's removed from power, and would you be willing to commit additional US resources if that meant speeding up Khadafy's exit?"

OBAMA: The reason that we intervened in Libya was to protect people on the ground, uhh, and to give the Libyan people the space that they needed in order t'bring about, uhhh, a change toward democracy.

RUSH: The space that they needed?

OBAMA: We are strongly committed to seeing the job through, making sure that a minimum Khadafy doesn't have the capacity to send in a bunch of thugs to murder innocent civilians. So we have not put forward an -- any artificial timeline in terms of how long this will take.

RUSH: Yeah, you did. I mean, you said it would just take "days" at the outset. You said it would just take days. Yeah, you said "weeks, not months." That's right, "weeks, not months," and now it's open-ended. "Well, there's no timeline on this. No timeline on it. We gotta give the Libyan people the space that they need to bring about a change toward democracy." We have to give the Libyan people space? It's Khadafy that's gotta give 'em the space. I think that's right! Obama is the one that ran against Bush for not having a timeline to get out of Iraq. He wanted a timeline for exiting Iraq. And now, "Well, we can't be bound by timelines. Of course that's artificial." Let's listen to one from Cameron. Cameron wanted to get in on the Khadafy answer after that.

CAMERON: I so agree that the two key things here are patience and persistence. In terms of the US role, I would make this point which I'm not sure is widely understood in Britain or in Europe. Already a huge number of the sorties and the support and the air assets that are actually bringing the pressure to bear are US assets. There was this enormous effort at the beginning as the President said, but also a sustained amount of assets that have been used -- and as the President said, there are also unique assets and capabilities that the US has that others don't have that are so vital. We all have to ask: What is it that we can all do to make sure the pressure is really brought to bear?

RUSH: Oh, now, you could take this any number of ways. But it sounds to me like the Prime Minister here, when he says, " Already a huge number of the sorties and the support and the air assets that are actually bringing the pressure to bear are US assets." It sounds to me like Cameron wants everybody to know (paraphrased): "You know, this operation, you guys aren't that much on the sidelines. The American people are being told that you're kinda on the sidelines, that NATO, the UN, whoever else running this show, but a lot of US assets are behind this." Cameron's making it clear here just how involved the United States is. By the way, Snerdley you got the quote on Obama wrong. Here's was the actual quote. March 21st, Obama was in Santiago, Chile...

OBAMA MARCH 21: Let me emphasize that we anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days and not a matter of weeks.

RUSH: You thought it was "weeks, not months." He said "days, not weeks." Right, and it's now been months with no end in sight 'cause any end in sight is an artificial timeline. But don't forget: He was insistent that Bush tell us exactly when we're getting out of Iraq.

26 May, 2011, Thu, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
4:20 am The President departs London, United Kingdom en route Deauville, France
Local Event Time: 9:20 AM BST
London, Stansted Airport, United Kingdom
Open Press

5:45 am The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Medvedev of Russia
Local Event Time: 11:45 AM CEST
Deauville, France, Hotel Royal Barriere
Pool Spray at the Bottom

6:55 am The President arrives at Villa La Cercle and is welcomed by President Sarkozy of France
Local Event Time: 12:55 PM CEST
Deauville, France, Villa La Cercle
Travel Pool Coverage

7:00 am The President attends a working lunch with G-8 Leaders
Local Event Time: 1:00 PM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Closed Press

8:45 am The President participates in a G-8 Working Session
Local Event Time: 2:45 PM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Pool Spray at the Top

10:30 am The President participates in a G-8 Working Session
Local Event Time: 4:30 PM CEST
Centre International de Deauville, Deauville, France
Pool Spray at the Top

11:45 am The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Kan of Japan
Local Event Time: 5:45 PM CEST
Deauville, France, Hotel Royal Barriere
Pool Spray at the Top

1:30 pm The President has dinner with G-8 Leaders
Local Event Time: 7:30 PM CEST
Deauville, France, Le Ciro’s Barriere Restaurant
Closed Press


http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
1:00 pm The Vice President holds the next meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress to continue work on a legislative framework for comprehensive deficit reduction
U.S. Capitol | Show Details
Participants in the meeting will include the Vice President, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Max Baucus, Representative Eric Cantor, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.
Closed Press

President Obama's Toast to the Queen

Well, Rush was having a fine old time today laughing about President Obama's "gaffe" while toasting the Queen of England today.

Obama stood up to offer a toast, and before he could complete it, the orchestra started playing. So, he finished what he was saying.

Yes, it was a gaffe, but gaffes have been made before. But when Obama makes them, of course everyone goes to town.

Libs blame botched toast on everyone but Obama.The first thing you look at is the Queen, and you note the Queen fully aware of the gaffe that's taking place here. I mean you do not offer the Queen your glass until the music's over. You don't pick up your glass and offer your Queen your glass to toast until the music's over. He had no teleprompter 'cause you can't put one in there so he's got no cards and they're on the table, and they're way back so he has to lean over to read every other word of the toast. He blows the word "vitality" at the beginning; he pauses because he's unsure of himself and the band (for whatever reason) starts playing. My take, when I look at it, I said, "This is like the Academy Awards where some recipient's gone on and on too long and they give him the hook." So he continues to give the toast while the band is playing "God Save the Queen." He finally figures out he should stop that. It's totally botched.

Here is the audio of that: Buckingham Palace yesterday in London.

OBAMA: Ladies and gentlemen, please stand with me and raise your glasses as I propose a toast: To Her Majesty the Queen. The vit...al...ity of --

(band strikes up "God Save the Queen")

OBAMA: -- the special relationship between our peoples and in the words of Shakespeare, "To this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. To the Queen...

RUSH: At that point he gave up. The Queen's looking dumbfounded, not looking at him. He's offering her the glass. She doesn't clink it. He finally goes on a little longer and he says again "to the Queen," and they clink glasses and so forth. Now, here's the media montage. Of course, now, if Bush had done this it would have been portrayed as a horrible breach of protocol, and an international incident, but with Obama it's everybody else's fault but his.

JAKE TAPPER: The orchestra mistakenly played the British National Anthem, "God Save the Queen," before the president was done. He forged on undeterred.

SUNLEN MILLER: Interrupting the President's toast! Music over his words to the Queen.

CARL QUINTANILLA: The band started up.... Band started up before he was finished with his toast.

ROBERT MOORE: The band struck up the National Anthem too early.

CHIP REID: The special moment turned awkward when the orchestra started playing "God Save the Queen" while the president was still toasting.

ARTHUR AIDALA: Poor Obama! I don't think he knew what to do.

F. CHUCK TODD: Somebody in the President's, uh, protocol staff, uh, clearly didn't brief him well enough.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: She kind of left him hanging. Would it have killed her...?

F. CHUCK TODD: She really did! (chuckles)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: She could have just said, "To heck with the protocol; I'll clink your glass."

RUSH: See? The Queen botched it. The Queen should have understood what was going on. Obama was poorly briefed. (sigh) I'm tired of people making excuses for these people. It's everybody else's fault but the Obamas -- the worldly, sophisticated Obamas. He seems to be... I mean, "God Save the Queen!" I mean, it's a national anthem. You shut up. He seems to be unaware that it is standard practice to pipe down and stand at attention when a national anthem is being played. He was the last guy to put his glass down. He was the only guy with his glass up, put his glass down when he finally figured it out and stood at the quasi-attention. Toasts to the Queen by tradition are brief and to the point. Nobody gives speeches. You say, "To Her Majesty the Queen," and you sit down and you shut up. In fact, I don't even think it was the fault of the orchestra, because traditionally toasts to the Queen are very short and they're not much more involved than "To the Queen." That's it. I think the band probably figured, "Okay, that's toast. Let's get it in gear, here, Lester." It was kinda funny to watch.

Are Tax Cheats Democrats or Republicans?

Rush shared an article today - many government contractors and non-profit corporations who owed millions of dollars in unpaid taxes received billions of dollars in stimulus money.

The list doesn't say whether these companies are run by Democrats or Republicans, but Rush is prophesying that they are all run by Democrats who contribute heavily to the Democrat party and its various politicians.

One hopes someone will do some research, just to see if he's right...or wrong.

RUSH: Okay, so you're upset at the money we spend or give Israel every year. Try this. "Thousands of companies --" and, by the way, this is an AP story, and they are totally unfazed by this, and this, to me, is one of the stories of the day. If it weren't for Netanyahu being here, if it weren't for Obama going to Ireland and Europe, if it weren't for the tornadoes in Joplin, this would be a huge story. "Thousands of companies that cashed in on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package owed the government millions in unpaid taxes, congressional investigators have found." You see, in terms of the way AP wrote this, Obama didn't give these companies, these organizations money that they should never have gotten. They cashed in. That's how you write about slush funds. They cashed in.

So the slush fund, the stimulus bill directed money at organizations and companies that owed back taxes. In other words, the government, the regime forgave these organizations and companies their back taxes by paying them the money that they owed. "The Government Accountability Office, in a report being released today, said at least 3,700 government contractors and nonprofit organizations that received more than $24 billion from the stimulus effort owed $757 million in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2009, the end of the budget year." So 3,700 contractors and nonprofits, organizations, owed a grand total of $757 million, and collectively they got $24 billion.

So they got enough money to pay their back taxes and then, and then some, and then some more, and then some more. It's $24 billion to pay off $757 million. So they still had $22 billion left over to play with, government contractors and nonprofits. I wonder what they had in common besides being tax cheats? Might they have been contributors to the Democrat Party? Maybe they had been foot soldiers? Maybe they helped get-out-the-vote? Maybe they were part of the reelect effort somehow, and so their back taxes were not only forgiven, but they got your taxpayer dollars given to them so they could pay their back taxes. I suspect so because none of them are named in this story. We don't know who. Why aren't we told the names of these companies and these nonprofit organizations by this unfazed Associated Press?

I'm telling you, my guess -- and it's a good one -- is that we're not getting the names because we would learn that they are major contributors to the Democrat Party. I'll betcha some of the people who got money from the stimulus to pay their back taxes have names that rhyme with SEIU or ACORN or Planned Parenthood or AARP. Given that so much of the stimulus money went to public sector unions, and we now know it did, we've given you the numbers out of Wisconsin, 80% of the money Wisconsin got went to public employee unions, stimulus money. While we were all told that this was to create private sector jobs, roads and bridges, schools, infrastructure, a giant snow job. And what we learn keeps making it worse.

24 May, 2011, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
7:20 am The President and the First Lady participate in arrival ceremony at Buckingham Palace
Local Event Time: 12:20 PM BST
Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom
Open Press

7:25 am The President and the First Lady have lunch with Her Majesty the Queen
Local Event Time: 12:25 PM BST
Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom
Closed Press

9:00 am The President and the First Lady view the Portrait Gallery
Local Event Time: 2:00 PM BST
Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom
Travel Pool Coverage

10:00 am The President and the First Lady tour Westminster Abbey; the President participates in a wreath laying ceremony
Local Event Time: 3:00 PM BST
London, United Kingdom, Westminster Abbey
Travel Pool Coverage

10:45 am The President and the First Lady arrive at 10 Downing Street
Local Event Time: 3:45 PM BST
10 Downing Street, London, United Kingdom
Pooled Press

12:00 pm The President meets with Opposition Leader Miliband
Local Event Time: 5:00 PM BST
Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom
Pool Spray at the Bottom
Stills Only

3:30 pm The President and the First Lady attend dinner hosted by Her Majesty the Queen
Local Event Time: 8:30 PM BST
Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom
Print Pool

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
11:00 am The Vice President attends Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress
U.S. Capitol
Open Press

3:00 pm The Vice President holds the next meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress to continue work on a legislative framework for comprehensive deficit reduction
U.S. Capitol | Show Details
Participants in the meeting will include the Vice President, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Max Baucus, Representative Eric Cantor, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.
Closed Press

Booklist: The Good Fight, by Walter F. Mondale

The Good Fight: A life in Liberal Politics by Walter F. Mondale and David Hage
Scribner, 2010
359 pages plus index, 8 pages pg photos
Library: 973.926 MON

Description
For more than five decades in public life, Walter Mondale has played a leading role in America's movement for social change-in civil rights, environmentalism, consumer protection, and women's rights-and helped to forge the modern Democratic party.

In The Good Fight, Mondale traces his evolution from a young Minnesota attorney general, whose mentor was Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, into a US senator himself. He was instrumental in pushing President Johnson's Great Society legislation through Congress and battled for housing equality, against poverty and discrimination, and for more oversight of the FBI and CIA. Mondale's years as a senator spanned the national turmoil of the Nixon administration,; its ultimate self-destruction in the Watergate scandal would change the course of his own political fortunes.

Chosen as running mate for Jimmy Carter's successful 1976 campaign, Mondale served as vice president for four years. With an office in the White House, he invented the modern vice presidency; his inside look at the Carter administration will fascinate students of American history as he recalls how he and Carter confronted the energy crisis, the Iran hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and other crucial events, many of which reverberate to the present day.

Carter's loss to Ronald REagan in the 1980 election set the stage for Mondale's own campaign against Reagan in 1984, when he ran with Geraldine FErraro, the first woman on a major party ticket; this progressive decision would forever change the dynamic of presidential elections.

With the 1992 election of President Clinton, Mondale was named as ambassador to Japan. His intriguing memoir ends with his frank assessment of the Bush-Cheney administration and the first two years of the presidency of Barack Obama. Just as indispensably, he charts the evolution of Democratic liberalism from John F. Kennedy to Clinton to Obama while spelling out the principles required to restore the United States as a model of progressive government.

The Good Fight is replete with Mondale's accounts of the many American political heavyweights he encountered as either an ally or as an opponent, including JFK, Johnson, Humphry, Nixon, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Senator Gary Hart, Reagan, Clinton and many others.

Eloquent and engaging, The Good Fight illuminates Mondale's philosophies on opportunity, governmental accountability, decency in politics, and constitutional democracy, while chronicling the evolution of a man and the country in which he is lucky enough to live.

Table of Contents
Introduction: Taking Care
1. A progressive takes root
2. High tide
3. The fight for equality
4. Lost trust: Vietnam and the election of 1968
5. Poverty and opportunity
6. The Battle for a more responsive state
7. Spies, security and the rule of law
8. Meeting a new Democrat
9. Our first year in the White House
10. Showing the world a different America
11. America in an age of limits
12. Hostage crisis
13. The election of 1980
14. Mondale vs Reagan
15. An Alliance in Asia
16. Looking forward
Acknowledgments
Index

Why Is This Funny?

President Obama's armored limousuine - which every President takes with them when they go travelling to foreign countries, apparently got stuck on a speed bump, and the President and his wife had to move to another car to keep on going.

And this is somehow indicative of Obama's incompetence, according to Rush Limbaugh.

And I'm like, Oh, come on.

RUSH: Here, look at the video! Watch Obama's limo bottom out right there. It bottomed out on the driveway. Poor old Barry O'Bama from Moneygall -- you know, the O'Bamas are from Ireland. Look at that. You watch. Everybody's gonna get out of the car and figure out, "What do we do now?" Because everybody in that car right now is a sitting duck. Here come the doors, driver looking around, "What do we do now?" I don't know how they got the car off of there. The video that I saw earlier, and I don't know... (interruption) No, Snerdley, come on! I don't know what side Michelle was sitting on. That doesn't even matter. Why are you asking me that?

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay, apparently what happened here is that the O'Bamas got into another limo to continue on with their journey. They had to leave the Beast sitting there. They're gonna have to get a tow truck and raise the thing up. I can't believe this. Some heads are gonna roll over this. With all the advanced planning, they didn't take the limo and see if they could get it in and out of there? With all the advanced planning that they do here? You know, folks, there are no accidents; there are no coincidences. Obama's Beast limo bottoms out on a return to his ancestral home? They want us to believe that? (laughs) Just like his policies are bottoming out, the United States!

You'd never hear Rush comment about George Bush sr that he should have been more careful in his advance planning to make sure he didn't get sick and vomit all over the Japanese ambassador..

Not everything can be foreseen, even with advance planning. It's hardly worth even discussing...but trust Rush to discuss it.

President Obama in Ireland

Anyone want to place bets as to how excoriated President Obama will be by Rush Limbaugh for taking "another vacation"? That's how Limbaugh describes all of Obama's trips to other countries.

23 May, 2011, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
4:35 am The President and the First Lady arrive in Dublin, Ireland Local Event Time: 9:25 AM IST
Dublin, Dublin Airport, Ireland
Open Press

5:15 am The President and the First Lady arrive at President’s Residence and sign guest book
Local Event Time: 10:15 AM IST
Dublin, Ireland, President’s Residence

5:25 am The President and the First Lady meet with President McAleese and Dr. McAleese
Local Event Time: 10:25 AM IST
Dublin, Ireland, President’s Residence
Closed Press

5:50 am The President and the First Lady participate in a tree planting ceremony
Local Event Time: 10:50 AM IST
Dublin, Ireland, President’s Residence
Travel Pool Coverage

6:15 am The President holds a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach Kenny
Local Event Time: 11:15 AM IST
Dublin, Farmleigh, Ireland
Pool Spray at the Bottom

8:20 am The President and the First Lady attend U.S. Embassy meet and greet
Local Event Time: 1:20 PM IST
Dublin, Ireland, U.S. Embassy
Closed Press

10:15 am The President and the First Lady visit Moneygall, Ireland
Local Event Time: 3:15 PM IST
Ireland, Moneygall
Travel Pool Coverage

12:30 pm The President delivers remarks at Irish Celebration
Local Event Time: 5:30 PM IST
College Green, Dublin, Ireland
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:00 am The Vice President meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Closed Press

5:00 pm The Vice President attends a retirement ceremony for Ambassador Chris Hill
Closed Press

Booklist: Rush Limbaugh, An Army of One, by Zev Chafets

Rush, by his lights, is doing what he thinks is best for America. I think he distorts the truth of what Obama and the Democrats are doing, but he doesn't do it because he's a "racist elitist" but rather because, by his views as a conservative, he's in the right.

The battle is not so much Limbaugh vs Obama, but Conservatism vs Liberalism. Conservatism and Liberalism are world views, and whichever world view you have - that is the prism through which you will see the world.

So don't dismiss Limbaugh out of hand with the old stereotypical remarks about him being a racist, etc. Learn about him - and about Hannity, O'Reilly, Savage, etc. - so that you can better explain their mistakes and misrepresentations when you're talking to someone who is "on the fence" about which world view to embrace.

Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One, by Zev Chafets.
Penguin, 2010
217 pages plus index, 8 pages of b&w photos
Library: B LIMBA,R

Description
People tend to remember the moment they first heard The Rush Limbaugh Show on the radio. For Zev Chafets, it was in a car in Detroit, driving down Woodward Avenue. Limbaugh's braggadocio, the outrageous satire, the slaughtering of liberal sacred cows performed with the verve of a rock and roll dj-it seemed fresh, funny, and completely subversive. "They're never going to let this guy stay on the air," he thought.

Almost two decades later Chafets met Rush for the first time, at Limbaugh's rarely visited Southern Command. They spent hours together talking on the record about politics, sports, music, show business, religion, and modrn American history. Rush opened his home and his world, introducing Chafets to his family, closest friends, even his psychologist. The result was an acclaimed cover-story profile of Limbaugh in The New York Times Magazine.

But there was much more to say, especially after Limbaugh became Public Enemy Number One of the Obama administration. At first Limbaugh resisted the idea of a full-length portrait, but he eventually invited Chafets back to Florida and exchanged more than 100 emails full of his personal history, thoughts, fears and ambitions. What has emerged is a uniquely personal look at the man who is not only the most popular voice on the radio, but also the leader of the conservative movement and one of the most influential figures in the REpublican party.

While Limbaugh's public persona is instantly recognizable, his background and private life are often misunderstood. Even devoted Dittoheads will find there's a lot they don't know about the self-described "harmless little fuzzball" who has taken on the giants of the mainstream media and the Democratic party-from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama-with "half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair."

Chafets paints a compelling portrait of Limbaugh as a master entertainer, a fearless iconoclast, a political force, and a fascinating man.

Table of Contents
Introduction
1. "I hope he fails"
2. Life on the Mississippi
3. From Rusty to Christie to Rush
4. The City
5. The Honorary freshman
6. Limbaugh in Limbo
7. "W"
8. The Southern Command
9. The Rush Limbaugh Show
10. Intellectual Engine
11. The Boss
12. The agic Negro
13. The Guns of August
14. Welcome to the NFL
15. Forward to the Past
Epilogue: The party of "Hell no"
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Index

Rush Likens Doomsday Believers To Global Warming Believers

The only problem is, the doomsday believers are Christians, and so is Rush. One could make the case that all religious folks are misled... at least global warming believers have science to back it up...

IBTimes:

May 21st, Doomsday is one of the hottest search topics in Google.

So in case you haven't heard by now, Harold Camping is the preacher who claims to have the calculations set on May 21, 2011 as The Judgment Day, Rapture Day, Doomstay -or whatever you want to call it. Camping's apocalypse hype is getting worldwide attention.

The Rapture
Harold Camping, 89, is a former civil engineer and Bible scholar. He is president of the religious non-profit Family Radio based in Oakland, California which fervently preaches the message about the end of the world, now days away. He and a caravan of trucks have been plastering over 5,000 billboards, spending millions of dollars to spread the message.

So, where do they get the funding for all this?

Tax returns indicate that the radio ministry raised a staggering $100 million dollars over the past seven years. The ministry also owns 66 radio stations worldwide valued at $72 million in 2009.

Not to mention donations have soared as well. The contribution comes from radio listeners, according to Tom Evans, board member of Family Radio.

However, Camping claims that it is not about the money, but spreading the message and saving as many people as possible.

"When Judgment Day comes, if someone is a billionaire, how will they take their money with them? If we have any money left, and we will because we have to pay bills up to the very end "... it will all be destroyed because the world will be in a day of judgment.

"The money is not important at all. It's a vehicle to spread the judgment and a vehicle of the Lord."

According to Camping, "I've never taken one nickel out of Family Radio. Many evangelists have become very rich, but my wife and I live very modestly."

"We have no interest in talking about money. We never tell people what to do with their money, that's between them and God."

And in case one might wonder, Family Radio has no intention of giving away their money before May 21.

The explanation?

"There isn't going to be a Saturday. So certainly none of Family Radio's assets will be left because it won't matter," says Evans.

"The last thing people should be concerned with is what Family Radio is doing or what their assets are. They should be concerned with what I am doing and how I will stand before God."

20 May 2011, Fri, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
10:00 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:15 am The President meets with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:05 pm The President and Prime Minister Netanyahu deliver statements to the press
Oval Office
Pool Spray at the Bottom

12:30 pm The President holds a working lunch with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel
Old Family Dining Room
Closed Press

3:10 pm The President delivers remarks to CIA Employees
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia
Pooled Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule

Obama, the US and Israel

Israel couldn't exist without the United States. We send them the money they need for their weapons, heck, even for their military. This despite the fact that we - the US - are bankupt.

But for some reason President Obama is also going to give monetary aid - money we don't have, because we're bankrupt - to the oil reach Middle East. I'm sorry, but I just don't understand that, either.

Anyway, here's what President Obama had to say about Israel today, and Rush's reaction to it.

The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state."

Back to the 1967 borders. So Israel is now surrounded by enemies. I've been there. You really can't grasp this until you go. I mean you can look at it on a map but 'til you see how small Israel is and how surrounded it is, and then the demands that they give up even more, Israel is a country at one point nine miles wide, nine miles is all. Now, these enemies which surround Israel now have major weapons. And so according to President Obama, in a speech, Israel should give up its buffer areas like the Golan Heights, and again, if you've been to the Golan Heights you can see the strategic importance. You can see everything from there, including who's coming at you.

Now, for me, I don't know how you can even think this way. And again, I say this having been there and toured Israel for five days. I don't know how you can think this way when the Palestinians are committed to destroying Israel. And it's not just the Palestinians. Virtually every nation surrounding Israel is committed to its destruction. What country in its right mind would make a deal with such an enemy? Would we go back to our 1848 borders? Would we give the French areas of the Louisiana Purchase? Would we do this? What kind of president urges a country to destroy itself and submit its people to potential genocide? And that's what Obama has just done.

Now, there is some scuttlebutt going on, and it's only fair to mention this. As you know, Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to Washington to meet with President Obama. And the scuttlebutt is that as a bargaining chip, Netanyahu was considering using this offer of going back to the '67 borders with swaps. I don't know if this is true, but the scuttlebutt is that in a certain set of circumstances, if negotiations evolved in a certain way, that this would be something Netanyahu would propose. Well, if that's true, he's lost it because Obama just gave it away. Obama just used it himself, if that was to be a bargaining chip. Now, I have to tell you, I don't understand how that would be a bargaining chip. I don't know yet, I'm gonna have to try to learn this. I don't know why Israel would offer to go back to the '67 borders. But that's the scuttlebutt. The scuttlebutt is that they might be willing to and Netanyahu might be willing to offer such a thing. All right, well, let's accept that, the scuttlebutt's true; he can't offer it any longer because Obama just took it.

19 May, 2011, Thur, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Newt Gingrich Calls the Show
Just don't want to think he's not conservative anymore.

--How Rush Deals with Dunderheads
The fun of satire is pulling one over on somebody.

--Mitch Daniels: Bend Over for Our Enemies and Make Them Like Us
Sound bites from governor/possible GOP candidate.

--O Times Arab Speech to Dodge Rush (and to Give Away the Store)
If Arab states need money, ask the Saudis and friends.

--O to Israel: Go Back to '67 Borders
Osama Bin Laden wishes he'd lived to see this day.
1993: Rush Visits Israel, Meets Leaders

Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page
» Cutting Edge: Circumcision Finally on Ballot in SF
» Brazil's President Offers No Tax to iPhone Factory
» DSK Used Client No. 9's Madam in France

--Cornel West: Obama "Black Mascot"; Peter Fonda: "Traitor"
It's all designed to make president appear centrist.
WSJ: Jewish Donors Warn Obama on Israel
BG: Professor West Rips President Obama
AFP: Fonda Calls Obama ''Traitor'' at Cannes

19 May, 2011: Schedules of President and VP

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
10:30 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:00 am The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:40 am The President delivers a speech on the events in the Middle East and North Africa, and U.S. policy in the region
U.S. Department of State
Open Press

2:55 pm The President is interviewed by BBC
Diplomatic Room
Closed Press

3:30 pm The President meets with Secretary of the Treasury Geithner
Oval Office
Closed Press

7:00 pm The President delivers remarks at the Women’s Leadership Forum
Grand Hyatt
Pooled Press

8:00 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Private Residence
Print Pool

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
1:45 pm The Vice President attends an event for the Democratic National Committee
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

5:15 pm The Vice President attends an event for the Democratic National Committee
Cincinnati, Ohio

18 May, 2011, Wed, Rush Limbaugh Headlines

Rush spent the day talking about Newt Gingrich and Arnold Schwarzenegger, nothing on Obama to rebut today!

Here's the headlines from his website of what he talked about today. (His website gives transcriptions of each days' show.)

--Note: Newt Gingrich will join us on tomorrow's show.
--Axelrod: We Need More Time
See, I Told You So: Obama's 2012 reelect slogan.

--The Newt of the '80s Wouldn't Get Tangled Up in This Mandate Mess
A Limbaugh Institute history lesson on conservatism.

--An E-Mail from Newt Gingrich
A note from him to us on his conservative credentials.

--TIME Excuses Modern Day Men of Power Who Spread Seed Around
A scholarly explanation of philandering politicians.
TIME: Why Powerful Men Compulsively Cheat

--Donna Brazile Floats Voter Fraud
This tells us Dems know they're in trouble in 2012.
Brazile: GOP to Disenfranchise Black Voters

Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page
» DSK On Suicide Watch at Rikers Island
» "Arab Spring" is a Muslim Uprising Against Israel
» Seth MacFarlane to Remake The Flintstones
» Details Tomorrow: Coffee Prevents Prostate Cancer?

--Rick Perry Scares the Heck Out of the Washington Establishment
He's lurking -- and if he gets in, everything changes.

18 May, 2011, Wed, Daily Schedule For President and Vice President

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
8:30 am The President departs the White House en route Andrews Air Force Base
South Lawn
Open Press

8:50 am The President departs Andrews Air Force Base en route New London, Connecticut
Travel Pool Coverage

10:00 am The President arrives in New London, Connecticut
Bradley International Airport
Open Press

11:30 am The President delivers the commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy
Connecticut, New London, United States Coast Guard Academy
Open Press

4:10 pm The President departs New London, Connecticut en route Boston, Massachusetts
Bradley International Airport
Open Press

4:45 pm The President arrives Boston, Massachusetts
Logan International Airport
Open Press

6:15 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Boston Center for the Arts
Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

8:25 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Private Residence
Print Pool

9:55 pm The President departs Boston, Massachusetts en route Andrews Air Force Base
Logan International Airport
Open Press
11:15 pm The President arrives at Andrews Air Force Base
Travel Pool Coverage

11:30 pm The President arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
4:00 pm The Vice President meets with Senator John McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham
Naval Observatory
Closed Press

Never thought I'd hear it!

Normally, no matter what President Obama does, Limbaugh criticizes it.

Here, though, he actually corrects a caller who misunderstood what Obama was saying during his most recent commencement speech.

A caller tried to tell Rush today that Obama had said that there were no manufacturing jobs left in the US.

Rush said he was wrong - and played the clip from Obama.

OBAMA: We live in a new world now. Used to be that you didn't have to an education. If you were willing to work hard you could go to a factory somewhere and get a job. Those times are past. Believe it or not, when you go out there looking for a job, you're not just competing against people in Nashville or Atlanta; you're competing against young people in Beijing and Mumbai. That's some tough competition. Those kids are hungry. They're working hard. And you'll need to be prepared for it.

Which is entirely true.

Booklist: Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal

This booklist will feature books written from Democrat, Republican, and Independent standpoints. In order to fully understand what's going on in the country, and indeed the world, it's necessary to be fully informed by reading books written from all standpoints, comparing the stories, and figuring out who is telling the truth... or if anyone is!


Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal, with Peter Schweizer and Curt Anderson
Regnery Publishing, 2010
283 pages plus AAcknowledgments, Notes, Index, 8 pages of color photos
Library: 976.3064 JIN

Description
Bobby Jindal has been tested as few politicians have. And from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster to Hurricane Katrina, he's shown an astounding ability to beat the odds (and beat the bureaucrats) to get thing done.

Then again, Jindal is not your typical politician. The son of Indian immigrants, a Christian convert from Hinduism, and a Rhodes Scholar, Jindal presided over Louisiana's healthcare system at age 24, headed the University of Louisiana system at 27, became a US Congressman at 33, and was elected governor of Louisiana at 36.

Throughout his meteoric career, Jindal has dealt with some of the worst crises of our times, from natural disasters in his home state to out-of-control spending in Washington, DC. His secret: the common sense solutions that bureaucrats (and politicians) ignore in favor of government-as-usual.

In Leadership and Crisis, Jindal reveals:
-How the Obama administration spent too much time worrying about public perception and not enough time actually fighting the oil
-How the federal government actually impeded Louisiana's efforts to stem the flood of oil
-Why the bureaucratic incompetence during Hurricane Katrina was even worse than you know
-How Bobby Jindal took on Louisiana's infamous culture of corruption
-His own journey from Hinduism to Christianity, from student at Oxford to Governor of Louisiana, from policy wonk to instant midwife when he had to deliver his third child himself.

Filled with behind-the-scenes stories from the oil-slicked beaches of Louisiana to the corridors of power in the US capitol, Leadership and Crisis offers an insider's view into one of the worst environmental disasters our nation hassuffered-and into one of the most unique success stories in American politics.

Table of Contents
1. Disaster in the Gulf
2. Who Dat?
3. Yellow Pages
4. To Educate a Child
5. First-Time Candidate
6. Cesspool or Hot Tub?
7. In the Eye of the Sorm
8. Converts and Immigrants
9. The Most Boring Governor in Louisiana's History
10. Do We REally Want to Be Like Europe?
11. Real Change for Healthcare
12. Propelling America Forward
13. Of Life and Logic
14. Saving Medicaire
15. Freedom isn't Free
16. It's the Culture, Stupid
Conclusion: Now what?
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

17 May, 2011, Tue, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2011/05/163552.htm
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
7:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Vice President Biden, at the Vice President’s residence.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with EU High Representative Lady Catherine Ashton, at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY AND SIGNING OF U.S.-EU FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOLLOWING BILATERAL MEETING AT APPROXIMATELY 10:05 A.M.)

10:35 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks at the opening of the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

11:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton joins President Obama’s bilateral meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

12:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting with President Obama at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

3:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with representatives of the American Friends of Christchurch, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:05 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister McCully, at the Department of State.

5:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

7:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton hosts a reception honoring supporters of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY THOMAS NIDES
11:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides holds a secure video teleconference with Embassy Baghdad.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides hosts a working lunch with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Under Secretary Kennedy, Deputy Director for Foreign Assistance Rob Goldberg and Deputy Assistant Secretary Barbara Retzlaff, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with AIPAC President Howard Kohr, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJIV SHAH
12:00 p.m. Administrator Shah delivers remarks at the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Administrator Shah attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

US FOR ECONOMIC, ENERGY AND AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS ROBERT HORMATS
11:30 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats briefs the press on the upcoming OECD Paris Ministerial and OECD’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations, at the Washington Foreign Press Center.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

12:45 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar, at the Ambassador’s residence.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

US FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS JUDITH MCHALE
8:30 a.m. Under Secretary McHale participates in a meeting of the Roundtable on Technology, Science, and Peacebuilding led by the National Academies and the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), at USIP.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

US FOR DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS MARIA OTERO
10:10 a.m. Under Secretary Otero delivers remarks at the opening plenary session of the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

CHIEF OF PROTOCOL CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL
6:00 p.m. Ambassador Marshall attends a reception honoring supporters of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AFFAIRS ESTHER BRIMMER
Assistant Secretary Brimmer hosts principals from the P5 nations of the UN Security Council, in the annual P5 IO Directors’ Consultations, in Washington, DC.

AS FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD
Assistant Secretary Brownfield is on foreign travel to Portugal, Ghana and Liberia through May 20 leading a high-level delegation of U.S. federal law enforcement officials to address transnational crime issues and meet with their counterparts.

On Tuesday in Lisbon, Assistant Secretary Brownfield delivers opening remarks at the Transatlantic Symposium on Dismantling Transnational Illicit Networks, and meets with West African and other officials.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL
2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Campbell joins Secretary Clinton’s bilateral meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister McCully, at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING BILATERAL MEETING)

PM Assistant Secretary Campbell departs for foreign travel to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan through May 22.

AS FOR ECONOMIC, ENERGY AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ
1:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with OECD Deputy Secretary-General Richard Boucher, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with Dr. Bayu Krishnamurti, Indonesian Vice Minister of Agriculture, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHILIP GORDON
9:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Gordon joins Secretary Clinton’s bilateral meeting with EU High Representative Lady Catherine Ashton, at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING BILATERAL MEETING)

AS FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS KERRI-ANN JONES
Assistant Secretary Jones is on foreign travel in Geneva, Switzerland through May 18 to participate in the World Health Assembly.

COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS DAWN MCCALL
8:30 a.m. Coordinator McCall participates in a meeting of the Roundtable on Technology, Science, and Peacebuilding led by the National Academies and the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), at USIP.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR MICHAEL POSNER
12:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Posner meets with German Ambassador Cyril Nunn, German Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ERIC SCHWARTZ
Assistant Secretary Schwartz participates in the Full Round of the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum, and Refugees in Miami, Florida through May 18.

AS FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ARTURO VALENZUELA
8:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela attends a breakfast in honor of José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, the chairman of the board of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation (USMF), at the Woodrow Wilson Center in the Ronald Reagan Building.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

12:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela delivers remarks at a Mexican American Leadership Initiative (MALI) luncheon, at the Woodrow Wilson Center in the Ronald Reagan Building.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH KOREA POLICY AMBASSADOR STEPHEN BOSWORTH
Ambassador Stephen Bosworth is on foreign travel to South Korea through May 18.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER
AM Ambassador Verveer holds meetings at the McArthur Foundation on global women’s issues, in Chicago, Illinois.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

PM Ambassador Verveer receives an award and delivers remarks at an event hosted by Innocents at Risk, at the Embassy of Luxemburg in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON
10:30 a.m. Special Representative Balderston introduces Secretary Clinton at the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum, which was organized by the Global Partnership Initiative Office, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS
Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Nigeria through May 21 to participate in the Nigerian Governors Forum Induction Programme for New and Existing Governors.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH
Special Representative Pandith speaks at the opening event for the International Multicultural Family Workshops, in New York City.

PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
1:15 p.m. Daily Press Briefing.

17 May, 2011, Pres and VP Daily Schedules

I'm adding a new feature here at this blog. Each day I'll share the schedules of the President and Vice President, as well as Secretary of State Clinton and her staffers, so that my readers can see the day to day workings of the WHite House. (Several other high ranking staff members have such daily schedules, which make for interesting reading, but I'm sticking with these three to make it manageable.)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
10:30 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:15 am The President meets with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:05 pm The President and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan deliver statements to the press
Oval Office
Pooled Press

12:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

2:50 pm The President hosts a White House reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month
East Room
Pooled Press

Pre-set 12:30PM – Final Gather Time 2:30PM – North Doors of the Palm Room
4:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of Defense Gates
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
7:45 am The Vice President hosts a breakfast meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Naval Observatory
Closed Press

10:00 am The Vice President meets with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan
Closed Press

12:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

4:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of Defense Gates
Oval Office
Closed Press

Obama and the Wildfires

Obama is taking heat (pun intended) for not declaring Texas a disaster area, so that they'll get more funds to help fight the wildfires that are raging through the state.

Rush Limbaugh talked about that today, and I repeat it below.

Be sure to read the news item below what he says, which points out that the Federal government has been and is sending aid to Texas. They're already paying 75% of the bill for Texas to fight these wildfires. Isn't that enough? Shouldn't Texas have to pay something towards solving their own problems - considering that the US government is bankrupt?

CALLER: Thank you for having me, sir. My question for you is: Why did Obama deny emergency aid to Texas during the wildfires?

RUSH: It's a red state.

CALLER: Well, I know, but still the state's on fire.

RUSH: Why did Obama sue Arizona?

CALLER: Isn't that gonna hurt him politically?

RUSH: No! He figures Texas isn't gonna vote for him anyway. Texas didn't vote for him. This is punishment. This is how politicians like Obama work.

CALLER: But wouldn't other states look at that and say, "Hey, if he's not gonna help them, why should we support him?"

RUSH: No. It's the other way around: Next time you support him and he'll help you when you have a disaster.

CALLER: Okay, so he was just playing sides?

RUSH: Total!

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: Total! It's not just... (snorts) Look, this is punishment. The state of Texas also happens to be where Bush lives. The state of Texas did not vote for Obama. There are plenty of other states that did, and they're gonna get the money first. It's no more complicated than that. Obama is president of Obama! I'm surprised anyone would have this question. Could somebody point to me one thing he's done for the country at large? Isn't everything Obama's done harmful to the country, one way or the other? He's got his crony capitalist buddies that he helps out, but the country? Is the country better off economically because of Obama? Is our foreign policy better off? By the way, new policy in Libya. Guess what? Remember when Obama said in his original announcement it'd last days? Nope! Now there's no end. We are there until somebody (not us) gets Khadafy. Just announced. The real question is: Why are you surprised that he's sticking it to Texas? He's sticking it to everybody else, every chance he gets -- and I mean that. I'm not trying to be extreme with it.

Now, Rush isn't being completely candid here. All Obama did was refuse to declare Texas a disaster ara. But there are 22 Federal programs that are helping the states.

Current federal aid covers 75 percent of Texas’s costs for emergency response work, such as evacuations, equipment, field camps and meals for firefighters, police barricading and traffic control. The agency’s regional office in Denton continues to monitor the situation and work closely with Texas Forest Service and Texas Division of Emergency Management, FEMA officials say. In addition, firefighting teams from more than 30 states have provided state-to-state support for firefighting efforts in Texas.

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/05/cornyn-blasts-obama-for-denying-perrys-texas-wildfire-aid-request/

Can Photo Comments Get Any More Trivial?

It's interesting to see President Obama on what looks like a bench, while the guy in the military uniform has the comfy chair.

As for Clinton...why say you have allergies. Why not say you were just thinking? And in any event, what does it matter? So she's rubbing her face...lots of people do it. Every guy with a stupid beard tugs at it or rubs at it as an aid to thought, if you don't have a beard you rub your face. Why is that even being remarked upon?

Whose To Blame For Confusion Over Bin Laden Death?

Rush Limbaugh has been having a high old time today, pointing out that the story on how Osama Bin Laden died has changed on a regular basis. First it was a firefight, then it was him using a woman as a human shield, then it was, no, he wasn't armed.

Well, you can't blame Obama for that. He authorized the attack on Bin Laden, but others carried it out. It was up to these others to tell Obama precisely what had happened!

The fact that the story keeps changing is regrettable. But perhaps its the fault of the media, that won't wait until it gets all the facts of a story before running with it, but instead will interview everyone and his mother's cousin's sister's aunt on a story, and then print it within minutes of the event.

The media deserves the blame for this, not Obama.

Obama Not Easy on Terrorists

Rush Limbaugh, and other Conservative onlookers (ie the folks who post at the Hannity.com message boards) have long accused President Obama and the Democrats of being soft on terrorism.

Now that Obama has actually had Osama Bin Laden killed, Limbaugh is saying that it is Bush who deserves the credit for it, as it was Bush's policies that Obama kept in place in order to be able to find the info necessary to do the deed.

But...that's the whole thing. Yes, Obama kept in place those strategies which worked...and if he had to change his mind, once he'd been given new information that he as a candidate didnt' have, but that as a president he did have, it's too his credit.

Let's read the transcript of Obama's speech, where he gives full credit to everybody:
Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children. It was nearly ten years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory. Hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky, the twin towers collapsing to the ground, black smoke billowing up from the pentagon, the wreckage of flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world, the empty seat at the dinner table, children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father, parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace, nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts. On September 11th, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve, to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda, an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. So we went to war against al Qaeda, to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies. Over the last ten years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet, Osama bin Laden avoided capture. And escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world. And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda. Even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle and defeat his network. Then last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain. And it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we could located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body. For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda. His death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad. As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people. Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores. And started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly ten years of service, struggle and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as commander in chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded. So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror, justice has been done.

Tonight we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who have worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work nor know their names, but tonight they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice. We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of burden since that September day. Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people. The cause of securing our country is not complete, but tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history. Whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people or the struggle for equality for all our citizens, our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

On Rush Limbaugh's show today, he said that it was only through Obama following through on the practices of Bush that Bin Laden was found and able to be killed.

And that's true enough. Obama has kept open Guantanamo Bay despite his promises during campaign times to close it. But it's simple, candidates aren't privy to information that the President has. Once Obama became president, he was fully appraised of various situations, and thus the need to keep Guantanamo Bay open.