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Camp David has been an historic presidential retreat since World War II, but according to New York Times White House correspondent Helene Cooper, Barack Obama "hates it" because there isn't any golf. Such was revealed on the syndicated Chris Matthews Show this weekend (video follows with transcript and commentary): NYT White House Correspondent: Obama 'Hates' Camp David Because There's No GolfHELENE COOPER, NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alright, for something totally superficial, I have figured out why President Obama does not like Camp David. CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: He doesn’t like it? COOPER: He hates it. We were up there...

Leaders of eight of the world's largest economies are meeting at Camp David this evening for the G-8 Summit, marking the biggest gathering of heads of state at the president's country retreat in history. The rustic estate in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, however, presents something of a logistical challenge for the White House as it seeks to accommodate all of the leaders and their staffs. Before your mind wanders to those summer camp memories of bunk bed-filled cabins, the Obama administration assures there are "adequate facilities" for each delegation. But who sleeps where? And how were the arrangements decided? "The allocation...

Israel's concerns that its historic peace treaty with Egypt could be in peril amid the political upheaval in Cairo have intensified with the announcement by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood it will contest presidential elections next month. Amos Gilad, a top aide to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a former Israeli liaison with Cairo, said Tuesday he was apprehensive that the Muslim Brotherhood, which already dominates Parliament, could suspend or abrogate the 33-year-old peace pact. The treaty, the first between Israel and its Arab adversaries, has been the linchpin of U.S. policy in the Middle East since it was sealed...

In a surprise turnaround, the White House announced Monday afternoon that Chicago won’t be hosting the controversial G-8 summit after all. It will be held at Camp David instead of Chicago. The NATO summit will proceed here May 20-21. City Hall insisted that it was President Barack Obama’s decision — that Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not ask the White House to take the more controversial of the two summits off Chicago’s hands. One leading demonstrator pledged the protests “will go forward” here despite the switch. The White House issued a terse statement dropping the bombshell shortly before 3 p.m. “In...

Curiosor and Curiosor….. Headed to Camp David Marine One Diverts, Obama Disappears, Arrives Via Motorcade…. Posted on September 3, 2011 by sundancecracker (CNN) — President Barack Obama left for Camp David on Marine One Friday but, in a twist that has left some White House reporters scratching their heads, he apparently arrived at the presidential retreat by car. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained the decision not to land at Camp David was made in advance because of the weather.... Meanwhile, CNN’s weather team found no signs of stormy weather in the area at the time Marine One departed...

A fighter jet has intercepted a small civilian airplane in restricted airspace near the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., and escorted it to at an airport in West Virginia. The North American Aerospace Defense Command says the Piper plane was out of radio communication when it was intercepted by an F-15E fighter at about 4:45 p.m. It was diverted to the airport in Martinsburg.

Supposedly Marine One landed near Frederick, MD, rather than Camp David, with POTUS aboard. POTUS continued to Camp David by motorcade due to bad weather at Camp David landing site. Story is pegging my BS meter. How would a/c with POTUS aboard ever be dispatched into such conditions? Was this a security situation?

In a highly unusual maneuver, President Obama’s 30 minute flight to the Presidential mountain retreat at Camp David this afternoon was diverted to an undisclosed landing near Frederick, Maryland and a motorcade assembled to drive him to the nearby site. White House press secretary Jay Carney tells ABC News a “bad weather call” was made before the President and his younger daughter Sasha even boarded the aircraft.

<p>In a highly unusual maneuver, President Obama’s 30 minute flight to the Presidential mountain retreat at Camp David this afternoon was diverted to an undisclosed landing somewhere in the Washington area and a motorcade assembled to drive him to the Maryland site. White House press secretary Jay Carney tells ABC News a “bad weather call” was made before the President and his younger daughter Sasha even boarded the aircraft. Carney says they have now arrived safely at Camp David. It remains unexplained why the President would be allowed to board Marine One knowing that the landing site on the mountain was experiencing weather making a landing difficult. The press first learned of the diversion when wire agency still photographers, who traditionally stand by at Camp David for news coverage in case of an emergency, were told by the military at the mountain top Marine base that the President would be motorcading. The White House press office did not inform the daily travel pool which remains at the White House and does not make the helicopter trip to Camp David. The pool does accompany any bad weather motorcade to the retreat.</p>

In a highly unusual maneuver, President Obama’s 30 minute flight to the Presidential mountain retreat at Camp David this afternoon was diverted to an undisclosed landing near Frederick, Maryland and a motorcade assembled to drive him to the nearby site. White House press secretary Jay Carney tells ABC News a “bad weather call” was made before the President and his younger daughter Sasha even boarded the aircraft. Carney says they have now arrived safely at Camp David. It remains unexplained why the President would be allowed to board Marine One knowing that the landing site on the mountain was experiencing...

14 million Americans remain unemployed in the U.S., a number that is unchanged from July. As a Bureau of Labor Statistics report stated today, the economy created exactly zero jobs for the entire month of August signalling the failure of the current administration’s economic policies. In reponse to the zero job growth, White House economic advisor Gene Sperling said, “This president doesn’t think this is anywhere near enough”. A survey of economists agreed – they had expected more than 70,000 new jobs. The report also held that the numbers that had been reported in June and July had been incorrect....

In the wake of recent reports of a joint Israeli-Jordanian plan to link the Red Sea on the Israeli side and the Dead Sea on the Jordanian Side, parliamentarians in Egypt are agitating for the nation's caretaker junta to demand Israel surrender the port-city of Eilat. Egypt has insisted it has a claim to the city of Eilat since it lost the city to the nascent state of Israel in the wake of the Egyptian army's defeat in Israel's 1948 War of Independence, but after the 1979 Camp David Accords the claim was officially dropped. Or so it seemed. The...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney recounts an amusing tale in his soon-to-be released autobiography about how his dog, Dave, was banned from the main lodge at Camp David for attacking the president’s dog, Barney. A source provided The Daily Caller with a copy of the passage in Cheney’s book, “In My Time.” In the text, Cheney writes that Dave, his one-hundred-pound yellow Labrador, often joined him on trips to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. But Dave got himself into some trouble one particular morning when Cheney brought him along to breakfast at Laurel, the lodge where most official...

Obama left the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat outside Washington in late afternoon just hours before S&P's announcement. "He was briefed before he left for Camp David and has been receiving updates through the night," the official said.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The Republicans remain very nervous, ladies and gentlemen. These idiots at Moody's, or as Stuart Varney says, "Moodis," the rating service clearly joining with the Democrats to put pressure on the House Republicans, the Senate Republicans as well by claiming if we don't raise the debt limit then all is lost, the US reputation gone forever. So the pressure mounts on the Republicans in the House, and so far they're standing firm. I think Obama's cracking, folks, I think he's cracking up. The way I interpret this, this guy's had the road paved for him from the...

In the most dramatic example of someone give the teleprompter the finger on the debt target (f/k/a debt ceiling, in the pre Federal Reserve days), after earlier it was announced that Obama, so willing to continue the charade, was pushing for a Camp David meeting where the debt ceiling issue would be resolved, bunch-of-fat-old-men-locked-up-in-a-room-nobody-leaving-until-solution-is-reached style, Reuters reports that Boehner has politely refused this latest farcical denouement, and told the White House "that he sees no need to move the negotiations on debt and deficits to Camp David." In other news, it is now 7 days and counting until July 22....

Following a little R&R at Camp David on Saturday, President Obama on Sunday is scheduled to meet with the Congressional leadership at the White House for further talks on balancing the budget. The list of expected attendees of Sundays Cabinet Room meeting, as provided in a White House release Friday:

President Obama is off to Camp David for the weekend. Will it be fun? It's too remote! Too much nature! It's outdoorsy, and Obama is really not. First lady Michelle Obama revealed to the NYT what seemed somewhat self-evident: Obama doesn't really care for the place. POLITICO recently documented the president's limited record of Camp David visitation. But this weekend — Malia's 13th birthday is Monday — off the family went, to the Catoctin Mountains. They all traveled separately, this time. This afternoon, Obama boarded the smaller Marine One and departed solo.

Two days after telling members of Congress they need to stick around to work out a deal on the deficit, President Obama is leaving for a weekend trip to Camp David. The White House said in guidance to reporters that after Obama gets his morning briefing and meets with advisers, he'll leave for the presidential retreat in the afternoon

President Obama is taking his family on a rare trip to Camp David on Friday. It should be a light vacation -- his kids are done with school, and the White House didn't announce any events on Obama's schedule for the day other than leaving for the weekend. The Obamas are scheduled to return Sunday, according to White House press secretary Jay Carney -- who, by the way, doesn't plan

For 33 years the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel were used as proof that negotiated accords could and would bring peace in the Middle East. But the peace accords could not outlast Sadat and his VP Mubarak. With Sadat assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mubarak driven out by a Brotherhood-Leftist alliance, the peace accords have proven themselves to be every bit as useless as the critics said they were. Ayman Nour, one of the leading liberal opposition politicians, has declared that the Camp David accords are over, and might be preserved only if Israel agrees to end...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is at Camp David but will return in the evening to get ready for July Fourth celebrations at the White House.

On Monday, March 29, 2010, President Obama was interviewed by NBC News and portions were broadcast on the Today show on March 30. According to the The Caucus blog at the New York Times: "Mr. Obama said he would not select a church while living in the White House. 'What we have decided for now is not to join a single church, and the reason is because Michelle and I have realized we are very disruptive to services,' he said. Instead, he said he would from time to time visit St. John's Church, across Lafayette Square from the White House,...

Government sharpshooters are taking aim at hundreds of white-tailed deer in the national park surrounding the Camp David presidential retreat in western Maryland. The move to reduce the deer population comes after nearly three decades of research and opposition from animal-rights advocates. Acting Park Superintendent Sean Denniston said the hunt in Catoctin Mountain Park began Monday afternoon and will continue most weekday afternoons and nights through mid-March. Large sections of the park will be periodically closed, he said. Park officials say the operation is intended to cull an outsize herd that has devoured so many saplings and low-hanging tree branches...

Dan Riehl checks the President's schedule and learns that Obama's not going to Fort Hood, but rather to Camp David for the weekend. In an update, Dan notes that his predecessor is more sensitive to the situation. Fox Reports GWB and Laura spent a few hours at Fort Hood, no photo ops. Now that's a CIC. Are you kidding me? Camp frickin' David? What, does he have a tee time close by? For heaven's sakes, he's the CIC. And he's taking the weekend off? This guy simply doesn't care. Unbelievable via Fox. 11:25AM THE PRESIDENT addresses the House Democratic Caucus -...

"Obama also worshipped at the church on Inauguration Day and Easter. St. John's has been a popular choice among presidents, including George W. Bush, because it is close to the White House and familiar to the Secret Service. Washington churches have competed for Obama's attention since his election. He quit his last church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, during the presidential campaign last year after the circulation of controversial sermons by its former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright." ~~~~~ Poster's(DollyCali) comments: The first family has gone on vacation more than they have attended church since entering the White...

More than a year after he was forced to disown his Chicago pastor, President Obama has begun to attend services led by a Christian chaplain who views Islam as a violent faith. Mr Obama has been an irregular church attender since becoming President, but has expressed a fondness for Carey Cash, the navy chaplain at the Camp David presidential retreat who has been criticised for proselytising in the military and his mistrust of Islam. The White House insists that the Rev Cash, the great-nephew of the singer Johnny Cash, has not become Mr Obama’s new pastor, but it appears that...

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is long gone; Rick Warren, just an Inauguration Day memory. The hordes of ministers around town who were hoping they'd somehow wind up with the first family in their pews have (mostly) given up. The president has been pastorless for quite a while now. Well, sort of. Seventy miles from Washington's prying eyes, Barack Obama has been attending church from time to time at Camp David, where services are led by a 39-year-old Navy chaplain with a famous last name, a compelling life story and a fervent belief in a God who works miracles. Carey Cash,...

White House Press Corps Spent the Fourth of July Hanging Out With Obama, Off the Record By John Cook, 12:44 PM on Thu Jul 9 2009, 1,046 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp) Copy this whole post to another site Slurp cancel select site advertising consumerist deadspin defamer fleshbot gay fleshbot gawker gizmodo idolator io9 jalopnik jezebel kotaku lifehacker valleywag artists gawkershop Reporters from more than 30 television networks, newspapers, magazines, and web sites celebrated the Fourth of July with Barack Obama at the White House last weekend. Why didn't you know that? Because they were sworn to secrecy. We...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is helping the nation celebrate its birthday and his daughter Malia celebrate hers. The president on Friday morning flew to Camp David, Md., for the first part of the first family's Fourth of July celebration, including daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday. He set off with friend Martin Nesbitt to meet first lady Michelle Obama, who was already at Camp David.

WASHINGTON, DC - President Barack Obama is still looking for a church home more than a year after resigning from the Chicago church led by his controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the first family has yet to join a church because Obama doesn't want his attendance to disrupt other people's worship. Gibbs says Obama enjoys services led by Camp David's chaplain on weekends the family spends at the presidential retreat, but they're not members there. In 2009, the Obamas have only attended Sunday church services twice in Washington. Two days before the inauguration,...

A report says the first family had settled on Evergreen Chapel at Camp David. A White House spokeswoman says that's not the case. "The president and first family continue to look for a church home," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "They have enjoyed worshiping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is best for their family."

Is President Obama's new pastor a Southern Baptist? Apparently, it depends whom you ask. Time magazine posted a story June 29 stating Obama has "decided to make his primary place of worship" Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David which is led by Navy Lieut. Carey Cash, a Southern Baptist chaplain. The White House, though, denied the Time report, releasing a statement saying "the President and First Family continue to look for a church home." "They have enjoyed worshipping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is...

For the past five months, White House aides and friends of the Obamas have been quietly visiting local churches and vetting the sermons of prospective first ministers in a search for a new - and uncontroversial - church home. Obama has even sampled a few himself, attending services at 19th Street Baptist on the weekend before his inauguration and celebrating Easter at St. John's Episcopal Church.

Who would have thought that a CEO position would be tiring? And not just any CEO but the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, the Commander in Chief and the Messiah. Apparently Barack Obama had no idea that all of that hard work would actually be just that -- hard work. I suppose he thought the job of POTUS would be just as much fun as the two years he spent on the campaign trail. He must have been under the illusion that the citizens of this great country would swoon over his tax cheating...

More lasts today … This morning President & Mrs. Bush departed the White House for Camp David, Maryland, where they will spend their last weekend as the First Couple before Tuesday’s inauguration. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave her final press conference today at the State Department in Washington. She also met with Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Dr. Rice’s last official act as Secretary of State was signing a memorandum with Foreign Minister Livni that will help prevent arms smuggling to terrorists in Gaza. And today Press Secretary Dana Perino delivered the Administration’s final press briefing (Transcript). Dana took...

President Bush signed several bills into lawPresident Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Hager travelled to Camp David to spend the Christmas holidays Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

Thirty years ago Jimmy Carter tried to change the world by getting the leaders of nations to agree. The result, in September 1978, was the Camp David Accords. Did it work? Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, the respective leaders of Egypt and Israel, did reach some basic agreements and since then Egypt has stopped trying to drive Israel into the sea. After four wars in twenty five years, the Arab-Israeli wars stopped. The accords are universally considered the highlight of an otherwise dismal presidency, perhaps the only good thing that Carter ever did. But the accords also failed. Establishing an...

A map of President Bush's motorcade to Camp David was found last week in the possession of a teenager accused of stockpiling weapons and bomb-making materials, according to prosecutors. With the possibility that the motorcade was a target, federal authorities have joined police in investigating Collin Matthew McKenzie-Gude, 18, who allegedly was storing the weapons and materials just outside Washington, D.C., at the Bethesda, Md., home where he lives with his parents. MyFOXDC.com reports that Assistant State's Attorney Peter Feeney disclosed the discovery of the map of Camp David during a court hearing on Tuesday in Rockville, Md. The map...

Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island PHOTO(s) OF THE DAY President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush (and Barney) QUOTE(s) OF THE DAY President's Radio Address ~ March 22, 2008 Good morning. This weekend, families across America are coming together to celebrate Easter. This is the most important holiday in the Christian faith. And during this special and holy time each year, millions of Americans pause to remember a sacrifice that transcended the grave and redeemed the world. Easter is a holiday that beckons us homeward. This weekend is an occasion to reflect on the things that...

This weekend the President spent the weekend at Camp David returning to the White House today, on Saturday he spoke at a memorial service at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Park on the National Fire Academy campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland Click here for transcript On Saturday Defense Secretary Robert Gates continued his trip to South America with a visit to Paramaribo. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

The Secret Service tells CBS News that there were eleven violations of temporary flight restrictions around Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, on Sunday.The Secret Service tells CBS News all of the incidents were believed to be inadvertent....

President Bush signed legislation Friday that intensifies the anti-terrorism effort at home, shifting money to high-risk states and cities and expanding scrutiny of air and sea cargo. The bill elevates the importance of risk factors in determining which states and cities get federal security funds. That would mean more money for such cities as New York and Washington. It also puts money into a new program to ensure that security officials at every level can communicate with each other. It requires screening of all cargo on passenger planes within three years and sets a five-year goal of scanning all container...

Diplomacy: It's often asserted that while Jimmy Carter's presidency was marred by error and incompetence, the peace deal he brokered at Camp David was an unmitigated triumph. Time to pop that bubble, too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Profile In Incompetence: Eighth In A SeriesMore on this series -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carter's effrontery in calling George W. Bush "the worst" president can be traced in part to his supposed success in negotiating the Camp David accords. Signed in March 1978, that deal came about after Carter used the power of the presidency to get Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to talk...

Today President Bush held a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Camp David. (Transcript) First Lady Laura Bush spoke at the Salvation Army National Advisory Organizations Conference in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mrs. Lynne Cheney met with Mrs. Akie Abe, the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Freer Gallery of Art Friday, in Washington, D.C. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush today welcomed the president of Brazil to Camp David. Undoubtedly after discussing the matter with Prime Minister Tony Blair and taking the tone the PM requested, GWB also spoke out about the British sailors and marines captured by the Iranians. Bush, Brazilian president to talk trade, ethanol POSTED: 12:47 p.m. EDT, March 31, 2007 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The backdrop is different but the issues are the same for President Bush's second meeting with the president of Brazil in less than a month. Trade and ethanol topped Bush's meeting three weeks ago...

Before leaving for Camp David today, President Bush Signed The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation And Management Reauthorization Act Of 2006. By signing this bill, the President reaffirmed our commitment to protect America's fisheries and keep our commercial and recreational fishing communities strong. This Act will end over-fishing in America, help us replenish our Nation's fish stocks, and advance international cooperation and ocean stewardship. Fact Sheet: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act. President Bush signs the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, Friday, Jan. 12, 2007 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Behind him,...

Today, President Bush and Mrs. Bush joined Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Arlington, Virginia for the dedication of the U.S. Air Force Memorial. Also in attendance were Chairman of the Air Force Memorial Foundation, Ross Perot Jr.; Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne; Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General T. Michael Moseley; Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Rodney McKinley; Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson and Major General Edward F. Grillo (USAF retired) President of the Air Force Memorial Foundation. Click here for a complete transcript of GWB’s speech. Later, President Bush delivered a...

Though there was no actual confirmation that the Presdent and First Lady spent the weekend at Camp David I assume they did because photo were released on Sunday of them returning to the White House from Camp David along with the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Today the President celebrated Labour Day by making remarks during a Labor Day observance at a maritime training institute in Piney Point, Maryland, he also toured the facility. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

The President and First Lady spent the weekend at Camp David arriving back at the White House on Sunday to attend a social function. Today the President returned to Camp David to met with his interagency team on Iraq He also met with members of the World Cup Soccer Youth Delegation at the White House Today the First Lady spoke at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and attended the White House Senate Spouses Luncheon in the East Room of the White House Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island