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The Obama administration has announced its appointment of 13 White House fellows – and the first person featured on its short list is a Muslim attorney who specializes in Shariah-compliant transactions. "This year's White House fellows are comprised of some of the best and brightest leaders in our country," Michelle Obama said in the June 22 announcement. "I applaud their unyielding commitment to public service and dedication to serving their community." "Our team members are at the forefront of developments in the Islamic finance industry," Hogan Lovells boasts. "We help set standards for the sector. We have also advised on...

President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon joined hands Wednesday in blasting Arizona's controversial immigration law, with Obama calling the legislation a "misdirected effort" after Calderon slammed it as discriminatory. President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon joined hands Wednesday in blasting Arizona's controversial immigration law, with Obama calling the legislation a "misdirected effort" after Calderon slammed it as discriminatory. Obama, speaking next to Calderon during Wednesday's state visit, called the the tough immigration law a "misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system." "We're examining any implications especially for civil rights because in the United States of America,...

In welcoming Mexico's President Calderone to the White House today, President Obama told him "we are defined not by our borders, but by our bonds." "Borders" would seem to be the wrong word to use with the President of Mexico, unless you are an "open border" person.

If Israel and the Palestinians fail to reach an agreement to create a Palestinian state, the Obama administration will look into imposing a solution on the parties, a senior Palestinian Authority negotiator told WND. The negotiator, speaking by telephone from Ramallah, said the PA agreed to resume direct talks with Israel earlier this week only after a U.S. pledge to ensure against any new Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem and the strategic West Bank. The PA negotiator told WND

President Obama used a naturalization ceremony in the Rose Garden to lash out at the Arizona Legislature for passing a bill requiring proof of legal status and empowering state and local police to stop people based on a suspicion of being illegal immigrants. Obama called for comprehensive immigration reform and said Washington's failure to act has bred a climate of fear and retribution in some border states. He singled out the Arizona bill - which would make it crime to be in the state without documentation - now before Republican Gov. Janice Brewer. The governor has until Saturday to decide...

We have a president loath to acknowledge American exceptionalism. Indeed, the weight of the evidence suggests that our chief executive, through both word and deed and with malice aforethought, seeks to undermine – if not dismantle – that exceptionalism. At one time we properly called such activity anti-American, seditious, or even – under certain circumstances – treasonous. Today we call it “progressive.”

"[W]e will achieve our destiny to be as a shining city on a hill for all mankind to see." – Ronald Wilson Reagan "Our nation is chosen by God and commissioned by history to be a model to the world" – George Walker Bush "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone." – Barack Hussein Obama (Insert deflating balloon effect here.) We have a president loath to acknowledge American exceptionalism. Indeed, the weight of the evidence suggests that our chief executive, through both word and deed and with malice aforethought, seeks to undermine – if not dismantle...

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pose during a group photo at the Nuclear Security Summit 2010 in Washington, April 13, 2010. U.S. President Barack Obama (R) stands next to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev during the group photo at the Nuclear Security Summit 2010 in Washington, April 13, 2010. In back row are (L-R) Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev.

Reporting from Washington - The Obama administration is releasing a major statement on nuclear weapons policy that will herald a further shrinking of the U.S. arsenal, even as it rejects some sweeping steps advocated by arms control advocates. The statement, to be released Tuesday, will announce that the arsenal will shrink by thousands of warheads, and it will further restrict when the weapons may be used, U.S. officials say. But the administration has rejected proposals to declare that the "sole purpose" of nuclear arms is deterrence, nor will it promise that the United States won't be the first to use...

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self defense. But the president said in an interview that he was carving out an exception for “outliers like Iran and North Korea” that have violated or renounced the main treaty to halt nuclear proliferation. Discussing his approach to nuclear security the day before formally releasing his new strategy, Mr. Obama described his policy as part of a broader effort to edge the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete, and to...

March 26, 2010 Binyamin Netanyahu Humiliated After Barack Obama 'Dumped Him For Dinner' (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) The President was said to have walked out of the meeting, saying to Mr Netanyahu: 'Let me know if there is anything new' Giles Whittell, Washington, and James Hider, Jerusalem For a head of government to visit the White House and not pose for photographers is rare. For a key ally to be left to his own devices while the President withdraws to have dinner in private was, until this week, unheard of. Yet that is how Binyamin Netanyahu was treated by President Obama...

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said today. Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it." The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this month that Ali and four other men accused of murdering nearly 3,000 people in the nation's deadliest terrorist attack will face a civilian federal trial just...

Obama to 'voice concerns' in Egypt speech By Sam Youngman Posted: 05/29/09 07:58 PM [ET] In his major address to the Muslim community from Cairo University in Egypt next week, President Obama "will voice concerns" of the U.S. but also try to "change the conversation." Senior administration officials said on a conference call Friday night that Obama's speechwriter said the speech "will be an important part of his engagement with the Muslim world." The officials said the president will also discuss issues of concern when meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with King Abdullah from "energy to Middle East peace to...

(CNSNews.com) - President Obama has asked Congress to authorize $100 billion in loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help create a $500 billion global bailout fund. If passed by both the Senate and the House, the bill would allow the IMF to borrow up to $100 billion from the U.S. and increase the U.S. fiscal contribution to the IMF by $8 billion. “It’s a new appropriation,” Rob Blumenthal of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the committee that drafted the bill, told CNSNews.com. But the move is questioned by some lawmakers who are skeptical about lending money when the...

The nation's media – finally – is recognizing and acknowledging what is happening to the U.S. dollar under the direction of President Barack Obama, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports. In a clear sign the dollar collapse is so imminent that the mainstream media can no longer cover up the inept way the Obama administration has managed international economics, the New York Times finally published on Thursday an editorial declaring the end of the U.S. dollar is at hand. "[The United States] is running huge budget and trade deficits, and is relying on the kindness of restless foreign creditors who are...

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to end federal payments to states and communities for jailing illegal immigrants as he continues along a path toward legalization of undocumented aliens. The budget plan Obama released on Thursday would end the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), under which states received $400 million in the current fiscal year to cover the cost of incarcerating convicts and pre-trial detainees who are illegally in the U.S. Specifically, the SCAAP reimburses states and counties for jailer's salaries for holding illegal immigrants who are apprehended and found to have at least one felony and two misdemeanor...

The Fox Network is making a smart business move by passing on tonight's press conference celebrating President Obama's first 100 days in office. Other networks are losing millions of dollars of advertising revenue to air what amounts to an unpaid political ad.

President Barack Obama is to release up to 2,000 photographs of alleged abuse at American prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan in a move which will reignite the scandal surrounding Abu Ghraib prison in 2004. The decision to make public the images sought in a legal action by the American Civil Liberties Union comes amid a political firestorm over alleged torture of detainees under President George W. Bush. Some of the photographs, which will be released before May 28, are said to show American service personnel humiliating prisoners, according to officials. The images relate to more than 400 separate cases involving...

The Obama administration agreed late Thursday to release dozens of photographs depicting alleged abuse by U.S. personnel during the Bush administration of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least 44 pictures will be released by May 28 -- making public for the first time images of what the military investigated as abuse that took place at facilities other than the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Defense Department officials would not say exactly what is contained in the photos, but said they are concerned that the release could incite a backlash in the Middle East.

In his Monday speech to CIA employees, President Obama aimed to assure an agency where some are suspicious of him. His decision to release details of interrogation techniques used on terrorists risked making operatives fearful of political second-guessing and raised fears our enemies would get an advantage. Against that backdrop, the President expressed one of the more remarkable passages of his young tenure, one worth repeating in full: "What makes the United States special, and what makes you special, is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and our ideals even when it's hard, not just...