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Obama: 'I'm Skinny...But Tough' Tuesday, October 27, 2009 7:30 AM President Barack Obama has lashed back at critics who fear he lacks the steel to be a successful president, saying "I'm skinny ... but I'm tough." Obama, who is trying to navigate a climate of sharp political partisanship, said he was spoiling for a fight to enact his ambitious agenda. "There are people saying mean things about me and folks are worried," Obama said on Monday, as he headlined a pair of Florida Democratic Party fundraisers that racked up a total of 1.5 million dollars. "Just 'cause I'm skinny doesn't...

BBC LATEST: Headline Only US President Obama Says He Will Not Rush "Solemn Decision" To Commit Troops To Afghanistan

Obama declares swine flu emergency 9 mins ago WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a "national emergency," the White House said Saturday, as the United States reels from millions of cases of infection and over 1,000 deaths.

Rod Blagojevich (is) the former Illinois governor who tried to sell Obama's seat in congress. When Obama was asked by the press if he had ever met Governor Blagojevich, Obama replied, "I only saw Rod Blagojevich one time ... and that was in the stands and from a distance at a Chicago Bears Football Game."

CNN actually did a hit piece on Obama's jeans, she'll probably get canned...

He Wants Us to Believe Mediocrity is a Sign of Success One must wonder what Mitch McConnell paid or did to have the Washington Post’s Perry Bacon, Jr. write this total fluff piece on Mitch McConnell. When he was fighting campaign finance reform a decade ago, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was dubbed Darth Vader by his critics. He embraced the nickname, even announcing “Darth Vader has arrived” at a news conference.Well, when the article starts out with a gross distortion of the facts, we can only conclude that McConnell is desperate to hang on to power and distract from his...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he shouldn't have called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist. In a letter to supporters Wednesday, the Georgia Republican said his words had been "perhaps too strong and direct." Sotomayor (SUHN'-ya soh-toh-my-YOR') would be the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the high court. Gingrich said last week that she was a reverse "racist" who should withdraw her nomination, based on a 2001 speech in which Sotomayor said the decisions of a "wise Latina" would be better than those of a white male without similar experiences. Gingrich...

"...These were the tiny, fleeting pleasures I clung to after my son was born. They felt like all I had left. When a child was added to my life, it was as if something enormous and coveted was subtracted in return, and the transaction left me reeling, like someone who'd just gambled away his soul. I fell into a well of depression so deep I wasn't even aware of it. It was only years later, after I spoke to a psychotherapist, that I learned I was experiencing male postpartum depression...But not 48 hours after we returned home with our boy,...

In his first interview since Inauguration Day, Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren tells Larry King that is a misconception that he is an "Anti-Gay Marriage Activist". He adds that he never took a stance on California's Prop 8 Same-Sex Marriage debate and he doesn't concern himself with things like Iowa's recent Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - Washington has told Moscow that Russian help in resolving Iran's nuclear program would make its missile shield plans for Europe unnecessary, a Russian daily said on Monday, citing White House sources. U.S. President Barack Obama made the proposal on Iran in a letter to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, Kommersant said, referring to unidentified U.S. officials. Iran's controversial nuclear program was cited by the U.S. as one of the reasons behind its plans to deploy a missile base in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic. The missile shield has been strongly opposed by...

Obama's Hands 'Soft As Butter,' Says Philly Gym Rat @ 2:51 pm by Walter Alarkon A Philadelphia man who lingered at his gym to get a chance to work out with President-elect Barack Obama said he was smitten with Obama's personality and his soft skin. Stepp Stewart said he worked out with Obama on Tuesday, when he was in Philadelphia for a National Governors Association meeting. "I get off the bike. He looks me dead in the eye. He shook my hand," Stewart told the local NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. "I held onto it as long as I could,"...

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Democrat Barack Obama said today that he appreciated John McCain's attempts yesterday to soften the harsh and negative tone that has marked the past week of the presidential campaign, but said recent remarks by McCain's campaign manager showed that the Arizona senator "doesn't get it'' when it comes to the economic crisis. Obama conducted an early morning blitz of this heavily Democratic city, where Obama and the state's top elected Democrats held four "mini-rallies" to energize supporters for Nov. 4. "I want to acknowledge that Senator McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric in his town hall meeting yesterday, and...

Every election it is the same thing. If you are a celebrity you either feel the need to try to convince us simple folk how we should vote in the upcoming election or you are coerced by the media to say something ….well…idiotic. That is exactly what happened to Matt Damon the other day. He tried to convince us simple folk how to vote and at the same time made an idiotic statement. He would make the other celebtards proud. During the interview he stated he knew nothing of Sarah Palin but began to list here prior work experience albeit...

WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE....WHAT A PANSY NOTE: The real score was 37. This is not the real score sheet, but rather, a representation of what the score sheet would have looked like. Even little tiny Bantam League girls do better than this. Oh, yeah, he has Ahmadinnerjacket and the rest of our enemies really trembling, huh? Unless he is blind and physically disabled, how is it possible for a grown man to bowl 37?

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised not to sign any bills until lawmakers reach a budget deal, reversed his position today and signed a bill for a statewide bullet train system that he strongly supports. The governor also wants to make exceptions for three other proposals that he has been promoting: budget reform; changing the state lottery to allow California to borrow against future ticket sales; and a bond proposal for water infrastructure. The high-speed rail legislation will replace a $10 billion bond measure on the November ballot with a revised version of the proposal that makes the bullet...

LAST week raised important questions about whether Barack Obama is strong enough to be president. On the domestic political front, he showed incredible weakness in dealing with the Clintons, while on foreign and defense questions, he betrayed a lack of strength and resolve in standing up to Russia's invasion of Georgia. This two-dimensional portrait of weakness underscores fears that Obama might, indeed, be a latter-day Jimmy Carter. Consider first the domestic and political. Bill and Hillary Clinton have no leverage over Obama. Hillary can't win the nomination. She doesn't control any committees. If she or her supporters tried to disrupt...

BAGHDAD, July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama did not raise his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months in his talks on Monday with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi government's spokesman said. "This issue, we do not discuss ... ," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters when asked if Obama had brought up the 16-month timeframe.

FOR months, our political punditry foresaw one, and only one, prospective gender contest looming in the general election: between the first serious female presidential candidate and the Republican male “warrior.” But those who were dreading a plebiscite on sexual politics shouldn’t celebrate just yet. Hillary Clinton may be out of the race, but a Barack Obama versus John McCain match-up still has the makings of an epic American gender showdown. The reason is a gender ethic that has guided American politics since the age of Andrew Jackson. The sentiment was succinctly expressed in a massive marble statue that stood on...

New York Times: Senator Obama, for his part, will not be cast as the avenging hero in “The Rescue” any time soon — and not because of the color of his skin or his lack of military experience. He doesn’t seem to want the role. You don’t see him crouching in a duck blind or posing in camouflage duds or engaging in anything more gladiatorial than a game of pick-up basketball. If Mr. Obama’s candidacy seeks to move beyond race, it also moves beyond gender. A 20-minute campaign Web documentary showcased a President Obama who would exude “a real sensitivity”...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) got an answer from Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Tuesday on his proposal for 10 town hall-style debates: Not going to happen. That's too bad - and, the fewer there are, the more Obama should suffer for it politically. The town halls not only would give ordinary citizens a chance to ask the candidates some pointed questions (see suggestions below), but - because they would be nationally televised - they would let voters nationwide see how the candidates handle challenges from across the political spectrum. When Obama was debating Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and - in...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday rejected Republican rival John McCain's proposal for 10 joint town-hall appearances, offering instead to have just one on the July 4 holiday. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said he offered to meet McCain in five joint appearances between now and the Nov. 4 election. But only one of those was a town-hall meeting, plus three traditional debates and an in-depth debate on foreign policy. The McCain campaign said Obama's offer was to hold the single town hall on Independence Day _ which likely would have resulted in less attention while Americans are on...

CNN story. Apparently Obama sent a letter to his pastor but that has yet to be released.

On accepting Scott McClellan's resignation as his press secretary two years ago, President Bush predicted that he and the outgoing aide some day would be "rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days." But maybe their days in the White House together weren't so happy after all. Next week will bring the publication of McClellan's 341-page tome, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception." It is described by Politico's Mike Allen as "surprisingly scathing."

The specter of John Kerry in 2004 is beginning to haunt the Democrats in 2008. It is the specter of wimpy campaigns past. It showed up, like Banquo's ghost, at the debate Wednesday night in Philadelphia, particularly when Hillary Clinton joined with ABC's George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson to nip away at the edges of Barack Obama's patriotism. Between the questions about Obama's meager association with William Ayers, a former Weatherman, and the suspicions raised by his lack of a flag lapel pin, the likely nominee is slowly being turned into John Kerry. He is becoming, in other words, a...

Barack Obama is a better baller than bowler, that's for sure. The front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination reveals his skills on the basketball court - but little else - on HBO's "Real Sports" Tuesday night at 10. "I watch a good basketball game, or I play in a good basketball game, it makes me feel good," Obama cordially tells host Bryant Gumbel.The one-on-one is soft as a Nerf, with Gumbel avoiding a full-court press in favor of a lay-up line. But interrogation clearly wasn't the game plan for the 13-minute segment. To the network's credit, it again finds rare...

** EXCERPT ** ALTOONA, Pa. — Barack Obama spent Saturday evening in a close encounter with the fierce urgency of a gutter ball. In search of game, a friendly crowd and really good photo ops, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Robert Casey rolled into Pleasant Valley Lanes here to cheers from patrons, report our faithful press pool reporters. Several bowlers ready to bite into French fries lathered with ketchup and American cheese—it’s a Pennsylvania thing; you wouldn’t understand — stopped mid-munch, put down their beers and watched a presidential candidate walk into their midst. ~snip~ Roxanne Hart, a 43-year-old gal...

John McCain apologized Tuesday for disparaging comments about Barack Obama made by talk radio host Bill Cunningham at a McCain campaign rally in Cincinnati. Cunningham, a radio host at WLW-AM, had warmed up the crowd at Memorial Hall with comments about Obama and Hillary Clinton, likening Obama to a “hack, Chicago-style” politician and saying the Illinois senator would “saddle up next to Hezbollah,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il if elected president. When McCain addressed the crowd, he apologized for the remarks. “I regret any comments that may be made about these two individuals (Obama...

No excuse for violence against women Wilfred Langmaid DAYS BETWEEN Published Friday February 22nd, 2008 Appeared on page C10 You deserve so much more than this. So don't tell me why he's never been good to you. Don't tell me why he's never been there for you. And I'll tell you that why is simply not good enough. - Good Enough by Sarah McLachlan In the early 1990s, very shortly after my ordination as a priest, I attended a seminar with a group of Anglican clergy. That day, I was told more than one in 8 women was a victim...

EMMETSBURG, Iowa - Believing that Hillary Clinton's campaign has shifted from promoting its inevitability to defending its electability, rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards on Sunday contended the Democratic presidential front-runner is dodging hard questions and not giving specific answers to Iowa's voters. But Clinton contended that she "probably answered 5,000 questions in the last 10 months" as she spoke to more than 300 people at a regional fundraiser for local Democrats in northwestern Iowa. It was her only reference to her opponents' criticisms as she delivered her basic campaign stump speech. With an eye toward an accelerated election calendar...

Rosie turns down terrorist invitation Leaders welcomed O'Donnell to Mideast after hearing her views of 9/11, Iraq war A representative for Rosie O'Donnell has called an invitation extended to the former television talk host by Muslim terrorists leaders to visit the Middle East "absurd."

CHANCES are, if I had a gun when a burglar recently broke into our house, I would be facing criminal charges today. Because I am adamant about not having guns in the house, I will never know. But I do know the fear-suppressing adrenaline of chasing the robber who entered our home. I started after him. I wanted him. My office is in the back of the house. All of the house windows were cranked open a few inches to let the breeze in. About 1 p.m. I heard something fall in the front of the house. I figured the...

Kucinich's diet Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) offered an explanation for why he chooses a vegan diet today during the LiveStrong presidential candidates forum on cancer. He explained he has dropped 25 pounds since taking on a no-meat diet. He said his food choices give him tons of energy to use on the campaign trail, and, apparently, in his personal life. "I'm 60, my wife's 29. You draw your own conclusions," he said, adding as the MSNBC camera panned to wife Elizabeth: "Diet helps." Moderator Lance Armstrong complained, "This has really deteriorated," but then joined in the fun: "I would just...

“Speak Out in Public On Memorial Day, get your friends, kids, co-workers, neighbors, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers, and anyone and everyone you know together to show your support for the troops and end the war. Bring “Support the Troops! End the War!” signs. Invite any local speakers who you think share our message of patriotic responsibility. Be sure to check with your local authority for any permits you need for public gatherings. Contact local media to publicize your event. Make sure you conduct yourself respectfully-both for those serving in Iraq and the memory of the brave servicemen and women that...

<p>Two weeks ago Thursday, I agreed to participate in the “Day of Defiance” on April 25, which is a counter protest to the now national “Day of Silence”. This “observance” takes place in many high schools around late April nationwide. I planned on reading redacted paragraphs from the Little Black Book. I made this public statement on the MassResistance radio program, pre-recorded on Thursday, April 18.</p>

We published an analysis on “Dollar Myths” in which we criticized spending habits in Washington: "Interestingly, nobody seemed to focus on the fact that there is an unconventional solution to foreigners holding too much of our debt: live within your means and do not issue debt. Such an old fashioned concept would indeed strengthen the dollar. Unfortunately, none of the presidential candidates at either side of the aisle seem to have heard of this notion." We missed that there is indeed a presidential candidate who believes in the old fashioned view to “live within your means.” Our apologies go to...

An experienced Republican operative of our acquaintance--normally a man of sanguine disposition--said it all last week. After denouncing the amazing irresponsibility of the Democratic Congress, after lamenting the refusal of much of the media to report progress from Iraq, after noting the apparent incompetence of the attorney general, after wondering why the secretary of state seems to be making herself irrelevant--he came as close as he ever does to exploding. "But all this doesn't matter. It's really about Bush. Doesn't he understand he's walking around with a 'Kick Me' sign on his back?" Surely President Bush must realize that the...

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has apologized to U.S. attorneys under him and appointed an interim chief of staff as pressure builds for him to resign. Gonzales apologized to all 93 U.S. attorneys in a conference call Friday as morale in U.S. attorneys' offices across the country deteriorated, McClatchy Newspapers reported. Gonzales has been at the center of a controversy over the way in which eight U.S. attorneys were fired in recent months

President Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday to resist pressure from “bullies and corrupt powers” on Iran to abandon its nuclear programme, which he described as a potential “role model” for other countries.The Iranian leader’s comments, delivered to a crowd in the northern town of Fuman, came 24 hours after the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog reported that Tehran had not only failed to halt uranium enrichment but was expanding its activities. Iran insists that its programme is peaceful, but the United States and other Western countries believe that it is a cover to develop weapons. Diplomats from the five permanent UN Security...

Super Bowl gives Chicago a chance to show crass behavior toward opponents isn't the norm The Bears are facing a big test Sunday, of course. But so are Bears fans. Can they root with class? Win with grace? Lose with dignity? Two weeks ago, the team succeeded, but the fans failed. Not all the fans, of course. But it didn't take many poor sports--cruel, foul-mouthed Bears backers whose abuse of visitors from New Orleans became legendary--to shame the franchise and the city. A photo taken at Soldier Field of a man carrying a sandwich board-size sign reading "Bears, finishing what...

CAMERON — Former presidents and A-list Academy Award-winning actors are a few steps up from the kind of dignitaries generally spotted at the dedication of a local hospital, but Cameron Parish hosted one of each at an event for South Cameron Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. Former President George Bush and actor George Clooney headlined an event in the Hurricane Rita-ripped city of Cameron that was partly a rally and partly an announcement of a $2 million donation for the ruined hospital from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. Welcoming them were hundreds of Cameron residents gathered on the bare foundations or what...

Even the most "moderate" Democrat politicians in America today are ready to retreat from Iraq – essentially raise the white flag of surrender, sue for peace and demonstrate to the world, once again, that the U.S. is an unreliable ally in the cause of freedom. Take your pick: Jim Webb, the challenger to Sen. George Allen in Virginia, was a Marine who served as Ronald Reagan's Navy secretary. From his resume, he looks like a guy I could support to be in the U.S. Senate. But, just to become a Democratic Senate nominee in a large state these days means...

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A soldier who fled to Canada two years ago after serving in Iraq said he would return home to face consequences from the U.S. Army.

Former US president Jimmy Carter speaks with DER SPIEGEL about the danger posed to American values by George W. Bush, the difficult situation in the Middle East and Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro. SPIEGEL: Mr. Carter, in your new book you write that only the American people can ensure that the US government returns to the country's old moral principles. Are you suggesting that the current US administration of George W. Bush of acting immorally? Carter: There's no doubt that this administration has made a radical and unpressured departure from the basic policies of all previous administrations including those of both...

Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy is charging back at the vice president for his remarks on the Connecticut Senate race. Vice President Dick Cheney claimed last week that Ned Lamont’s upset victory in the Democratic primary could embolden terrorists. He suggested Lamont’s victory might encourage "the al-Qaida types” who want to break the will of the American people. In an opinion piece in the Hartford Courant’s Sunday edition, Kennedy said Cheney went "too far” in his swipe against Lamont. He said the vice president’s words were ugly and frightening. Lamont said in an interview with the Associated Press that he was...

Onscreen king of kvetch Larry David just couldn't contain himself at a Martha's Vineyard parking lot last weekend when an errant shopping cart scratched his beloved BMW 530. According to Page Six, the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld" creator and his wife were outside a Vineyard Haven supermarket when a runaway cart made what one eyewitness said was "a little dent" in David's $75,000 car. David proceeded to call the cops and started, says the witness, "in a golf shirt and shorts, flapping away with his arms. It was just like an episode on his show." Vineyard cops confimed that...

Facing what recent polls show as a near-certain defeat at the hands of an anti-war challenger in his Connecticut's Democratic primary Tuesday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman joined his supporter New York Senator Hillary Clinton in calling on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. A Quinnipiac University poll last Thursday showed Lieberman lagging by a hefty 13 points, and most political analysts blame Lieberman's loss of support on his pro-Iraq war position. It wasn't the first time Lieberman has called for Rumsfeld's resignation. The New York Post recalled that in a 2003 interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation," the senator called...