Archive » Alan Elsner

Obama warms to commander-in-chief role

Alan Elsner — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:02:44 +0000

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is not yet commander in chief of the armed forces, but he appears to be warming up to the role as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20 and begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and sending more to Afghanistan.

First, he used his Christmas message to pay tribute to the "selfless sacrifice" of the men and women in uniform, and then on Christmas Day, in his only public outing, he visited a Marine Corps base in Hawaii, where he is holidaying, to thank the Marines and sailors stationed there for their service.

He spent 75 minutes shaking hands, chatting with the servicemen and posing for photographs at their cafeteria, where they had been enjoying a traditional Christmas dinner before his surprise arrival.

Obama is no stranger to the base. He has been visiting it every day since his arrival to work out at the gym there. He broke that routine on Christmas Day, resetting the clock on the seven-day-a-week workout regimen that he religiously follows when at home in Chicago.

Some of the servicemen appeared bemused to see him, while others whipped out their camera phones to snap pictures after he walked into the cafeteria with a bellowed "Hi everybody, Merry Christmas."

Local media reported that a Marine stationed at the base, Corporal Thomas Reilly Jr, 19, had been killed in an attack in Iraq's western Anbar province on Sunday.

Ex-U.S. spy recalls years on no-fly list

Alan Elsner — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:02:01 +0000

Posted by Randall Mikkelsen

ORLANDO, Fla - Decades of passing lie detector tests and the most stringent background checks count little when it comes to the U.S. no-fly terrorist watch list, the Pentagon's former spy chief recalled on Monday.

Retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes, once the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a top Homeland Security Department intelligence official, said after he entered the private sector in 2005 he was denied boarding on a flight because his name was on the no-fly list. It has taken him ever since to clear up the confusion.

"It happened three years ago, I just got off the list -- Yay!," Hughes said at a conference of intelligence analysts.

Security screenings were nothing new to Hughes -- he said had passed them going back to the 1960s -- but he was stopped short when the watch list flagged an Irish Republican Army member with the same name.

"It's all about the name. I don't see anything really subversive about Patrick .... Hughes, but it appears there's an IRA guy out there who has the same name. Probably equally handsome," he said.

Hughes's was one of about 50,000 names on the no-fly list, which has mushroomed since the Sept. 11 attacks, when it contained just 16 people considered threats to aviation.
Also snagged by similar name mix-ups have been Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and 1960s civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis. Such problems show the watchlist is poorly managed, critics say, but authorities call it a useful tool and say they have tightened procedures against such problems.

Clinton sees $$ in protestors’ wake

Alan Elsner — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:20:34 +0000

WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton got a rapturous response from a mostly female audience at a fundraiser on Wednesday evening. Many in the audience urged her to stay in the race for the Democratic White House nomination against rival Barack Obama.

But at least two demonstrators dissented, standing and interrupting her speech before being led out of the room.

Clinton, a senator from New York, was not thrown off. "I welcome that," she said, saying strong opinions were part of the American birthright. "It's who we are."

The former first lady, who disclosed earlier that she loaned another $6.4 million to her campaign, said she hoped the protestors made another kind of contribution in addition to disrupting her remarks. "I hope they paid to come."

McCain names guy from “The Office” as running mate

Alan Elsner — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:49:40 +0000

NEW YORK - The waiting is over.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he will be running for president of the highest office of the land with a guy from "The Office."

At a taping of the Daily Show in New York on Wednesday, the Arizona senator gave presenter Jon Stewart the scoop on his vice presidential pick.

"You heard it here first, Dwight Schrute."

Dwight Schrute is a fictional character on NBC's sleeper hit "The Office," portrayed by actor Rainn Wilson, who plays a salesman at a paper goods distribution company.

The character is an assistant to the regional manager with ideas above his station. He longs to lord it over others and relishes any minor task given to him.

Stewart shot back that he had a better idea.

"You know who your running mate should be if you want to win this election? Senator Hillary Clinton ... Don't you think that's a great idea?"

McCain was unimpressed.

"It's one I've never contemplated."