Obama on conspiracy theories, birth certificates
President Barack Obama says most Americans are confident that he is American-born and bred and says the “birther” issue could be a problem for Republican challengers in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Obama addressed the persistent questions about his place of birth when he was invited, during an ABC News interview, to size up his potential opponents.
He was also asked his thoughts on Donald Trump’s rise to the top of the Republican field on “fantasies” about the president’s background.
Obama seemed amused.
“Over the past two-and-a-half years there’s been an effort to go at me in a way that is politically expedient in the short-term for Republicans — but creates, I think, a problem for them when they want to actually run in a general election where most people feel pretty confident the president was born where he says he was, in Hawaii,” Obama said.
“He doesn’t have horns,” he added, laughing.
Obama said people may disagree with him on some issues and worry about the unemployment rate and gas prices but they are “not really worrying about conspiracy theories or — or birth certificates.”
Does Obama have hidden talents? New Year’s Eve may bring ‘em to light
Barack Obama may have some talents that the rest of the world doesn’t know about but only a few friends and family members are going to see them.
The Obamas and their friends were to hold an annual talent show Friday night in Hawaii to celebrate New Year’s Eve, a White House spokesman said. No word on what talents would be on display.
Thoughts, anyone? Does Obama’s famous speaking voice also carry a tune?
Meanwhile, the president has been busy golfing, dining out and reading on his vacation in Hawaii.
The three books he is working his way through:
“President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime” by Lou Cannon, “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet” by David Mitchell and “Our Kind of Traitor” by John le Carre.
Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Obama waves in Honolulu)
Obama, facing resurgent Republicans, reaches for Reagan bio
President Barack Obama, facing a divided Congress when he returns to Washington from vacation in early January, has invoked Republican hero Ronald Reagan during his own presidency to muster bipartisan support.
Perhaps he thought he could pick up some tips on how to deal with the other party, which takes control of the U.S. House of Representatives next month. Democrat Obama is now reading a biography of the former Republican president during his Christmas stay with the first family in Hawaii.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs revealed in a tweet on Friday that Obama was reading a biography of Reagan by journalist Lou Cannon.
Obama cited Reagan last week when he pushed for ratification of a new START nuclear weapons treaty with Russia. He also referenced Reagan when talking this month about a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code, which was last accomplished under Reagan in 1986.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (Obama’s dog Bo is walked near the first family’s vacation home in Kailua, Hawaii on Dec. 24)
If this story, like so many others about apparent contradictions, baffles you, I suggest you read Matt Taibbi’s new book Griftopia. I did, and I can now face and understand the merger of Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan.
I don’t even feel depressed.
Bo braves rabies shots to share Obama Hawaii holiday
Bo may lead a life of perks and treats at the White House, but the first dog still had to get rabies shots like any other canine visiting Hawaii in order to share the holidays with the president and first family.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Bo received two rabies vaccinations, an implanted electronic microchip and had to have a blood test to ensure that he was rabies-free.
Janelle Saneishi, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture, told the newspaper that the White House started the process for Bo after the first family completed their Hawaiian Christmas vacation last year.
“Hawaii is the only rabies-free state,” Saneishi said, “and that is the only reason for these restrictions.”
First lady Michelle and the Obama daughters Malia and Sasha arrived on Hawaii on Saturday, but President Barack Obama stayed behind in Washington to support legislation he wants Congress to pass before the end of the year. The White House says he won’t leave town until Congress goes home for Christmas, which will likely mean a departure on Wednesday.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Obama family dog Bo at White House in April 2010)
Please – everyone reading this article who has a pet: Get it microchipped NOW! It could save your pet’s life, as the family of Target, the hero dog featured on the Oprah Show, learned tragically. Also make certain that all pets have at least the initial set of vaccinations!
Well it’s nice to be in Hawaii anyway…
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought her diplomatic cavalcade to Honolulu, where on Tuesday she and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada traded notes on South Pacific paradise.
Clinton welcomed Okada to Hawaii, noting the state’s particularly close connection with one of its most famous sons, President Barack Obama — who recently spent his Christmas break nearby.
“He was born here. He grew up here. So we’re especially pleased to have this opportunity to be in Hawaii together,” she said at the start of their talks.
Clinton and Okada then turned their attention to an island further north — Japan’s Okinawa — where a simmering dispute over a U.S. military base has cast a shadow over the 50-year-old security relationship between the two countries.
Few are expecting any big breakthroughs in Hawaii, although plenty of promises of future cooperation are likely to be on the menu.
After the meeting, Clinton is due to visit another landmark in the U.S.-Japan relationship: Pearl Harbor.
Photo credit: Reuters/Hugh Gentry (Clinton meets with Japan’s Okada in Hawaii)
First Lady proposes coup as Obama family finishes Hawaii vacation
All good things must come to an end, including presidential vacations.
After several golf games, beach days and dinners out, President Barack Obama and his family are leaving Hawaii to head back to Washington and the waiting White House.
Unless First Lady Michelle Obama has anything to say about it, that is.
“I’m trying to mount a coup,” Mrs. Obama joked to reporters about staying in the sunny island state. “Are we all in?”
The president may wish that coup had succeeded when he gets back to Washington on Monday. A debate about U.S. national security in the wake of the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day awaits him upon his return.
The president spent about 11 days in Hawaii, the state where he grew up, mixing family time with work time.
se on hyvä että tässä ajassa aletaan ymmärtämään ilmaston muutoksista ja sen eteen tehdään töitä tv.make ranualta
Senate gives Obama Christmas present and then he gets Hawaiian holiday
How much better could it get?
President Barack Obama won a hard-fought victory on his signature domestic issue — healthcare reform — first thing in the morning with the Senate vote and then he left the frozen tundra of Washington, D.C., (we’re talking about the weather) for the balmy tropics of Hawaii.
A sweet start to the Christmas holidays for the first family.
Air Force One landed at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu (even some of the Secret Service agents on the ground were in Hawaiian shirts) and everyone in the first family was greeted with the traditional lei around their necks.
Then it was off to their Kailua home, past lush green rolling hills, with gawkers stopping to take pictures, wave, call someone, flash the “hang loose” sign and essentially give the Obamas a warm welcome.
No word yet from the White House on first family Christmas presents or on precisely how they are planning to celebrate the holiday, except that the president is going to relax.
“I think the president is going to wake up and see where the day takes him. I’ve checked out the forecast for the entire time we’re there … Friday it’s 81 and sunny, Saturday it’s 81 and sunny. So I think that the weather ought to lend itself to some outdoor activity,” White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One.
Washington Irony Alert!
Washington D.C. is usually known as a town that takes itself very seriously. You know, policy, politics, money, relieved by the occasional scandal. President Barack Obama appears to be doing his part to alleviate this metropolitan irony deficiency.
As morning TV showed closed airports, closed schools, snarled traffic and grumpy commuters and holiday travelers, there was video from the White House showing First Dog Bo frolicking in the snow left from a massive weekend storm.
But Obama didn’t stop there. His official schedule has him delivering remarks on making government more efficient and effective. Who doesn’t want that? It’s only slightly ironic that the federal government is closed today, thanks to the snow piled up all over the place, most notably on the city streets.
It shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Obama family. Even though the president said the other day that a White House covered in white made him feel at home — he’s used to Chicago’s mega-snows — he’s expected to head to Hawaii this week for the holidays.
For more Reuters political news click here.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (White-covered White House, December 20, 2009)
Hawaii’s favorite son commemorates its new saint
Father Damien de Veuster, one of Hawaii’s most revered figures, was remembered on Friday by the state’s most famous — U.S. President Barack Obama.
The 19th century Roman Catholic priest from Belgium cared for people with leprosy, also known as Hansen’s Disease, who had been placed in government-sanctioned quarantine on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
Father Damien, who eventually contracted the disease and died of it at age 49, is honored around the world as the “leper priest.” He is also considered a patron saint of those who suffer from HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
Pope Benedict will canonize Father Damien as a saint on Sunday, making him the first saint with such close ties to Hawaii.
“I recall many stories from my youth about his tireless work there to care for those suffering from leprosy who had been cast out,” said Obama, a Hawaii native, in a statement on Father Damien’s upcoming canonization.
“In our own time as millions around the world suffer from disease, especially the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien’s resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick,” he said.
How blessed is Hawaii for having such a person of highest respect for life represent them as a Saint. This is what a role model is and does for humanity.
Hotel will be Obamas’ first home in Washington
KAILUA, Hawaii – U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and his family will trade their plush Chicago home for a Washington hotel this weekend when they formally move to the capital. The Obamas are still vacationing on the Hawaiian island of Oahu but are due to return to Chicago on Thursday in preparation for the relocation to Washington. Obama’s daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, are set to start classes at Sidwell Friends school on Monday. “They will stay at a Washington hotel through the 15th and then they will move into the Blair House,” a transition aide said, referring to the guest residence across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. The Obamas had asked to move into Blair House two weeks before the traditional date of Jan. 15 because of their daughters’ Jan. 5 start at their new school, but the White House said this was not possible because of previously scheduled events. Obama will formally move into the White House on Jan. 20, the day he is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. The transition aide said Obama would continue to work on his economic recovery plan to rescue the United States from deep recession in the days leading up to his inauguration.
Photo credit: Reuters/Hugh Gentry U.S. President-elect Barack Obama with daughters Malia and Sasha in Hawaii, Dec. 30, 2008
Click here for more Reuters political coverage.
TC, everything blamed on Republicans? Come on now. Yes a lot of blame has fallen on Bush but guess what, he’s the guy in charge. The amazing thing is how he has been able to dodge the blame like it was a flying shoe. I will give you one point on the Blair house thing however. Blair house is booked because nobody anticipated that Obama would want to move to DC early and you are right that exceptions should not be made for Obama. As far as big shoes to fill, you set yourself up so easily for a shoe joke that out of mercy I’m not going to make one. However I would like to see a list of Bush’s accomplishments that you think constitutes the “big shoes” that Obama must fill and yes I dare say we will be even happier in four years than we are right now.
http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-99 -00570.pdf
It is extremely naive to believe any government official given their own reports on rampant birth certificate fraud. Falsified birth certificates are used routinely by illegal aliens to gain access to SSN, mortgages, and public services. According to the report above 85% of all birth certificate fraud is based on genuine documents issued by those same “honest” and “hardworking” public officials. I somehow doubt Hawaii is any different than any other state. The real issue is that any honest individual who is expecting to lead the whole country would feel compelled to address this issue to his full measure. Instead Obama thumbs his nose at almost 1/2 the population and hides behind a team of high priced attorneys. No wonder he wants amnesty for illegal aliens so badly he probably needs it for himself. Obama’s father had the motivation, means, and connections to get American citizenship for his son no matter where he was actually born. Personally his birth place does not matter to me one way or the other. What does matter is that Obama has shown that he has no honor and therefore does not deserve my respect or support.