Obamas seek shrimp as rain lets up on Martha’s Vineyard
The First Family took advantage of a break in the rainy weather on Martha’s Vineyard Wednesday to escape their holiday farm and make their first public foray together.
They wound up at Nancy’s seafood restaurant on the waterfront in the town of Oak Bluffs. First Lady Michelle Obama commiserated with the crowd after three solid days of driving rain that had kept holiday-makers, including the Obamas, holed up playing board games and reading books to make the most of their summer vacation.
“How you guys doing? Drying off? Finally,” she asked restaurant guests, after shepherding her daughters Malia and Sasha into the restaurant for a late lunch with friends.
Complimented by a well-wisher on a purple-colored watch, she confided it was a present from the president, but hinted that he had gotten help in making the selection.
“I think somebody told him,” she said, clad in white Capri pants and a coral-colored cardigan over a striped shirt.
Her husband, in a white polo shirt, dark slacks and a White Sox baseball cap, cross-examined dining companion Eric Whittaker, an old Chicago friend, over his menu selection and shook hands with fellow diners.
The restaurant trip was the first time the Obamas had ventured out in public as a family. It came on day six of their 10-day holiday to the upscale island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Obama unwinds into summer vacation, reading list revealed
Finally, the presidential summer reading list is revealed — well, one book anyway.
President Barack Obama took his daughters book browsing on Day 2 of the First Family’s summer vacation on the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Obama, casually dressed and sporting a baseball cup of his beloved White Sox, greeted and shook the hands of surprised shoppers in The Bunch of Grapes book store on Main Street in the pretty seaside town of Vineyard Haven, before leading Sasha, 9, and Malia, 12, upstairs to browse.
The First Reader bought Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, a novel that The New York Times review said showcases “his ability to throw open a big, Updikean picture window on American middle-class life.”
A sales assistant said the president also purchased “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning classic tale of racial tension in the segregated south of 1930′s America, and John Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony,” set on a California ranch in the same era. (We’re thinking those books were probably for the girls).
The visit swiftly drew a crowd of several hundred, as holiday makers emptied out of shops and cafes onto Main Street to catch a glimpse of their famous fellow vacationers.
Mocha Mott’s Good Coffee, down the street from the bookshop, was honoring the president with a Mocha/Obama special, a blend of either iced or hot mocha with milk and white chocolate for between $3.35 and $5.05 (including tax).
Suggested Book…Over The Cliff: How The Election Of Barack Obama Drove The Right Insane.
“Over the Cliff examines the right wing’s eagerness, especially in the aftermath of President Obama’s election, to invent and propagate stories that are provably false. Noting that such stories are disseminated in large part by mainstream-media figures like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs, the authors link that kookery to a wave of lethal violence and threatening behavior. They also explore the main drivers of this descent into nonsense, including a resurgence of extremist groups and the longtime Republican strategy of exploiting racial and cultural resentment. Finally, Over the Cliff details ways ordinary Americans can resist this madness.
For Obama, what’s bigger challenge — being a dad or being president?
Barack Obama has a storied resume but the job he says is the hardest may surprise you: being a father.
The U.S. president, who has drawn headlines for pushing dads to be more involved in their children’s lives, returned to the subject on Monday.
“Over the course of my life, I have been an attorney, I’ve been a professor, I’ve been a state senator, I’ve been a U.S. senator — and I currently am serving as President of the United States,” Obama said at an event celebrating Father’s Day.
“But I can say without hesitation that the most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have during my time on this Earth is to be Sasha and Malia’s dad.”
The First Dad said he had made plenty of mistakes as a father — including spending too much time on the job.
“I’ve lost count of all the times when the demands of work have taken me from the duties of fatherhood. And I know I’ve missed out on moments in my daughters’ lives that I’ll never get back, and that’s a loss that’s hard to accept,” he said.
“But I also know the feeling that one author described when she wrote that ‘to have a child…is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body’.”
Washington blizzard finally gets respect from ‘flinty’ Obama
President Barack Obama, who famously chided Washington for not being “flinty” enough in dealing with snow compared with his hometown Chicago, isn’t scoffing any more as a winter storm threatens to dump up to 30 inches on the U.S. capital this weekend.
“I think even a transplanted Hawaiian to Chicago has sufficient respect for a forecast of nearly two feet of snow,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters as snowflakes fluttered against the window of his West Wing office.
Midwesterners like Obama like to brag how tough they are in winter weather compared with their East Coast brethren. That said, Gibbs noted the president was not going to have to shovel the White House’s many paths, although he allowed that the Obama daughters Sasha and Malia might well play in the drifts or get out the First Family’s sled.
Washingtonians, whose city is far enough south to rarely face this sort of severe winter weather, do not deal well with snow. Schools shut after only a smattering of snow gathers on the ground – which was the basis for Obama’s original complaint – and traffic descends quickly into chaos.
“Being from Alabama, I am happy to inform you I will be getting off the road and watching you all try to drive,” Gibbs said.
For more Reuters political news, click here
Photo credit: Reuters/Molly Riley
On Thanksgiving Eve, Obama family hits the Turkey line
The First Family swooped in for a swift spot of volunteering Wednesday at Martha’s Table, about two miles from the White House, handing out turkeys and groceries to a fast-moving line of the local needy.
On the eve of Thanksgiving, first lady Michelle warmly greeted people and handed them bags of fresh vegetables – she’s big on eating right – while leaning over to gently pinch the face of her youngest daughter, Sasha.
The eight-year-old was busy in the turkey stuffing department next to dad, President Barack Obama. Clad in a black zip-up jacket and open necked white shirt, Obama greeting people with a hearty “Happy Thanksgiving, How Are You,” as he flashed wide smiles and industriously slipped pumpkin pies into food bags while simultaneously shaking hands. Eldest daughter Malia, 11, standing next to her mother, also seemed to be having a good time as she distributed packets of food.
The Obamas were joined by a dozen or so family and friends, in town to share Thanksgiving with them at the White House, including Michelle’s mother, Marian Robinson, as well as the president’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and brother-in-law Konrad Ng.
Click here for more Reuters political coverage
(Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obamas hand out food on day before Thanksgiving in Washington DC Nov. 25, 2009))
Janeycat, perhaps George W. simply lacked conscience. Every President since Truman has had the CIA carry out missions that would be classified as war crimes by the Hague at Nuremberg back in 1946. To my knowledge even George Washington our last president as statesman admitted to making mistakes. He went on to say “I beseech the Almighty to mitigate or avert any evils I
have caused”. I am aware of no such admission by a President since. Could it be all subsequent Presidents were perfect and George Washington was not?
First children get new swing set
A puppy isn’t the only thing first children Sasha and Malia are getting to ease their transition to White House life. A well-equipped playground set appeared outside the Oval Office Wednesday, complete with swings, slides, rope ladders, climbing slopes, clubhouse and crawl spaces. The playground set was designed by Rainbow Play Systems. The positioning should let President Barack Obama keep an eye on the children while working. For more Reuters political news, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (New swing set erected near Oval Office)
come on now what is so wrong with the children having a swing set. I mean afterall their parents made good money before moving in the white house and i’m almost certain that they had a little money set aside where they could afford to purchase the children a swing set. Enjoy the ride kiddies. There are too many people hatting on the Obama’s that have of them can’t even address the president properly “He is President Obama” like many tv anchor women and men call him Mr. Obama, it’s President Obama. Give the man his well deserved r-e-s-p-e-c-t.
Obama reveals motivation to daughters
WASHINGTON - You mean it wasn’t just about the fun stuff on the campaign trail — like junk food, picnics and parades?
Soon to be dad-in-chief, Barack Obama, explains to his young daughters why he ran for president in an open letter published this week by Parade magazine.
Obama tells Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, that as a young man he thought life was “all about me” — until they entered his life. And suddenly all of his big plans for himself didn’t seem so important anymore, he said.
“I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours,” he said. “In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for president: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation,” Obama said.
Good schools, the chance to go to college, and good jobs with benefits are some of the things Obama says he wants for every child in America.
“And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have,” Obama said. “That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.”
A new chapter in the adventure opens on Tuesday when the Obamas move into the White House.
This is a quote from H.G. Wells in his great work “The Outline of History”. I would like President Elect Obama to know of this quote.
“If human greatness is a matter of scale and glitter, then no doubt Alexander the Great is at the apex of human greatness. But is greatness that? Is not a great man rather one who, in a great position or amidst great opportunities–and great gifts are no more than great opportunities–serves God and his fellows with a humble heart?”
Early move to Washington for Obama’s wife, daughters
CHICAGO – Barack Obama moves to Washington on Sunday — 16 days before he is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
But his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia will beat him to their new home city.
The three are traveling on Saturday to settle in at the luxury Hay Adams Hotel until moving into Blair House, the guest residence across Pennsylvania from the White House, on Jan. 15. They take up residence in the White House on Jan. 20, the day Obama is sworn is as president.
The early move will allow them to get settled without the glare of the media spotlight that will be on Obama as he travels to Washington on Sunday, aides said.
Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, start classes at their new school — Sidwell Friends — on Monday morning. The Obamas, who are fiercely protective of their children and who have limited their media exposure, have said they would try to give their daughters as normal as a childhood as possible even while they are living at the White House.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Hugh Gentry (The Obamas board plane Jan. 1)
Everyone had their say. You voted, I voted. It’s over. He’s the next president of the United States and you aren’t going to change that by clinging to a technicality that has no merit.
Doesn’t matter if he won by one vote or eight million. He still won. He’s my next president, and whether you agree with his changes or not, he’s YOUR next president.
First Dog tradition to continue under Obama
WASHINGTON – Worry not dog lovers, the White House will still have a “First Dog” under a Barack Obama administration.******Obama had promised that whether or not he won the White House, his daughters Sasha and Malia could get a dog.******”Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us,” Obama said at the start of his victory speech. ******His predecessors dating back several administrations had dogs and yes, a few cats occupied the White House too.******Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, is also getting in on the act. He told reporters traveling with him earlier that his wife had promised him a “big dog” if he got elected.******Jill Biden had taped pictures of different dogs on the back of the seat in front of him on his campaign plane to inspire the candidate as he criss-crossed the country in the final sprint to election day.******”Jill had said the only way you are getting a dog is if you are president … we didn’t think about vice president,” said Biden. “She said at least if you live in the White House you are home.”******He dropped out of the presidential race but when Obama asked him to join the ticket, his wife Jill said if he did so she would let him have the dog he wanted.******Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.******- Additional reporting by Sue Pleming******- Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama family emerges on stage at victory rally in Chicago)
We have a papillon that we adopted 6 (almost 7 years) ago. She has a wonderful disposition, isn’t too big (about 12 lbs) and very lovable and loyal, also not at all yappy and very smart. I’d like to see a papillon in the White House & think a papillon would make an excellent pet for anyone.
