"At a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."
"I feel like the inspector in ‘Casablanca,’ who is shocked to find out that there’s gambling in this establishment. National security is always a political football in presidential elections, and when the facts are against you, and when it’s playing against your party, you complain that the other side is politicizing national security."
— Jeremy Mayer, professor of public policy at George Mason University — Obama Doubles Down on Touting Osama Bin Laden Death
"Mrs. Obama’s favorability rating has been consistent. Last October, 63 percent thought positively about her. Last May, it was 66 percent and in September 2010, it was 65 percent. However, there is a partisan split. Ninety-one percent of Democrats and 63 percent of independents have a favorable impression of Mrs. Obama, but only 43 percent of Republicans see her favorably."
— Michelle Obama Remains Consistently Popular — Ken Walsh’s Washington
A recent poll released by the Pew Research Center, shows Obama improving his standing with independent voters in a head-to-head match-up against top GOP contender Mitt Romney. Just a month ago, only 40 percent of registered independent voters nationwide preferred Obama to the former Massachusetts governor, but now that number sits at 51 percent.
Watch Obama Launch a Marshmallow at the White House Science Fair, with a pressure-loaded marshmallow air cannon designed by 14 year old Joey Hudy.
"There is an undercurrent in American politics that goes way back—this xenophobic fear of the other. In Roosevelt’s day, that fear of the other was communism or Jews. There was this whole cottage industry that was trying to prove Roosevelt was Jewish and that he was part of an international Jewish conspiracy to take over America. Right now we’re anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim; back then it was anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish. Whenever that comes to the surface, it seems to usher in these kinds of movements. Whenever there is a fear that somebody is leading us astray and away from capitalism and more into socialism, there is the eruption, it seems, of this kind of reactionary response."
— Sally Denton, author of The Plots Against the President: FDR, a Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right — Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Those Who Hated Him, by Tierney Sneed
"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What’s at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them."
— President Barack Obama — State of the Union Speech Focuses on Middle Class Success: In election year speech, Obama outlines White House vision for creating jobs and to ‘reclaim American values’ — by Kenneth T. Walsh
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, sit for a family portrait in the Oval Office, Dec. 11, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama buying pumpkins at Wood’s Orchard in Hampton, Virginia, Oct. 19, 2011; from our “Obama Behind the Scenes” photo gallery, now freshly redesigned!
Following his announcement of a U.S. “pivot” toward the Pacific region, President Obama is in Bali, Indonesia, this weekend for the East Asia Summit. His visit marks the first-time the United States has attended the regional meeting. While few expect anything concrete to emerge from the conference, Obama’s symbolic visit could help the country win points—especially over China—with regional players seeking more U.S. attention.
Obama Turkey ‘Pardon’ Not Good Enough For PETA:
t’s just not good enough for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that the White House symbolically pardons two massive turkeys on the eve of each Thanksgiving.
Now PETA wants to retire the word pardon.
At issue: Pardons are used to free crooks. And, they say, the birds are innocent victims.
"The White House said the order calls for a shrinking of the federal vehicle fleet and a reduction in “swag” — promotional clothing, coffee mugs and gadgets that agencies sometimes buy."
