Monday, February 20, 2012

Wassup? Doc! Oops, MSNBC

Wassup? Doc!: Sid Harth

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Wassup? Doc! Oops, MSNBC

Politics is a strange animal. Everywhere, not just in America. Stranger is the biased reporting by major media. I have nothing against any such (hi-lighted for the dummies) reporting by MSNBC. I hardly read any of that junk, myself. This is, practically, the first time.
Enjoy.
…and I am Sid Harth@cogitoergosumsite.com
  1. Top stories via
    1. REUTERS
      Michigan primary crucial for Romney campaign, MTP Roundtable says
  2. More news
    1. NYT: Detroit fallout trails Romney Whether voters see a principled stand or ruthless capitalism in Mitt Romney’s 2008 opposition to the auto industry rescue will affect how he fares in Michigan’s primary and likely beyond. Full story
    2. Romney’s earmarks for Olympics get new attention
    3. NYT: US should help Syria rebels, McCain says
    4. Santorum: Obama believes in ‘phony theology’
  1. Dispatches from NBC embeds via First Read
    1. Gingrich, Cain campaign together in Georgia By NBC’s Alex Moe: Newt Gingrich, acknowledging his campaign “all hinges on Georgia,” campaigned Saturday with a very familiar face in the state, fellow Georgian Herman Cain.
    1. Santorum: Prenatal testing encourages abortions By NBC’s Andrew Rafferty: Rick Santorum accused President Obama of requiring free prenatal testing because it would detect if children were disabled and encourage more abortions.
Fast-breaking analysis from the NBC Political Unit
An exclusive week-long, all-access pass to “Meet the Press”

Video

  1. Candidates look to Michigan

    As the Michigan primary approaches, Rick Santorum struggles to explain what some say was a knock on the President’s faith. NBC’s Ron Mott reports.

Video

  1. Post Show Thoughts: State of the race

    David Gregory analyzes this morning’s Meet The Press, including interviews with House Budget Committee leaders on the economy, the payroll tax cut compromise and issues of religious freedom.

Video

  1. Social issues in the GOP presidential race

    Andrea Mitchell, Al Hunt, Helene Cooper and Ed Gillespie debate the prominence of women’s rights, gay marriage and religious freedom in the 2012 campaign.

Social: From the field

NBC Embeds
@NBCFirstRead
@NBCPolitics
  1. AlexNBCNewsAlexNBCNews My first trip to OK — covering Gingrich (@ Tulsa International Airport (TUL) w/ 4 others) http://t.co/XEZKDS5p11:17pm on 2/19/2012
  2. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews In flight Internet allows me to tell you: the middle-aged man in 24C is listening to Christina Aguilera so loud I can hear across the aisle9:55pm on 2/19/2012
  3. AlexNBCNewsAlexNBCNews This week, supposed to be in: OK, AZ, ID, WA, CA, MI… Plus TN and GA again next week! #thatsalotofflights #decision20129:18pm on 2/19/2012
  4. AlexNBCNewsAlexNBCNews Interesting piece from POLITICO’s @GingerGibson — Newt Gingrich 2012: Looking south for comeback http://t.co/FC6X8nav #decision20129:17pm on 2/19/2012
  5. JoNBCNewsJoNBCNews Great assist down the court by @JLin7 at the end of the game!3:36pm on 2/19/2012
  6. JamieNBCNewsJamieNBCNews Traverse City, Michigan #decision2012 http://t.co/HrhVo84J1:09pm on 2/19/2012
  7. AndrewNBCNewsAndrewNBCNews TPaw writing memoir “called the road to the White House. But the subtitle is, ‘All the way from Minnesota to Iowa.’” per @JamieNBCNews2:41am on 2/19/2012
  8. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews Scott Hamilton on the ice right now. Man I used to love watching this guy skate. Backflips anyone?9:33pm on 2/18/2012
  9. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews Romney telling his usual Derek Parra story here in SLC, peppered with lots of “as you recall” — these folks LIVED that story.9:29pm on 2/18/2012
  10. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews RT @EmilyABC: 5 net embeds take the ice (or in front of it) in Salt Lake http://t.co/5Qb1FkxN9:11pm on 2/18/2012
  11. AndrewNBCNewsAndrewNBCNews In Akron, OH, Santorum asks “Is this Steelers country?” – Clearly out of touch w/ Ohioans. Next joke — “any Lebron James fans here?!”9:09pm on 2/18/2012
  12. AndrewNBCNewsAndrewNBCNews Speaking before Santorum in OH, local pol says “The liberals are asking us to give them more time, and I think 25 to life sounds good…”8:57pm on 2/18/2012
  13. AndrewNBCNewsAndrewNBCNews “It takes fortitude to stand up to the mayor of Akron” #ThingsBeingSaidBeforeSantorumSpeaks8:37pm on 2/18/2012
  14. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews Guess the Olympian hidden among the Romney press corps. http://t.co/opXn9U9W8:28pm on 2/18/2012
  15. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews Derek Parra, who’s medal I was just wearing, says he supports Romney because Mitt “gave him a starting line.” Good sports metaphor.8:25pm on 2/18/2012
  16. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews I won’t tell you how I won it, but this is my Olympic gold medal http://t.co/xfrD8Nnl8:16pm on 2/18/2012
  17. AndrewNBCNewsAndrewNBCNews Santorum: Obama believes in ’phony theology’ not based on Bible http://t.co/mseswWBh via @NBCFirstRead7:55pm on 2/18/2012
  18. GarrettNBCNewsGarrettNBCNews Tweets I never thought I’d write: Mitt Romney just hugged a man in a bunny suit.7:34pm on 2/18/2012
  19. AndrewNBCNewsAndrewNBCNews In Akron, OH, there is nearly 60 ppl sitting at head table at Lincoln Dinner, and each are getting a musical intro. And it’s the same song.7:12pm on 2/18/2012
  20. AnthonyNBCNewsAnthonyNBCNews In Boise @ronpaul asks if crowd could imagine a Golden Rule foreign policy. “If so, maybe 8,500 Americans would still be alive today.”7:08pm on 2/18/2012

Profile: Presidential candidates

  • Barack Obama
    Barak Obama
  • Michele Bachmann
    Michele Bachmann
  • Herman Cain
    Herman Cain
  • Newt Gingrich
    Newt Gingrich
  • Jon Huntsman
    Jon Huntsman
  • Gary Johnson
    Gary Johnson
  • Ron Paul
    Ron Paul
  • Rick Perry
    Rick Perry
  • Mitt Romney
    Mitt Romney
  • Rick Santorum
    Rick Santorum

Chart: Delegate count

TEXT FOR NON-COMPATIBLE BROWSERS HERE

Data: Colorado caucus results

The latest election results from NBC News

Data: Minnesota caucus results

The latest election results from NBC News

Data: Missouri primary results

The latest election results from NBC News

Data: Decision 2012 polls

Map: Candidate check-ins

    1. View Foursquare check-ins from presidential candidates and NBC embeds

Map: Battleground states

The NBC News Political Unit looks at the general election playing field ahead of 2012 – which states are trending  red, and which blue?
Battleground map

Political cartoons

    1. Scranton Times Tribune, Politica
      The Week in Political Cartoons Msnbc.com’s political cartoonists take a look back at the past week.

Chart: Voter Confidence Index

Barack Obama
-21
data updated 1/11/12
With an impressive electoral victory and a nation eager to turn the page in Washington, President Obama started his term with high expectations, and a high VCI. Charged political debates over federal stimulus spending and health care reform coupled with a big Republican wins in the midterm elections and a stalled economic recovery have led to an erosion of voter confidence.
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Video: Budget Committee leaders address economy

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Photos: Barack Obama’s third year in office

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  1. President Barack Obama, accompanied by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, left, whom he appointed as the head of a Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, delivers remarks at the General Electric plant in Schenectady, N.Y., Friday, Jan. 21, 2011. Obama traveled to the birthplace of the General Electric Co., to showcase a new GE deal with India and announce a restructured presidential advisory board to focus on increasing employment and competitiveness. (Richard Drew / AP) Share
  2. The president’s advisers, from left, David Axelrod, David Plouffe, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and Valerie Jarrett, walk along the Colonnade at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011, after working with Obama on the day of his State of the Union address. Axelrod left his post on Jan. 28 to become an aide to Obama’s re-election campaign. Gibbs exited the administration in February to become an outside Obama adviser. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP) Share
  3. House Speaker John Boehner gives a thumbs up to Obama after he praised his humble beginnings as a child during the president’s second State of the Union address on Jan. 25, 2011 before Congress (Vice President Joe Biden is seen at left). Obama called for bipartisanship between the parties. “We will move forward together, or not at all — for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics,” he said. (Mike Theiler / EPA) Share
  4. The motorcade of President Barack Obama is stuck in traffic during a snow storm in Washington, January 26, 2011. Obama’s motorcade was forced to negotiate multiple traffic accidents and heavy snow from Andrews Air Force Base back to the White House as a snow storm hit Washington and forced the Marine One helicopter to be grounded. (Jason Reed / Reuters) Share
  5. Members of the audience take pictures of President Barack Obama as he works the rope line after speaking about health care during the “Health Action 2011″ conference on Jan. 28, 2011 in Washington. The Health Action Network is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) Share
  6. President Barack Obama, with lawmakers and cabinet secretaries, after signing of the New START Treaty during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 2, 2011. The New START Treaty has been the centerpiece of President Obama’s disarmament agenda and a major foreign policy priority. (Shawn Thew / EPA) Share
  7. Obama makes a statement about Egypt in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington on Feb. 11, 2011. Obama said that the world had witnessed a true moment of history, after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak departed from office in the face of mass protests to his 30-year rule. (Jim Young / Reuters) Share
  8. Obama presents outgoing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs with the neck tie that the president wore during his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, during the daily press briefing on Feb. 11, 2011. “I had bought five, six ties. And Michelle didn’t like any of them,” the president explained. “And then somebody … turned and said: You know what? What about Gibbs’s tie?” He joked that Gibbs didn’t want to part with it. “But eventually he was willing to ‘take one for the Gipper.’” The gift was given to Gibbs during his last day on the job. Today is the last day Gibbs serves as the White House press secretary. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Share
  9. Obama holds a press conference in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Feb. 15, 2011 in Washington. Obama faced a battery of questions about his budget, which was released the day before. He defended his plan, insisting that was necessary in the face of the nation’s growing debt. “We’re not going to be running up the credit card any more. That’s important and that’s hard to do … I recognize that there are going to be plenty of arguments in the months to come and everybody is going to have to give a little bit.” (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) Share
  10. President Barack Obama shakes hands with former President George H.W. Bush after presenting him the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) Share
  11. President Barack Obama talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg before a dinner with Technology Business Leaders in Woodside, California, in this February 17, 2011 photograph released on February 18, 2011. In April, the president participated in a town hall moderated by Zuckerberg at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto. (Pete Souza / The White House via Reuters) Share
  12. John Legend, Jamie Foxx and Nick Jonas perform a medley during a tribute to Motown hosted by Obama at the White House on Feb. 24, 2011. In November, the first family hosted a country music night with Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss, the Band Perry, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and others. (Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) Share
  13. Obama signs H.J. Resolution 44, a two-week continuation for the U.S. government, in the Oval Office of the White House on March 2, 2011. The legislation kept the government running until March 18 and cut some $4 billion in spending. (Larry Downing / Reuters) Share
  14. Obama listens to President of Mexico Felipe Calderon during their joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on March 3, 2011. Their meeting comes at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Mexico over drug-cartel violence at the border. (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA) Share
  15. Obama makes a statement about Japan following last week’s earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear concerns, March 17, 2011 in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.“Our nuclear power plants have undergone exhaustive study and have been declared safe for any number of extreme contingencies. But when we see a crisis like the one in Japan, we have a responsibility to learn from this event and to draw from those lessons to ensure the safety and security of our people,” said the president. (AP) Share
  16. Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their daughters Sasha, left, and Malia, tour Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazill, on March 20, 2011. (Jason Reed / Reuters) Share
  17. Obama speaks about the conflict in Libya during an address at the National Defense University in Washington, March 28, 2011. (Larry Downing / Reuters) Share
  18. Obama visits the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on April 9, 2011. After a last-minute deal was minted to avert a government shutdown, the president motorcaded to the tourist destination and declared to monument visitors: “Because Congress was able to settle its differences that’s why this place is open today and everybody’s able to enjoy their visit.” (Jewel Samad / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  19. Obama is introduced by Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel in Chicago, April 14, 2011, at a DNC fundraising event. Emanuel served as Obama’s chief of staff until Sept. 30, 2010, when he declared his intentions to run for office in the Windy City. (Nam Y. Huh / AP) Share
  20. President Barack Obama gestures while speaking to reporters about the controversy over his birth certificate and true nationality, Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at the White House.“Over the last two and a half years, I have watched with bemusement,” he said during his remarks. “I’ve been puzzled by the degree to which this thing just kept on going.” (J. Scott Applewhite / AP) Share
  21. Obama announces a shake up with his national security team by nominating CIA Director Leon Panetta, 2nd from left, as Secretary of Defense and U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, center, to replace Panetta, in the East Room of the White House, April 28, 2011. Obama also announced Ryan Crocker, right, as his nomination to be the new Ambassador to Afghanistan and U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, 2nd from right, to be the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. (Jason Reed / Reuters) Share
  22. President Barack Obama tours tornado damage with Tuscaloosa, Ala. Mayor Walter Maddox, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, third from left, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., left, and others, Friday, April 29, 2011 in Tuscaloosa. (Charles Dharapak / AP) Share
  23. The Obamas speak with Astronaut Mark Kelly, right, commander of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, alongside other Endeavour astronauts at the Launch Control Center Firing Room 1 after the Endeavour launch was scrubbed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 29, 2011. (Saul Loeb / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  24. Obama, chats with board of trustees members Helen Aguirre Ferre and Armando Bucelo, during the Miami Dade College commencement on April 29, 2011. The president’s renewed endorsement of the DREAM Act, which has become a rallying cry for Hispanic and other students around the country, drew enthusiastic applause from more than 3,000 graduates at the ceremony. (Pedro Portal / El Nuevo Herald via AP) Share
  25. Barack Obama arrives with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner in Washington on April 30, 2011. Referencing the official release of his long-form birth certificate days before, the president joked, “Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald … And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, ‘Did we fake the moon landing?’ ‘What really happened on Roswell?’ And ‘Where are Biggie and Tupac?’” (Chris Kleponis / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  26. In this image released by the White House and digitally altered by the source to diffuse the paper in front of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011 in Washington. (Pete Souza / The White House via AP) Share
  27. Shopkeepers gather around television screens showing a speech by President Barack Obama as he announced the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at a market in Quetta on May 2, 2001. Bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan, Obama announced, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaida,” said the president. (Naseer Ahmed / Reuters) Share
  28. Obama greets military personnel who have recently returned from Afghanistan after speaking about the mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden at Fort Campbell, Ky., on May 6, 2011. (Charles Dharapak / AP) Share
  29. Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House on May 20, 2011. (Jim Young / Reuters) Share
  30. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle enjoy a pint of Guinness beer in Hayes Bar in the town of Moneygall, the hometown of his great-great-great grandfather, in County Offaly, Ireland, on May 23, 2011. Obama’s official visit to the Republic of Ireland was the start of a week-long tour of Europe. (Maxwells Irish Government / Pool via EPA) Share
  31. Obama plays table tennis against students with British Prime Minister David Cameron at the Globe Academy in London on May 24, 2011. (Larry Downing / Reuters) Share
  32. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama talk to Britain’s Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace, in London on May 24, 2011. Obama madea visit to Britain where he and Prime Minister David Cameron will review NATO action to help end conflict in Libya and discuss Western policy towards uprisings in the Arab world. (Charles Dharapak / Pool via Reuters) Share
  33. Obama talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as they attend the first round table meeting at the G8 summit on May 26, 2011 in Deauville France. Heads of the of the world’s wealthiest nations met in Deauville, France, for the G8 summit. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Share
  34. Obama greets a resident of a community that was devastated by a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, on May 29, 2011. The tornado, which was packing winds of more than 200 mph, is now considered to hold the record for the highest death toll in U.S. history. (Joe Raedle / Pool via EPA) Share
  35. Obama toasts with Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, during a State Dinner at the White House on June 7, 2011. Obama said he and Merkel agreed that the debt crisis in Europe “cannot be allowed to put the global economic recovery at risk.” This is the first official visit by a European leader to the White House since Obama became president. Merkel was also presented with the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the state dinner. (Andrew Harrer / Pool via Getty Images) Share
  36. President Barack Obama arrives at an airport hanger at Muniz Air National Guard Base, Tuesday, June 14, 2011, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. it was the first official visit by a sitting U.S. president since John F. Kennedy touched down in 1961. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) Share
  37. President Barack Obama and U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner play golf at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, June 18, 2011. The White House allowed the press to watch them finish the first hole, a par 5. (Larry Downing / Reuters) Share
  38. President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on June 29, 2011. Speaking about the breakdown of negotiations between the White House and Congress over the debt ceiling, Obama blasted the GOP for rejecting tax increases as a part of of any deal. He said, “You can’t reduce the deficit to the levels that it needs to be reduced without having some revenue in the mix … And the revenue we’re talking about isn’t coming out of middle-class families who are struggling. It’s coming out of folks who are doing extraordinarily well.” (Jim Watson / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  39. President Barack Obama presents Secretary of Defense Robert Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his Armed Services Farewell Tribute on the River Parade Field at the Pentagon on June 30, 2011. Appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2006, Gates is credited with many landmark decisions and actions, including the turning around of the war in Iraq by directing the troop surge and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) Share
  40. Obama points at a monitor displaying a question directed at him from Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner on Twitter, during his first Twitter Town Hall in the East Room of the White House, in Washington on July 6, 2011. “Obviously John is the speaker of the House, he is a Republican and so this is a slightly skewed question,” Obama replied. “What he is right about is that we have not seen fast enough job growth relative to the need.” (Michael Reynolds / EPA) Share
  41. Obama speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White Houes in Washington on July 11, 2011. Obama was due to meet with Congressional leaders for the second straight day Monday, after 75 minutes of talks Sunday evening failed to reach an agreement on the debt limit. (Saul Loeb / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  42. Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor holds up a sign quoting President Barack Obama as saying ” … you don’t raise taxes in a recession” while discussing the differences between his and the administration’s debt reduction plans at a “pen and pad” briefing in his office on Capitol Hill on July 11, 2011. Cantor’s objections to not rolling back the Bush-era tax cuts is bucking President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner’s attempt to push a larger, $4 trillion deficit reduction plan. (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA) Share
  43. President Barack Obama, left, presents the Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry July 12, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Petry, who received the award for his courageous actions during operations in Paktia, Afghanistan, in May 2008, is the second living, active duty service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. President Barack Obama, right, applauds former Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyers, 23, from Greensburg, Ky, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, after awarding him the Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Meyers was in Afghanistan’s Kunar province in Sept. 2009 when he repeatedly ran through enemy fire to recover the bodies of fellow American troops. He is the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. (Getty Images, AP) Share
  44. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, and Senior Adviser David Plouffe listen while President Barack Obama speaks to the media in the briefing room of the White House July 22, 2011 in Washington. Obama spoke about the breakdown of debt ceiling negotiations with Republican members of Congress. (Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images) Share
  45. Obama speaks with Speaker of the House John Boehner during a meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington on July 23, 2011. Obama summoned top lawmakers for crisis talks Saturday on averting an August debt default that could send shockwaves through the fragile global economy. With an Aug. 2 deadline fast approaching, Obama warned that polarized lawmakers must have a plan for raising the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by the time world markets pass judgment Monday on the stalemate. (Jewel Samad / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  46. Obama speaks in a prime-time address to the nation from the East Room of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2011, as polarized lawmakers failed to rally behind a plan to avert a disastrous debt default perhaps just one week away. Obama said on Monday a temporary six-month extension of debt ceiling does not solve the problem and might not be enough to avoid credit downgrade. (Jim Watson / Pool via Reuters) Share
  47. Obama arrives to make a statement on debt crisis at the White House in Washington on July 31, 2011. Obama announced late Sunday that he and top lawmakers had reached an 11th-hour deal to avert a disastrous debt default that would have sown chaos in the world economy. “I want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default, a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy,” Obama said in hastily announced remarks at the White House. (Jewel Samad / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  48. President Barack Obama walks with Colonel Mark Camerer, the 436th Airlift Wing Commander, as he arrives at Dover Air Force Base on Aug. 9, 2011, where he will privately meet with families of the 30 Americans that died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. (Jim Watson / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  49. President Barack Obama is pictured during a town hall-style event at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa Aug. 15, 2011. “The fact of the matter is that our debt and deficits are manageable if we make some intelligent choices and make sure that there are shared sacrifices as well as shared opportunities,” said the president. (Jason Reed / Reuters) Share
  50. President Barack Obama and daughter Malia, 13, bike together on a bike path through Manuel F. Correllus State Forest while vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard on Aug. 23, 2011 in West Tisbury, Mass. This is the third year the president has taken his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. (Matthew Healey / Pool via Getty Images) Share
  51. President Barack Obama walks with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in Newark, N.J., as they returned from Paterson, N.J., after viewing damage caused by Hurricane Irene, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011. (Charles Dharapak / AP) Share
  52. President Barack Obama delivers his much-anticipated jobs speech to a joint session of Congress in Washington on Sept. 8, 2011. President Obama used the speech to pressure Congress to pass his $300 billion jobs bill, a plan he believes will create jobs, and perhaps preserve his own. The speech had orginally been set for Sept. 7, but after House Speaker John Boehner balked at the idea (the same date as a Republican GOP presidential debate and an NFL game), the White House agreed on the timing change. (Shawn Thew / EPA) Share
  53. President Barack Obama touches the names of victims engraved on the side of the north pool of the World Trade Center site during ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, in New York Sept. 11, 2011. (Larry Downing / Reuters) Share
  54. Obama speaks about his American Jobs Act at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of N.C. State University in Raleigh, N.C., on Sept. 14 2011. “If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill,” urged the president. (Stan Gilliland / EPA) Share
  55. Left to right, Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner answer reporters’ questions about President Barack Obama’s proposed federal deficit reduction plan in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House Sept. 19, 2011 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) Share
  56. President Barack Obama meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in New York, Tuesday, Sept., 20, 2011. The two leaders discussed the recent assassination of the head of the Afghanistan High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani. “We both believe that, despite this incident, we will not be deterred from creating a path whereby Afghans can live in freedom, safety, security and prosperity,” said Obama. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) Share
  57. President Barack Obama talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in New York, Wednesday, Sept., 21, 2011.Obama told Abbas the United States would veto any U.N. Security Council move to recognize Palestinian statehood. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) Share
  58. Left to right, Attorney Walter Brown, Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison, CFO Bill Stover and his attorney Jan Nielsen Little listen to questions from members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Capitol Hill Sept. 23, 2011 in Washington. The executives exercised their constitutional Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination and didn’t answer any questions from the subcommittee. The offices and the homes of the Solyndra executives were recently raided by the FBI as part of a criminal inquiry after the solar-energy company filed for bankruptcy after getting $528 million in loan guarantees from the Obama administration. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) Share
  59. A Syrian protester holds crossed-out pictures of President Barack Obama, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, during a demonstration outside the European Union offices in Damascus on Sept. 29, 2011. The demonstrators rallied against new EU sanctions imposed on the pro-government Addounia television channel and five other companies. Arabic writing reads “Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iran are the quartet of resistance and honour. You are the quartet of clowning and criminality.” (Louai Beshara / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  60. Vice President Joe Biden talks with family members of incoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Army General Martin Dempsey alongside President Barack Obama, and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta during a “Change of Office” ceremony at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, Sept. 30, 2011. Dempsey becomes the 18th Chairman following a four year term by outgoing Chairman Mike Mullen, who is retiring. (Saul Loeb / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  61. President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the Human Rights Campaign’s 15th Annual National Dinner at the Washington Convention Center on Oct. 1, 2011 in Washington. The president spoke to one of the leading gay rights groups two weeks after the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. (Kristoffer Tripplaar / Pool via Getty Images) Share
  62. President Barack Obama, center, his daughter Malia, left, and Harry Johnson, President and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation, to his right, look up at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, as King family members and the first family look on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, on the National Mall in Washington. From right are Marion Robinson, first lady Michelle Obama, and Sasha Obama. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) Share
  63. President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 20,2011 to discuss the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. “The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted … One of the world’s longest-serving dictators is no more,” said Obama. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) Share
  64. Barack Obama appears on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” at NBC Studios on Oct. 25, 2011 in Burbank, Calif. (Kevin Winter / NBC Universal via Getty Images) Share
  65. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy shake hands during a joint press conference on Nov. 3, 2011 ahead of the start of the G20 Summit of Heads of State and Government in Cannes, France. (Lionel Bonaventure / Pool via AFP – Getty Images) Share
  66. Obama addresses the troops as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard looks on at the RAAF base in Darwin, Australia, on Nov. 17, 2011. President Obama praised Australian troops as among the toughest in the world as a rapturous send-off from Darwin capped off his whirlwind Australian visit. (Scott Barbour / Pool via EPA) Share
  67. Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, wearing Indonesian traditional clothes, attend the gala dinner during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and East Asia Summit in Nusa Dua on the resort island of Bali on Nov. 18, 2011. (Jim Watson / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  68. Supporters of Pakistan’s outlawed Islamic hardliner Jamaat ud Dawa burn an effigy of President Barack Obama, NATO and American flags during a protest in Multan on Nov. 28, 2011, against a NATO strike on Pakistan troops. Hundreds of Pakistanis called on Islamabad to break off its alliance with the United States and get out of the war on al-Qaida as protests against a lethal NATO strike pushed into a third day. Twenty-four Pakistani soldiers were killed in the cross-border attack early NATO helicopters and fighter jets. (S.s Mirza / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  69. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has dinner with and pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in Rangoon, Myanmar, Dec. 1, 2011. Clinton is traveling to the country on a two-day visit, the first by a U.S. secretary of state in more than 50 years. (Saul Loeb / AFP – Getty Images) Share
  70. President Barack Obama sings with daughters Malia, left. Sasha, first lady Michelle, Kermit the frog, entertainer Carson Daly and a man dressed as Santa Claus at the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in Washington Dec. 1, 2011. (Molly Riley / Reuters) Share
  71. President Barack Obama speaks on the extension of the payroll tax cut and of the Republican obstruction of Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the briefing room of the White House in Washington on Dec. 8, 2011. (Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) Share
  72. A grab taken from the Iranian state-run Press TV on Dec. 8, shows what Iranian officials claim is the American-made RQ-170 Sentinel high-altitude reconnaissance drone that crashed in Iran on Dec. 4, displayed at an undisclosed location. President Obama said, “We have asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond.” (AFP – Getty Images) Share
  73. President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki participate in a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Dec. 12. 2011. Both leaders are observing the end of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, with all troops due out by New Year’s Eve. (Olivier Douliery / Pool via EPA) Share
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While GOP candidates are bent on detracting from Obama’s term, his position actually improves

By Thomas Fitzgerald / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Sunday, February 19, 2012 – Added 15 hours ago
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PHILADELPHIA – For months, Republicans fighting for their party’s nomination have dominated the political discussion with a grim narrative of American decline: a sluggish economy worsened by a Democratic president bent on creating a European-style social-welfare state on this side of the Atlantic, with a naive foreign policy and an animus toward traditional values.
But while Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul – the last four Republicans standing in the race for the White House – continue pushing one another to the right in a quest to lock down the conservative base and the win, President Barack Obama has crept back into his strongest position in months.
Several of the latest polls show Obama’s job-approval rating at the crucial 50 percent benchmark and give him leads in head-to-head matchups with his likely GOP opponents.
Jobs have grown for several consecutive months, consumer confidence is up, and so is the stock market. Even General Motors Co., rescued by a much-criticized government bailout, is turning a profit and adding shifts. At the end of the past week, Obama won a rare victory in Congress as Republicans agreed to an extension of a payroll-tax cut.
On the foreign-policy front, the war in Afghanistan is winding down and Obama can claim credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and the thinning of the ranks of al-Qaida leadership.
To be sure, Obama’s standing remains precarious, with fallout from Europe’s financial crisis and the possibility of armed confrontation between Israel and Iran over Iranian nuclear ambitions just two of the variables that could change things instantly. And at some point, Republicans will unite around a nominee.
Yet the chief dynamic of the 2012 campaign – an incumbent facing one of the worst re-election environments in history – may have to be reconsidered, at least for now, analysts and strategists say.
“It’s not a close call – there’s been a dramatic movement up,” argued Democratic consultant Saul Shorr. “People are more optimistic about the economy, and that’s happening at the same time they’re watching a circus that is disconnected from their lives on the Republican side – ’The Three Stooges.’ ”
Indeed, as the GOP battle drags on, most national polls find negative views of all the candidates increasing. (It’s a common result, and the purpose, of negative ads and campaign contrasts.) Romney’s favorable rating, in particular, has dropped sharply among the independent and moderate voters important to winning general elections.
While the Republicans are on the main stage, Obama’s re-election campaign has been busy. It has raised more than $150 million and spent a little less than half that building the mechanisms of mobilization that could turn a close election, starting with a massive database of persuadable voters.
Obama has also grabbed opportunities to reassure key elements of the Democratic base. He recently refused permission for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, cheering environmentalists; pushed for more federal student loans and lower college tuition, issues popular with the young voters who were vital to his 2008 election; and has taken a more confrontational approach toward GOP leaders in Congress.
More broadly, Obama has laid out a core “fairness” message on the economy, aimed at the middle class, that calls for increased taxes on the wealthy. Advisers believe the message will resonate beyond the Democratic base, appealing to independents and working-class voters who have supported Republicans.
The president started with this populist theme in several big speeches last year, hit it hard in his January State of the Union address, and has stayed on it.
“We don’t begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it,” Obama said in the State of the Union. “When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich. It’s because they understand that, when I get a tax break I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference – like a senior on a fixed income, or a student trying to get through school, or a family trying to make ends meet. … Americans know that’s not right.”
The nation can endure only if there is a sense of “shared responsibility,” Obama argued.
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President Barack Obama salutes an Air Force officer as he walks down the stairs of Air Force Once after landing at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012.

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Christopher Hill: The Long March from Shanghai

Image: Project Syndicate
SHANGHAI – Forty years ago, in February 1972, US President Richard M. Nixon journeyed to China. On the seventh day of ‘the week that changed the world,’ as Nixon called it, he and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai signed the ‘Shanghai Communique,’ which began the normalisation of bilateral relations and bound the United States, a principal supporter of Taiwan, to the People’s Republic’s doctrine of ‘One China.’
Nixon’s euphoric declaration was typical of his mood. While he did not claim to have changed China’s internal system, he had in fact spearheaded a fundamental reordering of the superpower balance of the time, and consolidated the estrangement between the Soviet Union and China that had been underway for several years. In a sense, Nixon’s trip was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Forty years later, the US-China relationship has grown exponentially to become arguably the most important and complex bilateral relationship in the world. Their economic ties, in particular, have developed in ways nobody could have ever imagined back then. China has emerged as the world’s second-largest economy, and the pace of its social and political changes has been equally breathtaking.
Yet, as the Chinese/Russian joint veto of the United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria on February 5 symbolised, the US-China relationship remains a work in progress. It requires careful and deft management, which may have been lacking that day.
Russia has had a longstanding relationship with Syria’s Assad regime, and its decision to veto the resolution seemed rooted in its Middle East policies. China’s decision, by contrast, seemed to be based more on suspicion of US foreign policy – indeed, on a concept heard a lot in China these days: strategic mistrust.
As one prominent academic said to me in Shanghai: ‘Once bitten by a snake, a man fears a length of rope.’ In other words, the Chinese had backed last year’s Security Council resolution to protect Libyan civilians from Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, and Nato’s use of that resolution to intervene decisively in support of regime change had so traumatised China that it would not cooperate on another.
As a result, China chose to veto a resolution that enjoyed broad support in the international community, including the Arab League, suffering a well-deserved blow to its international prestige in the process. Indeed, unlike the Russians, who dispatched Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Damascus the next day, China seemed to have no diplomatic alternative in mind, thus appearing to be unwilling to act as a stake-holder in an international system that refuses to regard artillery strikes on civilians as domestic matters.
Given the importance of the US-China relationship, no one should regard China’s diplomatic travails as good news. China’s mistakes are no one’s gain.
The resolution’s failure not only exposed the international community’s lack of resolve in confronting the Assad regime (indeed, many commentators believe that the vetoed resolution did more harm than good); it also strengthened Chinese-Russian cooperation – precisely what US diplomats in 1972 had sought to weaken. The sense of urgency reflected in efforts to address the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria should be applied to problems that arise in the US-China relationship as well.
China’s veto did not happen in a vacuum. America’s recent decision to begin to disengage from wars in South Asia and the Middle East and refocus on East Asia (‘the pivot,’ as it was dubbed) has begun to look like an effort to confront China over its strident assertions of sovereignty in the South China Sea. Despite thousands of years of dealing with its smaller southern neighbors, an increasingly powerful China has not managed those relationships well recently.
Forty years ago, the Chinese worried about a Soviet plot to encircle their country. Today, there is an updated concern – expressed on Chinese blogs and by an increasingly assertive young generation – that China’s government is allowing the US to do the same thing. As that view takes hold among Chinese, the US is finding China to be an increasingly reluctant partner on issues that clearly concern their mutual interests.
China’s unwillingness to address North Korean perfidy – that is, to go beyond vague and feckless calls for dialogue – is a case in point. The US and China should be able to forge a common strategy to stop North Korea from building nuclear weapons. Instead, little has been accomplished, owing to mounting Chinese mistrust.
But nobody is trying to contain China, much less encircle it. China needs to look within and understand that its domestic problems can no longer be resolved with a nationalism stoked by real or imagined slights from abroad. China’s ‘century of shame’ is long over.
Soon after the Shanghai Communique, China embarked on a historic journey that made Mao Zedong’s mythicised Long March seem like a stroll in the park. China (wisely) chose the path of engagement with the world. Part of China’s journey has been to understand better how to balance its interests and attitudes with those of the many countries that comprise the international community.
But the US also needs to understand that its relationship with China is, as a Chinese official remarked recently, ‘too big to fail,’ and requires purposeful management. To focus on America’s worst fears about China, to suggest that it is a dangerous element in the world, as some US pundits suggest, is to risk creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Syria’s population is tiny compared to China’s, which is not to say that Syria, or the suffering of its people, is unimportant. But it does suggest the need to consider the US relationship with China both at the UN and elsewhere, and to do a better job of preventing more breakdowns like the one in New York on February 5.
Christopher R. Hill, former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, was US Ambassador to Iraq, South Korea, Macedonia, and Poland, US special envoy for Kosovo, a negotiator of the Dayton Peace Accords, and chief US negotiator with North Korea from 2005-2009. He is now Dean of the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver.

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  • SiDevilIam 0 minutes ago
    My dear Christopher Hill, I am Sid Harth.
    I am touched by your diplomatic sentiments. It goes without saying, you said nothing in no uncertain terms.
    How about getting down and dirty? Works for me.
    China cannot be contained by single force, pivot policy or not. China is not Pakistan. China knows what is good for them, Russia or not.
    China can weather all and sundry efforts to tame them, Uncle Sam or not.
    Did I say too much?
    …and I am Sid Harth@arabuhuru.org
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Iran heats up foreign policy talk on campaign trail

By Bryan Bender

|  Globe Staff  February 20, 2012
President Obama has emphasized sanctions and negotiations to deter the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon.
Ted S. Warren/Associated Press
President Obama has emphasized sanctions and negotiations to deter the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon.
WASHINGTON – Foreign policy, mostly an afterthought in the presidential contest so far, is emerging as a focal point between President Obama and his Republican challengers – and no issue has more potential to be a game-changer than Iran’s development of a nuclear program, according to several specialists.
Tensions over Iran’s alleged efforts to develop a nuclear bomb are escalating, with the United States and Europe tightening sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and financial institutions and Iran, in turn, threatening to shut down the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Intensifying fears are reports that Israel is considering launching a preemptive strike against Iran.
“Iran is one of the biggest wild cards in this election,’’ said Bill Schneider, a senior fellow and longtime political analyst at Third Way, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.
Obama has emphasized sanctions and negotiations to deter the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon. His main GOP opponents assert that such an approach is bound to fail and the United States must be prepared to take military action – or at least support a unilateral strike by Israel on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Mitt Romney, stepping up his attacks on Obama’s handling of the issue, has described Iran as Obama’s greatest foreign policy failure. “He did not do what was necessary to get Iran to be dissuaded from their nuclear folly,’’ Romney said.
‘Iran is one of the biggest wild cards in this election.’
Bill Schneider Third Way, a nonpartisan Washington think tank
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The former Massachusetts governor criticized the president first for seeking to engage Tehran’s leaders in negotiations and then for not more actively supporting protesters who took to the streets of Iran in 2009. Sanctions to isolate the nation’s leaders have been too slow and too ineffective, Romney said.
“Finally,’’ Romney said recently, “the president should have built a credible threat of military action and made it very clear that the United States of America is willing, in the final analysis, if necessary, to take military action to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.’’
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have gone so far as to advocate a US preemptive strike against Iran to halt its nuclear program, saying the current approach is little more than appeasement and imperils Americans.
“Remember what it felt like on 9/11 when 3,100 Americans were killed?’’ Gingrich said at a recent stop in Ohio. “Now imagine an attack where you add two zeros. And it’s 300,000 dead. Maybe a half million wounded. This is a real danger.’’
On the GOP primary campaign trail, attention to Iran and other foreign issues has been eclipsed by the economy. But recent bullish news on the job market could change that.
“If the news on the economic front looks good, the Republican candidate almost by definition has to bang the drum louder because the main issue has been taken away from him,’’ said James M. Lindsey, the director of studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Yet despite the harsh attacks on Obama’s handling of global affairs, several specialists said unique factors could neutralize some of the Republican arguments.
Traditionally, the GOP has positioned itself as the more hawkish of the two parties on national security and as better equipped to handle a complicated world than the Democrats.
But that argument could be offset by some of Obama’s own accomplishments, such as ordering the daring raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year and using American air power to help topple Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy.
Obama is preparing to make a case that he has been a good steward of American interests overseas and has helped to make the country safer.
In an interview with Time magazine last month, the president previewed his message on foreign policy, saying: “It’s going to be pretty hard to argue that we have not executed a strategy over the last three years that has put America in a stronger position that it was when I came into office.’’
He cited – in addition to the Iraq war’s end and bin Laden’s death – the rebuilding of international alliances that had frayed over some controversial US policies, such as the brutal treatment of detainees, since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“The Republican line of attack has been turned on its ear,’’ Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, said in an interview. “President Obama has been more aggressive that George W. Bush ever was in pursuing terrorists. It is one of the reasons the Republicans are casting about.’’
Even on Iran, some observers expressed doubt the eventual Republican nominee will be able to convince many voters that Obama’s approach has been weak.
“I don’t think they are going to get much mileage,’’ said Daniel Brumberg, a senior adviser at the nonpartisan US Institute for Peace in Washington. “Once bombing starts you don’t know how this ends. Is the American public interested in pursuing another war? I doubt it.’’
Another factor is the apparent resurgence of an isolationist wing of the GOP. “A rising percentage of Americans believe America should mind its own business,’’ said Lindsey, of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The isolationist strain is most prominently reflected by candidate Ron Paul, who has tapped into a deep wariness among Republicans and independent voters about the United States taking on more costly foreign entanglements.
Some of Romney’s harshest comments have decried the Obama administration’s plans to halt combat operations in Afghanistan by the middle of 2013 and withdraw all US troops by the end of 2014.
“His naivete is putting in jeopardy the mission of the United States of America and our commitments to freedom,’’ Romney said last week in Nevada.
Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich have also denounced the administration’s plans to rein in military spending – what they have all described as “hollowing out’’ the armed forces.
The cuts, totally $487 billion over the next 10 years, were mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 – legislation approved by both parties in Congress to reduce the national debt.
When it comes to the challenge for voters, what is clear, according to James Carafano, a scholar at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, is that the candidates in the general election will offer a clear contrast.
“There will be two very stark visions of national security and foreign policy,’’ he said. “It will seem like Venus and Mars.’’
Try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE. Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com

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