President Barack Obama today discussed a G-8 agreement on climate change.
** QUICK HITS. The US has released, to Iraqi authorities, five Iranian “diplomats” captured in Iraq two years ago after purportedly causing a lot of trouble for American troops. The Iraqis will undoubtedly release them. The Obama Administration is continue to pursue its strategy of engagement with Iran. … House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to take up a resolution commemorating the life of pop superstar Michael Jackson. The City of Los Angeles is out about $1.4 million from Tuesday’s festivities. … No progress this afternoon in California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. No new sniping, either, other than what I wrote about earlier in the day. This is a static storyline. … Nevada Senator John Ensign’s parents acknowledged giving about $100,000 to the family of the staff member he had an affair with. Her husband had been one of the top aides to Ensign, a former Senate Republican leader and right-wing presidential hopeful.
** OBAMA BEHIND THE SMILE: SID BLUMENTHAL’S FATE. I’ve known Sidney Blumenthal for a long time. He was a prominent writer for the New Republic, then the New Yorker, and became deeply involved with the Clintons, promoting them heavily during Bill Clinton’s run for the presidency and after. He ended up as a senior advisor in the White House, working closely with Hillary Clinton. After the Clinton White House days, he wrote books and wrote for the Guardian, and with the Clintons.
As time passed, Blumenthal moved from being something of an ideologist to an attack dog. Among his targets were Jerry Brown in the 1992 Democratic presidential primaries, George H.W. Bush in the 1992 general election, Bob Dole in the 1996 general election, and Barack Obama and John Edwards in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed Blumenthal to a top position on her staff, as a counselor and messagemeister.
Hillary, incidentally, will give her first big speech as secretary of state next week, which I will cover in full.
** CALIFORNIA CRISIS UPDATE. At mid-day, there are no substantive developments on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. There is, however, more sniping.
The California Teachers Association has produced a TV ad attacking Governor Arnold Schwarzengger for proposing the suspension of Prop 98, which locks up much of the state budget for education spending.
As fights go, this is a remarkably static one. No one has put forward a credible alternative — i.e., one that can actually be passed and that itself passes legal muster — to the budget proposed by Schwarzenegger. Which is not a budget that I like. But, following the failure of the special election initiatives, the situation is what it is. And absent a federal bailout, which is quite unlikely, Schwarzenegger’s budget, in one permutation or another, is the only thing on the table.
** GALLUP POLL: WIDESPREAD SUPPORT IN ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL NATIONS FOR ACTION ON GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION. With newer industrializing countries such as China and India balking at action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, public opinion in more long-established countries is mostly strongly in favor of action.
A Gallup Poll shows that most citizens in industrialized/industrializing countries representing most of the world’s population take climate change very serious and want action taken to stop it.
Leaders from 17 major economies that account for roughly 80% of global emissions will engage in climate change talks Thursday on the sidelines of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Italy. Nearly all of them represent nations where awareness of climate change is already high, except for Indonesia, India, and South Africa, where high percentages of residents have never heard of global warming or don’t have an opinion.
The G-8 summit is wrapping up in Italy.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is participating in the G-8 (group of eight advanced industrial nations) summit in L’Aquila, Italy. The time there is nine hours ahead of California.
Following his daily intelligence briefing, Obama began the day with a bilateral meeting with President Lula of Brazil in the G-5 Building.
Obama then met with G-8 national leaders leaders and the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Egypt at the Guardia di Finanz School.
Obama then took part in a working lunch of the leaders of the G-8, +5, Egypt, and six international organizations at the Guardia di Finanza School.
Then came a meeting with representatives of the Junior 8 at the Guardia di Finanza School.
Obama then attended a discussion on world trade at the Guardia di Finanza School.
Obama is now taking part in the Major Economies Forum discussion on the environment at the Guardia di Finanza School.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama delivers a statement to the press regarding the Major Economies Forum discussion on the environment at the Guardia di Finanza School.
The more established industrial countries are at loggerheads with more recently industrializing countries on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama attends the G-8 dinner hosted by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Guardia di Finanza School.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden promotes the Obama economic recovery program in events in Cincinnati, Ohio and upstate New York.
In advance of today’s 10th anniversary of student protests in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that his re-election last month was the most democratic in the world.
And there was more disorder in Iran, where perhaps a few thousand protesters turned out in various parts of Tehran on the 10th anniversary of student protests. They are protesting the promptly declared landslide re-election of radical Islamist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The protesters were forcibly dispersed by Iranian security forces. It was the first attempt at demonstrations in 11 days.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol, focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
With no progress in talks, Schwarzenegger is considering another pay cut for state employees, an additional 5%, likely in the form of another unpaid furlough day.
That would bring budget crisis-induced pay cuts for California state workers to about 20%, certainly not what public employee unions had in mind for their members.
Schwarzenegger’s administration is also dealing with a budget complexity, caused by the Prop 98 education funding requirement, that could lead to a loss of some federal stimulus funding.
** OBAMA DOES MOSCOW, AND VICE VERSA. Flying to Italy Wednesday morning for the troubled G-8 summit, President Barack Obama departed Moscow after a very intriguing summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
This was the so-called “Reset Summit” to bring American/Russian relations out of the neo-Cold War depths they’d sunk to last year. It certainly succeeded at that, and at some other things as well, especially with regard to sharp reductions in nuclear weapons, aid for the US effort in Afghanistan, and a pullback on NATO expansion, a longtime thorn in the side of Russia. But other sticking points remained, on a US anti-missile shield and on Iran.
All amidst some notable intrigue, some of it generated from the Obama side. …
Unlike most of the rest of Europe, Russia is hardly in the grip of Obamamania. He’s certainly more popular than George W. Bush or John McCain, but that’s damning with faint praise. … From my new column.
** OBAMA’S CONSEQUENTIAL FIRST 4TH: NOKO, AFPAK, IRAQ, RUSSIA, PALIN (PALIN?!) Quite a consequential first 4th of July as president for Barack Obama.
Not only did he have 20 of daughter Malia’s schoolgirl friends over for a Camp David sleepover in honor of her 11th birthday on the 4th of July — just wait till her “Independence Day,” Dad — he had a few other things on his plate, as well as the barbeque for military families and the fireworks show. Not counting his inherited worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
North Korea was to have been the drama of the day. But it turned into a major fizzle. … From my July 4th column.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? … From my July 2nd column.
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. … From my June 29th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
This is up about $26 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program. But oil has been slumping over the past week or so from recent highs on fears that the global economic recovery is happening too slowly.
G-8 leaders in Italy today agreed to keep stimulus efforts going to deal with the global recession.
** QUICK HITS. The International Monetary Fund projects a 1.4% contraction of the global economy this year, actually down slightly from its previous forecast. … No progress today on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. Also no new alternative proposals. But some more sniping. … Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari acknowledged today that his country fostered Islamic jihadists that are now causing trouble in-country. ..
** OBAMA DOES MOSCOW, AND VICE VERSA. Flying to Italy Wednesday morning for the troubled G-8 summit, President Barack Obama departed Moscow after a very intriguing summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
This was the so-called “Reset Summit” to bring American/Russian relations out of the neo-Cold War depths they’d sunk to last year. It certainly succeeded at that, and at some other things as well, especially with regard to sharp reductions in nuclear weapons, aid for the US effort in Afghanistan, and a pullback on NATO expansion, a longtime thorn in the side of Russia. But other sticking points remained, on a US anti-missile shield and on Iran.
All amidst some notable intrigue, some of it generated from the Obama side. …
Unlike most of the rest of Europe, Russia is hardly in the grip of Obamamania. He’s certainly more popular than George W. Bush or John McCain, but that’s damning with faint praise. …
** G-8 TODAY.Stimulus efforts will continue, there will not be new sanctions on Iran, and the big Western countries agree to cut greenhouse gases in half. But developing countries do not. Nor do India or China.
Global economic recovery is not yet guaranteed and governments will worry about the bill for heavy stimulus spending once it has succeeded, world leaders meeting in Italy said on Wednesday.
“While there are signs of stabilisation, including recovery in stock markets, a decline in interest rate spreads, improved business and consumer confidence, the situation remains uncertain and significant risks remain to economic and financial stability,” they said in a statement.
That was the same wording as a statement from the group’s finance ministers a month ago and offered no new optimism for markets on a day when the International Monetary Fund said the world economy was starting to emerge from recession.
The leaders, meeting in the earthquake-hit mountain town of L’Aquila for talks that started with the economy, said they were committed to withdrawing stimulus spending, but only when a recovery looked secure.
President Barack Obama discussed the G-8 (group of eight advanced industrial nations) summit in Italy earlier today.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha flew from Moscow to Rome earlier today.
Obama met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinale Palace, where they held a joint press avail.
Obama then went to the Guardia di Finanz School in L’Aquila, Italy, where he was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Obama then participated in the G-8 leaders working lunch and is now participating in a session on global issues.
At 8:45 AM Pacific, Obama and Berlusconi tour the L’Aquila historic center.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama attends the G-8 working dinner in L’Aquila, Italy.
Riots in China have forced Chinese President Hu Jintao to leave the G-8 summit.
G-8 leaders will discuss the ever so slow economic recovery and how to goose it along, as well as other topics such as Iran and climate change.
But they’ll do it without the leader of the world’s most populous country. Ethnic and religious-based riots in China have turned very violent, and President Hu Jintao left the summit before it began to return to Beijing.
We’ll also get more insight into the outcome of Obama’s Moscow Summit, as Russian President Dmitri Medvedev is also on hand for the G-8 summit.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Vice President Joe Biden announces that the White House and the hospital industry have struck an agreement for the hospitals to give up $155 billion in future Medicare and Medicaid payments to help defray the cost of the proposed national health care system.
This is in addition to the $80 billion from an earlier agreement with the pharmaceutical industry.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol, focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
At noon, he joins Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshé and Department of Social Services Director John Wagner in a press conference to discuss his proposed reforms to the CalWORKS program.
Talks were thrown into some disarray Monday when Assembly Speaker Karen Bass refused to participate in the Big 5 meeting of Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders, for reasons discussed on NWN. But the direction of this situation is very clear, and talks will naturally resume. In fact, they already have, on a less formal basis.
But an agreement now does not appear to be imminent.
** OBAMA’S CONSEQUENTIAL FIRST 4TH: NOKO, AFPAK, IRAQ, RUSSIA, PALIN (PALIN?!) Quite a consequential first 4th of July as president for Barack Obama.
Not only did he have 20 of daughter Malia’s schoolgirl friends over for a Camp David sleepover in honor of her 11th birthday on the 4th of July — just wait till her “Independence Day,” Dad — he had a few other things on his plate, as well as the barbeque for military families and the fireworks show. Not counting his inherited worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
North Korea was to have been the drama of the day. But it turned into a major fizzle. … From my new column.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? … From my July 2nd column.
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. … From my June 29th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
This is up about $28 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program. But oil has been slumping over the past week or so from recent highs on fears that the global economic recovery is happening too slowly.
Following his very lengthy meeting with President Barack Obama, which left Obama late for his major address of the summit, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the Black Wolf motorcycle club.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … OBAMA DOES MOSCOW, AND VICE VERSA.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama and family fly from Moscow to Rome tomorrow morning for the G-8 summit after a very interesting time with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. … No apparent major incidents around the Los Angeles tribute to the late pop star Michael Jackson today. The City of Los Angeles, under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (who’s on vacation in Africa), is on the hook for a few million dollars for this event, and is attempting to raise it. … No apparent progress in California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. With their other plans shot down, predictably, Democratic legislative leaders have proffered no new budget plans. … A significant blow to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s hopes to establish the City by the Bay as a major biomedical hub came yesterday when pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced it is pulling out of the project, and its lease. Pfizer was to be the anchor tenant of the nascent hub. … Former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown decided to return some $50,000 contributed by relatives and associates of two people he’s subpoenaed in an investigation of their roles in obtaining big investments for money management firms from public pension funds. … Republican-turned-Democratic Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is proving to be a loyal Democrat, according to a Congressional Quarterly analysis of his votes since switching parties. Absent Specter’s switch, the Democrats would not have 60 votes in the US Senate.
Former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken, sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden, today became the 60th Democratic member of the United States Senate. Franken, author of the #1 bestseller “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations,” prevailed after the Minnesota Supreme Court tossed aside a Republican challenge to his recount victory in last November’s election.
** OBAMA SHIFTS U.S. POLICY ON NATO EXPANSION. Following a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that went overtime and caused a delay in the start of his heralded address on American/Russian relations, President Barack Obama altered US policy on NATO expansion.
The change comes around the 27-minute mark of the 31 minutes address playable below.
After defending the territorial sovereignty of Georgia and Ukraine, an implicit criticism of Russia, Obama then shifts gears and says that new members of NATO must meet two new criteria.
One, there must be popular support within the country for its accession to the NATO military alliance.
Two, the country must have demonstrated military capability such that it is able to operate with existing NATO forces.
Georgia and Ukraine almost certainly fail the test on both scores.
Putin has been very adamant for years against the policy of expanding NATO not only into Russia’s traditional sphere of influence, but to its borders.
** KYRGYZSTAN REVERSES COURSE AND APPROVES CONTINUED U.S. BASE. In an amazing coincidence, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev today signed an agreement allowing the US to continue using its existing base at Manas airport outside the capital city of Bishkek. (Which was named Frunze when mountainous Kyrgyzstan was a Soviet socialist republic, after one of the key founders of the Red Army.)
Manas air base is the central hub of aerial refueling for US and NATO aircraft operating over Afghanistan. It is also a hub for C-17 flights into Afghanistan.
For months, Kyrgyz leaders, apparently prompted by Vladimir Putin, had said that the US would be evicted. There were several incidents causing friction in Kyrgyzstan’s often tumultuous politics, but the main reason seemed to a Russian desire to get rid of the last US base left in Central Asia after 9/11, when Russia helped the US gain several bases there.
President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address today at the New Economic School in Moscow. This is the third major Obama address on America and its role in a new world framework, following on the speeches in Prague and Cairo.
** EXCERPTS: OBAMA’S COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT THE NEW ECONOMIC SCHOOL IN MOSCOW.
OBAMA ON RUSSIA’S HERITAGE
“I speak to you today with deep respect for Russia’s timeless heritage. Russian writers have helped us understand the complexities of the human experience, and recognize eternal truths.
“Indeed, Russia’s heritage has touched every corner of the world, and speaks to the humanity that we share. That includes my own country, which has been blessed with Russian immigrants, for decades we’ve been enriched by Russian culture, and enhanced by Russian cooperation.
ON RUSSIA’S FUTURE
“To begin with, let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia.
“As President John Kennedy said, “no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union in the Second World War.”
“So as we honor this past, we also recognize the future benefit that will come from a strong and vibrant Russia.”
ON NUCLEAR ARMS PROLIFERATION
“In the short period since the end of the Cold War, we have already seen India, Pakistan and North Korea conduct nuclear tests. Without a fundamental change, do any of us truly believe that the next two decades will not bring about the further spread of these nuclear weapons?
“That is why America is committed to stopping nuclear proliferation, and ultimately seeking a world without nuclear weapons … And while I know this goal won’t be met soon, pursuing it provides the legal and moral foundation to prevent the proliferation and eventual use of nuclear weapons.
ON GREAT POWER STATUS, “RESET” IN TIES
“In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over …
“Given our interdependence, any world order that tries to elevate one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game — progress must be shared.
“That is why I have called for a ‘reset’ in relations between the United States and Russia. This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House, though that is important.
“And I’ve had excellent discussions with both your president and prime minister.
“It must be a sustained effort among the American and Russian people to identify mutual interests, and to expand dialogue and cooperation that can pave the way to progress.
ON NORTH KOREA’S, IRAN’S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS
“Neither America nor Russia would benefit from a nuclear arms race in East Asia or the Middle East. That is why we should be united in opposing North Korea’s efforts to become a nuclear power, and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“And I’m pleased that President Medvedev and I agreed upon a joint threat assessment of the ballistic missile challenges of the 21st Century, including from Iran and North Korea.
ON RUSSIA’S STANCE ON U.S. MISSILE SHIELD
“I know Russia opposes the planned configuration for missile defense in Europe. My Administration is reviewing these plans to enhance the security of America, Europe and the world. I have made it clear that this system is directed at preventing a potential attack from Iran, and has nothing to do with Russia.
“In fact, I want us to work together with Russia on a missile defense architecture that makes us all safer. But if the threat from Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs is eliminated, the driving force for missile defense in Europe will be eliminated and that is in our mutual interest.
ON VIOLENT EXTREMISM
“Now in addition to securing the world’s most dangerous weapons, a second area where America has a critical national interest is in isolating and defeating violent extremists.
“For years, al Qaeda and its affiliates have defiled a great religion of peace and justice, and ruthlessly murdered men, women and children of all nationalities and faiths. Indeed, above all, they have murdered Muslims.
“These extremists have killed in Amman and Bali; Islamabad and Kabul; and they have the blood of Americans and Russians on their hands.
“They are plotting to kill more of our people, and they benefit from safe-havens that allow them to train and operate — particularly along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
ON RUSSIA’S HELP ON AFGHANISTAN
“We seek no bases, nor do we want to control these nations. Instead, we want to work with international partners, including Russia, to help Afghans and Pakistanis advance their own security and prosperity.
“That is why I’m pleased that Russia has agreed to allow the United States to supply our coalition forces through your territory. Neither America nor Russia has an interest in an Afghanistan or Pakistan governed by the Taliban.
“It is time to work together on behalf of a different future — a future in which we leave behind the great game of the past and the conflict of the present; a future in which all of us contribute to the security of Central Asia.
ON THE MARKET AND THE GLOBAL CRISIS
“I believe that the market is the greatest force for creating and distributing wealth that the world has known. But wherever the market is allowed to run rampant — through excessive risk-taking, a lack of regulation, or corruption — then all are endangered, whether we live on the Mississippi or the Volga.
“In America, we are taking unprecedented steps to jumpstart our economy and reform our system of regulation. But just as no nation can wall itself off from the consequences of a global crisis, no one nation can serve as the sole engine of global growth.
“And while this crisis has shown us the risk that comes with change, that risk is overwhelmed by opportunity. Think of what’s possible today that was unthinkable two decades ago.
“A young woman with an Internet connection in Bangalore, India can compete with anyone, anywhere. An entrepreneur with a start-up company in Beijing can take his business global.”
ON RULE OF LAW, DEMOCRACY “Freedom of speech and assembly has allowed women, minorities, and workers to protest for full and equal rights at a time when we were denied the rule of law and equal administration of justice has busted monopolies, shut down political machines, and ended abuses of power.
“Independent media have exposed corruption at all levels of business and government. Competitive elections allow us to change course and hold our leaders accountable.
“If our democracy did not advance those rights, than I, as a person of African ancestry, wouldn’t be able to address you as an American citizen, much less a President.
“Because at the time of our founding, I had no rights, people who looked like me. But it is because of that process that I can stand before you as the President of the United States…
“The arc of history shows us that governments which serve their own people survive and thrive; governments which serve only their own power do not. Governments that represent the will of their people are far less likely to descend into failed states, to terrorize their citizens, or to wage war on others.”
ON CRISIS IN HONDURAS
“America cannot and should not seek to impose any system of government on any other country, nor would we presume to choose which party or individual should run a country.
“And we haven’t done as we should have on that front.
“Even as we meet here today, America supports the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies. We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not.
ON RUSSIA’S YOUNGER GENERATION
“You get to decide what comes next. You get to choose where change will take us. Because the future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground, the future belongs to young people with the education and imagination to create.
“That is the source of power in this century. And given all that has happened in your two decades on Earth, just imagine what you can create in the years to come …
“As you move this story forward, look to the future that can be built if we refuse to be burdened by the old obstacles and old suspicions; look to the future that can be built if we partner on behalf of the aspirations we hold in common. Together, we can build a world where people are protected, prosperity is enlarged, and our power truly serves progress.
“And it is all in your hands.”
President Barack Obama had a two hour-plus working breakfast with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Putin’s sumptuous dacha outside Moscow.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Moscow for his summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Moscow time is 11 hours ahead of California time.
Obama has had another momentous day in the historic Russian capital.
After some harsh words between the two at long distance, Obama finally met Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. They had a two hour-plus working breakfast at Putin’s dacha in a forest outside Moscow. It’s not clear yet what was said in their meeting, though you can see footage of some of the breakfast on Putin’s veranda here.
While Dmitri Medvedev is the president of the Russian Federation, he served as Putin’s chief of staff and deputy prime minister, and Putin is chairman of United Russia, the ruling political party.
Likely topics included ballistic missile defense, and Russian dislike of America establishing bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, NATO expansion, and the question of containing Iran, Russia’s decades-long friend of a sort (and centuries-long rival).
Obama had a brief meeting with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who is highly regarded outside of Russia but inside the state is considered something of an irritant and reminder of the fall of the Soviet Union.
Obama then delivered the commencement address at ceremonies for the 2009 graduating class of the New Economic School at Gostinny Dvor.
You can watch the address above. This is Obama’s major address regarding his view of relations between America and Russia.
Obama then went over to the Kremlin for another one-on-one meeting with Medvedev, with whom he has established a clear rapport.
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama then attended a reception and luncheon hosted by Medvedev at the Kremlin. After which, Obama and Medvedev participated in the Parallel Business Summit at the Manezh Exhibition Hall.
Obama then went on his own to the Parallel Civil Society Summit, a group of sedate reformers, at the Metropol Hotel.
Obama met with Russian opposition leaders at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
Now he is at a glittering reception with Moscow elite at the Kremlin.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol, focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
Talks were thrown into some disarray yesterday when Assembly Speaker Karen Bass refused to participate, for reasons discussed yesterday on NWN. But the direction of this situation is very clear, and talks will naturally resume.
Schwarzenegger will also be monitoring the situation around the memorial service for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles.
Given the media hysteria around Jackson’s death – with non-stop coverage on the cable nets, among other things – this may be a major security challenge for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
** OBAMA’S CONSEQUENTIAL FIRST 4TH: NOKO, AFPAK, IRAQ, RUSSIA, PALIN (PALIN?!) Quite a consequential first 4th of July as president for Barack Obama.
Not only did he have 20 of daughter Malia’s schoolgirl friends over for a Camp David sleepover in honor of her 11th birthday on the 4th of July — just wait till her “Independence Day,” Dad — he had a few other things on his plate, as well as the barbeque for military families and the fireworks show. Not counting his inherited worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
North Korea was to have been the drama of the day. But it turned into a major fizzle. … From my new column.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? … From my July 2nd column.
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. … From my June 29th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
This is up about $29 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program. But oil has been slumping over the past week from recent highs on fears that the global economic recovery is happening too slowly.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev held a joint press conference today in the Kremlin. Medvedev speaks fluent English, but is translated here in this Moscow event.
** OBAMA TOMORROW. President Barack Obama is in Moscow July 6-8 for a major summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Moscow time is 11 hours ahead of California.
At 10 PM Pacific (tonight), Obama meets with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and has a working breakfast at Putin’s dacha.
This is a meeting in which sticking points such as Iran and missile defense in Eastern Europe will be discussed. While Medvedev is the president of the Russian Federation, he served as Putin’s chief of staff and deputy prime minister, and Putin is chairman of United Russia, the ruling political party.
At 12 midnight Pacific, Obama meets with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev at Gostinny Dvor.
At 12:15 AM Pacific, Obama delivers the commencement address at ceremonies for the 2009 graduating class of the New Economic School at Gostinny Dvor.
This will be Obama’s major address regarding his view of relations between America and Russia.
At 2:40 AM Pacific, Obama meets one-on-one with President Medvedev at the Kremlin.
At 3:10 AM, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend a reception and luncheon hosted by Medvedev at the Kremlin.
At 4:25 AM Pacific, Obama and Medvedev participate in the Parallel Business Summit at the Manezh Exhibition Hall.
At 5:20 AM Pacific, Obama participates in the Parallel Civil Society Summit at the Metropol Hotel.
At 6:35 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Russian opposition leaders at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
** CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISIS UPDATE. Here’s the latest on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. Not much to report. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held an event this morning with some country district attorneys promoting his idea to crack down on potential fraud in the now massive, and heavily unionized, in-home health service program. He says it can save hundreds of millions, public employee unions and Democrats say no, with legislative leaders saying they’re open to some reforms, but after the budget. Not unlike a previous pledge by another set of Democratic legislative leaders to get change the redistricting system.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass boycotted this morning’s Big 5 gathering of Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders, complaining that he is jamming the process with new items. Bass had said, according to former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, that she wouldn’t push for new taxes in the guise of fees, but did just that. Only to see it, predictably, fail once again.
I think people have a process to go through to get where this is going. Will Schwarzenegger get these other things he wants? Maybe a few. Will the public employee unions — whose TV ad campaign against the special election package was on the basis that its state spending limit, which they oppose in all circumstances, was too weak — get another round of tax increases to stave off massive cuts? No. Will President Obama save the day for the way things are by stepping in with a big federal bailout for the state government? Don’t bet on it.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev have wrapped up today’s summit meetings in Moscow.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … OBAMA DOES MOSCOW, AND VICE VERSA.
** LIEBERMAN OUT OF MIDDLE EAST PEACE TALKS. US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader, met in London today with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to try to jump-start movement on peace between Israel and Palestine. The Obama Administration is opposed to continued settlement by fundamentalist Israelis in the disputed West Bank area.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a far right figure in Israeli politics, has taken the remarkable step of removing himself from talks with the US. Why? Because Lieberman is himself a West Bank settler.
I predicted that it would be a long time before we saw Lieberman in Washington, if in fact he ever comes. Lieberman is the head of a very far right Israeli party whose support was necessary for Bibi Netanyahu — himself the head of the very conservative Likud — to become prime minister. Lieberman demanded and got the foreign minister post. But it’s an odd portfolio for him, as he and his party are widely regarded as anti-Arab, making it difficult for him to be much of a diplomat with the rest of the world.
On the 4th of July, President Barack Obama welcomed military families to the White House for a barbeque on the South Lawn and a fireworks show. You can enjoy a medley of service anthems played by the Marine Corps Band.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK
President Barack Obama has another huge week on the international stage. And California politics plods on, with the state’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis still unresolved (though, tellingly, with no change in the underlying, almost inexorable, reality), a very one-sided Democratic gubernatorial race, and a mostly unsettled contest on the Republican side in this sky-blue state.
Obama is in Moscow July 6-8 for a most consequential summit meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He met for hours today with Medvedev, causing a near one-hour delay in the joint press conference, which ran long. Tomorrow Obama has breakfast with Putin, whom he has not met before, and lays out his view of US/Russia relations in a commencement address at Moscow’s New Economic School.
From Moscow, Obama continues on to Italy for the G-8 (group of eight advanced industrial nations) summit, then goes on to Africa.
The Moscow Summit, perhaps Obama’s most important of the year, has already borne some fruit.
Obama and Medvedev today announced that Russia will allow US supplies, military equipment, and troops to be transported through Russia to the war in Afghanistan. The deal will allow 4500 flights a year through Russian airspace. Aside from a couple of test trips early in the year, then suspended for longer term talks, supplies for US forces have never transited through Russia before. And none of those trips involved American troops or weapons.
This is important as supply lines through Pakistan have come under serious attack in the past, and might again should the current offensive against the Taliban fall short.
Obama and Medvedev also announced agreement on cutting American and Russian nuclear arsenals by nearly one-third, and continued cooperation on containing North Korea.
But other matters are still in discussion, including the proposed anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, the question of NATO expansion, how to contain Iran, and further assistance with Afghanistan.
Speaking of Iran, the anti-regime demonstrations have essentially been tamped down, the movement against the government clearly not in a pre-revolutionary situation. It will be interesting to see how much an issue last month’s Iranian election is at the G-8 summit.
I suspect that G-8 leaders there will be far more interested in the ever so slow recovery from the global financial meltdown than in the state of Iranian democracy.
In California, the various sides continue their gropings towards some sort of solution to the state’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. Of course, the general shape of this has been fairly obvious for weeks. No additional taxes, massive cuts, some “borrowing” from other pots of money, very little reserve in reality.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson mania continues. Though obviously not on NWN.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will have his hands full dealing with tomorrow’s massive memorial for the late pop star.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are holding summit meetings in Moscow.
Note on Delay:
MMQB held on the outcome of a very late-starting Obama-Medvedev press conference …
The Obamas arrived in Moscow earlier today.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Moscow for his summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Obama, traveling with First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha – but not with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, still recuperating from elbow surgery – arrived on Air Force at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Obama then laid a wreath at the Russian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Alexander Garden.
Obama and Medvedev then met one-on-one and held and expanded meeting in the Kremlin.
Following their meetings, Obama and Medvedev are holding a joint press conference in the Kremlin.
At 8:30 AM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with US Embassy personnel. This event will begin late, due to the lateness of the Obama-Medvedev press conference.
At 9:35 AM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have dinner with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva at The Gorkiy. This event will begin late, due to the lateness of the Obama-Medvedev press conference.
Moscow time is 11 hours ahead of California time.
Obama is also monitoring several situations.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol, focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
At 11 AM, Schwarzenegger will meet in the Council Room with a group of county district attorneys regarding their efforts and suggestions on combating fraud in the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program. Following the meeting, Schwarzenegger will hold a press avail.
Schwarzenegger and others say the program, now heavily unionized, is ripe for fraud and want ID checks instituted. Democratic legislative leaders say they want reform, too, but want to hold off for now.
** OBAMA’S CONSEQUENTIAL FIRST 4TH: NOKO, AFPAK, IRAQ, RUSSIA, PALIN (PALIN?!) Quite a consequential first 4th of July as president for Barack Obama.
Not only did he have 20 of daughter Malia’s schoolgirl friends over for a Camp David sleepover in honor of her 11th birthday on the 4th of July — just wait till her “Independence Day,” Dad — he had a few other things on his plate, as well as the barbeque for military families and the fireworks show. Not counting his inherited worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
North Korea was to have been the drama of the day. But it turned into a major fizzle. … From my new column.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? … From my July 2nd column.
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. … From my June 29th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
During the Moscow Summit, America and Russia will sign an agreement establishing a major new route for US military supplies for the Afghan War through Russia.
** OBAMA’S CONSEQUENTIAL FIRST 4TH: NOKO, AFPAK, IRAQ, RUSSIA, PALIN (PALIN?!) Quite a consequential first 4th of July as president for Barack Obama.
Not only did he have 20 of daughter Malia’s schoolgirl friends over for a Camp David sleepover in honor of her 11th birthday on the 4th of July — just wait till her “Independence Day,” Dad — he had a few other things on his plate, as well as the barbeque for military families and the fireworks show. Not counting his inherited worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
North Korea was to have been the drama of the day. But it turned into a major fizzle. …
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama has no scheduled public events today.
He is prepping for the Moscow Summit this week.
From his first interview with Russian media, running this weekend:
Q: And what we in Russia can expect from the new American leader? How you see the role of the Russia in the world?
A: Well, look, Russia is a great country with an extraordinary culture and extraordinary traditions. It remains one of the most powerful countries in the world and has, I think, enormous potential for being a force for stability and prosperity in the international community. I think that there has been a time over the last several years where Russian-U.S. relations were not as strong as they should be. What I said coming in is that I wanted to press the reset button on relations between the United States and Russia. And I think the possibilities for our cooperation on economic issues, on defense issues, dealing with the threat of terrorism in both our countries, our ability to deal constructively with issues like Iran, increasing trade and commercial relations — those are all issues that are important.
And the main thing that I want to communicate to Russian leadership and the Russian people is America’s respect for Russia, that we want to deal as equals. We are both nuclear superpowers; with that comes special responsibilities that are very different from the positions of many other countries around the world, and we have to handle those responsibilities in a way that encourages peace.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has no scheduled public events today.
Schwarzenegger holds private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol, focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama addressed the heritage of Independence Day and promoted his economic, energy, and health care agenda.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama has had his daily intelligence briefing at Camp David.
Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha are celebrating Malia’s 11th birthday, which coincides with the 4th of July. Along with 20 of Malia’s sleepover schoolgirl friends.
Obama returns to the White House later today to host a barbeque for military families and watch the fireworks show from the South Lawn.
Obama is monitoring the North Korean situation. So far, the threatened long-range missile test launch toward Obama’s home state Hawaii has not materialized, nor does it appear likely to. But the North Koreans have fired off a number of shorter-range missiles.
After the weekend, Obama holds a major summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Obama is engaged in major preparations prior to the Moscow Summit. Word is that the US and Russia have reached tentative agreement on a plan to regularly ship military supplies – and perhaps US troops – across Russia to aid the US effort in Afghanistan.
This summit in Moscow from July 6th to July 8th may be Obama’s most important. It will be followed by the G-8 summit in Italy. Key issues, which of course will be explained here, involve America’s role in NATO expansion and missile defense seemingly aimed at Russia and potential major Russian assistance to America’s agenda in Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East.
Obama is closely monitoring the first offensive he has ordered involving large numbers of American troops. This is Operation Strike of the Sword, involving more than 4000 US Marines and about 750 Afghan troops, as well as hundreds of British troops. They have moved into the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, a hotbed of Afghan Taliban activity. They have encountered little resistance, and only one Marine has been killed so far.
The Marines will set up a series of bases there and pursue active patrolling with the near-term goal of preventing Taliban disruption of Afghanistan’s presidential election in August. Obama has clarified that the overall goal is to deny Afghanistan as a base for Al Qaeda.
With the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraqi cities, Obama and his advisors are monitoring the security situation there.
Vice President Joe Biden celebrated the 4th of July in Iraq with US troops and Iraqi officials. He and the Delaware contingent of National Guard troops – which includes Biden’s son, Delaware Attorney General Joe Biden – had a 4th of July party at the late Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace.
And Obama is of course monitoring the situation in Iran, where once large protests have, as expected here, fizzled in the face of a massive security presence ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The time in Tehran is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of California.
Yet another day has nearly passed in Iran with demonstrations effectively tamped down. A top Iranian cleric has announced that the state will try some Iranians working for the British Embassy for allegedly helping to plan the demonstrations.
“So Alaska may progress, I will not seek re-election as governor.” So said Sarah Palin yesterday, in her surprise announcement that she is quitting as Alaska’s governor little more than halfway through her first term.
Obama and company may also be trying to parse the meaning, if any, of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s sudden decision yesterday to resign from office little more than halfway through her first term. Her statement was, let’s say, on the rambling side.
Obama should be so lucky as to face Palin in the 2012 presidential election. I have a Thursday column, linked below, which sheds some light on the chaos surrounding Palin.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has no scheduled public events this weekend.
Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders will hold conference calls – on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis – on Saturday and Sunday.
No action is expected on the 4th of July weekend.
Schwarzenegger also announced that the special election to replace Bay Area Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, recently confirmed as Obama’s undersecretary of state for arms control, will take place on November 3rd. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, who withdrew from the Democratic primary race for governor, is the frontrunner.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? …
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. …
** STAR TREK FIRSTS … 43 YEARS ON. Some 43 years after it began, and seven years after the movie franchise seemed completely played out, Star Trek is making firsts again. And so far, it’s the most popular movie of the year in America. …
** OBAMA AND THE AYATOLLAH.Two weeks after his landmark address in Cairo, where he honored traditional Islam and extolled engagement with modern Islam, President Barack Obama finds himself in a conundrum. Determining what to do about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just told the people of Iran, in an unusual nationally-televised sermon at the end of Friday prayers, to stop acting like they live in a democracy.
It’s a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.
As the president of the United States, it’s Obama’s job to figure out the needs of America and go about meeting them. As a global icon, he is expected to inspire. … From my June 19th column.
** OBAMA’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT: NORTH KOREA, AGAIN. President Barack Obama changed the old kabuki in dealing with his second North Korean crisis. The first time around, back in April, dealing with a long-range missile test that failed to place a satellite in orbit, Obama treated the effort as more of the same rather baffling attention-seeking by the Hermit Kingdom. This time, after a string of provocations including an underwhelming underground nuclear detonation, a series of missile launches, and the imprisonment of two California-based journalists, Obama went in another, tougher, direction that may lead to a naval confrontation. … From my June 12th column.
** REMEMBERING AMERICA: OBAMA’S D-DAY SPEECH AND TWO DAYS IN JUNE. There’s no question that timing is, as it were, of the essence in politics. Consider the timing of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, coming as it did just two days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Most focus simply on the Cairo speech. But that speech exists in a larger context, alongside the speech over the weekend in Normandy which bookended it on Obama’s second big international tour.
On Thursday in Cairo, Obama gave his rhetorical best to reposition a mostly peaceful America in the future of the Muslim world. On Saturday in Normandy, he reminded of America’s glittering, and far more martial, past. … From my June 8th column.
** REPOSITIONING AMERICA: OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH AS THE ULTIMATE IN EVENT MARKETING. … From my June 4th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record last July 11th, crude oil closed on Friday at $65.63 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $32 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program.
The Obamas are off to Camp David for an abbreviated 4th of July prior to dad’s Moscow Summit next week. Here are some touristy things the Obama daughters can do in Moscow while dad is spending a lot of time talking with the guys in suits.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … OBAMA’S FIRST 4TH.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama has had his daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 7:30 AM Pacific, Obama , accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, departed for Camp David.
He’ll celebrate daughter Malia’s 11th birthday there tomorrow before returning to to the White House.
On the weekend, he travels to Moscow for his major summit next week with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Obama is engaged in major preparations prior to the Moscow Summit. Word is that the US and Russia have reached tentative agreement on a plan to regularly ship military supplies across Russia to aid the US effort in Afghanistan.
This summit in Moscow from July 6th to July 8th may be Obama’s most important. It will be followed by the G-8 summit in Italy. Key issues, which of course will be explained here, involve America’s role in NATO expansion and missile defense seemingly aimed at Russia and potential major Russian assistance to America’s agenda in Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East.
Obama is closely monitoring the first offensive he has ordered involving large numbers of American troops.
This is Operation Strike of the Sword, involving more than 4000 US Marines and about 750 Afghan troops, as well as hundreds of British troops. They have moved into the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, a hotbed of Afghan Taliban activity. They have encountered little resistance, and only one Marine has been killed so far.
The Marines will set up a series of bases there and pursue active patrolling with the near-term goal of preventing Taliban disruption of Afghanistan’s presidential election in August.
Obama clarified yesterday that the overall goal is to deny Afghanistan as a base for Al Qaeda.
With the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraqi cities, Obama and his advisors are monitoring the security situation there.
And Obama is of course monitoring the situation in Iran, where once large protests have, as expected here, fizzled in the face of a massive security presence ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The time in Tehran is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of California.
Yet another day has nearly passed in Iran with demonstrations effectively tamped down. A top Iranian cleric announced that the state will try some Iranians working for the British Embassy for allegedly helping to plan the demonstrations.
Obama is also closely monitoring the situation with North Korea, which fired off four short-range missiles yesterday. But the threatened long-range missile test launch toward Hawaii on the 4th of July does not appear imminent.
Pakistani officials are claiming significant success in their offensive against the Taliban.
He is also monitoring the situation in Pakistan, whose government accepted his suggestion that the army launch an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban who were surging around the country. That offensive has driven Taliban forces back, and the Pakistani Army is conducting operations in Taliban strongholds.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds a press conference this morning in San Francisco on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
He then engages in private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol.
IOUs are being printed in lieu of payment for many state services due to the intractable budget impasse.
It may be that progress is being made. Or it may not.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? …
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. …
** STAR TREK FIRSTS … 43 YEARS ON. Some 43 years after it began, and seven years after the movie franchise seemed completely played out, Star Trek is making firsts again. And so far, it’s the most popular movie of the year in America. …
** OBAMA AND THE AYATOLLAH.Two weeks after his landmark address in Cairo, where he honored traditional Islam and extolled engagement with modern Islam, President Barack Obama finds himself in a conundrum. Determining what to do about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just told the people of Iran, in an unusual nationally-televised sermon at the end of Friday prayers, to stop acting like they live in a democracy.
It’s a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.
As the president of the United States, it’s Obama’s job to figure out the needs of America and go about meeting them. As a global icon, he is expected to inspire. … From my June 19th column.
** OBAMA’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT: NORTH KOREA, AGAIN. President Barack Obama changed the old kabuki in dealing with his second North Korean crisis. The first time around, back in April, dealing with a long-range missile test that failed to place a satellite in orbit, Obama treated the effort as more of the same rather baffling attention-seeking by the Hermit Kingdom. This time, after a string of provocations including an underwhelming underground nuclear detonation, a series of missile launches, and the imprisonment of two California-based journalists, Obama went in another, tougher, direction that may lead to a naval confrontation. … From my June 12th column.
** REMEMBERING AMERICA: OBAMA’S D-DAY SPEECH AND TWO DAYS IN JUNE. There’s no question that timing is, as it were, of the essence in politics. Consider the timing of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, coming as it did just two days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Most focus simply on the Cairo speech. But that speech exists in a larger context, alongside the speech over the weekend in Normandy which bookended it on Obama’s second big international tour.
On Thursday in Cairo, Obama gave his rhetorical best to reposition a mostly peaceful America in the future of the Muslim world. On Saturday in Normandy, he reminded of America’s glittering, and far more martial, past. … From my June 8th column.
** REPOSITIONING AMERICA: OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH AS THE ULTIMATE IN EVENT MARKETING. … From my June 4th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
Operation Strike of the Sword is now underway. President Barack Obama has ordered thousands of US Marines to take the offensive against Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan.
** QUICK HITS. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders expressed optimism that they can come up with a new California budget in a matter of days. IOUs are ready to go out to some state vendors now. The Democrats are dropping the demand for another round of tax hikes and say they are ready to compromise with Schwarzenegger on other matters, including pensions and fraud protections. … Comedian Al Franken, the victor in Minnesota’s closely-fought Senate race and recount, will be sworn in as a US senator on Monday. … But President Barack Obama won’t be there. He’ll be in Moscow for his big summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Obama and Medvedev said very positive things about one another today. … Obama, who is prepping for the Moscow Summit and monitoring the new Marine offensive in Afghanistan, as well as short-range North Korean missile launches, delayed his departure for Camp David till tomorrow morning. Obama will be back at the White House on the 4th, then off to Moscow.
** THE ROVING VEEP. Never let it be said that Joe Biden is not a hands-on vice president. He turned up in Iraq today, on an unannounced three-day visit in the wake of the handover of security in the cities from US forces to Iraqi forces.
Here’s the White House statement:Vice President Biden has arrived in Iraq to visit U.S. troops and to meet with Iraqi leaders, including President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Speaker of the Council of Representatives Ayad al-Samarrai. The Vice President will reiterate the United States’ commitment to fully implement the Security Agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement and to carry out President Obama’s plan to draw down U.S. forces. He will discuss with Iraq’s leaders the importance of achieving the political progress that is necessary to ensure the nation’s long-term stability. This is Vice President Biden’s second trip to Iraq this year and his first as Vice President.
And the pool report: Vice President Biden was greeted at Baghdad International Airport by:
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abbawi
General Ray Odierno
Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby.
Here is a rough look at his schedule for tomorrow
Tomorrow morning the vice president will meet and have coffee with General Odierno and Ambassador Hill; he will then have a private briefing/ Following that he will greet some embassy staff — that is closed press.
He will then meet with the United Nations assistance mission to I raq . (UNAMI) Some NGO representatives from in country will be there; there will be a pool spray.
He will then will meet with the two vice presidents, Tariq al-Hashimi and Adil Mehdi, Shiite presidents, and will then proceed to a meeting with the speaker, Dr. Ayad al Samaraie.
Then he will meet with prime minister al Maliki .
We have a lid
From Earlier:
URGENT
Joe Biden has just landed in Iraq for a surprise 2 day visit to meet iraqi officials and troops. He will try to reestablish contact with Iraqi leaders and try to help foster efforts at political reconciliation.
Fuller pool report to come.
Sheryl Stolberg NYT
** MORE CALIFORNIA 2010 FUNDRAISING. Lost in the shuffle of my e-mail late yesterday afternoon was a press release from GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner’s campaign. The state insurance commissioner, who made a fortune with cell phone tracking technology, has raised a total of only $1.2 million so far, mostly from small donors. Meg Whitman, in contrast, has raised $6.5 million, and she only started at the beginning of the year. Both are super-rich, so in some ways the question is moot. And Whitman, the former eBay CEO, has raised much less than Arnold Schwarzenegger raised in only two months when he won the California governorship in a landslide in the 2003 recall election.
** THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW? You have to hand it to Sarah Palin. For a sideshow, she’s very good at being the center of attention. Even when she doesn’t want to be.
She had a few big controversies earlier this year — her on-again/off-again headlining of the big GOP congressional fundraiser, her pregnant teenage daughter, the usual Alaska stuff — but she’s hit the jackpot this week with a huge food fight among big name Republicans. What’s unexamined is this question: Why now? …
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE GOP’S PALIN FOOD FIGHT: WHY NOW?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama has a short day today in the White House before leaving for Camp David and the 4th of July weekend.
Which will be truncated for him, as he travels to Moscow for his major summit next week with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Obama has had his daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with business leaders to discuss innovation and job creation in the Roosevelt Room.
At 11:20 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks about innovation and jobs in the Rose Garden.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama departs for Camp David.
Obama is closely monitoring the first offensive he has ordered involving large numbers of American troops. The Pakistani Army offensive against the Taliban was strongly suggested by Obama, but obviously not ordered.
This is Operation Strike of the Sword, involving more than 4000 US Marines and about 750 Afghan troops. They have moved into the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, a hotbed of Afghan Taliban activity.
The Marines will set up a series of bases there and pursue active patrolling with the near-term goal of preventing Taliban disruption of Afghanistan’s presidential election in August.
Obama is prepping for his summit in Moscow from July 6th to July 8th. Key issues, which of course will be explained here, involve America’s role in NATO expansion and missile defense seemingly aimed at Russia and potential major Russian assistance to America’s agenda in Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East.
With the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraqi cities, Obama and his advisors are monitoring the security situation there.
And Obama is of course monitoring the situation in Iran, where once large protests have, as expected here, fizzled in the face of a massive security presence ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The time in Tehran is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of California.
Yet another day has nearly passed in Iran with demonstrations effectively tamped down.
Obama is also closely monitoring the situation with North Korea, which today fired off two short-range missiles. But the long-range missile test launch toward Hawaii on the 4th of July does not appear imminent.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency yesterday in California.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds press conferences this morning in Los Angeles and Fresno on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
He then engages in private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol.
IOUs are about to be printed in lieu of payment for many state services due to the intractable budget impasse which I’ve discussed too many times.
Schwarzenegger’s LA press conference will be held at the Governor’s Office in downtown LA at 9 AM.
Schwarzenegger’s Fresno press conference will be held at the Greater Fresno Chamber of Commerce at 11 AM.
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. …
** STAR TREK FIRSTS … 43 YEARS ON. Some 43 years after it began, and seven years after the movie franchise seemed completely played out, Star Trek is making firsts again. And so far, it’s the most popular movie of the year in America. …
** OBAMA AND THE AYATOLLAH.Two weeks after his landmark address in Cairo, where he honored traditional Islam and extolled engagement with modern Islam, President Barack Obama finds himself in a conundrum. Determining what to do about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just told the people of Iran, in an unusual nationally-televised sermon at the end of Friday prayers, to stop acting like they live in a democracy.
It’s a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.
As the president of the United States, it’s Obama’s job to figure out the needs of America and go about meeting them. As a global icon, he is expected to inspire. … From my June 19th column.
** OBAMA’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT: NORTH KOREA, AGAIN. President Barack Obama changed the old kabuki in dealing with his second North Korean crisis. The first time around, back in April, dealing with a long-range missile test that failed to place a satellite in orbit, Obama treated the effort as more of the same rather baffling attention-seeking by the Hermit Kingdom. This time, after a string of provocations including an underwhelming underground nuclear detonation, a series of missile launches, and the imprisonment of two California-based journalists, Obama went in another, tougher, direction that may lead to a naval confrontation. … From my June 12th column.
** REMEMBERING AMERICA: OBAMA’S D-DAY SPEECH AND TWO DAYS IN JUNE. There’s no question that timing is, as it were, of the essence in politics. Consider the timing of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, coming as it did just two days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Most focus simply on the Cairo speech. But that speech exists in a larger context, alongside the speech over the weekend in Normandy which bookended it on Obama’s second big international tour.
On Thursday in Cairo, Obama gave his rhetorical best to reposition a mostly peaceful America in the future of the Muslim world. On Saturday in Normandy, he reminded of America’s glittering, and far more martial, past. … From my June 8th column.
** REPOSITIONING AMERICA: OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH AS THE ULTIMATE IN EVENT MARKETING. … From my June 4th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
President Barack Obama talked up his universal health care plan again today.
** QUICK HITS.No progress today on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis. The state Controller’s office starts printing IOUs tomorrow if there is no resolution in the morning. One wonders if the public employee unions pushing the Democratic legislative leadership aren’t hoping to force a federal bailout to stave off further changes. But that would seriously interfere with the Obama Administration’s national agenda, as one can infer from the level of state governmental bailout in the economic stimulus bill. … Ex-eBay CEO and Republican presidential campaign co-chair Meg Whitman, a gubernatorial hopeful, announced this afternoon that she’s raised $6.5 million since the beginning of the year. No word from fellow GOP hopefuls Steve Poizner or Tom Campbell. … On the Democratic side, no tweets from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who hasn’t returned my call to him on his cell phone. But he has a little over $1 million cash on hand. Jerry Brown did pick up last night, and says he has $7.3 to $7.4 million cash on hand. To catch Brown, Newsom has to seriously out-spend him. Which will be difficult to do with only one-seventh as much money as the two-time Democratic presidential runner-up.
** THE GREAT PALIN FOODFIGHT: KRISTOL VS. SCHMIDT. In the aftermath of the Vanity Fair piece on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in which ranking John McCain aides talked about how difficult she was to deal with, Politico has a story prompted by a post-VF piece battle between commentator Bill Kristol and former Schwarzenegger and McCain campaign director Steve Schmidt.
It’s long and complex, but worth checking out. I am thinking about writing more about it. Basically, what’s most interesting is what is not in the piece, Politico being an essentially conservative publication and this particular writer definitely a conservative.
Kristol is upset by two things. One, another blow to the notion of Palin as presidential timber, something he has promoted against all the weight of evidence to the contrary. Two, he hates Schmidt’s diminution of longtime Kristol friend Randy Scheuneman, who was McCain’s chief foreign policy advisor in the campaign and, more importantly a longtime neocon advocate who was also the paid lobbyist for the government of Georgia. His enthusiasm about Georgia may have prompted that country’s president, Mikhail Saakashvili, to foolishly invade the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, thus providing Russia with its pretext to crush the Georgian military and dramatically reassert its dominant role in Russia’s periphery.
Scheuneman became a huge advocate of Palin, who was on foreign policy essentially a neocon tool, having no inherent views or knowledge of her own (”I can see Russia from my house”). He was suspected by Schmidt of leaking to Kristol and others in their circle, to the extent that Schmidt ordered an in-house search of staff e-mail.
It’s fascinating that Kristol, who is still very influential in Republican circles, notwithstanding the fact that he’s virtually always wrong and, while amiable and Harvard-educated, simply not very intelligent, and his allies are so concerned about continuing to promote Palin. After all, Barack Obama’s fondest wish in his re-election campaign, almost certainly, would be to run against her.
** CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISIS UPDATE. At his late morning Capitol press conference, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a genial mood, said he looks forward to continued talks with the entrenched legislative parties. In the meantime, noting that legislative debates are taking place on other issues, he announced that he will not sign any legislation unrelated to the state’s fiscal straits.
And he has issued an executive order a state of emergency due to the budget impasse, calling a special session of the Legislature to deal with the situation, a largely symbolic move. He also ordered a third furlough day per month all state workers. This means that, due to the budget impasse, state workers now have about a 15% pay cut, which is probably not what public employee union leaders were looking for.
State government offices, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, will be closed around the state the first, second, and third Fridays of every month. State hospitals, prisons, and 24-hour care facilities will maintain normal hours, as will the California Highway Patrol and state firefighters.
Schwarzenegger now says the budget deficit to be dealt with is $26.3 billion, up from $24.3 billion. Finance director Mike Genest had some reason why the $3.3 billion education savings seemingly missed by the refusal to go with the stopgap measure last night actually works out to be a little less, but I was called to other things at that point. The numbers are just preposterous, of course, so what’s a billion here and there, right?
** SCHWARZENEGGER BUDGET CRISIS PRESS CONFERENCE LATE MORNING. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will hold a Capitol press conference to discuss California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
With negotiations into last night proving to be intractable, California is on the verge of issuing IOUs for the first time in nearly two decades.
President Barack Obama discussed the pullback of US forces and transfer of security in Iraq’s cities and towns to Iraqi forces.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama continues his health care focus today, as well as prepping for his major summit next week in Moscow.
He has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 10:15 AM Pacific, Obama holds a national discussion on health care through an online town hall at Northern Virginia Community College.
At 1:45 PM Pacific, Obama signs S.614, a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots in the Oval Office.
Elsewhere this afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden highlights Recovery Act broadband investments in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Obama is going to have to decide how to pass his universal health care in the Senate, where he now has 60 Democratic votes, enough to block Republican filibuster efforts. But some moderate Democrats, such as California’s Dianne Feinstein and one-time apostate Joe Lieberman, are resistant to the so-called public option, which would allow for the emergence of a real nationalized health care system.
Obama is prepping for his summit in Moscow from July 6th to July 8th. Key issues, which of course will be explained here, involve America’s role in NATO expansion and missile defense seemingly aimed at Russia and potential major Russian assistance to America’s agenda in Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East.
With President Barack Obama arriving next week for a summit, Moscow is shutting down its casinos, symbol of the money culture that gripped the city prior to the global recession.
With the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraqi cities, Obama and his advisors are monitoring the security situation there.
Obama, along with other world leaders, has denounced the military coup in Honduras, where President Manuel Zelaya, a champion of the poor who was trying to get his term extended, was deposed. Zelaya is preparing to return to the country.
And Obama is of course monitoring the situation in Iran, where once large protests have, as expected here, fizzled in the face of a massive security presence ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The time in Tehran is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of California.
Yet another day has passed in Iran with demonstrations effectively tamped down.
Obama is also closely monitoring several other crises: In North Korea, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger engages in private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol, mostly focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
He has no scheduled public events.
Yesterday was the deadline set by state Controller John Chiang to have a budget in place in order to avoid having to begin issuing IOUs.
Needless to say, the deadline was blown.
Democratic legislators offered up a stopgap, trying to buy time, and were rejected by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as he said he would do.
Because Republicans would not go along with a stopgap, and because Democrats would not accept a budget that could be enacted, some $3.3 billion in savings from proposed education cuts were lost with the close of the fiscal year.
We’ve been down this road many times.
IOUs are scheduled to be sent out tomorrow. If the Legislature comes up with a budget today, that would be averted.
Don’t hold your breath. The intractable factions that dominate the party caucuses in the Capitol on fiscal matters – anti-government faction over the Republicans, ultra-government faction over the Democrats – each believes it can win a game of chicken.
Neither is correct.
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. …
** STAR TREK FIRSTS … 43 YEARS ON. Some 43 years after it began, and seven years after the movie franchise seemed completely played out, Star Trek is making firsts again. And so far, it’s the most popular movie of the year in America. …
** OBAMA AND THE AYATOLLAH.Two weeks after his landmark address in Cairo, where he honored traditional Islam and extolled engagement with modern Islam, President Barack Obama finds himself in a conundrum. Determining what to do about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just told the people of Iran, in an unusual nationally-televised sermon at the end of Friday prayers, to stop acting like they live in a democracy.
It’s a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.
As the president of the United States, it’s Obama’s job to figure out the needs of America and go about meeting them. As a global icon, he is expected to inspire. … From my June 19th column.
** OBAMA’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT: NORTH KOREA, AGAIN. President Barack Obama changed the old kabuki in dealing with his second North Korean crisis. The first time around, back in April, dealing with a long-range missile test that failed to place a satellite in orbit, Obama treated the effort as more of the same rather baffling attention-seeking by the Hermit Kingdom. This time, after a string of provocations including an underwhelming underground nuclear detonation, a series of missile launches, and the imprisonment of two California-based journalists, Obama went in another, tougher, direction that may lead to a naval confrontation. … From my June 12th column.
** REMEMBERING AMERICA: OBAMA’S D-DAY SPEECH AND TWO DAYS IN JUNE. There’s no question that timing is, as it were, of the essence in politics. Consider the timing of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, coming as it did just two days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Most focus simply on the Cairo speech. But that speech exists in a larger context, alongside the speech over the weekend in Normandy which bookended it on Obama’s second big international tour.
On Thursday in Cairo, Obama gave his rhetorical best to reposition a mostly peaceful America in the future of the Muslim world. On Saturday in Normandy, he reminded of America’s glittering, and far more martial, past. … From my June 8th column.
** REPOSITIONING AMERICA: OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH AS THE ULTIMATE IN EVENT MARKETING. … From my June 4th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
This is up about $38 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, due in part to some positive economic signs and in part to geopolitical jitters over North Korea and Iran, though the latter have lessened substantially over the past week.
Former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken, who performed in a bedroom comedy political act in the ’90s with Arianna Huffington, is Minnesota’s new U.S. senator following today’s concession by Republican Norm Coleman.
9:30 PM UPDATE: CALIFORNIA 2010 FUNDRAISING. Fundraising reports are due now for California’s gubernatorial hopefuls.
I called Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom on their cell phones this evening to inquire about their fundraising. I reached the former governor-turned-attorney general, and left a message for the San Francisco mayor. Brown told me he has between $7.3 and $7.4 million in the bank. Since he’s not an announced candidate for governor, he’s only able to raise money at the much lower limit accorded a candidate for attorney general, but he certainly has much more than Newsom, who is raising at the higher level. Once he is an announced candidate, Brown can go back to his contributors for more.
Newsom’s campaign manager did put out a memo late this afternoon which didn’t address his overall fundraising, but did tout his online fundraising, saying that today he passed the $1 million mark since the beginning of his campaign last year. Intriguingly, Newsom also just passed 4000 total online donations. Newsom’s average online donation is much larger than those of Barack Obama, suggesting that his campaign is using his web site as a convenience for its contributors.
I don’t have cell numbers for this season’s Republican gubernatorial hopefuls, but it’s something of a moot point in any event. Two of them are super-rich, ex-eBay CEO and Republican presidential campaign co-chair Meg Whitman, and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Each will self-fund. The third hopeful, former Congressman Tom Campbell, who is not super-rich, doesn’t seem to be raising much money.
** QUICK HITS. While talking continues, still no solution to California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis as late afternoon turns to early evening on the final day in which a budget can be enacted to avert IOUs. … National Security Advisor Jim Jones, former commandant of the US Marine Corps and commander of NATO, says that US troop levels in Afghanistan will not be increased in the foreseeable future. Jones was there just recently. … WalMart says it’s going to follow President Barack Obama’s call and, for the first time, provide health insurance to its employees.
** IT’S SENATOR AL FRANKEN, AND 60 DEMOCRATIC VOTES IN THE U.S. SENATE. Norm Coleman conceded after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously today against his long-running court challenge to former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken’s 312-vote recount victory.
It was a very smart move by Barack Obama to ignore the venomous complaints from the netroots left against Joe Lieberman. Kicking him out of the Senate Democratic caucus would have made the 60-vote Democratic majority, which blocks Republican filibuster efforts, impossible. Now Lieberman is very loyal to Obama, and one of his biggest boosters. After campaigning against him last year at the side of his old friend John McCain.
The fact is that a governing coalition has to include both the Al Frankens and Joe Liebermans of the world.
** PALIN’S CAMPAIGN PROBLEMS REVEALED. NWN readers recall that I panned the pick of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate very shortly after it happened. Now Vanity Fair has an account, heavily sourced to the late McCain for President campaign, of the multiple problems it encountered in dealing with the Alaska governor. Much of it is not new, but it’s all in one place.
Schwarzenegger campaign manager-turned McCain campaign director Steve Schmidt, who helped push the pick as a Hail Mary pass, figures prominently in the account. Among other things, it recounts how he had to drop most everything for three days in order to prep her for her debate with Joe Biden. And how most of her other early advocates in the campaign found her impossibly difficult to work with.
Parades and a national holiday today marked the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraqi cities. Iraqi forces are now responsible for security, with US forces pulled back to bases.
** NORTH KOREAN SHIP TURNS AROUND.That North Korean ship believed to be carrying contraband long-range missiles, shadowed down the China coast by the Navy destroyer USS John McCain, has reportedly turned around. Initially thought headed for Singapore, then Burma, both of which denied it was coming, it may now be headed for home.
This could mark a ratcheting down of North Korean crisis-mongering, especially since the threatened long-range missile launch in the direction of President Barack Obama’s home state Hawaii on the 4th of July hasn’t yet resulted in a missile on a launch pad.
** E.P.A. FORMALLY APPROVES CALIFORNIA CLIMATE PROGRAM. The US Environmental Protection Agency today formally approved California’s landmark cutting tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases. The move had been repeatedly signaled and implicitly announced when the Obama Administration essentially adopted the California program on vehicle emissions.
The formal move came today, and allows the state – and more than a dozen other states following California’s lead – to implement its omnibus climate change program. Vehicle emissions are the cornerstone, but not the majority of the problem.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown, both of whom battled the blocking Bush/Cheney Administration and major automakers on the issue, both reacted very positively, as you might suppose.
Schwarzenegger: “After being asleep at the wheel for over two decades, the federal government has finally stepped up and granted California its nation-leading tailpipe emissions waiver. This decision is a huge step for our emerging green economy that will create thousands of new jobs and bring Californians the cars they want while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to the environmental commitment of President Obama and the continued leadership of state Senator Fran Pavley, California’s long battle to reduce pollution from passenger vehicles is over, and a greener, cleaner future has finally arrived.”
Brown: “EPA’s reversal tears down the last remaining barrier preventing California from enforcing its laws curbing greenhouse gases. Today’s decision stands in sharp contrast to the Bush EPA’s politically driven denial two years ago.”
** FRANKEN DECLARED U.S. SENATE RACE WINNER BY MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT. After months of legal battle and delay by former Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, Minnesota’s state Supreme Court voted 5-0 today that comedian Al Franken has prevailed in the lengthy recount of last November’s Senate race there. Coleman may try to appeal to the US Supreme Court, but it will be very difficult for Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to try to block Franken’s seating in the Senate now.
** CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISIS UPDATE. No real progress this morning. I know you’re surprised.
June 30th is Sovereignty Day in Iraq, marking the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraqi cities.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 7:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 11 AM Pacific, he delivers remarks highlighting nonprofit programs from across the country in the East Room of the White House.
At 12:15 PM Pacific, he meets with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu in the Oval Office.
Obama is prepping for his summit in Moscow from July 6th to July 8th.
With the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraqi cities, Obama and his advisors are monitoring the security situation there. Today is Sovereignty Day in Iraq. Most combat troops, who will now be based outside the cities, were actually removed on Sunday, two days ahead of schedule.
This is actually a landmark, but it’s being largely ignored by the US media.
Incidentally, contracts to develop the big Ramallah oil field in Iraq have just been let. The winners? A partnership between British Petroleum and the Chinese national oil company.
The losers? The partnership between Exxon Mobil and the top Malaysian oil company.
Obama, along with other world leaders, has denounced the military coup in Honduras, where President Manuel Zelaya, a champion of the poor who was trying to get his term extended, was deposed. Zelaya is preparing to return to the country.
And Obama is of course monitoring the situation in Iran, where once large protests have, as expected here, fizzled in the face of a massive security presence ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The time in Tehran is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of California.
Yet another day has passed in Iran with demonstrations effectively tamped down.
Obama is also closely monitoring several other crises: In North Korea, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The Russian Army has undertaken a large anti-terrorist military exercise which runs until the arrival of President Barack Obama in Moscow on July 6th.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger engages in private meetings and discussions, mostly focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
He has no scheduled public events.
Today is the deadline set by state Controller John Chiang to have a budget in place in order to avoid having to begin issuing IOUs.
But the situation is at an impasse.
All the players are saying what they’ve been saying for weeks, though there are attempts to spin up new variations on the same theme.
I can only imagine how mind-numbing it would be to cover this full-time.
Democrats are asking for still more time to negotiate, having recycled various tax hike efforts in various guises – all of which have been defeated before – after going through a lengthy budget conference committee process to arrive at where they began. They can’t even get all the Dems to go along now, much less any Republicans, even when trying the tax-as-fee majority vote gambit. Which failed last year, incidentally.
Incidentally, even if Schwarzenegger were to go along with the gambit, a budget enacted in this manner would not go into effect for 90 days, doing nothing to deal with the need for a balanced budget in place to avert IOUs.
Republicans pretend on the one hand to go along with a stopgap, piecemeal effort to avert IOUs, then block it on the other.
Schwarzenegger comes up with a last minute proposal to deal with fraud in in-home health services and workfare programs, which is quite similar to ideas that have been discussed before.
We’ve been down this road many times.
The talks continue and the Legislature will be in session all day and likely well into the night. It’s all very exciting …
** TRANSFORMATIVE: LE CINEMA DE MICHAEL BAY. I love the films of Michael Bay. In fact, they are so dramatic and compelling that …
Gotcha! I actually do not love the films of Michael Bay. I don’t hate them, either. And there are a couple that I like. But the fact that it is considered preposterous for a writer — a writer who writes about anything, even wallpaper — to not dismiss Bay’s work in the most vehement of terms points up a dramatic disconnect between the critical community and the movie-going audience.
Bay’s new flick, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, just took in an astounding $200.1 million at the domestic box office in its first five days of release. …
** STAR TREK FIRSTS … 43 YEARS ON. Some 43 years after it began, and seven years after the movie franchise seemed completely played out, Star Trek is making firsts again. And so far, it’s the most popular movie of the year in America. …
** OBAMA AND THE AYATOLLAH.Two weeks after his landmark address in Cairo, where he honored traditional Islam and extolled engagement with modern Islam, President Barack Obama finds himself in a conundrum. Determining what to do about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just told the people of Iran, in an unusual nationally-televised sermon at the end of Friday prayers, to stop acting like they live in a democracy.
It’s a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.
As the president of the United States, it’s Obama’s job to figure out the needs of America and go about meeting them. As a global icon, he is expected to inspire. … From my June 19th column.
** OBAMA’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT: NORTH KOREA, AGAIN. President Barack Obama changed the old kabuki in dealing with his second North Korean crisis. The first time around, back in April, dealing with a long-range missile test that failed to place a satellite in orbit, Obama treated the effort as more of the same rather baffling attention-seeking by the Hermit Kingdom. This time, after a string of provocations including an underwhelming underground nuclear detonation, a series of missile launches, and the imprisonment of two California-based journalists, Obama went in another, tougher, direction that may lead to a naval confrontation. … From my June 12th column.
** REMEMBERING AMERICA: OBAMA’S D-DAY SPEECH AND TWO DAYS IN JUNE. There’s no question that timing is, as it were, of the essence in politics. Consider the timing of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, coming as it did just two days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Most focus simply on the Cairo speech. But that speech exists in a larger context, alongside the speech over the weekend in Normandy which bookended it on Obama’s second big international tour.
On Thursday in Cairo, Obama gave his rhetorical best to reposition a mostly peaceful America in the future of the Muslim world. On Saturday in Normandy, he reminded of America’s glittering, and far more martial, past. … From my June 8th column.
** REPOSITIONING AMERICA: OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH AS THE ULTIMATE IN EVENT MARKETING. … From my June 4th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
This is up about $38 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, due in part to some positive economic signs and in part to geopolitical jitters over North Korea and Iran, though the latter have lessened substantially over the past week.
President Barack Obama today praised the narrow passage of major energy and climate legislation late Friday by the House, where it was pushed through by LA Congressman Henry Waxman and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and urged the Senate to act.
** QUICK HITS. President Barack Obama today touted new light bulb requirements that he says will save billions in great energy efficiency. … Obama told gay and lesbian leaders in the White House that he is ending don’t ask/don’t tell in the military and lifting the ban on travel to the US by HIV-positive individuals. … Fireworks were seen in Baghdad and other major cities of Iraq as US forces formally turned over security arrangements to Iraqi commanders as part of their withdrawal from the cities. … In California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis, Democratic legislative leaders defied today’s statements by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and their own recent history on the issue, by passing a budget that contains tax hikes-as-fees in an attempt to get around the state’s constitutional requirement for a two-thirds vote on such things.
** SCHWARZENEGGER SAYS NO TO DEMOCRATIC TAX HIKE BY MAJORITY VOTE. With their earlier plans having failed, as expected, Democratic legislative leaders now seem to be moving forward with the pass taxes-as-fees (thus removing the constitutional requirement for a two-thirds vote), as I discussed this morning.
Not surprisingly, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said this morning that he will veto any such legislation. Its constitutionality, in any event, is in very serious question, as you might expect.
None of this can be a surprise for Democrats.
In fact, nothing that has happened for the past several weeks in California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis has had any result that is other than the expected.
President Barack Obama spends much of this 4th of July week prepping for the big summit next week in Moscow.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK
An abbreviated week this week, with the 4th of July holiday looming on Saturday.
President Barack Obama spends much of the week prepping for his big summit next week in Moscow. He also does many other things.
California politics, and the state government’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis, sees a looming deadline this week.
Obama this week will work the Senate for the energy and climate change bill which narrowly passed the House of Representatives late Friday.
He will continue adjusting the universal health care package.
He will determine how things are going with the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq’s cities.
And he will monitor crises in Iran, where the protest movement has been predictably stifled, and North Korea, which threatens to test fire a long-range missile in the direction of his home state Hawaii on the 4th of July.
Things are less stimulating from an intellectual standpoint in California politics, where the state government is up against this week’s deadline by state Controller John Chiang on the issuance of IOUs in lieu of many payments.
Little apparent progress has been in the past several weeks, as legislative players have largely reverted – for the umpteenth time – to their default positions. Or, at least in the case of the Dems, new default positions, which do acknowledge the obvious need for cuts. But keep pushing for another round of tax hikes.
Republicans, of course, remain entrenched on fiscal matters, which is to say squarely in the pocket of the anti-government faction which dominates the caucus in the Legislature. So entrenched, in fact, that they turned down Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to enact a fee on property owners in high-risk fire areas. Notwithstanding the fact that fire services in those areas are already severely underfunded, as we’ve seen with the firestorms of the past few years.
As for the Democrats, they have acceded to the obvious need to cut programs in the wake of the massive loss of revenue caused by the global economic downturn and the state’s inadequate revenue structure. But, pressed by the ultra-government faction that dominates Democratic legislative politics in the Capitol, they keep pushing for more time (hoping to avoid further cutus) and more taxes.
I had this conversation with top Democratic legislators seven years ago, during Gray Davis’s governorship. Spending commitments (and tax cuts) taken on during the dot-com boom were resulting in a structural deficit. Their solution? Raise taxes. I asked how, given the Republican anti-tax stance and the state’s constitution, requiring at least some Republican votes.
Well, Republicans will just have to go along with tax hikes, I was told. Why? They’ll just have to, insisted then Assembly Budget Committee chair Jenny Oropeza.
That was in 2002.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings and is meeting with senior advisors, all in the Oval Office.
At 10:15 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on energy in the Grand Foyer of the White House.
He will address the narrow passage, late on Friday, in the House of Representatives of major energy and climate legislation. Pushed through by LA Congressman Henry Waxman and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the legislation would establish a cap and trade system to cut greenhouse gas emissions and require that 20% of the nation’s electric power come from renewable sources. The bill faces major hurdles in gaining Senate passage and will be taken up later this year.
At 11:15 AM Pacific, Obama meets one-on-one with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia in the Oval Office.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, Obama holds an expanded meeting with Uribe in the Oval Office.
At 1:25 PM Pacific, Obama and Michelle Obama host a reception for LGBT Pride Month in the East Room. The Obamas have invited some 250 promiment members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Obama is still trying to find the right balance on gay rights, with significant criticism for his lack of support for same-sex marriage, an issue which is still extraordinarily controversial, and for ending the don’t ask/don’t tell policy for the military, which is far less controversial.
At 4:15 PM Pacific, Obama attends a reception with Democratic National Finance Committee members at the Mandarin Hotel in Washington.
With the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraqi cities, Obama and his advisors are monitoring the security situation there.
And Obama is of course monitoring the situation in Iran, where once large protests have, as expected here, fizzled in the face of a massive security presence ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The time in Tehran is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of California.
Yet another day has passed in Iran with demonstrations effectively tamped down.
Obama is also closely monitoring several other crises: In North Korea, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Michael Jackson mania continues. Sister Janet Jackson discussed the late pop superstar last night at the Black Entertainment Television awards.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger engages in private meetings and discussions, mostly focusing on California’s chronic-turned-chaotic budget crisis.
He has no scheduled public events.
Various moves by Democratic legislative leaders on the budget have failed, as predicted.
Late yesterday, the state Assembly revived the taxes-as-fees gambit, passing a budget with 44 votes out of 80. The bill recasts the oil severance and tobacco tax hikes as fee increases, zeros them out by cutting the gasoline tax, then institutes a gasoline fee. All as an attempt to get around the constitutional two-thirds vote requirement for tax hikes.
We’ve been down this road.
Incidentally, even if Schwarzenegger were to go along with the gambit, a budget enacted in this manner would not go into effect for 90 days, doing nothing to deal with the need for a balanced budget in place to avert IOUs.
The talks continue. It’s very exciting …
** STAR TREK FIRSTS … 43 YEARS ON. Some 43 years after it began, and seven years after the movie franchise seemed completely played out, Star Trek is making firsts again. And so far, it’s the most popular movie of the year in America. …
** OBAMA AND THE AYATOLLAH.Two weeks after his landmark address in Cairo, where he honored traditional Islam and extolled engagement with modern Islam, President Barack Obama finds himself in a conundrum. Determining what to do about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just told the people of Iran, in an unusual nationally-televised sermon at the end of Friday prayers, to stop acting like they live in a democracy.
It’s a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.
As the president of the United States, it’s Obama’s job to figure out the needs of America and go about meeting them. As a global icon, he is expected to inspire. … From my June 19th column.
** OBAMA’S CRISIS MANAGEMENT: NORTH KOREA, AGAIN. President Barack Obama changed the old kabuki in dealing with his second North Korean crisis. The first time around, back in April, dealing with a long-range missile test that failed to place a satellite in orbit, Obama treated the effort as more of the same rather baffling attention-seeking by the Hermit Kingdom. This time, after a string of provocations including an underwhelming underground nuclear detonation, a series of missile launches, and the imprisonment of two California-based journalists, Obama went in another, tougher, direction that may lead to a naval confrontation. … From my June 12th column.
** REMEMBERING AMERICA: OBAMA’S D-DAY SPEECH AND TWO DAYS IN JUNE. There’s no question that timing is, as it were, of the essence in politics. Consider the timing of President Barack Obama’s address to the Muslim world, coming as it did just two days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Most focus simply on the Cairo speech. But that speech exists in a larger context, alongside the speech over the weekend in Normandy which bookended it on Obama’s second big international tour.
On Thursday in Cairo, Obama gave his rhetorical best to reposition a mostly peaceful America in the future of the Muslim world. On Saturday in Normandy, he reminded of America’s glittering, and far more martial, past. … From my June 8th column.
** REPOSITIONING AMERICA: OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH AS THE ULTIMATE IN EVENT MARKETING. … From my June 4th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
This is up about $37 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, due in part to some positive economic signs and in part to geopolitical jitters over North Korea and Iran, though the latter have lessened substantially over the past week.
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