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Daryn Kagan's Motivational Stories Now on Oprah Radio
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2009 Comment (3)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers.
Daryn Kagan, the former CNN anchor whose specialty is inspirational and motivational stories, now has a bit of good news herself: She's taking her act to Oprah Radio, heard on Sirius XM Radio. Before snagging the coveted post, the What's Possible
author and host of DarynKagan.com traveled to Kenya, where locals praised the election of their "son," President Obama, John McCain's "gracious" exit from the race, and peaceful democracy rallies. "Talk about showing the world what's possible," she tells Whispers.
Kagan shared with us some video of her trip and pictures of her in Kenya. She also wrote for Whispers a personal postcard, printed below, describing her trip and how it was different from the first one she took years ago with former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and singer Bono.
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Barack Obama is POTUS and Michelle Obama is FLOTUS, So What is Grandmom?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2009 Comment (8)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
He's called POTUS, as in president of the United States. She's FLOTUS, for first lady. So what's the acronym for President Obama's live-in mother-in-law, Michelle's mom? Marian Robinson is FGOTUS: first grandmom of the United States.
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Defending Ronald Reagan and the GOP's Brand
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (18)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
"Ronald Reagan is back!" That's how John Heubusch, a former Gateway exec just tagged to run the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, told Whispers over the weekend. What does he mean? After the GOP took another beating at the polls and after Democrats have tried to tarnish the Reagan brand name, the foundation is mounting an effort to defend the Gipper's name and ideas. -
Iran on Path to Nuclear Weapons
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (115)By Andrew Burt , Washington Whispers
Not everybody's on board with President Obama's winking at Iran. Namely Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "I would love to see a positive outcome there," says Mullen. But he asks that we forgive him for remaining "just a little skeptical." Among his concerns is Iran's support for terrorist groups and "Americans who have died at their hands" in Iraq. In a talk this week with a group called Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, Mullen also sounded less optimistic on Iran's nuclear program. Intelligence boss Dennis Blair says Iran is not moving to making a bomb, but Mullen says, "I believe that Iran is on a path to developing nuclear weapons. And we can debate a timeline, but it's very clear to me that that's their path, that's what their leadership is about."
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Capitol Hill Drives Foreign Cars, Not American
Tweet Share on Facebook March 15, 2009 Comment (12)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Sorry, Motown, but there appears to be a pretty severe bias against American cars on Capitol Hill. At least when it comes to what's parked in the lots around Congress. As Detroit's Big Three fight for survival by claiming their cars are the best, there isn't much evidence that the Hill agrees. We walked around the Russell Senate Office Building staff parking lot and counted 32 American cars to 111 foreign cars. GM's Greg Martin kiddingly suggests a fix. "We might have to shift more of our ad buy from Motor Trend to Roll Call," the Capitol Hill tabloid.
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Billy Corgan is a Rock Star for C-SPAN
Tweet Share on Facebook March 14, 2009 CommentBy Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
Bald-headed rocker Billy Corgan might not look the geek, but the Smashing Pumpkins lead man is a C-SPAN junkie. "When I did my last album, C-SPAN was kind of my TV-watching," Corgan tells Whispers. "Watching C-SPAN and learning about the government was my way to unwind." Corgan, in town this week to crow about legislation requiring radio to pay royalties to bands like his, seemed kind of awestruck by the lawmakers. "I know a lot of these guys by face and by name and by reputation," the rock star says. "Since I watch C-SPAN, they're kind of rock stars in my mind."
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Team Obama: Jones, Clinton, and Gates Hit it Off
Tweet Share on Facebook March 14, 2009 Comment (34)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
It's not all bad news coming out of President Obama's Cabinet Room. Yes, his financial team, lacking a bench, is double-dribbling down the court. His healthcare game is sluggish, and some agency heads haven't been confirmed. But as Congress and the press focus on his domestic and financial agenda, Obama's national security team—which is emerging as a modern-day powerhouse, insiders say—has been largely ignored. "We really can't believe how well and quickly this team has jelled," says a key adviser to the trio of National Security Adviser James Jones, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "They have hit it off."
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Hillary Clinton Most Important First Lady
Tweet Share on Facebook March 13, 2009 Comment (29)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
It pays to stay in the public eye, especially if you are Hillary Clinton. President Obama's secretary of state, a controversial first lady who went on to become an effective U.S. senator, tops our Whispers poll for the most important first lady since the 1980s. By more than 2 to 1, Clinton beat another headline-gathering first lady, Nancy Reagan, and the two Bushes barely made a blip on the poll conducted March 9-11 by Synovate eNation among 1,000 nationally representative households. Barbara Bush, who recently underwent heart surgery, was last among the four, but recall that she had only one term to prove herself, while the others had two four-year presidential terms.
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Rush Limbaugh for President? You're Betting on It
Tweet Share on Facebook March 13, 2009 Comment (54)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Smart thinkers and even his friends don't think Rush Limbaugh's recent surge in attention beyond his base will swell his head up enough to lead to a presidential bid. But that's not stopping bet makers from banking on a political future. We talked with BetOnline.com, which found that there is tremendous interest in Rush running for something after his recent dust-ups with President Obama and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. Here are the current odds:
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Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell Doesn't Like Obama's Stimulus Logo
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2009 Comment (3)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was pleased to see the Obama administration liked his idea of creating a logo to mark projects funded by the stimulus package. He wasn't so keen, however, about how it turned out. "I don't think it was a particularly attractive logo, but I've never been accused of being an art critic," the governor said today at a luncheon with reporters. Rendell proposed the idea while visiting President Obama at the White House when the nation's governors were in town. "I had seen on TV the night before that when Roosevelt did the CCC program, every project had a CCC logo on it, and I said to the president, 'We need a logo so that every time a citizen passes a bridge that's being worked on or a road that's being worked on, they know it's coming from the stimulus itself,' " Rendell explained.
