President Obama's speech to the Turkish Assembly in Ankara yesterday is generating largely positive media coverage. On MSNBC's Hardball, for example, NBC's Chuck Todd said, "You talk to leaders that were in that room and that were invited and they were fawning. They loved it. It was everything they wanted to hear from him." The Los Angeles Times notes Obama's remarks were "covered live on the largest Arabic-language satellite television channels, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya."
In remarks that dominated the coverage last night and this morning, ABC World News showed Obama saying, "I know there have been difficulties, these last few years. So let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam." The President, added ABC, also "alluded to his Muslim father and his childhood in Muslim Indonesia." Said Obama, "Many other Americans have Muslims in their families. I know because I am one of them." The New York Times reports Obama "appeared to have prepared carefully for" that "particular line in his wide-ranging speech." After saying "because I am one of them" he "paused. Throughout his speech, he had moved swiftly from passage to passage, but this time, he waited for the translator to catch up. After about five seconds, the applause came." The Times adds "the line was a bold one for Mr. Obama, who has been falsely described as a Muslim."
The Politico similarly reports, "Candidate Obama spoke little of his childhood in Indonesia, or his Muslim relatives. He battled rumors that he is Muslim. He struggled to appear not as somehow exotic but as the everyman." The Financial Times says, "The unorthodox manner in which he framed his words and the fact that he was introduced by the Turkish speaker as Barack Hussein Obama, made it all sound radically fresh."
The Wall Street Journal reports White House officials said Obama "sees his two-day swing through Ankara and Istanbul as the first step in raising US popularity in a country still considered the West's bridge to the Middle East and the Muslim world." The Politico says "Obama's declaration that the US is not at war with Islam is certain to get huge play throughout the Arab world." The Washington Times notes "Bush himself said he was not at war with Islam." Newsweek's Howard Fineman, on MSNBC's Hardball said Obama "is putting himself forth as...president to the world."
The Washington Post reports that Obama "received a mostly warm welcome." However, there were "protests by several hundred people outside the parliament building, with one group carrying an effigy of Obama...then throwing it to the ground and kicking it to pieces." The New York Times reports that "Sedat Ergin, the editor of Milliyet, a newspaper that has been suspicious of the government's Islamic roots...expressed delight at Mr. Obama's frequent references to democracy." Turkish journalist Asli Aydintasbas, in the New York Times, writes, "Since 2004...Turks have believed that Washington values Turkey's religious identity over its secular democracy -- that it would rather Turkey become a conservative American ally in the Muslim world than evolve into a European democracy."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled his Pentagon budget plan yesterday to generally sympathetic coverage. News accounts cast the proposed cuts not as a fiscal step, but rather as an overhaul designed to put in the military in sync with current threats faced by the US. ABC World News calls it "the most sweeping change in military thinking in generations." The CBS Evening News likewise reported Gates "is out to remake the US military." The Los Angeles Times says, "Programs primarily used to fight conventional foes...would get less money." The Hill notes Gates "plans to boost the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance budget by $2 billion and grow the Special Operations forces by 5 percent." The Washington Post says the budget "highlights Gates's long-stated desire to increase spending on surveillance systems and other relatively low-tech weapons that are best suited for guerrilla or irregular war." The Washington Post also reports that "Gates sees this year as a rare opportunity to pursue politically controversial ideas."
CNBC's Hampton Pearson described the budget as "a $534 billion blueprint full of new priorities and a fundamental change in how the Pentagon plans to do business. For example, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon could gain from plans to buy 50 more of those Predator drones. The 2010 budget for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is nearly doubled from $6.8 to $11.2 billion to buy 16 more planes. But Lockheed Martin will also see an end to F-22 production. ... The army's Future Combat Systems program will be restructured. National missile defense is also getting a makeover. Both were profitable Boeing contracts." CNBC's Larry Kudlow noted that the budget "led to a big, almost 4% gain in defense stocks. Northrop Grumman up 9%., Lockheed Martin up 9%, Raytheon 8% and General Dynamics 7%." The Financial Times reports that "analysts said investors saw the news as positive because it had put an end to months of uncertainty." The Wall Street Journal reports, "Gates's plans have clear international implications. His decision to increase spending on the F-35, which involves European nations and defense companies...secures the program's future and will help keep costs in check for such allies as the UK and the Netherlands."
The Financial Times, however, notes that "within hours" of Gates' press conference, "politicians raised questions about his proposed cuts and reform plans. ... In a YouTube video recorded in Afghanistan, James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican senator, lambasted President Barack Obama for 'disarming America' and vowed to fight the cuts." The AP reports Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, called the plan "important and overdue." The Hill reports Sen. Joe Lieberman "panned the Obama administration's proposal to cut the nation's missile defense shield."
NBC Nightly News notes Gates "would also scrap plans to build a new fleet of helicopters for the President -- as the President himself has suggested." The Hill reports Gates "acknowledged that there needs to be a new presidential helicopter, but said that the current Marine One still has some life in it."
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President Obama's response to Sunday's launch of a North Koran missile, and his call on the same day for a nuclear weapons-free world, have sparked some criticism from conservative commentators and others. The Washington Post, under the headline "Confused On North Korea," editorializes, "The defining characteristic of US policy toward North Korea -- incoherence -- doesn't seem to have changed much as the Bush administration has given way to that of Barack Obama." Obama "seems to believe that he can increase the pressure on Pyongyang through the reinvigorated global nonproliferation policy he announced in Prague. The measures he proposed are worthy and needed," but "it doesn't seem likely that either the North Korean or Iranian regimes will be swayed by these policies."
William Kristol writes in the Washington Post, "While Obama talks of a future without nuclear weapons, the trajectory we are on today is toward a nuclear- and missile-capable North Korea and Iran -- and a far more dangerous world." In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal contends Obama "is offering pleasant illusions, while mullahs and other rogues plot explosive reality."
Anne Applebaum writes in her Washington Post column, "The centerpiece of the visit, Obama's keynote foreign policy speech in Prague -- leaked in advance, billed as a major statement -- was, to put it bluntly, peculiar. ... Apparently, Obama's intention is to lead by example: If the United States cuts its own nuclear arsenal and bans testing, then, allegedly, others will follow. Yet there is no evidence that US nuclear arms reductions have ever inspired others to do the same."
Bret Stephens, in his Wall Street Journal column, says Obama should "Get real about North Korea. Get real about the UN Get real, also, about NATO, arms control, Russia, the global financial system, and every other item headlining the president's unreality tour through the capitals of Europe." On the other hand, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow noted conservative criticism of Obama's speech, adding, "What a naive and wild and irresponsible, liberal to advocate a world without nuclear weapons. Who would ever say something so crazy?" Maddow then showed a clip of then-President Ronald Reagan saying, "We're not just discussing limits on a further increase of nuclear weapons, we seek, instead, to reduce their number. We seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth."
The Washington Times reports the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) created by former President George W. Bush in 2003 "has reduced by 10 percent the mortality rates in 15 targeted countries, primarily in Africa, and has saved 1.1 million lives, according to a study that for the first time quantified the successes of his program." The New York Times reports the study used data from the UN's Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to compare "cases and deaths in those 12 countries [targeted by PEPFAR] against similar data for 29 African countries with more than 1 percent of adults infected but not getting PEPFAR help." Bloomberg News reports the study's director said, "We wanted to see if this program can have a palpable effect," he said. "The answer is: without a doubt."
NBC Nightly News reported, "It was revealed this weekend the President's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, earned nearly $8 million last year working for a hedge fund and giving speeches to financial institutions and some of that money came from the very banks that have now been bailed out by taxpayers." NBC added, "Critics say Summers and the Obama Administration have been too willing to prop up big name Wall Street firms.' Rachel Maddow, on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, said that Summers "has been a chief architect of the financial bailout that has shoveled hundreds of billions of dollars to firms like the one" that was "paying him for stuff until about five minutes ago." Maddow went on to contend that "this revolving door between Wall Street and regulating Wall Street, not only feels really Bush-ie, it's starting to feel...like the foxes are guarding the henhouse...not inspiring confidence." Richard Cohen, in his column for the Washington Post, writes, "The recent headlines about Lawrence Summers had it all wrong. ... Here's what I would have written: 'Man Takes More Than $7.9 Million Cut in Pay.'" The Wall Street Journal editorializes, "We've got nothing against getting rich, though it is worth noting that Mr. Summers will pay Bush-era tax rates on his Wall Street windfall profit. So if the man who would still like to be Federal Reserve Chairman is looking to make a gesture of political solidarity with the middle-class masses, here's an idea: Honor your principles, and pay taxes on that income at Bill Clinton-Barack Obama rates."
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The Wall Street Journal reports political fundraising "has suffered a rare decline since Election Day as corporate political-action committees have trimmed campaign donations amid an economic slump." Contributions from company PACs "fell 6% to $8.2 million in the first two months of the year, compared with the same period in 2007, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the most recently available fund-raising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission."
The AP reports Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley (D) "isn't taking anything for granted even though he's the favorite in a heavily Democratic district to replace" ex-IL5 Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D), "President Barack Obama's chief of staff, in Congress." Quigley has "swamped his challengers in fundraising and received three times as many votes as all six Republican challengers combined, including GOP nominee Rosanna Pulido, in last month's special primary election."
The AP reports, "County Boards of Election in New York's 20th Congressional District can start counting paper ballots Wednesday in the too-close-to-call special election, according to a Supreme Court ruling issued Monday." Republicans wanted counties "to wait to count paper ballots -- including domestic absentee ballots -- until after April 13, the deadline for overseas absentee ballots." But "Democrats wanted the counting to start immediately, saying it will speed up a decision."
In a blog posting, The Politico reported, "So far, at least 6,780 absentee ballots remain to be counted, according to the New York Board of Elections special election count. Of those, 3,107 are from registered Republicans, 2,383 are from registered Democrats and 973 are from unaffiliated voters."
Roll Call reports while Senate Democratic leaders "last week appeared surprisingly conciliatory toward" ex-Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman (R), the DSCC "was exhibiting no such goodwill toward the" Republican, whose "legal challenges have prevented" Democrat Al Franken "from being seated" in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D), and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) last week "acknowledged Coleman's right to challenge the election results in state court as provided for under Minnesota law. But the DSCC, noting that Coleman appears to be the subject of interest in an FBI investigation, argued that" his "legal case was illegitimate."
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The AP reports that Illinois Sen. Roland Burris (D) "isn't saying whether he'll seek election to a full term, but indicated that he won't be pressed into making that call." Burris, "on a three-day tour of southern Illinois to discuss the recession," brushed aside "questions about his political future at a Monday event in Mascoutah."
In a blog posting, the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser reported that AL3 Rep. Mike Rogers (R) "used a day of his two-week break from his congressional duties in Washington, D.C. to drop in on a few of his constituents at Auburn University Montgomery," where he "talked a bit about the economy, the war and homeland security. But some of the most interesting comments he had to make...were about how Congressional Democrats were wielding their new majority in Congress. Despite President Barack Obama's commitment to bipartisanship, Rogers says Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi (whom he described as 'crazy,' 'mean as a snake' and 'Tom DeLay in a skirt') and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn't get that memo."
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Jay Leno: "Hey, before we get started tonight, I want to remind any potential cabinet members you have until April 15th to not pay your taxes, okay?"
Jay Leno: "There was a big rally on Wall Street yesterday after Citigroup reported a profit for the first two months of the year. That just goes to show you what determination, hard work, and $45 billion of our bailout dollars can do."
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