Barack Obama

Read the latest post-presidency news about President Barack Obama on Newser.com

Stories 3041 - 3060 | << Prev   Next >>

McGovern to Obama: Call 'Time-Out on War'

War not the best solution to terrorism, ex-candidate argues

(Newser) - George McGovern would like to take the “war” out of the war on terror. The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, writing in the Washington Post, cautions President Obama against diving headlong into Afghanistan, a battleground that has broken two empires already. “Let me suggest a truly audacious hope for...

Obama Stokes Lefty Pride In More Ways Than You Think

Democrat is sixth southpaw among postwar presidents

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s inauguration continues the lefty domination of the White House—after all, five other postwar presidents have been southpaws, too, MSNBC reports. Only about a tenth of the population is left-handed, but that includes a disproportionate number of politicians, athletes, and artists. “From a statistical standpoint, it...

Closing Gitmo Will Be Tough
 Closing Gitmo Will Be Tough 
ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2009 1:16 PM CST

Closing Gitmo Will Be Tough

Detainees should be tried or released, but dangerous ones worry Obama, lawyers

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s pledge to close Guantanamo Bay has been widely hailed, but it’s not going to be easy, the Christian Science Monitor reports. There’s broad agreement that many detainees can be tried in federal or military courts, while others can be released. But some are deemed too...

10 Democrats Obama Must Watch Out For
10 Democrats
Obama Must
Watch Out For
ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2009 1:05 PM CST

10 Democrats Obama Must Watch Out For

Conyers, Feinstein, Biden could be pains in president's rear

(Newser) - The good vibrations can’t last forever. Sooner or later,  President Obama is bound to run afoul of members of his own party. Glenn Thrush, in Politico, scopes out the suspects:
  • John Conyers: The irrepressible House Judiciary chairman wants to investigate the US attorneys scandal and other potential Bush-era
...

Obama's Staff Finds High Office Means Low Tech

'Kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,' one says of White House's rigid apparatus

(Newser) - Tech-savvy Obama staffers had a rude awakening on their first day at the White House, saddled with disconnected phone lines, limited Internet access, and 6-year-old PCs, the Washington Post reports. “It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” a spokesman said of the disconnect...

Obama Signs Order to Close Gitmo

(Newser) - President Obama today signed orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year, review the military terror trials, and ban the harshest interrogation techniques, the AP reports. “There we go,” the president said with satisfaction after signing the orders, which promise to fundamentally reshape the country's...

Absence at Oath Re-Do Not Matter of Biblical Proportion

Chattering class sure to run with Obama's omission, though it's a perfectly legal one

(Newser) - Huge news out of Washington: Barack Obama didn’t use a Bible when he re-took the oath of office! Is he really the president? Well, yes, says Alex Koppelman of Salon. “Legally, the president can be sworn in on a copy of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue ...

Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry
 Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry 
Jan 22, 2009 4:13 AM CST

Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry

Spy-proof smartphone tech means Obama won't have to give up beloved 'BarackBerry'

(Newser) - Security agents aren't going to have to pry the BlackBerry out of Barack Obama's hands after all, Marc Ambinder reports in the Atlantic. A government agency has added super-encryption technology to a standard BlackBerry, which the president will be allowed to use for routine and personal messages. It's not known...

Obama Grabs Highest TV Ratings Since Reagan

Web audience sends numbers skyrocketing

(Newser) - Barack Obama's inauguration was the most-watched ever but it failed to set a TV ratings record, USA Today reports. Neilsen estimates 37.8 million television viewers tuned in for the ceremony, while 41.8 million watched Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration. But internet viewership broke records and sent figures through the...

'Just to Be Safe,' Obama Should Redo Oath: Experts

Lawyers advise he retake fudged oath to avoid controversy

(Newser) - OK, it's probably not going to come up in court, but some constitutional lawyers tell the San Francisco Chronicle that Barack Obama should retake his flubbed oath just to be on the safe side. Presidents Coolidge and Arthur did after similar gaffes. It "would take him 30 seconds, he...

Lab Is Top US Dog, 18 Years and Counting

Yorkshire terrier is second; bulldog now at No. 8 and gaining fast

(Newser) - The Obamas’ pup could change things, but for now the playful Labrador retriever remains America’s most popular purebred, the American Kennel Club calculates. It's the Lab’s 18th consecutive year as king; the Yorkshire terrier and German shepherd are second and third, Reuters reports. Bulldogs moved up two spots,...

Obama Vows Transparency, Freezes Top Salaries

(Newser) - President Obama announced today that he was freezing the salaries of top White House staff who take in more than $100,000 a year, the AP reports. “Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington,” he said. Obama is also requiring federal agencies to respond more actively...

Sports World Full of Obama Fans
 Sports World 
 Full of Obama Fans 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2009 12:28 PM CST

Sports World Full of Obama Fans

Usually politically quiet, sports stars come out in favor of new prez

(Newser) - Barack Obama's powers of inspiration and unification reach beyond the political world: "All around the country, athletes responded to the new president," Gwen Knapp writes for the San Francisco Chronicle. The inauguration sparked tears from big men who take physical punishment for a living, and Obama's rise has...

No, We Can't: Meet the Pessimist in Chief

Despite the rhetoric, Obama offers realism, not hope: Finkelstein

(Newser) - Barack Obama, elected on a tide of optimism, insisted yesterday that a new generation could meet the challenges of the age. Yet he described economic crisis and a collective failure of will, with no promise of rebirth or redemption, Times of London columnist Daniel Finkelstein observes. And that may be...

Obama Speeches Teach English, Hope to Japanese

Dem's speeches good for language-learners, more inspiring than local pols'

(Newser) - The Japanese version of Amazon.com features an unlikely bestseller: the collected speeches of Barack Obama, with Japanese translation and accompanying CD, Reuters reports. Obama’s inspiring but straightforward rhetoric is perfect for teaching English in a country that hankers to learn the language. He “uses words such as...

Obama Attends Nat'l Prayer Service

(Newser) - Barack and Michelle Obama attended the traditional prayer service at the National Cathedral this morning, the AP reports, a custom dating back to the nation's first president. The newly-minted president sat in the front pew along with Joe and Jill Biden and Bill and Hillary Clinton for a rousing service,...

It's Straight to Work for No. 44
 It's Straight to Work for No. 44 
Jan 21, 2009 10:31 AM CST

It's Straight to Work for No. 44

8:35 start later than Bush's usual kickoff, but Obama was out kinda late

(Newser) - Barack Obama kicked off day one as president by entering the Oval Office at 8:35am, later, notes the Christian Science Monitor, than his predecessor typically did—though perhaps not that late considering his night of parties stretched until 1am. Obama spent 10 minutes alone, reading a note in an...

Calm Down! 7 Reasons to Be Skeptical

 Calm Down! 
 7 Reasons to 
 Be Skeptical 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2009 10:21 AM CST

Calm Down! 7 Reasons to Be Skeptical

Yep; here are some reasons for concern and skepticism about Obama

(Newser) - Yesterday’s inauguration was such a feel-good fest, and our problems are so dire, that everybody is on board with President Obama. Leave it to Politico’s Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris, then, to give us some reasons for skepticism:
  • The genius fallacy: The best and brightest screw up,
...

Noonan: A Solid, Sober Beginning
 Noonan: A Solid, 
 Sober Beginning 
OPINION
Jan 21, 2009 10:06 AM CST

Noonan: A Solid, Sober Beginning

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s first speech as president was not “a joyous audacious document, not a call to arms,” writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal, “but a reasoned statement by a Young Sobersides.” That’s not a criticism: Moderate and moderated, Obama’s address...

Lines, Arctic Temps... and a Miracle: Keillor

Writer savors the spirit of goodwill amid throng at inauguration

(Newser) - The lines were "the longest I have ever stood in," and the day was arctic, but there were no complaints to be heard from the jubilant throng in Washington yesterday, Garrison Keillor writes in Salon. "All kinds of people, the slim and sleek, the XXXLs, the heavily...

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