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Friday, October 09, 2009

Barack Obama Wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons."
From the official announcement from the Nobel Peace Prize committee.

Obama becomes the first sitting president in 90 years to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Two past sitting presidents have won the peace prize: Teddy Roosevelt in 1905 for helping to end the Russian-Japanese War, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919 for his push to create the League of Nations. Former President Jimmy Carter won the prize in 2002, two decades after he left office.

The BBC notes that the committee "has taken a bold step" and adds, "This is of course an implied criticism of former US president George W Bush and the neo-conservatives, who were often accused of trying to change the world in their image."

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Monday, August 10, 2009

"For Bushies Only"



According to a report in The Raw Story, former staffers from the administration of President George W. Bush plan to create a social network, Facebook-style, specifically for fans and ex-employees of the former president.

It turns out there's already The Bush-Cheney Alumni Association, which is less of a social network and more of a collection of articles whose theme is "we didn't do so bad," mixed with a little "and anyway, this Obama guy isn't so hot, either."

We learned that the president and vice president really liked the troops. In one story, the president highjacks a couple of soldiers for two hours to talk to them about the difficulties in being president. In another story, we're told Vice President Dick Cheney liked to host parties for wounded troops, with live entertainment. With country music, but no rap, he says. "The country and western is sort of a compromise between old folks -- you know, the big band sound of the '50s and the rappers that the younger generation understands."

Another story included these details:

"On June 30 the vice president -- code-named "Angler" by the Secret Service for his love of fly-fishing -- staged a fly-fishing event on his lawn with a group of wounded troops being helped out by the charitable organization Project Healing Waters. Rather than the usual rubber waders and camouflage fishing hat, the vice president sported a dark suit, a white shirt, green tie and business shoes but still managed to show off his favorite fly-fishing cast to the troops. Instead of water, he aimed for a bright green patch of grass as the smiling military men and their wives picked up tips and practiced themselves."

We have plenty of presidential stories on Who2. We also have a list of all the presidents for easy reference, we have profiles of First Ladies and a special feature on The Unfinished Terms of Vice Presidents.

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Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Happy 48th Birthday, Mr. President

U.S. President Barack Obama turns 48 today.

He was born the same year as hockey star Wayne Gretzky. And he's exactly two weeks older than Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

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Sunday, August 02, 2009

Barack Obama Didn't Insult Special Olympics Kids in Quite the Way You May Have Heard He Did

This week the New York Times repeated a common misstatement about the bad joke Barack Obama made to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in March.
"[Obama] had to make another apology after joking that his bad bowling skills qualified him for the Special Olympics."
That isn't what Obama said, although it's almost always reported that way. Since even The Times is still reporting it that way, it seems worth setting the record straight.

The set up: After talking with Obama about the economy for 15 minutes, Leno turned to some light chatter about the White House. See the video for yourself -- in this short version from ABC News, or in the complete version from NBC (at about 3:55 from the end).

The transcript:
Leno: "Are they going to put a basketball -- I imagine the bowling alley has been just burned and closed down."
Obama: "No no. I've been pract-- I have been practicing bowling..."
Leno: "Really. Really!"
Obama: "I ah, I bowled a 129...which..."
   (Audience cheers and laughter)
Obama: "Yes, I had... I..."
   (Obama laughs as he spots Leno half-hiding a "that's terrible" face.)
Leno (clapping and falsely encouraging): "Oh no, that's very good, yeah. No, that's very good, Mr. President."
Obama (laughing) says a few unintelligible syllables, then: "This is like, this is like Special Olympics or something."
Leno: (Making another comic face) "No, that, that... no, that's very good."
Obama: "The, ah... no, no, listen, I, I, ah, I'm... I'm making progress on, on the bowling. Yeah."
Obama is clearly not "joking that his bad bowling skills qualified him for the Special Olympics." He's joking that Leno's phony praise is like the Special Olympics practice of praising every competitor no matter how they perform.

The joke is, "Your praise for my bad score is like the praise for competitors with low scores at the Special Olympics."

It was still a dumb, tone-deaf joke, for sure. (Should a president ever make a joke containing the two words "Special Olympics"? Probably not.) But to my mind there's a huge difference between saying "I bowled as bad as a handicapped kid" -- which is cruel -- and the wisecrack-gone-wrong remark the President actually made.

Had Obama meant to say he bowled like he was in the Special Olympics, he would have said "IT was like the Special Olympics" or "THAT was like" or even "I was like." But he didn't.

The clincher is on the video: As he says the line, Obama actually gestures toward Leno (who is milking laughs with another "that's terrible" face).

Still, for whatever reason, the joke was almost uniformly misreported the next day (including by ABC News in that story linked above). Some were worse than others. The LA Times:
"It's like -- it was like Special Olympics or something," the president said, prompting laughter from the audience.
Entertainment Weekly had it even more wrong, with Obama saying, "That was like the Special Olympics or something." And so on.

The White House didn't try to correct the misquotes, undoubtedly because the only thing worse than the joke would have been to tell the press, "Let's spend the next few news cycles discussing the nuances of the president's Special Olympics joke." Better to apologize and let it die.

But it would still be nice to have it reported correctly going forward.

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Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Here's to Your Mother"

Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., Sergeant James Crowley, and President Barack Obama clink beer glasses at the start of their meeting in the White House rose garden on 30 July 2009.

85 degrees when the meeting started at six o'clock. Must be hot in those suits.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Monday, July 27, 2009

"Why Do You Hate Budweiser?"

Analyzing the beer selection for this week's Obama-Crowley-Gates drinking session.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Transcript of President Obama's Press Conference

So let me be clear: This isn't about me. I have great health insurance, and so does every member of Congress.
President Barack Obama, talking about health care reform on Wednesday night.

Full transcript here.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Images: The Obamas Go to Europe

Wonderful images from last week's Obama family trip to Egypt and Europe. All are official White House photos taken by Pete Souza.

The family watches as Sasha Obama lights a candle at Notre Dame Cathedral on 6 June 2009.


President Obama points out a landmark to daughter Malia while touring the Pompidou Centre modern art museum in Paris on 7 June 2009.


President Obama tours Egypt's Great Sphinx of Giza (left) and the Pyramid of Khafre on 4 June 2009.

To state the obvious: It looks like an amazing trip.

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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Here's That Colbert Clip

Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert, while broadcasting from Iraq, gets his hair shorn by the order of President Barack Obama:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Obama Orders Stephen's Haircut - Ray Odierno
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorKeyboard Cat



For more Colbert videos, go here.

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Thursday, June 04, 2009

Obama: "This is the hope of all humanity"

I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.
President Barack Obama has given his much-anticipted speech at Cairo University on the relations between the U.S. and the Islamic world. ("Assalaamu alaykum" is a traditional greeting which means, roughly, "Peace be upon you.")

The NY Times has the full text of the speech. It's a long read, but stirring and worthwhile.
So let there be no doubt: Islam is a part of America. And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations – to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. These things we share. This is the hope of all humanity.
It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path.
There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples – a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats inthe heart of billions. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.


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Sunday, April 12, 2009

The New First Dog is a Puppy Named Bo

He's named Bo.
The identity of the first puppy -- the one that the Washington press corps has been yelping about for months, the one President Obama has seemed to delight in dropping hints about -- leaked out Saturday.

The little guy is a six-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Malia and Sasha named it Bo.
Breaking news from The Washington Post.

Bo is six months old. His markings include a "white chest, white paws and a white goatee." He met the First Family in a top-secret meeting at the White House a few weeks ago.

The only unfortunate part of the whole affair is the tendency of breed owners to call the dogs "Porties." But ah, well.

Says The Post:
Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo ... Diddley?)


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Monday, April 06, 2009

Bob Dylan Analyzes the Presidents

BF: Do you remember any particular battle that [Ulysses] Grant fought?

BD: There were a lot of battles but the Shilo [sic] one is most interesting. He could’ve lost that. But he was determined to win it at any price, using all kinds of strategies, even faking retreat. You could read it for yourself.
The Times interviews singer Bob Dylan. The conversation starts out with Barack Obama and somehow moves on to Civil War ghosts haunting Elvis.

(Meanwhile, Phil Collins says his life now "revolves around the Alamo." What's up with the musicians these days?)

Dylan's new album, Together Through Life, is due out later this month.

(Tip from the Daily Dish.)

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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Our First Couple Is Taller Than Your First Couple


Barack and Michelle Obama visit Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip yesterday at Buckingham Palace.

The President and First Lady are 6'2" and 5'11", respectively. The Queen is 5'4".

Online sources claim Philip is 5'11" or even 6'2" tall. At their marriage, at least, he was nearly a head taller than Elizabeth. But at age 87, he looks to have shrunk considerably.

(Credit: Photo Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/WENN.com)

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Baby Photos of Obama

The Chicago Tribune has 'em.

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Monday, March 09, 2009

Don't Make the President Angry




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Joe Lieberman Now Pro-Bama

After campaigning across the country for Republican John McCain in 2008 and attacking Obama as naive, untested and unwilling to take on powerful special interests, Lieberman now showers praise on the popular new Democratic president.

"He's shown real leadership," Lieberman told The Associated Press in an interview. "Bottom line: I think Barack Obama, president of the United States, is off to a very good start."
Per the Associated Press.

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Stevie Wonder! Yeah!

"I think it’s fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me. We might not have married."
Stevie Wonder received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song last night at the White House, after handsome remarks by both President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

The event is being shown on PBS tonight at 8:00.

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Some (Presidents) Like It Hot

"He's from Hawaii, O.K.? He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there."
Obama advisor David Axelrod on his boss's Oval Office habits.

The piece also has a few enlightening (catty?) notes on George W. Bush's coat-and-tie policy:
"I'll never forget going to work on a Saturday morning, getting called down to the Oval Office because there was something he was mad about," said Dan Bartlett, who was counselor to Bush. "I had on khakis and a buttoned-down shirt, and I had to stand by the door and get chewed out for about 15 minutes. He wouldn't even let me cross the threshold."


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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Doll Trouble at the White House

First Lady Michelle Obama is not fond of the weird new dolls loosely based on first daughters Sasha and Malia.

It's not clear how she feels about the new Barack Obama action figure.

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Friday, January 23, 2009

An Inside Peek at Air Force One

National Geographic does the honors.

No photos, but still a cool look at the plane. Who knew the president's suite was in the nose?

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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Behind the Scenes at the Obama Inauguration

Time has some fascinating shots of the man himself and of the First Daughters.

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

President Obama Begins His Day With Darth Vader

What is Barack Obama's calendar for his first full day in office?

Here's a basic schedule. He starts with a 10 am worship service at National Cathedral -- the one with the Darth Vader gargoyle.

Then Obama hosts an open house at the White House while also meeting with military leaders, economic experts, etc, etc.

Frankly, we had hoped that Obama would post his daily schedule on the White House website. But so far, no dice.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Text of Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

Delivered on 20 January 2009.

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The New White House Website

Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

And the White House website has formally been flipped to the new administration.

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The Lincoln Bible Is Not Exactly the Lincoln Bible

At least, not the family Bible. It's a helpful impostor from 1861.

Still: Good enough for Lincoln, good enough for Obama.

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Bush Leaves a Note for Obama

During his last moments at the White House, former President Ronald Reagan scribbled a note for his successor on a notepad with a turkey insignia that said, "Don't let the turkeys get you down."
Thus starting a tradition that George W. Bush apparently carried on today, leaving a note for Barack Obama. No word on whether it included a sketch of a turkey.

The tradition sounds a little like the old joke about Nikita Khrushchev.

And how is Bush this morning, reporters asked press secretary Dana Perino?
"He's good," Perino said, describing the president's mood. "He's the president of the United States, the way he always is. He hasn't changed. He gave me a big kiss on the forehead."

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Monday, January 19, 2009

The Order of Business

The step-by-step schedule for Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony.

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The Improbability of Obama

"The essence of Barack Obama has been his capacity to avert life's roadblocks and disappointments during his journey. The first could have been his unusual family biography, with the challenges it presented in terms of stability and psychology. The second could have been the sociology of race in America, with its likelihood of rejection and cynicism. And the final was the geography of elective politics, with all the variables of ideology and luck. In each case, Obama kept moving, finding his way around dead ends, avoiding the traps."
The Washington Post takes a final pre-inaugural look back.

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Dr. King's Premonition

Last year The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a 40th anniversary feature on the death of Martin Luther King.

It's well worth a visit on this week of Dr. King's 80th birthday. The feature is packed full of photos, story archives, links, and videos like the one below, with his friends talking about the days before he died.

(The AJC has also added a new link for 2009: To their celebration of the inauguration of Barack Obama. A nice touch.)

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Arne Duncan, the Hoop-Shooting Secretary of Education

Here's a great 10-minute interview with Arne Duncan, the new Secretary of Education-to-be. (Courtesy of the education site Edutopia.)

Duncan's a fascinating guy. His basketball history has gotten quite a bit of coverage, and rightfully so: After starring at Harvard, he went to Australia and played pro ball from 1987-91.

(It's just a bit reminiscent of Alan Greenspan running off to play saxophone in a jazz band for a year before settling down to a life of finance. Let's hope the Duncan era turns out better than the Greenspan era did in the end.)

While he was sowing his wild oats in Australia, Duncan met his future wife, Karen, and brought her back to the States with him in 1992. So now we've got a former inner-city Chicago kid, Harvard grad, pro hoops player, then chief of Chicago Public Schools, with an Australian wife, who at age 44 is going to be Secretary of Education for the country's first black president.

Things move fast these days.





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Greatest Inaugural Story Lede So Far

"Thank God that Doris Kearns Goodwin didn't write a profile of Montezuma's cabinet. Otherwise they'd be eating human flesh at Barack Obama's inauguration!"
Political Machine chuckling about the Lincoln-oriented menu for Inauguration Day.

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Obama's New Limo is an Armored "Cocoon"

Made by Cadillac.
"One news agency, noting its 8-inch-thick doors, says the limo can withstand a 'direct hit from an asteroid.' But GM spokeswoman Joanne K. Krell laughed off the comments. 'And it will fix you a latte if you ask,' she jokes."
A $25 billion latte, if you include the cost of the GM buyout.

Meanwhile, a historical side note:
"In 1965, Lyndon Johnson was the first president to ride in a bulletproof limo in an inaugural parade, less than two years after his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, was shot and killed while riding in an open car."

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Monday, January 05, 2009

"India," First Cat, Dies at White House

It's been quite a month for White House pet news.

First the hubbub about a new dog for the Obama family.

Then the poor health of Socks, the former First Cat favored by Chelsea Clinton.

Now the White House has announced the death of India, the little-known feline of the Bush White House. India (aka "Kitty" and "Willie") was 18.

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Sunday, January 04, 2009

Bill Richardson Out as Commerce Secretary

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico has withdrawn his name as nominee for Secretary of Commerce, says NBC News.

NBC says Richardson cited "a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state" as the reason. The network also says that president-elect Barack Obama accepted the withdrawal with "deep regret."

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Obama Arrives for Haunted Honeymoon

The Obamas are now staying at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel. Supposedly it's haunted:
"Staff housekeepers have reported someone unseen calling their names and the sensation of invisible arms around them. Locked doors fling themselves open and the scent of Mimosa mysteriously fills the air on certain floors at night."
Maybe they wanted a trial run for meeting the ghost of Abe Lincoln in the White House.

The First Daughters start school on Monday.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Cavalcade of Shirtless Presidents!

Perhaps you've seen the remarkable photo of president-elect Barack Ab-ama, shirtless in Hawaii.

The Huffington Post has now created a lovely slideshow of
Other Shirtless Presidents.


Lookin' good at 61, Jerry Ford!

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Time Person of the Year 2008

It's Barack Obama.

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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

President Barack Obama By the Numbers

Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. Here's a by-the-numbers look ahead at this historic event.

{ 1 }   Obama will be the first president born in Hawaii. (Small surprise: Hawaii didn't become a state until 1959. Obama was born in 1961.)

{ 77 }   Days until Obama's inauguration on 20 January 2009.

{ 47-5-16 }   Obama's age in years, months and days when he takes office in January.

He'll be the fifth-youngest American president ever. Theodore Roosevelt is still the champ at age 42, followed by John Kennedy (43), Bill Clinton (46 years, 5 months), and Ulysses Grant (46 years, 11 months). Obama will bump Grover Cleveland (47 years, 11 months) from the top five.

{ 8 }   Presidents, including Obama, schooled at Harvard.

Of those eight, he is the second to attend Harvard Law School. Rutherford B. Hayes was the first; he graduated in 1845, 146 years before Obama.

{ 24 }   Years Michelle Obama will be older than the youngest first lady.

Michelle Obama will turn 45 on January 17th, three days before her husband takes office. Frances Folsom married Grover Cleveland at the White House in 1886, when she was only 21. There have been many youngish First Ladies; most recently, Jackie Kennedy was 31 when JFK took office in 1961.

{ 2 }   Michelle Obama will be the second First Lady with a law degree. Hillary Clinton was the first.

{ 7 } and { 10 }   Ages of Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia when he takes office.

Jenna and Barbara Bush were 19 when George W. Bush was inaugurated. Chelsea Clinton was 12 at the start of her father's term in 1993. Amy Carter was nine when Jimmy Carter took office in 1977.

{ 1 }   Obama will be the first Columbia University undergraduate to become president. (Dwight Eisenhower was president of Columbia when he was elected U.S. president in 1952.)

{ 4 }   Presidents, including Obama, with strong ties to Illinois.

Abraham Lincoln remains the state's favorite son (though he was actually born in Kentucky). Ulysses Grant was a clerk in Galena, Illinois when the Civil War broke out; he was living there again in 1868 when he received word he had been elected president. And Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico in 1911.

{ 44 }   Obama will be the 44th U.S. president. (Grover Cleveland -- him again! -- is counted as both the 22nd and 24th presidents, having served non-consecutive terms.)

{ 55 }   Obama's age on leaving office in 2017, if he serves two terms. That's one year older than George W. Bush was when he took office in 2001. In the year 2017, Michelle Obama will be 53. Sasha and Malia will be 15 and 18.

{ 1 }   Barack Obama will be the first African-American president. It has been 138 years since the 15th Amendment guaranteed African-Americans the right to vote.

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Barack Obama Will Be the 44th President of the United States

All national networks are now reporting that Barack Obama has defeated John McCain and will be the next president of the United States.

[Update: Here's the transcript of his speech.]

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Friday, October 24, 2008

Photos of Obama in Hawaii

Unexpected photos from The Honolulu Advertiser.

Barack Obama, in jeans and flip-flops, takes a brief stroll through the alleys of his old neighborhood. He looks, for a brief moment, like an unknown local. (Notes the story, "Obama appeared solemn when he spotted his traveling press running toward him.")

Not to read too much into it, but it's easy to wonder what he's thinking or what it might mean to him. He's back home, his grandmother is gravely ill, and he's 260 hours from maybe being elected president of the United States.

Presidents don't get much chance to stroll around the old neighborhood in flip-flops.

[November 3rd update: Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died.]

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Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Tricky Birthdays of the Obama Girls

We've posted new profiles of Sasha and Malia Obama, the daughters of presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Both girls gave us a bit of trouble with their birthdays.

Many reputable sources say Malia's birth year is 1999. For instance, see these timelines from The New York Times and George Washington University and fact sheets from CNN and The Daily Telegraph.

Obama's Senate biography is silent on the topic. His campaign bio, however, says his daughters are "Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7."

Assuming the Obama website wouldn't 1) be mistaken or 2) lie about his own daughter's birth, the age of 10 firmly nixes a 1999 birth. The year 1998 would seem to be confirmed by the many news reports from this past July which mentioned Malia's "10th birthday."

The clincher, to us, comes from his family interview with the TV show Access Hollywood from July 2008. Not only does Malia receive birthday wishes, but Obama himself mentions her birth "10 years ago."

You can hear the comment at the 1:22 mark here:



Given this sturdy evidence, we've listed 1998 as Malia's year of birth.

Obama himself is also the source for Sasha's birth date. There's no dispute about her birth year of 2001, but we found the dates June 7 and June 8 online, among others. Most sources list no month or day at all.

But this blog post by Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post, has Obama visiting a hospital on 10 June 2008 and telling a patient's mother that it is his daughter's 7th birthday.

It's not quite as certain as Malia's birth year, but it is solid enough for us to go with June 10th as her official date of birth.

So it's June 10th, 2001 for Sasha Obama and July 4th, 1998 for her sister Malia.

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Friday, October 17, 2008

The Comedy Stylings of John McCain and 'Steve' Obama

The full transcript of last night's Alfred E. Smith dinner, with jokes by both John McCain and Barack Obama.

Whaddya know: Both men came out looking like real human beings.

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