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22 Jun 2011 21:35

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World: Afghanistan troop withdrawal won’t bring us back to pre-Obama levels

  • 65k number of US troops in Afghanistan once the withdrawal is complete (September 2012)
  • 33k number of US troops in Afghanistan when Barack Obama took office (January 2009) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 19:07

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U.S.: Obama plans to speed up Afghan troop withdrawals

  • 10,000 U.S. troops that will be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year
  • 20,000 more troops that will be withdrawn by the end of next summer source
  • » Quickening the pace: The above numbers represent a much quicker withdrawal than some of President Obama’s military advisers would like, General David Petraeus among them. This decision is being seen as a victory over Petraeus’ vision by Vice President Biden, who’s been a proponent of a more rapid end to American involvement in Afghanistan. The withdrawal would equal the total of Obama’s Afghanistan surge, to which he committed 30,000 troops back in 2009.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 14:26

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Politics: Anderson Cooper questions Obama’s sincerity on gay issues

  • Hard to see how the president’s position has changed so much, The only thing that has changed is his need for a wider audience to vote for him. … Democrats attack conservatives for being hypocritical on issues that they’re hypocritical about. But I don’t hear a lot of Democrats attacking their own president for hypocrisy.
  • CNN anchor Anderson Cooper • Giving voice to dissatisfaction with President Obama’s tact on gay rights issues. We happen to agree strongly with his premise, if not entirely his closing (Democrats on the left end of the spectrum were fairly vocal about Obama’s listlessness during the push for DADT repeal). There’s an extent to which candidate Obama’s stance against gay marriage never seemed terribly genuine. When you consider that he supported the idea in 1996, the reality starts to look pretty stark — a flip-flop for political expedience. But, Mr. President — gay marriage has since polled with majority support! And considering you have tepid enthusiasm from the liberal Democratic base ahead of the election, would there ever be a better time to give up the game? The LGBT movement deserves better than this, frankly. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 09:37

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Politics: Bloomberg Poll: Obama’s pretty much sucking these days

  • 44% of Americans say that they’re doing worse economically under Obama
  • 61% of Americans claim that Obama will have had his chance to fix the economy by 2012
  • 30% of Americans would definitely vote to give the president a second term in 2012 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jun 2011 11:24

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U.S., World: Obama’s plans for the day: Outline Afghan War troop withdrawals

  • 10,000 U.S. troops headed home soon? source
  • » That’s a little high for David Petraeus’ liking: Obama is putting the finishing touches on a speech where he plans to outline the plan for what the country will do about getting troops out of Afghanistan — roughly 100,000 are there now, and Obama could remove roughly 30,000 by late 2012 or early 2013 — the first 10,000 or so this year. Which means, of course, that we’ll still be there a long while no matter what our boy Obama decides.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jun 2011 11:51

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Politics: David Axelrod: None of these GOP candidates really scare us

  • I didn’t hear a lot of ideas. I heard a lot of … pat partisan platitudes. Ultimately, people are going to ask for answers.
  • Obama adviser David Axelrod • Offering his take on the Republican candidates out there at the moment. Pretty much the only one he really had anything nice to say about was Jon Huntsman, a former Obama staffer and current subject of blogosphere love. (Huntsman was an Obama appointee.) But even considering all this, Axelrod openly admits that the economy — particularly the progress made with the economy — remains the key issue. “You get tested in this process,” he says. “Ultimately, I’m very confident about the outcome.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jun 2011 11:02

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Politics: Obama’s gay marriage views: Forward, then back again?

  • To this day, I don’t think Barack Obama has any issue with two people of the same gender getting married.
  • Former Obama aide Kevin Thompson • Regarding the issue of gay marriage, which he taught the then-Senate-candidate about in 2004. Obama’s current position on gay marriage is “evolving” (his words), but there’s evidence that he’s really supported it the whole time, avoiding taking an affirmative stance on the issue mostly for political reasons. Barney Frank, one of the country’s most prominent gay politicians, says that, based on his record, “he was probably inclined to think that same-sex marriage was legitimate, but as a candidate for president in 2008 that would have been an unwise thing to say.” Is it possible that he’s held out on a firm position because he knew it was a possible political landmine? You mean this didn’t seem obvious? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Jun 2011 15:26

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U.S.: Obama faces lawsuit over American role in Libya conflict

  • With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies.
  • Rep. Dennis Kucinich • Expressing anger over the current military presence in Libya. He and a bipartisan group of representatives have brought a lawsuit against President Obama for foregoing Congress on Libya and, in the process, violating the War Powers Resolution, a law meant to stop the President from sending troops overseas without Congressional approval. Kucinich has backing from unlikely allies such as John Boehner and Ron Paul on this matter. Meanwhile, the White House disputes the lawsuit: “The president has acted in a manner that is consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” said Press Secretary Jay Carney. Definitely one to watch. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2011 10:09

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Politics: Obama: My family would be OK if I were a one-term president

  • Michelle and the kids are wonderful in that if I said, ‘You know, guys, I want to do something different,’ they’d be fine. They’re not invested in daddy being president or my husband being president.
  • President Barack Obama • Claiming that if he wanted to be a one-term president, his family would be totally cool with the idea. While Obama says that he has days “where I say that one term is enough,” he keeps going because of “a belief that the work that we started in 2009 is not yet complete.” A few people on the other side of the aisle would probably welcome the idea of a one-term presidency, too, brah. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2011 17:02

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Politics: A bumpy ride: Romney unveils new attack ad against Obama

  • Bump in the road: Be warned, you’re going to hear those four words a lot in this new ad by the Mitt Romney campaign. The ad has stirred up some discussion, specifically because it’s making such a strident criticism of such an offhanded turn of phrase. Arguments about the content of the ad aside, though, here’s what we’ll say: This is a poorly constructed piece of political handiwork. The reason being, the ad uses the words “bump in the road” so many times that they begin to lose all impact well before the end (in which it dissolves into a full cacophony of “bumps in the road”). It’s really, really trying too hard, which is something we sometimes think about Mitt himself. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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