HOME :: PUBLICATIONS :: Exclusive – Oval Office Watch – Saturday, June 12, by OVAL OFFICE WATCH

Exclusive – Oval Office Watch – Saturday, June 12

by OVAL OFFICE WATCH June 12, 2010
Obama meets with relatives of Gulf oilrig explosion victims - SEE HERE.
 
President Obama to Make Fourth Trip to Visit Gulf Disaster - GO HERE.
 
US lawmakers press Interior on drilling ban - HERE.
 
Biden tells Kenyans to shun divisive politics - SEE HERE.
 
Ahead of 2010 midterm elections, frustration with government past boiling point - HERE.
 
Helen Thomas retires, and not a moment too soon
Cal Thomas, Townhall.com
 
Anti-Semite: "a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews."
 
Some prejudices are tolerated by elites in this country. Examples: One can regularly smear political conservatives as know-nothings; Evangelical Christians as believers in a fantasy; Roman Catholics for their church's stand against abortion and birth control; and Republicans as greedy people who care only about profit and power. Bill Maher regularly serves up a menu of these prejudices on his HBO program. Comedy Central is working on a cartoon series mocking Jesus Christ, but altered a sketch featuring the Prophet Muhammad for fear of a Muslim backlash. Some prejudices must be controlled.
 
One prejudice seems to be gaining a certain cachet. Like a volcano, it occasionally erupts to reveal what has been churning below the surface. That prejudice is anti-Semitism and the exploding volcano that set it off is Helen Thomas, the longtime "senior" White House correspondent for United Press International and more recently a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. That is until Monday, when Ms. Thomas, bombarded by criticism over her recent statements regarding Jews in Palestine, relinquished her front-row seat at presidential press briefings and announced a hasty retirement. Read article.
 
Critics say plan to cut Coast Guard personnel will harm readiness for crises
Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post.com
 
Three months before the massive BP oil spill erupted in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration proposed downsizing the Coast Guard national coordination center for oil spill responses, prompting its senior officers to warn that the agency's readiness for catastrophic events would be weakened.
 
That proposal is feeding a mounting debate over whether the federal government is able to regulate deep-sea oil extraction. Defense analysts and retired agency leaders question whether the Coast Guard -- which shares oversight of offshore drilling with the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service -- has the expertise and resources to keep pace with industry advances.
 
Accidents happen, "but what you're seeing here is the government is not properly set up to deal with this kind of issue," said Robbin Laird, a defense consultant who has worked on Coast Guard issues. Read article.
 
Gates: Chinese military reluctant for better ties
Anne Gearan, Seattle PI.com
 
China's military is a roadblock to better overall relations between the United States and China, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
 
"Nearly all of the aspects of the relationship between the United States and China are moving forward in a positive direction, with the sole exception of the military-to-military relationship," Gates said, en route to Asia for three days of security talks.
 
The gathering of regional defense chiefs is dominated by the sinking of a South Korean warship. South Korea and the United States blame North Korea, and are leaning on China to apply pressure on its communist ally.
 
Gates said North Korea "is more unpredictable than usual," and that the U.S. and South Korea are considering whether to expand joint military exercises in a show of solidarity. Read article.
 
Gates confident of gains in Afghanistan this year
Reuters.com
 
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates voiced confidence on Wednesday that sufficient progress would be made in the war in Afghanistan to begin a transition of greater authority to Afghan forces in parts of the country by sometime this winter.
 
Gates said the transition would take place in areas where not only security has improved but where there is improved local "governance, the ability to deliver some measure of a rule of law and government services to people."
 
Speaking to reporters in London, Gates said General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, was "pretty confident that by the end of the year he will be able to point to sufficient progress that validates the strategy and justifies to continue to work at this." Read article.

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The #twittergulag saga continues: @gopfirecracker suspended, others still trapped

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