The Presidential Planner
EmailABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet today with Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey in the Oval Office. The president will likely be discussing with the prime minister his new strategy in Afghanistan. Yesterday, Erdogan said that Turkey, a NATO ally, would not contribute more troops to Afghanistan. "Turkey has already done what it can do by boosting its contingent of soldiers there to 1,750 from around 700 without being asked," said Erdogan before his departure for the United States. The two will also discuss “advancing economic and security cooperation with Iraq, advancing non-proliferation goals, promoting a settlement of the Cyprus problem, normalization of relations with Armenia, Middle East peace efforts and human rights.” In the afternoon, the president and vice president will sit down face-to-face with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Commander, International Security Assistance Force, and United States Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry in the Oval Office. Both McChrystal and Eikenberry will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. In the evening, the president and the First Lady Michelle Obama will host a holiday reception for members of Congress on the State Floor, one of many holiday parties the First Couple will host this month. — Sunlen Miller
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The many parties that the usual criminals will be gate crashing???? It would sure be nice if all of us could afford to party, but that wont add a single dime to the deficit.
Posted by: earl | December 7, 2009, 8:22 am 8:22 am
The Obamas party while America burns.
Posted by: Axl | December 7, 2009, 9:55 am 9:55 am
I wonder what Desiree Rogers will be wearing at all the parties.
Posted by: Barry Christmas | December 7, 2009, 10:10 am 10:10 am
—It’s hardly the image of transparency the Obama administration wants to project: A workshop on government openness is CLOSED to the public.
The event Monday for federal employees is a fitting symbol of President Barack Obama’s uneven record so far on the Freedom of Information Act, a big part of keeping his campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever. As Obama’s first year in office ends, the government’s actions when the public and press seek information are not yet matching up with the President’s words.—
Posted by: Unprecedented Lack of Transparency | December 7, 2009, 10:13 am 10:13 am
Gingrich is an idiot. Yesterday’s news. He needs to retire from politics and get out of the way. After the fiasco in NY-23, he is still getting involved in local races. The man doesn’t appear to be able to learn from his mistakes.
Obama does surround himself with people who have very little real business experience. Look at the guest list for the summit. Why have academicians and labor unions there at all. They do not create jobs.
Posted by: Terra Firma | December 7, 2009, 1:32 pm 1:32 pm
“In the context of a president that you see all the time and hear from all the time how important does the speech at West Point, the most important of his presidency, become? It becomes like the weather reports, just another of many messages.
His shared love of the camera leaves him vulnerable to suggestions that he is too busy appearing as president and not busy being one.”
NYTimes
Posted by: mick | December 7, 2009, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
why won’t Obama pardon the Secret Service agents who were punished for the so-called “party crashers”. Obama should admit this office’s part of the blame for the incident (Desiree Rogers, taking pictures with the “crashers”, etc) and take measures to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. It is apparent that Obama’s staff is more adept at “partying” than protocol (look at the nightmares of bowing, bad gift giving, mistranslations, etc).
Posted by: Ed | December 7, 2009, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm
(Desiree Rogers, taking pictures with the “crashers”, etc)
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The right wing would be hilarious if they weren’t so pathetic.
They create a talking point and parrot it into the ground – regardless of the truth of the matter.
Who appointed the right wing judge and jury and holders of ‘all the facts’ in order to condemn Desiree Rogers?
The answer is nobody.
These folks would make great jurors in their little fascist state of the future – judging and condemning people on their belief systems and rumours of facts.
Pathetic.
Posted by: tierra | December 7, 2009, 4:19 pm 4:19 pm