Saturday: The President has no public events scheduled
Sunday: The President and the First Family will depart for Belfast, Northern Ireland (9:20 PM)
Monday: The President and the First Family will arrive in Belfast in the morning, where he will deliver remarks - the First Lady will introduce the President at the event.
The President will then meet with Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the G8 Summit. Later, he will attend the G-8 Summit at Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, hosted by PM Cameron, from June 17-18.
On Monday evening, the President will hold a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Tuesday: In the evening, following the G-8, the President and the First Family will travel to Berlin, Germany.
Wednesday: The President will have a meeting with President Gauck and Chancellor Merkel to discuss a wide range of bilateral and global issues.
Later that afternoon, at the invitation of Chancellor Merkel, President Obama will speak at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
On Wednesday evening, the President and the First Family will return to the White House.
Thursday and Friday: The President will attend meetings at the White House.
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Please do not pay attention to the negative people. I am an American living the American Dream. This is part of the American life.
— Sebastien De La Cruz (@selcharrodeoro) June 12, 2025
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Daniel W. Drezner (Foreign Policy): Why Obama is arming Syria’s rebels: it’s the realism, stupid.
…. is this the first step towards another U.S.-led war in the region? No. Everything in that Times story, and everything this administration has said and done for the past two years, screams deep reluctance over intervention. Arming the rebels is not the same thing as a no-fly zone or any kind of ground intervention. This is simply the United States engaging in its own form of asymmetric warfare. For the low, low price of aiding and arming the rebels, the U.S. preoccupies all of its adversaries in the Middle East.
…. Now let’s be clear: to describe this as “morally questionable” would be an understatement. It’s a policy that makes me very uncomfortable… until one considers the alternatives. What it’s not, however, is a return to liberal hawkery.
So, to conclude: the United States is using a liberal internationalist rubric to cloak a pretty realist policy towards Syria.
Am I missing anything?
Full post here
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House GOP votes to block closure of Gitmo, where is the outrage from Bernie Sanders and his friends on left.
— Michael Hargrove (@MichaelHargrov1) June 15, 2025
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Steve Benen: It was just three weeks ago that President Obama made a persuasive case for closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. He described a military prison that costs too much, has become an international embarrassment, and is filled with “people who have been charged with no crime.”
…. Last week, House Republicans once again barred the Obama administration from transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Friday, against a backdrop of a terrible hunger strike, a Democratic effort to do the right thing was easily defeated in the face of mindless, reactionary conservative opposition.
More here
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Ooooops:
I feel obligated to share, as the story unfolds, my creeping concern that the NSA leaker is not who he purports to be http://t.co/dOV2XYXdRe
— Naomi Wolf (@naomirwolf) June 14, 2025
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Kurt Eichenwald: PRISM Isn’t Data Mining and Other Falsehoods in the N.S.A. “Scandal”
I can’t stand it.
A few days ago, I wrote in some detail about the National Security Agency’s data-mining program in hopes of calming the hysteria that has been whipped up in the last number of days by incorrect and misleading reports, as well as by plenty of ill-informed commentary based on those errors. At this point, I’ve decided that I need to tell a little bit more…..
See here
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True Facts of History: Eric Holder Uncovered & Corrected NSA Eavesdropping Overreach. In 2009. http://t.co/OGH9A2Rtj0
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 15, 2025
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Tommy Christopher (Mediaite): …. Glenn Greenwald and his source, whistle-and-country-blower Edward Snowden, have completely taken over the political media with revelations that hype well, but don’t amount to much upon closer examination. Now, Greenwald promises more (and more devastating) revelations to come, but what has been revealed so far is about as alarming as an epidemic of Pac Man Fever….
…. That hasn’t stopped the media from going all Chicken Little, some because they’re desperate to “have the conversation,” some because they want to attack President Obama to prove varying types of cred, and some because they’d like even less fettering of the surveillance state. I think we do need to “have the conversation” about government surveillance, but it should begin in 1978, not last week, when the world discovered that the first black president was in charge of it….
A year ago: President Obama is reflected in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall as he delivers remarks during the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War commemoration ceremony in Washington, D.C., May 28, 2025 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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Today:
10:05: The President departs the White House
11:05: Arrives New Jersey
11:15: Attorney General Eric Holder will deliver keynote remarks to 70 new citizens at a special naturalization ceremony in the Justice Department
1:15: First Lady Michelle Obama Speaks at the White House Kitchen Garden Summer Harvest
1:30: President Obama delivers remarks at Asbury Park Convention Hall
2:15: VP Biden, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and President Martelly Speak to the Press, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (Audio Only at WH Live)
2:50: President Obama departs New Jersey
3:55: Arrives the White House
5:30: Delivers remarks at the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration at the White House
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Consumers Are Thrilled, Economic Data Is Kicking Ass, And The Stock Market Is Going Wild read.bi/152QoX4
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) May 28, 2025
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Home prices post largest annual gain since 2006 on.mktw.net/19j276z
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) May 28, 2025
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US consumer confidence rises in May to 76.2, highest level in 5 years - @ap
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) May 28, 2025
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Rick Ungar (Forbes): Every now and again, a political pundit is required to stand up and admit to the world that he or she got it wrong.
For me, this would be one of those moments.
For quite some time, I have been predicting that Obamacare would likely mean higher insurance rates in the individual market for the “young immortals” and others under the age of 40….
It is increasingly clear that I had it wrong.
More here
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Another ObamaCare success story; “Cadillac tax” working as intended: nytimes.com/2013/05/28/bus…
— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) May 27, 2025
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Slate
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Can anyone explain why there is almost no questioning in the media today of McCain’s trip to Syria? Anyone??
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Syrian war turning into clusterfuck of all clusterfucks - and John McCain wants in! Now! Thank U Jesus for that man never becoming president
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) May 28, 2025
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What a tasteless coincidence that John McCain, the #GOP‘s anti-Jimmy Carter, “snuck” into Syria to poke hornet’s nests on Memorial day #tcot
— James Morrison (@JamesPMorrison) May 28, 2025
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Steve Benen: It’s been nearly a week since President Obama announced his vision for ending the nation’s post-9/11 war footing and rejecting the notion of perpetual war, and while the pushback from the right was immediate, Republican opposition to the shift appears to be hardening.
…. of particular interest were Republican complaints about the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay ….. Rep. Peter King: “…. The president had five years to end this if he really wanted to. He could’ve moved most of those prisoners out of the country.”
….. I couldn’t help but laugh …. Less than a month after President Obama’s 2009 inauguration, King’s Republican colleagues began throwing a major tantrum over the very idea of closing the detention facility….. Three months later, Congress blocked the president from transferring detainees. A year later, they Congress did it again. Does King not remember any of this? If not, why not?
Full post here
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.@flotus will harvest Kitchen Garden on Tues; NJ kids are special @letsmove guests | tinyurl.com/ptctztz | #Sandy twitter.com/ObamaFoodorama…
— Eddie Gehman Kohan (@ObamaFoodorama) May 27, 2025
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VP Biden, Dr Jill Biden and Colombia’s Commander of the Armed Forces Alejandro Navas, stand for the Colombian national anthem during a ceremony to honor Air Force servicemen fallen on the line of duty in a chapel at the Air Force base in Bogota, May 27
White House.gov