Saturday and Sunday: The President has no public events scheduled
Monday: The President will host the third White House Science Fair celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country
Tuesday: The President will honor the 2013 National Teacher of the Year and finalists at the White House. Later, he will welcome to the White House the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani
Wednesday: The President and the First Lady will travel to Dallas to attend an event for the DNC. They will remain overnight in Dallas
Thursday: The President and the First Lady will attend the dedication ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Later in the day, they will return to Washington, DC, and later in the evening, the President will attend the Planned Parenthood Gala
Friday: The President will host His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House
Saturday: The President and the First Lady will attend the White House Correspondents Dinner
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Ruslan Tsarni -the suspects’ uncle- is the definition of a great American. If his sentiments about USA don’t make you tear up, get checked
Completely random old pic: Des Moines, Iowa, May 20, 2008
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The Week Ahead:
Monday:
1:0: Jay Carney briefs the press
3:05: President Obama departs the White House
4:30: Arrives in Hartford, Conn.
5:45: Delivers remarks on common-sense measures to reduce gun violence
6:45: Departs Hartford
8:15: Arrives at the White House
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Tuesday: As part of their “In Performance at the White House” series, the President and First Lady will invite music legends and contemporary major artists to the White House for a celebration of Memphis Soul music.
Wednesday: The President delivers a statement on his budget at the White House. In the evening, the President will meet with 12 Republican Senators for dinner.
Thursday: The President will award Chaplain (Captain) Emil J. Kapaun, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry at the White House. The First Lady will also attend this event. Later, the President will host United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for an Oval Office visit.
Friday: The President will welcome the United States Naval Academy Football Team to the White House to present them with the 2012 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
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Another completely random old pic: Candidate for the U.S. Senate Barack Obama sits with his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia in a hotel room as they wait for election returns to come in, November 2, 2004
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Ugh, never quite got around to doing that complete randomness thread…. some time soon, hopefully. Chat away.
WH.gov: The Easter Egg Roll will take place Monday, April 1st, 7:30 AM to 6:45 PM, on the South Lawn of the White House and is focused on promoting health and wellness with the theme, “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!” The event will feature live music, sports courts, cooking stations, storytelling and, of course, Easter egg rolling.
The entire event will be broadcast live on whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll. A full schedule will be posted on the morning of April 1st.
This year’s special guest is Robby Novak, better known as Kid President.
Jordin Sparks, Austin Mahone, Coco Jones, Sesame Street and The Wanted will perform on the Rockin’ Egg Roll Stage. Jessica Sanchez will sing the National Anthem. The Official Emcee of the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll is Tommy McFly, who will introduce acts on the music stage on the ellipse. The United States Marine Corps Band will perform American classics.
Readers on the Storytime Stage will be NASCAR’s Danica Patrick, Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson, Elmo, Abby, Gordon and Rosita from Sesame Street, the full cast of Super Sprowtz, The Wanted and actress Quvenzhané Wallis.
Tuesday: The President will welcome the Prime Minister of Singapore to the White House.
Wednesday: The President will travel to the Denver area, where he will continue asking the American people to join him in calling on Congress to pass common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. He will meet with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the new measures the state has recently put in place, including closing loopholes and a background check system to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who should not have access to them.
Later in the day, the President will travel to San Francisco, California to attend events for the DCCC. He will remain overnight in San Francisco.
Thursday: The President will attend events for the DNC in Atherton, California. He will return to Washington, D.C. that evening.
Friday: The President will participate in the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House.
6:30: President Obama and Michelle Obama mark the beginning of Passover with a Seder at the White House
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The rest of the week:
Tuesday: The President will welcome the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and the Major League Soccer champion LA Galaxy to the White House
Wednesday: The President will attend meetings at the White House
Thursday: The President will welcome President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde to the White House
Friday: The President will travel to Miami, Florida for an event on the economy
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BuzzFeed: President Barack Obama is ready to hit the road on a new campaign-style public relations trip, hoping to breathe new life into the push for stronger gun control laws.
…. A White House official said people should expect to see Obama travel outside DC to bolster his insistence that gun control measures “deserve a vote” in Congress.
Obama will have help. Over the coming two-week congressional recess, representatives of the Brady Campaign and Mike Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns tell BuzzFeed they’re gearing up for major campaigns aimed at ginning up votes for gun control….
Greg Sargent: Over the weekend, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York announced that he would spend $12 million on ads pressuring a number of Senators in 13 states to support Obama’s gun reforms. The NRA has vowed to respond on the air, meaning the battle over guns will intensify in the states as Congress remains on recess for the next two weeks.
Bloomberg’s ads — which focus largely on the proposal to expand background checks — will target a number of GOP Senators. But the more interesting dimension to this is that they will also target red state Dems: Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Lousiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
So where are these red state Dems on expanding background checks?
Senator Richard Blumenthal (ThinkProgress): NRA leadership demonstrated yet again last week just how low they are willing to go in their unconscionable effort to block any and all common sense, life saving gun violence legislation. Their most recent repugnant tactic—repeated robo calls to Newtown families—mocks and betrays the courage and compassion demonstrated by the Newtown community just barely three months after one of the world’s most horrific acts of gun violence seized 26 beautiful and heroic young lives.
NYT: Organizing for Action, the political group that grew out of President Obama’s successful re-election campaign machinery, will jump into the immigration debate this week with an aggressive online effort to highlight the personal stories of immigrants.
The group has collected 7,000 stories from supporters, some of whom entered the country illegally or were brought as young children by their parents. Organizers say they will distribute the stories using Twitter, Facebook and blogs beginning this week.
The idea, officials with the group said, is to demonstrate support for efforts in Congress to overhaul immigration laws in ways that would provide 11 million illegal immigrants with a path to citizenship.
NYT Editorial: Republican leaders in Congress regularly denounce the 2010 Affordable Care Act and vow to block money to carry it out or even to repeal it. Those political attacks ignore the considerable benefits delivered to millions of people since the law’s enactment three years ago Saturday. The main elements of the law do not kick in until Jan. 1, 2014, when many millions of uninsured people will gain coverage. Yet it has already thrown a lifeline to people at high risk of losing insurance or being uninsured, including young adults and people with chronic health problems, and it has made a start toward reforming the costly, dysfunctional American health care system.
TPM: The Supreme Court is poised to hear two blockbuster cases on gay rights this week, with historic implications for a cause that is advancing politically at lightning speed.
The cases to be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday involve the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which bars married same sex couples from receiving federal benefits.
By the end of June, nine justices will either advance the cause of gay rights, set it back, or punt on the larger questions, as support for gay equality in various forms rises in the polls.
See all posts/photos/videos from the Middle East trip here
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Saturday: The President returns to Washington, DC from his Middle East trip. Arrives White House 11:35 PM EST (approx!)
Sunday: No public events scheduled
Monday: The President will deliver remarks at a naturalization ceremony for active duty service members and civilians at the White House
Later on Monday, the President will designate five new National Monuments using his authority under the Antiquities Act in a signing ceremony with Secretary Salazar in the Oval Office. The five new National Monuments include: the Río Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico; First State National Monument in Delaware; Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Maryland; Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio; and San Juan Islands National Monument in Washington State.
In the evening on Monday, the President and the First Lady will mark the beginning of Passover with a Seder at the White House with friends and staff
Tuesday: The President will welcome the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and the Major League Soccer champion LA Galaxy (the loud noise you hear is Tally fainting) to the White House
Wednesday: The President will attend meetings at the White House
Thursday: The President will welcome President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde to the White House
Friday: The President will travel to Miami, Florida for an event on the economy
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Three years ago today:
President Obama hugs Vicki Kennedy, widow of Ted, after signing the Affordable Health Care Act
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UT? You. Are. A. Treasure. Thank you SO much for all your hard work today.