Just days after Obama arrives home from overseas, he'll have to switch roles and play host for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Berlusconi will drop by the White House on June 15.
From the White House:
President Obama will welcome Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy to the White House on Monday, June 15th. The United States and Italy, a NATO ally, have strong bilateral relations and partner together around the world to promote peace, prosperity, and democratic freedoms. The President looks forward to discussing preparations for the G-8 Summit that will take place in L'Aquila, Italy in July, and consulting with the Prime Minister on a broad range of strategic issues of mutual concern.
Berlusconi is a colorful character. If there's a press availability, it should make for some interesting TV.
Gordon Brown's latest gaffe--"Obama Beach" instead of Omaha Beach--is causing a mini-uproar, and with Brown's ministership (?) on the brink due to parliament's expenses scandal, he certainly can't afford any more PR disasters.
But...seriously? Isn't this pretty harmless? It would be one thing if he referred to "Osama Beach" or something, but this seems like a pretty harmless foot-in-mouth incident. Obama was sitting directly behind Brown at the time, so it's understandable that the President's presence was percolating in Brown's sub-conscious.
President Obama denied today that he had snubbed Nicolas Sarkozy by turning down an invitation to have dinner with the French president and his wife.
At a joint press conference with Sarkozy today, Obama said he simply didn't have time for a long, diplomatic dinner.
"What it means is that I have a very tough schedule," Obama said in response to a question. "I would love nothing more than to have a leisurely week in Paris, stroll down the Seine, take my wife out to a nice meal, have a picnic in Luxembourg Gardens. Those days are over, for the moment."
Obama said the U.S-French relationship was strong enough to weather trivial P.R. snafus, and joked that he looks forward to spending more time in France once he's out of office.
"At some point, I will be the ex-President, and then you will find me in France, I'm sure, quite a bit, having fun," Obama quipped.
Sarkozy echoed Obama, saying he wasn't miffed that Obama turned town his invitation.
"Do you think our prime concern is what glossy magazine we'll be pictured in, or what restaurant we're going to go and spend an evening in, or whether we spend an extra night here or not?" Sarkozy asked.
"Do you think people are just waiting to see us hand-in-hand sitting here looking into one another's eyes? Of course not," he added.
Assistant press secretary Tommy Vietor wasn't scheduled to accompany the President overseas, but he made a surprise appearance yesterday to pop the question to his girlfriend.
Vietor's now-fiancee, Katie McCormick-Lelyveld, is press secretary to Michelle Obama and was traveling with the First Lady.
Vietor surprised McCormick-Lelyveld in a Paris hotel room to propose.
In Paris, he solicited the aid of First Lady Obama's traveling aide Kristen Jarvis, who phoned McCormick-Lelyveld to tell her the Obama girls Sasha and Malia were ready early, and she needed to come to the Embassy residence as soon as possible.
Jarvis pointed McCormick-Lelyveld to a room where Vietor was waiting.
"Why are you here?" a stunned McCormick-Lelyveld asked.
"I thought she was going to pass out," Vietor recalls.
Vietor got down on one knee and presented a lovely ring he'd bought with the guidance of his mother.
Obama seemed impressed. "Pretty smooth move," he told an aide. When OBAMA thinks you're smooth, you've done something right.
President Obama marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day today with a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.
Among the attendees were Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Prince Charles.
Obama emphasized the importance of that single battle in shaping the 20th century.
"It was unknowable then, but so much of the progress that would define the twentieth century, on both sides of the Atlantic, came down to the battle for a slice of beach only six miles long and two miles wide," Obama said.
After the speech, the President as well as foreign leaders mingled with veterans, thanking them for their service.
Bob Dole, who was awawrded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service in World War II, was a special guest of the President. Tom Hanks, who directed the epic film Saving Private Ryan, also attended.
Americans remain very pessimistic about the prospects of peace in the Middle East, a new Gallup poll finds.
Just 32% of respondents believe there will ever be peace between Israel and Arab nations, the second lowest response since Gallup started asking the question in 1994.
At the same time, a majority of respondents favor a Palestinian state--51% support it, 29% oppose it. A "two-state solution" is a cornerstone of the administrations Middle East policy, though many in Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, remain skeptical.
The poll also found that Americans have a much better opinion of Egypt, where Obama spoke today, than other nations in the region. 59% of Americans have a favorable view of Egypt, comparable to Israel's 63% approval rating. No other Arab country receives more than about 30% support.
Overall, 55% of respondents approve of the way Obama is handling "the situation in the Middle East."
The conservative blogosphere seems pretty mixed in its reaction to Obama's Cairo speech. Of course, many bloggers have blasted the speech as naive and apologetic. But much more so than usual, a number of conservatives are speaking up in Obama's defense.
Credit where credit is due. Obama, as I suggested he do a year ago, finally confronted his, and our Muslim issue.
The first 15 minutes of President Obama's speech to the Muslim world was what I wanted to hear from candidate Obama a year ago. Had he given that portion of his speech during the presidential campaign much of the irrational fear of Obama as some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate would have been relieved.
I found it Ironic that when Obama turned to democracy, religious freedom and women's rights, the speech was reminiscent of the remarkable series of speeches President Bush gave about the advance of freedom.
This was one of President Obama's more important speeches and he rose to the occasion and delivered a fine speech. There are numerous things about Obama's speech to the Muslim world I could criticize, but I will save that for another article.
Did it work? Schneider says it only received light applause at the end, so perhaps Obama told a few too many hard truths for Egyptian tastes--which is why we questioned that decision. On the whole, though, Obama defended American positions on Israel and Afghanistan with more strength than he does here at home.
Of course, the big question will be whether this does anything at all for our standing in the Muslim world. Frankly, I doubt it; this may wind up eroding Obama's standing instead. Still, a much better effort than I'd feared.
Having just read Obama's Cairo speech, my reaction is: Not bad. It could have been better. But it also could have been a lot worse.
For dissenting views, see Erick Erickson, Ira Stoll, and Rachel Abrams, among others. For the most part, the speech is getting much better reviews by conservatives than Obama's previous overseas ventures.
Obama's speech was "naive" and engaged in "moral relativism," says Liz Cheney.
Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Cheney said Obama should have taken a harder line with Iran.
"I was troubled by the sort of extent to which i heard moral relativism," she said. "I heard the president talk about Iran as though we've done some bad things to Iran and they've done some bad things to us, but now we just need to really get together here to go forward."
Instead, Cheney says the President should have "acknowledg[ed] the fact that Iran is the world's largest terrorist sponsoring state, that they really do have these hegemonic ambitions for the region."
She added: "The notion that we just simply have mutual interests here strikes me as a little bit naive."
Video below, followed by the section of Obama's speech dealing with Iran:
The third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons.
This issue has been a source of tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. For many years, Iran has defined itself in part by its opposition to my country, and there is indeed a tumultuous history between us. In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Iranian government. Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians. This history is well known. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I have made it clear to Iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. The question, now, is not what Iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build.
It will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude and resolve. There will be many issues to discuss between our two countries, and we are willing to move forward without preconditions on the basis of mutual respect. But it is clear to all concerned that when it comes to nuclear weapons, we have reached a decisive point. This is not simply about America's interests. It is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path.
I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not. No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons. And any nation - including Iran - should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That commitment is at the core of the Treaty, and it must be kept for all who fully abide by it. And I am hopeful that all countries in the region can share in this goal.
In a strongly worded statement, the Yesha Council, an organization representing municipal settlement councils in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, called on Netanyahu to repudiate Obama, who in the past has called for a halt to settlement building as a key step in the peace process.
"Today, the State of Israel is paying the price of its leaders' defeatism," Yesha Council said in a statement. "Hussein Obama gave priority to Arab lies, which have always been told with determination and daring, at the expense of the Jewish truth, which has been said in a weak and unconfident voice."
The council called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to emulate former prime ministers Begin and Shamir and "stand up like a proud Jew and reject Obama's fabricated history." Habayit Hayehudi chairman Daniel Hershkowitz said that Obama ignored the fact that the Palestinians have yet to renounce terror.
James Bennet at the Atlantic has a pretty intriguing (if far fetched) idea: Obama should ask Mitt Romney to run GM.
Here's a modest proposal to drive things along: Obama should install Mitt Romney as GM's chairman. Romney grew up outside Detroit and around cars; his father, George W. Romney, saved American Motors from collapse in the 1950s--by killing failing brands and focusing on compact cars! George Romney successfully took on the Big Three with a "dinosaur fighter" strategy. The son would bring to GM that legacy, the turnaround expertise and credentials he developed at Bain & Company, and the outsider's eye that GM desperately needs. He would also usefully jack up even further the stakes and the drama of the undertaking.
Could Obama pull another Huntsman and turn a potential 2012 opponent into an administration dependant? (At least temporarily.) Romney prides himself on "turning things around" (i.e. the Olympics), and there aren't many things in more need of a turnaround than GM.
Even if it would take Romney out of the running in 2012, it'd be one heck of a 2016 launching pad (if he were successful...)
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