Sunday, May 31, 2009

Obama's Gramps: Gazing skyward on D-Day in England

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Surely, Stanley Dunham was gazing skyward 65 years ago, on D-Day. Dunham, the man whom Barack Obama would one day call Gramps, was a 26-year-old supply sergeant stationed near the English Channel with the U.S. Army Air Forces when the invasion of Normandy at last began.

Six weeks later, he crossed the Channel, too, and followed the Allied front across France. A year later, he was on track to fight in Japan when the atom bomb sent him home instead.

Dunham, who died 17 years ago, was the Kansas-born grandfather with the outsized personality who helped to fill the hole in the future president's life created by the absence of Obama's Kenyan father. Sgt. Dunham's war years have been something of a mystery, the details of dates and places lost with the passage of time. The units that he served in were unknown even to the White House.

But a life-size portrait emerges from interviews and records unearthed by The Associated Press. On D-Day, documents place him at Stoney Cross, England, in the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Co., Aviation.

"This was the day we had all been waiting for," Dunham's commanding officer wrote the night of June 6 from their base near the English Channel. "Planes by the hundreds took off and landed at our field from dusk until dawn."

His company supported the 9th Air Force as it prepared for the assault on Normandy and took part in the drive that carried the Allies across France. Dunham and the men of the 1830th came across six weeks after the initial Normandy invasion and followed the front through France, servicing airfields known by numbers — A-2, A-44, A-71, and more — in places such as Brucheville, Cricqueville, St.-Jean-de-Daye, Peray, Clastres, Juvincourt and Saint-Dizier.

On this coming Saturday, the 65th anniversary of D-Day, Obama will visit the gravesites and beaches of Normandy, and look out across the channel that his grandfather crossed from a staging area at Southampton, England.

"I knew him when he was older," Obama said of his grandfather in 2007. "But I think about him now and then as he enlisted — a man of 23, fresh-faced with a wise-guy grin."

To the 75 men of Dunham's company, he was a good guy to have around.
For one thing, he taught the men how to use their new gas masks.

He also came up with a radio, games and books for a day room that Dunham's commanding officer described as "a swell place to spend an evening."

And when the 1830th had a party in the gym three days after D-Day, they had Dunham to thank for it.

On May 31, 1944, payday, Dunham had taken up a collection of 35 British pounds — about $150 in today's dollars — to finance the event. He lined up a convoy of girls from Southampton who, the men hoped, would be "simply smashing," as his commanding officer, Frederick Maloof, wrote in his diary.

"The party was a huge success, except that the beer ran out about 10:30 p.m.," 1st Lt. Maloof later reported. "All agreed that the orchestra was good. A few of the die-hards were still crooning over the empty beer barrels at an early morning hour."

For all the good times, the strains of war were ever present for Dunham and his fellow soldiers.
On the evening after D-Day, Dunham's unit dug 27 foxholes.

"This was done in case of a retaliation by the Germans," Maloof wrote.

On June 11, the first hospital ships returned from France, bringing tales of the "hardships encountered on invasion day."

That same day, Maloof wrote that "our mail has not been reaching home, and the wives and sweethearts are beginning to wonder if we have gone across the channel on the first wave."

The wives included Madelyn Dunham, back home in Wichita, Kan., with Stanley Ann, a toddler who would grow up to be Obama's mother.

Madelyn, the beloved grandmother known as "Toot" who helped raise the future president, did her part for the war effort, working the night shift as a supervisor on the B-29 bomber assembly line at the Boeing plant.

Her brother is part of the war story, too. Charles Payne, Obama's great-uncle, in 1945 helped liberate a sub-camp of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, which Obama will visit this Friday.

Stanley Dunham's older brother Ralph, another great-uncle to Obama, also is a branch in the wartime family tree.

Ralph was called up after Stanley enlisted. He landed at Normandy's Omaha Easy Red beach on D-Day plus four, then worked his way through France, Italy and Germany as an assignment and personnel officer.

In the months before the invasion, the brothers met up twice in England while on leave. Once, they came across each other by happenstance in London, where Ralph was staying at the Russell Hotel.

"I walked down the steps and there was my brother sitting on a settee," 92-year-old Ralph Dunham said in interview with the AP.

It turned out that Stanley's hotel had run out of rations and he was sent to the Russell in search of food. The two Kansas boys — each 6-foot-2, by Ralph's recollection — spent the rest of their leave together, touring the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and other sites with a helpful taxi driver. At night, they sampled the London theater offerings. Ralph remembers they saw "Hamlet."

The brothers had a double portrait snapped to send home — after Stanley borrowed a jacket from a fellow member of the 9th Air Force so they'd both be in uniform. The February 1944 portrait is one that Ralph still treasures.

Late in July, six weeks after D-Day, Stanley Dunham's unit crossed the English Channel and landed at Omaha Beach.

"After looking over the Atlantic wall, with its pill boxes, we all agreed it was a miracle that the Allies were able to land," Maloof wrote.

In his autobiography, Obama reports that during the war his grandfather was "sloshing around in the mud of France, part of Patton's Army."

That's right, at least for a few months.

In February 1945, at Saint-Dizier, Dunham's unit was assigned to Patton's 3rd Army, and Dunham remained in that company until early April. Prior to February, Dunham's unit had supported 1st Army operations.

Obama sketches Dunham as a man with a wild streak early on who settled down to sell furniture and life insurance.

By the time he joined the Army, he already had lived large.

He'd been thrown out of his high school in El Dorado, Kan., for punching the principal in the nose. For three years he'd lived off odd jobs, "hopping rail cars to Chicago, then California, then back again, dabbling in moonshine, cards and women," Obama wrote in his autobiography, "Dreams from My Father."

Dunham had also fallen in love with a woman from the other side of the tracks — the good side — and married her. He eloped with Madelyn Payne just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941, and he was quick to enlist after the Japanese attack.

"He was really gung-ho," remembers Ralph. "He didn't have to go because he was married. He could have held off."

He was inducted at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., on Jan. 15, 1942.

That November, while Dunham still was stationed stateside, he got leave to come home to Kansas when his daughter, Stanley Ann, was born at Fort Leavenworth.

Her unusual name, Obama wrote, was "one of Gramps' less judicious ideas — he had wanted a son." The family called her Stannie. Later, she would be known as Ann.

In December 1942, weeks-old Stanley Ann makes her appearance as a dependent on Dunham's pay records. (He's earning $22 a month, with $6.70 deducted for life insurance.)

Dunham spent the first year and a half of his war service stateside, part of it in the 1802nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company, Aviation, at Baer Field in Indiana, now Fort Wayne International Airport. He transferred to the 1830th in March 1943, and the unit shipped out to England on the HMS Mauretania that October.

"All officers and enlisted men alike tumbled out of bunks and hammocks to get the last view of the good old U.S.A. as it disappeared beyond the horizon," Maloof wrote.

The rhythms of life for Dunham and the men of the 1830th emerge in the weekly unit histories recorded by Maloof. Men transfer in and out. There is field training. There is a lecture on mines and booby-traps, another on "sex morality." Typhus shots are administered. The company drills on the use of the carbine. The men take a 3-mile hike and bivouacked overnight. Time and again, they move on from one airfield to the next, supporting the front lines.

A number of men go AWOL. Others are charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Dunham's name turns up with surprising frequency, but his conduct generates nothing but praise.

"Sgt. Dunham has been doing a good job as Special Service noncom," Maloof takes time to report in September 1944.

At Clastres in France, stoves are issued to each tent "as the weather at this base has been very cold." French classes are offered. At Juvincourt, it is worthy of note when a small shower is installed, heated by a boiler found in the ruins of an old building. "It is the best bathing facilities we have had since coming to France," the unit history states.

In October 1944, as the front presses forward, the men attend a compulsory lecture in the 367th Fighter Group area on "What to Expect When Stationed in Germany."

It turns out Dunham could have skipped that one. On April 7, 1945, one week before the 1830th moves on to Germany and three weeks before Hitler commits suicide, Dunham is transferred "to the infantry," the unit history shows. Further digging reveals he was assigned to the 12th Reinforcement Depot, based in Tidworth, England, where replacements were being trained for depleted combat units.

The war was winding down in Europe by then, with air superiority achieved and the Luftwaffe not a major threat. Ralph Dunham says his brother was sent back to the states to prepare for possible transfer to Japan in the infantry. Were it not for V-J Day in August 1945, "he would've been fighting in Japan," says Ralph.

Stanley Dunham's military personnel file was destroyed, along with millions of others, in a 1973 fire at the Military Personnel Records center in St. Louis.

The AP pieced together Dunham's war years from other records at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and the St. Louis center, and with help from historian David Spires at the University of Colorado. The richest details, however, come from Ralph Dunham and the private papers of Maloof, who died in 2005. Maloof's granddaughter, Tamara Maloof Ryman in Houston, searched through page after page to pry out details about Dunham for the AP.

Four months after he transferred out of the 1830th, Stanley Dunham was discharged from the Army on Aug. 30, 1945, at Fort Leavenworth.

Obama tells the rest of the story in his autobiography.

"Gramps returned from the war never having seen real combat, and the family headed to California, where he enrolled at Berkeley under the GI Bill," Obama wrote. "But the classroom couldn't contain his ambitions, his restlessness, and so the family moved again, first back to Kansas, then through a series of small Texas towns, then finally to Seattle, where they stayed long enough for my mother to finish high school."

Wanderlust sent the family on to Hawaii, where Dunham and his wife would be central figures in the life of their grandson after Obama's father left the family. Madelyn died last year at age 86, two days before Obama was elected president.

Stanley, who called his grandson "Bar," died in 1992 at age 73. His ashes are inurned at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, commonly known as Punchbowl.

"It was a small ceremony with a few of his bridge and golf partners in attendance, a three-gun salute, and a bugle playing taps," Obama wrote.

That ceremony was 17 years ago.

But Ralph Dunham is reminded of his brother every time Obama's face appears on TV or in the paper.

"You know," Ralph says, "he looks exactly like Stanley. He looks exactly like my brother, only he's dark."
___
Associated Press writer Betsy Taylor in St. Louis and investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report. Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Rasmussen: Only 68% Of American Oppose National Sales Tax

From Rasmussen Reports

To raise additional money for the government, just 18% of Americans nationwide favor a national sales tax. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 68% oppose such a tax.

There is more support for the concept if sales tax revenue is used to provide health insurance for all Americans. In that scenario, 40% favor a national sales tax and 49% are opposed.

Democrats strongly support a national sales tax to provide universal health insurance coverage. Republicans are opposed by a three-to-one margin, and those not affiliated with either major party are opposed two-to-one.

A plurality of Americans would support a national sales tax if it meant getting rid of the federal income tax: 43% favor that trade-off, but 38% are opposed. Pluralities of Republicans and unaffiliateds like the idea, while a plurality of Democrats are against it.

Forty-eight percent (48%) say a national sales tax is fairer than an income tax while 26% hold the opposite view. The sales tax is viewed as fairer by 52% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 49% of unaffiliateds.

According to recent news reports, some in Washington say adoption of a national sales tax on all goods and services would lead to a reduction in income tax rates. However, Americans are skeptical that the nation’s politicians would actually go through with such a trade-off.

Only 20% of Americans think it’s even somewhat likely that the government would actually cut income tax rates once the national sales tax was approved. Just eight percent (8%) say it’s Very Likely income tax rates would come down.

A Washington Post article this week said a national sales tax ranging from 10% to 25% is being discussed. In the Rasmussen Reports survey, no specific levels of taxation were mentioned. However, since the tax rate would be much higher than existing state sales taxes, it is likely that support for a national sales tax would decline as specific numbers became known.

An earlier survey found that 34% were generally willing to pay higher taxes to provide health insurance for all. But there was strong opposition to taxing health insurance benefits provided by companies. Fifty percent (50%) are willing to tax alcohol products to generate revenue for health care, but there is little support for a “sin-tax” on non-diet sodas.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters prefer a government that offers fewer services and has lower taxes. Seventy-seven percent (77%) say the bigger problem in the United States is the unwillingness of politicians to control government spending rather than Americans' unwillingness to pay higher taxes. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, May 29, 2009

Big Donors & Bundlers Among Obama's Picks

Courtesy of www.opensecrets.org

Published by Michael Beckel on May 28, 2009

U.S. presidents have long rewarded big campaign donors, fundraisers and other loyalists with ambassadorships, and Democratic President Barack Obama seems to be no exception. Yesterday, he officially announced his intent to nominate a dozen individuals to ambassadorships around the globe. That list included a handful of career Foreign Service officers, but it also included several big contributors and bundlers, who, along with their spouses, have given nearly $1 million almost exclusively to Democrats since the 1990 election cycle. These donations include $34,600 to Obama himself, on top of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they steered toward Obama's presidential campaign and inauguration committees as bundlers.

Some of the individuals nominated for ambassadorships have not contributed any money to federal candidates, parties or committees, but most have, including one who reportedly holds the nickname of "Vacuum Cleaner" for his ability to suck up checks for Democrats. The nominated individuals--including Obama's choice to be the ambassador to Ireland, which he announced on St. Patrick's Day--and their spouses, have contributed at least $968,900 since 1989. Of this sum, 89 percent has gone to Democrats. (Download a list of the political contributions the nominees have given by cycle, as well as the candidates that have received money from them here: Ambassador_Data.xls. Note that there are two tabs.)

Here's the money-in-politics breakdown for Obama's recent ambassador picks:

Louis B. Susman: This lawyer and investment banker has reportedly earned the nicknames the "vacuum cleaner" and "big bundler" for his prowess as a bundler of campaign cash. He bundled at least $100,000 for Obama's presidential campaign and at least $300,000 for his inauguration, according to Public Citizen. This includes $50,000 from his personal funds. Further, he and his wife have contributed at least $581,400 to federal candidates, committees and parties, with 99 percent of that sum going to Democrats, including at least $12,800 to Obama. He has been nominated to be the ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Daniel M. Rooney: Owner and chairman of the Pittsburgh Steeler's football team, he and his wife have contributed at least $152,400 to federal candidates, committees and parties since the 1990 election cycle, including $500 to Obama. Ninety percent of their funds have gone to Democrats. Rooney also endorsed Obama in the run-up to Pennsylvania's heated presidential primary in April of 2008. He is a co-founder of the Ireland-related fundraising organization, The Ireland Funds, as well, and he has been nominated to be the ambassador to Ireland.

Charles H. Rivkin: The head of the entertainment company W!LDBRAIN, he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Committee in support of Obama last summer. Moreover, he sent at least half-a-million towards Obama's campaign committee as a bundler and another $300,000 toward his inaugural committee. Since the 1994 election cycle, he has personally contributed more than $97,500 to Democrats, including $6,600 to Obama, and now he has been nominated to be the ambassador to France.

John V. Roos: This lawyer has bundled at least $500,000 to Obama's presidential campaign. He and his wife have also contributed at least $77,500 to Democrats since the 1992 election cycle, including $6,900 to Obama. Roos is the CEO of the technology-oriented law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and has been nominated to be ambassador to Japan.

Laurie S. Fulton: The long-time lawyer who also served on the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace from 2004 to 2008 bundled at least $100,000 for Obama's presidential campaign. Moreover, she has personally contributed at least $48,900 to Democrats since the 1992 election cycle, including $4,850 to Obama. She has been nominated to be the ambassador to Denmark.

Vilma S. Martinez: The former head of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and a litigator with Munger, Tolles & Olson, she has contributed more than $9,800 to Democratic candidates and groups since 1989, including at least $1,900 to Obama. She has been nominated to be ambassador to Argentina.

Miguel H. Díaz: A professor of theology at St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, Diaz contributed $1,000 to Obama's campaign last fall, his only federal political contribution to meet disclosure requirements since 1989. He also served as a Catholic adviser to Obama's presidential campaign. He has been nominated to be the ambassador to the Vatican.

Michael A. Battle, Sr.: The president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Ga., Battle has no known history of giving federal campaign cash. He has also been an administrator at several higher education institutions, including Chicago State University, Virginia State University and Hampton University, and he has been nominated to be the U.S. representative to the African Union, which has the rank of ambassador.

Robert S. Connan: Working for the U.S. Commercial Service within the Department of Commerce since 1980, Connan has not made any contributions exceeding $200 to federal candidates, committees or parties. His most recent position has been with the European Union, and he has been nominated to be the ambassador to Iceland.

Patricia A. Butenis: A career officer with the U.S. Foreign Service, which she joined in 1980, Butenis has served most recently in the U.S. embassy in Iraq. She has been nominated to be the ambassador to both Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Butenis has not given contributions greater than $200 since 1989.

Christopher William Dell: A career officer with the U.S. Foreign Service, which he joined in 1983, he served most recently in the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan. He has been nominated to be the ambassador to Kosovo, and he does not have any known federal campaign contributions.

Thomas A. Shannon: A career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, which he joined in 1984, he is the current Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Ambassador. He has not given any federal campaign contributions greater than $200, and he has been nominated to be the ambassador to Brazil.

Timothy J. Roemer: The former six-term Democratic congressman from Indiana was a member of the 9/11 Commission and provided Obama with a hearty endorsement during the contentious primary race with Hillary Clinton. He currently heads the Center for National Policy, a DC-based public policy organization, and has been nominated to be the ambassador to India. He has not made any personal campaign contributions to federal candidates, but he does appear in our Revolving Door database.

Since John F. Kennedy was president in the 1960s, about one-third of American ambassadors have been political appointees, according to the American Academy of Diplomacy. The academy is among the groups that think the public would be served if that number was lowered, and have urged Obama to cut that number to about ten percent. "Too often ambassadorships have served as political rewards for unqualified candidates," they wrote in a letter to Obama last year.

Time will tell if the Obama administration has any plans to buck this tradition and reduce the number of non-career appointees. And even as Obama rewards some big donors with ambassadorships, he has also pledged to grow the number of Foreign Service officers. The budget plan he submitted to Congress earlier this year would increase by 25 percent the total number of Foreign Service officers by 2013 and double the number of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development by 2012.CRP Researchers Doug Weber and Carolyn Sharpe contributed to this report. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sounding Taps at Arlington - Fulfilling a Promise

This was posted on the Buglers Across America website. This has absolutely nothing to do with President Obama, but it is an inspiring story and felt it should be shared. Please do not misconstrue the policy at Arlington to be a slight by our President on the veterans - it is not. The policy was instituted by the U.S. Army and has been in place for decades. Now, for the "rest of the story..."


I promised a friend of mine, Len Cowherd, that I would sound Taps for his son, Leonard Cowherd III, somewhere and sometime on May 16th, the 5th anniversary of Leonard's death in Iraq, where he was killed by a sniper. (You can learn more about Leonard at www.cowherd.org)

I did not anticipate going to Arlington, where Leonard is buried (Section 60, No. 7983), but Pam and I decided that it was the only right thing to do.When we arrived at Arlington National Cemetery, I fealt that I should receive permission first to sound Taps for Leonard. Disappointedly, I was told that it was not allowed. That made me very upset, but I acknowledged their decision.

Pam and I proceeded to find Section 60, and Leonard's gravestone. After a few minutes of searching the thousands of gravestones up to 7983, we found Leonard. We placed a flag next to his stone. There were only a hand-full of visitors in the area, and I knew that they were very saddened to be there, so I was apprehensive about doing anything. A veteran came up to us and expressed his sorrow for our loss. We explained to him that we were there on the behalf of the Cowherd family and would like to sound Taps for their son/brother. After an extended conversation with Cpt. Edward Liu, of the Army National Guard, he stated that "no one is going to object to your sounding Taps for Leonard".

I went back to Leonard's gravesite, and, after a few moments of prayer, sounded Taps for 2nd Lt. Leonard M. Cowherd, US Army, who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was born on August 16, 1981, and died May 16, 2004. He was a recent graduate of West Point Academy.

From this experience, all I can say is do not hesitate to show your patriotism. With what is going on this day in age, we must stand up and say "No, I am going to honor this hero, whether it is allowed or not. It must be done".

If you don't, chances are, no one else will.As Sgt. Will Mock said (who was also killed in Iraq) "Strength and Honor" "Honor and Strength"!!! IE: Do not fear, and do not hesitate to honor!!!!! Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, May 21, 2009

GOP decries 'socialism' of Obama, Democrats

By Paul West
May 21, 2009
Baltimore Sun

OXON HILL - - The Republican National Committee approved a watered-down resolution Wednesday evening that called on President Barack Obama and the Democrats to stop "pushing our country towards socialism and government control."

The action, at a brief and rare special session of the RNC in Republican National Chairman Michael S. Steele's home county, spared the party the potential embarrassment of the more strident language of the original resolution.

An earlier version of the measure would have called for the opposition to "rename themselves the Democrat Socialist Party." The revised resolution was approved by a voice vote, in a package with two other measures, with just one dissenting vote by an unidentified committeewoman.

Steele, who worked behind the scenes in recent weeks to resolve the issue, had objected to the initial wording, warning in a memo last month that it would give the party's adversaries an opportunity to "mischaracterize Republicans."

Steele, a resident of nearby Upper Marlboro, presided over the 23-minute meeting, which concluded a three-day gathering of party officials.

The annual meeting of state Republican chairmen became a forum for Steele to try to relaunch his chairmanship after an uneven start. He delivered a speech Tuesday attacking Obama and declaring that after recent electoral losses, a Republican comeback has begun.

Steele described the sessions, held in Prince George's County at his request, as "successful." But he did not appear at a post-session news conference.

"There's some place he's got to be," an aide explained. A party spokesman, Trevor Francis, pointed out that Steele had never been scheduled to take questions from reporters.

Steele's exposure to the news media has been carefully controlled in the wake of a series of gaffes. At a private session with party leaders earlier in the week, he said he had learned his lesson and vowed to impose greater discipline on himself.

"I put my size 13s in my mouth several times, and I'm here to tell you I'm going to stop," Steele said, according to a participant.

Steele was asked on his way into the closing session why he wouldn't be taking questions from reporters.

"Because I'm tired," he said. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, May 15, 2009

On Abortion, Obama Is Drawn Into Debate He Hoped to Avoid

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
New York Times
Published: May 14, 2009

WASHINGTON — In nearly four months in office, President Obama has pursued a careful two-pronged strategy on abortion, enacting policies that secure a woman’s right to the procedure while vowing to move beyond the culture wars that have divided the nation on the issue for more than three decades.

Now, Mr. Obama is suddenly in the thick of the battle he had hoped to transcend, and his delicate balancing act is being put to the test.

The confluence of two events — his commencement speech on Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, and his forthcoming choice of a candidate to replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring from the Supreme Court — threaten to upend Mr. Obama’s effort to “tamp down some of the anger” over abortion, as he said in a news conference last month, and to distract from his other domestic priorities, like health care.

The invitation from Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic institution, has riled opponents of abortion, who object to giving such a platform to a supporter of abortion rights. The local bishop has vowed to boycott the ceremony. Some graduating seniors are planning to protest it. Conservatives, frustrated by what they regard as Mr. Obama’s skillful efforts to paint himself as a moderate, are all over the airwaves denouncing him as “the most radical, pro-abortion of any American president,” as Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker, said on Fox News.

The White House must now decide whether to engage in the debate and, if so, how deeply. Mr. Obama’s communications adviser, Anita Dunn, said in an interview that the president was likely to “make reference to the controversy” in his speech on Sunday. “You can’t ignore it,” Ms. Dunn said, “but at the same time, you can’t allow it to become the focus of a day that’s actually supposed to be about the graduates.”

While the address has galvanized abortion opponents, the Supreme Court opening has galvanized backers of abortion rights. Both sides expect Mr. Obama to pick a candidate who would uphold Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. But interest groups are taking no chances. “Take Action: Protect a Woman’s Right to Choose!” declared the Center for Reproductive Rights in an e-mail message to supporters on Wednesday.

Mr. Obama frames his position on abortion as a nuanced one — he calls it a “a moral and ethical issue” best left to women and doctors — and he envisions himself forging consensus around causes like reducing unintended pregnancies and promoting adoption. As he said in a 2007 speech to Planned Parenthood, “Culture wars are so ’90s.”

As president, Mr. Obama, who during the campaign answered a question about when human life begins by saying it was “above my pay grade,” has tried to straddle the abortion divide. He has done so partly by reaching out to religious conservatives, partly by avoiding the most contentious legislative battles and partly by reversing the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, a faithful ally of abortion opponents, in piecemeal fashion — all while the nation has been consumed by the economic crisis.

He has named abortion rights advocates to top jobs; Dawn Johnsen, a former legal director of Naral Pro-Choice America, is his pick to run the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. He has repealed the so-called Mexico City rule, which prohibited tax dollars from going to organizations that provide abortions overseas; lifted Mr. Bush’s limits on embryonic stem cell research; stripped financing for abstinence-only sex education; and is seeking to undo a last-minute Bush regulation giving broad protections to health providers who refuse to take part in abortions.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said she told allies that their movement was emerging from “eight years in the wilderness.”

But even as Mr. Obama has delighted abortion rights advocates, he has dialed back some earlier ambitions. In 2007, he promised Planned Parenthood that “the first thing I’d do as president” would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which effectively codifies Roe v. Wade. Now he says the bill is “not my highest legislative priority,” as he put it at a recent news conference.

Mr. Obama is also reaching out. At his direction, his top domestic policy adviser, Melody C. Barnes, is convening a series of discussions with people on both sides of the debate, with a goal to draft a set of policy recommendations by late summer.

“What we’ve said to people is, ‘This isn’t an opportunity to relitigate Roe v. Wade,’ ” Ms. Barnes said. “The president wants us to talk about reducing unintended pregnancies, but he doesn’t want this to be the conversation that never ends. His goal is to get something done.”

David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta who backed Mr. Obama despite their differences on abortion, has participated in the talks. He said the president was sending a message to moderate Catholics and evangelicals that “he clearly knows what the bright red lines are and is trying to avoid stepping over them.”

But religious conservatives and more ardent abortion opponents who have not been included say Mr. Obama is trying to have it both ways. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, an advocacy group, said that if the president really wanted to forge consensus, he would advocate rules allowing parents to be notified if their teenage daughters sought an abortion and banning the procedure known as partial-birth abortion. As an Illinois state senator, Mr. Obama voted “present” on such initiatives, enabling their defeat.

“Moderate rhetoric, hard-left policies,” said Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, a vocal abortion opponent, assessing Mr. Obama’s approach.

Polls show that the American public is deeply conflicted over abortion and that support has declined steadily over the years. In 1995, roughly 60 percent of Americans believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Last month, in a survey by the Pew Research Center, that number stood at 46 percent. A Gallup survey that examined seven decisions early in Mr. Obama’s presidency found that the least popular was the one to overturn the ban on sending tax dollars to organizations that provide abortions overseas.

Douglas W. Kmiec, a constitutional scholar and former Notre Dame professor who was an outspoken critic of abortion when he worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush, said he had been advising the White House to use the speech at the university on Sunday to tackle the controversy head on, with the president making the case that “we already have agreement, we both respect life, we both view abortion as a moral tragedy.”

But as to whether Mr. Obama can indeed transcend the culture wars, Mr. Kmiec sounded uncertain.

“If there’s anybody who can, it’s the president,” he said. “Whether the culture wars will let him is the question, and the answer is unknown.” Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Obama Skips Visit to Normandy, American Cemetery

Due to the upcoming 65th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, I think this is worth posting, even though it's a month late.

by Mark Impomeni
PoliticsDaily.com
Originally published April 8, 2009

Reports out of London indicate that President Barack Obama declined an inviation from French President Nicholas Sarkozy to visit Normandy's Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer on his way to Strasbourg for the NATO summit last week. The Daily Telegraph reports that White House officials travelled to France last month to discuss the visit with their counterparts on Sarkozy's staff. But one American official familiar with the negotiations said that President Obama never had any intention of making the stop over.

"It wasn't going to happen. We went through the motions to placate President Sarkozy but giving special treatment to France was not on our agenda. During this trip, we wanted to maintain a balance between the British, [the] German[s], and France."

The White House refused to comment on the Telegraph's report.

The rejection of Sarkozy's offer is the latest snub of the French president by President Obama. Sarkozy reportedly tried in vain to meet wih then President-elect Obama in Washington late last year. The Telegraph reports further that Sarkozy was "piqued" that Obama held a 50-minute press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown upon arriving in London last week. The president held only a brief media availability with Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But perhaps most damaging for the Administration domestically is President Obama's failure to visit the American Cemetery in Normandy. During the campaign, Obama was heavily criticized for cancelling a planned visit to the U.S. military hospital in Ramstein, Germany, for a meeting with wounded troops. Skipping a visit to the cemetery could spark similar criticism. Moreover, the White House would not comment on whether President Obama will attend the ceremonies for the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June, although a Sarkozy aide said Obama has agreed to the trip. So it remains unclear whether President Obama will get another chance to honor the 9,387 American soldiers buried there.

It is becoming clear, however, that there is tension between Obama and Sarkozy, despite French denials. Sarkozy has been critical of Obama's foreign policy ideas, especially with respect to Iran's nuclear programs. White House officials are not commenting, but they are also not going out of their way to quell the rumors. President Obama campaigned on a promise to reestablish relationships with American allies. So far, though, the relationship with France, and his personal relationship with Sarkozy, appears to be deteriorating with each new report. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Obama plans National Day of Prayer proclamation, not event

By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it will issue a proclamation marking the National Day of Prayer on Thursday (May 7), but appears to be moving away from the White House ceremonies hosted by former President George W. Bush.

"President Obama is a committed Christian and believes that we should be engaging Americans of faith in efforts to renew our country," a White House official said.

"He is following the tradition of Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and others by signing a proclamation honoring the National Day of Prayer, while continuing to work with communities of faith to improve our country."

During Bush's eight years in office, prominent evangelicals, including National Day of Prayer Task Force chairman Shirley Dobson, and her husband, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, gathered each year for an East Room ceremony on the first Thursday in May.

"We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration," Shirley Dobson said in a statement issued by the task force on Monday. "At this time in our country's history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

This year, task force organizers went ahead with their own plans and scheduled their traditional morning ceremonies on Capitol Hill for the morning, the same time of day when past White House events had been held. They asked for a White House representative to attend but had not received a response as of Monday.

At his press briefing on Friday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president's upcoming plans included signing a proclamation to recognize the prayer day.

The National Day of Prayer was signed into law in 1952 by President Truman. President Reagan amended the law in 1988 to state that the observances would be held the first Thursday in May. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Specter is vulnerable in Democratic primary

By Christopher P. Borick
Philadelphia Inquirer

It seems like a done deal: Arlen Specter will be the Democratic nominee in Pennsylvania's 2010 U.S. Senate race. With the support of an all-star cast of Democrats that includes President Obama, Vice President Biden, Gov. Rendell, and Sen. Bob Casey Jr., it appears the path to the nomination has been cleared for the recent defector from the Republican ranks.

Surely no up-and-coming Democratic politician - such as U.S. Rep. Joseph Sestak or State. Rep. Josh Shapiro - would want to challenge a well-funded, well-connected incumbent who has likely given his new party the magical 60th seat in the Senate. That would only draw the ire of Democratic leaders in Washington and Harrisburg.

It may very well be that simple. But we shouldn't pencil in the name of the newest Democratic senator on the general-election ballot just yet.

One need look no further than the 2004 Republican Senate primary to find evidence that a candidate with ample funds and the support of party leaders can be pushed to the brink in an intraparty showdown. The conditions of that primary were notably similar to those emerging in the Democratic race today, with Specter again playing a leading role.

Few believed Specter was vulnerable in the 2004 GOP primary, despite long-simmering resentment among conservatives. After all, he was a four-term incumbent with the backing of the Republican establishment. George W. Bush, Rick Santorum, and Tom Ridge all threw their considerable influence behind him. Nevertheless, a fairly unknown congressman from the Lehigh Valley, Pat Toomey, came within a whisker of defeating him. How?

Toomey wisely recognized that Specter's popularity with moderates meant little in a closed party primary. He used his relatively limited resources to focus on Specter's shortcomings as a conservative, and to engage activists on the right to offset his lack of support from the party elite. While Toomey ultimately failed, he may have given a daring Democrat the perfect recipe for taking down Specter in 2010.

Perpetually denigrated as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) during much of his career, Specter has instantly become Pennsylvanian's most famous DINO: Democrat In Name Only. A smart fifth grader with access to Google could put together decades' worth of votes putting Specter at odds with Democratic positions. From Anita Hill to union card check, there is no shortage of material.

And, as recent elections have shown, nothing ramps up Democrats like tying a candidate to Bush. Even with Bush out of the spotlight, a series of ads reminding Democratic primary voters of the many times Specter went along with the former president could be a potent weapon. Specter's good friend Joe Lieberman can attest to the perils of getting too close to Bush.

A Democratic primary challenger might also be able to undermine one of Specter's greatest assets: his electability in November. Back in 2004, that helped Specter squeak out the victory over Toomey. But with well over a million more Democrats than Republicans in the commonwealth, any Democrat who is even remotely mainstream can claim to be favored to defeat the GOP nominee. This is especially true if a staunch conservative such as Toomey, the current front-runner, wins the Republican nomination. So Specter's general-election strengths would not be special.

Finally, will Pennsylvania's Democratic voters, flush with recent electoral successes, want to settle for Arlen Specter? Party leaders may welcome one more senator, but will rank-and-file Democrats give Specter a pass? They don't owe him anything. He may not be the ideal right-wing villain that Santorum was, but he certainly hasn't been a model Democrat, either.

When a party is weak, settling makes strategic sense. But the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania is anything but weak. As the excitement generated by Specter's defection wears off, Democratic voters may start to wonder whether they can do better.

Specter may be tailor-made for a general election in Pennsylvania. He is a true moderate in a truly moderate state. And with names like Obama, Rendell, and Casey in his camp, it's easy to see why many Democrats may take a pass on challenging him next year.

However, as Toomey demonstrated five years ago, there is plenty of opportunity for an entrepreneurial candidate to challenge Specter within the confines of a primary. And although Toomey's 2004 bid was unsuccessful, the loss certainly didn't end his political career. Ironically, it may be the model that encourages an up-and-coming Democrat to try to take down Specter next spring and face Toomey in November 2010. Sphere: Related Content