Barack Obama -- March 11, 2009

March 11, 2009

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From $1 trillion in debt
to $4 trillion in debt
in six weeks

event	description
Illogical	Afghanistan's Taliban on Tuesday turned down as illogical U.S. President Barack Obama's bid to reach out to moderate elements of the insurgents, saying the exit of foreign troops was the only solution for ending the war. Obama, in an interview with the New York Times, expressed an openness to adapting tactics in Afghanistan that had been used in Iraq to reach out to moderate elements there. "This does not require any response or reaction for this is illogical," Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a purported spokesman for the insurgent group, told Reuters when asked if its top leader Mullah Mohammad Omar would make any comment about Obama's proposal. "The Taliban are united, have one leader, one aim, one policy...I do not know why they are talking about moderate Taliban and what it means?" "If it means those who are not fighting and are sitting in their homes, then talking to them is meaningless. This really is surprising the Taliban." The Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan had been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the latest example of a freed detainee who took a militant leadership role and a potential complication for the Obama administration's efforts to close the prison. U.S. authorities handed over the detainee to the Afghan government, which in turn released him, according to Pentagon and CIA officials. Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, formerly Guantanamo prisoner No. 008, was among 13 Afghan prisoners released to the Afghan government in December 2007. Rasoul is now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a nom de guerre that Pentagon and intelligence officials say is used by a Taliban leader who is in charge of operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.
Obama's Crowd	Michell Malkin comments on ACORN’s shakedown artists and thugs who occupied a public school board meeting room to prevent government educators from cutting costs, firing useless teachers, and dealing with financial realities. This is now the second "civil disobedience" campaign waged by the entitlement-mongers. Our Community Organizer-in-Chief, who spoke so voluminously yesterday about education reform, was unavailable for comment… A school board meeting turned into a display of civil disobedience Tuesday as about 50 "educators" refused to leave, creating a brief standoff with police, who refused to make any arrests in the presence of media. The members of ACORN and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) -- all wearing bright "red" shirts -- entered the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday afternoon, sat down and began chanting. The fist represents union, as "many weak fingers can come together to create a strong fist", and is also used to express solidarity, generally with oppressed peoples. Police said the protesters were staging an illegal occupation of a public building. The district said no arrests would occur as long as members of media were in building. UTLA President A.J. Duffy approached the speakers’ lectern and told the board, "You know why we’re here. You know I’m not leaving this rostrum. You know I’m going to keep talking." As he spoke several teachers sat on the floor in front of the board and held up signs saying "Students lose when we lose teachers, No layoffs" as the crowd began chanting. Board President Monica Garcia repeatedly asked Duffy to sit down, but he kept speaking. The microphone was turned off, but Duffy continued to speak and the chanting continued. Garcia then announced that the "disturbance has interrupted our meeting to the point where the orderly conduct of this meeting is not feasible."
Conspiracy Theory	Hot Air tells us about Rahm Emanuel’s friendly daily chats with Begala, Carville, and Stephanopoulos, then there was the expose on the group effort ("explicitly authorized" by David Axelrod) to make Rush Limbaugh the face of the GOP, and now this. No wonder Ben Smith’s using the word "conspiracy." Twenty politically-left groups are holding daily conference calls to coordinate their messages. The vast new left-wing conspiracy sets its tone every morning at 8:45 a.m., when officials from more than 20 labor, environmental and other Democratic-leaning groups dial into a private conference call hosted by two left-leaning Washington organizations… The call has proved particularly effective at coordinating attacks on critics, said Jackie Schechner, the national communications director for Health Care for America Now, a labor-backed alliance of groups that support Democratic efforts to expand health care. "There’s a coordination in terms of exposing the people who are trying to come out against reform -- they’ve all got backgrounds and histories and pasts, and it’s not taking long to unearth that and to unleash that, because we’re all working together," Schechner said. When a new group called Conservative for Patients Rights, for instance, launched an ad campaign featuring former health care executive Rick Scott, "There was a discussion about what do we know about this guy and in a very quick period of time we were able to come up with his background," she said… Though White House officials do not participate in the calls, Palmieri said, the new infrastructure is closely tied to the White House. Podesta directed Obama’s transition, and Americans United for Change exists largely to run ads promoting the White House agenda. Some on the left, however, remain skeptical of the White House’s embrace.
Valerie Jarrett	Obama will sign an executive order tomorrow to establish a White House Council on Women and Girls, according to an administration official familiar with the move. The Council will be chaired by Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser and personal friend to the president, and the day-to-day operations will be run Tina Tchen, who is currently director of the White House Office of Public Liaison and was a major fundraiser for Obama during the campaign. "The mission of the Council will be to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families," reads a memo describing the move and obtained by The Fix. The announcement is designed to coincide with the celebration of national women's history month. Obama and his team know that if he can maintain his 2008 margin among women in his reelection race in three years time, he will be sitting pretty. Expect then more symbolic moves like the establishment of the Council to demonstrate Obama's commitment to women and women's issues. Valerie Jarrett is way-inside-circle. This will be a big job.
Obama's Drug Czar	Obama will nominate Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be U.S. drug czar and remove the job's Cabinet designation, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kerlikowske would head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which was elevated to Cabinet level under former President George W. Bush. The nomination of Kerlikowske would end a long search for a candidate to oversee U.S. efforts to fight illegal drugs. Kerlikowske was long speculated to be the front-runner, but revelations about his stepson's arrest on drug-related charged complicated the nomination process, the Post reported. In formally nominating Kerlikowske, Obama -- who admitted using cocaine as a teenager in his memoir "Dreams from My Father" -- would offer a vote of confidence for a nominee who could face uncomfortable questions during the confirmation process, the newspaper said. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said, "During his eight-year tenure as Seattle's police chief, Gil Kerlikowske has established himself as a devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "That's pretty hypocritical of a guy whose own gun was stolen out of his department car on a downtown Seattle street. He may pass an FBI background check for an appointment, but he flunked the responsible gun owner's test." Kerlikowske has lobbied for bans on sport-utility rifles that are owned by tens of thousands of law-abiding Washington residents, and millions of their fellow American citizens. He backed legislation to close the mythical "gun show loophole" with an unsubstantiated theory that private sales put guns in the hands of criminals. "While he's been Seattle's police chief," Gottlieb noted, "he's become a close ally of the anti-gun Washington CeaseFire, but he's never bothered to sit down with gun owners to discuss crime problems, gun safety or enforcement efforts that focus on felons rather than firearms. "Kerlikowske's reported appointment to a post with the Obama administration reinforces the genuine concerns of American gun owners that the new president is not their friend," he observed. "The new president has surrounded himself with people who have long anti-gun rights track records, including Joe Biden, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel. By adding Gil Kerlikowske to his inner circle, Obama is simply confirming the adage that "you can tell a lot about someone by the company he keeps."