Bishop Tobin replied that even though “I have no desire to continue the discussion of Congressman Kennedy’s spiritual life in public," he will defend the church or his pastoral ministry from "inaccurate statements." The truth, said the bishop, is that he never discussed their conversation with anyone else, and that he prays that Kennedy will “enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance,”
Despite the war of words in the public arena, the church has been winning in the halls of Congress. A few weeks ago, lobbying by Catholics helped preserve limits on government funding for abortions in the healthcare bill, protections they are again seeking in the Senate.
(New UPDATE: Monday 5:02 p.m. OK, it's not funny if you work at the White House. But for everybody else a new video at the bottom of this post will provide some chuckles about how the rest of the world chooses to greet the Japanese Emperor. Hint: It's different than President Obama.)
(UPDATES: 12:22 p.m. Saturday. A brief news video has been added below, showing the greeting in this photograph. Contrary to some claims, the video shows no reciprocal bow by the emperor, who traditionally bows to no one. And we've added a file photo from 2007 of Vice President Dick Cheney greeting the Japanese Emperor at the same residence in a different fashion.)
How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty?
This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention to the royal family living in its downtown castle. Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference to a superior.
To some in the United States, however, an upright handshake might have looked better. (See Cheney-Akihito photo, right).
Remember Michelle Obama casually patting Britain's Queen Elizabeth on the back during their Buckingham Palace visit? America's royalty tends to make movies and get bad reviews and lots of money as a sign of respect.
Obama could receive some frowns back home as he did for his not-quite-this-low-or-maybe-about-the-same-bow to the Saudi king not so long ago. (See photo here)
How times change under Democratic presidents.
Back in 1994 when President Bill Clinton appeared to maybe perhaps almost start to bow to Akihito at a White House encounter, U.S. officials rushed to deny it was any such a thing. And the N.Y. Times chronicled the comedic drama here.
Akihito, who turns 76 next month, is the eldest son and fifth child of Emperor Showa, the name given to an emperor and his reign after his death.
Emperor Showa is better known abroad by the life name of Hirohito. He became emperor in 1925 and died in 1989, the longest historically-known rule of the nation's 125 emperors.
Hirohito presided over his nation's growth from an undeveloped agrarian economy into the expansionist military power and ally of Nazi Germany of the 1930's.
And, later, Japan became a global economic giant. Hirohito, along with Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who authorized the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, were much reviled abroad during World War II.
Historically, debate has simmered over how much of a political puppet Hirohito was to the country's military before and during the war.
Even after Democratic President Harry Truman ordered the two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the summer of 1945, there were strong forces within Japan that wanted to continue to fight the Americans in the spirit of kamikaze suicide pilots.
But Akihito's father went on national radio, the first time his subjects had ever heard Hirohito's voice, and without using the inflammatory word "surrender," pronounced that the country must "accept the unacceptable." It did.
As the conquering Allied general and then presiding officer of the U.S. occupation, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, decided to allow Japan to keep its emperor as a ceremonial unifying institution within a nascent democracy.
Tojo, on the other hand, was hanged.
MacArthur treated Emperor Hirohito respectfully but, as his body language in this black and white postwar photo demonstrates, was not particularly deferential.
(But then MacArthur was not known as a particularly deferential person, as Truman discovered just before firing him later. But that's another war.)
Akihito was born during Japan's conquering of China and was evacuated during the devastating American fire-bombing of Tokyo, which was built largely of wood in those days.
The future emperor learned English during the U.S. occupation, but, inexplicably, his father ordered that his oldest boy not receive an Army commission as previous imperial heirs always had.
Akihito assumed the throne on Jan. 7, 1989. Within weeks he began a series of formal expressions of remorse to Asian countries for Japan's actions during his....
...father's reign. In 2003, he underwent surgery for prostate cancer.
In 1959, Akihito married Michiko Shoda, the first commoner allowed to enter the Japanese royal family. That was two years before the birth of Akihito's future presidential guest, Barack Obama.
Joe Biden was already 17 by then. But he wasn't a senator.
(UPDATE: Here's a new video assembled by some clever College Republicans at the University of Connecticut. It's even got music and requires no explanation.
Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty; David Bohrer / White House (Vice President Dick Cheney is received by Emperor Akihito somewhat differently in 2007); Reuters (Obama bows to the king of Saudi Arabia earlier this year); U.S. Army Archives (Gen. Douglas MacArthur not bowing to Emperor Hirohito after World War II).
Workers at the White House hoisted something unusual in the front of the grand entrance to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Monday -- a massive pink ribbon.
Running the length of the columns in front of the presidential residence, the dramatic ribbon is part of First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to promote women's health at a time when her husband is trying to reform the nation's healthcare system. "It's a system that only adds to the fear and stress that already comes with the disease," she said Friday.
President Obama has often talked about his mother's last months, spent battling ovarian cancer with one hand while filling out insurance forms with another. Last October, he explained his passion for the reform cause:
For me, the fight against cancer is deeply personal. My mother died of ovarian cancer in the prime of her life. And at a time when she should have been focused on getting well, she was lying in a hospital bed arguing with her insurance company because they refused to cover her treatment.
The instinct to decorate the White House for the cause is not without precedent. Last October, the White House joined a worldwide campaign to cast more than 200 landmarks around the globe in a pink glow to commemorate breast cancer awareness.
We're showing our support of breast cancer awareness and research in a historic way. In recognition of the mothers, daughters, sisters and wives who struggle with this disease, we're lighting the White House in pink, which is the color of the cause. May our lights tonight shine as beacons around the world, a signal of the United States' commitment to saving lives for breast cancer.
Perhaps that was the first sign of the wing-driven pathology of Washington's current political climate.
This morning, in a steady rain, accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, the president marked his first 9/11 in much the way his predecessor George W. Bush did. Arriving at the Pentagon eight years almost to the minute after American Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon, he greeted some of the family members of the 184
victims who died at the site -- 59 on the plane and 125 on the ground -- and many of those who were wounded.
They stood for a moment of silence. Then they spoke.
Mullen, noting that more than 1 million Americans had enlisted in the military since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said, "We are here to remember but who among us can ever forget where we were, what we saw, how we felt." He urged the audience to " face the future with the same resolve our men and women [in the military] exhibit."
Gates, the only Republican holdover from the BushCabinets, said, "Words are inadequate to remove the pain of that loss. In the lives of those patriots we can find some solace." Because of their sacrifice, he added, "we remain a strong and free nation."
Unshielded in the pouring rain, Obama spoke next.
"On a day when others sought to sap our confidence, let us renew our
common purpose," he said. "Let us remember how we came together as one nation, as
one people, as Americans, united not only in our grief, but in our
resolve to stand with one another, to stand up for the country we all
love."
A full transcript of the president's remarks, as provided by the White House, is below.
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo (top): 9/11
Memorial at the Pentagon lists the 184 victims of the terrorist
attack, the 59 on the plane and 125 in the building, by their date
of birth from 1998 (age 3) to 1930 (age 71). Credit: Getty Images Photo (bottom): President Obama lays a wreath with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen at his side. Credit: Associated Press
They were all the rage at Martha’s Vineyard when President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, vacationed there last week -- T-shirts with first dog Bo Obama’s image,
like the one pictured here in an Oak Bluffs shop.
So we suppose no one should have been surprised Sunday when
Bo came off Marine One and bounded off the steps toward the White House
sporting a new leash.
Yep, it says “I Love Obama.”
The guy handling the dog in the photo is Sam Sutton, a White House aide. But the puppy evidently knows who the boss is, hence the new leash. Actually, the leashes were first popularized during the 2008 campaign, so maybe Bo got his on sale.
Well, today's the last day in office -- partial day, actually -- for Alaska's Republican about-to-be-ex-governor, Sarah Palin.
On Friday we wrote right here about the string of summertime farewell picnics she launched (see video above). At a third picnic, that one in Fairbanks, she'll turn over the ceremonial gubernatorial BBQ apron this afternoon to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who's got the same initials but not the celebrityness as the outgoing guv.
So is today the practical end of the political career for Palin, who turned a Wasilla town council seat and a corruption expose of her own party into a surprise upset of the long-entrenched Republican establishment ruling the nation's largest state, and then defeated a better-known returning Democratic governor in the 2006 election finals?
Or is today merely the end of the beginning for the unconventional, grass-roots-talking hockey mom who has the one thing every politician covets and very few have -- star quality, that ability to force people to pay attention simply by their presence? (See video above.) Bill Clinton has it. So does Barack Obama. Like them or not, people turn and look when they're around.
By conventional political standards, Palin's caribou is cooked.
She's quitting a powerful elected position that only 50 Americans hold, a chief executive's office in . . .
While the senators poke and prod and extol praise on the Supreme Court nominee, there are some interesting images being snapped by photographers in and around Capitol Hill. For example, above, the twin nephews of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Conner and Corey Sotomayor, clearly thrilled by the proceedings, take in a quick nap as their aunt goes through her first day of hearings.
Meanwhile the nominee's mother, Celina Sotomayor, looks on intently as her daughter sits on the precipice of history.
Join us after the jump for a few more photos from D.C.
President Obama, meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow, signed a preliminary deal today to reduce their nations' stockpiles of nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each. The deal is only a guideline for future negotiations. But the leaders of the two biggest nuclear powers in the world hailed the pact as a measure of improved cooperation. In fact, as a gesture of goodwill, Russia agreed to allow the U.S. military to move arms through Russia for the war in Afghanistan, easing the logistics headaches for Pentagon planners and, according to the White House, saving the U.S. government $133 million a year.
At a news conference in the gilded halls of the Kremlin, standing in front of enough U.S. and Russian flags to drape a small Third World country, both spoke of a thawing in the Cold War, which made relations tense for most of the second half of the 20th Century.
Medvedev said that the relationship between Moscow and Washington "does not correspond to its potential." Obama agreed, saying that the two had "resolved to reset U.S.-Russian relations."Noting joint cooperation on dealing with North Korea and Iran, and on combating Al Qaeda, Obama said "I won't pretend that the U.S. and Russia agree on every issue," but he insisted that the two superpowers "are leaving behind the suspicions and rivalries of the past."
Obama was asked if he trusted Medvedev. The question had echoes of an earlier U.S.-Russian summit, when President Bush said he had looked into then President Vladimir Putin's soul and determined he could trust him. Mindful of this minefield of history, Obama replied: "I trust President Medvedev to listen."
The U.S. president was also asked another politically sensitive question -- who was actually running Russia, Medvedev or Putin. "My impression is that they are working very effectively together," he said diplomatically, noting that his first concern was Medvedev but that he would be having breakfast with Putin in the morning.
You may recall that during the 2008 campaign, Hillary Clinton, now Obama's secretary of state, was adamant that no matter who won the Russian election for president, Putin would actually be running the country. Asked by NBC's Tim Russert who was likely to win the Russian presidential election, she replied, "Meh, Me-ned-vadah -- whatever." Obama agreed with Clinton that no matter who won the Russian election, Putin would maintain "the strongest hand" in Russian politics. But candidate Obama didn't even venture a guess at how to pronounce his name -- and Russert didn't press him.
That led to a Saturday Night Live skit about how much harder the media was on Clinton than Obama.
In any event, touting a new, post-Cold War alliance between their countries, the U.S. and Russian presidents greeted each other warmly during their news conference. You can read the transcript below.
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo: Nesting dolls on sale in Moscow showcase President Barack Obama on the left and a shared depiction of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin on the right. Credit: Misha Japaridze / Associated Press
Iraqis danced in the streets today as American soldiers pulled back from towns and cities (including Basra, above) to the stronghold of U.S. bases. A countdown clock on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as midnight approached. Fireworks lit up the skies over Baghdad.
Iraq declared a national holiday and Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki proclaimed June 30 Iraq's "National Sovereignty Day." "All of us are happy — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds — on this day," Waleed al-Bahadili said to the Associated Press as he celebrated in a Badghad park. "The Americans harmed and insulted us too much."
Americans might be upset to hear that, given that they gave so much of blood and treasure to give Iraq a chance at democracy. But the latest poll by CNN found 73% of Americans favor the withdrawal with surprising unanimity -- 72% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans said yes. And two-thirds said even if violence flares again (which a majority think is likely), U.S. troops should not go back into Iraqi population centers.
Of course, the Big Number is that two-thirds of Americans no longer support the war in Iraq, a rebuke to President Bush's policy -- though his neo-con supporters hope he will be vindicated by history's more long-range endorsement -- and an explanation for President Obama's decision to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31 of next year.
But for today, the news was not in the Oval Office but in the streets of Iraq. Here are more photos:
-- Johanna Neuman
In Ramadi, as Iraqi forces take charge of patrols in the city.
In Basra, Iraqi police officers celebrate.
At a cafe in Baghdad.
In Baghdad's Green Zone, a parade of Iraqi security forces.
Spc. Charles Lewis of the 10th Combat Support Hospital prepared to leave Baghdad.
Photo credits, from top: Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press; Karim Kadin / Associated Press; Haider Al-Assadee / European Pressphoto Agency; Khalil al-Murshidi / AFP/Getty Images; Ali al-Saadi / AFP/Getty Images; Daniel C. Britt / Reuters
For two families campaigning for the release of U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, today's news that they were found guilty of unspecified "hostilities against the Korean nation" and sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp was a blow, to say the least.
Now, U.S. efforts to win their release are escalating, both inside the Obama administration and outside the Beltway.
The two women were arrested in March while working on a story about the trafficking of women along the North Korean border with China for Current TV, the cable television network launched by former Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. The station features three- to seven-minute "pods," or short programs, some created by viewers, in an interactive format targeted to 18- to 34-year-olds.
So the White House is considering sending Al Gore to Pyongyang as a personal envoy to intercede on the journalists' behalf. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly did not rule out the possibility. "This is such a sensitive issue," he said, "I'm just not going to go into those kinds of discussions that we may or may not have had."
Another possibility is sending New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who has had success in the past in freeing Americans held by North Korea. In 1996, a 26-year-old American whose mother was Korean, Evan C. Hunziker, was accused of spying after he swam across the Yalu River from the Chinese border. Richardson, then a congressman, negotiated his release. (Hunziker later committed suicide.)
But would Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appoint Richardson as a special envoy after the political tussles of the 2008 presidential campaign? After dropping out of the race, Richardson stunned....
