Catching Up: An amazing story out of Iraq over the holiday with likely domestic political repercussions, involving another possible case of political correctness gone awry:
Three Navy SEAL commandos, who recently captured one of the most-wanted terrorists in Iraq, are now being charged criminally by the Navy for giving the terrorist a bloody lip.
The captive is Ahmed Hasim Abed, who was codenamed "Objective Amber." He's the alleged mastermind of the capture, mutilation and deaths of four Blackwater security guards in 2004 (see photo above).
After patiently tracking the suspect and capturing him, the SEALs turned the prisoner over to Iraqi authorities in September. He then complained of being punched at some point. He was returned to U.S. custody, resulting in....
In a cover profile with posed photos and everything (highly coveted in places called Washington), the New York Times Magazine reports that, after only 321 days in office, Joe Biden, who was a senator when Barack Obama was only a sixth-grader, has already possibly become the second-most-powerful vice president in the nation's entire 85,469-day history.
You might be wondering who was the most powerful vice president in U.S. history.
No, not Hannibal Hamlin.
We hesitate to publish the name of the most powerful vice president in American history because Biden called him the most dangerous VP in American history and commenters here get so excited about him, one way or another, even though he's related to Obama.
Also, as is well-known by conspiracy theorists (you know who you are), since our corporate parent is a charter member of the MSM, we are (secretly) prohibited from saying anything positive about Hamlin's Grand Old Party or anything even slightly mocking about the current Democratic administration that has so successfully turned the U.S. economy around so quickly. And all, amazingly, without incurring new deficits or lobbyists. And only a few hundred billion in new taxes and cuts.
So we'll just say that Biden is the most powerful vice president in the last 321 days. You figure it out.
The New York Times Magazine, not widely known for understated satire, is only the latest of....
(UPDATE 8:48 p.m. A news video update has been added below.)
It's not unprecedented, of course, for the White House to issue messages of condolence on the death of prominent individuals or major disasters, at home or abroad. Most are boiler-plate hearts-going-out condolence stuff. So was today's, about the Russian train wreck.
Perhaps it's just to show the world that, even on a slow-news U.S. post-holiday day, the Obama crowd is on the job.
Publicly commenting on other news is a time-honored way for public figures, especially high-profile politicians, to insert themselves into the daily news flow, help shape their image in the minds of voters and position them for future moves. Sarah Palin, for instance, is doing this at times on her ongoing "Going Rogue" book promotion tour, often using her Facebook page, which allows her to put a statement out without requiring answers to follow-up questions.
We'll have to watch and see what criteria the 10-month-old Obama administration uses to issue such regular comments -- what type disaster merits comment, how many dead to warrant a White House message, and in what country.
If it's every multiple-death incident in every country, they're going to be pretty busy in the press office. But at least they have jobs. Today's train wreck in Russia occurred between Moscow and St. Petersburg, killing 25 at latest count
The comment, though not presidential, could play well if widely dispersed in Russian media. If the incident turns out to be terrorist-related, it could also help underline the international commonality of such threats. And Obama has gone out of his way to make friends with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Here's what the White House press office said:
Statement by the White House Press Secretary on the Train Derailment in Russia
We are deeply saddened by the terrible loss of life and injuries resulting from the reported derailment of a train between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
As authorities investigate the circumstances of this tragedy, our hearts go out to the families of those who lost loved ones, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
The hubbub about Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who crashed the first state dinner hosted by PresidentObama, got us thinking about other unauthorized appearances at notable events.
Perhaps the most famous party crasher is Scott Weiss, who successfully found his way into the Grammys and — in his most audacious moment — the Oscars. His antics were described in detail earlier this year in a highly readable and entertaining Column One by our colleague Chris Lee.
And speaking of the Oscars, who can forget the time a man crashed the live television broadcast while the inimitable David Niven was preparing to give out an award? Unlike the Salahis, the uninvited man was easy to detect, mostly because he wasn’t wearing clothes.
The video below shows not only the streaker (with naughty bits chastely blurred) but that the suave Niven didn’t need a script to deliver, with perfect timing, the perfect punch line. The Niven snippet comes about two minutes into the video (it's worth the wait). You also get to see some very funny Oscar moments from Whoopie Goldberg, Doris Day and others.
The other night Karl Rove was talking with Greta Van Susteren about the Sarah Palin phenomenon and her record-breaking book sales of "Going Rogue." He says he's started the book, finds it a very good read, is impressed by her crowds (4,000 at Ft. Bragg) and its sales nearly exceeding an ex-president's book, Bill Clinton's, written post-presidency.
The political strategist, with his own book coming out in March, "Courage and Consequence," says Palin has got to learn to pivot off of the misbehaving son-in-law and other soap opera questions because the media want to keep her on the cover of People magazine, not talking about serious issues.
But, Rove notes, there's a big difference between running to sell a book and running to win the White House.
Greta seemed done with her interview when Rove wanted to say something else.
Of course, it's easier if you're not doing any of the cooking yourself. Or turkey carving. Or serving.
So President Obama only had about 50 folks over to the White House for Thanksgiving dinner tonight. During the day the president called 10 military members around the world to wish them a happy holiday.
If you've just consumed your own feast, though, maybe save and read this later. If you're still on the appetizers, go ahead and peruse what's coming in the next two paragraphs.
Here, according to the White House, is what the president had for Thanksgiving dinner:
Turkey and honey-baked ham and cornbread stuffing and oyster stuffing and greens and macaroni and cheese and sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and banana cream pie and pumpkin pie and apple pie and sweet potato pie and huckleberry pie and cherry pie.
We are told, Washington style for background, that the president's favorite items are the turkey and pumpkin pie.
Hopefully, Obama has some presidential Pepcid on hand and the commander in chief will be out of the gastronomic coma in time for his 40-minute Tuesday evening speech on Afghanistan from West Point.
Remarks by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, as provided by the Republican National Committee
This week, like most Americans, my family came together to break bread, give thanks and celebrate our blessings.
Even in these times of struggle and trial, we have much to be thankful for, beginning with our men and women in uniform, many of whom will spend this holiday season away from hearth and home. The tragic events at Fort Hood remind us that whether they serve at home or abroad, we owe our soldiers and their families a debt of gratitude we will never be able to repay. This past Thursday, while empty chairs for America’s defenders were placed at Thanksgiving dinner tables in many homes, many other seats were filled with anxious Americans who are facing their own personal battles and struggles. Millions of families have seen jobs and careers vanish in the midst of this recession.
Many are asking, ‘when will things get better?’ Many more are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’
President Obama told the American people that his last $787 billion ‘jobs bill,’ the so-called ‘stimulus’ package, would ensure that unemployment would not go above 8 percent. And the Administration continues to insist their stimulus plan is working. But unemployment is now at a heartbreaking 10.2 percent.
In the city and on the farm, as millions of American families struggle to balance their checkbooks this holiday season, they watch in astonishment as Washington spends billions of dollars it doesn’t have.
And what is the White House’s answer to our struggles? Another meeting next week. A ‘jobs summit,’ and ...
On Thanksgiving, our most home-grown of holidays, we at The Ticket would like to offer you a helping of history along with that turkey.
We call it the Ghost of Thanksgiving Past. It's a collection of some of the more interesting presidential proclamations relating to the holiday.
Most schoolchildren in this country know that the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621, when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians feasted together to celebrate the burgeoning colony's first successful harvest.
But it wasn't a national holiday until 1863, when, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November 1863:
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that...
(UPDATE: A news video update on the Hajj has been added below.)
Statement by the President on Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha, as provided by the White House
Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions.
During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand in prayer on Mount Arafat. The following day, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha and distribute food to the less fortunate to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God.
This year, I am pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the Saudi Health Ministry to prevent and limit the spread of H1N1 during Hajj. Cooperating on combating H1N1 is one of the ways we are implementing my administration's commitment to partnership in areas of mutual interest.
On behalf of the American people, we would like to extend our greetings during this Hajj season – Eid Mubarak. ###
Last night they stayed at the posh Willard hotel in Washington.
This afternoon they fly first class to California, where they will be honorary grand marshals for Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day parade.
But today, a turkey named Courage -- and an alternate named Carolina, in case Courage is unable to complete his duties -- received President Obama's first presidential pardons.
Flanked by his daughters, Malia and Sasha -- who he said lobbied for the pardon -- Obama said the two turkeys had been spared the "terrible and delicious fate" of being served for dinner. You could tell he was tempted to eat Courage. As for his daughters, Malia observed astutely that Courage looked like a big chicken.
"There are certain days when I'm reminded why I ran for this office," Obama quipped. "And then there are days like this." On a more serious note, he called Thanksgiving a quintessentially American holiday, and an occasion to give thanks to soldiers separated from their families by war. You can read his remarks below.
But if the president thought the event a little light, the young aides in his White House were so tickled by its role in this odd tradition that they posted this preview on whitehouse.gov.
In November 2001, George W. Bush said some believe President Lincoln started the tradition by pardoning his son Tad's pet turkey. But that may be more Lincoln myth than fact.
In fact, most historians believe the tradition of a formal pardon began with Bush's father, 41, the first President Bush.
Presidential pardons for turkeys are rare. According to the folks at the National Turkey Federation, an estimated 273 million turkeys were raised this year for consumption on American tables.
