The Obama Presidency: December 9th, 2009

[Clio the Leo]

Saud Sulieman, Jordanian bedouin, leads a camel named "Obama" to a plastic tent to protect it from cold and heavy rainfall near Amman December 9, 2009. Jordan no longer faces an imminent threat of drought after days of heavy rainfall raised dam storage levels to almost half their total capacity at the start of the winter season, local newspapers reported.


KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - DECEMBER 09: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (L) looks on while Today Show host Matt Lauer gestures while visiting Kabul International Airport December 9, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Secretary Gates is on a week-long trip to Afghanistan one week after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he will send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.


KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - DECEMBER 09: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates greets U.S. Army troops at Kabul International Airport December 9, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Secretary Gates is on a week-long trip to Afghanistan one week after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he will send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.


KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - DECEMBER 09: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (L) sits in a helicopter while visiting a NATO aviation training facility at Kabul International Airport December 9, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Secretary Gates is on a week-long trip to Afghanistan one week after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he will send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.


U.S. President Barack Obama (L) meets with bipartisan members of Congress in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, December 9, 2009. Pictured with Obama are (2nd L-R) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).


"Enjoy the White House party?" Obama said to the members, who visited the White House for a holiday celebration Monday. "I saw Boehner drinking eggnog." The top House Republican corrected him: "I was drinking wine."




President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to announce nearly $600 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards to support major construction and renovation projects at 85 community health centers nationwide, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, in Washington.


WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 09: (L-R) U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius look on as President Barack Obama (C) signs a memorandum during an event in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building December 9, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama announced that nearly $600 million will be spent on the construction community health centers and transfer of medical records into digital form as part of the Recovery Act.


WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 09: US Army Gen. David Petraeus, CENTCOM Commander, participates in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, December 9, 2009 in Washington, DC. The committee is hearing testimony on the new Afghanistan strategy since President Obama has committed to sending more troops to the region.


WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 09: Activists from Avaaz throw inflatable manequins into the reflecting pool on the National Mall December 9, 2009 in Washington, DC. Wearing t-shirts that say 'CO2 Kills,' the manequins are supposed to represent the more than 300,000 people who die from climate-related illness, according to Avaaz. The organization is calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to 'earn' his Nobel Peace Prize during the UN climate talks in Copenhagen.


In the south, we call this "gettin' saved!" :)


People hold placards and banners during a climate change vigil organised by Greenpeace outside the parliament building in Oslo December 9, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on December 10.




Karsten Madsen from Bergen, Norway, is interviewed while holding an American flag and a cardboard cutout of U.S. President Barack Obama in Oslo, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. U.S. President Barack Obama will receive the Nobel Peace prize on Thursday in Oslo.


A visitor to an exhibition at the Nobel Peace Centre listens to speeches of U.S. President Barack Obama in Oslo December 9, 2009. Two leading international human rights groups gave U.S. President Barack Obama mixed reviews on his human rights record on Wednesday, a day before he is slated to accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged Obama to use his acceptance speech on Thursday to renew U.S. leadership on human rights after its position was undermined by abuses committed during the Bush administration's war on terrorism.


A clerk arranges Barack Obama dolls for sale at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo December 9, 2009. Two leading international human rights groups gave U.S. President Barack Obama mixed reviews on his human rights record on Wednesday, a day before he is slated to accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged Obama to use his acceptance speech on Thursday to renew U.S. leadership on human rights after its position was undermined by abuses committed during the Bush administration's war on terrorism.


An image of U.S. President Barack Obama is seen in an exhibition at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo December 9, 2009.

[Cha]

1. Thanks, Clio,..

I always feel more connected to what's going on when we get these insider pics.

[Clio the Leo]

3. You're weclome. NT

[Clio the Leo]

2. (Bonus Sub-thread) The Obama Presidency: December 8th, 2009

(No extra charge for this one btw!)

Elouise Cobell poses outside the law offices of Kilpatrick & Stockton in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009. The Obama administration says it will spend more than $3 billion to settle a long-running and contentious lawsuit over royalties owed to American Indians.


U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (3rd R) walks with Afghan Minister of Defense Rahim Wardak as he arrives at the Presidential Palace in Kabul December 8, 2009. Gates flew unannounced to Kabul where he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the most senior visit by a U.S. official since President Barack Obama announced a new strategy last week, sending 30,000 extra troops but pledging to begin withdrawing them in 18 months.

(well, at least their guys have nice looking uniforms which ANY military expert will tell you is key to fighting insurgents.)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (L) shakes hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul December 8, 2009. Gates flew unannounced to Kabul where he met Karzai, the most senior visit by a U.S. official since President Barack Obama announced a new strategy last week, sending 30,000 extra troops but pledging to begin withdrawing them in 18 months.




WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 08: Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and commander of United States Forces Afghanistan U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal (L) and Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry speak before testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee about the war in Afghanistan December 8, 2009 in Washington, DC. Although they previously disagreed on the way forward in Afghanistan, McCrystal and Eikenberry said they fully agree with President Barack Obama's plans for increasing U.S. forces in the war-torn country.


Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) (L) and ranking member Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) talk before a hearing about the war in Afghanistan December 8, 2009 in Washington, DC.


WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 08: A demonstrator from Code Pink for Peace holds up a sign before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about the war in Afghanistan December 8, 2009 in Washington, DC.

(Obviously, she is not lurking at DU or she would know we've been telling her for days her sign is misspelled, lol)



President Barack Obama speaks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009.


DENVER - DECEMBER 08: Edward Faktorovick, out of work for seven months, reads a job listing while at a career fair December 8, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. He said that he is looking to get work in the tourism industry. Some 500 applicants turned out for the job fair, despite the bitter temperatures and snow. In an effort to boost jobs nationally, President Barack Obama today proposed small business tax cuts, new infrastructure spending and energy efficiency.


Workers make finishing touch on the bronze statue of young U.S. President Barack Obama at a park in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. The statue of President Obama as a 10-year-old wearing shorts and a T-shirt has been erected in the park to inspire children in the country where he lived as a boy, officials said Wednesday.


An installation with pictures of 2009 Nobel Peace laureate Barack Obama, right, and 1964 peace laureate Martin Luther King is seen in the Nobel Field at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009. Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday.

[Cha]

5. Bonus subthread! You're

all heart and I mean that:loveya:

[HopeOverFear]

4. Thank you

[FrenchieCat]

6. Well done, especially the "Bonus" post! :)