Bitten and Bound » Barack Obama

Obama Family Official White House Portrait

Meg — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:28 +0000

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, sat for their first official White House portrait in the Green Room on September 1, 2009.

The photo was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz and was released by the White House Photo Office. More family photos here.

Earlier this week we were treated to the sight of Mrs. Obama successfully rocking a hula hoop and attempting, not as successfully, to jump rope. See photos and video here.

Obama Letterman VIDEO September 21, 2009

Meg — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:38:52 +0000

President Barack Obama was a guest of David Letterman Monday night, the first sitting president to appear on his show. The discussion was lively and showcased the fact that amid all of the background noise surrounding the White House, the Commander in Chief has managed to keep his sense of humor.

When Letterman asked Obama about former president Jimmy Carter’s assertion that racism is behind recent political attacks, Obama responded, “It’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election.”

The discussion took on a serious tone with the tough subjects of war and health care. Obama said the country gets “riled up” with big change. He said, “People are just frustrated and angry right now because they have gotten a raw deal.”

The Letterman crowd was on its best behavior, giving the president a standing ovation at the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. The band even managed a drum heavy Hail to The Chief.

After the early taping, Obama reportedly put on his gym clothes and a baseball cap and played some basketball with his aides at a church across the street from his Midtown Manhattan hotel.

On a side note, Obama had a fan at the 2009 Emmy Awards on Sunday night. Soap star Victoria Rowell was sporting a dress festooned with large oval photos of the president. Unfortunately it may have earned her the Worst Dress of the night honors – check it out here.

View more photos of Obama’s security detail and the Obama Letterman video below.

Photos: WENN

Obama Calls Kanye a ‘Jackass’ (Terry Moran Tweet)

Meg — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:59:55 +0000

ABC News anchor Terry Moran found himself in some hot water last night after he took an off-the-record comment made by Barack Obama and turned to his Twitter page to report it.

During a CNBC interview on Monday night the president was asked during a brief break what he thought of the Kanye West controversy. His response immediately landed on Twitter. Moran ‘tweeted’, “Pres Obama just called Kanye West a ‘Jackass’ for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’s presidential.”

Then a firestorm errupted. An ABC spokesman issued the following statement: “In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion. This was done before our editorial process had been complete. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”

Check out the ‘tweet’ below and listen to the audio recording of Obama.

Laura Bush Defends Obama Speech to Kids (VIDEO)

Meg — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:13:30 +0000

Barack Obama created a firestorm when he decided to address the nation’s school children on their first day back after summer vacation. What started out to be a message that was intended to urge students to stay in school, has been turned into a a politically partisan event that has educators and parents nearly frothing at the mouth.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke out in support of Obama’s “back-to-school speech”. He said, “President Reagan did it, President George H.W. Bush did it. If he could give a speech tomorrow night in the tone of his speech today to the students, this country would be much better off…It’s a good speech, I recommend it to everybody if you have any doubts.”

Former first lady Laura Bush, a former teacher and librarian, supports the president’s speech that will be broadcast later today on C-SPAN – see full speech transcript here. She said, “There’s a place for the president of the United States to talk to school children and encourage school children to stay in school.” She went on to say, “I also think it’s really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States.”

In an already released speech transcript, Obama will tell students, “What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.”

View Obama speech and Laura Bush remarks on the videos below.

Obama Speech

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Laura Bush remarks

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Obama Eulogy Video: Ted Kennedy Funeral

Meg — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:01:13 +0000

President Barack Obama delivered the keynote eulogy at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston for his colleague and friend Senator Edward Ted Kennedy.

Former presidents in attendance at the funeral of the U.S. Senator were George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Kennedy’s son and namesake Ted Kennedy Jr. also delivered a poignant remembrance at the funeral service. Funeral photos and Teddy Jr. video eulogy here.

View Obama eulogy videos below. See burial photos and gravesite video here.

Video one

Video two

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Obama Joker Picture

Andrea — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:34:58 +0000

Obama Joker poster

Obama Joker posters have been mysteriously popping up over the weekend in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and now the pictures, which portray President Obama as The Dark Knight’s “Joker” character have made their way onto the internet.

The strange Obama Joker posters, which have the word “socialism” written across the bottom, are causing a stir, with some claiming the large red lips in the Obama-Joker mash-up are racist.

The party responsible for the poster remains a mystery, although there are rumors that this is a campaign by conservatives who are angry over Obama’s policies.

Supporters of President Obama call the prank “mean-spirited and dangerous.”

President Obama has been facing criticism for his $1 billion health care plan, as approval ratings continue to slip.

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Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss Perform at White House (VIDEO)

Meg — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:47:57 +0000

It was An Evening of Country Music at the White House last night. The East Room was filled with an intimate gathering of select lawmakers and Cabinet secretaries who gathered with the First Family to listen to musicians Brad Paisley, Charley Pride, Alison Krauss and her band Union Station.

The event followed a music workshop led by Paisley and country group Alison Krauss and Union Station. Gathered in the State Dining Room were 120 middle school and high school music students from Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.

President Barack Obama said of country music, “It’s captured our restlessness and resilience, and told so much of our story in the process.” The concert will be aired as a one-hour special in early August on music network GAC.

Malia, Sasha and Michelle’s mother Marian Robinson (family photos here) were on hand for the country concert. Sporting a new hairdo for the event was First Lady Michelle Obama. See more photos here.

View Brad Paisley performing below.

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Obama All-Star Ceremonial First Pitch (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Meg — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:19:33 +0000

Barack Obama was on hand at the Major League Baseball All-Star game on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the ceremonial first pitch. Dressed in a Chicago White Sox jacket, jeans and sneakers, the President shook hands with Hall of Famer Stan Musial and then stepped onto the mound.

Obama’s southpaw pitch didn’t bounce but barely reached the plate before it was caught by first baseman Albert Pujols. In preparation for the big event, the leader of the free world reportedly warmed up outside the White House on Monday.

The AL won 4-3 for a seventh straight victory. View the pitch on video below.

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Obama Kills Fly VIDEO

Meg — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:38:15 +0000

President Barack Obama was doing a sit-down interview with CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood on Tuesday when he started to be bothered by a pesky fly.

Without breaking a sweat, the commander-in-chief struck a fatal blow that sent the fly crashing to the carpeted White House floor.

A good sport, the leader of the free world invited the camera crew to hone in on the dead insect before moving on with the interview.

View Obama doing the dirty deed below.

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Obama Cairo Speech VIDEO June 4, 2009

Meg — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:59:48 +0000

President Barack Obama, in a major speech on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, called for a new beginning and talked about the tensions between the United States and Muslims, saying “the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.”

The president made a point of saying, “America is not — and never will be — at war with Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.”

Obama stressed that the U.S. does not want to keep troops in Afghanistan. He said, “We seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and now Pakistan.”

Speaking about a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Obama said, “If we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth. The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.”

See more Cairo photos and Obama speech video below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLvcy21qBoE[/youtube]

Speech transcript text available here.

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