Either you’re outraged to hear that President Barack Obama is busy calling Tiger Woods to console him during his time of sexual scandal instead of fixing the healthcare plan OR you can sniff out media hype a mile away.
Apparently the rumor that Obama “made a personal call to offer encouragement” to Woods, has been traced back to Golf Digest, as reported by VanityFair.com, don’t worry it’s been expunged already (ah, the convenience of online reporting), but not before a ton of blogs ran with the story, including PerezHilton.com.
Latest rumor has it, Bill Clinton called Tiger. Now that we can believe -the man has been known to make bad choices, and even People.com ran with that story!
In what sounded like an off-the-record conversation before a press conference on Tuesday, President Barack Obama called Kanye West a “jackass” for rudely interrupting Taylor Swift acceptance speech during the MTV VMAs on Sunday.
“I thought that was really inappropriate, you know. I mean it’s like, she’s gettin’ an award, what’re you butting in? I hear you. I agree with you. The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person, she’s getting her award, what’s he doing up there? He’s a jackass.”
Obama also made light of the informal banter and the tendency for the press to scrutinize his every word and action by saying, “Come on guys, cut the President some slack, I’ve got a lot on my plate,” and went on to refer to his fly catching incident which was caught on tape and blown out of proportion.
President Barack Obama delivered a televised speech to school children across the country from the Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia on Monday amidst controversy and protests.
Even though other presidents have delivered back-to-school addresses, Obama’s speech was met with harsh criticism as some accuse him of trying to push his agenda directly to children.
Before his speech, the President met with a group of Wakefield students for an informal discussion where he warned the high-schoolers of the perils of posting on Facebook saying, “be careful what you post on Facebook. Whatever you do, it will be pulled up later in your life.”
Obama stressed the importance of taking responsibility and committing to succeed during his speech and said, “At the end of the day, the circumstances of your life, what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you have going on at home, none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school.
“There is no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you because here in America you write your own destiny. You make your own future.”
The Obamas descended upon Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday for the last hurrah of summer and the President has packed along an ecclectic summer reading list.
White House spokesman Bill Burton revealed to reporters on Monday the five books on President Barack Obama‘s reading agenda during his week-long vacation:
“The Way Home” by George Pelecanos
“Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman
“Lush Life” by Richard Price
“Plainsong” by Kent Haruf
“John Adams” by David McCullough
However, the President did everything besides read on his first day on the island. On Monday, he worked out at Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark, played tennis with wife Michelle Obama, then played golf at Farm Neck Golf Club.
The first family spent Friday night at a lodge in Montana where Obama went fly-fishing -no, he didn’t catch any fish – and Michelle, Malia and Sasha went white-water rafting.
The next day they took a helicopter ride to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and accompanied by his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng her husband Konrad and their daughter, the party drove through the park in a motorcade, took an official tour with Park Ranger Katy Duffy and even stopped at the Old Faithful General Store where the President and Malia deliberated over which flavor ice cream to purchase.
Next stop on Obama’s weekend tour -Grand Canyon National Park.
President Obama presented the nation’s highest civilian medal, the Medal of Freedom, to 16 notables in the fields of theater, sports, science, humanities and politics on Wednesday at the White House.
Among the recipients were Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, Archibishop Desmond Tutu, Actress Chita Rivera, physicist Stephen Hawkings, and tennis legend Billie Jean King,
“This is a chance for me — and for the United States of America — to say thank you to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries,” Mr. Obama said at the ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
It was both moving and poignant to watch the nation’s first African American president bestow an award to Poitier,who himself has broken through racial barriers, and Billie Jean King, who has made strides for both women and the gay community. However, the most priceless moment was when Obama got a face full of feathers as he placed a medal on 95 year-old Native American historian and educator, Joseph Medicine Crow.
Photo: Jim Young
The President met Medicine Crow during his campaign last year and was made an honorary member of the Crow tribe. Medicine Crow is the tribe’s sole surviving tribal war chief amd became the first of his tribe to receive a masters in anthropology in 1939.
The full list of recipients…
Nancy Goodman Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Pedro José Greer Jr., founder of the Camillus Health Concern, St. John Bosco Clinic Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist Jack Kemp, professional football player, Republican Vice President Nominee in 1996 Sen. Edward Kennedy, leading health-care advocate Billie Jean King, acclaimed professional tennis player
Reverend Joseph Lowery, civil rights movement leader Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, last living Plains Indian war chief Harvey Milk, first openly gay elected official Sandra Day O’Connor, first female U.S. Supreme Court justice Sidney Poitier, first African-American to win a Best Actor Academy Award Chita Rivera, first Hispanic recipient of Kennedy Center Honor Mary Robinson, first female President of Ireland Janet Davidson Rowley, geneticist Desmond Tutu, anti-Apartheid activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, anti-poverty leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
President Barack Obama celebrated his 48th birthday on Tuesday and shared the love with long-time White House reporter Helen Thomas, who was also celebrating her birthday.
Obama led a roomful of reporters in singing “Happy Birthday” and presented Thomas with cupcakes and a kiss on the cheek.
“Helen wished for world peace, (and) no prejudice, but she and I also had a common birthday wish,” Obama said. “She said she wishes for a healthcare reform bill.”
And what did the President do to honor his own special day? A lunch meeting with 57 of the 60 Democratic senators and independents. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama already celebrated his birthday over the weekend at Camp David with family and friends, playing basketball and bowling a 144.
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