Michelle Obama Lists Favorite DC-Area Destinations

Michelle Obama says the Newseum and historic attractions like Monticello are among her daughters’ favorite places to visit in Washington and the surrounding area, according to a cover story in the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine called “Mrs. Obama’s Washington: Why the First Lady Loves Her New Hometown.”

The first lady said she created an informal “Camp Obama” last summer to expose her girls to attractions related to American history because she worried that they’d learned “more about history in Europe than they did here.”

In addition to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate, which she called “incredibly beautiful,” they’ve visited Frederick Douglass’ home and Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate.

She told the magazine that her daughters “love the Newseum,” an interactive museum about news history. They enjoyed Luray Caverns in Virginia, too: “Yes! We saw the egg,” she said, referring to a formation in the cave that looks like fried eggs.

Barack Obama Marks Holocaust Remembrance Day

President Barack Obama on Sunday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Ha Shoah, saying the world must honor victims of Nazi horror by renewing a commitment to prevent genocide and anti-Semitism.

“We must never tolerate the hateful stereotypes and prejudice against the Jewish people that tragically continues to this day,” Obama said in a written statement.

“We must work, instead, on behalf of a world of justice and peace, in which all nations and peoples value the humanity that we share, and the dignity inherent in every human being.”

“The memories of the victims serve as a constant reminder to honor their legacy by renewing our commitment to prevent genocide, and to confront anti-Semitism and prejudice in all of its forms.”

Car With Obama/Biden Sticker Rammed In Tennessee

A 70-year-old Nashville man was accused of ramming his sport utility vehicle several times into the back of a vehicle that had a Obama/Biden bumper sticker.

Harry K. Weisiger, a retiree, made obscene gestures and pointed at the campaign sticker for President Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden before he smashed into schoolteacher Mark Duren’s car, police said. Weisiger has been charged with reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of the accident and refusing to take a field sobriety test.

The incident appears to be among the overheated partisan political atmosphere, including death threats sent to members of Congress and their families who supported health care reform.

Duren had picked up his 10-year-old daughter from school Thursday when he stopped near the Belmont University campus. An SUV pulled up behind his Toyota Camry and the driver began honking and gesturing angrily toward the bumper sticker, The Tennessean reported.

“I raised my hands palms up and shrugged. He then eased up behind my car so I could only see the grille of his SUV and blew his car horn, nonstop,” Duren told the newspaper.

President Obama’s Passover Greeting

President Barack Obama has published a greeting to the Jewish world in general and to Israel in particular, ahead of the Passover Seder.

After the one of the most strained weeks in Israel-US ties in years, Obama offered warm words to the Jewish people, some even in Hebrew. 

He started his greeting with a verse from the Talmud in Hebrew, followed by the English translation: “In every generation, each of us should feel as though we ourselves had personally gone forth from Egypt.” 

The American president also ended his greeting with the Hebrew words “Chag Sameach”, meaning happy holiday. 

Obama’s letter read: “This evening, Jewish individuals, families, and their friends in America, Israel, and around the world will gather around the Seder table to celebrate the sacred festival of Passover.

Congress Speaks-Up Regarding Obama – Netanyahu Rift

More than 250 members of Congress have signed on to a declaration reaffirming their commitment to “the unbreakable bond that exists between [U.S.] and the State of Israel”, in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The letter was sent in the wake of the severe recent tensions between Israel and the U.S. over the prior’s decision to construct more than 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, a project it announced during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took advantage of his trip to the United States this week to try to mend the rift with the Obama administration, but he was greeted with cold welcome by the White House.

Netanyahu also met during his visit with members of Congress, who welcomed him with significantly more warmth.

The letter from Congress expresses its “deep concern” over the U.S.-Israel crisis, and emphasizes that lawmakers had received assurances from Netanyahu that the events leading up to the recent tensions would not be repeated.

Letter from members of Congress

Dear Secretary Clinton:

We are writing to reaffirm our commitment to the unbreakable bond that exists between our country and the State of Israel and to express to you our deep concern over recent tension. In every important relationship, there will be occasional misunderstandings and conflicts.

Joe Biden Sums Up Health Reform Perfectly

After a century of struggle, euphoric Democrats watching President Barack Obama sign historic health reform into law seemed to agree with the over zealous reaction of gaffe-prone Joe Biden.

“This is a big f(expletive) deal,” Vice President Biden said in an aside to his boss, in a remark meant for Obama’s ears only.

But he was clearly heard above a gale of applause on television microphones, just after paying a gushing tribute to Obama in a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House, teeming with lawmakers, political aides and cameramen.

The expletive quickly became … a big deal, as cable news channels went into overdrive, and one Internet entrepreneur immediately printed the quote on a tee-shirt and hawked it online.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs played down the latest gaffe by America’s infamously loose-lipped vice president.

“And yes, Mr Vice President, you’re right,” he wrote on his twitter feed.

ACORN Is Toast

The once mighty community activist group ACORN announced it is folding amid falling revenues — six months after video footage emerged showing some of its workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute.

“It’s really declining revenue in the face of a series of attacks from partisan operatives and right-wing activists that have taken away our ability to raise the resources we need,” ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said.

Several of its largest affiliates, including ACORN New York and ACORN California, broke away this year and changed their names in a bid to ditch the tarnished image of their parent organization and restore revenue that ran dry in the wake of the video scandal.

ACORN’s financial situation and reputation went into free fall within days of the videos’ release in September. Congress reacted by yanking ACORN’s federal funding, private donors held back cash and scores of ACORN offices closed.

Earlier this month, a U.S. judge reiterated an earlier ruling that the federal law blacklisting ACORN and groups allied with it was unconstitutional because it singled them out. But that didn’t mean any money would be automatically be restored.

Obama Pays Off Bet To Harper

A US envoy delivered two cases of beers to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to settle a bet US President Barack Obama lost when Canada beat the United States for Olympic ice hockey gold.

David Jacobson, the US ambassador to Ottawa, delivered a case of Molson Canadian and an extra case of Obama’s brew of choice, Yuengling from America’s oldest brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, to the doorstep of the prime minister’s official residence at 24 Sussex Drive — just in time for breakfast.

Canada beat the US squad three to two in overtime in a thrilling match-up on February 28 to become the first Olympic host nation to capture men’s hockey gold in 30 years.

Under the terms of the friendly wager, if the United States had won the match, Obama would have received a case of 24 beers from Harper.

Harper’s spokesman Dimitri Soudas said both cases of beer would be sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto for display.

Joe And Jill Biden Visit Israel

Vice President Joe Biden visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum on Tuesday and at the end of his visit, signed the site’s guestbook.

He wrote that as a young father, he took his children to visit the Dachau death camp in German, to make them understand how brutal mankind can be.

Biden added that Israel is the heart, life and hope of the world’s Jews, and that it saves lives every day. He said that anyone who doubts this, should visit the museum, and that the State of Israel is a central bolt in the world’s existence.

The American vice president added that each day, Israel challenges the words of poet William Butler Yeats who wrote, “Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.”

Alexander Haig Dies At Age 85

Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, a four-star general who served as a top adviser to three presidents and had presidential ambitions of his own, died Saturday of complications from an infection, his family said. He was 85.

Haig’s long and decorated military career launched the Washington career for which he is better known, including top posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations. He never lived down his televised response to the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

Hours after the shooting, then Secretary of State Haig went before the cameras intending, he said later, to reassure Americans that the White House was functioning.

“As of now, I am in control here in the White House, pending the return of the vice president,” Haig said.

Some saw the comment as an inappropriate power grab in the absence of Vice President George H.W. Bush, who was flying back to Washington from Texas.

Haig died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he was surrounded by his family, according to two of his children, Alexander and Barbara. A hospital spokesman, Gary Stephenson, said Haig died at about 1:30 a.m.