All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

The White House has released a new set of photos by resident shutterbug Pete Souza that show President Barack Obama conferring with top aides in the Oval Office, hosting astronauts and dignitaries, and horsing around with Bo on the South Lawn.

Then there's this odd photo of the president letting the child of a White House staff member pet him on the head. Perhaps spending all that time with the new puppy is starting to rub off on him?

The photos are available to download and see at the White House's official photostream on flickr.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, the new White House drug czar, thinks the United States should opt for something slightly less bellicose than the phrase “war on drugs” when it comes to addressing the nation’s drug problems.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kerlikowske said the United States drug policy needs to shift the emphasis from incarceration to treatment.

"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," Kerlikowske told the Journal. "We're not at war with people in this country."

Kerlikowske did not offer up an alternative phrase, though if previous nomenclatural adjustments by the Obama team are any indication, any new phraseology may lack the same punch. Merits aside, it’s fair to say that "Overseas Contingency Operation," the administration's re-branding of the "War On Terror," doesn't have quite the same ring as the more hawkish term did.

Though Kerlikowske's statements to the Journal are particularly blunt, the Obama administration has already made moves to reorient the country's response to the drug trade and addiction. In March, Attorney General Eric Holder said that federal agents would only target medical marijuana dispensaries when they violated state and federal law. Under the Bush administration, medical marijuana distributors were targeted even if they complied with state laws.

Last week, the administration joined a federal judge in urging Congress to equalize punishments for crack dealers and users with those for dealers and users of powdered cocaine. The administration argued that this disparity in sentencing was unfair to African American communities, where crack-cocaine has historically been more prevalent.

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Nancy Pelosi is at the center of a political maelstrom because of her claims that the CIA and the Bush administration misled her about its use of harsh interrogation techniques. Now new questions are being raised that may help to focus some of the attention away from the embattled Speaker of the House and back on the agency and members of the Bush White House.

In an interview yesterday with The Huffington Post, former Senator Bob Graham said that the CIA had also failed to tell him about their use of waterboarding and labeled the agency's records of briefings "suspect." Graham was briefed in his capacity as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The former senator's claims could lend credence to Pelosi's charges that although she was told by the CIA that the administration considered waterboarding legal, the agency failed to inform her that the controversial technique was being employed.

Graham also said that the CIA gave him false information about the number of times he had been briefed on its enhanced interrogation methods. After checking the agency's record of his meetings against his own daily schedule and personal notebook, the ex-Florida senator said that the CIA agreed that no briefings had taken place on three specific dates that it had previously claimed that meetings were held.

Making the ongoing debate about torture murkier still, Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson, former chief of staff at the State Department, is claiming that the Bush administration used enhanced interrogation methods to help make a case for the war in Iraq based on a "smoking gun."

In The Washington Note, Wilkerson writes, "what I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002--well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion--its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida."

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If environmentalists get their way, Ken Salazar may one day join the ranks of endangered species.

In a move that has infuriated environmental groups, the interior secretary announced today that he will uphold the Bush administration's decision to limit restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions that imperil Artic polar bears.

Environmental groups said that they had hoped that the Obama administration would overturn the rule, which currently only restricts the burning of fossil fuels within the bears' natural habitat. These groups point out that failure to more broadly regulate carbon dioxide, even those emissions released thousands of miles from the Arctic, cripples larger efforts to address the effects of global warming. Studies show that the melting of Arctic sea ice threatens the polar bears. A spokesperson for Greenpeace said that the bears will be extinct by 2050 if stricter rules are not embraced.

"Today's announcement shows a clear willingness to compromise when it comes to global warming science and policy." said Melanie Duchin, a global warming campaigner for Greenpeace based in Anchorage, Alaska. "I expected more from the Obama administration."

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In an effort to stay in the Senate seat to which he was appointed by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Senator Roland Burris has one thing going for him: Name recognition.

It's practically inconceivable that anyone living in his native Illinois – or any of the other 49 states, for that matter – hasn't heard of the embattled junior senator and his troubles. But Burris’ time in the spotlight, along with his tumultuous tenure in the Senate, may be a short one. In an interview with the Beltway publication The Hill Thursday, Burris indicated that he won't campaign for election to the seat he now holds if he feels he cannot raise enough money. He said he will make his decision in the next few weeks.

“I'm moving into a phase now where I will be talking to people and assessing the opportunities in terms of my ability to raise the funds and stay here," Burris told The Hill.

As The Hill noted, the scandal-plagued senator's fundraising has been anemic. Burris only managed to cobble together $845 in the first quarter of 2009. But Burris said that if he entered the race, he didn't believe that raising money would be a problem.

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David Souter today informed President Barack Obama that he intends to step down from the Supreme Court this year. The president formally announced Souter’s decision during a surprise appearance at White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' regular press briefing this afternoon.

"I am incredibly grateful for [Souter's] dedicated service; I told him as much when we spoke," Mr. Obama said. "I spoke on behalf of the American people, thanking him for his service. And I wish him safe travels on his journey home to his beloved New Hampshire and on the road ahead."

Mr. Obama pledged to replace Souter with "somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity." The president has a start date in mind for that hypothetical justice: He stated that he wants Souter's replacement seated by the first Monday in October.

Mr. Obama had only kind words for Souter, praising him for having a fair-minded and independent approach to the law.

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Last Monday, President Obama welcomed the undefeated University of Connecticut women's basketball to the White House. At a ceremony in the team's honor, the president paid tribute to the national champion's extraordinary season and accepted a Huskies jersey with his name on the back.

Then it was on to the presidential half court for a quick shoot around, during which Mr. Obama apparently outshot the 39-0 team. At least it sure seems that way: Today the White House released video which depicts a fine performance by the president.

"He only missed one shot out of five shots. In 20 years, I'll remember that I could not make one jump shot at the White House. My clothes hindered me. I couldn't extend my arms," point guard Renee Montgomery told the Hartford Courant.

You can watch video of the shoot around below:

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Following a meeting with his Cabinet today, President Barack Obama refused to address reports that Supreme Court Justice David Souter will step down from the bench in June.

"No Supreme Court questions," Mr. Obama said as reporters pressed him to comment on Souter's rumored departure, according to a pool report. "Have a great weekend, guys."

The president did take time to discuss the H1N1 virus (popularly known as "swine flu"), saying that there is a possibility that a more virulent strain could develop during next flu season. He labeled the current situation "cause for concern but not alarm."

"We are essentially ensuring that, in the worst case scenario, we can manage this appropriately, government working with businesses and individuals, the private sector, and containing an outbreak and that we can, ultimately, get through this," Mr. Obama said.

While pledging vigilance, he also praised his administration's response to the outbreak.

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Vice President Joe Biden may represent a bigger threat to the transportation industry than a double billing of "Alive," a 1993 movie about a plane crash that forces Uruguayan Rugby players to resort to cannibalism, and "Speed," the 1994 flick that had Keanu Reeves racing to diffuse a bomb on a Los Angeles bus.

Transportation officials around the country found themselves scrambling this week to reassure worried commuters in the wake of Biden's controversial comments Thursday on NBC's "Today Show" that he has told loved ones to avoid subways and planes. Appearing on the morning program, Biden said, "I would tell members of my family - and I have - that I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now."

The airplane industry and the people responsible for running the country's network of buses and trains were not, to say the least, amused by Biden's impolitic advice.

"Of course, people should practice good personal hygiene habits and stay at home if they are sick as [President Obama] advised, but life must go on," Paul Flaningan, spokesman for Southwest Airlines Co. said, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. "Air travel has a vital role in our economy, which could use all the help it can get."

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Unwilling to rely exclusively on RNC chairman Michael Steele's promise to transform the Republican Party into one that reaches "hip hop" voters, a group of GOP bigwigs are starting their own group aimed at bolstering the conservative movement.

Senator John McCain, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Governor Mitt Romney, Representative Eric Cantor, and Governor Bobby Jindal are among the Republican heavyweights involved in the launch of the newly created National Council for New America (NCNA). The NCNA sent out a letter from Rep. Cantor's office outlining its mission earlier today and will make a kickoff announcement later this afternoon, the Washington Post reports.

According to the letter, the group will organize a series of town halls and online forums involving average Americans and Republican leaders. The NCNA hopes that these grassroots efforts will spark an ongoing dialogue about the direction of the country. The announcement letter contains a policy blueprint that eschews social issues such as abortion and gay marriage in favor of developing solutions to issues like health care, energy, and education.

"While we will be guided by our principles of freedom and security, we will seek to include more than just our ideas," the group's letter says. "This forum will include a wide open policy debate that every American can feel free to participate in. We do this not just to offer an alternative point of view or to be disagreeable. Instead, we want to ask the American people what their hopes and dreams are."

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