April D. Ryan

 WASHINGTON - Gen. Stanley McChrystal, fired from his job as commander of the Afghanistan war after more than three decades in the Army, will be allowed to retire at the rank of four stars. 

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the White House will do what it can to ensure McChrystal keeps that rank. McChrystal had been a four-star general for just over a year when President Barack Obama demanded his resignation as Afghan war commander because of scornful remarks made to Rolling Stone magazine.

 
Under Army rules, McChrystal would have had to serve three years as a four-star officer to retain that rank, with its higher prestige and deeper retirement benefits.

 
The Army has been 55-year-old McChrystal’s only career. He is being replaced by Gen. David Petraeus, who was his boss at U.S. Central Command.

 
At his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Petraeus used his opening remarks to pay tribute to his former colleague. Petraeus said McChrystal’s leadership has contributed directly to the success in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We now see some areas of progress amidst the tough fight ongoing in Afghanistan,” Petraeus said. “Considerable credit for that must go to Stan McChrystal.”

Some Republicans at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan are raising questions about her work as a clerk for the late Justice Thurgood Marshall.    Arizona’s Jon Kyl said he wouldn’t consider Marshall’s judicial philosophy as being part of the “mainstream.” Marshall was a civil rights attorney and became the court’s first black justice.

Kagan is an admirer of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, but Kagan tells senators that she’d think and act for herself, rather than trying to emulate the man she once clerked for. She adds that she thinks Marshall’s life was about “seeing the court take seriously claims that were not taken seriously anywhere else.”

This is not the first time Kagan has answered Senators inquires on her record.   The Supreme Court nominee submitted written answers to questions to the Senate last month.   Her responses were received on May 18, 2010.

The link for the Kagan Senate written question and answers.

http://judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/SupremeCourt/KaganQuestionnaire.cfm

One question she answered was on her work in the Clinton Domestic Policy office and her extensive work on the Hate Crimes Conference, where sexual orientation was added to the categories.

Danielle Gray, of the White House Counsels offices says, Kagan discussed in the questionnaire, her work on criminal justice, this was “President Clinton’s kick off saying we will support legislation that would both strengthen traditional hate crimes enforcement and provide more resources for federal prosecutors to go after these kinds of crimes and that would add sexual orientation to the categories.”

Another big area of her response was the criminal justice area. Gray says, “It is not true that she [Kagan] recommended President Clinton do nothing on the crack cocaine and powder cocaine disparity.   Gray contends, “she was supportive” of moving the disparity to “10 to one.” Gray believes Kagan was forward thinking as the sentencing rate now stands at 18 to one from the previous 100 to 1 sentencing disparity ratio.

The National Urban League and the NAACP are among the civil rights groups endorsing Kagan to become the next United States Supreme Court Justice.

A quick visit from the vice president!
By: Julie Mason
Examiner White House Correspondent
06/17/10

Look who stopped by the briefing room today!

 
Vice President Joe Biden made a rare appearance at the daily briefing, coming to share with us the details of “Recovery Summer,” which will usher in the biggest frenzy of stimulus spending to date.

 
Mostly, he just seemed kind of happy to be here.

 
“I’m glad to see the deference to the vice president’s office,” he said (ap)

 
He touted the benefits of the Recovery Act, at great length, and joked about how in our spare time we no doubt peruse Recovery.gov to check on the status of stimulus spending. There was also some paper:

 
Government handout!

 
President Obama on Friday travels to Columbus, Ohio, to observe the groundbreaking of the 10,000th Recovery Act road project.

 
Biden said the Recovery Act is not the “boondoggle” critics were calling it for awhile.

 
“You know, again, I’ve been around a long time in public life. I was a senator for six full terms. And I tell you, people back home know whether or not the guys in the corner with the hard hat putting in a crosswalk or building a four-lane highway — whether or not they’re working. They understand there’s activity. They know whether or not it’s real,” he said.

 
“And there’s a lot of real, positive things happening in people’s communities that are improving their quality of life. And these road projects are among them.”

 
Then April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks asked about Joe Barton, and Biden laughed, covered his face, tapped the microphone, glanced at Gibbs and chuckled.

BIDEN: Well since you know I never say what’s on my mind…

 
(LAUGHTER)

… I probably shouldn’t comment on Mr. Barton’s comments.

A general groan of pleading and protest persuaded Biden to chance it. Turning to Gibbs he said, “They’re encouraging me. What can I say?”

 
Gibbs stands by with the hook, just in case (ap photo)

 
Biden called Barton’s remarks, “insenstive, incredibly out of touch” and “outrageous.”

 
“And to sit there and say that we’re being, in effect, as I understood the statement, that he was ashamed we’re being tough on an oil company who caused the problem, I mean, I — I — I — look, I just think that it’s pretty important to the people of Louisiana all the way through Florida and even in his home state of Texas that people disassociate themselves from that. That’s not the role. There’s no shakedown. It’s insisting on responsible conduct and a responsible response to something they caused,”" Biden said.

 
He said a bunch more — he was very animated.

 
“I find it pretty astounding,” he concluded.

 
Oh, God love ya!

Statement by the Press Secretary on Congressman Joe Barton’s Apology to BP

“What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction. Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a ‘tragedy’, but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments.”

 
POLITICO
W.H. downplays ’small people’
By: Glenn Thrush
June 16, 2010

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs thinks “small people” is no big deal.

That sentiment isn’t shared by many people in the Gulf.

After one of the few good news days for the administration since the start of the Deepwater Horizon spill, BP board chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, a native Swede, blundered into the minefield of American populism.

Approaching the microphones after suspending his company’s dividend to fund a $20 million escrow account for those hurt by the spill, remarked that both President Obama and BP executives were motivated by the trevails of “small people” in the Gulf.

During the daily press briefing, April Ryan of American Urban Radio asked Gibbs to comment on the statement.

Gibbs, with an assist from Obama environmental adviser Carol Browner, said that Obama was motivated by his encounters with people in the Gulf and intent on doing right by them. But Ryan pressed on, asking Gibbs if Svanberg had used the “wrong terminology” - and Gibbs finally conceded “I assume so, yes.”

But residents in the Gulf, surveyed by the Associated Press, were considerably less forgiving:

“We’re not small people. We’re human beings. They’re no greater than us. We don’t bow down to them. We don’t pray to them,” said New Orlans resident Justin Taffinder.

Retiree Terry Hanners, who lives in Gulf Shores, Ala., said the remark revealed something about BP’s view of the spill’s victims.

“These BP people I’ve met are good folks. I’ve got a good rapport with them,” said Hanners, 74. “But BP does not care about us. They are so far above us. We are the nickel-and-dime folks of this world.”

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with BP executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, June 16, 2010, to discuss the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Pictured, from left, are BP CEO Tony Hayward, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP General Counsel Rupert Bondy, BP Managing Director Robert Dudley, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. (Official White House Photo by Pete Sousa

Mandela’s grand daughter attended one of Johannesburg’s most prestigious high schools, St Stithians. She was part of the school’s choir and was known to participate in other activitiess as well.

Nelson Mandela hugs his great-granddaughter Zenani, in 2008.

President Obama will step into a meeting with administration officials and the Chairman of the BP Board next week.   Presidential Spokesman Robert Gibbs says, “I don’t doubt that a meeting would involve the discussion of the capabilities for hydrocarbon capture and burning at the site of the well; what’s being done to clean up oil that has leaked; what’s being done to deal with damages specifically to precious natural resources.”

Van Jones of the Center for American Progress, and former Obama Green Jobs Czar says an issue that must be tackled, the toxic dispersants.

In May, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered BP to select a less toxic solution after more than 800 thousand gallons had been already used on oil released from the spill. 

The underwater gusher continues the spew oil.  The estimates range anywhere between two and ten times that of the Exxon Valdez 20 years ago in Alaska. This oil spill is considered the worst environmental disaster in United States history.

President Obama is engaging with the people on the ground affected by the BP underwater oil gusher to figure out whose “Ass to Kick”.   Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary explains the asses the President is kicking are some in the government and at British Petroleum.   The oil spill in the Gulf Coast is the worst environmental disaster in United States history. The impact is anticipated to be far reaching, with worsening affects on the environment and the economy lasting years and maybe decades.   President Obama hosts daily meetings on efforts to plug the hole five thousand feet under water. The daily assessments of efforts to end the oil gusher has not lead the President to pick up the phone and call BP head Tony Hayward.    Gibbs at the daily briefing conveyed it is not that simple for the two men to communicate on the disaster, “That’s just, as you understand the corporate governance structure, again, the CEO plays a role but the way their board is devised, the chairman of the board and the board okay what happens by the CEO.”

When asked if there were regrets for the President’s “ass kicking language” Gibbs said “no.“

Q It was striking earlier in this briefing that the reporters here, always known for their decorum, were not comfortable using the same word the President used. Any second thoughts on his choice of language? And is that appropriate language for a President?

 
MR. GIBBS: I just want the transcript to reflect that Ed was a little nervous about this. Jake, not so much. (Laughter.) Just so that the — no, I’ve not heard any regrets about the language.

 
Q Any complaints on the complaint line?

 
MR. GIBBS: I missed my hour, so I don’t — (laughter.) I thought that’s what was I doing here. (Laughter.)

The dean of the White House Press Corps, 89 year old Helen Thomas has resigned amid pressure over comments outside the White House gates.  The words came after the last East Room Press Conference with President Obama.

The White House was drawn into the Helen Thomas Controversy during a briefing on the BP oil spill Monday. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about the issue.

The statements by Thomas that sparked the controversy.

Helen Thomas has retired from White House reporting and from being a Hearst columnist. She has covered 10 presidents in her over 40 years of White House journalism.   Helen made her name as a ground breaking journalist for United Press International.  She became a columnist about a decade ago when UPI changed owners.

April Ryan, American Urban Radio, tells POLITICO that she doesn’t support Thomas’ comments but recognizes her historic legacy:

 
Historically, Helen helped with opening the door for many of the reporters at the White House. She was one of the forces back then who got President Kennedy to sit out the Correspondents Dinner because women were not able to come. Kennedy did go to the dinner once women were allowed. Once that happened the dinner and other parts of the white male dominated press corp were eventually opened up to women and other minority reporters.