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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

H.R. 3, Wide-Sweeping Anti-Abortion Bill, Facing House Vote (UPDATED)


Boehner
First Posted: 05/ 4/11 11:43 AM ET Updated: 05/ 4/11 05:31 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A closer look at a House billmarketed to the public as a "common-sense" ban on taxpayer-funded abortions reveals an aggressive, multi-pronged effort to restrict insurance coverage for and reduce access to abortion.
H.R. 3, also known as the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act," would go beyond making the Hyde Amendment, which has already banned federally-funded abortions for the past 30 years, a permanent federal law. The legislation, sponsored by Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), would also enact strict procedural requirements for private insurance companies that cover abortions and deny tax credits to small businesses that purchase health insurance plans offering abortion coverage. Eight-seven percent of private insurance plans currently include such coverage.
Further, H.R. 3 would eliminate privately funded insurance coverage for abortion in the state-based exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act. The policy team at NARAL Pro-Choice America estimates that 13.5 million women who receive health coverage through Medicaid and other government-sponsored programs would permanently lose access to abortion coverage if the measure, facing a floor vote Wednesday, passes.
Some of the more extreme ramifications of the bill, which have attracted a great deal of negative media attention since its introduction in January, include a provision that could subject victims of rape and incest to abortion audits by the IRS. Mother Jones reported in March that H.R. 3 could turn IRS agents into "abortion cops" tasked with determining whether a woman used any kind of tax benefit to pay for a procedure not precipitated by rape or incest.
Marcus Owens, a former longtime IRS official, told Mother Jones that if a woman received a tax credit for medical costs related to abortion, "on audit [she] would have to demonstrate or prove, ideally by contemporaneous written documentation, that it was incest, or rape, or [her] life was in danger. It would be fairly intrusive for the woman."
H.R. 3 has achieved further notoriety through its attempt to narrow the definition of "rape" as it relates to abortion. Lawmakers pulled language from the original measure that allowed federal funding for abortions only in the case of "forcible rape" after drawing widespread public criticism, but Mother Jones reported on Tuesday that House Republicans are using a backdoor legislative maneuver to ensure the bill achieves the same effect.
The bill's sponsors, co-sponsors and supporters have remained mum on H.R. 3's more controversial aspects. When asked about the abortion audits and "forcible rape" exception, Boehner spokesperson Michael Steel said only, “The American people overwhelmingly oppose using their tax dollars to pay for abortions," and referred any questions about details to Chris Smith's office.
But Smith's office did not return any calls for comment about the bill in general or the audit issue, nor did co-sponsors Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), or Heath Shuler (D-N.C.). The socially conservative Family Research Council, which has launched radio ads in six Congressional districts pushing the legislation, also ignored multiple calls for comment, as did the National Right To Life committee.
"It's an easy line to throw out right? 'No taxpayer funding for abortion.' But clearly that isn't what this is about," said Vania Leveille, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. "It's about preventing women from accessing abortion, a constitutionally protected right and a legal medical procedure."
Donna Crane, the policy director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the radio silence surrounding the bill is a smart political tactic, considering it already has enough support in the House to easily pass.
"I wouldn't talk about this bill either if I had written it," Crane said. "I think that they have the votes to pass this bill, and they know it, but it's not popular and it has a lot of liabilities, and they know that, too."
"That statement about 'no taxpayer funding' is a complete nonsequitur," she added. "Public funding sadly is not available for women today for abortion care, period. No piece of legislation could make it more banned than it already is."
The bill has 227 co-sponsors and is expected to pass easily in the House on Wednesday, but President Barack Obama would not likely sign it into law if it passed in the Senate.
“The administration strongly opposes H.R. 3 because it: intrudes on women's reproductive freedom and access to health care; increases the tax burden on many Americans; unnecessarily restricts the private insurance choices that consumers have today; and restricts the District of Columbia’s use of local funds, which undermines home rule,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.
"If the president is presented with H.R. 3, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill.”
UPDATE (5:30 p.m. EST): H.R. 3 passed the House 251-175.
“Members of Congress who supported this egregious assault on women will hear from outraged Americans through phone calls, protests, petitions, and most importantly, at the ballot box in 2012,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “As this legislation moves to the Senate, we also will mobilize our members to urge their senators to stop this bill in its tracks.”
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House Will Vote on Two American Energy Initiative Bills This Week


Posted Wed, 05/04/2011 - 13:02 
in Energy & Environment
by Kevin Boland
This week, the House is scheduled to consider two American Energy Initiative bills that will begin to address skyrocketing gas prices and help the economy get back to creating jobs by increasing U.S. energy production.  The New York Times has the details: 
“The House leadership has scheduled votes for Thursday on a pair of bills that would spur more offshore oil and gas exploration and expedite the permitting process. Top Republicans see those measures as reinforcing their argument that Democrats and the Obama administration are partly responsible for rising prices at the pump because they have stifled domestic production.”
While House Republicans work to unlock our vast energy resources, the Democrats who run Washington continue pressing their job-crushing energy moratorium.  Gas prices have been rising for two months and hitting new highs while economic experts fear that the price pinch could weaken our frail economy.  Here’s a few recent headlines: 
  • FEDERAL GOV’T SLOWS AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION TO A “TRICKLE”: “But the 10 new wells that have received permits from the newly created U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management so far this year pale in comparison to the rate of permitting in prior years, according to a Reuters analysis of permits. The pace of government-issued permits so far in 2011 is about a third the rate for the same period in each of the previous five years, 40 versus an average of 119 in 2006 through 2010”
  • PRESIDENT OBAMA PROMOTES DRILLING IN BRAZIL, BUT NOT AMERICA: “Instead of drilling here, the Obama Administration is promoting offshore oil production in Brazil…It seems that Mr. Obama's administration will go to lengths to obtain oil supplies from everywhere but the United States and Canada.
  • MEANWHILE, RISING PRICES THREATEN THE ECONOMY, JOB CREATION: “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday that a prolonged rise in oil prices would pose a danger to the U.S. economy.” 
Americans are worried that a gallon of regular gas will cost $5 by July, according to a survey out yesterday byRasmussen Reports, and an ABC News-Washington Post survey found that seven in 10 say they are already suffering “financial hardship” due to skyrocketing gas prices.  A recent CNN survey shows “[s]even in 10 support increased offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.”
While this week’s legislation is an important step forward in addressing the rising price of gas, it is only a start.   House Republicans will take action on several other proposals in the coming weeks that will help unlock our energy resources to provide relief at the pump and help create jobs.
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When We Make It In America, America’s Families Will Make It To

Make It In America press conference is underway.


Manufacturing Matters: Let’s Make it in America  




Hoyer Remarks at "Make It In America" Press Conference

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) held a press conference today with House Democrats to unveil the Make It In America agenda. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
"Through the centuries, Americans and people around the world have seen America as the land of opportunity—a place where they and their families could 'make it.' Today, Democrats are presenting an agenda that focuses on that dream and seeks to make it real for all Americans, an agenda for the 112th Congress—a job-creating agenda, which we’ve worked hard to develop.
"The Make It In America agenda is about investing in this country’s proud tradition of making things. Make It In America means creating the conditions for companies to make products here, innovate here, and hire workers here—and the conditions for America to have the best-trained workforce in the world. This agenda is founded on the conviction that when we make more products in America, more families will be able to Make It In America, as well. This agenda helps us create jobs by empowering the job-creators. It does so while remaining vigilant about our budget. It dovetails with the Senate’s agenda, and we believe it is the way to realize President Obama's goal to win the future.
"Today we’re announcing a cross-section of bills from the agenda for this Congress. These bills support job creation by encouraging businesses to make products and innovate in the U.S., strengthening our infrastructure, supporting small businesses, increasing competitiveness, encouraging innovation and invention, and making investments in key areas like education and energy independence.
"Because education is crucial to our economic success, today I’m introducing the Job Opportunities Between our Shores Act to build stronger job-training partnerships for advanced manufacturing, linking growing manufacturers with community and technical colleges.
"There’s nothing partisan about the Make It In America agenda. It has won the support of business and labor leaders alike, and many of the last Congress’s Make It In America bills passed with bipartisan support. All Americans have a common interest in out-educating, out-innovating, and out-building our competitors, so that America can win the future."

 
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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama

Oprah.com   |   May 02, 2011
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama
It's a monumental moment in our 25-year history—the first and the last time this will ever happen: A sitting president and first lady appear together on The Oprah Show.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama took a break from politics as usual to return to the city they call home and sit down for a landmark interview.

"Air Force One has landed in Chicago!" Oprah says. "I am so honored that in these remaining days of The Oprah Show, they chose to be here."

"We're thrilled to be here," President Obama says. "It's always nice to find an excuse to come home."

President and Mrs. Obama and their two daughters, 9-year-old Sasha and 12-year-old Malia, may live in the most famous house in America—the White House—but they still call Chicago home. "[It's the] greatest city in the world," the president says.

President and Mrs. Obama with Oprah
Mere hours before President and Mrs. Obama sat down with Oprah, the White House releasedPresident Obama's original, long-form birth certificate proving that, despite conspiracy theories and rumors to the contrary, he was indeed born in the United States.

President Obama reveals what he thought when the birth certificate matter first came up two years ago  

Why release the birth certificate now?

"Two weeks ago, a huge debate was initiated around where our budget needs to go," the president explains. "During the course of this major debate, where I gave a big speech and the Republicans voted on their proposal, the biggest news was this birth certificate thing."

At that point, President Obama told his team that even though it's not something the state of Hawaii usually does and, despite the fact that both Republican and Democratic officials had confirmed Hawaii as his birthplace, it was time to put in a special request for the original document to be released. Now, he hopes the country and the media can focus on more pressing issues.

"My general point is this: We are living in a very serious time, and America has huge potential and opportunity to seize the 21st century," President Obama says. "We're only going to get there, though, if we have a serious conversation about the things that matter to people—jobs and gas prices, and how do we bring down the deficit? How do we deal with all the changes going on around the world? We can't be distracted by sideshows and, as I said at my press conference, carnival barkers who are going around trying to get attention."

President Obama
The president says that part of the reason why there are often "sideshows" and similar distractions in politics is because the line between politics and entertainment has been blurred. 

President Obama: Reality TV is seeping into how we think about our politics. When I am reading letters at night about families who are at risk of losing their homes, or describing what it's like when you send out 16 résumés and you're not getting a response back, and you're trying to figure out how to pay your bills, it's not reality TV. That's real. And that's what we have to spend some time about.

Oprah: During the civil rights movement, there was this wonderful documentary called Eyes on the Prize. We talked often about keeping our eyes on the prize. Do you think that the American people have lost a sense of what the prize is and, therefore, lost our focus?

President Obama: I don't think that the American people have lost their sense of what the prize is. But in terms of our collective political conversation, I think we get distracted all the time.

Mrs. Obama: The thing that I always loved about my husband is that he's always been the person that can keep his eye on the prize in the midst of some craziness. And I think that's what makes him a special leader. ... Those are the decisions that he's been making every single day. 

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
With the president's lengthy to-do list of domestic initiatives and international responsibilities, Oprah asks him how he manages everything that's on his plate. The president says it's important to remember that he doesn't do it alone. "There are a bunch of people in our government who are every day thinking, 'How do we do a good job on behalf of our customers, the American people?'," he says. "That inspires me." 

President Obama also says he tries to focus on long-term targets while implementing short-term solutions—and addressing immediate issues such as high gas prices. 

President Obama: Right now, gas prices are on everybody's mind. Now that's a short-term problem for ordinary families.

Oprah: $4.59 [per gallon]!

President Obama: Unbelievable. ... There are families across the country who have to drive 50 miles to get to their job, and they just see that money bleeding away from them. So, this is a good example of where we have to think short-term: How can we provide folks [with] immediate relief? But what I also have to think about is long term. How do we make sure that we start investing in electric cars? If China is able to build high-speed rail, why can't we?

Oprah: Why can't we? Is it is the way we think about it? Do we need to change the way we think about it?

President Obama: Countries are like people: We get into habits. Remember, our slogan was "Change we can believe in." Everybody liked that slogan. [But] it turns out, change is a little harder than people maybe anticipated. 

Oprah: People liked the idea, but when it comes time to actually do it...

President Obama: It's hard to change some of our habits.

Barack Obama and Oprah
Less than a week before his Oprah Showappearance, President Obama held a town hall meeting hosted by Facebook, answering questions from users of the social networking site. During the town hall, the president said these are the most tumultuous times he's witnessed in his lifetime.

"What do you think defines this as the most tumultuous?" Oprah asks.

"What's happening is that there are these big global changes, and the world is more integrated because of technology—we know what's happening on the other side of the world instantly," he begins.

"And that's a good thing," Oprah says.

"That's a good thing," the President agrees. "But what it also means is that if there is a problem in one place, it can move around the globe very rapidly. So what happens in Libya suddenly affects oil prices here. What happens because of a subprime loan in California can cause Iceland to be bankrupt."

"Have you been disappointed at how difficult it is to get things done?" Oprah asks.

"It can be painful to watch," Mrs. Obama says. "But, Barack was in the Senate for many years, and I think he had a taste for how challenging it is when you work in a democracy—and that's one of the beauties of our country. We have a democracy. ... I always tease people, 'Barack's not a dictator, and that's a good thing.' ... It requires congressional cooperation and a whole range of cooperative actions that make our country great. But it makes the process difficult and slower than I think most people would like."

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama
In early April 2011, President Obama officially announced that he will seek re-election in 2012—a decision the Obamas made together as a family.

"Michelle has always had veto power over these kinds of decisions," the president says.

"I should use it more!" Mrs. Obama jokes.

"Was there ever a doubt that you would [run for re-election]?" Oprah asks.

Mrs. Obama answers, "This is an honor and it's a duty. We take this responsibility very seriously, and if there are things that we can continue to do—and I think this president has a lot more to get done—then we let the American people decide."

As with any election, partisan politics can sometimes distract both voters and nominees from the real issues. Yet, President Obama says he hopes for a respectful race in 2012. "What I want to do is make sure that it doesn't get personal and that the focus is where the focus should be, which is how to make the lives of the American people better," he says.

The president also says that he believes that improving Americans' lives is the intent of the Republican party as well. What the parties disagree on, he says, is how to do that. "I think it's very important to understand that we can disagree without questioning each other's intentions or patriotism," he says.

"Or citizenship," Mrs. Obama says.

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Oprah
Part of being president and first lady and working to improve the lives of the American people, the Obamas say, is remaining connected to citizens across the United States—something that can be challenging while moving under the watchful eye of the Secret Service. The Obamas say it often feels like they live in a bubble.

"How, when you're living in the bubble, do you remain connected to ordinary people?" Oprah asks.

"There are a couple of things," the president says. "I get letters from constituents across the country every night, and I make sure to read them, and I respond to as many as I can. The stories folks tell are just incredibly powerful."

"The other thing that's important is that we get out," Mrs. Obama says. "For me, I've tried to really get out in my new community—Washington, D.C. I always tell my staff that I want to sit down with people. When I'm at a military facility, I don't want to just tour and get a [photograph]. I want to sit down off camera, talk to women, talk to our service members. Those conversations help fuel you."

President Obama with his daughters, Sasha and Malia
While being the president and first lady comes with plenty of benefits, the first family has had to make some sacrifices as well. "There's no doubt that the toughest thing about the job is that you can't do anything outside the White House grounds that is spontaneous," President Obama says. "You can't get in the car and go for a drive. You can't drive. You can't take a walk. ... The single thing that I miss most is I used to be able to take Sasha and Malia over to the park and swing them on a swing and decide afterwards we might go get some ice cream or stop by a book store, and those kind of moments that are so precious. You forget how precious they are until you can't do them anymore." 

President Obama says he did take his daughters trick-or-treating back when he was still running for president.

"I hadn't won the nomination yet, but I wore a mask and nobody knew who I was. It was a lot of fun," he says. "Every once in a while, I'd take the mask off and go 'boo!' to the kids."

The Obama family
The Obamas have been married for 18 years, and they say they've learned a lot during their years together. "It has to be a true partnership, and you have to really, really like and respect the person that you're married to because it's a hard road," Mrs. Obama says. "There are highs and lows. But if, in the end, you can look him in the eye and say, 'I like you' ... I stopped believing in love at first sight. I think you go through that wonderful love stage, but when it gets hard, you need a little bit more." 

President Obama says his wife and two daughters are the people who make it possible for him to deal with the pressures of being president.

Watch the Obamas share their favorite family moments since moving into the White House  

"When I come home, no matter what I'm dealing with, I know that I've got people there who not only do I love, but whose company I just enjoy and who will bring me down to the level of basic humanity and humor. They will knock you down a peg and make sure that I'm not taking myself too seriously, even if I'm taking the work seriously," he says. "Not only has [Mrs. Obama] been a great first lady, but she is just my rock, and I count on her in so many ways every single day." 

The Obama family
It can be hard to imagine that someone you know could be the president of the United States, and Mrs. Obama says the magnitude of the position isn't lost on her. "I think growing up like we did, no matter what your parents told you, we never thought you could be president. No, no way," she says. "It was up until election night that I was like, 'Really? You actually pulled this off?'"

Now, Mrs. Obama says millions of children who see themselves in President Obama will dream a little bigger. "[That's] one of the beautiful things that we will get from this presidency," she says.

Still, Mrs. Obama says she never wondered if her husband could do the job. "I knew he was ready for this," she says. 

Watch Mrs. Obama talk about how she thinks her husband is doing as president  

President Barack Obama
On top of his many duties as leader of the free world, President Obama has taken on a second job since moving to Washington, D.C.: basketball coach. "I was a consultant and assistant basketball coach to Sasha's team this year," he says. "Reggie Love, who played at Duke, my assistant, we decided to have some clinics for the girls, and so every Sunday we would bring Sasha and her teammates—Joe Biden's granddaughter Maisy is a terrific basketball player—we'd bring them together, and we'd have these clinics and these drills."

On a few occasions, when the regular coaches couldn't make it to a game, Reggie and President Obama filled in as coaches. "Oh, it was nerve-wracking," the president says. 

The Obamas say they try to give their daughters as "normal" an upbringing as possible for children living in the White House. Given Sasha and Malia's level of privilege, Mrs. Obama says she tries to instill a sense of responsibility in her daughters.

"You go back to the basics. I hear my parents and his mom's voices ringing in our heads. 'Turn off the TV. You have chores to do in this house.' You have to get creative in the White House giving kids chores, because they don't understand. 'Why do I have to make my bed?'” Mrs. Obama says. "When you're in that situation, we have real discussions about responsibility and, you know, not taking anything for granted and not having a bunch of grown-ups doing stuff for you when you're completely capable of doing it yourself."

One of Malia's new chores, Mrs. Obama says, is going to be doing laundry. "Grandma still does her own laundry at the White House so she's going to be in charge of laundry duty," she says. "[Malia] has to learn how to do that. I don't want her to be 15, 16 and be that kid: 'I've never done laundry before.' I would cringe if she became that kid." 

President Barack Obama
If he is elected to a second term, President Obama says he hopes to leave a legacy that inspires hope in Americans. 

Watch President Obama discuss what he hopes his legacy will be 

"I think this is the greatest country on earth, but I want everybody to feel in their own lives, day to day, that opportunity is right there in front of them," he says.

Getting that message out there can be difficult in a divisive capital. "Our politics are too splintered. It trivializes important issues," President Obama says. "I have not been able to change Washington's tone as much as I wanted. I thought I could, and probably was overly optimistic. I still think I can—it just takes more time." 

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Oprah
Especially amid divisive politics and the often turbulent tone of Washington, holding the office of the President calls for having thick skin—there will always be detractors throwing stones. President Obama credits his upbringing for his calm, even temperament.

"I had a lot of changes when I was young. You know, father not in the home, moving around quite a bit, oftentimes being an outsider in a place where there weren't a lot of African-Americans, or having an unusual name," he says. "Some of it, though, I also think just has to do with the fact that as I get older, it's easier to keep things in perspective."

For the rest of his term, President Obama says he hopes to better communicate his vision for the country with the citizens. "I think that in the first two years we were so busy just trying to solve problems that sometimes I forgot that part of leadership is being able to tell a story about where we're going and what we're doing," he says. "We did that very well during the campaign. We projected a vision of where America needs to go, and then we got into the governance of it. ... Sometimes we forgot to be in a conversation with the American people where we said, 'You know, this is why we're doing it. This is where we need to go.'" 

While President and Mrs. Obama have changed the country in innumerable ways, President Obama says that over 25 seasons, Oprah has too. "You've got a big heart, and you share it with people. Nobody knows how to connect better than you do," he says. "We are just blessed and grateful to have you in our lives."
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Day 3: Breaking News about Osama bin Laden’s Death



Previously unseen pictures taken just an hour after the U.S. stormed bin Laden's lair have been released, showing bloody rooms and two unidentified bodies. 
Plus, the latest news updates below and full coverage of Osama bin Laden’s death.
Shocking New Raid Photos
While the world may never see the dead body of Osama bin Laden, more shocking photos of the raid on his compound have been released. Reuters got hold of photos taken by a Pakistani security official reportedly only an hour after the U.S. stormed bin Laden's lair. They show a downed helicopter, shots of rooms strewn with blood, and most shockingly, the gory bodies of two unidentified men. Warning: the photos are very graphic.
Photos: Shocking New Images From the Raid
HP Main - Osama bin Laden New Photos Released
AP Photo; Reuters (2)
Navy SEALs to Be Honored In Secret
The elusive Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden is likely to be honored—fittingly—in secret. The Navy has not yet confirmed that the SEALs carried out the mission, but Rear Adm. Edward Winters sent an email congratulating his forces and reminding them to keep quiet. In order to honor the SEALs involved, the Navy will have to figure out who did what, and then write a letter outlining their achievements. Then the immediate commanding officer will present the honors to the team. The entire process could take many months. As the mission went almost perfectly, the soldiers involved will receive the military’s highest honors. However, those involved will not be eligible to receive the $25 million reward for hunting down bin Laden, because they are military personnel.
Photos: Navy SEALs
Article - Navy Seals GALLERY LAUNCH
Obama Won’t Release bin Laden Photos

The public won’t see pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden after all. Just a day after CIA Director Leon Panetta said the photos would be released, President Obama told60 Minutes that he has decided not to do so. "It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head... as an incitement to additional violence as a propaganda tool," Obama said. "That's not who we are... We don't trot out this stuff as trophies." The president also said bin Laden was "deserving of the justice that he received" and that Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton agreed with him not to release the photos. Several politicians who have seen the photos—including Rep. Mike Rogers and Sen. Scott Brown—said they should not be released. But others have demanded they be shown in order to put to rest any doubts that bin Laden had really been killed.
Found on Osama’s Nightstand

New photographs of the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden was killed show blood on the floor in the room where he presumably died. One of the photos obtained byABC News shows a stock of medicines from the house, including petroleum jelly, antiseptic, nasal spray, and eye drops. In the pantry, two cartons of eggs still remain untouched. The backyard of the house contains several jugs of cooking oil.

Osama Had Cash Sewn Into Clothes

Good thing no one tipped him off. Osama bin Laden had 500 Euros in cash and two telephone numbers sewn into his clothing when he was killed, signs he was ready to flee the compound at a moment's notice, Politico reports. The details were told to members of Congress at a classified intelligence briefing on Tuesday. CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers about the cash and contacts in response to a question about why the al Qaeda leader wasn't more heavily guarded. One source at the meetings says it was because bin Laden believed “his network was strong enough he'd get a heads-up” before any U.S. strike against him.
Bin Laden House Worth ‘Far Less’ Than $1M
It was one of the most embarrassing details about the Osama bin Laden raid: the supposedly ascetic bin Laden was hiding out not in a cave but in a million-dollar mansion. But local real-estate experts say that figure was wildly exaggerated. Instead, the somewhat ramshackle property is worth no more than $250,000, they say. "No swimming pool. This is not a posh area. We call it a middling area,” Abbottabad property dealer Muhammad Anwar said. Regardless, the damage done to the compound during Monday’s raid can’t have been good for the property value.
Bin Laden's Young Wife Identified
By the time Osama bin Laden was killed, he was down to only one of his five wives: Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah, the youngest and his rumored favorite. By the time he moved into his Pakistan mansion, bin Laden had divorced one of his wives and three others had moved to Syria, according to ABC News, but Amal had remained with him. She had been given to him as a gift when she was still a teenager, and eventually had three children with bin Laden—a daughter and two sons, who lived with them in the compound.
On the night of the raid, Amal was in the bedroom with bin Laden, and apparently reacted with fury to the Navy SEALs who had come to kill her husband. "She rushed one of the U.S. assaulters and was shot in the leg, but not killed," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Bush Won't Join Obama at Ground Zero
Former President George W. Bush has declined President Obama’s invitation to jointly visit Ground Zero on Thursday. “President Bush will not be in attendance on Thursday,” his spokesman told The New York Times. “He appreciated the invite, but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight. He continues to celebrate with Americans this important victory in the war on terror.” MSNBC said Bush plans to mark the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attack at Ground Zero in September. Obama will visit the site of the World Trade Center on Thursday for the first time as president. He will meet with family members of 9/11 victims. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that it’s “terribly important” for Obama to come to Ground Zero again on 10-year anniversary of the attack, and said Obama’s staff said the president is making the trip, but the White House did not confirm Bloomberg’s statements.
Article - Osama Wrap Day ThreeAP Photo (2)
U.S., Pakistan Try to Ease Tensions
The White House reiterated its commitment to Pakistan on Tuesday, as lawmakers said Congress will review and potentially suspend $1.5 billion in annual assistance toPakistan if they can't explain how Osama bin Laden hid in plain sight for so long. U.S. officials also wanted an explanation: "Either they're involved or incompetent," said CIA Director Leon Panetta. Pakistan, meanwhile, stepped up its criticism of the U.S. raid. "This event of unauthorized unilateral action cannot be taken as a rule," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The White House is trying to calm domestic outrage over Pakistan's possibly role in hiding bin Laden while at the same time preserving its partnership with Pakistan in fighting al Qaeda and terrorism. Pakistan may be finding itself in a similar situation. Its rebuke of the raid appears aimed at quieting anger among middle-class Pakistanis at what they see as a violation of Pakistan's sovereign space. Frustration from the United States comes after bin Laden was found not in a cave in the border region, but in a heavily fortified compound in the same town as a military academy. Though the compound may not have been as obvious as it now seems: WikiLeaks documents show U.S. troops were stationed yards away in 2008.
57 Million Watched Obama's bin Laden Speech
President Obama got his largest viewership in his presidency so far Sunday night when he announced the death of Osama bin Laden. About 57 million people tuned inat 11:35 p.m. ET Sunday, compared to 52 million who watched his first State of the Union. To put things in perspective, 82 million watched President George W. Bush's address in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Nearly 68 million watched President Bill Clinton admit to the Monica Lewinsky affair in 1998.
Bin Laden's Final Message to His 24 Children
What does the will of a terrorist mastermind say? There are some surprises: Osama bin Laden apologizes to his children for neglecting them and instructs them not to join al Qaeda. The four-page document, published in a Kuwaiti newspaper, is focused on justifying bin Laden’s jihad against American and Israel and there is no mention of possessions. Bin Laden inherited an estimated $30 million fortune from his father. “You, my children, I apologize for giving you so little of my time because I responded to the need for jihad,” the will states. As justification for not having them join al Qaeda, bin Laden cites an Islamic text that instructs the Prophet Mohammad’s son to not to wage a holy war. As for his wives, they are instructed to “not consider” marrying again and instead focus on raising his children. The Kuwaiti paper says the will dates back to 2001.
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Will Ferrell Revives George W. Bush Impression for bin Laden Announcement Spoof

President Bush Reacts to Osama Bin Laden's Death with Will Ferrell

Barack Obama sent Navy Seal Team 6 to take out Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad and made a statement confirming it on Sunday night. Former President George W. Bush finally responds to who and what has been terrorizing him for years.
Internet meme-makers have been busy following the death of Osama bin Laden. From The Situation Room Meme to fake Twitter accounts, viral comedy bits tied to the news sprouted up quickly. Now Will Ferrell is getting in on the action, reviving his Saturday Night Live George W. Bush impersonation for a Funny or Die sketch that spoofs Bush's reaction the news. Speaking at a Texas Sizzler buffet, bin Laden's death barely registers against the former President's excitement over hunting down a rogue gopher earlier that day:


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50 years ago today, 'Freedom Riders' risked their lives against cowards to smash Jim Crow

WED MAY 04, 2011 AT 06:30 AM PDT


byMeteor Blades



Freedom Rider bus burning outside Anniston, Ala.
 
There were only 13 brave hearts when they climbed onto southbound Greyhound and Trailways buses in Washington, D.C., 50 years ago today. But within a couple of months there were hundreds of them, black and white, riding public buses into the jaws of Southern intransigence. They were jeered, threatened, harassed, beaten, jailed and firebombed. Their courage eventually helped crush that unique brand of American apartheid known as Jim Crow. But on that balmy spring day when they embarked for New Orleans, segregation ruled the land through which they were traveling, a forced and illegal separation backed up with billy clubs, tear gas, fire hoses and the fangs of police dogs and policemen.
The Kennedy brothers urged them not to go, even made it a matter of patriotism, just as they would later discourage the March on Washington in August '63. But that admonition from the nation's highest authorities didn't stop them from challenging some of the lowest authorities, the Klan-backed sheriffs and deputies who would stand smirking as mobs of their drinking buddies attacked them. When the beatings had gone on long enough, they arrested the Freedom Riders and charged them with "breach of peace" and violating various other laws, all of which amounted to what they so charmingly called "race-mixing."
Freedom Rider John Lewis, in a mugshot
after being arrested in 1961, and today,
as Congressman from Georgia's 5th District.
 (From Eric Etheridge's book, Breach of Peace)
 
Freedom Riders. To this day, those two words give me the shivers. The good kind. Three years after they put their lives on the line, I had the great good fortune in Mississippi to become momentarily acquainted with one of them and spend two months being mentored by another in Freedom Summer. The first was John Lewis, then chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and now Congressman from my birth state of Georgia's 5th district. The second was Charly Biggers, eight years older than I and just then finishing a degree at the University of Colorado, where I, too, would graduate in five years.
By 1961 segregated interstate buses had been unconstitutional for 15 years. That was a consequence of the Supreme Court's 7-1 ruling in the case of Irene Morgan v. the Commonwealth of Virginia. Challenged in 1944 to give up her seat on an interstate bus to a white passenger, Irene Morgan refused. A deputy arrived with a warrant. She tore it up and tossed it out the window, saying she had done nothing wrong and had paid the same money as the white passenger. When the deputy grabbed her, she fought back. Another deputy arrived. She scratched and kicked but was eventually subdued, dragged off the bus and charged with resisting arrest and violating Virginia's segregation laws. She was thrown into jail. Her other bailed her out for $500, equal to $6100 today.
She was fined $10. But a 38-year-old attorney named Thurgood Marshall took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. He didn't argue it on due process grounds. Instead, he argued before the justices that Jim Crow laws in this instance violated the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and the Interstate Commerce Act by interfering with transportation crossing state boundaries.
But while the ruling was a landmark in civil rights law, there was no enforcement. A year afterMorgan was decided, in 1947, Bayard Rustin and 17 other activists from the Congress of Racial Equality took the first Freedom Ride. They called it a Journey of Reconciliation. It turned out to be anything but, however, it would inspire new Freedom Riders a decade and a half later. Led by Rustin, mixed pairs of black and white passengers rode in the white sections of Greyhound and Trailways buses. Through Virginia, everything went all right, but in North Carolina the authorities stepped in. There were 12 arrests and Rustin spent 30 days on a chain gang.
In 1955, in Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company, the Interstate Commerce Commission ruled for desegregation and explicitly said passengers could disregard local Jim Crow laws. But the commission refused to enforce its own ruling and the racist scofflaws continued as they always had. In 1960, the Supreme Court added another desegregation brick to the foundation when it reversed a lower court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia and required the desegregation of restaurant facilities that were a integral part of interstate bus terminals. Thurgood Marshall again argued the case. That decision and the ICC's unwillingness to act set the Freedom Riders into motion.
Bayard Rustin would be on board just as he had been 14 years earlier. All the protesters had been trained in non-violent methods of resistance and all were either members of CORE or SNCC. The plan was to travel through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, ending up in New Orleans where there would be a rally. But the bus ride ended well short of its destination. No major incidents occurred in Virginia and there were some arrests and quick releases in North Carolina. But in Rock Hill, S.C., John Lewis was attacked and in Winnsboro, S.C., there were several arrests.
Freedom Ride Map
 
It was in Alabama, however, where segregation's enforcers chose to make their stand. What happened there has been told in great detail over the years by many Freedom Riders and other chroniclers, including James Peck, James Farmer, Taylor Branch and Lewis in his 1998 bookWalking with the Wind, A Memoir of the Movement. David Fankhauser has posted his recollections on line. The following brief summary draws on some of those and other sources, including this excellent timeline:
Organized in advance behind the scenes by a police sergeant and the Birmingham Police Commissioner, Eugene "Bull" Connor—who would become even more infamous two years later—a Klan mob of more than 100 ambushed the Greyhound bus well outside the town of Anniston. They smashed its windows and slashed its tires and chased it to about five miles out of town where its flat tires made it impossible to drive farther.
Some threw a firebomb through a window, setting the bus afire. And the mob held the doors shut as they sought to burn the passengers alive. With the fuel tank in danger of exploding, the Freedom Riders escaped with their lives only because an undercover Alabama Highway Patrol officer who was secretly on the bus drew his pistol and forced the mob to open the doors. The passengers escaped, but outside the bus several were attacked, including Hank Thomas, who was beaten with a baseball bat.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Klansmen had boarded the Trailways bus, and when the black Freedom Riders refused to move to the back seats, they were beaten. White Freedom Riders, like 61-year-old Walter Bergman, were beaten even worse as "race traitors." When the bus pulled into Anniston, the mob boarded and beat the Freedom Riders with clubs. The driver managed to get the bus under way and drove on to Birmingham, but there was no respite there. Bull Connor egged on another mob, and several Freedom Riders were severely injured:
The FBI knows in advance that the two busses are going to be attacked in Anniston and Birmingham, but they do nothing to prevent the violence, do nothing to protect the Riders from assault, do nothing to enforce the Supreme Court ruling. Though they well know who the mob leaders are, they make no arrests. ...
Photos and news reports of the burning bus in Anniston and the mob violence in Birmingham flash around the nation—and around world—to the great embarrassment of President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who calls for a “cooling off period” (meaning that CORE should halt the Freedom Ride). He blames “extremists on both sides” for the violence. Freedom Movement activists are both dumbfounded and outraged.
With one bus burned out and an end to the attacks not in the works, Greyhound and Trailways refused to carry any more Freedom Riders anywhere. Eventually, after delays and bomb threats and another menacing Klan mob seemed certain to keep the Freedom Riders trapped in hostile territory, Atty. Gen. Kennedy manages to get them all on a flight to New Orleans.
Freedom Riders, (left to right): Stokely Carmichael, Margarent Leonard, Kredelle Petway, Paul Green
 
That might have been the end of it. CORE decided that the risk was too great. But SNCC chose to continue. Hundreds of people, black and white, many of them students, but not a few of middle-age, join the Freedom Rides. By summer's end, as many as 450 have taken 60 bus rides across the South. They have encountered violence from mobs and brutality from police every step of the way.
Among them are John Lewis and Hank Thomas. On May 17, just two days after the attacks in Anniston and Birmingham, they and eight others took the bus from Nashville to Birmingham, where they were again met by Bull Connor. He took them to Tennessee and dumped them by the side of the road. They made their way back to Birmingham. Soon their numbers swelled. In a few days, they embarked on another bus, escorted at high speed from Birmingham by the Alabama Highway Patrol, which disappeared at the city limits. Police stationed at the bus terminal also disappeared, and when the Freedom Riders arrived, it was met by yet another mob, this one comprising perhaps 1000 howling racists. More beatings. John Siegenthaler, a Justice Department official sent to observe the Freedom Ride, by Kennedy was beaten unconscious and left in the street. (You can read more here about the attacks and the aftermath.)
In Birmingham, over the next few weeks, there were 328 arrests. With jails overflowing, prisoners were moved to the segregated Parchman State Penitentiary, a Mississippi prison farm, an experience you can read about here. It was a grim situation, with stinging insects, bad food, worse sleeping conditions and hunger strikes. Some Freedom Riders spent more than 30 days there. My friend Charly Biggers was one of them. You can read about my intersection with him during Freedom Summer here.
The prisoners were eventually all released. And under pressure from Atty. Gen. Kennedy and the emboldened civil rights movement that he and his brother had tried to tone down, the ICC agreed to enforce its own rules. In November 1961, those went into effect, forcing the removal of separate restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants and other facilities at interstate bus terminals. It was one more step, but not the last, along the way to dismantling Jim Crow.
Today, it's easy enough for anyone to call the Freedom Riders heroes. But they were not viewed that way in their own time, and not only in the land of Jim Crow. The White House was unhappy with them, among other reasons, because of the image of the underside of America they exposed. Local media were predictably terrible in their depiction of these fighters for justice, but the national press presented them as rabble-rousers who were, a mere 100 years after the Civil War began, pushing things too far too fast. That's always the way oppressed people are viewed, of course, no matter how just their cause, no matter how long they have waited.
Today Hank Thomas, who almost lost his life on that Greyhound bus half a century ago, is a businessman in Stone Mountain, Ga. He spoke with the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Sunday:
A few weeks ago, he had planned to travel to Anniston to meet with Cecil Lewallyn, one of the men charged with firebombing his Greyhound bus. (None of the attackers were ever convicted.) Lewallyn reneged at the last minute when he heard “The Oprah Winfrey Show” wanted to record the meeting.
Said Thomas: “They were cowards then and they are cowards now.”
Indeed. A salute to Hank Thomas, Congressman Lewis, and all the other hundreds of Freedom Riders, and especially to you, Charly Biggers, wherever you are.
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