re: Captain Honors to Be Sacrificed to PC Gods

Obama Flip Flops on Debt Ceiling
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs defended then-Senator Barack Obama's 2006 vote against raising the Debt ceiling on Wednesday - even as he urged current members of Congress not to "play politics" with the issue. Upon casting a vote against raising the Debt ceiling in 2006, Mr. Obama said, in part: "America has a Debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's Debt Limit." Gibbs said at his daily briefing We...

Meet the (Likely) Next White House Press Secretary: Bill Burton
With the announcement Wednesday morning that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will soon be moving on to a role outside the White House, the next big question is: Who will succeed him? There have been a few names kicked around, but the smart money is on Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton , and with the announcement sure to come within days, this is a good time to get to know the man who is likely to take over Gibbs’ podium. To that end, we’ve got some background, plus my own o...

White House Press Secretary Gibbs Announces His Departure
Some major changes are in store for the White House Briefing Room and President Obama’s innermost team. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced his departure to Staffers on Wednesday morning.  The move comes on the president’s first full day in back in the office from his Hawaii holiday Vacation. Rumors brewed for months about an impending Gibbs departure from the White House.  Observers noted the sometimes testy relationship between the press secretary and the m...

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs To Step Down
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has announced he is leaving his post to become an outside advisor to the president during his Reelection campaign. He is expected to end his reign in February. Top contenders to replace him are Deputy Press Secretaries Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, and Vice President Biden’s press secretary, Jay Carney....

White House dismisses health care repeal effort
Press secretary Robert Gibbs made the comments at his briefing Wednesday, the same day Republicans assumed the majority in the House. They plan to vote to Repeal Obama’s signature health overhaul next week. The Repeal is expected to pass the House but not the Senate, which remains under Democratic control. Gibbs says Republicans understand that it is not going to land on Obama’s desk. Gibbs demurred when asked whether Obama would deliver a major Speech defending the law, saying the p...

Gibbs: Healthcare repeal talk 'a bit of huff and puff'
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that talk of Republicans trying to Repeal President Obama's healthcare law is "a bit of huff and puff." Gibbs said flatly that proponents of Repeal are just mouthing off, as there are few if any feasible ways to accomplish Repeal legislatively as long as Democrats control the Senate and Obama is in the White House with the Veto pen. "This is symbolic," Gibbs said. "They understand that this is not going to land on the president's desk." S...

Gibbs On Tenure As Press Secretary: It Was 'Opportunity Of A Lifetime'
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs held his regular press briefing today -- the first since he announced that he will be stepping down. And as such, the subjects of his departure and the overall changes in White House staffing were quite prominent among reporters' questions. "It is -- and you all know this because you do this as well -- it is an honor and a privilege to stand here, to work inside this building, to serve your country, to work for a president that I admire as much as Presi...

Gibbs talks about leaving the White House
Calling his nearly two years as the president's chief spokesman -- as well as his nearly seven years as a close adviser -- an "opportunity of a lifetime," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he would soon be leaving to take on a new role as an outside adviser to the White House. Gibbs said he expects to depart his position at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in early February to become a paid consultant working outside the White House to re-elect President Obama in 2012. "What I'm gonna do nex...

Robert Gibbs Discusses His Departure at White House Briefing, Almost Gets Emotional
On the heels of this morning’s announcement that he will be leaving the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fielded many questions regarding his future, and his possible successor. Gibbs played it characteristically close to the vest, divulging very little in the way of new information, but he spoke about his plans, and at one point, seemed poised to get a little misty when talking about the relationships he has formed during his tenure. Alas, he was spared a Boehner moment by a trad...

Robert Gibbs to leave White House
Chuck Todd writes:White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will leave the White House -- not just his position as press secretary. His official departure will be after the State of the Union. No successor has been named, and that search may be expanded if a new Chief of Staff -- potentially ex-Commerce Secretary Bill Daley -- is named before the end of the week as some administration aides expect. As for Gibbs, he'll continue to work for the president but as an outside consultant, essentially se...

Robert Fibbs to Leave as Press Secretary
Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary and close confidante to President Obama, said Wednesday that he will step down and become an outside political adviser to the president and his re-election campaign. Mr. Gibbs said that he intends to leave in early February. His successor has not yet been decided, he said, but will likely be announced within the next two weeks. Perhaps he is going to be replaced with someone with more credibility? Maybe this guy? Or, this guy?...

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs leaving White House, sort of
Robert Gibbs will leave the post of White House Press Secretary in February. But he will remain an adviser to President Obama, in addition to joining the speaking circuit....

Gibbs To Sign Off as Press Secretary
Wednesday was a big day on Capitol Hill, what with the 112th Congress convening with a Republican at the helm of the House and with the announcement of a significant change in the Obama Administration: Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will leave his post in February. So, what’s next for Obama’s soon-to-be-former talker? It’s a little bit unclear at this point, but in Gibbs’ own carefully chosen words: “What I’m gonna do next is step back a little bit and recharge ...

Obama to lose spokesman as Gibbs steps down
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will step down from the podium next month and take on the role of an outside adviser to President Obama, according to multiple media reports Wednesday morning. Mr. Gibbs, a longtime Obama aide, became familiar t......

Gibbs Leaving the White House
It’s official, though not a surprise: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is stepping down in early February. Gibbs will become a political adviser to the president and his re-election campaign. A successor has yet to be named, but names in the running include Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Vice President Joseph Biden’s Communications Director, Jay Carney. Obama praised Gibbs’ work as his spokesman and close adviser over the past six years. “I think it’...

Robert Gibbs Stepping Down, To Become Outside Advisor To President On Re-Election Campaign
: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will leave the Obama Administration and become an outside political adviser to President Barack Obama and his re-election campaign, the New York Times reported Wednesday. Gibbs said he intends to leave in early February, the newspaper reported. The White House confirmed the story. ...

Gibbs says he's leaving White House
WASHINGTON—White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says he is resigning his job as the president's chief spokesman. Gibbs is leaving to become an outside political adviser to Obama and to give speeches in the Private Sector. The change is to take effect in early February. No replacement has been immediately named. The move comes as Obama ushers in a broad shake up of his senior leadership, heading toward his own likely re-election bid in 2012....

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to Resign
What a great day this is... Reuters White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is leaving his position to work as an outside adviser for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, an administration official said on Wednesday . Gibbs is to depart in early February. A successor is to be announced within the next two weeks, the official said. Gibbs, a close confidant of Obama's going back to his time as a U.S. senator from Illinois, has for many Americans been one of the most public faces of t...

Boehner replaces Pelosi as Speaker
The outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hands the gavel of office to her successor John Boehner. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Republican John Boehner was elected the new Speaker of the House today, marking a shift to the right in Washington as he replaced the first woman in the post, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The meeting of the 112th Congress, with the Republicans in control of the House and having slashed the Democratic majority in the Senate, is a long way from the heady ...

"You Provide The Pictures, I'll Provide The War"
The Wall Street Journal's front page today features a pair of black-bordered snapshots of China's J-20 fighter, under a headline warning of "A Chinese Stealth Challenge?" For those of us who have read the Journal for years, respecting its balanced and judicious approach on national-security topics, it's plane something has changed since the venerable, but boringly sober, Bancroft family sold the place to Rupert Murdoch in 2007. The Australian press baron obviously loves to stir the superpower po...

Obama on the Debt Limit: Then and Now
Yahoo! Buzz In 2006, Sen. Barack Obama voted against raising the Debt ceiling to allow the U.S. to borrow more money, saying Washington was saddling future generations with its out-of-control spending. Now, his administration is implying that those who say the same are irresponsible. Asked on Wednesday about the seeming contradiction, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that in 2006, the outcome of the vote to raise the legal borrowing authority was not in doubt, and therefore the ...

Following Gibbs, Volcker To Depart Titanic Next
Poor President Obama may be left without a single non-Wall Street based advisor in no time. After his trusty sidekick Robert Gibbs announced earlier he is bailing from the Titanic, Reuters has just reported that Paul Volcker, the only man in the past 30 years to have to deal with the problem of pernicious Inflation, is about to take a hike too. While his role was simple: head of the White House advisory panel, he did at least attempt to do some things while there, namely take down prop trading. ...

Pence to Keynote National Pro-Life Fundraiser in February
As speculation grows over whether Rep. Mike Pence (R., Ind.) will run for Governor or president, a number of observers have seen his concentration of scheduled events in Indiana as a sign that he'll opt for governor. On the other hand, Politico's Kasie Hunt notes that Pence is heading to South Carolina, an early GOP primary state, this weekend to keynote an exclusive Republican event. And, in another sign that Pence is open to a national run, he will be the Keynote Speaker at the Susan B. Anthon...

Don't let others define us
Six years ago, I went to Auschwitz. I remember being surprised at the number of Israeli school groups there, some literally wrapped in their national flag. Israeli school kids, it turns out, often visit the death camp as a means of understanding the Genocide that decimated their people. Learning this left me, not for the first time, impressed with the way Jews have institutionalized Holocaust education. A subject that was considered largely Taboo into the 1970s has since become the object of man...

For Steele, RNC Chair Race Gets Personal
Incumbent RNC chairman Michael Steele and Wisconsin state chair Reince Priebus used to be close allies, but as they sat beside one another on stage at the RNC chair Candidates meeting on Monday, it was clear that that time was over. On the other hand, Saul Anuzis’ enduring closeness with Michael Steele may have a major impact on the outcome of the RNC race. “No, I don’t talk [with him], haven’t talked to him since he’s been running,” Steele told FrumForum about Priebus