Obama Weighs In On Raymond Davis Case

The Moderometer: Charting Obama’s Zig-Zag Course

Obama's Moderometer reading on December 1







Which way will the Moderometer swing for Obama after Copenhagen?

Posted using ShareThis

Next Year in Jerusalem? Unlikely.

President Obama has signed his second suspension of Public Law 104-45, the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. The Act required that the U.S. Secretary of State recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and establish a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999, or else the Department loses 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the Department of State for fiscal year 1999 for ‘‘Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad’’ until such time as the Secretary of State complies.

To comply with the Act is not feasible for political, diplomatic, and constitutional reasons too numerous and contentious to list here. So, every President since 1995 has invoked the waiver authority given him by Section 7 of the Act to suspend the funding limitations for six-month intervals, just like hitting the snooze button on a legislative alarm clock.

Here's the text of the current Presidential Memorandum - Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act:

Presidential Determination No. 2010-03

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act

Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 7(a) of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) (the "Act"), I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in sections 3(b) and 7(b) of the Act.

You are hereby authorized and directed to transmit this determination to the Congress, accompanied by a report in accordance with section 7(a) of the Act, and to publish the determination in the Federal Register.

Suspension shall take effect after transmission of this determination and report to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

Fall of the Wall Anniversary

The UK Daily Telegraph is not giving President Obama a pass for declining Angela Merkel's invitation to attend the ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall: Not enough about him? Barack Obama skips Berlin Wall ceremonies. Ouch!

At least Hillary went.

The ceremonies sounded like lots of fun. I loved the idea of having Lech Walesa push over the first of 1,000 big dominoes (photo above) set up where the Wall once stood.

Personally, I have been marking the occasion by playing the old David Bowie song Heroes. That might seem an odd choice, but the song was kinda sorta inspired by the Wall and it's got an appropriately triumphant sound.