Obama's left Hawaii for D.C., but is still feeling the heat
One day you鈥檙e in sunny Hawaii, enjoying a shaved ice treat named after you (the 鈥淪nowbama鈥�) and watching the wife and kids bounce around the Honolulu Zoo.
The next, you鈥檙e back in Washington, where it鈥檚 frigid on several levels. The city itself is gripped by unusual cold, and politics is dominated by an argument about who, if anyone, is to blame for the Christmas Day bombing attempt on an airliner landing in Detroit.
罢丑补迟鈥檚 Barack Obama鈥檚 plight 鈥� in hours he鈥檚 gone from 鈥淪nowbama鈥� to 鈥渙h, mama.鈥� (Cue groans, stage right.)
First business: security briefings
President Obama touched down in Washington at midday Monday and got right back to work in the Oval Office, receiving the first of an expected string of reports about the attempted attack on the Northwest Airlines flight.
Mr. Obama鈥檚 first scheduled briefing was from the CIA, dealing with what the agency knew, and when it knew it, about bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
The president was also set to hear from White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.
On Tuesday, Obama is scheduled to take part in a more comprehensive look at the attack, said Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton.
鈥淐oming out of that meeting we鈥檒l probably have more on what the next steps are,鈥� said Mr. Burton in a briefing with reporters.
But Obama hasn鈥檛 waited to get back to D.C. before pressing for action, noted Burton. Modern presidents, after all, in one sense only appear to be on vacation. The weight of the office 鈥� plus lots of high-tech communications gear 鈥� is with them at all times.
Travel adjustments so far
The Transportation Security Agency has already moved to tighten security, requiring extra screening on all travelers from or transiting through 14 countries on a new watch list, noted spokesman Burton.
In addition, the names of dozens of people have been added to the government鈥檚 terrorist watch lists and a do-not-fly list which bans entry into the US.
鈥淭here鈥檚 already been a rescrubbing of the different lists,鈥� said Burton.
All this is on top of a normal presidential workload, which includes monitoring lawmakers as House and Senate try to work out the differences between their versions of health reform legislation, and the drafting of an upcoming State of the Union speech. The State of the Union will probably be later this month, though the date has yet to be set.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the process of piecing together what it will be 鈥� a speech that is going to have to cover quite a bit of ground,鈥� said spokesman Burton.
