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A former Obama official is taking aim at President Biden's administration for not being confrontational with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin's conflict with Ukraine continues.

Brett Bruen, who served as director of global engagement in the Obama White House and a foreign service officer in the State Department, penned an opinion piece in NPR about effectively turning the tables on Putin.

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"When is the crisis in Ukraine going to end? According to the White House, it's largely up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. I fail to understand why we are letting him decide the timeline, let alone the terms and trajectory of the security situation in Europe," Bruen began the piece on Thursday. "The United States and our NATO allies need to start imposing some of our own deadlines. Congress is currently considering a series of preemptive punishments against Russia. Yet, I fear that would be a major mistake. Why would we want to give up what little leverage is available for us to try and change the Kremlin's calculus?"

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrive to meet at the 'Villa la Grange', in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Bruen proposed giving Russia a March 1 deadline to roll back its troops and negotiate the Minsk agreement leading up to it and draw a "big red line" when it comes to meddling in the upcoming midterm elections.

"Sanctions and some other serious steps would be triggered if any of these timelines or terms are violated," Bruen wrote. "I remain highly skeptical that simply expanding the existing economic penalties we have imposed on Russia will deter or force a deviation from an invasion they've already undertaken. Instead, we need to focus on what really worries Putin: increasing domestic disgruntlement."

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"Biden needs to deliver a direct message to Moscow. You either start acting like a normal nation or we are going to steadily turn up the temperature on some politically and personally sensitive points. We will begin by dropping a new batch of intelligence about the Kremlin's corruption and mismanagement each month. Even something as simple as sharing the truth about Russian soldiers who have died during the occupation of Ukraine would help to stir public sentiment against Putin. As imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has already demonstrated, these revelations can be really damaging, especially coupled with costly foreign adventurism," he continued.

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds talks with U.S. President Joe Biden via a video link in Sochi, Russia December 7, 2021. Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

The former Obama aide then suggested the U.S. can "launch an information invasion" in Russia by "piercing [Putin's] propaganda with biting satire and amplifying brutal critiques of his leadership from Navalny, along with other democracy activists," similarly to what transpired during the Cold War. He added "we now have tremendous technology to help activists and journalists circumvent censors and monitors."

He also floated taking "a page from the International Olympic Committee's playbook" by stripping Russia's "privileges" as a country if it continues its actions including being disinvited from summits, ending meetings with US officials and restricting Russian officials from travel to New York City and Washington, D.C.

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"There is certainly a great deal that depends on the Russian leader. Nonetheless, the Biden administration has got to stop putting Putin in the driver's seat so often. Such a reactive response has enabled him to dominate the global agenda and distract us from other critical priorities," Bruen wrote.

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Former Obama official hits Biden for 'reactive response' to Putin's actions towards Ukraine - Fox News

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are very proud of their daughters, Malia and Sasha.

The siblings are, reportedly, residing in Los Angeles right now. And their parents, who are staying in Washington D.C., visit them regularly. During past interviews, the ex-POTUS and the former first lady have both gushed over their daughters. And its evident how proud they are of the women they have become.

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Barack Obama previously described Malia as buoyant. He also said that his eldest daughter enjoys people, life, and conversation.

Shes never bored, which is a badass quality that can take you places, Barack told InStyle.

On the other hand, Barack described his youngest daughter, Sasha as a mini Michelle.

Sasha is, as Malia describes it, is completely confident about her own take on the world. If she thinks somethings wrong or right, she will say so, Barack said.

Barack and Michelle are also very supportive when it comes to their childrens endeavors.

In Touch Weekly, in its Feb. 28 issue, claimed that Sashas boyfriend, Rory Farquharson is adored by her dad. However, the ex-POTUS is not yet ready for the couple to tie the knot.

Rory is from a wealthy family, but hes shown an interest in grassroots public service, so Barack is impressed. Even though Rory and Malia are pretty serious about each other, its early to discuss marriage, an unnamed source said.

Since marriage is still out of the equation for Malia and Sasha, the siblings are focused on their different paths and on making the world a better place.

What particular paths they take in doing that, I think are going to change and vary between the two of them. To see how theyve become these marvelous young women theres been no greater joy than that, Barack said.

Last month, Malia was embroiled in a controversy after she was, allegedly, spotted smoking during her work break. At the time, Radar Online published photos of the former first daughter smoking from a vape.

However, Malia is not hiding the fact that she smokes. In fact, she was also photographed with a cigarette while strolling the streets of Los Angeles last month.

The 23-year-olds smoking habits have not affected the way that her parents look at her. In fact, Barack and Michelle have nothing but wonderful things to say about their children.

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Last year, Barack appeared on the Late Late Show With James Corden to discuss a number of things including his daughters.

He said that Malia and Sasha do not have any interest in joining politics because they grew up being followed by the Secret Service. The doting dad acknowledged that this must have been traumatic for his daughters.

Them as teenagershaving Secret Service guys follow them when they were going out on dates I think probably has shut down their interest in public service. They still have PTSD from guys talking into their wrist microphones and glasses as they're trying to go to a music concert, he said.

In 2019, Michelle shared that she broke down in tears while sending Sasha off to college. But even if seeing her youngest daughter leave for college was heartbreaking, the ex-FLOTUS said that shes most excited for what the future has in store for Malia and Sasha.

I'm excited for my girlsto grow up and becomeindependent, but you feel a little melancholythat they will never be the little ones that sit on your lap and listen to your every word and look at you adoringly. Those days are over, she told Today.

Check back for more stories, updates, and rumors about the Obama family here at EpicStream!

Originally posted here:
Barack Obama Shock: Ex-POTUS Adores Malia Obama's Boyfriend But Won't Give Them His Blessing To Wed? - Epicstream

Michelle Obama, wearing 'VOTE' necklace, calls Trump 'wrong president'

Michelle Obama called President Donald Trump the "wrong president for our country" during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Associated Press, USA TODAY

The claim is illustrated in a Facebook meme that recently went viral. Former President Barack Obama's head was superimposed over the face of a person in a construction worker's outfit. "Obama" stands in front of crowds of fenced-in children who are supposedly migrants detained at the southern U.S. border.

The text above the image reads, "Michelle Obama: Trump is putting kids in cages. Guy who built the cages."

Barack Obama is implied as the "guy who built the cages."

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The meme was posted to the Facebook page Vintage Political Memes. The page is an extension of Being Libertarian LLC, a group that caters to"minarchists, classical liberals, anarchists, independents, Objectivists, capitalists, and right/left-leaning libertarians," according to itswebsite.

The picture in the meme minus the inserted Barack Obama of a crowded enclosure full of migrant children at a border facility in Texas was released by the Office of the Inspector General in 2019, according to a tweet by NBC News correspondent Gadi Schwartz. Schwartz saidasenior manager called the conditions at the facility, "a ticking time bomb."

USA TODAY reached out to Being Libertarian for comment.

During her keynote address at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, the former first lady made a comment about the Trump administration's policies toward migrant children detained at the border.

"They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages," Mrs. Obama said, according to The Associated Press.

More: US government sued after report of detained migrant children at Hampton Inn hotels

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The entire statement can be found in atranscript posted to CNN.com on Aug. 18.

"They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful (protesters) for a photo-op,"she said.

It is true that Trump administration immigration policies involved separating migrant children from their parents and detaining them in "cages," a practice halted by a federal judge in 2018, according to USA TODAY. During the speech, Obamadid not mention the holdingenclosures were built during her husband's administration.

Fact check: Joe Biden delivered his Democratic nomination acceptance speech live

In a 2019interview with nonpartisan think tank The Aspen Institute, Jeh Johnson, Barack Obama's Homeland Security secretary, told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that the "cages" predate the Trump administration.

"Chain-link barriers, partitions, fences, cages, whatever you want to call them were not invented on January 20, 2017," Johnson said.

Kelly asked Johnson about a 2014 photograph of him touring an Arizona facility for migrants along with former Gov.Jan Brewer. The picture is archived on thewebsite for the Arizona Capitol Times.

Thatimage was also part of another social media meme accusing Michelle Obama of lying about "kids in cages" during her DNC speech. Facebook userEulalia Maria Jimenez posted it to her page on Aug. 18. Johnson is circled in red in the image.

Johnson explained the picture was taken during a spike in unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border of the country.

"The photograph you're referring to was a facility in Arizona I recognize the photograph because Gov. Brewer was with me and it was during the spike ... and we had a lot of unaccompanied kids, we had a lot of family units. And under the law, once they're apprehended by the border patrol, within 72 hours, we have to transfer unaccompanied children to (the Department of Health and Human Services). And HHS then puts them in a shelter, and they find placement for them somewhere in the United States." Johnson explained.

He said the construction of the 72-hour holding facilities was prompted by a sudden influx of migrants.

Local NBC affiliate KVEQ reported on the conversion of aMcAllen, Texas, warehouse into a holding facility for up to 1,000 migrant children in 2014.

"You can't just dump 7-year-old kids on the streets of McAllen or El Paso. And so, these facilities were erected ... they put those chain-link partitions up so you could segregate young women from young men, kids from adults, until they were either released or transferred to HHS. Was it ideal? Of course not," Johnson said.

In 2019, former Trump administration acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan confirmed the migrant holding facilities were builtduring the Obama administration during a panel hosted by The Center for Immigration Studies. The center isa "pro-immigrant, low-immigration" think tank, according to its website.

"The kids are being housed in the same facilities built under the Obama administration. If you want to call them cages, call them cages. But if the left wants to call them cages, and the Democrats want to call them cages, then they have to accept the fact that they were built and funded in FY 15, and I was there," Homan said, according to a transcript.

The Associated Press reportedin late 2019 that an unprecedented 69,550 migrant children were held in U.S. custody overthat year.

But Michelle Obama's assertion that the Trump administration torechildren from their families and threw them into cages alludes to "a frequent and distorted point made widely by Democrats," according to the AP. The facilities designed during the Obama administration to temporarily hold migrants were used for a similar purpose by President Trump, the AP also concluded.

Fact check: Meme is partly false about Republican National Convention speakers

We rate this claimTRUE, based on our research. The initial claim correctly attributes migrant holding facilities to the Obama administration. However, the meme doesn't elaborate on the intended purpose of the facilities:to hold migrantchildren for 72 hours before releasing them to the Department of Health and Human Services for further placement.

Contributing: Associated Press

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Fact check: Obama administration built migrant 'cages ...

EDGARTOWN, MAReflecting on the path his career had almost taken, former President Barack Obama revealed in an interview Monday that he almost passed on the presidency for a chance to direct Leatherheads. It feels kind of silly nowIm obviously pretty satisfied with the decision I made, and I was delighted with what George [Clooney] ended up doing with the film, but I had some great ideas for Leatherheads and it wasnt without sadness that I turned it down to do the presidency instead, said Obama, recalling how Universal Pictures approached him back in 2007 just as the Democratic primary was heating up and how long he wrestled with the decision to abandon the run, as well as his Senate seat, to helm the movie. Put yourself in my shoes: on the one hand, I have this vision to change the American political landscape, and on the other, I have the chance to direct Leatherheads. It was really tough. I mean, when someone drops a script like Leatherheads on your desk and you have the chance to translate [co-screenwriter] Rick Reillys vision to the big screen, youd have to be nuts not to seriously consider it. It was like a door had finally opened and I might actually make something of myself in Hollywood. Id written a script based on my time as a community organizerkind of a dark comedy-slash-drama, Serving Sara meets Proof Of Lifeand Id been shopping it around. It came across someones desk at Universal and they didnt want to produce it, which, whatever, but they felt like I might be the right guy to do Leatherheads. I wont lie, I went to see Leatherheads opening nightit came out in April, when I was pretty far ahead in the delegate countand I thought, Barack, did you really make the right decision? Should you have conceded to Hillary and followed your dreams? No shade against the film, but, you know, Id had a pretty clear vision of my own. I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I hadnt turned down the opportunity to work with John Krasinski to become the commander in chief of the United States. I guess Ill never know. Obama also revealed that he was planning to decline the 2012 Democratic nomination if the studio had accepted his repeated entreaties to direct Playing For Keeps.

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Obama Reveals He Almost Passed On Presidency For Chance To Direct Leatherheads - The Onion

FLINT, MI -- A federal judge says she wont allow testimony about whether employees of two engineering companies being sued by Flint residents drank city water while they worked as consultants here.

U.S. District Judge Judith Levy made the ruling in an opinion filed Sunday, Feb. 13, saying that she will also exclude testimony about whether other government and high-profile public figures, including former President Barack Obama, drank Flint water during the citys water crisis.

The bellwether trial that pits four Flint children who claim they were damaged by Flint water against two water consultants that advised the city on its water system is scheduled to start Tuesday, Feb. 15, in Ann Arbor.

Against this minimal relevance (in support of allowing such evidence), the Court must weigh the substantial potential for delay, confusion, and waste of time that would be risked by the introduction of this evidence, Levy wrote in part of her six-page decision.

Discussion of any employees alleged consumption of Flint River water would inevitably create lengthy factual disputes -- why did they drink the water? How much? How often? Did they believe it to be safe, or did they think the health risk was an acceptable one? Would they have believed it to be safe for chronic consumption by children? What is their tolerance for risk related to nonbiological toxins in water? And so forth.

Such disputes would derail the trial and divert attention away from the real issue of negligence, Levy wrote. The probative value of such evidence, if any, is therefore greatly outweighed by its potential to waste time and cause undue delay.

Attorneys for the four children -- identified in court filings by their initials as A.T., D.W., E.S., and R.V. -- filed the motion in December, asking Levy to preclude any reference to Flint water consumption by employees of Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam as well as government officials and other high-profile persons.

Veolia, LAN and related companies are defending themselves against the lawsuits after declining to join in a $626-million partial settlement of Flint water litigation brought by attorneys for residents against the state of Michigan, city of Flint, McLaren Regional Hospital and Rowe Professional Services.

Although Veolia does not plan to use any evidence of President Obamas drinking city of Flint water in 2016, according to Levys opinion, the company sought to reserve the right to consider whether the Obama evidence is relevant.

The judges ruling says the issue involving the former president is moot because there is no plan to introduce it. LAN joined VNA in its opposition to the motion by the four children.

During a visit to Flint in May 2016, Obama drank what he said was filtered Flint water, calling the water safe for most of the citys population provided it was filtered.

Related: President Obama drinks filtered Flint water during water crisis visit

VNA and LAN were hired by the city of Flint to advise it on water issues after emergency managers appointed by former Gov. Rick Snyder made a series of decisions that led the city to disconnect from the Detroit water system and to use the Flint River as the citys temporary water supply in parts of 2014 and 2015.

Flint failed to treat the river water to make it less corrosive to lead in transmission pipes and in fixtures inside homes, allowing lead to leach into the citys water supply.

LAN performed work as a consultant as the city transitioned to Flint River water and continued to advise the city on water quality issues during the resulting water crisis. VNA also performed water consultancy work, but only after the transition occurred and only for a limited time -- from early January 2015 to March 2015.

An advisory from the federal court says the jury trial in the bellwether case is expected to last approximately four months and involve testimony from scores of witnesses.

The trial, which will be decided by 10 jurors, is being called a bellwether because it could help others with water crisis claims decide whether to proceed to trial against the engineering companies.

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Originally posted here:
President Obama had a drink of Flint water, but judge says its not relevant to bellwether trial - MLive.com