Then again….  The White House has odd definitions of transparency.  They’ll tell the world when they meet with the CIA Station Chief of Afghanistan but won’t mention the unscheduled meetings with Hillary.

PEOPLE's @sswestfall chats w/@HillaryClinton before her @WhiteHouse lunch. Hope she wasn't late for @barackobama! pic.twitter.com/6MAVgsXXzO

— People (@people) May 29, 2014

“The White House confirmed that Hillary Clinton had lunch with President Obama today after People magazine tweeted about the meeting – a tweet that has since been deleted.

“The President enjoyed an informal, private lunch with Secretary Clinton at the White House this afternoon,” a White House official said on background in a response to an inquiry from your pooler.  Your pooler also lodged a complaint about the lack of transparency on the meeting with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

The lunch was not on the president’s public schedule.” (link)

Best Part – The media correspondents assigned to cover the State Department actually laugh.

In her New York Times op-ed, Michelle Obama attacks the GOP-led Congress for what she sees as attempts “to undo so much of what we’ve accomplished on behalf of our children,” citing proposed tweaks to the Women, Infants and Children program, known as WIC.

She accuses the GOP-led House of wanting to “override science” by mandating that white potatoes be included in a list of foods women can purchase under WIC if they choose.

(by YTZ4Mee…) “Potato Council Debunks First Lady’s “Science” Claims….

“…updated government data show women and children aren’t consuming nearly enough potatoes…”

How dare the extremist republicans allow women to choose their own nutrition !

Montel Williams epic outrage. Well worth watching:

The United States GDP shrank at an annual rate of 1.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014, according to the second estimate released by the Commerce Department.

(Via WSJ) The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter of 2014, the latest stumble for a recovery that has struggled to find its footing since the recession ended almost five years ago.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, contracted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.0% in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday. It was the first time economic output contracted since the first quarter of 2011, when it declined at a 1.3% pace.

Government economists had previously estimated GDP slowed to a 0.1% growth rate in the first quarter as harsh winter weather disrupted work sites, curtailed foot traffic at retail stores and snarled transportation networks across much of the U.S. The newly revised estimate incorporates additional economic data released in recent weeks. (more…)

(Via WFB)  CNN’s international correspondent Jim Clancy called the West Point response to President Obama’s meandering foreign policy address “pretty icy” Wednesday.

Clancy said it was “not really a great speech to give at the U.S. Military Academy,” and the address has drawn bipartisan criticism.

“It was a philosophical speech,” he said. “It was not a Commander-in-Chief speaking to his troops. And you heard the reception. I mean, it was pretty icy.” (link)

(more…)

The caged bird isn’t singing no more…  (dead at 86)

Summary of life’s pinnacle accomplishment – HERE –

Sometimes you only need to read one paragraph to know how quickly the blood pressure cuff will explode off your arm if you continue:

“The bottom line is that 10,000 troops is not enough to deny al Qaeda sanctuary in Afghanistan,” one U.S. intelligence officer told The Daily Beast. “As a result, they will come back. We have decided as a political leadership that we can live with this.”  

You can continue reading HERE.

I cannot.

I had no idea.     Thank goodness CNN is there to help us understand:

COSTELLO: That was Mrs. Obama back in 2010 when she signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act into law. Well now some members of Congress and the food industry want to roll back that initiative and loosen requirements to cut costs. Today the First Lady takes the unusual step of delivering White House remarks speaking out against that House measure and in another twist, a one-time ally of Mrs. Obama’s initiative is now a critic.

USA TODAY – It also follows intense criticism over the treatment of veterans at VA hospitals, including reports that officials are trying to cover up evidence of long wait times and that some veterans have died while awaiting treatment.

In his weekend radio address, Obama said the nation must work harder to ensure that military veterans get the benefits they’ve earned.

“They’ve done their duty,” Obama said, “and they ask nothing more than that this country does ours.”

The president is not scheduled to meet with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, with whom the president has had a difficult relationship.

Air Force One landed at Bagram Air Field on Sunday night, local time, after a secret overnight trip that began Saturday night in Washington, D.C. (more…)