Obama's Schedule Sept. 1 Includes Meetings With Mideast Leaders

Obama kicks off September with Mideast peace talks. Obama will meet individually with the heads of Israel, Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt. He will speak to the press at 5:20 pm eastern and the leaders will hold a conference together at 7 pm. Live stream here. All times are eastern.

9:15 AM	The President participates in a call with FEMA Administrator Fugate on the preparations being made in advance of Hurricane Earl Oval Office Closed Press
10:45 AM	The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Oval Office Pool Spray at the Top
1:30 PM	The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority Oval Office Pool Spray at the Top
2:45 PM	The President holds a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan Oval Office Pool Spray at the Top
4:00 PM	The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt Oval Office Pool Spray at the Top
5:20 PM	The President delivers a statement to the press Rose Garden Open Press
7:00 PM	The President and visiting leaders deliver statements to the press East Room Open Press
8:00 PM	The President hosts a working dinner with visiting leaders Old Family Dining Room Closed Press

Obama's Speech on Iraq Aug. 31 Video

Live Stream Obama's Speech Aug. 31

Update: Speech is over. Video is here.
Update: What stuck out for me is Obama on victory: "we must earn victory through the success of our partners and the strength of our own nation." People on twitter seem to be amazed that Obama didn't trash Bush. That's not Obama's style. Obama is always gracious.

Here is a transcript.

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Obama's Interview with Brian Williams Aug. 31 Video

On people believing lies, Obama says the facts are the facts and he's been dealing with this kind of criticism for years. Despite, he said: "I will always put my money on the American people." Obama certainly has more faith in the American people than I do. Our recession is more than financial.

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Fulll interview:

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Gibbs on Obama's Speech Tonight Aug. 31

Speech tonight 8 pm eastern.

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Obama's Speech at Fort Bliss: Thank You and Welcome Home

Obama says his speech tonight at 8 pm eastern is not a victory lap. Here is partial video:

Full video and transcript:

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Behind the scenes video:

White House Press Briefing Aug. 30

Gibbs announced that on Labor Day, Obama will travel to Milwaukee for the Milwaukee Labor Fest.

Black Tie Beach

Comedic relief provided by ImprovEverywhere.

Beck is Not America's Saviour

I'm laughing at all this Glenn Beck coverage.
The guy is mentally unstable and the media can't stop talking about him. No one can stop talking about him. He's had a long history of drug use as well as a history of depression. His mother drowned and while it's not certain she committed suicide, Beck says it was. Without therapy, that kind of history can affect someone's mental health.

Beck shows manic depressive tendencies. He says god talks to him, but not in the normal way that people express a relationship with god, but in a more ego-maniacal way. He seems to think of himself as a prophet of sorts.
The media is SHOCKED that the tea party is religious. Hello.
The tea party is Bush's value voters all dressed up in a new outfit.
Beck's a lost soul trying to find his way and he's attracted a bunch of other lost souls, people who are looking to someone to provide them with moral guidance.

Beck is a talk show host. He's an entertainer. Even Beck used to remind everyone of this. But he appears to have moved deeper into his delusion. It now appears he views himself as more than an entertainer, thanks to the constant media attention, which has helped grow his ranks.

Beck appears to believe he's been appointed by god to save the country. Many of his followers believe that too.

I don't think many of the politicians buy it -- except perhaps Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who seem to believe they're part of a grand plan as well.

Conservative politicians are mostly along for the ride, hoping to slurp up Beck's leftovers.
I keep thinking that soon Beck is going to tell us it's all a joke, a social experiment in manipulation. He did, after all, launch a "news" site following his revival.
People should step back. Stop watching his program for a while. Stop listening to him.
Then after a period of time, go back and listen and you'll hear a crazy man. That's what I hear. I see man who has harnessed his crazy in the same way that Jim Jones did. It's sort of sad.
People have to stop glomming on to people as their saviours and start thinking for themselves.

Perhaps this country is morally bankrupt but it's not bankrupt of freedom.

We're immoral when we persecute people for their religious beliefs, when we enjoy the fruits of cheap immigrant labor and then slam the people who do the work, when we scapegoat "the other," when we disrespect the office of the President, when we discriminate against people because they're gay or black or Asian or whatever, when we don't take care of the vulnerable among us, when we demonize liberals and conservatives, when we think our nation is better than every other nation, when our consumption reaches a level that's destroying the planet, when we take our environment for granted, when we think more of everything is better, when we buy houses that we can't afford, when we choose ignorance...

Here is a bit on how Beck portrayed his mother:

Over the course of many retellings, the tragedy of Mary Beck would become the cornerstone event in her son's personal narrative of redemption, and that tale of rebirth would became the cornerstone of his career. But the story Glenn Beck often tells about his mother is not quite the one recorded by the Tacoma paper. As Beck would later relate to millions of his listeners, his mother's drowning was no boating accident. It was a suicide, he claimed, explained in a short note written on that fateful dawn and left on the mantel. And he said it happened in 1977, when he was 13, not 1979, when he was 15 (even though newspaper obits and government records confirm that a 41-year-old woman named Mary Beck died in Puyallup in 1979.) In fact, Beck's first wife had never heard of Mary Beck's alleged suicide until years after they married, when she heard her husband discussing it live on the radio. Salon

Beck's followers clearly need more information. Instead of mocking them, perhaps there is a way to inform them:

Obama Meets With Troops in El Paso Texas

This is a live audio stream scheduled for 1:10 pm eastern. Tonight at 8 pm eastern, Obama speaks on Iraq. Obama's full schedule is here.

Obama Addresses the Nation on End of Combat in Iraq Aug. 31

Obama will address the nation from the Oval Office tomorrow at 8 pm eastern time. Earlier in the day, he'll meet with troops at Fort Bliss Army Base. He'll also speak with George W. Bush prior to his speech. Here is Obama's schedule for tomorrow. All times are eastern, except for the noted local times.

8:30 AM	The President departs the White House en route Andrews Air Force Base South Lawn Open Press
8:45 AM	The President departs Andrews Air Force Base en route El Paso, Texas Andrews Air Force Base Travel Pool Coverage
12:30 PM	The President arrives in El Paso, Texas Local Event Time: 10:30 AM MDT Biggs Army Airfield Open Press
1:10 PM	The President meets with troops Local Event Time: 11:10 AM MDT Fort Bliss Army Base Travel Pool Coverage
2:20 PM	The President departs El Paso, Texas en route Andrews Air Force Base Local Event Time: 12:20 PM MDT Biggs Army Airfield Travel Pool Spray
5:55 PM	The President arrives at Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base Travel Pool Coverage
6:10 PM	The President arrives at the White House South Lawn Open Press
8:00 PM	The President addresses the nation Oval Office Pooled Press