Obama and Joe Talk to Saakashvili and Others

Today Obama talked to:

President-elect Barack Obama today returned phone calls to three world leaders and expressed his appreciation for their congratulations on his election. President-elect Obama spoke with:

President Saakashvili of Georgia;
President Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines; and
President Gul of Turkey

Joe was chatting up some world leaders as well:

Today, Vice President-elect Joe Biden spoke with the following foreign leaders via telephone:

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe
European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

Yesterday, Obama talked to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to get updates on the fires.

Palin Bans Reporters

Update: Ms. Earmark may allow a print reporter.
Ms. Ruby Slippers isn't even confident enough in herself to allow reporters along on her meetings with world leaders. I'm sure she's been studying the world map for days. I just hope she has at least attempted to learn how to pronounce the names of world leaders. It is the respectful thing to do. Bush never was able to get up to speed on anything requiring language or communication skills.

MSNBC: NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is banning reporters from her first meetings with world leaders, allowing access only to photographers and a television crew.

Palin plans to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in New York on Tuesday.

From NYT:

Updated Live from New York, it’s Gov. Sarah Palin’s top-secret foreign policy tutorial!

Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, is scheduled to meet Tuesday in New York with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, and former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger.

But the McCain-Palin campaign’s sharp limitations on coverage of the meetings have sparked a mini-revolt – and a threatened boycott — among the press corps.

The campaign plans to bar print reporters from the meetings, and to limit coverage to brief photo-ops for a still photographer and a television camera. The television stations, though, are objecting, noting that they have a policy of not sending cameras to cover events without a producer, who provided editorial guidance.

Palin's meet and greet schedule.
Funny comment:

Palin will be an expert on foreign policy before she leaves NYC. How can she not be, from her hotel room window, she can see Chinatown, Little Italy, Spanish Harlem, Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg, and maybe on a clear day see the Ukrainian community in Brighton Brach.

Obama Speaks With Columbian Leader

Obama's been busy this morning, talking with Columbia's president, (I'm sure Obama knows where Columbia is on the map) and prepping for his economic announcement and rally this morning.

Yahoo: President Alvaro Uribe said he had a "constructive" and wide-ranging phone conversation with Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama Thursday, on the eve of the Colombian leader's trip to

"A phone call with Senator Barack Obama, Democratic candidate for the US presidency, concluded just a few minutes ago," Uribe told reporters at the presidential palace.

"(It was) a very constructive phone call, covering many issues," Uribe said.

McCain's Colombia Trip Not Coincidental

Was this good timing an effort to make John McCain look good? Looks that way, bragging about how he would free the hostages when he knew they were going to be freed. I'd like to know when he really knew what was going on and what the heck is he doing in Colombia? He really needs to be campaigning here, where he's losing. But as we've seen, the republicans will stoop to stay in power.

WaPo: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spoke repeatedly Tuesday and early Wednesday about how he would work as president to free three American hostages held by leftist guerrillas in Colombia, but he declined to reveal one key fact: Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his aides had briefed him Tuesday evening about the plan to rescue the Americans, along with 12 other captives.
....

"It was really a brilliant plan," Lieberman said. "I think the timing was fortuitous. They just felt they had it ready to implement."

While in Washington a shake-up in McCain's campaign organization focused attention on the doubts many Republicans have voiced about his strategy and message, Lieberman said the fact that Colombian officials chose to disclose their rescue plan in advance to McCain testified to his colleague's international standing.

"I think it was a sign of confidence of President Uribe and the defense minister in Senator McCain, and maybe in the two of us, that they were prepared to share this information last night, which was highly classified."

All kinds of conflicting reports on the hostage rescue today. On NPR, Colombians involved in the rescue said the U.S. had nothing to do with the rescue. Another report later in the day said the U.S. did play a part in the rescue and this report from CNN has John McCain saying he didn't know:

McCain had earlier said he would do everything he could to help Colombia secure the rescue of the hostages.

"I would leave the modalities to the government of the country of Colombia. It is a sovereign nation. But I intend to do everything I can to support and increase their capabilities and continue their success against FARC and bring about as quickly as possible the release of all hostages," he said in Colombia, before he said he knew about the rescue.

McCain learned of the mission's success as his plane was departing Colombia for Mexico, he said. An aide showed him news of the report on his Blackberry. McCain then talked to Uribe while on the plane.

Asked if he thought it was unusual that he was told of the plans beforehand, McCain said, "I have been informed as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee of plans for years and years and years about plans that are going to be carried out either by the United States or our friends and allies."

Barack Obama was not told about the plans in advance, Obama's campaign said.

Lieberman said he thinks it was a "sign of confidence" that Uribe and the defense minister shared the classified information with McCain.