Obama: Support gay troops(Photos)

A combative Obama on Saturday criticized Republican presidential candidates for staying silent when the crowd at a recent debate booed a gay soldier who asked a question of the contenders via videotape.

"You want to be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the

uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient," Obama said during remarks at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization.

Referencing the boos at the Sept. 22 Republican debate, he said: "We don't believe in standing silent when that happens."

Obama touted his administration's efforts to repeal the military's ban on openly gay service members, as well as his orders to the Justice Department to stop enforcing a law defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

But, as expected, Obama stopped short of endorsing gay marriage, saying only that "every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law."

Obama has said his views on gay marriage are "evolving", but for now he only supports civil union.

Obama's position on gay marriage has become a sore point for some gay activists who say they're otherwise pleased with the president's handling of issues important to them. Some of the president's backers say he could be wasting a chance to energize key segments of his base, including young people, if he doesn't publicly advocate for gay marriage.

"If he doesn't, he could be missing an opportunity to mobilize voters who need to be inspired to vote for him," said Doug Hattaway, a Democratic consultant.

The president's position on gay marriage puts him at odds with some of his supporters. Numerous recent polls suggest a slight majority of Americans favor giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and support is highest among Democrats and young people.

Obama has acknowledged that public support for gay marriage is building. During a meeting with liberal bloggers last October, he said "it's pretty clear where the trend lines are going."

Obama aides have given no indication of where the president's evolution on gay marriage stands. And some gay rights advocates believe political considerations could keep Obama from publicly backing gay marriage until after the November 2012 election.

Joe Sudbay, among a group of bloggers who met with Obama last year, said most gay rights advocates won't vote against Obama if he stops short of backing gay marriage. But he said they may be less likely to volunteer their time and money to the campaign.

"He might not lose votes, but he won't gain enthusiasm," said Sudbay, deputy editor of AmericaBlog.com.

While gay rights advocates may not be getting everything they want from the president, they see little support for their cause among the field of Republican primary contenders.

Most top Republican presidential candidates, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, favor limiting marriage to unions between one man and one woman.

Fred Sainz, the Human Rights Campaign's vice president for communications, said he expects Obama to eventually declare his support for gay marriage. And even if that doesn't happen before next year's election, he said the president's other actions on gay rights issued should not be ignored.

"He really has been an incredible champion for the issues that are important to us," Sainz said. "It's fair to say we've made more progress in the past two years than we have in the past 40 years combined."

In his remarks Saturday night, Obama implored the supportive crowd of 3,200 to stand with him in his re-election campaign, declaring: "This is a contest of values."

ABC Sports says Pawlenty violated copyright with ‘Miracle on Ice’ footage(Video)

ABC Sports may slap presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty with a cease-and-desist letter for improperly using its footage in a political advertisement, a company official told The Des Moines Register today.

“It’s a violation of our copyright and exclusive proprietary rights,” said

Louise Argianas, director of rights and clearances for ABC Sports.

The struggling Pawlenty campaign launched “The American Comeback,” a television commercial with a down-but-not-out theme, in Iowa on Wednesday.

The 30-second spot uses TV footage from the so-called “Miracle on Ice,” the hockey game in which the U.S. team beat the supposedly invincible Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Argianas said in a telephone interview that ABC Sports retains exclusive U.S. rights to that footage. She said she was upset when she saw Pawlenty’s ad for the first time this afternoon.

“And they used our announcer’s voice, which they are not allowed to do, either,” she said, referring to play-by-play announcer Al Michaels. “Which I’m going to have to call his agent about.”

Argianas initially said she intended to have a lawyer send the cease-and-desist letter Friday. But tonight, officials at ESPN, which oversees ABC Sports, walked back that statement saying that, after a larger conversation, they’re undecided about whether to send such a letter.

ESPN spokesman Chris LaPlaca said: “Neither ABC nor ESPN has asked the Pawlenty campaign to remove any footage from their video, although neither ABC nor ESPN licensed the video to them or authorized its use.”

Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant defended the use of the footage, part of a much-revered piece of sports history.

“The campaign’s ‘Miracle on Ice’ advertisement was carefully reviewed for legal compliance, and we believe fully complies with the ‘fair use’ doctrine,” Conant said. “We respect ABC’s concern and look forward to responding to their inquiry.”

The rest of the ad features Pawlenty, who played high school hockey and still dabbles at an amateur level, in an ice arena in his hometown of South St. Paul. He talks about the country’s need for a leader with a proven record.

Three weeks out from the potentially make-or-break Republican straw poll in Ames on Aug. 13, Pawlenty is doing an 18-city “Road to Results” campaign tour in Iowa this week, aiming to rally support. He also has scheduled more Iowa events next week.

The political establishment and pundits have long considered Pawlenty a serious and well-qualified candidate to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama.

But Michele Bachmann, a fellow Minnesotan considered a fringe candidate just a few months ago, has ridden a wave of popularity after a strong performance in a June New Hampshire debate and a neck-and-neck finish with presumed national front-runner Mitt Romney in the Register’s June Iowa Poll.

Pawlenty placed sixth in the poll, he was panned for his performance in the debate, and his campaign fundraising numbers are considered mediocre.

It’s that narrative — that his chances of winning the Republican nomination are in peril — that Pawlenty addresses in this Iowa advertisement.

“Out here, you’re tested,” he says in the ad. “You face an opponent experts say can’t be beat. You fight, you bleed, you prevail.”

At the end, he adds, “Join me and prove the experts wrong.”

Bachmann Says She Is Not A 'Flake'

Chris Wallace pushes Michele Bachmann on how she'll make the transition from cable news flamethrower to presidential candidate:
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says a new poll showing her near the top of the GOP presidential pack in Iowa is proof that voters see her as a serious candidate.
“I am very serious about what I want to do,” Bachmann said on “Fox News Sunday,” saying that voters were

impressed with her recent New Hampshire debate appearance. “People recognize that I’m serious.”
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But host Chris Wallace pushed Bachmann on her history of making controversial statements and asked whether she was ready to be a national candidate.
“Are you a flake?” Wallace asked
“That would be insulting to say something like that,” responded Bachmann, pointing to her legislative and professional record. “Of course a person has to be careful with what their words are. And now I will have an opportunity to speak fully.”
This doesn't really get at the issue of Bachmann's zero major legislative accomplishments, but it does offer at least a hint of how she'll parry some of the more obviously skeptical, process-oriented questions about her preparedness for the campaign.
And if you close your eyes and imagine Chris Wallace is Charlie Gibson, and Michele Bachmann sounds a little less Minnesotan and a little more interested in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline ...
UPDATE: Shots have been fired, via Alex Isenstadt:
Bachmann said she was “disappointed” that Romney had yet to sign a pro-life pledge that the conservative group Susan B. Anthony List had asked 2012 contenders to sign.
“Gov. Romney has a history of changing his position” on abortion, she said.
Asked what Romney’s position on abortion was, Bachmann responded: “It’s up to Mitt Romney to say what he is.”

In Boston gangster story, a tale of 2 brothers(Photo-Video)

BOSTON—It has all the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy: two brothers whose lives diverge radically—one into an underworld of crime, the other into the upper echelons of state politics—yet whose fates remain inextricably linked.
Generations of Boston residents have watched that story play out in the real-life drama of former Democratic Senate President William "Billy" Bulger and his older brother, alleged gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

At the heart of the story, at least for the younger Bulger, was a fierce loyalty to family and the shared experience of growing up in the working class Irish-American enclave of South Boston, where the line between brawling and bare-knuckled politics was easily blurred.
The two brothers also shared one more thing: a willingness to use whatever power was available to them.
In William's case, that was a savviness for street-smart politics that propelled him into one of the most powerful positions on Beacon Hill, where he earned a reputation for arm-twisting that rarely saw him lose a battle.
For Whitey, according an inch-thick pile of indictments, that power came at the barrel of a gun and a coterie of enforcers.
Whitey's surprising arrest after 16 years on the run to face 19 murder charges this week has again thrust the brothers' story into the spotlight.
It's a relationship that would dog William Bulger throughout his career, ultimately forcing his resignation as president of the
University of Massachusetts system in 2003 after he testified before a congressional committee investigating the FBI's ties to his brother, who by then had been revealed as an FBI informant.
After receiving immunity, William acknowledged receiving a call from Whitey shortly after he fled.
"The tone of it was 'Don't believe everything that is being said about me,'" William Bulger said. "I think he asked me to tell everybody he was OK. ... I think I said I hope this has a happy ending."
Two years earlier, William Bulger had told a grand jury he didn't urge his brother to surrender because he didn't "think it would be in his interest to do so," according to a transcript of his testimony obtained by The Boston Globe.
"It's my hope that I'm never helpful to anyone against him," the younger Bulger said, according to the transcript. "I don't feel an obligation to help everyone to catch him."
Among those pressing William Bulger to resign from his university post was then-Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.
For William Bulger it was a role as defender of his brother that he'd long ago accepted, even as Whitey allegedly disappeared into an increasingly violent criminal netherworld.
In his 1996 memoir "While the Music Lasts," William Bulger described Whitey, five years his senior, as being in "a constant state of revolt," and as "restless as a claustrophobic in a dark closet."
Whitey kept himself in top physical shape, neither smoke nor drank, shunned addictive drugs, and had "an abundance of good humor and a wildly creative talent for impish mischief," his brother wrote.
But William Bulger also said Whitey found himself in trouble with police and once ran away to join the circus—signing on with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a roustabout. The older brother joined the Air Force but had trouble conforming and was later discharged.
"He was just being Jim," Bulger wrote.
William Bulger said that it was around this time that Whitey fell in with a crowd involved in bank holdups and in 1956 was convicted of involvement in three bank robberies and sentenced to 20 years. He served part of what turned out to be an 11-year sentence in Alcatraz.
Four years after Whitey's conviction, William was first elected to the Massachusetts House.
In the years following Whitey's release, William blamed the press for spreading what he called "lurid allegations" about his brother, speculating that some of the "dark rumors" were nothing more than political attacks on him.
As Whitey's criminal activities allegedly turned more brutal, William Bulger rose through the Statehouse ranks. In 1970 he won a Senate seat and eight years later was elected Senate president by the 40-member chamber, a position he would hold for a record 17 years.
Even after Whitey fled in 1995 of the eve of his indictment on racketeering charges, William remained loyal, accusing overzealous prosecutors of buying testimony with promises of early release from prison.
"It has been known for many years that a 'get out of jail' card has been available to anyone who would give testimony against my brother," he wrote.
At the same time, William was earning a reputation as a tough-minded leader who rewarded supporters and punished critics.
Warren Tolman, a former Democratic senator who was among those critics, served briefly under him.
Tolman said that although he often found himself at loggerheads with William Bulger, he felt Bulger treated him fairly and could be "a charming guy" when he wanted.
Still, Bulger wasn't shy about using his political might.
Tolman said after he was able to prevent a transportation funding proposal from passing by a single vote, Bulger, who opposed the measure, used his muscle to flip a vote, forcing the proposal through.
"By and large he got his way whenever he wanted," Tolman said. "You knew that if you took him on it was going to be an uphill battle."
Tolman said he never recalled open discussions about Bulger's brother even his Senate colleagues "certainly knew of the legend of Whitey Bulger."
"I don't think anyone ever realized the scope of the dastardly deeds he's accused of," Tolman said.
Occasionally the lines between politics and the underworld blurred.
In 1994, then-state Sen. William Keating led a group of like-minded liberal lawmakers in an attempt to oust Bulger as Senate president.
Although the challenge failed, the campaign against Keating was fierce. Keating said his supporters from South Boston told him that Whitey had paid people to travel to Keating's district to hold signs for his Republican opponent.
Keating said he had his own brief run-in with the reputed mobster, who approached him and lit into him with a barrage of profanity-laced insults for trying to take down his brother.
Keating, who went on to become Norfolk District Attorney before being elected to Congress last year, said he's friends with a family who lost a loved one to Whitey's violence, according to the indictments against him.
"There's a tendency to glamorize abuse of power and a tendency to glamorize the gangster life, but as a district attorney I was there as they were unearthing the bodies of (Whitey Bulger's) victims," Keating said. "It's not funny and it's not glamorous. It was savage and it was brutal."
In a written statement following Whitey's arrest this week, William Bulger said he wished to "express my sympathy to all the families hurt by the calamitous circumstances of this case."
Then, during Whitey's brief appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday, the aging brothers had a fleeting reunion of sorts. Whitey, now 81, smiled at his younger brother and mouthed the word 'Hi.' William smiled back.


William, speaking briefly to reporters as he left the courthouse, appeared emotional.

Analysis: Mitt Romney leaves GOP debate unscathed

If Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich and other Republican presidential hopefuls feel they need to close the gap on front-runner Mitt Romney, they didn't show it at the New Hampshire debate. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who leads in the early polls and fundraising efforts, had a surprisingly easy two hours Monday night. He looked calm and steady, criticizing President Barack Obama on the economy and health care while rarely being forced on the defensive despite some well-known vulnerabilities of his own.

With New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary half a year away, the seven GOP candidates seemed more eager to introduce themselves to voters in the televised event than to start ripping each other. They rarely differed on major policies. All agreed that Obama has botched the economy and doesn't deserve a second term. Near the end of the debate, Romney said anyone on the stage would be a better president than Obama. That was high praise for little-known candidate Herman Cain, libertarian hero Ron Paul and former Sen. Rick Santorum, who badly lost his last re-election bid in Pennsylvania. It also reflected how friendly everyone had been to Romney. If any candidate had nearly as pleasant an evening as Romney, it was Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. She made maximum use of CNN's live telecast to announce she was formally entering the race. And she showed a feisty but folksy style, perhaps grabbing an audience that many once thought would go to Sarah Palin, who was not present. Before the debate, there were signs that Romney might be pressed harder on his record, especially the Massachusetts health care law that requires people to obtain health insurance. On Sunday, Pawlenty had derided the state law as "Obamneycare," because it served as a model for Obama's 2010 health care overhaul, which many conservatives detest. Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, seemed loath to revisit the issue Monday. CNN moderator John King pressed him three times to explain why he had used the term "Obamneycare." Finally, Pawlenty replied somewhat weakly that it was "a reflection of the president's comments that he designed Obamacare on the Massachusetts health care plan." King had no more luck enticing the other six contenders to comment on Romney's former support for legalized abortion, gay rights and gun control. He has switched his position on all those issues since his days as a Senate candidate and one-term governor in liberal-leaning Massachusetts. King asked whether anyone on the stage felt Romney's authenticity was "an issue in the campaign." After a pause, Cain said, "Case closed," and the discussion turned to other topics. The crowded stage and tight time constraints made it difficult to tease out meaningful differences between the candidates. Bachmann said that as president, she would not interfere with states that recognize same-sex marriages. Santorum and Romney said they support a constitutional amendment limiting marriage in all the states to one man and one woman. Bachmann jumped back in, saying she supported that too. But she had been asked earlier whether she would try to challenge state laws on a one-by-one basis, a different question. Gingrich, the former House speaker who suffered a wholesale campaign staff defection last week, appeared rather grim and determined to show his toughness. In the opening greetings, when most candidates said little more than hello, Gingrich vowed "to end the Obama depression." That set the tone for an evening focused on the president, leaving Romney and his fellow Republicans unbruised. "It was a very friendly debate to say the least, which helps Romney," Republican adviser Greg Mueller said. "No one took center stage and emerged as the main challenger to Romney." A stiff challenge to Romney from the right "is there for the taking," Mueller said, "but did not happen tonight." Summer, fall and Christmas will pass before the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary take place. Romney's rivals have plenty of time to mount their attacks. But on Monday in Manchester, they showed they are not ready yet.

Mitt Romney finally shows up in Iowa

Mitt Romney made a belated 2012 campaign debut in Iowa on Friday, dipping a brown-loafered toe into the state that casts the first votes in the presidential contest. Romney, who will formally enter the Republican race next week, has largely shunned Iowa since falling short here in the 2008 caucuses. He spent much of the day bobbing and weaving around questions about his commitment to Iowa. "My guess is you'll have plenty of opportunity to see me. I care about Iowa," he told a midday audience in Des Moines,

after refusing to say whether he'd compete in a nonbinding straw vote this summer or go all-out in the caucuses next winter. But if there was any doubt about whether he'd abandon Iowa altogether, as some have speculated, Romney may have put it to rest when he answered affirmatively a quintessential Iowa caucus question: about government subsidies for ethanol, the fuel produced from corn and other farm products. "I support the subsidy of ethanol. I believe ethanol's an important part of our energy solution in this country," he told a supporter from West Des Moines. The former Massachusetts governor has been described as unusually weak for a candidate many see as the Republican front-runner. And his somewhat diffident approach to Iowa — and to campaigning in general — is part of an attempt to lower expectations in his second White House try. Romney told Iowans that his candidacy was tailored to these tough times. "I'm not going to be flying all over the country and making a big folderol," Romney said. "I know that keeping a lean campaign is part of winning in the final analysis." Four years ago, he invested heavily in Iowa organization and advertising, and his distant second-place finish was regarded as a setback. Though he is being cagier this time, his reluctance to compete fully is seen by Iowans as a potential threat to their state's status in the nomination process, a matter of considerable civic pride and local economic influence. Romney did predict he'd win the state, without specifying whether he meant the caucuses or the general election. "What you can know is, I'll be here debating, I'll be here being interviewed, and I'll be here speaking, and you'll get to know me even better than you did last time," he said to tepid applause from an audience that included some 2008 supporters. His remarks, at a presidential candidate series forum sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership, were sharply critical of President Obama's economic leadership. Romney described Obama's election as a failed experiment in choosing a president without experience in private business. "They say that officially the recession is over, but the jobs haven't come back and the foreclosures are continuing," Romney said. "His agenda failed." Romney says he's positioned to do better in 2012 because voter concerns about jobs and economic growth are "right in my wheelhouse." He is selling his background as a businessman and venture capitalist, contending that creating jobs and making America more competitive in the world is "the sort of stuff I do and I know." GOP veterans say the contest is as wide-open in Iowa as elsewhere. "Any one of the top five or six candidates, with the right kind of organization, could surface and surprise everyone," said Marlys Popma, former executive director of the Iowa Republican Party and a leading evangelical Christian activist. She is neutral this year. There may be good reasons for Romney to give Iowa short shrift. The religious and social conservatives who dominate the state's Republican caucuses are considered less friendly to his establishment brand. And his early-state strategy centers on the leadoff primary in New Hampshire, where he has a vacation home and will declare himself a candidate on Thursday. But a decision to essentially skip Iowa would run the risk of reinforcing perceptions that he is less than a dominant contender for the nomination. And with his fundraising advantage — and the absence of 2008 caucus winner Mike Huckabee — Romney may be tempted. For the Republican candidates, the first test of Iowa strength will be the nonbinding straw vote in August. Romney spent lavishly on the event last time — winning it can cost in excess of $1 million — and managed to win. Though he dodged the issue Friday, he is not expected to compete. Some of his supporters from last time worry that a decision to bypass Iowa would hurt him down the road. "A fifth- or sixth-place finish in Iowa would be devastating," said Kim Schmett, 58, an attorney from Clive who said he might not back Romney again if he didn't compete here. "That's my concern with Romney. There are a lot of people who like him. But if they don't see him, it's hard to keep the support."

Romney seeks to address health care woes

Call it an attempt to address an obvious political vulnerability.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Saturday derided President Barack Obama's health care law — modeled in some ways after one the ex-governor signed in Massachusetts — as a misguided and egregious effort to seize more power for Washington.

"Obamacare is bad law, bad policy, and it is bad for America's families," Romney declared. "And that's the reason why President Obama will be a one-term president." He vowed to repeal it if he were ever in a position to do so, and drew hearty cheers from his Republican Party audience.

Then, raising the Massachusetts law, Romney argued that the solution for the unique problems of one state isn't the right prescription for the nation as a whole, and he acknowledged: "Our experiment wasn't perfect — some things worked, some didn't, and some things I'd change."

"One thing I would never do is to usurp the constitutional power of states with a one-size-fits-all federal takeover," Romney said, again earning applause. "The federal government isn't the answer for running health care any more than it's the answer for running Amtrak or the post office."

With that, he used his first appearance before New Hampshire Republicans since the midterm elections to start addressing head-on the issue that's certain to be a hurdle in his all-but-certain presidential campaign.

Romney's states-rights pitch is one that GOP primary voters are likely to hear over the next year as he tries to persuade them to overlook his flaws because he alone is the strongest Republican to challenge Obama on the country's top issue — the economy.

The failed candidate of 2008 is expected to formally announce a second candidacy later this spring. Campaign signs posted along the road leading to the hotel where he was speaking may have gotten a bit ahead of him. They said "Mitt Romney for President" and suggested that the theme would be "True Strength for America's Future."

Romney and his aides insisted they were old signs.

Among Romney's biggest challenges: explaining to GOP primary voters why he signed a law that became the foundation for Obama's national overhaul. Passed by Congress last year, Obama's health care law has enraged conservatives who view it as a costly government expansion and intrusion into their lives because it mandates insurance for most Americans.

Romney all but ignored the topic in his last major public appearance last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

But, since then, the similarities with Romney's 2006 law in Massachusetts have increasingly been dogging him.

Obama praised the efforts in Massachusetts during a meeting with governors at the White House, saying: "I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care by giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions. He's right."

Also, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, an Obama friend, said Romney deserves a lot of credit on health care. "One of the best things he did was to be the co-author of our health care reform, which has been a model for national health care reform," he said.

The praise from Democrats provides fodder for Romney's Republican primary opponents; some are already heaping on the criticism.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says in his new book: "If our goal in health care reform is better care at lower cost, then we should take a lesson from RomneyCare, which shows that socialized medicine does not work." It was a play on the word that conservative critics use to describe the national law: Obamacare.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who is likely to run for president against Romney, took a shot at Romney when he testified before a House committee reviewing Obama's health care overhaul. He lumped Romney in with a late liberal icon and an Obama friend in saying: "Senator (Edward M.) Kennedy and Governor Romney and then Governor Patrick, if that's what Massachusetts wants, we're happy for them. We don't want that. That's not good for us."

A GOP rising star, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also weighed in, saying of Romney's law: "It's not that dissimilar to Obamacare. And you probably know I'm not a big fan of Obamacare."

All that was the backdrop as Romney took the stage at the Carroll County Lincoln Day Dinner at the Attitash Grand Summit Hotel in northern New Hampshire.

First, he poked fun at the criticism that seems to be coming from all sides, saying "you may have noticed that the president and his people spend more time talking about me and Massachusetts health care than Entertainment Tonight spends talking about Charlie Sheen."

Then he turned serious and provided an explanation, emphasizing states' rights to a crowd from the "Live Free Or Die" state.

His coming candidacy may hinge on whether they buy it.