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If it's a sunny weekend in Washington, chances are a motorcade will be leaving the White House for the golf course. President Obama typically golfs with the same small circle of friends and aides. One of his rules for a day on the course: No talking politics.
That changes Saturday. House Speaker John Boehner is joining the president for 18 holes. Vice President Biden and Republican Gov. John Kasich of Ohio are also coming along, turning this particular game into a much anticipated "golf summit."
Horse racing may be the "sport of kings," but when it comes to presidents, they play golf.
"It is the most popular sport that presidents play. Fifteen of the last 18 American presidents were golfers, starting with William Howard Taft," New York Times correspondent Don Van Natta Jr. says. He wrote a book about presidential golfers called First Off the Tee.
"I think presidents love the camaraderie they find out on the links," Van Natta says. "They also like the fact that they can leave the press and the public behind on the first tee — and they don't have to see them again until the 18th green."
A Game Of Politics
Occasionally a president doesn't leave the press behind, sometimes with disastrous results.
President George W. Bush no doubt wishes he could take a mulligan on a moment from 2002, after a suicide bombing in Israel.
"I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive," he said, thwacking the ball.
Years later, Bush told an interviewer that he gave up golf during his presidency. He said during a war it sends the wrong signal.
Obama has not had the same concern. Still, Van Natta says, this president is less avid on the course than other wartime commanders in chief.

Congress approved a four-year extension of expiring provisions of the Patriot Act on Thursday, overcoming mounting opposition from both political parties to narrowly avoid a lapse in the terrorist surveillance law.

President Obama, attending an international summit in France, made plans to be awake at 5:45 a.m. local time Friday to review and approve the bill, directing that it be signed in Washington by automatic pen before the provisions expired at midnight EDT, with just minutes to spare.The administration had warned Congress that any interruption in the surveillance authority would threaten national security.

Passage came late Thursday after a protracted political struggle that played out over several months, a sign of increased unease with powers granted to the federal government to investigate citizens and foreigners in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Conservative Republicans, many of them elected with backing from the "tea party" movement, and liberal Democrats resisted attempts to extend the three expiring provisions of the act.

Dramatizing the debate this week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) held up Senate floor proceedings to protest what he characterized as an unconstitutional overreach by the federal government into private affairs.

Earlier this year, unexpected opposition from a block of House Republicans thwarted a short-term extension of the retiring provisions, temporarily derailing the bill in that chamber.

Democrats similarly have opposed the post-Sept. 11 government authority, and this week's standoff risked an expiration of the provisions at midnight.

"We all want security — nobody wants what happened on 9/11 to happen again," Paul said. "But I think we don't need to simplify the debate to such an extent that we simply say we have to give up our liberties."

Supporters said that extending the provisions would ensure no disruption in the government's ability to conduct surveillance that they say has proved crucial to the ability of intelligence agencies to amass information vital to keeping the country safe.

LONDON (Agencies) - US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron extended their support to Pakistan in its fight against terrorism, making it clear that they don’t intend to ‘walk away’ from the beleaguered state reeling from terror attacks.
Addressing a joint press conference on Wednesday under open skies in garden of Lancaster House, Cameron and Obama termed Pakistan crucial for peace in Afghanistan.
Cameron said that allies must work with Pakistan more closely than ever, not turn away. He said Pakistan has suffered mightily in the fight against extremism.
“People are asking questions about our relationship, so we need to be clear: Pakistan has suffered more from terrorism than any other country in the world. Their enemy is our enemy,” Cameron said.
“Far from walking away we’ve got to work even more closely with them,” he said.
UK Prime Minister said the US killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was “a strike right at the heart of international terrorism” and that Britain and the US must work closely with Pakistan in the future.
“We can defeat al Qaeda,” Cameron said.
President Obama said there was need of close collaboration between Islamabad and Kabul governments.
“Al Qaeda is as much Pakistan’s enemy as it is ours,” Obama added. He said Taliban were never well-wishers of Pakistan and Afghanistan and they must respect constitution of Afghanistan by dropping their weapons and breaking connection with Al Qaeda. “We would not allow terrorists to make safe havens in Afghanistan,” US President said. Both Britain and US agreed on the need to give top priority in the coming months to efforts to engage Taliban insurgents in a peace process in Afghanistan. “Now is the moment to step up our efforts to reach a political settlement,” Cameron said.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama may pick Army Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey as the U.S. military's top officer, filling a crucial post that in recent years has served as the main point of contact with Pakistan's military, sources said on Wednesday.

Dempsey is a leading candidate for the high-profile job of chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dempsey, who commanded troops during the Iraq war and has broad support in Congress, would replace Admiral Mike Mullen in the post. Mullen is a holdover from the Bush administration who has been in the role of top U.S. military officer since 2007 and is due to step down on Oct. 1.

As Army chief of staff, Dempsey is the top officer in the largest branch of the U.S. military. He has served in the post only since last month.

The nomination of Dempsey would be the last major change expected in Obama's national security team following the president's April announcement of new picks to lead the Defense Department and the CIA.

If confirmed, Dempsey would work with Leon Panetta, now the head of the CIA and Obama's choice to replace the departing Robert Gates as defense secretary. Obama picked Army General David Petraeus, commander of the Afghanistan war effort, to replace Panetta at the spy agency.

Dempsey's selection would alter the chemistry of a team that will help set strategy in Afghanistan, the Middle East and for looming defense budget battles in Washington. He also would be involved in plans to withdraw U.S. forces entirely from Iraq by the end of this year.

Mullen has worked to improve ties with Pakistan and served as the main interlocutor with Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.