Obama Administration

WASHINGTON - From the moment Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, he has enjoyed a reputation as a politician with a claim to the high ground. Now, even supporters are questioning whether his administration abused the offices of government for political gain. "Those who are found to have been responsible for this betrayal of public trust should be fired," Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) said of revelations that IRS workers targeted Republican-leaning advocacy groups for extra scrutiny.

A command center for military drones will open this fall at the Horsham Air Guard Base, bringing a controversial instrument of U.S. foreign policy into the Philadelphia area. The ground-control station for the remotely controlled aircraft will open Oct. 1 and be established by the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Wing, the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs announced Monday. It is expected to create about 250 jobs, including 75 full-time positions.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is demanding that the Obama administration rescind what he calls its "flawed and dangerous" decision requiring virtually all employers to offer employees health coverage that includes contraceptives and "abortion-inducing drugs. " In a letter he asked to be read at all weekend Masses in 266 area parishes, Chaput joined many other bishops nationally in criticizing the administration for undermining "both the principle of religious conscience and the First Amendment to the Constitution in an unprecedented way. " Unless the ruling is overturned, "faithful Catholics will be forced either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees," the archbishop said.

TODAY AT NOON, as Barack Hussein Obama places his left hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible and raises his right arm, let us all take the oath of office with him. We all have a role in the Obama administration, no matter who got our vote on Nov. 4. We all have a responsibility to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. From the wasteland of the so-called "ownership society" (Translation: "You're on your own"), our new president has led us to the threshold of common purpose.

WASHINGTON - President Obama seemed to lose control of his second-term agenda even before he was sworn in, when a school massacre led him to lift gun control to the fore. Now, as he tries to pivot from a stinging defeat on that issue and push forward on others, the president finds himself rocked by multiple controversies that are demoralizing his allies, emboldening his political foes, and posing huge distractions for all. It's unclear how long he will be dogged by inquiries into last year's deadly attack in Libya, the IRS targeting of tea party groups, and now the seizure of Associated Press phone records in a leak investigation.

As the nation's top law-enforcement official, Eric Holder is privy to all kinds of sensitive information. But he seems to be proud of how little he knows. Why didn't his Justice Department inform the Associated Press, as the law requires, before pawing through reporters' phone records? "I do not know," the attorney general told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday afternoon, "why that was or was not done. I simply don't have a factual basis to answer that question. " Why didn't the DOJ seek the AP's cooperation, as the law also requires, before issuing subpoenas?

This week, I expect to hear if I will be going to prison for 15 years. The verdict on my appeal, as well as those of 19 other medics convicted in a sham Bahraini military trial last year, is due on Thursday. The Bahraini regime targeted us for treating protesters who were injured in democracy protests. I lived and worked in the United States for many years, some spent studying at Widener University in Chester. It's where I learned to volunteer, and last year, when demonstrations erupted in Bahrain, that's what I did. Salmaniya Medical Complex, the country's main public hospital, was overwhelmed by protesters hurt by regime forces, so I went to the emergency room to help treat them.

WASHINGTON - Political considerations influenced the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used five days after the deadly Sept. 11 assault in Benghazi, Libya, with State Department and other senior administration officials asking that references to terror groups and prior warnings be deleted, according to department e-mails. The latest disclosures Friday raised new questions about whether the Obama administration tried to play down any terrorist factor in the attack on a diplomatic compound just weeks before the November presidential election.

From our endorsement editorial: 'AN OBAMA administration would lower the tone of the rhetoric that separates us. "As New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has said, Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who has the skill and eloquence to help us raise our eyes and our aspirations beyond individual, personal concerns, beyond religion or region or race or gender, beyond our well-founded fears to a shared destiny. "Most candidates claim that they will change the way business is done in Washington.

As the nation's top law-enforcement official, Eric Holder is privy to all kinds of sensitive information. But he seems to be proud of how little he knows. Why didn't his Justice Department inform the Associated Press, as the law requires, before pawing through reporters' phone records? "I do not know," the attorney general told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday afternoon, "why that was or was not done. I simply don't have a factual basis to answer that question. " Why didn't the DOJ seek the AP's cooperation, as the law also requires, before issuing subpoenas?

WASHINGTON - From the moment Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, he has enjoyed a reputation as a politician with a claim to the high ground. Now, even supporters are questioning whether his administration abused the offices of government for political gain. "Those who are found to have been responsible for this betrayal of public trust should be fired," Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) said of revelations that IRS workers targeted Republican-leaning advocacy groups for extra scrutiny.

IN WASHINGTON, as in any seat of power, most acts of folly begin with hubris. Government leaders usually don't intend to do the wrong thing, but they become so certain of their purpose that they are blinded by their pride. Perhaps that's the root of the problem infecting the Justice Department, where officials secretly obtained months of telephone records of journalists working for the Associated Press. That Attorney General Eric Holder or anyone else there could find that action acceptable is frightening, to say the least.

WASHINGTON - President Obama seemed to lose control of his second-term agenda even before he was sworn in, when a school massacre led him to lift gun control to the fore. Now, as he tries to pivot from a stinging defeat on that issue and push forward on others, the president finds himself rocked by multiple controversies that are demoralizing his allies, emboldening his political foes, and posing huge distractions for all. It's unclear how long he will be dogged by inquiries into last year's deadly attack in Libya, the IRS targeting of tea party groups, and now the seizure of Associated Press phone records in a leak investigation.

WASHINGTON - Political considerations influenced the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used five days after the deadly Sept. 11 assault in Benghazi, Libya, with State Department and other senior administration officials asking that references to terror groups and prior warnings be deleted, according to department e-mails. The latest disclosures Friday raised new questions about whether the Obama administration tried to play down any terrorist factor in the attack on a diplomatic compound just weeks before the November presidential election.

Sometimes the absurdities of an official policy or action are so clear that they need not be elucidated. Such is the case with the Obama administration's maintenance of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Last week, President Obama told reporters that he intends to once again press Congress to close the facility, as he had promised to do in his first campaign. But there is no indication that the president intends to devote any of his remaining political capital to the task - any more than he did during his first term.

WASHINGTON - Despite President Obama's new vow, closing the Guantanamo Bay prison is still a tough sell in Congress. So the White House may look toward smaller steps like transferring some terror suspects back overseas. Shutting down the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba is a goal that has eluded Obama since he took office. In his first week, he signed an executive order for its closure, but Congress has used its budgetary power to block detainees from being moved to the United States.

HERE ARE three things the Obama administration has done that you probably didn't know about: Ever struggle with those accordion-style rubber sleeves on nozzles at the gas station? The sleeve - technically a "vapor recovery nozzle" - was required by the Environmental Protection Agency to keep gasoline vapors from leaking into the air. But most cars and trucks now have technology that does the job better, so last year, the EPA abolished the nozzle requirement. Because each sleeve-equipped nozzle can cost as much as $300, the change will save gas stations thousands of dollars.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is expected to give Syrian rebels broader nonlethal military assistance, including body armor and night-vision goggles, while stopping short of providing weapons to forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The timing and scope of the stepped-up aid package is unclear. President Obama has not given final approval, and an announcement is not imminent, said a senior administration official, who requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the internal deliberations.

WASHINGTON - After more than four years of diplomacy, the Obama administration is struggling to contain the nuclear threats posed by North Korea and Iran, a pair of nations already isolated internationally and resistant to the economic incentives offered in return for an end to their programs. The nuclear ambitions of both countries predate the Obama administration, which has focused its efforts on international diplomacy to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to stop North Korea from restarting its once-dormant nuclear program.