Obama arrives in London, 1st leg of Europe trip

LONDON – President Barack Obama embarked on his Europe trip Tuesday, with a hefty economic and national security agenda for his first journey across the Atlantic since taking office two months ago.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama arrived in London Tuesday night local time. First up for the president was a summit of the world's economic powers to address the global financial meltdown.

Obama planned to meet with leaders of Britain, Russia and China — major players in the U.S. financial system. He also scheduled meetings with leaders of India and South Korea while in London.

During his eight-day, five-country trip, Obama is scheduled to meet with European leaders who split with the United States over the war in Iraq and the treatment of suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, under President George W. Bush.

He also will participate in a NATO summit marking the 60 years since the alliance was founded to blunt Soviet aggression in Europe.

Obama plans to attend international summits on urgent topics, including the downward-spiraling fight against terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also will make his first stop in a Muslim nation, Turkey.

Wildly popular around the globe but relatively inexperienced in foreign affairs, Obama and the first lady also will squeeze in a Buckingham Palace audience with Queen Elizabeth II. He will deliver a speech in France on the trans-Atlantic relationship and an address in Prague on weapons proliferation. And he will host a round-table session with students in Turkey.

U.S. voters don't blame Obama for economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama benefits from a broadly held perception that others bear the bulk of responsibility for state of the U.S. economy, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll published on Tuesday.

Asked who was responsible for the economic meltdown, 80 percent in the poll blamed banks, financial institutions and corporations. Some 70 percent also blamed consumers for taking on too much debt and the former Bush administration for lax regulation. Only 26 percent said the Obama administration was not doing enough to turn the situation around.

Two-thirds of respondents approve of the way Obama is handling the presidency, and 60 percent approve of the way he is handling the economy.

Sixty-four percent said were confident Obama's policies will improve the economy, down from 72 percent just before he took office in January.

Forty two percent said the country was now heading in the right direction, a five-year high. Late last year, when then-President George W. Bush was in its final months, as many as nine in 10 American said the country was heading in the wrong direction.

The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Thursday through Sunday and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Wizards fan, President Obama talk a little trash

Unless you've been living under a rock (and it's okay to admit if you have, I'm told rent is cheap), you probably heard that President Barack Obama sat courtside at D.C.'s Verizon Center Friday night, watching his hometown Chicago Bulls take on the Washington Wizards.

The First Fan drank beer, read the game program and left early (with four minutes left) during a blowout. "All common American activity," as Tom Ziller put it, "except most of us don't sit courtside, nor are we important enough that the NBA will hold up a tip-off until we get to our seats." (Speak for yourself, Z!)

But Obama's night of "Joe Plumber Americana" didn't stop there. He also exchanged a few playful words with a diehard Wizards fan sitting a few rows back. Yes, that's right, the 44th President of the United States joined in a little trash talk. Awesome.

The vocal instigator: Miles Rawls (above, standing, "heckling"), the commissioner of the Barry Farms' Goodman League — a big-time summer circuit in Southeast D.C., which has starred Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Durant, among others.

Dan Steinberg of the D.C. Sports Bog, in a fun must-read, talked with Rawes about trading barbs with the President.

Here's a snippet from the interview:

[Rawls] said his chatter, like always, was unscripted, "right off the top of my head. I just had to see how he was gonna take it," Rawls said. "Once I knew he was a big trash talker, too, about them Bulls, that means the gloves came off." [...]

"I wasn't heckling the President and I don't heckle the players. I talk about their weaknesses. We was having a good time. He was talking trash and I was talking trash. I couldn't believe he was that laidback and real. I loved it."

And while they talked through much of the game, Rawls — who had never met a President — said no lines were crossed. "I wasn't disrespectful," he said. "I know my limits."

So, for example, he told the President that if he was rooting for the visitors, he was "gonna have to keep it to a low roar, because we're cheering for the Wizards over here." Obama, in turn, repeatedly needled Rawls about the Wizards' habit of letting leads evaporate, especially when the Bulls made a run.

"We was just going back and forth," Rawls said. "Once Chicago started coming back, he told me, 'Now I think you need to sit down.' When Tyrus Thomas dunked on somebody, he turned around, was talking smack. Then JaVale McGee had that alley-oop, and he gave me the high five. We was just supporting each others' team, having a good time."

Click here for the full interview.

What the GOP Really Wants: Obama's Autograph

Ever since he began his uphill battle for the Presidency two years ago, Barack Obama has been getting mobbed for photos and autographs, and that enthusiasm and passion has only grown since he entered the Oval Office. But even President Obama must be a little taken aback by the identity of some of his well-wishers on Capitol Hill of late. After his address to Congress last Tuesday, the same House Republicans who had decried his stimulus plan as the work of just another tax-and-spend liberal crowded around him like starstruck tween girls at a Jonas Brothers concert, all just to get his John Hancock on their copy of the speech.

Members of Congress have always gotten autographed photos of themselves with the President from bill signings and other events - keepsakes that are then prominently displayed in their offices. It is unusual, though, for representatives and senators to cross the aisle. None of the Democrats I spoke with had anything signed from President Bush - except for Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, who has five large framed photos of Bush in his office, which probably speaks more to his strained relationship with his own party than any Bush popularity. So why the crossover with Obama? "It reflects the fact that although their leadership is stuck in a negative mode, the Party of No, their membership is more open minded," says Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who had her copy signed so she could frame it and hang it in her offices. "It shows that his attempts to reach across the aisle are having some effect." (See pictures of the best Obama Inaugural merchandise.)

That may be wishful thinking, though. It's possible that Republicans, no matter how much they may disagree with his politics, recognize the groundbreaking nature of Obama's Presidency, and would like to have a little piece of history. It's probably more likely, though, that members of Congress simply know Obama is still riding an incredible wave of popularity, something no politician has ever been above attaching himself to. (See pictures of Obama on Flickr.)

All the GOP autograph-seeking does beg the question, what exactly does a Republican member actually do with a signed copy of a popular Democratic President's address to Congress? Some Republicans say they got them for their kids, some for charity and others just wanted a collectors' item. "It's an honor just to be there, it is the President of the United States after all, no matter the party," says Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican who plans to give his speech to two students from a school in his district who'd visited him earlier in the week. But Murphy makes clear that getting an autograph simply helps get you a little more face time with the President.

"It's an important opportunity to get 10-20-30 seconds with the President. For me, I talked to him about health care, told him I wanted to work with him. Getting something signed gives you, perhaps, 10 more seconds." (Read "Town Overboard: A Conservative Gripe About Obamamania.")

Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, rushed out after the speech to meet his two daughters, 14-year-old Caroline and Jessica, 17. When he won his seat in 2002 he started a project collecting autographs with the girls, in part to make up for being gone so often. Both girls have dozens of signatures from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Two weeks ago they got former President Bill Clinton's signature at an event honoring Rep. John Dingell. And last Tuesday night, Murphy waited at the exit with his girls, clutching Obama photographs. Signing the paraphernalia Obama joked, as he often does, "I better not see it on eBay!" "The girls thought it was funny," says Murphy.

Since early in the primaries, Obama has insisted on autographing items only addressed to specific people. In fact, he got into an ugly scene in Philadelphia just before the Pennsylvania primary in April with an autograph hunter upset that Obama wouldn't just sign his John Hancock and nothing else. But Obama has good reason to be leery - he could restart the economy with a glut of signed paraphernalia. Items signed by him are selling for upwards of $1,900 on eBay and there are dozens of listings. So far none of the bound copies of his speeches have made it to eBay - though at least one member said he plans to donate his signed copy of the speech to a group that will likely sell it. "I did it a couple of years ago for the Marshall Chamber of Commerce and they auctioned off the copy signed by President Bush," said Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas. "I'll offer it to other chambers now. Once you write this, though, I'm a little worried I'm going to get inundated for requests!"

Not that getting Obama's autograph is going to make Rep. John Culberson, a Texas Republican, any more willing to vote for Obama's agenda. "No, it wouldn't have an effect," says Culberson, who got to the chamber at 8:30 in the morning to save an aisle seat in order to be the first in line to get his speech signed, a memento for his 12-year-old daughter. "This is a piece of history like the ones I have from President Bush and Vice President Cheney. And it doesn't hurt to have your constituents see you with the President."