Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero arrives in Washington amid speculation that a key US-EU summit planned for May could be postponed thanks to President Obama's decision to skip it. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero arrives in Washington on Wednesday for a 2-day visit to the US in the wake of the announcement that President Barack Obama would not participate in the annual EU/US summit. Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is scheduled to host the summit with US and EU leaders on May 24-25. The United States said on Tuesday that it was in touch with the Spanish government after it voiced disappointment over Obama's decision to skip the Madrid summit......Reports said Zapatero was not scheduled to meet Obama, but may have a chance to speak with him at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, where the Spanish prime minister is to give a Bible reading.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero arrives in Washington on Wednesday for a 2-day visit to the US in the wake of the announcement that President Barack Obama would not participate in the annual EU/US summit.
Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is scheduled to host the summit with US and EU leaders on May 24-25.
The United States said on Tuesday that it was in touch with the Spanish government after it voiced disappointment over Obama's decision to skip the Madrid summit.
.....
Reports said Zapatero was not scheduled to meet Obama, but may have a chance to speak with him at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, where the Spanish prime minister is to give a Bible reading.
bold mine
Row over EU summit venue highlights confusion at heart of institutionIn a humiliating blow to the European Union's new leadership, US President Barack Obama has backed out of an EU summit, drawing attention to a messy power struggle on the Continent. It was hoped that the May summit would help to bolster the inaugural EU President's standing - and by extension Europe's - on the world stage. But Mr Obama's cancellation, ostensibly due to an overloaded domestic agenda, has torpedoed that aim. And yesterday summit host Spain said it would most likely postpone the annual gathering following Washington's snub.
In a humiliating blow to the European Union's new leadership, US President Barack Obama has backed out of an EU summit, drawing attention to a messy power struggle on the Continent.
It was hoped that the May summit would help to bolster the inaugural EU President's standing - and by extension Europe's - on the world stage. But Mr Obama's cancellation, ostensibly due to an overloaded domestic agenda, has torpedoed that aim.
And yesterday summit host Spain said it would most likely postpone the annual gathering following Washington's snub.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The US State Department has said that President Barack Obama's decision not to come to an EU summit in Madrid in May is partly due to confusion arising from the Lisbon Treaty. State department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told press in Washington on Tuesday (2 February) that the treaty has made it unclear who the US leader should meet and when. "Up until recently, they [summits] would occur on six-month intervals, as I recall, with one meeting in Europe and one meeting here. And that was part of - the foundation of that was the rotating presidency within the EU. Now you have a new structure regarding not only the rotating EU presidency, you've got an EU Council president, you've got a European Commission president," he said. "We are working through this just as Europeans themselves are working through this: When you have a future EU-US summit meeting, who will host it and where will it be held?" he added. "All of this is kind of being reassessed in light of architectural changes in Europe."
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The US State Department has said that President Barack Obama's decision not to come to an EU summit in Madrid in May is partly due to confusion arising from the Lisbon Treaty.
State department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told press in Washington on Tuesday (2 February) that the treaty has made it unclear who the US leader should meet and when.
"Up until recently, they [summits] would occur on six-month intervals, as I recall, with one meeting in Europe and one meeting here. And that was part of - the foundation of that was the rotating presidency within the EU. Now you have a new structure regarding not only the rotating EU presidency, you've got an EU Council president, you've got a European Commission president," he said.
"We are working through this just as Europeans themselves are working through this: When you have a future EU-US summit meeting, who will host it and where will it be held?" he added. "All of this is kind of being reassessed in light of architectural changes in Europe."
In turning down Europe's invite to the upcoming EU-US summit in May, Barack Obama has given Europe a chafing reminder of its own weaknesses. Under the Lisbon Treaty, which was supposed to give the world a single number to call in Europe, the numbers have proliferated, bemoans the press, which quite understands the White House's exasperation. "After being outfaced by China at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, should Europe resign itself to insignificance in the eyes of the US?" wonders Le Figaro, after Barack Obama sent his excuses for the EU-US summit slated for this May. One thing's for sure, quips the Wall Street Journal: "Things haven't been good recently for Europe's position on the world stage." So no wonder the US is "tired of the wrangling between European leaders, judging from the haughty tone of the American statement about cancelling Obama's attendance at the upcoming EU-US summit," opines the Süddeutsche Zeitung, adding that Washington makes any new bilateral summit contingent on Europeans' sorting out their respective responsibilities.
In turning down Europe's invite to the upcoming EU-US summit in May, Barack Obama has given Europe a chafing reminder of its own weaknesses. Under the Lisbon Treaty, which was supposed to give the world a single number to call in Europe, the numbers have proliferated, bemoans the press, which quite understands the White House's exasperation.
"After being outfaced by China at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, should Europe resign itself to insignificance in the eyes of the US?" wonders Le Figaro, after Barack Obama sent his excuses for the EU-US summit slated for this May. One thing's for sure, quips the Wall Street Journal: "Things haven't been good recently for Europe's position on the world stage." So no wonder the US is "tired of the wrangling between European leaders, judging from the haughty tone of the American statement about cancelling Obama's attendance at the upcoming EU-US summit," opines the Süddeutsche Zeitung, adding that Washington makes any new bilateral summit contingent on Europeans' sorting out their respective responsibilities.
So no wonder the US is "tired of the wrangling between European leaders...
We have a GDP the equivalent of the USA, we have a population that exceeds it ? The only way the USA has more clout than we do is through a 19th century infatuation with the capacity to blow up countries on the other side of the world. An infatuation that un-failed countries such as Switzerland are pretty wise to avoid.
Can we have some euroepan leaders who respect the EU more than the USA ? keep to the Fen Causeway
National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy - NYTimes.com
For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.Usually, the annual event passes with little notice. But this year, an ethics group in Washington has asked President Obama and Congressional leaders to stay away from the breakfast, on Thursday. Religious and gay rights groups have organized competing prayer events in 17 cities, and protesters are picketing in Washington and Boston. The objections are focused on the sponsor of the breakfast, a secretive evangelical Christian network called The Fellowship, also known as The Family, and accusations that it has ties to legislation in Uganda that calls for the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals.
Usually, the annual event passes with little notice. But this year, an ethics group in Washington has asked President Obama and Congressional leaders to stay away from the breakfast, on Thursday. Religious and gay rights groups have organized competing prayer events in 17 cities, and protesters are picketing in Washington and Boston.
The objections are focused on the sponsor of the breakfast, a secretive evangelical Christian network called The Fellowship, also known as The Family, and accusations that it has ties to legislation in Uganda that calls for the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals.
I know Blair participated, no surprise there - but are there other European politicians that are involved in this kind of Christian or even fundamentalsit networking?
It's pretty pathetic. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
Melanie Sloan: Why is President Obama Attending the Family's National Prayer Breakfast?
The one time of year when the Family emerges from the shadows is the annual National Prayer Breakfast, its signature event. This large-scale function serves as a recruiting tool for the group, but is often misconstrued by attendees as an official government event -- a perception reinforced by a presidential address at the breakfast, presidential seals strategically located around the room, and an organizing committee made up of members of Congress. Given the official façade, some attendees have expected at least a nod to other religions, but they are quickly disappointed. "JESUS is there!" reads a breakfast planning document. At past breakfasts, the Family has facilitated meetings between its foreign allies and the president as well as members of Congress, outside the reach of the Department of State and traditional U.S. diplomatic protocol. Past prayer breakfast attendees have included General Eugenio Vides Casanova of El Salvador, later found liable for the torture of thousands of civilians, and General Alvarez Martinez of Honduras, later linked to secret death squads in that country. The Family has been linked to ethically troubled politicians including Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), and former Rep. "Chip" Pickering (R-Miss.). These politicians were all at one time affiliated with the Family- run C Street House, a boarding house on Capitol Hill, which also operates as a church. Residents of C Street honored the organization's penchant for secrecy by taking a pact not to discuss their living situation.
The one time of year when the Family emerges from the shadows is the annual National Prayer Breakfast, its signature event. This large-scale function serves as a recruiting tool for the group, but is often misconstrued by attendees as an official government event -- a perception reinforced by a presidential address at the breakfast, presidential seals strategically located around the room, and an organizing committee made up of members of Congress. Given the official façade, some attendees have expected at least a nod to other religions, but they are quickly disappointed. "JESUS is there!" reads a breakfast planning document.
At past breakfasts, the Family has facilitated meetings between its foreign allies and the president as well as members of Congress, outside the reach of the Department of State and traditional U.S. diplomatic protocol. Past prayer breakfast attendees have included General Eugenio Vides Casanova of El Salvador, later found liable for the torture of thousands of civilians, and General Alvarez Martinez of Honduras, later linked to secret death squads in that country.
The Family has been linked to ethically troubled politicians including Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), and former Rep. "Chip" Pickering (R-Miss.). These politicians were all at one time affiliated with the Family- run C Street House, a boarding house on Capitol Hill, which also operates as a church. Residents of C Street honored the organization's penchant for secrecy by taking a pact not to discuss their living situation.
Well, he's delivering a jab to the English-only movement in the US:
Gracias a los Senadores Klobuchar e Isakson, y permítanme que les hable en castellano, en la lengua en la que por primera vez se rezó al Dios del Evangelio en esta tierra.
My thanks to Senators Klobuchar and Isakson, and allow me to speak to you in Spanish, the language in which for the first time the God of the Gospels was prayed to from this land
His choses bible passage was
Permítanme que les lea un pasaje de la Biblia, del capítulo 24 del Deuteronomio: "No explotarás al jornalero pobre y necesitado, ya sea uno de tus compatriotas, o un extranjero que vive en alguna de las ciudades de tu país. Págale su jornal ese mismo día, antes que se ponga el sol, porque está necesitado, y su vida depende de su jornal".
14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Tebow was seated on the platform along with the following: The President of the United States, Barack Obama The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen The Prime Minister of Spain and Chairman of the European Union, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Senator Orrin Hatch and the Key Note Speaker, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State 3000+ were in attendance and the breakfast was Co-Chaired by Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen The Prime Minister of Spain and Chairman of the European Union, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Senator Orrin Hatch and the Key Note Speaker, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State
3000+ were in attendance and the breakfast was Co-Chaired by Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia.
