Politico

Bill Clinton. George Bush. Jimmy Carter. They’re all pretty easy to pronounce.

But Barack Obama is not so simple. And before he was world famous, people regularly butchered his African name (Bay-rack anyone?). As president, Barack Obama takes care to get pronunciations correct — from heads of state and foreign nations to the director of a small nonprofit in Jersey City.

The text of Obama’s daily briefings includes phonetic spellings of names and places, or the person briefing him will coach him how to say them. Phonetic spellings are also there in Obama’s prepared remarks — although that doesn’t always mean the words wind up rolling off his tongue.

“Did I pronounce your name right?” Obama said Tuesday, pausing after he acknowledged a woman named Alfa Demmellash during an event with nonprofit groups.

Demmellash let the president know he had.

“Good,” Obama said. “When your name is Barack Obama, you’re sensitive to these things.”

The audience laughed, but Obama takes pronunciations quite seriously.

His aides know that this is an area where the president wants to be right. In Obama’s view, pronouncing someone’s name or hometown correctly is a simple way of showing respect, they say. It’s a sort of baseline diplomacy. That’s particularly so in foreign relations, where aides say the president will privately practice pronouncing a leader’s name a number times before saying it publicly.

It’s not just people’s names. Obama also often pronounces places in their local way.

Take Pakistan — or PA-kih-ston, as the president says. Obama has pronounced Pakistan the way Pakistanis do for as long as he’s been in public life — a thoughtful consequence of him having Pakistani roommates in college that has its share of critics.

The president affords the same effort to other important words in a culture. In the Muslim – or Moo-slim, as Obama says — world, he pronounces Taliban as Tal-e-bon, and Koran as Ku-ron.

The response to Obama’s efforts as president has been positive, aides say. Pakistanis have told the White House they appreciate it, and some Afghans have even asked if Obama could start regularly pronouncing Afghanistan in the local way (Af-GAN-nih-ston).

“It sends a signal that he tries to see the world from their perspective,” said former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers, who noted that while some Americans may not like it, “I think he thinks there’s more to be gained than lost by reaching out in this very subtle way.”

Obama also tries when it comes to Spanish. He pronounces Chile as Chee-leh (not chili). He used the Spanish pronunciation of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s name in Trinidad and Tobago.

He rolled his r’s in Puerto Rico when discussing Sonia Sotomayor’s background during her nomination announcement. He even started out pronouncing Sotomayor’s name in Spanish (So-toe-my-YOR), but he’d lapsed into the English pronunciation (So-toe-my-yer) by the time he handed the podium over to her.

Those efforts don’t just signal respect to outsiders, but shows employees inside the government, specifically at the State Department, noted Mike McCurry, a former Clinton press secretary, “that the president takes detail seriously.”

“And that has a positive impact on morale in our own government,” McCurry said, “an added benefit to the clear benefit to public diplomacy.”

The president hasn’t always been so in touch. During the campaign Obama’s staff would cringe at his pronunciation of Mass-a-too-setts. (He now says Massachusetts.) And he was ribbed for stumbling over the pronunciation of Iowa’s Pottawattamie County three times before getting it right.

“It’s still early in the morning,” Obama joked at the time.

Critics have chided Obama for his pronunciation efforts, especially Pakistan. But so far no parody has surfaced, like the old "Saturday Night Live" skit with Jimmy Smits, where the cast exaggerated the pronunciation of words like Neek-o-rah-gwa to lampoon English-speaking Americans who pepper their speech with Spanish pronunciations.

And Obama is not getting criticism in the way George W. Bush did for his pronunciation of “nuclear.” But Bush also attempted to connect by speaking a little Spanish at meetings with foreign leaders and during certain events. Clinton didn’t really try to dabble. As Myers noted, “it was hard enough getting through the Arkansas accent, let alone adding a Spanish accent.”

Obama has a special affection for language, as his first book, “Dreams of My Father,” makes clear. In it, he writes, “with the right words, everything could change.”

As president, Obama’s efforts extend beyond pronunciations. At his joint news conference with German Chancellor Andrea Merkel in the East Room, Obama began his remarks this way, “Please, everybody, be seated. Willkommen.”

And when Obama said a few words in Korean at the start of his joint press conference with South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak, the South Korean press wrote entire stories about it.

Aides say Obama wants to be armed with those sorts of tidbits. Most of the time they’re woven into his remarks without him having to ask.

In his Cairo speech, for example, Obama knew how to say the Arabic greeting as-salaam aleikum, an aide said, yet had to practice the local pronunciation of Al-Azhar, the name of the university where he spoke.

But even when the stakes aren’t as high, Obama tries to perfect it. At Tuesday’s nonprofit event, he nearly sounded out the last name of Dave Cieslewicz.

Aware of his slow pronunciation of Cieslewicz, Obama informed the audience: “I want to make sure I say that properly.”

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The Aspen Ideas Festival — or “Washington in the Rockies" — kicked off last night with an opening reception headlined by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor:

"I’m Sandy O’Connor, and I’m just an unemployed cowgirl," she joked.

O’Connor and many more, including Marian Wright Edelman, Bob Schieffer, Nick Denton, John Holdren, Margaret Carlson, Michael Chertoff (in crutches), David Brooks, Walter Isaacson and David Bradley, come to Aspen, in part, for the laid back atmosphere and first class treatment afforded all guests. The dress code here is described as "Aspen attire." The food keeps flowing: Guests enjoyed unlimited POM juice, a risotto bar, endless prosciutto, creme caramels and an impressive booze showing.

As O’Connor said: "For me, one of the things that represents happiness is being in Aspen in July at the Ideas Festival."

Indeed, we’re here for ideas, not just the indigestion, right? Hence it’s easy to come across grand thoughts. "When a small idea reflects and touches lives of real people, it becomes a big idea," said Russian women’s rights activist Marina Pisklakova. And: "If it is just us in the universe, that’s a terrible waste of space," said evolutionary biologist Sean Carroll.

The biggest star thus far? "L Word" star Mia Kirshner ("Jenny Schecter"), who will sit on a panel titled, "What Do I Do? Spirited Ideas That Will Change The World."

In the end, you can take politicos out of Washington, but you can’t take the Washington out of them: Both Isaacson and O’Connor got face time on MSNBC’s see-and-be-seen morning show "Morning Joe."

O’Connor didn’t talk about, say, tort reform. Instead, she discussed her children’s book about having wild animals as pets when she was young.

It really is summer.

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President Barack Obama and his family plan to vacation next month on Martha’s Vineyard, Democratic sources said.

The trip has long been rumored on the island, where federal agents were reported to be checking out property last spring.

The plan puts the Obamas in one of America’s most diverse resort areas. The enclave of Oaks Bluff has long been a favorite vacation spot for the nation’s African-American elite.

The Vineyard was a favorite vacation spot of President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, now Obama’s secretary of state.

An article about the Vineyard in New York magazine reported: "In the past, Obama has spent time playing golf with Vernon Jordan, swimming off South Beach, playing basketball … reading and watching the ferries, and taking the girls for ice cream on Circuit Avenue."

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A lot of people go to a bar to get away from it all. But at one new hotel bar, that’s not going to be so easy: After all, the Secret Service may be watching you.

Welcome to the newest hotel in town: the W Washington, D.C., formerly known as the Hotel Washington, which sits across the street from the Treasury Department and the White House. The W is putting the final touches on an 18-month, $100 million renovation project all in the hopes of making the hotel Washington’s premier spot to do everything from spend a night and get a facial to grab a drink and enjoy a meal. The hotel opens in July.

In Washington, there are rooms with a view, and then there are these rooms with a view. Suites, rooms, bars and restaurants provide a close-up view of both the White House and the Washington Monument — as well as other monuments in the distance. With scenery like this, the hotel is well-positioned to be the power spot to beat all power spots — for politicos and celebrities alike.

It hasn’t been easy, however. “There’s no way that, in today’s world, this type of hotel could have been built this close to the White House,” said Bruce Sorensen, director of sales and marketing at the hotel. “Secret Service just wouldn’t allow it.”

The new W, which is managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., was helped by the fact that a hotel had already existed on the property, giving it an upper hand against city zoning laws that are ultrasensitive about the real estate surrounding the White House.

“We had to work closely with Secret Service in order to make sure that they were comfortable and we were able to provide customers with an unmatched view of the city,” said the hotel’s general manager, Erin Baten, who added that, although the Secret Service won’t be a regular presence in the hotel, there is plenty of surveillance to keep them happy.

The best view can be found at the hotel’s aptly named Point of View rooftop bar and terrace, which can hold slightly more than 100 people at any given time.

“It’s the best view to be had in D.C.,” said Sorensen. And although you’re welcome and encouraged to take a picture or two, you ought to know: Should the paparazzi in you, say, choose to show up with a powerful zoom lens in order to get a closer look at the Obamas inside the White House’s East Wing, “Secret Service will probably be talking to you in just a few seconds,” Baten joked (sort of). That said, the rooftop terrace will provide a great view of the Obama girls’ playground and the president’s helicopters taking off and landing in the winter, when the leaves on obstructing trees are no longer there.

Of course, there’s one other area hotel — the Hay-Adams — that might disagree with the W’s claim of D.C.’s best view of the White House: The Hay has its own impressive rooftop view, looking south, of the White House and the Washington Monument. Its website boasts that the Hay-Adams is “as close as anyone can get to staying at the White House, short of being invited by the president.”

“We undoubtedly have Washington’s best view,” said a spokesman for the Hay-Adams. “With a front-door view of the White House and the Washington and Jefferson monuments in the background, that’s impossible to beat.”

A little competition never hurt. And anyway, not every room at the W is a choice suite facing the White House and monuments. Several rooms on the hotel’s east side face an empty white wall, onto which the hotel will project a live image of the Washington Monument. Once initial promotion deals expire, rooms will start at $350 and go up from there.

There’s plenty about the hotel that is distinctively D.C., including the crown molding preserved from the original Hotel Washington and a cherry blossom theme in many of the hotel’s public spaces. There are also silhouettes of George Washington himself in every room — and a digital television feed that connects directly to the National Press Club.

“So next time George Clooney stays here and wants to do a live shot, he won’t have to head to the National Press Club. Or we won’t have to have all these satellite trucks clogging up the streets outside,” said Sorensen. Clooney and other Hollywood celebs need not worry: The hotel has made sure to provide a VIP entrance for notable guests.

For all of its D.C.-ness (and for it being across from “the people’s house”), there is one thing about this hotel that isn’t explicitly red, white and blue: The Hotel Washington was purchased in 2007 by the royal family of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

When it comes to customer service, the hotel seems to be at least subconsciously aware of the sins that have plagued more than a few Washingtonians. The hotel says it has a “whenever, wherever, whatever” approach to service but made sure to add “as long as it’s legal.” (Sorry, Spitzer.)

And although the hotel is providing free Wi-Fi throughout the building (cell phone service was also strong throughout the hotel, including in the basement), the wired types choosing to get pampered at the hotel’s Bliss spa may be put off by the sign reading, “No cell phones. What could possibly be more important than a facial peel?”

So will the Obamas themselves ever make a trip across the street? “I certainly hope so,” said Baten. “We definitely want to be good neighbors, and we extend an open invitation to our neighbors at the White House to come visit us anytime, whether it’s to spend a night or just to come out for dinner and cocktails.”

And it might not be just talk: Baten says that he “had the good fortune to get to know the then-Sen. Obama over the course of the primary season, as he would travel to New York and was a regular guest at the W New York on Lexington Avenue whenever he had visits to New York City.”

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For months, observers have wondered why President Obama hasn’t changed the D.C. license plates on his presidential limo to the version that declared “Taxation Without Representation” in a show of solidarity with his new neighbors.

“I think, rather than change the logo around the license plate, the president is committed instead to changing the status of the District of Columbia,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday.

Reminded that D.C. residents view the license plate as a symbol, Gibbs responded, “I guess I would ask you to ask people in Washington whether they’d like to have that status changed or that symbolism screwed onto the back of a limousine?” He added that the president “supports changing the status of the District, … giving it voting rights, giving it state rights.”

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Health care, energy, Iran and the fate of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will give top advisers and party leaders plenty to weigh in on this Sunday.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod appears on NBC’s "Meet the Press" to discuss the president’s agenda with host David Gregory. From the other side of the aisle will be former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Axelrod also stops by ABC’s "This Week," along with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a major player in the health care debate from his perch as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Meanwhile, Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) gives CBS "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer his first Sunday interview since succeeding Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) as chairman of the Republican Governors Association last week. Also, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice will sit down to provide her perspective on Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Afghanistan.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) debate health care reform on "Fox News Sunday." And top commander in Iraq General Ray Odierno will give an assessment as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from major cities.

Odierno also talks to John King on CNN’s "State of the Union," along with Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) and BP Capital CEO T. Boone Pickens.

Sebelius will talk with Bloomberg’s Al Hunt on "Political Capital" along with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.

Finally, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) will be on C-SPAN’s "Newsmakers" to take questions from the Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio and McClatchy’s David Lightman.

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Michael Jackson’s death prompted mourners to pay tribute in the streets from Chicago to Paris, and elicited statements of condolence from the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nelson Mandela. Robert Gibbs commented on Jackson’s death from the White House briefing room.

The pop icon was the talk of the White House press corps Friday, inside Gibbs’s briefing and out.

Helen Thomas, the veteran White House reporter, recalled when Jackson visited 1600 Pennsylvania and the buzz he created on the day of his visit. Mark Knoller, of CBS Radio, remembered that Jackson kept his one glove on when he shook President Reagan’s hand.

Knoller’s verdict on the exchange: “weird.”

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie remembered covering Jackson’s 2005 trial, when fans sat outside the courthouse every day in a show of support for the pop star.

And April Ryan, of American Urban Radio, gave a moonwalk tribute to Jackson down the narrow hallway of the basement White House press file — sunglasses included.

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Thus far, President Barack Obama has paid no public tribute to music legend Michael Jackson, who died Thursday.

While a short statement on the death of a notable figure in American life is usually a straightforward matter, it becomes more complicated in the case of a singer whose musical accomplishments were often obscured by allegations of darker behavior.

Jackson, who first won over fans as child star in the Jackson Five, is unquestionably one of the most popular and accomplished singers of his generation. His 1982 record, Thriller, is considered the best-selling album of all time.

However, his travails have also been highly-publicized. In 2005, he was acquitted on 10 charges of lewd conduct with children, procuring alcohol for children and conspiracy. However, Jackson also reportedly paid millions to settle lawsuits from boys who accused him of improper sexual conduct, even as he denied wrongdoing. He also admitted to sleeping in the same bed with children he was not related to.

“I think people want [Obama] to talk about the Michael Jackson they love, not the Michael Jackson that was weird,” said Paul Glastris, a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton.

Asked if Obama risks trivializing Jackson’s alleged misconduct by ignoring it altogether, said Glastris, now editor of the Washington Monthly. “I just think there’s no percentage to nodding to that. If you’re going to say anything you remember the good, it’s like a eulogy. You’re under no requirement to haul out the dirty laundry in a eulogy.”

When Presidents Carter and Clinton issued their statements marking the passing of, respectively, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, they glossed over the entertainers flaws. Carter’s statement neatly avoided the last decade and change of the King’s career, instead recalling when, "More than 20 years ago, he burst upon the scene with an impact that was unprecedented and will probably never be equaled." And Sinatra’s made no mention of his famous dalliances with women, and made men.

Still, presidents have faced criticism for gilding the lily when mourning famous Americans. When former Senator Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) died last year, President George Bush praised Helms as “a fearless defender of a culture of life and an unwavering champion of those struggling for liberty.” Bush went on to call Helms “a kind, decent, and humble man.”

That irked some Americans who viewed Helms as an unreconstructed racist, who tormented a black colleague, blocked African-Americans from the federal bench, and objected to funds for HIV treatment.

“Senator Helms was not a kind or decent man,” University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack wrote on the Huffington Post. “I don’t know how he treated close friends and immediate family, and I don’t really care. In his public and political life, he was loathsome.”

Pollack said Thursday that he views Jackson as more deserving of sympathy. “There was something about Michael Jackson that was deeply amiss, that he never was able to effectively address. I think we can celebrate his great talent and really feel a genuine sense of sadness and compassion for his sad life,” Pollack said. 

“An entertainer is different,” Glastris said. “With entertainers we just accept some weirdness—and Michael Jackson was a weird dude. No getting around that.”

In just over five months in office, Obama has already marked the passing of several famous figures, including historian John Hope Franklin, President Bongo of Gabon, and former President Roh Moo-Hyun of South Korea. But he has not faced pressure to comment on the death of a figure many Americans view as morally ambiguous.

Here’s a look at how past presidents have marked the deaths of controversial people:

When former senator Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) died in 2003, Bush praised his “extraordinary life,” military service and public service. The president was not as effusive as he was about Helms, but still omitted any mention of Thurmond’s history as a segregationist and opponent of civil rights.

When Madame Chiang Kai-shek died that same year, Bush paid tribute to her “strength of character” and long friendship with the U.S. He did not mention President Harry Truman’s lament that Chiang’s family and other Taiwanese nationalists had stolen some $750 million in U.S. aid funds.

When President Richard Nixon died in 1994, Clinton recognized that the Watergate scandal was simply too big to ignore. Clinton alluded to Nixon’s impeachment and resignation without delving into detail. “Yes, he knew great controversy amid defeat as well as victory. He made mistakes, and they, like his accomplishments, are part of his life and record,” Clinton said in his eulogy to Nixon.

When Clinton was confronted in 1998 with the death of Jim McDougal, a former business partner who had turned against him in the Whitewater independent counsel probe, the president chose his few words very carefully. “I am saddened to learn about Jim McDougal’s death today. I have good memories of the years we worked together in Arkansas, and I extend my condolences to his family,” Clinton said.

Marking the death of figures seen by most Americans as the personification of pure evil is a simpler task, but even in these statements one can see certain gradations of concern.

When deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed in an undignified manner in December 2006, Bush talked of justice and expressed no sympathy for the onetime U.S. ally. “Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial—the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime,” Bush said in a written statement. “It is a testament to the Iraqi people’s resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial.”

When Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh was dispatched by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, Bush also spoke of justice. “This morning, the United States of America carried out the severest sentence for the gravest of crimes. The victims of the Oklahoma City bombing have been given not vengeance, but justice. And one young man met the fate he chose for himself six years ago,” the president told reporters.

However, Bush also took note of McVeigh’s family and even prayed for some solace for McVeigh himself. “By remembering those who grieve, including Timothy McVeigh’s mother, father and sisters, and by trusting in purposes greater than our own, may God in his mercy grant peace to all, to the lives that were taken six years ago, to the lives that go on, and to the life that ended today.”

When China’s legendary leader Chairman Mao Tse-Tung died in 1976, President Gerald Ford issued a carefully worded statement that lauded China’s progress but made no reference to the brutality of the Cultural Revolution or widespread deaths from forced collectivization. “Chairman Mao was a giant figure in modern Chinese history. He was a leader whose actions profoundly affected the development of his country,” Ford said.

Sometimes, the best course may be to say nothing.

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Throughout the course of his life, pop star Michael Jackson bounced around from various homes, residences and hotel rooms all around the world.

Although Washington was never a primary destination for the King of Pop, we did get to see the Gloved One from time to time.

A trip down memory lane.

1984: Jackson accepts an award at the White House from President Ronald Reagan for his work helping people overcome alcohol and drug abuse. Reagan writes Jackson a letter which reads, in part: "You’ve gained quite a number of fans along the road since ‘I Want You Back,’ and Nancy and I are among them."

Reagan would later write in his journal (published decades later) that he was "surprised at how shy" Jackson was and said Jackson "is totally opposed to Drugs & Alcohol & is using his popularity to influence young people against them."

1990: President George H.W. Bush presents Jackson with the "Artist of the Decade" award at the White House.

"[H]e has a tremendous following," says Bush. "He does good work, what we call the Points of Light concept."

1992: Jackson swings into town to receive an award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters. Jackson tells Ebony magazine that "I never get into politics."

1993: Jackson plays a big role in President Bill Clinton’s inauguration, performing at the Lincoln Memorial along with Bob Dylan and Elton John, as well as at the Presidential Gala at USAir Arena.

At the gala, Jackson pleads with Clinton to provide sufficient money to fight HIV/AIDS. While in town, he swings by the Children’s Hospital to visit patients.

2001: Jackson performs at RFK stadium for a post-9/11 concert - "United We Stand: What More Can I Give" — to benefit the American Red Cross.

2002: The Washington Post reports that "Washington film production company owner Joe Becker says close associates of Michael Jackson have stiffed him for the six-figure sum he advanced for an abortive music video of Jackson’s tune, ‘What More Can I Give?,’ which was supposed to have featured the aging Prince of Pop and a cast of rock stars at the Lincoln Memorial."

2004: Jackson makes a trip to Capitol Hill to get help in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He remains mum during a news conference, and the Congressional Black Caucus is less than eager to meet with him.

USA Today reports: "They had turned down his request to attend its meeting Wednesday, saying they were too busy dealing with legislative issues affecting black Americans."

2007: Jackson tours the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space and American Indian museums. Jackson scopes out potential summer homes on the Eastern Shore, causing quite a buzz that he might move to our neighborhood.

He never did.

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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs agreed in his briefing Thursday to let the press corps videotape him going in the dunk tank at the White House luau Thursday night.

In agreement initiated by FOX News’s Wendell Goler, each member of the press corps will return the favor by kicking in $5 to a pool of money going to charity.

Gibbs said he plans to be in the hot – or, perhaps, wet - seat at 7:20 p.m.

Sorry - no swimsuit, though. Gibbs said he brought some gym clothes and will be wearing those.

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