News You'll recall when WW asked Barack Obama about medical marijuana. Well, we weren't the only ones curious about his cannabis connections. The president took another hit on the issue during an "online town hall" this morning in the White House East Room, where he answered questions from people at home. Turns out quite a few folks think legalizing pot might be good medicine for the economy. ...   More

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News [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfcWVWziRaM[/youtube] As you may have read by now, President Obama's speech yesterday about gay rights got interrupted by a duck ring tone. Kinda weird, huh? But former WW staffer Byron Beck learned that it came from Oregon and yes, it's a Ducks fan. Beck reported (in a post that he's since taken down from his blog) that the caller/prankster was gay rights ...   More

News There were a couple of "money quotes" in today's story in The Oregonian about President Obama's response to the Healthy Americans Act proposed by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Obama was quoted in the roundtable with The O's Charles Pope and other reporters as saying he agreed with "90 percent" of Wyden's thinking on the topic but that parts of the plan were too "radical" for the country. Guess ...   More

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News News that President Barack Obama tapped the unlikely team of ex-presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to coordinate relief to earthquake-rattled Haiti had more than a few people scratching their heads over the weekend. Do you trust these guys with your money? In the spirit of being a fly on the wall when those three meet, go ahead and fire away in the comments section on a likely dialogue ...   More

News Watching this video of President Obama below trying yet again to rescue the year-long debacle that has been the health care debate left reporter James Pitkin and myself with very different reactions. I'm a 45-year-old cynic who strongly believes that the Democrats will piss away this chance to pass health care reform, despite majorities in the Senate and House and this perfectly rational pitch ...   More

News A retired Air Force general who served as a military adviser to Barack Obama's 2008 campaign says the president made the wrong choice doubling down on Afghanistan. Merrill McPeak, who's now living in Lake Oswego, helped plan the first Gulf War as a member of President George H.W. Bush's Joint Chiefs of Staff. He tells WW he would have advised Obama against his decision last year to send 30,000 ...   More

News This morning's print edition of WW contained a item in the "Murmurs" column questioning why it was taking years to fill two judicial vacancies on the U.S. District Court of Oregon. And voila, this afternoon, President Obama (above from a 2008 WW cover illustration) named Washington County Court Judge Marco Hernandez and Portland lawyer Michael Simon to those plum positions on the federal bench. Here's ...   More

News U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has never been a fan of President Obama's economic team. In fact he's called for all of them to be fired. So DeFazio enjoyed a bit of grave-dancing this week on the House floor after Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, announced his departure. DeFazio says he only hopes Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is next. We're sure Summers will enjoy his ...   More