Beltway Insider: Obama/Biden Assure Foreign Leaders; U.K./Brexit; Putin Gains Support; Facebook Squeezed; Gwen Ifill

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have spent the week meeting with foreign leaders and in telephone conference assuring allies on the future of international relationships and the hard-fought work of the past eight years will not be for naught.

According to Gallup, President Obama's job approval, over the past week, increased by three percentage points to 56% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President decreased by two percentage points to 42%.

Obama, Biden Assure Foreign Leaders on Next President

President Obama traveled to Europe this week meeting with the strongest allies of the United States including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May, President François Hollande of France, Prime Minster Renzi of Italy, and President Rajoy of Spain.

The finality of President Obama's tenure is weighing on the leaders who all agree globalization has come far with little fractures or splintered agendas or pursuits. With this the last of President Obama foreign trips, allied leaders are waxing a bit nostalgic and agreed with the outgoing president to hold fast to the ideals that brought nations long separated together for the common goals of all peoples.

Obama thanked his colleagues for their close cooperation throughout his Administration, and urged his European counterparts "to continue seeking solutions to common challenges with the incoming U.S. administration on the basis of the core values that define the United States and Europe as open democracies."   

President Obama continued his final foreign meeting in Lima, Peru with Chinese President Xi Jinping and both men reflected on the strides the two nations have made especially in the U.S. China joint leadership on climate change.

The incoming administration may not share the same level of commitment to the environment although he certainly understands the steel excess capacity issue and can be brought to the table on many issues through one.

After the meetings, the world's leaders are agreeing to cautiously withhold criticism of the newly elected president.

Although Germany's Merkel is the last remaining leader that has served along with the President, the other world leaders have embraced his aggressive global agenda bringing interpretations, thoughtfulness, and ideas to the forum building global policies.

The firebrand campaign rhetoric of the President-elect has many worried even has he has backed somewhat away from his initial plans the possibility of that side of him rising on a global stage is very real.

Maintaining a Steady Global Course

With Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria Dictatorial leader Bashar al Assad calling President-elect Trump a natural ally and friend, the G7 and other members of the global community are concerned that President elect Trump may seek out assurances from the two men both of whom are, in varying degrees, banished.

"In my conversation with the President-elect, he expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships.  One of the messages I will deliver is his commitment to NATO and the Transatlantic Alliance.  I think that's one of the most important functions I can serve at this stage, during this trip, is to let them know that there is no weakening of resolve when it comes to America's commitment to maintaining a strong and robust NATO relationship, and a recognition that those alliances aren't just good for Europe, they're good for the United States, and they're vital for the world," Obama said.

Queen Invites Trump to Meet

Queen Elizabeth has announced her intent to invite President Elect Trump to meet with her to discuss relationships between the two long-time allies. No official date has been announced for the state visit although it is rumored to be in summer 2017.

The formal invitation for the state visit which includes a meeting with the Queen is due to be formalized after Trump is sworn in on January 20, 2017.

Trump Continues to Meet With Top GOP Picks; Romney Likely for Secretary of State

Presidential Elect Trump has continued to meet with potential cabinet members from the standard pool of senior level GOP leaders and members of the Republican party.

General James Mattis is under consideration for the Secretary of Defense. His tenure includes former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. His oversaw the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and is uniquely informed in the area. He is considered fierce and is noted for his belief in a strong U.S. response to foreign dictators and hotspots.

President elect Trump has spoken very highly of the General and indicators point toward an appointment as Secretary of Defense.

Former Republican President Candidate Mitt Romney is considered the likely pick of the Trump Administration for Secretary of State.  Romney the Republican Party nominee in the 2012 election lead a fractured and splintered party hoping for a win against an incumbent Barack Obama.

The former Governor of Massachusetts, Romney is well known and a strong political choice with knowledge of the international issues, global hot spots, enemies, allies and hypotheticals.

For more information on Mitt Romney and his knowledge of Foreign Affairs:

Obama, Romney Debate Foreign Policy; Campaigns Hit Fevered Pitch -The Road to the White House - Election 2012 - Week 43

VP Elect Mike Pence Booed at Broadway Show

Vice President Mike Pence took a moment out from his demanding and daunting transition team leader duties to attend the award-winning Broadway Show "Hamilton."

What followed echoed the mood of the country as the Vice President elect was booed and upon entry and at the exit was called out by the musical's lead for his views on certain segments of the population.

The Vice-President elect had exited the main theater and stood in the lobby as Hamilton lead actor, Brandon Victor Dennis, said "We, sir, we, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us."

The event recorded by theater goers has since gone viral and drew sharp criticism from President elect Trump who took to Twitter to voice his demands for an apology calling the behavior unacceptable.

Vice President-elect Pence has said publicly he was not offended by the statements.

President Elect Trump continues to demand an apology as if those with opinions are unruly children in his household. In his United States, apparently, criticism of leadership will land you on the damned list of Donald Trump's twitter feed.

No apology has been offered and criticism of the new leadership continues to build as theories of hijacking the election, a nation state cyber-attack, with the assistance of Russian President Vladimir Putin continue to grow online.

Election Count

The U.S. President election of 2016 is over and the only thing left to do is count the votes as they continue to raise the numbers.

Hillary Clinton, the first female Presidential candidate for any major party, has a total of 48% of the votes with 63,390,669 and the President Elect, republican businessman Donald J. Trump has 47% of the vote with 61,820,845.

Trump, while sitting on the keys to the White House has repeatedly said the electoral is outdated and the system should be the person who ends up with the most votes at the end of the day wins.

Brexit Statement Expected; UK in Flux

The United Kingdom is also facing the reckoning as a statement on the progress of the infamous Brexit continues to generate deep divide and no real movement toward the initial notification.

"At the moment we haven't served the Article 50 notice and we're not in any substantive negotiations with our European partners so I think it's unlikely that we will have clarity on any of these issues by the end of March," said Phillip Hammond, British Conservative Party politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2016 and Parliament Member for nearly 20 years in the London Daily Telegraph.

Beltway Insider: Obama, Trump Meet; Election Protests; Transition Shock; Cyber Attack; Paris; New Zealand; Hillary

Philippines Leader Meets with Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte extending a hand of friendship complimenting the Pacific island nation indicting he had done much to establish trust between the two nations since his March election.

Duterte, has remained critical of the Western nations and for the first time in decades the impoverished nation may break ties with the United States favoring Putin and Russia. He has also reached out to the Chinese with similar propositions and seems to be highly critical of the coalition Obama has made to combat both ISIS and Syria.

Putin wasting no time speaking for incoming President Trump has said publicly the two leaders share a desire to normalize relationships between the two nations.

This policy, of course, benefits Putin whose economy is crippled due to sectorial sanctions brought on the Russian nation due to Putin's violation of the territorial sovereignty of neighboring Ukraine. Any normalization, impossible under a Clinton Administration, brings the beleaguered leader and supporter of Assad and his reign of terror back to the table of the G7 at least for a vote.  

Facebook Under Pressure for False News Sites

Facebook, the mega social media utility used by more than one billion people globally, is under fire along with its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, over the spread of malicious and false content during the recent election season and its far-reaching effect.

Zuckerberg, who just recently admitted false news sites were a problem, has felt a shift in consumer responsibility as the utility redefines itself from a recreational and social site to a mainstream news distribution platform and with that has additional responsibilities toward consumers or users of its services.

Mainstream media organizations, of which Zuckerberg often and regularly meets with the leaders during annual retreats is now faced with determining the best course of action for the global messaging system.

More than 44% of the world's population gathers its news from the site, which inherently brings its own set of mandates according to the fourth estate, or the profession of journalism, which do not include algorithms to determine its truth.

It's doubtful that Facebook's inability to vet true news stories had any real bearing on the election results unless Facebook was the single news source superseding all other social media platforms, nightly news coverage, the rigorous debates, and local news from newspapers, radio, spouse, friends and simple word of mouth.

The massive campaign blitz on both sides outside of social media would make it impossible for Facebook to be the single source of coverage which doesn't negate Zuckerberg's responsibility.  

The decision for Facebook et al is direction. It's doubtful he wants to be the National Enquirer of social media utilities. Does the mega social media organization stay recreational or become a mainstream media organization with responsibilities along those lines to the public and to government?

Washington Week in Review Gears Up Without Pillar Gwen Ifill

Gwen Ifill,the Peabody award winning co-anchor of the Public Broadcast System's Washington Week in review died this week of complications from Uterine cancer. She was 61.

"Michelle and I want to offer our deepest condolences to Gwen Ifill's family and to all of you, her colleagues, on her passing.  Gwen was a friend of ours.  She was an extraordinary journalist.  She always kept faith with the fundamental responsibilities of her profession -- asking tough questions, holding people in power accountable, and defending a strong and free press that makes our democracy work," President Obama said.

Ifill, along with Judy Woodruff co-hosted the weekly roundtable of reporters, journalists and serious media guests as they tackled the top news stories making headlines.

Deeply religious, Ifill, was born in Jamaica Queens, NY, to a AME Pastor who took her to church and made her watch the news and current events to stay informed. She graduated from Simmons College with a degree in communications. Before her television she worked at various newspapers in the Boston area before a stint at the Washington Post and The New York Times. Her passion for news was noticed by Tim Russet, then at NBC, who invited her to cover the Hill.

She was invited to join PBS to co-host a news program and she never looked back. Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff became a staple among news thirsty intellectuals and those who could count on the objectivity, sharp news judgment and roundtables guests to deliver strong, learned, opinions in a free conversational forum.

For more information on President Barack Obama: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia

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