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Former White House photographer Pete Souza shared a photo on Presidents Day of the four living American presidents who didnt try to overthrow U.S. democracy.

On Presidents Day, here are the current members of the Presidents Club, Souza, who served as the official photographer during the Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan administrations, wrote Monday on Instagram.

It is a very exclusive club. It includes all the living former Presidents of the United States except those that incited an insurrection and abused his powers to attempt to overturn an election.

The caption accompanied an image of former Presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. It did not show the only other living ex-president, Donald Trump.

Its traditional for former presidents to put aside political differences and even unite to support common causes after leaving office, and for sitting presidents to consult and compare notes with their predecessors about a job so few can fully understand.

Like many other norms, this one effectively went out the window with Trump, who reportedly showed little interest in being a part of the alliance during and after his tenure.

Following President Joe Bidens inauguration in 2021, Obama, Bush and Clinton recorded a joint video address, praising peaceful presidential succession as key to American democracy. Though they did not mention Trump by name, the message directly pushed back against his efforts to subvert the democratic process after losing the 2020 election.

Since taking office, Biden has resumed the practice, reaching out to those who served before him for their guidance and expertise. He told CNN in 2021 that speaking to the former presidents offered grounding in a job that could otherwise feel overwhelming in its burdens.

Souza often swipes at Trump by sharing photos and stories he documented during the Obama presidency. He contrasted the immense differences between the two administrations in his 2018 book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents and the 2020 documentary The Way I See It.

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White House press secretary slips up, calls Biden 'President Obama' - Fox News

Top defense officials from the Obama administration are again criticizing the Biden administration for its responses to key issues after a suspected Chinese spy balloon floated over the United States for a considerable amount of time.

Leon Panetta, a former defense secretary and CIA director under Obama, said in an interview with Jim Acosta on CNN Newsroom that U.S. officials should have taken steps sooner and been more transparent when addressing the issue with the public. He said Biden "allowed it to simply cross over the country."

US SHOOTS DOWN CHINESE SPY BALLOON

So, the question obviously is Pentagon said that there were risks here. I understand that argument that there were debris risks, Panetta said. At the same time, I think we should have acted earlier if our suspicions were valid that this was in fact on an intelligence mission.

Like other officials before him, Panetta said all of the information relating to the balloon should have been conveyed to the public, which was not alerted to the balloon's presence until outlets issued reports on a mysterious orb in the sky within the first days of February.

It would have prevented some of the criticism that occurred later, and the American people, I think, are entitled to know just exactly what our adversaries are up to, Panetta said. So, I think greater transparency would have helped the White House as well.

This is not the first time Obama officials have voiced their opinions on response times to controversies plaguing the Biden administration. Several top officials have come forward to condemn the discovery of classified documents at Biden's Delaware home and private office.

Biden's classified documents were found in November and December, but the discoveries were not revealed to the public until January.

Former Obama ethics chief Walter Shaub said the discovery showed "an inexcusable neglect" of basic security protocols. He approved of a special counsel being appointed to the Justice Department's investigation of the case "to show an even-handed treatment" to a similar documents investigation involving former President Donald Trump.

Robert Gates, former secretary of defense under Obama, also said there were elements of "carelessness" when it came to the documents.

He also criticized the Biden administration's handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including a decision to send 31 Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine, saying "a lot of this could be done sooner."

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Obama's Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has said Biden's "immigration problem" is much larger than when Johnson held the position as Republicans and Democrats alike continue to condemn Biden's policies as the crisis continues at the border.

Steven Rattner, a counselor to Obama's treasury secretary, wrote in an op-ed to the New York Times that Biden was misleading the public by not being transparent over the causes of inflation. Rattner said Biden attributing inflation to cut-off supply chains was mischaracterizing the state of the U.S. economy.

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provided by AlterNet WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 29: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Congressional Leaders to discuss legislative priorities through the end of 2022, at the White House on November 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Biden met with

In 2011, Barack Obama entered into negotiations with House Republicans. They wanted the president to cut future spending in exchange for voting to raise the debt ceiling to borrow more money to pay for existing debts.

Ultimately, Obama agreed to $2 trillion in cuts. The debt ceiling was raised, but the damage was done. The United States experienced its first credit rating downgrade and the stock market plunged, according to USA Today.

Joe Biden, as vice president, learned a lesson that day. He evidently shared it Wednesday with Kevin McCarthy after inviting the House speaker to the White House. He said: There will be no negotiations over the debt ceiling.

READ MORE: 'Where is it?': Kevin McCarthy mocked for lacking a cohesive plan to negotiate the debt ceiling

McCarthy has shown his hand. To Margaret Brennan, host of Face the Nation, he said, were not going to default. What has he to bargain with after giving away his leverage? I dont know. But the moment seems to illustrate a new pattern of behavior coming out of the White House.

There will be no benefit of the doubt.

A problem for the Republicans

According to reporters Alexander Nazaryan and Michael Isikoff, the White House is prepared to work with House investigations but theres a but.

READ MORE: Watch: Kevin McCarthy leads Republicans in prayer at hate group-sponsored event

When it comes to Congress, we intend to review and respond to oversight inquiries in good faith, White House communications officer Ian Sams said last month. We're going to call it out when we see rampant hypocrisy.

Sams said the Republicans have a total lack of credibility.

Hes not wrong.

Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan is head of the House Judiciary Committee. A ferocious Trump defender, he said hed turn to a compulsory process if the White House refused to be forthcoming with requested information.

This is the same congressman who balked when the J6 committee subpoenaed him for testimony on his role in Donald Trumps coup.

Sams went on.

He said Kentucky Congressman James Comer, head of the House Oversight Committee, is playing political theater. Sams said that when a Democrat is involved with government secrets, hes very concerned. When Trump was involved, he was la-di-da. Sams said, via Nazaryan and Michael Isikoff, that:

Comer had downplayed Trumps mishandling of sensitive documents after arguing in an interview with Newsmax last August that the matter 'didnt amount to a hill of beans' and would not 'be a priority' in terms of an investigation.

This is not Barack Obamas White House.

The average white American probably didnt give the first Black president the benefit of the doubt on account of his being the first Black president.

The average white American does give Joe Biden the benefit of the doubt on account of his being white as well as being widely regarded as moderate.

With ample benefit of the doubt behind him from the average white American, Biden seems to believe that he owes none to the Republicans.

Thats a problem.

For the Republicans.

Blunting their attacks

What is the benefit of the doubt? Why is it important?

First, Merriam-Websters definition: its the state of accepting something or someone as honest or deserving of trust even though there are doubts.

Second, its important because virtually everything the Republicans in the House hope to accomplish with their phony investigations, of the Biden administration and the Biden family, depends on the president trusting them just enough for the Republicans to turn that trust against him.

Obama gave the House Republicans the benefit of the doubt. They dragged out the process so long global investors panicked. Obama lost once by conceding to $2 trillion in cuts. He lost twice after markets plunged. In the end, Obama was complicit in the GOPs sabotage of his administration.

But because he was the first Black president, and because his party had just experienced a shellacking in the 2010 midterms, he had to play along.

Things are different now.

The president is white. The House Republicans are barely a majority. The benefit of the doubt of the average white American is not on their side.

Todays House Republicans plan all kinds of investigations of the 2020 election, Bidens return of classified documents and Hunter Bidens laptop.

But what they are actually doing is searching for reasonsreasons that would provide the appearance of proof of their allegations. They want to credibly accuse the president of something. But doing that requires Bidens help.

The appearance of proof.

Thats why Sams leaned into their total lack of credibility.

By refusing to give the Republicans the benefit of the doubt, the White House is depriving them of that appearance, blunting their attacks.

This isnt Barack Obamas White House

McCarthy tried hard to make it look like Biden is the one being hypocritical. He literally led the talks in 2011 and he praised having those talks, he told CBSs Margaret Brennan. This is what hes always done in the past.

The House Republicans dont know what they want, however, and the White House knows that the House Republicans dont know what they want.

The House Republicans keep asking for spending cuts, but wont say which domestic programs they want to cut. The reason for that is pretty clear. If they say what they want to cut spending on Social Security, for instance, which is broadly popular it will undermine demands for spending cuts.

The Biden administration believes it has the advantage. In a memo to McCarthy, the White House asked if McCarthy will commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default on its obligations and when the Speaker and the House Republicans will release their budget.

He wont and they wont, because he cant and they cant.

The Biden administration believes Americans will view the Republican brinkmanship more unfavorably as willing to jeopardize the economy and cut popular programs for ideological reasons, according to USA Today.

Biden is probably right.

After all, this isnt Barack Obamas White House.

READ MORE: Speaker Kevin McCarthy clashes with quarreling House Republicans over spending cuts: report

Forcing a 'debt limit fight' with Biden can only end badly for Republicans: former Bush/Rumsfeld speechwriter

On the debt ceiling, the Democrats are the party of no

'Blackmailers without a cause': Economist says House GOP just wants to 'watch things burn' in debt ceiling fight

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Not Barack Obama's White House: Why Republicans no longer get the ...

Last year, in October, the couple celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.

Barack and Michelle Obama are one of the internet's favourite couples and we keep on gushing about their cute love story and strong marriage. The former first lady appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, four years ago, to promote her book, 'Becoming'. During the interaction, she shared some lesser-known facts about her marriage, including how the 44th US President originally proposed to her. Now, the same video is going viral and people are absolutely loving the details.

Barack Obama proposed to Michelle Obama at a restaurant in Chicago. However, the "hotshot lawyer" picked up a fight with her over the topic of marriage and misled her into thinking that he was not sure of it right now. She was referring to the time in 1989 when she was given the responsibility of mentoring Barack Obama at their law firm. It was a celebratory dinner as Mr Obama had passed his bar exam.

"He made an argument out of it (the proposal)," Michelle Obama said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

She continued telling the host, "We would have these deep discussions about whether marriage was really necessary if two people loved each other, and he would make his lawyer-ly arguments and I would be irritated. And that's how he decided to propose to me by starting that argument at dinner."

Michelle Obama then states that she started making her points as a lawyer. "He picks a fight, and so I deliver, because I too am a lawyer and I have my points to be made. And by then, dessert was coming out and the waiter put a platter in front of me with a little box, with a ring on it."

Also Read: Michelle Obama Reveals How Secret Service Would React To Her And Barack Obama's Public Display Of Affection

She could not believe it at first because the waiter put the ring in front of her while they were having a heated argument. "And in the middle of the argument, I was like 'Whaaat? He opened up the box and he said, 'Now that ought to shut you up.' And it did," she told the host.

Last year, in October, the couple celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, the former President shared a few pictures on Instagram including a photo of himself resting his head on his wife's shoulder while at the beach. Other pictures included their names engraved in a heart in the sand and a black-and-white wedding photo.

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