Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, says he was not being discourteous to President Barack Obama on Wednesday night, he was merely taking notes about what the president was saying during his speech. Television cameras caught Cantor using his BlackBerry as Obama delivered his call for health-care reform to a joint session of Congress. Bloggers have taken note of the apparent inattentiveness.

Barack Obama’s speech to schoolchildren stirred controversy even before the president delivered it. The reaction reflected two Americas—and, no, we are not talking exclusively of race. The content of the address inspired. Obama spoke as a mentor; he urged youngsters to hit the books and reminded them not to forsake education for lesser things. The words earned an A.

WASHINGTON—Trying to shake off a summer of setbacks, President Barack Obama summoned Congress to enact sweeping health-care legislation last night, declaring the “time for bickering is over.“

A day after President Barack Obama’s televised remarks to students, area school officials yesterday were more supportive of his speech. That was a contrast from the days leading up to Obama’s address, when a national fervor led school districts nationwide—and all but one of the largest districts in central Virginia—either to ban the broadcast or restrict access to it.

The message yesterday was simple, and the kids seemed to get it: President Barack Obama implored the nation’s schoolchildren to take charge of their futures. A group of about 30 students at Richmond’s Linwood Holton Elementary School sat intently in the media center, their eyes glued to the pull-down screen at one end of a large room. They listened as Obama spoke of his upbringing and how he worked hard—and took advantage of the occasional stroke of good luck—to get to where he is.

WASHINGTON (AP)—At last, the secret to first lady Michelle Obama’s sculpted arms? Tricep pushdowns and hammer curls. So says Cornell McClellan, Mrs. Obama’s longtime personal trainer, who described the workout routine of his famous client in the October issue of Women’s Health magazine. She began working with McClellan in 1997 at his Chicago fitness studio.

The following was posted on the White House Web site today: Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event, Arlington, Sept. 8, 2009 The President: Hello everyone how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

WASHINGTON (AP)—President Barack Obama plans to tell the nation’s school children that they ultimately are most responsible for their own education. The White House posted Obama’s remarks, scheduled for tomorrow, in advance on its Web site. Obama’s planned talk has been controversial, with several conservative organizations and individuals accusing him of trying to delve too directly into local education. But White House officials, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, have said the charges are silly.

What? Parents are protesting an American president’s message that their children study hard and stay in school? Some school systems, cowed by grumbling parents or perhaps politically simpatico, are refusing to broadcast President Barack Obama’s back-to-school address? A pro-education message by our president is being suppressed by educators. Goals that should be universally embraced are being treated as if they emerged from “The Manchurian Candidate.“

As the health care debate rages on, both sides have become increasingly dramatic in their denunciations of the opposition. The left—horrified that it may have blown the perfect opportunity for stealth nationalization of American health care—has slipped into shrill ad hominem attacks, with prominent pundits such as Paul Krugman equating opponents of a public plan to fringe “birthers” who question the authenticity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. The right, on the other hand, has sometimes stumbled into brazen hypocrisy while trying to stop what can reasonably be described as a government power grab. Why must conservatives exaggerate when they have so much right reason on their side?

The controversy over President Barack Obama’s plan to address the nation’s schoolchildren Tuesday—during a noon broadcast from an Arlington County high school—picked up steam yesterday. Chesterfield County school officials joined those in neighboring Powhatan County in deciding not to broadcast the speech.

Virginia is getting back from the federal government about half the $5.7 million it spent buttressing security at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced yesterday that the state will receive $2.8 million to offset expenses by 51 state and local agencies for the swearing-in of the nation’s first African-American president.

Battling anti-Obama headwinds in the dash for governor, R. Creigh Deeds is trying to hang another unpopular president on Bob McDonnell in a brace of fresh television and radio ads. Deeds, a Democrat, is pairing Republican McDonnell with George W. Bush, whose policies McDonnell—in remarks as recently as last month—credited with leading “an economic revival in America.“

Trying to rally the crucial African-American vote, R. Creigh Deeds is running a radio spot featuring President Barack Obama, while Bob McDonnell is on television with a new ad emphasizing an old theme in Virginia’s governor’s race: jobs. Deeds, a Democrat and state senator from Bath County, placed a 60-second commercial on radio stations in the Richmond-Norfolk corridor, home to large numbers of black voters, as well as Roanoke, a heavily Democratic hub in western Virginia.

Throughout the presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama told voters that he would work to mend America’s frayed relationships with our allies. He argued that the administration of George W. Bush had pursued a unilateral, arrogant foreign policy that alienated U.S. allies from Europe to Latin America. Even those who might disagree with Obama’s rhetoric would probably concede that the new president has worked to smooth the ruffled feathers of leaders who are reflexively skeptical of U.S. foreign policy. But in one crucial area of foreign relations, Obama has been an abject failure—especially when judged by his goal of treating our allies with respect and dignity. The issue is trade.