. >> eleanor cliff is a contributing editor for "newsweek" and emily miles a staff writer for roll callbegin with you, leading republicans say they want a delay on this issue is that just par for the course in washington, republicans don't want the president to have any success and then vice versa? >> it is not par for the course, certainly not on these really national security treaties. international treaties, i think they infringe on our sovereignty and i think they are playing politics with this and you have establishment republican figures, former secretaries of state, henry kissinger, jim bakker, ranking member of the foreign relations committee, richard lugar, prominent republicans urging passage and i think this is a matter of politics. this is -- it is just like the ban on earmarks. it is another sop to the new tea party members on capitol hill but the stakes here higher than congressional earmarks. >> emily, also this week, republicans delayed their meeting with the president. how unusual is that? the gop simply working out deet times of their own agenda first or is there somet

on your right eleanor cliff, columnist for "newsweek" magazine. rick dunnham, the president of the freedell. donald linewand, the immediate pass president of the press club. billy shore, founder and executive director of share our strength and the guest ofs speaker. andrew schneider, associate chair for kiplinger and speaker's committee chair. skipping over our speaker for a moment, melissa charboneau, clark bunting, president of the discovery channel. governor martin o'malley of maryland, a guest of the speaker. [applause] >> robert yune, cnn political research director. justin duckham from talk radio and new member of the national press club. paul mckella, executive producer of f.b.r. films. thank you. our audience may recognize today's guests as he is affectionately known in certain circles. they call him the dude. the moniker is coined to actor jeff bridges since he played the unemployed slacker in the cult film "the big lebowski." he is given another title other than dude, named oscar winner. at the academy awards, bridges received the best a