Speculation for why Obama returned [to Washington Monday] focused around the possibility of a secret foreign leader meeting or the roll out of a new administration initiative on immigration or corporate taxes.
But no such explanation materialized.
The most unusual deviation from a normal day at the White House was Obama’s dinner Monday night at Sam Kass’s home. The president, joined by deputy chief of staff Anita Breckenridge, spent nearly five hours at the White House chef’s Dupont Circle duplex apartment.
It’s possible that the party may have been a celebration of Kass’s impending nuptials to MSNBC host Alex Wagner. The couple announced their engagement last September. But the White House provided no details of the meal.
Remember yesterday’s comment from “One senior Democrat with close ties to Hill leadership” declaring that “except for fundraising, it appears … POTUS has completely checked out”? Could it be President Obama is comfortable spending the remainder of his presidency attending parties while crises like Ferguson and ISIS worsen?
Obama's got his priorities. War and riots won't bring him back to DC, but a party for an MSNBC host will. http://t.co/oJzmSuAsG5
— John Hayward (@Cobretata) August 20, 2014
UPDATE: No presidential statement about the killing of James Foley yet, but the latest fundraising e-mail came through just fine: