On Tuesday evening President and Mrs. Obama will host their first White House State dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The White House will host 400 guests for the event, which will be held in a tent erected on the South Lawn of the White House, since the state dining room can seat no more than 140. Other guests include prominent Indian-American elected officials, Bollywood stars and others with ties to India.

State dinners generally draw administrative officials and members of Congress, the Cabinet and the diplomatic corps. Obama donors and corporate titans, Hollywood glamour, athletic greats and leading artists as well as some academics and journalists. (LA Times)

The guest list for the black-tie gala remains a closely guarded secret, but some names have leaked out. Since this first dinner is primarily a thank you to the Obamas’ most important political supporters, there will be a strong Hollywood contingency in attendance including onetime Dreamworks partners David Geffen, Steven Speilberg and Jeffery Katzenberg; Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Michael Lynton; and WME Entertainment Agency co-CEO Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm Emanuel the White House chief of staff. (Deadline Hollywood)

Soul singer and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson has been confirmed to perform at the White House state dinner Tuesday evening, according to a representative at the singer's label, Arista Records.

Cheri Cabot

Cheri is a freelance writer living in Southern California.  She has two grown children and is the proud grandmother of three.

You can find Cheri’s home page at www.ccabot.gather.com

Her weekly political column “Personal About Politics”, can be found at www.personalpolitics.gather.com as well as “The Obama Watch”

at www.theobamawatch.gather.com.

President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a quickly scheduled meeting Monday evening. The White House released a brief comment about the meeting.

“The President and Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed a number of issues in the U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship. The President reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel’s security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues. The President and Prime Minister also discussed Iran and how to move forward on Middle East peace.”

According to The Hill, President Obama will suspend his trip to Asia this week to attend a memorial for those killed at Fort Hood, a White House official said this weekend.

 The 10-day trip, which will take the president to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea, will now begin on Thursday, not Wednesday as originally anticipated. The memorial will take place on Tuesday at the military base, The Associated Press reported on Monday.

Although most of the focus has been the president’s trip to China, the loudest noise has been coming from Japan. The LA Times reports that thousands demonstrated Sunday in Okinawa and Tokyo about the future of a Marine base on the distant southern island, home to roughly half of the 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan.

The new U.S. military airfield with two runways is part of a 2006 agreement between the two nations. The White House stressed that it wants an “enduring relationship with Asia” in both security and economic matters.

Discussions with China will center around nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran, global warming and world-wide economic recovery.

“None of these challenges can be addressed without intensive involvement by China,” said Jeffrey Bader, director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council. (LA Times)

President Obama intends to take in some sightseeing after meeting with Asian leaders. In China he will visit the Great Wall and perhaps the Forbidden City. He is also planning a forum with students in Shanghai, where he may address the issue of human rights. (LA Times)

Cheri is a freelance writer living in Southern California.  She has two grown children and is the proud grandmother of three.

You can find Cheri’s home page at www.ccabot.gather.com

Her weekly political column “Personal About Politics”, can be found at www.personalpolitics.gather.com as well as “The Obama Watch”

at www.theobamawatch.gather.com.

On Tuesday, November 3, HBO will air the documentary “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.” According to the website, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began to roll cameras on young Senator Obama nearly a year before he announced his candidacy for the presidency.

Inspired by his oratorical skills and star appeal at the 2004 Democratic Convention, Rice set out to film his political career in 2006. She was joined by Sams as a co-director and actor Edward Norton agreed to produce it. After Norton approached Obama’s team with the idea, the senator agreed to grant the filmmakers what turned out to be unprecedented and exclusive access.

"Initially, it wasn't even about a presidential campaign; the idea was simply to examine the political experience of a promising young politician of our generation," said Norton.

BY THE PEOPLE tracks Obama's halting progress from long-odds candidate to front-runner in the 2008 presidential race. It's a roller-coaster ride that includes all the victories and upsets that were followed by millions in the media, seen from within the Obama campaign: from thrilling wins and disappointing losses in key states, to controversies stemming from Obama's associations with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers; from the high of receiving his party's nomination over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to the low of losing his beloved grandmother the day before his final victory over Sen. John McCain on Election Day.`

The documentary culminates culminates in the general election of November 2008, showing the Obama team glued to TV screens at campaign headquarters in Chicago, waiting with baited breath as results come in. Cheers fill the office as Ohio, then Iowa, go to Obama. His top speechwriter types on a laptop while talking to Obama on a cell phone, putting the finishing touches on an acceptance speech. Then, after the polls close in western states, news of Obama's victory finally breaks amid cheers and tears of joy, and the film follows David Axelrod and campaign manager David Plouffe in elevators, along hallways and past security checkpoints as they make their way to Obama's hotel room. History has been made. (HBO)

Cheri is a freelance writer living in Southern California.  She has two grown children and is the proud grandmother of three.

You can find Cheri’s home page at www.ccabot.gather.com

Her weekly political column “Personal About Politics”, can be found at www.personalpolitics.gather.com as well as “The Obama Watch”

at www.theobamawatch.gather.com.

Politico reported that President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to the Sidwell Friends schools this morning, stopping at both Sidwell Bethesda and Sidwell D.C. to join the first lady for parent-teacher meetings.

Malia Obama, 11, attends Sidwell Friends middle school located in Northwest Washington D.C., and 8 year old Sasha attends the lower school located in Bethesda, Maryland.

According to their website, Sidwell Friends School (SFS) is a PK-12, co-educational Quaker day school with campuses in Washington, DC and Bethesda, MD. Founded in 1883, the School is a non-profit, tax-exempt institution governed by an independent Board of Trustees.

 “Sidwell Friends School is committed as an institution to the ideal of diversity with regard to age, economic background, ethnicity, gender, physical disability, political affiliation, race and sexual orientation in its student body, faculty and staff. The School does not discriminate in the administration of its admissions, financial aid or loan practices; curricular offerings, including inter-scholastic athletics and physical education; other School-sponsored programs and activities; or in the hiring and terms of employment of administrators, faculty and staff. Except for special considerations that may be given to members of the Religious Society of Friends because of the School's Quaker affiliation, the School does not discriminate on the basis of religion.”  

The president returned to the White House just after 9 a. m.

Cheri Cabot

Cheri is a freelance writer in Southern California. Her weekly op-ed column, “Personal About Politics,” can be found at www.personalpolitics.com.