Thinking it Through

Pets Love It! Hmm, Not So Much

Leave it to Slate to remind me what a sucker I am.

I bought one of these things, and my pets hate it. I managed to trim one cat claw in a drive-by swipe, but then didn't see the cat again for several hours.

I'm not giving up just yet, but I have serious doubts about my pets ever really being cooperative.

Turdblossom Subpoenaed

Today, House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers, D-Michigan, declared, "Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it." Conyers has issued a new subpoena to the former White House political czar, a.k.a. "Turdblossom."

Conyers added, "After two years of stonewalling, it's time for him to talk." I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to hear Rove now claim "executive privilege" as the reason why he can't testify about politcizing the DOJ, and marking lawyers for the chopping block. Bush isn't in office anymore, so his backing of Rove's claims of “absolute immunity” means little.

As Jason Leopold, writing for the Public Record, notes, that claim "has been rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates and President Obama has previously dismissed the claim. . . ."

The subpoena demands that Rove appear before Congress for a deposition on Feb. 2, at 10 a.m. EST.

This should prove interesting. Perhaps what went around will finally come back around.

Java is Good

My name is desert democrat, and I am addicted to coffee. I am fully aware of my addiction, and I used to think it might be a problem. But Nicholas Bakalar's article in today's New York Times declares "Coffee Linked to Lower Dementia Risks," so maybe I don't have so much of a problem after all. Here's the good news:

After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. People who drank more than five cups a day also were at reduced risk of dementia, the researchers said, but there were not enough people in this group to draw statistically significant conclusions.

I average about 3 mugs/day. And while the doctors who penned the study don't go so far as to advocate everyone partake of the glorious bean, they do note drinking coffee has been linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease and type 2 diabetes.

Bakalar also notes that this study, published in this month's The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, is unusual in that "more than 70 percent of the original group of 2,000 people randomly selected for tracking were available for re-examination 21 years later." Wow! Now that's a long-range study.

Think I'll grow brew a pot of my favorite: Mexican Altura.

PS: We order our beans from Coffee Wholesale USA and they're fab.

More Change I Believe In

The New York Times reports that tomorrow, Monday, President Obama (I love writing that!) will continue to follow through on his campaign promises and direct the EPA to "move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards." Although he stops short of ordering that Bush's past rejection of CA's application be reversed, indications are that the EPA will do just that after completing a formal review process.

As noted in the Times' article, "[g]ranting California and the other states the right to regulate tailpipe emissions would be one of the most emphatic actions Mr. Obama could take to quickly put his stamp on environmental policy." This is an important step that will not only help clean-up our air but one that will also force US automakers to produce and sell cars and trucks that get higher mileage than the national standard. This is very good news.

Tomorrow's announcement and Obama's decisions last week to close GITMO; tighten limits on the CIA's interrogation tactics; reverse Bush’s financing restrictions on groups that promote or provide abortion overseas; and the order to plan to withdraw combat forces from Iraq are all signs that this country is moving in a new direction: away from everything Bush.

This move is part of Obama's new energy policies. He is expected to also order federal departments and agencies to find new ways to save energy and be more environmentally friendly, and to  highlight the elements in his economic stimulus plan designed to create jobs around renewable energy.

Obama has accomplished much in his first several days in office. In fact, I'd say he has done more in first days in office than Bush did in his first year. The fight for the stimulus package is up next, and it's not going to be easy. I hope everyone who supports this bill writes to the Senators representing his or her state. Write to your congressional representatives, too, but be sure to write to your Senators: the Senate is going to be where the big battle takes place.

A Beautiful Day

Unfortunately I had to teach yesterday and so did not get to revel in all the inaugural festivities in real time. I was able to catch a video stream of the botched swearing in (why, on this very important occasion, did Roberts not have flash cards?!) between classes, but I missed Obama's speech. But, as a true political junkie, I TiVoed the entire day and watched it last evening. And yes, I wept.

The mass of humanity filling the mall was a clear demonstration not only of the historical significance of the event but also of the good will Obama has generated and the country's desire to see the Bush era end. It was indeed a wonderful day.

I don't have much to add to what's been said all over the airwaves and throughout the blogosphere. I think, perhaps, Dianne Feinstein said it best: "the dream that once echoed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial has finally reached the steps of the White House." Barack Hussein Obama is our 44th president. The echoes of slavery remain with us, for sure, but the possibilities of this country have been born anew.

And as he promised during the campaign, Obama got right to work. After attending the traditional national prayer service at the National Cathedral, Obama returned to the Oval Office, making calls to foreign officials, freezing the salaries for top White House staffers who earn $100,000 or more a year, establishing tougher ethics rules on lobbying--basically limiting what administration officials can do if they have lobbied before and, if they leave the administration, blocking them from lobbying during the time he is in office. Oh, yeah, he also met with his economic and foreign policy teams, ordered federal agencies to freeze any action on federal regulations Bush pushed through in his waning days, asked for a suspension of detainee trials at the Guantanamo Bay naval base so officials could review the cases and the procedures. Hmm. A pretty full day, I'd say.

But, as wonderful as this new beginning is, ugly reminders of political acrimony remain: while Cornyn's procedural blocking of the vote to confirm Clinton was nothing more than political maneuvering (she was confirmed in a 94-2 rollcall vote late this afternoon with Vitter and DeMit as the two hold outs), his move postponing Holder's confirmation is something else all-together. He and other repugs fear Holder and the DOJ will pursue those who ordered torture, i.e., Bush and Cheney who have both admitted to doing so. Cornyn claims he is "seeking more information from Holder on whether the Department of Justice will pursue criminal prosecutions of 'intelligence personnel' involved in detainee interrogations," but his real concern is about Bush and Cheney. Remember that Cornyn didn't say a thing when nine U.S. Army soldiers were court-martialed and convicted of crimes committed at Abu Ghraib prison--all were enlisted soldiers and accountability up the chain of command stopped at the rank of staff sergeant; to date, no commanding officers have been prosecuted.

Besides, the Public Record reported today that DOJ officials are "giving 'serious thought" to Leahy's recommendation to appoint a special counsel to conduct a criminal probe into the interrogation practices enacted during the Bush administration.

So the repugs are still doing Bush's dirty work.

About the Roberts' oath flub. I've been reading lots of folks who are concerned this is some right-wing plan to claim Obama wasn't really sworn in, but if my reading of the Constitution is accurate, Obama officially became President at the stroke of noon, oath or no oath. Also, it was the first time Roberts had administered the oath, so perhaps he was nervous? Or perhaps he wasn't all that keen on swearing in a president who voted against his confirmation?

Breaking News: soon after posting this, I came across AmericaBlog report that Roberts and Obama had a do-over swearing in this evening--so, all is well.

U2 on steps of Lincoln Memorial

I just had to post this as well. I am a huge U2 fan.

President-Elect on MLK

The Washington Times has published an essay our President-elect wrote in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

It is well-worth a read.

Honoring the Dream

Impressive

I spent a bit of time watching/listening to the confirmation hearing for Clinton's appointment as our next Secretary of State. Now, let me begin by noting that I do not agree with Hillary Clinton's views in all instances; in fact, I find her too hawkish and not outspoken enough when it comes to abortion rights.

But I have always been impressed by the depth and breadth of her knowledge. And listening to her respond to the committee's questions today, I impressed once again. Damn, she has extraordinary knowledge of foreign policy and political insight.

I am so looking forward to the return of intelligence and competence in our leadership.

African Americans and the White House

I've been reading lots and lots online lately (and just love this--a Firefox add-on that lets me save stuff to read later), so I can't remember how I found my way to this AP piece titled "Blacks in the White House: Slavery and Service."

It doesn't go far enough for my tastes (but then again, it is an AP piece), but it did make me reflect on the various roles African Americans have played in the history of the White House, and what a dramatic change having a black first family will be.

As Fergus Bordewich documents in Washington: The Making of the American Capitol, slavery affected everything about the conception and building of our nation's capital from the selection of a site that was nominally Southern to placate Jeffersonian Democrats to the construction projects that exploited slave labor. In fact, the Capitol was designed by William Thornton, a slave-owning abolitionist (an oddity that merits its own post) from the Caribbean. And enslaved men and women worked for Presidents from Washington to Taylor (1850).

Let us not forget, too, that Lincoln met with abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth in the White House; that Elizabeth Keckley was a former slave and well-known seamstress at that time as well as a friend of Mary Todd Lincoln (see an e-text of her autobiography Behind the Scenes: or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four in the White House (Schomberg Library); that Roosevelt invited Booker T Washington to the WH and Southern newspapers condemned him; that Eisenhower appointed Frederick Morrow as a White House aide, the first black to hold the job; that John F. Kennedy named Andrew Hatcher associate press secretary; and that there is a long history of African Americans working at and in the White House. The labor of black people made help build this nation. 

And now, on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will lead this country from the Oval Office and a black family will live in the White House. America's new first family will open another chapter in the history of our nation and our nation's capital.

Moments ago I came across news that about about 200 members of the Tuskeegee airmen will attend the Inauguration. They will ride in "1940s vintage cars to the White House, where they will take a salute from Obama after watching the swearing from upfront seats for all of them on the Capitol lawn."

This is the America I look forward to living in and celebrating.