KYN: White House Residents May Be Evicted By Mother Nature

I kid you not: The Hill is reporting that a small, but growing, sinkhole has opened up on the north lawn of the White House by the office of White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley. While there is no immediate danger of the White House collapsing, coincidentally, a similar sinkhole opened up in front of Mar-a-Lago last year. It can neither be confirmed or denied if recent moves by the Interior Department or EPA have anything to do with the earth opening experiences. Though I speculate that Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be holding a Press conference on the north lawn to update reporters on the sinkhole's status.

Update: The Hill reports that the National Park Service staff filled the sinkhole with gravel. Maybe less a sinkhole than a molehill?

Obama Expands Federal Hate Crimes Act

Attached to the $680 billion defense authorization bill, President Obama on Wednesday signed a law that makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. The expanded federal hate crimes law now, which also covers crimes motivated by disability, is hailed by supporters as the first major federal gay rights legislation.

The hate crimes measure was named for Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., an African-American man dragged to death in Texas the same year.

"No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love. No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are or because they live with a disability," Obama said, referring to Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.

Obama Machine Oiled, Fired Up, and Ready to Go?

Not a whole lot has been said about the machine behind Barack Obama and the unprecedented amount of cooperation and planning that has gone on behind the scenes to prepare our soon to be 44th President to take over the reins at the White House. Without the work of former Bill Clinton Chief of Staff, John Podesta to work with the Bush team to set the stage for the Obama administration, it is likely that Obama's movements of the last week would have been awkward to say the least.

Just consider the number of items that have been addressed within one week of the election and the style of how they have occurred:

1) Barack Obama named Rahm Emanual, his WH Chief of Staff.
2) Barack Obama's transition team has been vetting cabinet members, but has been careful about leaks.
3) A website has been set up for the transition period.
4) Barack and Michelle Obama have visited the White House and were welcomed by the Bushes.
5) President-Elect Obama has balanced respecting the sitting President's authority with his own agenda to offer a stimulus package to taxpayers, to reverse Executive Orders, and to address the War in Iraq.
6) Valerie Jarrett's name has been floated to replace Barack Obama in the Senate.

This shows an ability to use political capital and to let the American people know that he is ready to lead, but is willing to wait his turn. The question will be where does he lead us when he steps in?

Clearly with an economy in free fall, his attention will be spent on this albatross and will make other domestic policy decisions more difficult to invoke. However, when the economy turns around, it should allow Team Obama to push through comprehensive Health Care policy and other plans that will not be inexpensive to implement, though are designed to be paid for through other cuts. I doubt we can expect major policy decisions to be enacted in the first 100 days or even the first two years of his administration. Still any legislation that boosts industrial infrastructure to create jobs will be much easier to sell than another large "welfare" federal program.

Secondly, with the Iraqi's now equivocating about our presence in their country, there will have to be careful deliberations about how best to end the war there. It will take the cooperation of the world community to perhaps step in for the peace keeping efforts there and foreign aid from us to make it happen. The larger issue for Obama will be to defend his decision to "surge" in Afghanistan given that his base may be disappointed and angered by what they see as a "politics as usual" approach to a foreign conflict.

If the Democrats are smart, they will put aside the temptation to pass partisan bills and focus on the big picture. If the country is not moving in a good direction by 2010, there will be upheaval again in Congress and this time it will be the Democrats who are kicked to the curb. The Congress should take a page from the calm, reserve of their newly elected leader and move with purpose to enact infrastructure building legislation that will generate the new jobs that Americans need and deserve, should continue to support veterans and their families as an end to war is negotiated, and push back on Obama if his plans for Afghanistan do not have a clear mission.

Really. The White House Did Endorse Torture?

The Washington Post reports that, yep, the Bush White House did approve torture methods on suspects. It'll be a sad day to lose our Decider-in -Chief.

The Bush administration issued a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004 that explicitly endorsed the agency's use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaida suspects - documents prompted by worries among intelligence officials about a possible backlash if details of the program became public.
The classified memos, which have not been previously disclosed, were requested by then-CIA Director George Tenet more than a year after the start of the secret interrogations, according to four administration and intelligence officials familiar with the documents. Although Justice Department lawyers, beginning in 2002, had signed off on the agency's interrogation methods, senior CIA officials were troubled that White House policymakers had never endorsed the program in writing.
The memos were the first - and, for years, the only - tangible expressions of the administration's consent for the CIA's use of harsh measures to extract information from captured al-Qaida leaders, the sources said. As early as the spring of 2002, several White House officials, including then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney, were given individual briefings by Tenet and his deputies, the officials said. Rice, in a statement to congressional investigators last month, confirmed the briefings and acknowledged that the CIA director had pressed the White House for "policy approval."

The Ghost of Rose Mary Woods: WH Blank Tapes

The White House, despite two Federal laws erased e-mail records of millions of communications in order by recycling the backup tapes used to store them.

Given the types of communications that likely took place between 2001 and 2003, some very important messages may have been vaporized.

According to the Washington Post

E-mail messages sent and received by White House personnel during the first three years of the Bush administration were routinely recorded on tapes that were "recycled," the White House's chief information officer said in a court filing this week.

During the period in question, the Bush presidency faced some of its biggest controversies, including the Iraq war, the leak of former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson's name and the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said he has no reason to believe any e-mails were deliberately destroyed.

From 2001 to October 2003, the White House's practice was to use the same backup tape each day to copy new as well as old e-mails, he said, making it possible that some of those e-mails could still be recovered even from a tape that was repeatedly overwritten. "We are continuing to analyze our systems," Fratto said last night.

The court filing said tapes were recycled before October 2003, and at that point, the White House "began preserving and storing all backup tapes."

Two federal statutes require presidential communications, including e-mails involving senior White House aides, to be preserved for the nation's historical record, and some historians responded to the court disclosure yesterday by urging that the White House's actions be thoroughly probed.

Nussle Hustles to Washington to be BD

Former House member, Iowa Governor-wannabe, and current Rudolph Guiliani campaign aide, Jim Nussle, was named by George W. Bush to replace Rob Portman as the White House Budget Director. As has been the rule as of late among aides to the WH, Portman is leaving because "I need to be home more. I've got three kids ages 12 to 17."

At the press conference announcing his nomination, Nussle said, "Mr. President, I look forward to the awesome responsibility you've placed upon me. If I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed, I feel confident that my experiences in Congress and as the House Budget Chair have prepared me well for the challenges that lay ahead. I'm excited to help tackle our nation's priorities and work again with my friends and colleagues in the House and Senate. I want to say also a few words about my home, Iowa, and also my family and the people who make up that great state. They've given me incredible opportunities throughout my life. My experience, my optimism -- and sometimes humor -- work ethic and success have all come from my family and friends and the people in Iowa, and I want to thank you for the incredible foundation that you've given me."

When asked for his reaction to the Nussle appointment, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland had little to say. ``I don't know Mr. Nussle very well,'' he said, "Next question?"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Nussle's tenure as House Budget Committee chairman, and his personal relationships with members of Congress, will serve him well.
Nussle ``knows a lot about the process,'' McConnell said. ``He's a good choice.''

Stan Collender, a former analyst for both the House and Senate Budget Committees who is now managing director of Qorvis Communications in Washington. ``Given that there's no one else in the administration with any credibility on the budget or economy, this could put a big crimp in the war on appropriations. [Nussle] will have to establish and build his own credibility before he can fully lead the administration's efforts on the budget.''

Among Republicans, who are trying to shift the "tax and spend" back to the Democrats, came these remarks in support of Nussle.

"Jim's strong convictions about the need to restrain government spending ... will be crucial to this administration," said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, top Republican on the House Budget Committee.

House Minority leader John Boehner said in a press release, "I'm pleased that Jim Nussle will soon take the reins at OMB. Jim and I worked together before in the early 1990s as part of the Gang of Seven where we fought to make the House more transparent and accountable. I know he'll work with House Republicans closely - just as Rob did - to reform the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars, and to fight against wasteful and excessive spending. House Republicans are committed to sustaining any Presidential veto over excessive spending by Democrats, and I look forward to working with Jim in that effort this year."

It should be an interesting time in Washington.

P.S

From NBC's Chuck Todd Pres. Bush's gain is Rudy Giuliani's loss. Former Iowa GOP Rep. Jim Nussle's decision to accept Bush's appointment as Budget Dir. means Giuliani loses his main Iowa sherpa. Nussle was always a good answer to the question: "Who's handling your Iowa campaign, mister mayor?" And the answer "Nussle" was usually enough to keep the "Rudy's got no organization in Iowa" griping at bay. But with Nussle gone, the answer of "Paul Pate" (the person who is Giuliani's state chair) won't be satisfactory to some Iowa observers. Giuliani heads to Iowa tomorrow to give a fiscal discipline speech (Nussle would be proud) but he also needs to get some bigger names on board to convince folks that he is, indeed, trying to "win" Iowa. Remember, Giuliani can "win" Iowa without coming in first, but he certainly has to play if he wants to make a second place showing a "win."

Does Life Imitate Art

From Yahoo

"The annual White House Easter Egg Roll, started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878, typically has been a rite of spring in Washington. But on Monday, it was afflicted by winter's parting bite — cold air and even colder grounds. Undaunted by any of this, the young guests sprang into action under the watchful eyes of their families, hostess Laura Bush and several Bush administration Cabinet secretaries.

"In Washington, we know spring has arrived when the White House lawn is filled with children for the Easter Egg Roll, one of the happiest traditions here at the White House," the first lady said.

After her welcome, the first lady sat in one of the area's designated reading nooks and read "Duck for President," by Doreen Cronin. It's a story of a duck who gets sick of farm chores and decides to run for office — first for head of the farm, then governor and, finally, president. In the end he decides running the country is too much work and goes back to the farm."

About the Book

Duck was tired of his chores on Farmer Browns farm. Duck didn't like to take out the trash, mow the lawn, and grind the coffee beans. So he organized an election to pick someone kinder as head of the farm. The animals voted and Duck won! Now he was in charge! But Ducks ambitions didnt end there. Soon he became governor of the state, then president of the country! Was the job of president fun? Sadly, no. So Duck put his V.P. in charge, returned to the farm and did what many former presidents do-began his autobiography.