Obamanalia

[Equipoise]

I thought this was very cool.

Election windfall

Word spread quickly last week through Sto-Rox High School when students learned that the administrative offices were filled with Barack Obama paraphernalia.

Students snapped up posters and stickers for their lockers, backpacks and bedroom walls, eager to commemorate the victory of the first African American to ascend to the nation’s highest office.

The enthusiasm excited administrators, but it’s not what brought tears to the eyes of Jean Schmalzreid, the district’s director of federal programs and special projects. That happened when she saw school facilities workers bring in dolly after dolly piled high with thousands of dollars worth of supplies donated from Obama campaign offices in Pittsburgh.

Six computers will be dedicated to creating learning centers for struggling middle school students. An all-in-one printer, copier and fax machine will hum all day in the middle school library. And the art department received piles of markers, paint and poster board.

They were part of a program Mr. Obama’s campaign, funded better than any in the history of American politics, devised in partnership with iloveschools.com, a Web site that helps connect teachers with organizations that donate school supplies.

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Nearly 200 campaign offices in 10 states pledged to participate, she said, in what has easily been the Web site’s largest single donation effort.

In places with high concentrations of campaign offices, including Western Pennsylvania, a key campaign battleground, organizers reached out to poorer school districts. Local districts were assigned three offices each from which they could take whatever they liked, provided they retrieved the materials themselves.

…

She added that the office supplies – including reams of unused printer paper and other items still in boxes – will put a considerable dent in next year’s budget to allow spending on other needs.

Aside from the monetary value, there’s a civics lesson here. Students who have followed the race in class now can touch a piece of history, or put it on their walls.

Isn’t that beautiful?
I’m going to use this thread for things that don’t generally fit into any of the other Obama threads because not everything needs a new thread. Others are welcome to add in tidbits if they want.

[Hostile_Dialect]

That is really cool. Anything that gets the next generation feeling connected to national politics is a good thing in my book.

[Queen_Bruin]

That is cool! And I have a tidbit to add:

When I got in the car this morning to take my husband to the Metrolink, I noticed a smiley face drawn in the dirt on my rear window, right above my Obama/Biden sticker. Musta happened in the court parking lot yesterday. It made me smile so much that I cleaned the window around it very carefully.

[Hostile_Dialect]

Got a picture of that, Queen Bruin?

[Queen_Bruin]

@Hostile_Dialect

Got a picture of that, Queen Bruin?

I will dutifully take one in the morning.

ETA: unless my neighbor removes it first.

[neutron_star]

@Queen_Bruin

When I got in the car this morning to take my husband to the Metrolink, I noticed a smiley face drawn in the dirt on my rear window, right above my Obama/Biden sticker. Musta happened in the court parking lot yesterday. It made me smile so much that I cleaned the window around it very carefully.

That’s a lot better than the Obama sticker that somebody stuck right in the middle of my windshield on election day. And the Obama sticker somebody stuck right in the middle of my roommate’s windshield right in front of his eyes the day before. Random frantic Obama supporters can be good, or they can be bad.

[Spice_Weasel]

@neutron_star

That’s a lot better than the Obama sticker that somebody stuck right in the middle of my windshield on election day. And the Obama sticker somebody stuck right in the middle of my roommate’s windshield right in front of his eyes the day before. Random frantic Obama supporters can be good, or they can be bad.

Wow, how annoying. Our car magnet went missing. I keep telling myself someone was so excited they had to steal it. Whoever it was, I’m sure they needed it more than I did.

[Queen_Bruin]

@Queen_Bruin

I will dutifully take one in the morning.

Here it is, I hope it comes out. Of course after I figured I should probably photograph it from the inside of the car and did so, I managed to turn on the rear wiper in all my futzing around. So now it’s gone.

[Asimovian]

@Queen_Bruin

Here it is, I hope it comes out. Of course after I figured I should probably photograph it from the inside of the car and did so, I managed to turn on the rear wiper in all my futzing around. So now it’s gone.

Gone, but permanently captured on film. Nicely done!

[An_Gadai]

Obama is Irish.

[gaffa]

@Hostile_Dialect

That is really cool. Anything that gets the next generation feeling connected to national politics is a good thing in my book.

I was talking with one of my conservative Republican friends yesterday. He was looking at the bright side of this election, and said that it is great that black kids have such a positive new role model, as opposed to overpaid, childish athletes or violent, misogynistic rap stars.

I hope it translates into genuine political involvement, instead of his face being reduced to a “brand”.

[mnemosyne]

@An_Gadai

Obama is Irish.

That is so annoyingly catchy

[Hostile_Dialect]

@Queen Bruin

Here it is, I hope it comes out.

[Equipoise]

Fun picture Queen Bruin! Here are a few more things that I’ve been copying into Notepad while reading to refer to later.

Obama team expected to broker deal on subpoenas
A yearslong legal dispute between the White House and Congress over testimony by President Bush’s aides probably will be resolved under the incoming Obama administration, former government lawyers from both political parties agreed Wednesday.

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At issue is whether the Democratic-led Congress can force top Bush aide Joshua Bolten and former aide Harriet Miers to testify in front of lawmakers or hand over documents about the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

Democrats say the firings, which led to the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last year, were politically motivated. That charge was bolstered by an internal Justice Department investigation, which in September found “substantial evidence that partisan political considerations played a part in the removal of several of the U.S. attorneys.”

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and (from that same link)

On another topic, Litt and Culvahouse said Obama probably will seek to declassify more Justice Department legal memos — as well as documents across the federal government — than did the outgoing GOP administration.

It’s safe to assume that “a serious review of the classification system is on the table,” Litt said.

Culvahouse added, “It’s simply good government for (legal memos) to be open to review as much as possible.”

Transparency in government! Imagine that!

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Bush is NOT going to get away with any last-minute bullshit.

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a little-known, Clinton-era law as a way to reverse Bush administration midnight regulations — even ones that have already taken effect.

It’s a move that would undermine the White House’s attempt to finalize its energy and environmental regulations by November so that Barack Obama couldn’t undo them after he’s sworn in as the 44th president on Jan. 20.

“Fortunately, [the White House] made a mistake,” said a top Senate Democratic aide.

Last May, White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten instructed federal agency heads to make sure any new regulations were finalized by Nov. 1. The memo didn’t spell it out, but the thinking behind the directive was obvious. As Myron Ebell of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute put it: “We’re not going to make the same mistakes the Clinton administration did.”

President Bill Clinton finalized regulations within 60 days of the 2001 inauguration, meaning Bush could come in and easily reverse them.

It could take Obama years to undo climate rules finalized more than 60 days before he takes office — the advantage the White House sought by getting them done by Nov. 1. But that strategy doesn’t account for the Congressional Review Act of 1996.

The law contains a clause determining that any regulation finalized within 60 legislative days of congressional adjournment is considered to have been legally finalized on the 15th legislative day of the new Congress, likely sometime in February. Congress then has 60 days to review it and reverse it with a joint resolution that can’t be filibustered in the Senate.

In other words, any regulation finalized in the last half-year of the Bush administration could be wiped out with a simple party-line vote in the Democrat-controlled Congress.

…

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These boots are made for shaking…

Obama Plans Probe Of Bush Torture Whether Or Not Officials Are Pardoned

With growing talk in Washington that President Bush may be considering an unprecedented “blanket pardon” for people involved in his administration’s brutal interrogation policies, advisors to Barack Obama are pressing ahead with plans for a nonpartisan commission to investigate alleged abuses under Bush.

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The most wired presidency ever…

Obama Transition Team Staffs Up Internet Outreach Crew

From another article…

Obama, whose technology-powered campaign revolutionized online political organizing and fundraising, has said he plans to create the country’s first chief technology officer to update and oversee the safety of government networks. And he’s pledged to require Cabinet members to hold online town hall meetings, put videos of government meetings online and create a database of grants and contracts.

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Leave no stone unturned:

Techies tapped to scour bureaucracy

President-elect Barack Obama’s review of the vast federal bureaucracy will be led by past aides to former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

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In all, Obama announced 20 additions to his broad transition team that will help him make policy, budgetary and personnel decisions ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Six will dive into the inner workings of the departments of State, Defense and Treasury, while the remainder will serve on a working group headed by Barnes, Brown and Gips, tasked with analyzing and connecting the work of those scouring all the agencies across the government.

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Vet our people? Oh HELL YEAH, we’re gonna vet our people! McCain’s mistake in not vetting anything, from Sarah Palin to Joe the Plumber to Khalidi is a stark lesson.

For a Washington Job, Be Prepared to Tell All

WASHINGTON — Want a top job in the Obama administration? Only pack rats need apply, preferably those not packing controversy.

A seven-page questionnaire being sent by the office of President-elect Barack Obama to those seeking cabinet and other high-ranking posts may be the most extensive — some say invasive — application ever.

The questionnaire includes 63 requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well, that are forcing job-seekers to rummage from basements to attics, in shoe boxes, diaries and computer archives to document both their achievements and missteps.

Only the smallest details are excluded; traffic tickets carrying fines of less than $50 need not be reported, the application says. Applicants are asked whether they or anyone in their family owns a gun. They must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook pages.

The application also asks applicants to “please list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet.”

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There are no time limits for some information, including liens, tax audits, lawsuits, legal charges, bankruptcies or arrests. Applicants must report all businesses with which they and their spouses have been affiliated or in which they have had a financial stake of more than 5 percent. All gifts over $50 that they and their spouses have received from anyone other than close friends or relatives must be identified.

Just in case the previous 62 questions do not ferret out any potential controversy, the 63rd is all-encompassing: “Please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the president-elect.”

The answer could duplicate the response to Question 8: “Briefly describe the most controversial matters you have been involved with during the course of your career.”

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Obama has 8000 jobs to fill! :eek:

But they’re working on it…

Obama’s Transition Team Will Employ 450, Have $12 Million Budget

At a briefing before well over 100 reporters, John Podesta, the co-chair of Barack Obama’s White House transition, announced three priorities for the interim period and laid out just how comprehensive the effort would be.

The transition team will operate off a budget of $12 million ($5.2 million has been appropriated by Congress, the rest will be raised separately through individual donations of under $5,000), employ 450 people and operate out of offices in Washington D.C. and Chicago. Already, Podesta reiterated, the team has granted 100 interim security clearances.

As for the priorities - they resembled the same major interests Obama announced repeatedly on the campaign trail.

• The team, Podesta said, would be “laying the groundwork in stabilizing the economy and putting Americans back to work.”
• They “also will be engaged as is required and necessary in national security issues that remain constant throughout the transition.”
• And, of course, there is “the task of building a government.”

Podesta called for an accelerated process when it comes to appointing potential cabinet members, saying that past “expedited” efforts by president-elects were not fast enough for this go-around. As such, he called on both parties in Congress, the current administration and relevant agencies to work together to help get a team in order, quickly.

…

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Lobbyists need not apply…

At the meeting Podesta also announced what the campaign calls the strictest, and most far reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history. The rules, which were reported a few weeks ago by the Huffington Post, are:

• Federal Lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition.
• Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition.
• If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied.
• If someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the transition, they are prohibited from lobbying the Administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked.
• A gift ban that is aggressive in reducing the influence of special interests.

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Guess who said it (no peeking)…

“I am so very proud that as a nation we might finally be getting it right. I believe Sen. McCain is an American hero and a deeply honorable public servant, something one seldom sees in Washington. I also believe he could have been a strong president. That said, I believe President-elect Obama possesses an instantly recognizable purity of soul that, coupled with his brilliance, and, of course, his eloquence, brought quite unimaginable and long-awaited magic to the country, transforming red and blue states, quite literally, into ‘The Color Purple.’ I believe the entire country will stand behind him.”

Didn’t guess, eh? It was Linda Tripp!!

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Someone’s been filming…

Norton’s Obama Documentary Draws Worldwide Interest

A documentary, more than two years in the making, about President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign is gathering significant interest from international distributors just days after being picked up in the United States by HBO. A team of directors and editors backed by the actor Edward Norton is furiously editing the untitled project.

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Behind-the-scenes snapshots of campaigns have become a documentary staple, with “The War Room,” about President Bill Clinton’s 1992 run, and “Journeys With George,” about President Bush’s 2000 race, being two recent examples. The film about Mr. Obama’s 21-month campaign may prove to be an especially big draw overseas.

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The film’s genesis dates to 2004, when Amy Rice, a cinematographer, was alerted by her brother Andrew, now an Oklahoma state senator, to several Internet articles about Mr. Obama before his speech Democratic National Convention. She began tracking Mr. Obama’s Senate campaign.

“She was intrigued by the possibility that he might run for president someday,” Mr. Rice said.

Joined by Alicia Sams as co-director and backed by Mr. Norton’s production company, Class 5 Films, Ms. Rice started filming Mr. Obama in 2006, following him to Africa and documenting his political life as he contemplated running for president. As his campaign commenced in 2007, the two filmmakers were a recognizable presence among the traveling press corps. Ms. Rice and Ms. Sams did not respond to interview requests.

…

Ms. Rice and Ms. Sams are expected to continue filming through Inauguration Day.

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“Even though we live in a world where we think we have saturation news coverage, it’s really an illusion,” Mr. Powers said. “What happens when we see these documentaries, a year later, is that we’re stunned to find there are aspects and personalities and plot points to the campaign that had never been illuminated before.”

HBO said the Obama documentary will not been seen until spring or early summer. …

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Nice article/videos about Marian Robinson, Michelle’s mother, and her upcoming role as First Granny.
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Pure fluff, but cute as all get out…

The Obamas Flirt, Watch Soccer Game (VIDEO FLASHBACK)

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Off topic, but Helen Thomas is back in the front row and as feisty as ever!

[Equipoise]

These boots are made for shaking, Pt. II

Democrats to White House: Preserve your records

Senate Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees last week told the White House to preserve all records produced by the Bush administration and expressed “particular concerns” whether Vice President Dick Cheney’s office will comply with the law.

“We believe it is vital the presidential and vice presidential documents belonging to the American people be preserved, including those related to key national security decisions in which the (office of the vice president) played an important role,” the senators wrote in the Nov. 7 letter to White House lawyer Fred Fielding. The letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

The letter was sent by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Sen. John D. Rockefeller of West Virginia and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. They asked Fielding to detail steps being taken to preserve White House documents and hand them over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

…

“We have particular concerns … regarding documents in the possession of the Office of the Vice President,” the letter said. Citing ongoing litigation over the preservation of Cheney’s records, the senators wrote: “the declarations filed in that case by the Office of the Vice President raise serious concerns about its interpretations of the (Presidential Records Act).”

…

In 2003, Cheney began asserting that the vice president’s office is not an entity within the executive branch.

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The Bush White House has been most secretive in years, said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.

“The rate of classification activity hit a record high in the Bush administration. More information was classified more quickly than ever before. But what’s worse is that secrecy authority was used to conceal controversial policies involving domestic surveillance, prisoner detention and interrogation,” Aftergood said.

[rocking_chair]

i can def. say that when the center city philly office for obama was closed down, the school district cleared out the office. it took 3 truck loads.

[Little_Plastic_Ninja]

@Equipoise

The Obamas Flirt, Watch Soccer Game (VIDEO FLASHBACK)

I skipped over a bit of that, but I had to see this – holy cow, are they ever sweet on each other. It’s so beautiful to see two people in love like that.

[Equipoise]

Obama will be giving his first interview since winning the election. He’ll be on 60 Minutes this Sunday, November 16. Check your local listings. The interview is going to be taped later today (Friday the 14th) in Chicago and will feature Michelle and probably the kids.

I can’t watch it so I hope it’ll be available online soon after.
Little Plastic Ninja, I agree, it will be fantastic to have so much love in the White House.

How Obama’s been spending his time (besides, like, having a million things to do regarding the transition)…

For Obama and Family, a Personal Transition

A couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama headed to the Hyde Park Hair Salon for a trim. He greeted the staff and other customers and plopped down in the same chair in front of the same barber who has cut his hair for the last 14 years. But when he wanted a trim this week, the Secret Service took one look at the shop’s large plate-glass windows and the gawking tourists eager for a glimpse of the president-elect and the plan quickly changed. If Mr. Obama could no longer come to the barber, the barber would come to him and cut his hair at a friend’s apartment.

Life for the newly chosen president and his family has changed forever. Even the constraints and security of the campaign trail do not compare to the bubble that has enveloped him in the 10 days since his election. Renegade, as the Secret Service calls him, now lives within the strict limits that come with the most powerful office on the planet. He has chosen to spend this interval before his Jan. 20 inauguration at his home in Hyde Park, which has in some ways been transformed into a secure fortress for his protection. After two years of daily speeches and rallies, he has retreated into an almost hermitlike seclusion, largely hidden from public view and spotted only when he drops his two daughters off for school or goes for a workout at the gymnasium in a friend’s apartment building.

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Mr. Obama is putting off the change as much as he can by remaining in Chicago during the transition.
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Mr. Obama has yet to take a vacation since the election, as he works on selecting a White House staff, building a cabinet and formulating policies. But friends and aides said he was also using this time to concentrate on his family before moving to the most famous address in the nation. The personal considerations coincide with political calculation as well. By remaining in Chicago, it may be easier for him to avoid becoming drawn into decisions by the departing administration and may accentuate the sense of change when he returns to Washington as the new president.

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But the trappings of his life are increasingly presidential. Although he does not yet have access to Air Force One, he now rides in an armored government limousine, complete with the war wagon and other motorcade vehicles zipping through red lights with traffic blocked. Although the Secret Service long ago set up concrete barriers around his house here, they expanded their perimeter by several blocks after the election and brought in explosive-sniffing dogs.

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The streets around Mr. Obama’s home have been closed to outside traffic. Residents show picture identification at checkpoints as officers scan lists of pre-cleared people.

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For Mr. Obama, it means no more casually stopping by the Medici for pastries or heading over to Valois for lunch or window shopping with the girls at 57th Street Books, at least not without elaborate preparation. He did manage to take his wife, Michelle, on Saturday night to Spiaggia, a four-star Italian restaurant in downtown Chicago, where the future president loves the wood-roasted scallops. The Obamas have been going to Spiaggia with its lakefront view for years for what they call “date night,” including on their anniversary last month and Michelle’s birthday earlier this year. “It’s always just the two of them,” said Tony Mantuano, the chef and co-owner. “Now it’s just the two of them and 30 Secret Service agents.”

His day starts with breakfast with his daughters, aides said, and he has taken them to school a few times. For his daily workout, he uses the gymnasium at Regents Park apartment building where his friend, Mike Signator, lives. He later heads to transition offices set up in the Kluczynski Federal Building and receives daily intelligence briefings. He could be interviewing cabinet candidates, but no one will say.

“He seems to be very, very focused on the transition,” said his friend, John W. Rogers Jr. chairman of Ariel Investments, who lent office space to Mr. Obama until the federal space was available. “It doesn’t seem to have changed him at all. He’s the same relaxed, in-control, engaging Barack that he’s always been. I’ve been struck by that, that it hasn’t shifted him.”
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[Hostile_Dialect]

That video was positively heartwarming. I have not seen such chemistry in a political couple for a long time. If in any couple at all.

[Equipoise]

More odds and ends, in no particular order.
An Obama photo book will be coming out soon by Scout Tufanjian. Check out these amazing photos!

The “Obama Supporters” section will give right-wingers the heebie jeebies. I think it’s wonderful. Diversity rules!

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Obama will give his first televised interview this Sunday on 60 Minutes. Here is a short preview.

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Obama’s first print interview will be with Ebony Magazine.

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More on our wired president…

Obama’s YouTube address

The traditional White House radio address is going virtual.

President-elect Barack Obama is taping Saturday’s weekly Democratic address not just for listeners, but for YouTube viewers, his office said Friday. And he plans to keep videotaping the radio addresses after taking the oath of office on Jan. 20.

Before then, the videos will be posted on Obama’s transition Web site, http://www.change.gov.

Obama is turning the radio address into a “multimedia opportunity” to communicate directly with the American people, his transition team said in a statement.

Subscribe to the feed here.

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Barack Obama in Nanotubes

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Regarding Obama’s grandmother’s funeral…

Hawaii friends, former co-workers remember Madelyn Dunham

And a piece about this grandfather…

Obama’s grandfather remembered

And since we’re on family, here are some nice videos with Obama’s sister:

Maya Soetoro-Ng: Meet Barack’s Sister (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Stuff for Michelle watchers (some links have been posted before, but I want to put them here anyway, so they’re easy to find).

Michelle Obama Watch

Michelle is my Shero

And check out this stunning picture!

gasp Michelle!

Cute family holiday greetings (I just found this, but it must be from 2007)

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Still no names but according to Dick Durbin, Obama’s Cabinent is coming along nicely…

Obama Has Private Lunch With Durbin, Tapes Interview

Senator Dick Durbin had lunch with President-elect Barack Obama Friday and told reporters that they discussed a range of issues, including the makeup of Obama’s cabinet and his replacement in the Senate.

From the Tribune’s account:
*
Durbin, speaking to reporters about an hour later after an unrelated school event, declined to name names that came up at lunch. But he said Obama “is assembling what I consider to be the strongest team for a president’s cabinet in modern memory.”

The cabinet will include Republicans as well as Democrats, Durbin said.

Durbin also said he and Obama talked about a variety of people who might replace him after Obama officially steps down from the Senate on Sunday.*

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Somewhat sobering…

Obama Faces More Personal Threats Than Other Presidents-Elect

Local Papers Report More Anti-Obama Incidents

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Obama chose Valerie Jarrett to be his (official title) “Senior adviser and assistant to the President for Inter-government relations and Public Liaison in the Obama White House” (damn, that’s a mouthful! I wonder if all that will be on her business card?)

Who is Valerie Jarrett? One freakin’ amazing lady, from one freakin’ amazing family!

Wikipedia entry

Koss profile

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Inauguration stuff

Countdown clock

Official site

10 Things You Need to Know About Attending President-Elect Obama’s Inauguration

D.C.'s big Obama dilemma: What to do with the crowds?

Wikipedia page

Fan site

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Because re-living the moment never gets old…

Countdown to Victory

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Socialist Obama spreads the wealth

Barack Obama gives campaign staffers extra cash, BlackBerrys, laptops

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama ended his campaign so flush with cash he’s telling staffers to keep the change - and then some.

Long-suffering political footsoldiers who toiled tirelessly, at least since September, to put Obama in the White House recently learned they will be getting extra paychecks worth a month’s salary, the Daily News has learned.

And boy, are they grateful.

“I think it’s a very nice gesture for people who slaved away and sacrificed for the past year,” said one pleased ex-staffer.

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Whew, now I can close some of my open windows.