The Senate's leading Republican said he is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the revelation that former Senator and Cabinet appointee Tom Daschle recently filed an amended tax return and paid $140,000 in back taxes and interest.
Obama: Robert E. Lee'd be 'very confused'
by Mark Silva and Clarence Page and updated
President Barack Obama, the first African-American to hold the office, suggested last night that Robert E. Lee would be "very confused'' if he were around today.
Obama, guest of honor at one of Washington's most exclusive events, the Alfalfa Club dinner, made a debut with a few jokes that the White House is sharing.
"I am seriously glad to be here tonight at the annual Alfalfa dinner,'' Obama said. "I know that many you are aware that this dinner began almost one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the general would be 202 years old. And very confused.''
The president, at a dinner attended by first ladies (see Clarence Page's photos here) got off some lines about his chief of staff, the salty-tongued Rahm Emanuel, and that second swearing-in that Obama took after flubbing a line on Inauguration Day at the misprompt of the chief justice of the United States (and Chief Justice John Roberts turned out:last night, to publicly thank the president for his graciousness.)
"Now, this hasn't been reported yet, but it was actually Rahm's idea to do the swearing-in ceremony again,'' Obama said. "Of course, for Rahm, every day is a swearing-in ceremony.
"But don't believe what you read,'' Obama said. "Rahm Emanuel is a real sweetheart....
"No, it's true,'' the president said. "Every week the guy takes a little time away to give back to the community. Just last week he was at a local school, teaching profanity to poor children.''
Joe Lieberman, with a nod to what life might have looked like if John McCain had won the White House, told the Alfalfa crowd (with both McCain and Sarah Palin in attendance) : ""I could almost see the vice president's mansion from my house." Instead, he said, he has become "the first person in U.S. history to be granted a pardon by a president before he had taken office."
Lieberman took a shot at impeached former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich for "giving a bad name to the word 'chutzpah'." And he announced that Obama will be visiting the Washington offices of The New York Times soon "as part of your search for a new house of worship."
"Talk about hard times," said Kit Bond of Missouri. "These days you can't even sell an Illinois Senate seat." And the loquacious Vice President Joe Biden, long the No. 1 commuter between Wilmington, Del., and Washington, he said, "s the reason Amtrak created the 'quiet car'."
Vernon Jordan, wearing a top hat, announced that he would give it to Obama after his speech. Jordan told the president: "The difference between me wearing this hat and you wearing this hat is that I do not have to pull a rabbit out of it." Jordan also told the president: "People have faith in you, but of course I said the same thing to Bernie Madoff."
Obama spoke of the travails of his first 10 days:
"In just the first few weeks, I'e had to engage in some of the toughest diplomacy of my life,'' he said. "And that was just to keep my BlackBerry.
"I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could email me. It' a very exclusive list. How exclusive?... Everyone look at the person sitting on your left Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my email address.''
Others have reports of their own this morning on the president's humor -- including David Brooks of The New York Times, who noted on CBS' Face the Nation that Obama joked about a certain problem he has with the Labradoodle picked out for his daughters -- the dog owes back taxes. See them here:
Among those there, without the president's address: the Republican Party's 2008 presidential ticket, Sen.JMcCain of Arizona and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Palin.
While the dinner is allegedly off the record, the White House has helped break that bubble with its selection of lines released today. Our own columnist Clarence Page has contributed some lines above, and Politico.com reports that Obama told Lieberman, Democrat-turned-independent-turned-McCain supporter, that he has no hard feelings.
The door is always open, Obama assured Lieberman, who observes the Sabbath, so feel to drop by -- any Saturday afternoon.
As for Palin, rubbing elbows with the Washington elite whom she railed against during the campaign, Politico notes that Obama suggested Palin, who had accused him of "pallin' around with terrorists'' during the campaign, now was "palling around with this crew."
The Washington Post also reports that Lieberman reported that former Vice President Dick Cheney injured himself while moving into his new home, saying: 'I had no idea water-boards were so heavy.'''
Transportation Analyst: Stimulus Needs Details
Billions of dollars for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects are part of the stimulus package. But it probably won't include any specifics on what should be built. Phineas Baxandall of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group says that's a missed opportunity.
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