And So It Begins....

(for my friend Rhonda)


Associated Press
WASHINGTON - After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on Wednesday night at the White House — a rare do-over.

The surprise moment came in response to Tuesday's much-noticed stumble, when Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted Obama to do so, too.

Don't worry, the White House says: Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day.

Who flubbed it?


(Bloomberg)-- President Barack Obama called the leaders of Israel, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority this morning, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The president “used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued cooperation and leadership,” Gibbs said.

(16 month plan to withdraw from Iraq)

NBC News and news services
WASHINGTON - In a first-day flurry of activity, President Barack Obama on Wednesday set up shop in the Oval Office, summoned advisers to begin dealing with war and recession and ordered new lobbying rules for "a clean break from business as usual."

He also froze salaries for top White House staff members, placed phone calls to Mideast leaders and had aides circulate a draft executive order that would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year.

Unveiling ethics rules that he portrayed as the fulfillment of a major campaign promise, Obama said that "the way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable." The rules are needed, he added, "to help restore faith in government, without which we cannot deliver the changes that we were sent here to make."

Day One Rhonda.... and so it begins!