National: Ronald Reagan

Eight years ago, on inauguration day, I watched the festivities in my office as I tried out a new exercise bike. We had considered going to Washington for the ceremony as I had worked on the campaign, but my husband had a business trip to Chile and I didn’t want to go alone. So there I was riding that bike. I wasn’t in great shape but even so it seemed I was getting very tired very quickly. I remember thinking that it must be a combination of the grueling campaign and the even more exhausting recount–and I thought that now, with the inauguration, I might get some more sleep.

Sarah Palin is receiving praise from some unusual quarters lately. Some environmental groups are saying positive things about the conservative governor’s announcement of her statewide energy plan, which proposes that 50 percent of Alaska’s power be produced from renewable resources by 2025. Pat Lavin of the National Wildlife Federation described the governor’s announcement as “a defining moment in Alaska’s history.” Alaska Conservation Alliance director Kate Troll characterized Gov. Palin’s energy proposal as “a very forward-thinking energy plan.”

Is this the same Sarah Palin who, as governor of a state rich in oil and natural gas resources, advocates drilling in ANWR and has pledged to support oil companies who want to drill in Alaska’s coastal waters? Is she the same Sarah Palin who, as the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate, inspired enthusiastic crowds on the campaign trail to chant, “Drill, baby drill?” Indeed she is.

Today President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden will be paying a pre-inaugural visit to the Supreme Court of the United States at the invitation of Chief Justice John Roberts. According to a transition team press release, today's meeting will mark the third time in recent history that a president-elect and vice president-elect have visited the court, with Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush having done so in 1980, and Bill Clinton and Al Gore doing so in 1992.

While the visit is ostensibly to give Obama and Biden an opportunity to meet the Justices' and to tour the court, it will also serve to make heads on the right and the left simultaneously explode as they read the words, "Following in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

Countdown to Change: 7 Days

The swearing-in rehearsals are going smoothly:

"Barack Obama" on Sunday delivered the shortest Inauguration speech in the history of this or perhaps any country: "My fellow Americans, God bless America." Only it wasn’t Barack Obama, but rather a stand-in playing the part of the president-elect at the Inauguration rehearsal.

Staff Sgt. Derrick Brooks, a 26-year old who serves in an Army Intelligence Unit based in Fort Meade, Md., was chosen because he rather looks like the president-elect, he said at a press conference after the swearing-in and parade rehearsal.