Oath-muff mocker Joe Biden muffs Hillary Clinton's oath

As everyone knows, Vice President Joe Biden is usually one of the planet's most circumspect when it comes to the spoken word.

So that same world was stunned when on the Obama administration's first afternoon in office, Biden stepped up to administer the oath of office to some staffers and made a sarcastic crack about needing the text to read because his memory wasn't as good as that of Chief Justice John Roberts, who had muffed Barack Obama's presidential oath the previous day in front of a few hundred million people.

Obama quietly reached out and squeezed Biden's left elbow to say, "Enough." And Biden later phoned the chief justice to apologize.

Today, with no foreign funerals ready yet, Biden was sent over to the State Department to re-administer the oath of office to Hillary Clinton. She actually took the oath just off the Senate floor moments after being confirmed last month. But a new administration can never have too many happy photo ops showing everyone getting down to work.

So in front of an eager pro-Clinton audience Biden stepped up to the new secretary of State with her oath on a piece of paper in hand.

And you just know what happened.

See it on video here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Best bipartisan buddies: Sarah Palin and Barack Obama

While most everyone was watching the attempted bipartisanship on Capitol Hill this week, some of it broke out successfully in an unlikely place elsewhere.

It seems that Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, the unsuccessful GOP VP nominee, was worried that the Army was going to cut off pensions to the state's old-timers long-retired from the Alaska Territorial Guard. So she sat down and wrote a letter to the new big guy himself, Democratic President Barack Obama, who's vowed to take extra special care of veterans.

And the largest state's small congressional delegation got involved too.

And, what do you know? According to the ever-vigiliant Sarah Palin for President blog, the Army suddenly decided it didn't really need to cut off those payments after all

It found a special fund to pay them, while Sens. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and Mark Begich, a Democrat, together shepherd the proper authorizing legislation through Congress.

Amazing when it works.

And speaking of Sarah and Barack, this weekend they're both attending the off-the-record black tie dinner of the Alfalfa Club, one of those fraternity-like get-togethers that Washingtonians schedule throughout the year to convince themselves of their eliteness. Palin, who as The Ticket reported, formed her own SarahPAC this week, says she's attending to pitch the interests of Alaska.

And?

According to Paul Bedard over at Washington Whispers, Palin's presence in D.C. has sparked an interview bidding war between CNN's Larry King, who's had seven wives and almost as many heart attacks, and ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who hasn't.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Vogue

Blog tells cute animal story though Obama political angle is lame

While much of the world focused on such transitory things last week as the inauguration of the United States' 44th president, Barack Obama, some of you may have noticed the story about Mouse.

And wondered whatever happened.

Mouse is the normally calm horse who was supposed to be in the historic inaugural parade with 10,000 other people and animals on Jan. 20.

But Mouse has a thing about other horses attached to carriages. As in, he doesn't like them. Like elephants and mice. Tom and Jerry. Homer and Ned. Sarah and Katie.

So a horse-drawn carriage came by. And Mouse got a little spooked. And he backed into a parked truck and wedged his leg. You know how it is when one of your four legs gets caught between a winch and a hard place.

It gets a little complicated if you weren't there. But to make a long story somewhat longer, a lot of animated animal people could have been tranquilized that day instead of Mouse.

Well, our kindly blogging colleague Lindsay Barnett has the latest on Mouse over here on L.A. Unleashed. Spoiler Alert: The news is good.

Speaking of animals, the Obamas haven't reported adopting their promised poodledoodledor or whatever dog yet. But word from the vast video collection on animals on the Unleashed blog page is that the need for shelter homes is great and growing across the country these days.

It seems the economy is apparently prompting many Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Ron Paul disciples and Naderites to unload their apolitical pets. So if you can make room in your house and heart....

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Kevin Wolf / Associated Press

What Barack Hussein Obama told the Muslim world -- full text

Here's the transcript of President Obama's first White House TV interview since his inauguration nine days ago.

It's with Hisham Melhem, the Washington bureau chief of Al Arabiya television, the Dubai-based, Saudi-owned international news network. The session was taped Jan. 26 in the White House.  Melhem told CNN's Wolf Blitzer of "The Situation Room" that his network was picked by the White House for its regional moderation, for how Melhem had requested the interview after Nov. 4, and Melhem mentioned that his daughter was, in fact, a campaign volunteer for Obama last year.

Melhem said he found Obama had "a sharp analytical mind" and "a very sophisticated understanding of the world." Blitzer added that Obama "spoke with authority and knowledge. He clearly knew what he was talking about."

Melhem later told Time that his headquarters in Dubai got a White House feeler Sunday and the session occurred late Monday afternoon. A vocal critic of U.S. Mideast policy, Melhem recounted that when he told the president his wife and daughter were big Obama supporters, the commander in chief wrote each a note on White House stationery.

See what you think of the questions and Obama's responses.  Here's the full transcript. And there's a video excerpt below.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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THE INTERVIEW:

Q:  Mr. President, thank you for this opportunity.  We really appreciate it.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much.

Q:  Sir, you just met with your personal envoy to the Middle East, Sen. Mitchell.  Obviously, his first task is to consolidate the cease-fire.  But beyond that you've been saying that you want to pursue actively and aggressively peacemaking between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  Tell us a little bit about how do you see your personal role, because, you know, if the president of the United States is not involved, nothing happens -- as the history of peacemaking shows. 

Will you be proposing ideas, pitching proposals, parameters, as one of your predecessors did?  Or just urging the parties to come up with their own resolutions, as your immediate predecessor did?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think the most important thing is for the United States to get engaged right away. And George Mitchell is somebody of enormous stature. He is one of the few people who have international experience brokering peace deals.

And so what I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating -- in the past on some of these issues -- and we don't always know all the factors that are involved. So let's listen. He's going to be speaking to all the major parties involved. And he will then report back to me.  From there we will formulate a specific response.

Ultimately, we cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what's best for them. They're going ...

Joe Biden apologizes this time for swipe at Chief Justice Roberts

Vice President Joe Biden has apologized for cracking a joke at the expense of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., referring to the fact that the chief justice, in his first inauguration, reordered the words in the presidential oath of office.

During a swearing in for senior White House staff last week, Biden snarked, "My memory is not as good as Chief Justice Roberts'."

President Obama looked chagrined and even pulled Biden gently at the elbow. Not a good sign.

As the Ticket noted last week, Biden held his first gaffe until the administration's first full day in office. Biden called the chief justice to apologize for his sarcastic remark and the vice president's spokesman said they had "a good conversation."

Sometimes in Washington a gaffe is the crime of getting caught for telling the truth. Biden trackers know it is not the first time the genial Delaware politician has had to eat his words.

During the campaign, he famously told voters that an Obama administration would be tested by a foreign enemy within the first few months of the administration, as John Kennedy was in the 1960s.

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned during a fundraiser in Seattle in October. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy ... And he's gonna need help."

And on his first day as a declared candidate for president, Biden said of Obama that he was “the first mainstream African American presidential candidate who is articulate and bright and clean-cut and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” This did not sit well with some black leaders -- like Rev. Jesse Jackson -- who thought they were mainstream and pretty good looking too.

--Johanna Neuman

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Photo credit: Associated Press

Inaugural parade casualty: Firefighter quits band after suspension for waving at President Obama

The firefighter from Cleveland who got a six-month suspension for waving at President Obama during the Inaugural Parade while marching in his fife-and-drum-corps unit has resigned from the band.

Drum Maj. John Coleman said when he looked over and saw the president waving, he couldn't resist waving back -- a violation of the unit leader's instruction to follow proper military rules of marching. Some, watching the video think Coleman also winked at the president, but he told CNN that, if you look closely, both eyes were in the process of closing.

In any event, band leaders were not amused.

"We had gone over and over time and again with everyone in the band that this was a military parade. Protocol and proper decorum had to be followed at all times," band leader Pipe Maj. Mike Engle told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. No salutes to the commander in chief allowed. "Unfortunately, John chose to ignore that."

Now Coleman -- who says he  was told not to salute and did not salute, merely waved -- has decided to resign from the Cleveland Memorial Pipes & Drums. "There are too many bridges burned with the pipe band," he said, "too many hurt feelings on both sides."

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo credit: CNN

Barack Obama's initial approval rating is highest since JFK

Do we still like President Obama? After all, it's been a whole week.

According to the latest Gallup poll, the answer is mostly yes.

The day after taking office, Obama had an approval rating of 69% -- the highest of any new president since John F. Kennedy, who entered with 72% national approval, Saturday's poll results said.

While an impressive rating, Obama might be a bit disappointed to find out that he dropped 14% since the last poll a couple of weeks ago, when he had an astounding 82% approval.

But since the latest poll, Obama has made some controversial decisions, such as announcing plans to close the prison at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, taking a firm stance for abortion rights and a suspected missile attack on Pakistan.

Such swift actions could end up swaying those 12%, who initially disapproved of the new president, or the 21%, with no opinion.

President Bush's approval rating hit a low of 25% shortly before leaving office, then rebounded slightly to 34% by Jan. 20.

It's not clear whether Bush's thrilling, ninja-like shoe dodge had any correlation with the poll upturn.

-- Mark Milian

The Ticket currently has an approval rating of 100% based on a poll of more than 2,000 Twitter subscribers. Show us your support by registering here for cellphone alerts on each new Ticket item. RSS feeds are also available here. And we're on Amazon's Kindle as well.

Photo: Then-Sen. Barack Obama addresses a rally at South Bend Washington High School in South Bend, Ind., in April.

Credit: Joe Raymond / Associated Press

For Obama and Emanuel, it's take a Republican out to eat day

This is Love-a-Gop Day around the White House.

The party that the Great Changer was sure the country didn't want four more years of is in big demand for now. The Democrats don't really need their votes in Congress to pass pretty much whatever they want in economic stimulus, even if it does include $200 million to stimulate birth control and make fewer consumers.

But a lopsided majority vote in favor would fit in with Obama's bipartisan theme and desired public relations sense of momentum for his first 2,922 days in office.

So today the president will take the ride back up (or down) Pennsylvania Avenue without the cheering throngs and actually break bread with Republicans. No, really. They're gonna eat together, despite the atrociously conservative manners of the minority.

It'll be a new experience for them -- and him. Because both of Cook County's Republicans always seemed to be busy running for their lives when Sen. Obama was available for deli sandwiches in the Loop. And there's little need to reach out to the GOP in Illinois politics anyway.

But that's not the frosting. Tonight, Rahm Emanuel, the ex-Chicago machine gofer, ex-Clinton finance chair, old Blago pal, ex-congressman and current White House chief of staff, who's famous for his %$#*(&# language, is having about a dozen Republicans over to his boss's house for dinner. The good china and linens, all that.

That way Rahm won't have to do the dishes himself.

It's all part of what might be called the Rahm Reachout. In recent years with Emanuel playing a significant role, the Democrats took the GOP to the electoral cleaners in congressional elections. The diminutive Emanuel plays politics like the NHL, only without the rules and referees.

Emanuel made dozens of phone calls after his appointment and before the inauguration to Repubs saying that he'd be willing to forget what he'd done to them because it's a new day with a new boss who wants to work with Republicans for America at this crucial, crisis-strewn time in its history that happens to coincide with the start of a Democratic administration that needs some big wins early on.

So, it looks like 12 or so moderate GOP House members will get the royal schmooze. How much you want to bet the new boss happens to stop by for dessert and coffee?

We'll see what effect this has on their votes. And if some dissension develops among the other Republicans who didn't make the E-list this time, well, that's the price Emanuel and Obama are willing to pay. Josh Drobnyk over in the Swamp has more detail on today's soiree, which is Chicago for "guys night out."

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Rahm Emanuel gnaws on himself for lunch one day. Credit: Associated Press

Obama economic stimulus already working; LA octuplets born

Just six days into the new Democratic Obama administration and the economic stimulus package is already producing results.

Word today out of Bellflower that eight new American consumers have been born to one mother. She's described as very excited.

Not only that, but 46 individual medical workers were fully employed for hours during the planned and orchestrated Caesarean section today at Kaiser Permanente hospital there. Moreover, the newborns will likely spend at least two months in the hospital.

The babies weighed between 1 pound 15 ounces to 3 pounds 4 ounces, according to our colleague Sam Quinones. Six boys, two girls. "Truly amazing," the doctors called it. (See video below.)

So do we. Eight kids in five minutes. Talk about boosting productivity!

Doctors said they had prepared to deliver seven new Pamper- and Enfamil-users.

But were shocked when they pulled out eight. Obviously, the result of a stirring inaugural speech last week.

Fertility drugs frequently result in multiple births. But 80% of them don't. And most of the rest are twins. More change you better believe in.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Talk about a do-over: the Yo-Yo Ma-Itzhak Perlman string sync

They're calling it the great musical cover-up, news that Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman and the rest of their Inauguration Day ensemble pre-recorded their music for fear that cold temperatures would force their instruments out of tune.

The renowned musicians did play live -- but only those closest could hear it, and that probably didn't include President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama or their daughters, Malia and Sasha.

The Ticket has to say, they did sound marvelous.

Meanwhile, the hat worn by songstress Aretha Franklin during her performance of "My Country Tis of Thee" has become a hot fashion icon. Luke Song, a South Korean immigrant who designed the hat for Aretha, said his shop in Detroit has been flooded with calls. He told the Chicago Tribune:

They want the same hat, but they understand, it's for the "Queen" only. Ninety-nine percent said, "That's fine. I'll get the next best thing."

For the record, Aretha sang live, though apparently her background music was recorded.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo credit: Ron Edmonds / Associated Press