Obama pardons turkeys Courage and Carolina -- who started this silly White House tradition anyway? [Updated]

Last night they stayed at the posh Willard hotel in Washington.

This afternoon they fly first class to California, where they will be honorary grand marshals for Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day parade. 

But today, a turkey named Courage -- and an alternate named Carolina, in case Courage is unable to complete his duties -- received President Obama's first presidential pardons. 

Flanked by his daughters, Malia and Sasha -- who he said lobbied for the pardon -- Obama said the two turkeys had been spared the "terrible and delicious fate" of being served for dinner. You could tell he was tempted to eat Courage. As for his daughters, Malia observed astutely that Courage looked like a big chicken.

"There are certain days when I'm reminded why I ran for this office," Obama quipped. "And then there are days like this." On a more serious note, he called Thanksgiving a quintessentially American holiday, and an occasion to give thanks to soldiers separated from their families by war. You can read his remarks below.

But if the president thought the event a little light, the young aides in his White House were so tickled by its role in this odd tradition that they posted this preview on whitehouse.gov.

The silly tradition is often attributed to President Truman, but the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum says it can find no documentation of that. In fact, says the presidential library, "Truman sometimes indicated to reporters that the turkeys he received were destined for the family dinner table." In fact, what probably accounts for this rumor is that the National Turkey Federation started giving a turkey to presidents in a White House ceremony beginning in 1947.

In November 2001, George W. Bush said some believe President Lincoln started the tradition by pardoning his son Tad's pet turkey. But that may be more Lincoln myth than fact.

President Kennedy never issued a presidential pardon to a turkey, but on Nov. 19, 1963, just three days before his assassination, he observed, "Let's just keep him."

In fact, most historians believe the tradition of a formal pardon began with Bush's father, 41, the first President Bush.

Presidential pardons for turkeys are rare. According to the folks at the National Turkey Federation, an estimated 273 million turkeys were raised this year for consumption on American tables.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: The White House

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Obama's backup presidential pet walker for Bo

Presidents, of course, don't have time to walk their dogs, unless it's a scheduled photo op to make millions feel warm and fuzzy.

So the primary walker of Bo Obama is reportedly Michelle Obama. But even she is sometimes too busy.

So, Darlene Superville explains in a charming Associated Press story tonight, the walking job falls to a little-known, 57-year-old man named Dale Haney.

He's walked presidential dogs for decades now all the way back to 1972, which was, wow, in the last century back when Joe Biden first entered the Senate and Obama was barely in the sixth grade.

You think you've got a lot of leaves to pick up, besides whatever your dog deposits during his walks. As the White House's chief groundskeeper, Haney's got 18.5 acres to take care of.

He's been amazed over the years about how interested the public is in presidential pets, often showing more interest in them than the officeholder.

Haney likes Bo just fine. But he still carries a soft spot in his heart for George and Laura Bush's dog Spot. Spot was actually born to the White House, way back in 1989 as the daughter of Millie of the first President Bush. (see photo below),

Spottie, as George W.'s family called her, had a distinctive self-assurance that charmed many over the years including Haney. Before her reelection to the White House in 2000, Spot lived....

... in Texas and when the future president became governor, Spot took over the governor's mansion in downtown Austin, going pretty much wherever she pleased whenever she pleased.

But Spot quickly learned that tirelessly patrolling the block-square grounds was unnecessary if she just curled up in the security room. When the buzzer went off, Spot would explode from the room barking ferociously in search of the security breach. Spot left this earth in 2004 after several strokes.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Gerald Herbert / Associated Press (Haney takes Bo for a recent walk); Associated Press (The first Pres. Bush walks with a proud Millie and her new brood including Spot in 1989).

Czar wars: After axing Van Jones, conservatives sharpen knives in hunt for more Obama blood [Updated]

Green jobs czar Van Jones left the Obama administration over the weekend.

The one-time Marxist who had said a bad word about Republicans in February and signed a 9/11 conspiracy petition in 2001 resigned at midnight Saturday, in the middle of a holiday weekend. [Updated 2:30 p.m.: Jones was also a co-founder of Color of Change, which later launched an ad boycott of Glenn Beck's program. But Fox News insists that Beck's venom against Jones was not payback; the anchor had been ferreting out the more unsavory footnotes in Jones' vita before the boycott began, a publicist told us.]

Now Georgia Republican Jack Kingston, in one of those you-can't-make-this-stuff-up moments, is threatening to put all 34 Obama administration czars -- in every area from science to diversity -- under a microscope. In a recent op-ed on his website, Kingston argued:

In its day, czarist Russia had just 18 czars in 300 years. In just seven months, President Obama has nearly doubled that number. At this rate, we’ll have 272 czars by 2012. Who are these people and why are they necessary? Why do we need an Energy Czar and a Secretary of Energy? Why do we need a TARP Czar and a Secretary of Treasury? Why was a 31 year old with no background in the auto industry and who drives a foreign car appointed as the Auto Recovery Czar? What qualifies a college professor to set executive salaries?

To remedy the situation, Kingston has introduced H.R. 3226, the Czar Accountability and Reform Act, which would bar all funds to presidential envoys not confirmed by the Senate.

Other conservatives, smelling blood in the water, are sharpening their knives. Already, Fox's Beck has alerted his Twitter followers to "find everything you can on Cass Sunstein (the regulatory czar), Mark Lloyd (FCC diversity czar), and Carol Browner (energy czar)."

Sustein, a Harvard Law professor, is being castigated by the right for his support of animals. Lloyd is being portrayed as a disciple of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. Browner, who served in the Clinton White House, is now seen as a socialist.

MSNBC's Keith Obermann, incensed by his Fox counterpart's efforts to root out scandal about the Obama czars, has responded by asking viewers to "send every bit of direct you can find" on Glenn Beck, his radio producer Stu Burguiere and Roger Ailes, the brainchild behind Fox News.

Maybe the czar wars will be good for cable television, but are they good for democracy?

Let us know what you think.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Yes, Bo Obama is really cute. But can he do this?

Yesterday we had a much-read item and photos about Barack Obama's First Dog, Bo.

The eager young Democrat bounded off Marine One at the White House as if he was glad to have the family's expensive Martha's Vineyard vacation over and return to the familiar if ordinary digs and government servants of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Bo no doubt has a ghostwritten book in the works, like so many first pets before him. And he's obviously captured the affection of the Obama family and many others around the country simply by looking, well, curly.

But one loyal Ticket reader, apparently from Europe, wasn't so impressed.

She sent us this unbelievable video of ordinary German mutts doing some incredible things without government assistance. And they involve a whole lot more than standing around on a new leash and federal grass looking fine.

You'll note that none of these dogs are blue. And the little one seems to have a distinct anti-regulatory libertarian attitude.

Watch the whole thing. It's even more amazing than an MSNBC evening talk show. (And no Progressive insurance commercials!)

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Reuters

First Dog Bo sports a new leash. Of course he loves Obama (photos)

 

They were all the rage at Martha’s Vineyard when President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, vacationed there last week -- T-shirts with first dog Bo Obama’s image, like the one pictured here in an Oak Bluffs shop.

 So we suppose no one should have been surprised Sunday when Bo came off Marine One and bounded off the steps toward the White House sporting a new leash.

 Yep, it says “I Love Obama.”

The guy handling the dog in the photo is Sam Sutton,  a White House aide. But the puppy evidently knows who the boss is, hence the new leash. Actually, the leashes were first popularized during the 2008 campaign, so maybe Bo got his on sale.

 

-- Johanna Neuman

Photos: Reuters

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Sen. Al Franken's first legislative move is going to the dogs

After announcing his support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation, newly minted Minnesota Democrat Al Franken has moved on to his next legislative issue: dogs.

Specifically, service dogs.

Franken (not pictured above) thinks the government should be more active in facilitating the connection of service dogs with wounded military veterans. Franken's been very impressed with some canines he's already seen on vet duty.

Franken wants to establish a three-year federal pilot program to study ways the animals can help the humans and measure those benefits. The estimated cost of the freshman Democrat's pilot dog program: $15 billion.

Just kidding.

It's only $7.4 billion.

No, not really. Our blogging buddy Tony Pierce has the real scoop over here at L.A. Unleashed.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Obama dog Bo officially declared cute, seeks universal pet insurance

Well, it didn't take long. And came as no surprise.

Just weeks after moving into the Democratic White House, Bo Obama used the occasion of his official photograph release today to call for universal pet health insurance.

Looking just darling and tilting his head as generations of successful public dogs have endearingly done to capture human hearts, the Portuguese water dog said that a society that could send chimpanzees into space certainly could afford to pay for such essential insurance for their beloved home companions.

Using a smaller version of the Obama Teleprompter, the nation's First Dog said millions of hard-panting canines still live in homes where at a moment's notice their sleep is disturbed by orders to sit and come and shake and roll over.

Their barks frequently go ignored. They are expected to relieve themselves according to a human's walking schedule -- and in front of passing strangers. Some humans don't even pick up after their dogs.

And, worse, when these dogs go to all the effort of retrieving a stick, the stupid human always throws it away again.

Yet in 2009 most dogs have no health coverage. None receive even minimum wage. And they are expected to eat off the floor.

Although he admitted coming from a breeder, Bo said millions of other dogs and annoying cats languish in homeless shelters with minimal chance of ever escaping.

Anticipating predictable Republican complaints, the liberal dog dismissed conservative concerns over such an expansive, expensive new national program adding billions of dollars to the federal deficit for future generations.

Bo said, frankly, there would be no future generations from him, he knew nothing about money and never heard any concern over spending too much from members of his household.

Asked about published reports that Vice President Joe Biden had claimed his dog Champ was smarter than President Obama's, Bo Obama paused. He looked around slowly at the assembled throng of human photographers and reporters eagerly noting his every word and movement on the White House lawn.

Then Bo said simply, "Last time I looked back, it wasn't Champ leading the president of the United States around on a leash."   

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Chuck Kennedy / The White House; RCA dog Nipper

An Obama Friday: PETA, TEA parties, a missing father and more

Ah, Fridays....

Think the president wants a second opinion?

Barack Obama's personal physician for the last 22 years has done a thorough examination of his patient's healthcare reform plans and finds them, uh, dubious.

The 71-year-old Chicago internist David Scheiner, who vouched for the candidate's excellent health in a public letter last year, now tells Forbes.com: "I'm not sure he really understands what we face in primary care."

He's got the reflexes of a 47-year-old

In case you missed the left-handed president's quick right hand killing that fly during a recent TV interview, we'll add the video down below.

Those policymakers in Iran and North Korea who think No. 44 is all talk and wouldn't swat a fly may want to think twice.

Now, the caring folks over at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have called the president's insecticidal move an "execution" and, as the L.A. Unleashed blog notes here, are sending him a humane insect trap so future flying White House pests can be set free outdoors to spread their germs there.

Newest member of the California delegation

As regular Ticket readers know, we're all about touching human moments here. So in case you think there aren't any among those clowns in Washington, we're adding a C-SPAN video this morning of California Rep. Linda Sanchez introducing her infant son Joaquin to the House of Representatives this week.

He and she got a big round of applause from co-workers.

It's only fair that the little guy get to witness this generation of elected officials spending his generation of voters' taxes just a wee bit early.

Verbal fireworks planned for the Fourth

Speaking of birth days, July 4 is on a Saturday this year, which may mess up the traditional idea of a lazy three-day weekend for some.

But falling on an existing weekend is apparently helping plans for some more TEA parties around....

L.A. politician/urban farmer puts all his eggs in one basket -- and then shares

So what is an appropriate gift to give to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – just before you step into a throw-down, closed-door city budget meeting?

Eggs.

It turns out that LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl (below) is known among City Hall staff as being a bit of an urban homesteader. Since the mid-1990s, he’s raised chickens in his backyard and handed out eggs to friends and grousing neighbors, who aren’t as thrilled at the thought of clucking hens running around their Mar Vista streets. (Urban chickens -- like the handsome ones above -- are a nationwide trend, as we'll explain in just a bit.)

“Once they taste the eggs, they stop complaining,” said Rosendahl, who has a dozen hens at home, along with his rabbits and an aviary collection of finches and canaries. It’s a lot of birds -- and a lot of eggs – for any person to consume: The hens lay an average of 72 eggs a week. 

So every few days, eager to spread the joys of backyard farming, Rosendahl stops by different City Council members’ offices with a dozen eggs and a grin.

Last week, it was the mayor’s turn for a delivery from City Hall’s Egg Man. Rosendahl said he handed six eggs to Villaraigosa and, tongue firmly in cheek, said, “Sorry about only bringing a half-dozen, Mayor. But these are austere times.”

Villaraigosa had the eggs with him while they were debating how to balance the budget, Rosendahl said. “The eggs are kind of soothing. He kept looking at them, and turning them over, while we were talking about all these very serious items,” Rosendahl said.

Maybe the mayor was wondering how far he could throw them? Nah. ...

Want more on the politics of urban homesteading (yes, it's a point of contention)? Follow this link to learn more about raising livestock in the city.

-- P.J. Huffstutter

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Top photo: Dennis Harrison-Noonan and some of his chickens in Madison, Wis. Credit: John Hart / For The Times. Bottom photo: Bill Rosendahl. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Obama's first 100 days: exclusive White House photos

It's been a wild ride, so far.

An economic crisis, with billions of spending and tons of controversy over bankers' bonuses. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maybe Pakistan, and sometimes conflicts with Somali pirates. Meetings with world leaders, questions at town halls and press conferences, campaign promises met to close Guantanamo Bay prison and open stem cell research. So many firsts -- from the first African American president to the first who fought to keep his BlackBerry. So many marvels -- the first lady's transformation from novice campaigner to international and fashion rock star. And so many memories.

Today the White House released never-before-seen photos of President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, their kids, their dog and Team Obama.

Here's a sampling.

The first one shows President Obama, with Caroline Kennedy, looking under the desk in the Oval Office for the trap door that allowed young John Kennedy Jr. to peek out of their father's desk during the Kennedy administration. (Click the "Read more" line to open up many more photos and our video.)