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

Remembering Ted Kennedy's greatest speech: the eulogy for brother Robert

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was long known as an eloquent speaker, and his death reminds us that what was arguably his greatest oration was a eulogy — the tribute he delivered following the assassination of his brother Robert F. Kennedy.

The eulogy, delivered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on June 8, 1968, is considered a masterpiece of rhetoric, and it often shows up on lists ranking the greatest American speeches. It has appeared in anthologies. It has been taught in schools.

At times, with its graceful rhythms, the eulogy feels more like poetry than prose: “He gave us strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, and sharing in time of happiness. He was always by our side.”

Kennedy reads from works by his brother, including an entire speech Robert Kennedy delivered to young people in South Africa in 1966. Kennedy, who was 36 at the time, also quotes what Robert Kennedy once wrote about their own father. The words seem appropriate now:

“Beneath it all, he has tried to engender a social conscience. There were wrongs which needed attention. There were people who were poor...

Under pressure from Watergate, Nixon resigned 35 years ago today

As shown by the success of the stage and film versions of "Frost/Nixon," the former president never fails to fascinate the American people. Richard Nixon's rise, fall and efforts to rise again made for great drama.

"I have never been a quitter," Nixon says in this address delivered Aug. 8, 1974. But quit he did, saying that he had lost support in Congress and that he was stepping down in the interests of the nation.

Whether one admires Nixon or despises him, few could argue this was his most tragic moment, when he became the first president to resign the nation's highest elected office in disgrace.

-- Steve Padilla

Gov. Sarah Palin's last day; now what for GOP's North star? [Video]

Well, today's the last day in office -- partial day, actually -- for Alaska's Republican about-to-be-ex-governor, Sarah Palin.

On Friday we wrote right here about the string of summertime farewell picnics she launched (see video above). At a third picnic, that one in Fairbanks, she'll turn over the ceremonial gubernatorial BBQ apron this afternoon to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who's got the same initials but not the celebrityness as the outgoing guv.

So is today the practical end of the political career for Palin, who turned a Wasilla town council seat and a corruption expose of her own party into a surprise upset of the long-entrenched Republican establishment ruling the nation's largest state, and then defeated a better-known returning Democratic governor in the 2006 election finals?

Or is today merely the end of the beginning for the unconventional, grass-roots-talking hockey mom who has the one thing every politician covets and very few have -- star quality, that ability to force people to pay attention simply by their presence? (See video above.) Bill Clinton has it. So does Barack Obama. Like them or not, people turn and look when they're around.

By conventional political standards, Palin's caribou is cooked.

She's quitting a powerful elected position that only 50 Americans hold, a chief executive's office in . . .

Gates and Mullen talk Twittering, texting, the modern military and Iran

Here's a very good video that goes beyond the cliched old-guys-don't-know-anything-about-new-communication-technology-and-social-networking guff that we usually hear so much about.

The Ticket reported here on the Twitter and Iran phenomenon on Thursday.

But also Thursday, a reporter at a Pentagon news briefing asked both Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the effect of new personal communication technology and social networking, specifically concerning Iran.

Gates recalled the role that the Internet played in penetrating the old Iron Curtain, helping the Soviet Union to crumble and liberating Eastern Europe from Communist domination. And Gates noted, with apparent pleasure, that some unnamed countries around the world (can you say Iran and China?) can try to block these evolving communications but can no longer shut them all down.

But the questioning and conversation itself evolved into how the modern military, run by older personnel but manned and womanned by young people (average age 21) must use these new methods to both get its operational messages and philosophies out but also to get valuable feedback back.

Gates admitted he hasn't "a clue." Mullen says he's on Facebook and Twitter to be connected to the younger volunteer armed forces.

Well worth watching. And, as we so often say on The Ticket, thanks to C-SPAN.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Barbara Boxer orders general to call her "senator"

Well, at least these congressional hearings focus only on the major issues facing the troubled country.

California's Barbara Boxer was chairing a hearing of her Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, examining what in blazes is taking the Army Corps of Engineers so long to properly protect a Louisiana city that sits below sea level from the sea. Good luck with that still. Again.

Boxer was getting a little exasperated, head dramatically on hand and all. As the proper sign of military respect for a female, Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh was answering "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am."

And finally, the ma'am had had enough. "Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am'? It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title." No, really. Watch for yourself. She actually said that. A different attitude than on Memorial Day.

Truth be told, even on Capitol Hill, Walsh has taken a few years of service to his country to earn those general stars too. But Boxer did not deign to call him general. Nor did she bother with a please. Of course, the general complied with the Democrat's wishes immediately without complaint.

(UPDATE: 5:28 p.m. A Boxer aide sends word that she did refer to Walsh as general several times during the hearing, though not on this particular clip. The aide also said Boxer telephoned the general earlier today, "expressed their respect for each other" and look forward to working together in the future.)

Next year, Boxer is up for reelection back home. We'll see if Babs gets to keep that title.

  -- Andrew Malcolm

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Hat Tip to Jimmy Orr, who has his incisive "South Park" take over here.

Most U.S. adults went online for Obama-McCain political info last election

More Americans plugged into the Internet during the election campaign last year than ever before, with 55% of voting-age citizens logging on for their political coverage, according to a Pew Research Center study.

The much-touted prowess of President Obama's campaign to use the Internet and social media to drive support and donations certainly put an exclamation point on the Web's new-found importance in the political process.

It should come as little surprise then that Barack Obama supporters were more plugged-in than those in the John McCain camp.

Obama supporters were more actively sharing political content around the Web, as is the nature of social media.

Twice as many Obama supporters signed up to receive automatic updates, according to a telephone survey of 2,254 American adults from Nov. 20 to Dec. 4, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4%. That could be attributed to his Twitter and mobile announcements -- like when he broadcast his choice for VP running mate, Joe Biden, via text message.

Though truth be told, as the Ticket reported back then, many got the news elsewhere before their text message arrived.

Online video was a major draw leading up to the election. The poll found that 45% of wired Americans watched Web video about politics or the election. The Obama administration is capitalizing on the ubiquity of Internet video with its White House YouTube channel.

Even still, Internet adoption only appears to be accelerating. Take, for example, Sen. McCain, who admitted during the election cycle to being a computer illiterate. Now, he's a Twitter fiend, sending a handful of updates per day to more than 428,000 followers.

Heck, even Larry King, maybe the oldest guy on television, is getting caught up in the Twitter craze.

-- Mark Milian

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Photo credit: quinn_anya via Flickr

How Obama's team gets his messages out while you're not looking

Here's how President Obama's team is using his vast donor e-mailing list to circumvent any intermediaries and get his pure political message out to millions of supporters to marshal support for whatever he wants, in this case support for his budget:

They send out an e-mail to an estimated 12 million or 13 million names with a short text message from David Plouffe, the political campaign's manager and now the campaign manager for "Obama for America." He says something like:

With this budget, President Obama is asking Washington to do something it rarely does -- look beyond the next election and take the long-term steps to ensure America's future strength and prosperity.

It will involve sacrifices and difficult decisions. But it will also boldly invest in the three areas most critical to our economic future: energy, healthcare, and education.

Washington doesn't work. Maybe you recall Obama mentioning that a few thousand times during the two-year presidential campaign. Here's how The Ticket explained that ongoing predicament recently.

So Plouffe, in a message that just went out today, urges Obama fans to watch this video about his boss's ideas for change -- see below. The Boss's key words delivered directly and without diluted interpretation. Same sort of thing he did by taking the economic stimulus package bill signing outside the Beltway to Denver recently; The Ticket dissected that strategy here.

Pretty effective and straightforward and going on while no one in the old-fashioned media is really watching.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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The housing crisis and its politics explained online

The economic crisis, spurred by a faltering housing market and credit defaults, is perhaps the paramount problem facing the country. Purporting to fix it was a major platform that certainly contributed to President Obama's election to office.

But the reality is that relatively few people actually understand what this whole credit crunch is and who caused it. The extent of knowledge for many is that a) it's harder to find jobs, b) HDTVs are impractical buys right now, and c) Obama signed legislation that's supposed to stimulate it.

A number of bloggers and participants of the social Web have put together some very clever and informative resources for learning about the current housing situation.

Animator Jonathan Jarvis crunched the essentials into an 11-minute video he posted online earlier....

Who's this Meg Whitman who wants to run California?

Outside the business community, to the extent she's known at all, Meg Whitman was the wrong woman on some lists of John McCain's possible vice presidential choices.

Having been Mitt Romney's national finance chair in the Republican presidential primaries -- gee, was that a year ago already? -- the 52-year-old Whitman moved almost as quickly as Romney to back McCain, helping him raise millions in his unsuccessful general election effort alongside that Alaskan governor.

Now, Whitman herself has announced an "exploratory committee" to run for California governor, which is exploratory in name only. There'll be many more announcing on both sides in coming weeks, elbowing to replace the term-limited Austrian-born incumbent.

Whitman appears quite comfortable speaking in public, although she's otherwise a political neophyte, not counting navigating the arcane internal politics of corporate monoliths like Procter & Gamble. She's actually a New York native from Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. According to her new website (see video below), she's spent the last 30 years in California as an avid skier, fly fisherperson and hiker.

The mother of two, Whitman had successful stints with several companies, most recently as president and chief executive of EBay. She became a business billionaire, which is a good thing if you want to run for anything in the nation's most populous state, where TV ad salesmen did not nickname the Golden State by accident. 

Born on Aug. 4, 1956, the youngest of three children of Margaret, a homemaker, and Hendricks Whitman, a businessman, Whitman attended local high school before heading for....