I was driving in this morning and Imus mentioned that today’s the day the liberal talk network signs on.

Since D.C. isn’t one of the four cities carrying the network, I went to the website (centralairmeda.com) to listen via the internet.

You can’t. They don’t have the option of listening online.

I can’t tell you how disappointed I am (yet secretly gleeful). Almost every over the air radio station (and virtually all the major syndicated shows) are now available online. One can only assume the powers that be at Central Air either don’t want people to actually listen, or aren’t aware that listening over the internet is a viable option these days.

John Kerry was in California today, bashing the Bush administration and telling voters that under his presidency, he’d get us all lower prices at the pump.

Of course, that might not take into account any tax increases on gasoline.

I love Kerry’s answer to the fact that he publicly supported raising the gasoline tax by 50 cents a gallon in 1994: he says he never actually wrote any legislation calling for the tax increase.

Then again, what you do expect from a guy that wants to reduce our dependence on foreign oil but refuses to open up ANWR for drilling. Or a guy that goes to an environmental rally in a caravan of SUV’s and limos.

I think Theresa needs to buy him a Prius.

Bottom line for me: good. I’m glad the public will get to hear from her, I’m glad the administration reached a compromise, and I’m looking forward to hearing what she has to say.

Now, let’s release Clarke’s classified testimony as well.

A bizarre twist to the normal anti-Bush protests happened over the weekend.

Several hundred people stormed the small yard of President Bush’s chief political strategist, Karl Rove, yesterday afternoon, pounding on his windows, shoving signs at others and challenging Rove to talk to them about a bill that deals with educational opportunities for immigrants.

I know that when I want to talk with someone about an issue, I often round up several hundred of my closest friends to go to the person’s house and start pounding on the windows. I find it’s very helpful in starting a dialogue.

Protesters poured out of one school bus after another, piercing an otherwise quiet, peaceful Sunday in Rove’s Palisades neighborhood in Northwest, chanting, “Karl, Karl, come on out! See what the DREAM Act is all about!”

Rove obliged their first request and opened his door long enough to say, “Get off my property.”

“Seems like he doesn’t want to invite us in for tea,” Emira Palacios quipped to the crowd.

Emira Palacios. She lives in Wichita. Her address is….. nah. As fun as it might be to hold a counter rally outside her home, you know the press would spin it as intimidation by the mean conservative bullies. So I wonder why it’s okay to do it to Karl Rove?

Rather than reduce the size of the pictures, I’ve just linked to large versions of some of the pictures I took over the weekend. Enjoy!

The Capitol

The White House

A picnic near the Washington Monument

Part of the WWII Memorial

Another portion of the WWII Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial as seen from the Tidal Basin

A scary mullet

I left off the picture of the Hard Rock Cafe next to Ford’s Theatre (where Lincoln was shot). Also left off the picture of Julia Child’s kitchen (which has a home near Fonzie’s jacket) and the way cool ESPN Zone in D.C.

My super secret job requires a rather lengthy meeting this morning, so I don’t have time to post all the pictures I took this weekend. I only have time to post one, so I leave you with this image of Fonzie’s jacket (along with a piece of Ted Baxter’s blazer) from the National Museum of American History.

Aaaayyyyeeeee.

I dashed out for a Diet Coke a little bit ago and took the camera with me. I really wish there was a quickie mart type place around here, but I guess they couldn’t afford the rent.

Anyway, here’s the view of King Street from in front of my office.

Here’s the front of my office building, which is a former torpedo factory.

A park just to the north of the building…

And a look at the dominant bumper sticker around these parts.

I’m going to have to get myself a few Bush/Cheney stickers before long… although I do like my little window sticker that says “animals taste good”. Take that, PETA.

Amidst all the finger pointing and hot air over the President’s comments the other day, remember two things.

1- the comments were made at the White House Correspondents dinner.

2- the same people who laughed at the President’s jokes are the same ones skewering him today.

If it was wrong for him to make the comments, it was just as wrong for them to laugh.

Finally have the camera up and running. Here are a few pictures of Old Town Alexandria (where I work).

This is the view directly out my office window.

This is looking north towards the U.S. Capitol.

This is looking off the patio of my office.

And this is looking over the rooftops of Alexandria towards the courthouse.

It’s lovely, as I said. The cherry blossoms are supposed to bloom this weekend, and the kickoff of the Cherry Blossom Festival will be this weekend as well.

I haven’t posted anything about Michael Newdow and the pledge lawsuit because I’ve talked about it before, but in reading something on J. Howard’s new blog, I started thinking.

I’d like to see it gone along with the “pledge every morning” crap in the schools. Having taught for 6 years, I can’t say I ever saw many kids take it seriously, to most it was a drag to say it. Yea, yea they should be patriotic and take pride in their country…but they should also drive the speed limit, never do drugs, and never have sex…as well as do everything their parents tell them too

But they won’t. Let’s save the pledge for important times. Like one Farker said, if my wife and walked around every morning reciting our marraige vows, they would mean nothing. As is the pledge in schools today. Unfortunate as it is, that’s the truth in most cases with most kids (that I’ve personally seen).

Maybe I’m weird, but I think a lot could be said for reciting marriage vows every day. Regardless, that’s really not the point. J. Howard’s argument against the pledge is that it doesn’t mean anything, which kind of shoots down Newdow’s argument that in fact, it does mean something, and what it means is offensive to him.

Here in the culture war, we seem to be playing the percentages quite a bit. In cultural matters, the majority cannot rule. If it does, then it’s “mob rule”. In political matters, of course, the majority must rule. Can you imagine a political system in which the candidate who got the fewest votes is the one to actually serve in office?

Doesn’t make much sense. But that seems to be what some people want in the cultural arena.

What we should have, of course, is balance. And that’s what we have when it comes to the pledge. No one’s required to say it. No one has to say “under God”. You can say the pledge or not every day. But to take the phrase “under God” out of the pledge says a lot about where this country is going.

The phrase was put in the pledge back in the 1950’s, as a reminder that the enemy were the godless Communists. Communism is no longer the enemy. Terrorism (in the name of God) is. Could one make a case that the phrase is relevant today, not because it highlights the difference between us and our enemy, but because it shows the difference in how a people can choose to believe in God or not, without wanting to destroy those who think differently?

There are those who believe that any mention of the word God, any display of the 10 commandments in the public square, any public displays of faith shown by a government leader amounts to an American Taliban. I’d argue the opposite.

What did the Taliban do? Destroyed huge statues of the Buddha dating back hundreds of years. Forbid any mention or practicing of another religion. Demanded citizens live by one moral code.

Kind of reminds me of those who’d force us to live under the banner of Secular Humanism to me.

A beautiful day here in Old Town. I headed out for lunch and decided to wander until I found something that looked good. A block to the south and a block to the west there’s a little seafood place called “The Wharf”. Pretty good shrimp po-boy’s, although it was a little smaller than what I’m used to (not that it’s a bad thing).

After lunch I explored the area some, just enjoying the warm breeze and the cobbled streets. I saw the tavern where George Washington was first addressed as President (pretty cool), and an empty rowhome that will probably go for more than $1,000,000 (not so cool).

It’s a great area. It reminds me of New Orleans’ French Quarter, with an English twist and no random nudity. Then again, I didn’t have to step over any passed out college students or avoid 2nd story puking either.

This should really tick Jake off. Richard Clarke is being praised for his apology on Capitol Hill yesterday.

It’s the first time we have had a public apology by any of the officials that were in office on that terrible morning,” said Patty Casazza, who lost her husband when a hijacked plane rammed into the World Trade Center in New York.

“An apology goes a long way to healing the wounds and moving forward,” Casazza told ABC’s “Good Morning America” program.

Isntapundit says Casazza is a member of the Family Steering Committee, and has been a hardcore conspiracy theorist and Bush basher since 9/11. Here’s a quote from her a few months ago.

“When I look at the ads and I see Bush speaking over the pictures of Ground Zero, I know in my heart that President Bush failed the 3,000 Americans that died there on that day,” Patty Casazza, whose husband died in the attacks, told CNN.

She was also one of the few people questioned about the Bush campaign ad that showed a second or two of footage from Ground Zero. So why is she being interviewed yet again on “GMA”?

Probably because they know exactly what she’ll say.

Anybody listening to this? Former Sen. Bob Kerrey’s ticked off that Fox News dared to air a background briefing from Richard Clarke that is completely contrary to what he’s been saying lately.

“How dare they. They ought to call it sometimes fair and balanced.”… blah blah blah.

If someone’s saying one thing in private, and another in public, is your obligation to the person who’s lying, or to the public in general?

Right before I left, my mom told me about a semi-relative who lives in the D.C. area.

“He does something with the media, and he’s on talk shows all the time,” she said. Well, that certainly narrows it down!

This guy is my uncle’s brother’s son… or grandson. I honestly can’t remember uncle’s granddaughter’s husband. Anyway, I now know that I’m related by marriage to Tim Graham, which would have been nice to know when I was at KTOK.

Wonder if Tim can get me hooked up with a password so I can start posting on The Corner. Guess I should call him and buy him lunch first, eh?

That’s what the national media remind me of these days. I’d say rabid wolves, but wolves have some intelligence. Glenn points out a couple of prime examples of the “blame Bush” nonsense going around.

From MSNBC

The report revealed that in a previously undisclosed secret diplomatic mission, Saudi Arabia won a commitment from the Taliban to expel bin Laden in 1998. But a clash between the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and Saudi officials scuttled the arrangement, and Bush did not follow up.

So this happened three years before Bush took office, and yet somehow Bush is to blame.

From the NY Daily News:

One event that panel members found galling was why there was no retaliation by either administration for the bombing of the destroyer Cole in early 2001.

“When we left office, we did not have all the answers to it,” said Clinton’s secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

And Rumsfeld said it was four months later when evidence concluded that Al Qaeda was the culprit.

“I do not believe that launching another cruise missile strike four months after the fact would have sent a message of strength to terrorists - indeed, it might have sent a signal of weakness,” he said.

But senior FBI officials said at the time they knew Al Qaeda was behind the bombing.

Which again begs the question… what does Bush have to do with it? The Cole wasn’t bombed in 2001, it was bombed in 2000… a repeat of a failed attack 10 months earlier.

I think Colin Powell was right when he said government officials thought the main threat was outside the United States. That’s why I don’t really blame the Clinton administration for its actions. We all thought it wouldn’t happen here, even after the attacks in 1993. Even after the Murrah bombing in 1995. It couldn’t happen here.

But I’ll say again: now that we know it can, now that we know that unless we defeat those who wish to see us dead, how can we return to the policies that failed us in the first place?

I finally have the password to access my cam@camedwards.com e-mail, so I’m taking the morning to write everyone who told me goodbye. If blogging is light, that’s why.

J. Howard has a new new blog, which will be linked in the Fellow Okies section here. As one of the more passionate posters, I look forward to reading his blog… although he better continue to post here.

Picked up a few cd’s at Barnes and Noble last night. I had no idea that two of my favorite artists had released cd’s in the past few months so I picked up the new Ben Lee and the new Grant Lee Phillips. I also saw the debut from Nellie McKay and remembered hearing good things about it, so I picked that up as well.

The Ben Lee s all right, but rather uninspired. The Nellie McKay is just odd… a weird mix of Ethel Merman, and Pink. She’s been called a mix of Doris Day and Eminem, which means she looks like a girl and cusses like a sailor.

The new Grant Lee Phillips is a masterpiece, however. If you like the alt-country/bluegrass/Americana stuff… Virginia Creeper is amazing.

Since it’s the question everyone’s been asking, I’ll go ahead and answer it.

I cheaped out and bought a Kodak cx6230 that was on clearance.

What, you were expecting me to tell you what I’m actually going to be doing up here?

So I have the camera, and just running into a little problem getting the pictures from the camera to the computer. “EasyShare” my butt.

I’m getting better. It took me an hour to get home last night, but that’s because I stopped at the grocery store to buy bachelor food (peanut butter, jelly, bread, chips, diet Coke). Otherwise I would have been home in 20 minutes.

Took me a half hour to get to work this morning (I-95 to 495 to Route 1), but that’s because I managed to find the Starbucks in Old Town Alexandria. If I didn’t get a chocolate croissant I would have been at work 20 minutes early.

Tonight I’m going to buy a cheap digital camera so I can start posting pictures of the area. I could spend hours walking around Old Town Alexandria, and it would be a great place to live if we didn’t have kids. Springfield seems nice, although a little suburban. The fact that in two blocks I found a Thai place, an Indian restaurant, and at least three Chinese places makes me think that maybe it’s not so white-bread after all, which is a good thing.

this is infuriating to me.

On the day Gov. Rendell unveiled his budget to a packed House chamber, Rep. William Rieger voted in favor of all six bills that came up.

But Rieger wasn’t there. The Democrat was home on Feb. 3, 100 miles away in Philadelphia.

A wad of paper shoved into his electronic “yea” button atop his desk did the work for him.

Similar sights are in plain view on any given session day in the cavernous lower chamber where so-called ghost voting is a tolerated bipartisan tradition. But, like most state legislatures, rules in the Pennsylvania House explicitly bar it.

We have a serious problem with voter turnout in this country, and considering our elected leaders don’t even take voting seriously, it’s no wonder.

If politicians can’t be there to vote… their vote shouldn’t be cast or counted. Simple enough?

More of the good stuff/bad stuff from D.C.

1- I’m glad the hotel has some cardio equipment, because I could see myself blowing up to 300 pounds no problem. The food here is yummy. I don’t know about the tex-Mex (goodbye Chelino’s… I’ll miss you), but I had a pizza from a chain called Bertucci’s last night that was wonderful.

2- The traffic is, in a word, nightmarish. Weekend traffic isn’t bad at all, but this morning was pretty rough. I did have a fun little experience last night when I left the hotel to get something to eat. I took a wrong turn and ended up on a freeway. I then took the first exit (in an attempt to get off) and ended up in the inner loop of the Beltway. This inner loop is for high occupancy vehicles during the week, and it’s kind of a straight shot into D.C. (not a lot of exits, in other words). I wasn’t able to get off the Beltway until I got to the Pentagon, which was about 11 miles. The good news is I found my way back no problem, and I was treated to a wonderful view of the Washington and Jefferson monuments across the Potomac.

I’m sure there’ll be other mishaps and miscues as I struggle to find my way around (apparently the founding fathers were big on freedom but not so big on road systems that make sense), but now I know how my wife felt when she moved to Oklahoma from Philadelphia.

I made it to D.C. safe and sound. Had to drive through five hours of pouring rain in Tennessee and a little bit of snow in southern Virginia, but all in all it was a good trip.

Already found a few things I’m going to miss about Oklahoma:

1- Sonic. There are no Sonics here.

2- Traffic. What would normally be a fifteen minute drive is a fifty minute commute (at least for me). I’m sure I’ll find a better way to get to work, but I sure didn’t find it today.

Of course, there’s a lot of great stuff here, and later today I’ll try and find time to update.

I also want to thank everyone who emailed me. I’m going to answer all of them, but know that it might take a few days. I don’t have an internet connection at my hotel, and so I’ll have to do it either before or after work.

Thanks again for all your well-wishes.

There is no easy way to say it. Today’s my last day at KTOK.

The good news is, this is a voluntary decision. No bad ratings to blame, no lack of advertiser interest. Just the opportunity of a lifetime, and one that I would regret not taking.

That’s not to say there aren’t going things that are going to be a little rough. For one, this opportunity is taking me away from Oklahoma. By Monday I’ll be in my temporary quarters in Washington, D.C.

I can’t say exactly what I’ll be doing at this point, except to tell you that you’ll still be able to get your fill of me, only this time on a much greater scale. I’m going to work for a public relations and communications firm in a broadcast capacity. I know there are a lot of rumors floating around out there, and trust me when I tell you that none of them are accurate (at least the one’s that I’ve heard).

I want to thank each and every one of you for visiting here and for listening on the radio. Mark, Elizabeth, James, Ray, Kenny, Paulita, Jim, Steven, Barbara, Denise, Chaz, Wylie, Chris, … so many names to list that I shouldn’t even try. I’ll miss you all, although I hope you’ll still check in here for your verbal cup of coffee online. The blog’s not going away, although it might not be updated until Monday.

You have made the past year and a half an absolute joy and an unqualified success. I’ve loved sharing my mornings with you, and I thank you again for making me a small part of your life.

One of the original MTV vee-jays, J.J. Jackson, has died at the age of 62.

I’m not sure what blows my mind more; the fact that J.J. Jackson is dead or the fact that he was 62.

I remember J.J. Jackson. Heck, I remember MTV signing on. I was living in New Jersey at the time, and my brother had some of his hoodlum friends over that morning. I never realized I was witnessing the birth of something that would have such an impact on pop culture. I just thought it was cool that I could finally see the bands I liked.

Thanks for the memories, J.J.

John Kerry… statesman, war hero, common man.

Seriously, Senator. You’ve got how much money and you can’t pay for this yourself? Gah.

hat tip to McGehee.