When I think about Barack Obama, the first thing that comes to mind is the staggering number of actions he and his staff will need to begin as soon as they've gotten their coffee and found the West Wing restrooms. The problem is, everything must be done at once, in both senses of that phrase. There's no time to waste if we're to turn the country around.

Imagine it's next January and Barack Obama is in the first week of his presidency.

This is the second part of the liveblog on Carl Levin's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing investigating torture by the military.

The 35 Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush have been read aloud in the House of Representatives. They are now a part of history, taken down and transcribed, due to be printed in the Congressional Record, never to be removed from our memory no matter how much revisionist history is written.

And all we're doing is grumbling about how a committee will bottle up the resolution and impeachment isn't going to happen?

When was the last time a multicount indictment against a sitting president of any country was announced publicly, out loud, twice, on television?

George XLIII isn't too different from George III. They both believe that

                           the king can do no wrong.

Some 230 years ago, an anonymous master of snark wrote about how evil, their  own or that of others, loves to poke at rulers with a sharp stick. The following dialog has two characters. The identity of the one whose initial is simply "D" may be speculated upon, but personally I have no clue. It may or may not be the Devil himself.

The Farm Bill was vetoed by the President and has been promptly overridden by the House and is expected to be overridden by the Senate. A firm expression of the intent of the Congress, soon to be the law of the land, right?

Not so much. Follow me over the back fence to the south forty.

I think we've reached a point of diminishing returns on how to enforce the law regarding the torture nightmare.

Today I received an email from Congressman Wexler and one from the American Freedom Campaign. It seems everybody knows what the problem is, but nobody has the oomph to do anything about it except ... tell other people to do stuff.

Over the jump to the irony. Careful, it's hot.

Ladies, put your lipstick on, square your shoulders, and get ready to do battle. This calls for a revolution!

That's a quote from Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who is mightily pissed. The Ledbetter Bill, aka the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843), just failed by three votes to get the (God, not again) 60 votes it had to have to pass the Senate.

Reid: Ask that the quorum call be terminated.

Clerk: We aren't in a quorum call.

Reid: Well, isn't that surprising.

I just discovered a priceless database called the Online Library of Liberty. It's intended to help teachers and librarians bring works on freedom into the schools.

Someone about 230 years ago decided to write this incredible satire that rings so true it soulds like the Liberty Bell. I've edited it some, and shortened it. The edits in square brackets are my few substitutions, and there are some omissions. Other than that, this is the actual text.

What is the meaning of bipartisanship now? Young people have never seen it, and the rest of us are forgetting what it looks like.

I have some thoughts based on having breathed and paid a little attention for a certain number of years. Perhaps a broad view of the subject will spark a productive discussion.

Sen Leahy is beginning oversight hearings, questioning AG Mukasey about the Justice Dept. on C-Span right now. He has listed the misdeeds of the White House, mentioning erasing tapes, too much secrecy, . . .rein in the abuses of this administration . . . we must preserve our freedoms for future generations . . .

It's music, I tell you, music.

I really wonder what Mukasey will say. Surely a ray of light somewhere?

Spector is up now. Retroactive immunity will seriously undermine the separation of powers.  Yee-ha.

I'll hold the football again. Hope springs eternal.

The House is voting on the AMT patch — again.

The NIE report on Iran has been in the works for a year at least. I know I've read a lot about it. Where was that? Let's see ... I remember. All over the place!

I’ve decided to get personal about Issues in the Modern Workplace for my first diary.

I became unemployed December 31, 1999, in a happy ending to the story of The Little Company That Could. There were only three of us, and Best Boss Ever smiled when we said we were totally spoiled for any other job. I figured I could work a few more years and then reduce my hours and be semiretired.

Here’s what really happened.