As sometimes happens in Washington, much of the news reverberating around town this morning started someplace else.

From the other side of the world, reports that North Korea has test-fired short-range missiles, including two surface-to-ship missiles, from its east coast. From Afghanistan, the Pentagon confirmed a U.S. soldier has been captured, and Taliban insurgents have claimed responsibility. What is not known now is why and how.

There is some domestic news on this getaway morning — the official U.S. Independence Day holiday starts tomorrow, one day ahead of July Fourth celebrations — and it brings some gloom to the picture: U.S. employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, more than analysts expected. That brings the U.S. unemployment rate to 9.5 percent, the highest since 1983.

Jobs are on the agenda at the White House, where President Barack Obama will meet with business leaders to talk about innovation and job creation, and then discuss the same subject at a Rose Garden event this afternoon.

The Michael Jackson saga continues on morning television, with heretofore unseen home videos of the Gloved One and his kids, a look behind the gates at Neverland and parsing of a 2002 will that gives custody of the children to Jackson’s mother, and if she is no longer living, to Motown icon Diana Ross.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook (General Motors Flint auto worker Donald Kemp joins other demonstrators in Detroit, Michigan June 16, 2009).

President Barack Obama signed a bill on Wednesday paving the way for the first women to fly American military aircraft to be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their service in World War Two.

 Three former WASP  – Elaine Danforth Harmon, Lorraine H. Rodgers and Bernice Falk Haydu — joined Obama at the signing ceremony along with five female active duty U.S. Air Force pilots and female lawmakers who sponsored the bill. 

 ”The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country’s call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since,” Obama said in a statement.

“Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve,” Obama said. 

The WASP was established during World War Two with the primary purpose of flying non-combat military missions in the United States. Their service freed up male pilots to fight in combat overseas. 

More than 1,000 women joined the program from 1942 to 1943, including 38 who died serving their country. For years, their contribution went unrecognized,  not even being acknowledged with veteran status until 1977, the White House said.

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Plenty of current and former U.S. senators had memorable professions before they got to Washington: country fiddler (Robert Byrd of West Virginia), astronaut (John Glenn of Ohio), jewelry-maker (Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado). But none were dogged by a satirical persona, as is already happening to newly-confirmed Democratic Senator-elect Al Franken of Minnesota.

Franken, formerly a comedian and writer for “Saturday Night Live,” created the character Stuart Smalley, a cardigan-wearing self-help guru, often pictured gazing lovingly into a mirror and intoning, “I’m going to do a terrific show today! And I’m gonna help people! Because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me!”

Stuart showed up in many Web headlines noting Franken’s victory in the Minnesota senate race over Republican Norm Coleman, especially those with a conservative bent.

“No Joke! Stuart Smalley Headed to Senate” — www.thefoxnation.com

“Stuart Smalley Goes To Washington! Al Franken Gives Dems Super-Majority” — www.werushdaily.com

“Covering Al Franken: Stuart Smalley Saves The Senate!
Commentary: Can Journalists Look Past The Goofy Persona Of The Politician?” — www.cbsnews.com

So we ask you: Is there any way Franken can shed the ghost of Smalley? Does he need to?

Franken is lucky in at least one respect. The decision that cleared the way for him to take his Senate seat came during a quiet week in Washington. President Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting on health care in the Virginia suburbs. The morning television shows focused — again, still — on Michael Jackson and preparations for a memorial service at his California estate, Neverland. The Mark Sanford saga continues, with sympathy running high for the South Carolina governor’s wife Jenny after Sanford described his Argentine inamorata as his soulmate.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Eric Miller (Franken and his wife Franni in Minneapolis on June 30, 2009)

A coalition of progressive U.S. faith groups and pastors has launched a push for affordable health care reform, an effort they say is rooted in a "scriptural call to act."

Radio ads will appear from today until July 4th in five states: Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Nebraska and North Carolina. The ads urge those states' Senators, whose votes could ultimately decide the fate of President Barack Obama's drive to transform America's health care system, to back legislation "that makes quality coverage truly affordable for every American family." You can see the ad script and audio here.

Organizers also say that more than 600 clergy from 41 states and 39 denominations have said they will deliver sermons in coming weeks on the issue and urge their flocks to act. A pastors' guide to health care will also be distributed to 4,250 religious leaders along with a shorter version to wider church members.

PICO National Network, Faith in Public Life, Faithful America, Sojourners, and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good are the main religious advocacy groups behind the campaign.

If this all sounds familiar, it should. The tactics being adopted by these liberal and centrist groups and activists are a carbon copy of the successful ones employed in the past by the U.S. religious right. The distribution of pastors' guides, the call for public policy to be guided by scripture (in this case compassion for the poor and the ill), the preaching of sermons on looming legislation -- it's all taken from the loose network of conservative Christians which has delivered many a vote for the Republican Party.

Conservative Christians remain a key base for the Republicans and they have also been decrying "Obama-care" on talk radio, the blogosphere and other outlets.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing.  Members of the audience shake hands with U.S. President Barack Obama after his speech about reforming America's health care system in Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 11, 2009.

Washington is a town of euphemisms, where “mistakes were made” but nobody takes responsibility, where lawmakers routinely refer to each other as “my good friend” before questioning their buddies’ sanity or moral character.

The Washingtonian art of the euphemism apparently has been learned in Baghdad, where to mark today’s departure of U.S. forces from Iraqi cities, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared National Sovereignty Day and celebrated with a military parade.

As U.S. combat units get out of Iraq’s urban areas and move into rural bases, Pentagon leaders will be speaking, though not in Washington. Defense Secretary Robert Gates addresses a NATO change-of-command ceremony in Stuttgart while Army General Ray Odierno, the U.S. commander in Iraq, briefs reporters via video link.

At the White House, President Barack Obama talks about nonprofit programs, then meets with Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

With Congress gone and the U.S. capital already on the glide-path to the Independence Day holiday weekend, morning television was dominated by ongoing questions about the late Michael Jackson’s legacy – fiscal, familial and cultural — and the aftermath of the sentencing of investment swindler Bernard Madoff. To many of Madoff’s victims, a 150-year prison term is not enough.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Nikola Solic (U.S. Army soldier of 1st Cavalry division’s 2nd Battalion and U.S. flag during dawn ceremony in Baghdad on June 29, 2009)

If Barack Obama and the gay community have strained relations, an elegant reception in the White House East Room to celebrate LGBT Pride Month was a good way to start mending fences — at least for now.

“Welcome to your White House,” Obama told an enthusiastic crowd of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people on Monday before launching into a summary of his administration’s accomplishments on their causes.

Notable exception: Obama’s pledge to repeal the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy has not been met.

Gay activists have lamented the slow speed at which Obama, who had wide support from the community for his presidential campaign, and his administration have moved to address the military policy and other issues.

That’s not news to Obama, who addressed the dissatisfaction in his remarks.

“I know that many in this room don’t believe that progress has come fast enough, and I understand that,” he said.

“It’s not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half century ago.”

But Obama said progress had been made and promised the group that once he left office, they would have reason to be happy with his accomplishments.

“I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I’ve made, but by the promises that my administration keeps,” he said.

“We’ve been in office six months now.  I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration.”

The audience clapped loudly. Patience, at least for the time being, seemed to have won the day.

“President Obama’s remarks today were welcomed and appreciated,” Joe Solmonese, president of the LGBT group Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement, with a nod to the the upcoming anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a pivotal moment in U.S. gay history.

“On the eve of this weekend’s 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the president has yet again reiterated his support for most of the critical federal issues facing millions of LGBT Americans. We must continue the hard work of turning that support into the passage of actual laws.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Obama greets guests at reception for LGBT Pride Month; Obama delivers remarks as first lady Michelle Obama looks on)

There’s a real school’s-out feeling around Washington today. Congress left town last week after the House voted for bill to curb climate change, and most lawmakers won’t be back until after the July 4 holiday weekend. The Supreme Court issues its last rulings of the term, with a full sheaf of decisions expected — but then the justices will be gone for the summer.

President Barack Obama’s hosting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the White House, with a joint appearance in the afternoon. In addition to a full plate of U.S.-Colombian issues, the two leaders could address last weekend’s military coup in Honduras. Obama has already called for peaceful resolution of “tensions and disputes” but he may have more to say.

Later in the day, Obama celebrates the accomplishments of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans at a White House reception. This community has criticized the president for what they see as foot-dragging on repealing the Defense of Marriage Act — which defines marriage as between one man and one woman and says states need not recognize gay marriages performed in another state — and the U.S. military’s Don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy.

On Capitol Hill, even though most members of Congress are back home, there’s one decision most will be interested in — a possible ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court on just who has won a hotly contested Senate seat: Republican Norm Coleman or Democrat Al Franken. If Franken is declared the winner, it would give Democrats a 60-vote majority, which means Republicans can’t delay legislation with a jaw-fest called a filibuster.

Outside Washington, questions still swirl around the death of Michael Jackson, with lawyers, doctors, relatives and others opining on morning television about the circumstances of the pop star’s demise, and the fate of his three children.

There was plenty of attention focused on an expected day of reckoning set for a New York City courtroom, too: the sentencing of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Legal experts suggest he’ll get a virtual life term.

Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young. A cyclist rides past magnolias in bloom on Capitol Hill, March 3, 2009

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett may no longer be with us, but Congress is still hanging around. Good thing, too, as they’ve got plenty of work to do.

The House of Representatives is poised to vote today on one of the most significant environmental bills in history. It could be a nail-biter as Democratic leaders are still scrambling to ensure they have enough votes to pass the measure, which aims to wean industry off of carbon-emitting fuels blamed for global warming.

After that it has to clear the Senate, where Republicans will have an easier time derailing it if they so desire.

They’re still plugging away on healthcare reform. Senators say they’re closer to agreement on a $1 trillion bill that would extend coverage to nearly everyone without adding to huge budget deficits.

On top of that, President Obama wants Congress to tackle immigration and overhaul financial regulation by the end of the year. He also hopes to get Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court by September.

Something’s got to give, and that appears to be transportation spending. House Democrats have been working on a $500 billion package that would create a new fund for road repairs and increase spending on transit and rail.

That could require new gas taxes — never a popular option with voters — and Obama’s told Congress to wait until after the 2010 midterm elections to take it up.

So what’s the best metaphor for the transportation bill? Is it:

a. Stuck in traffic?

b. Derailed?

c. In a holding pattern?

photo credit: REUTERS/Nigel Roddis (A tribute to Michael Jackson in London, June 26)

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Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs barely got a foot through the door of the White House briefing room Thursday before being hit by the full force of a press corps demanding information on the big news of the day.
 
Not Iran or healthcare, of course, or even the energy bill that President Barack Obama had discussed earlier in the White House Rose Garden.
 
Nope, the big news Thursday was who on the White House staff would take a turn in the dunk tank at the Hawaiian luau being thrown by Obama for members of Congress and their families on the White House south lawn. 
 
“I went out there to see it. It’s out there,” Gibbs said in response to questions about the tank — one of those amusement park devices where someone sits suspended over a huge tub of water while others hurl balls at a trigger in an effort to dunk him.
 
“Rahm is going to be in it. Phil Schiliro’s going to be in it,” Gibbs said, referring to Rahm Emanuel, the president’s chief of staff, and Schiliro, the president’s assistant for legislative affairs.
 
“Robert Gibbs is going to be in it,” he added, referring to himself.
 
News that Emanuel and Schiliro would be targets in the dunk tank set off speculation on Capitol Hill that Obama was deviously trying to round up more support for an expected vote in the House Friday on the energy bill.
 
News that Gibbs had volunteered set off a round of journalistic pleading for news coverage, or perhaps an opportunity to try it out on White House spokesman.
 
Offers of fundraising for charity were made — $5 or $10 per reporter in exchange for a throw and a video of the results.
 
“I’m happy to. You guys collect the pot of money, you guys pick your best arm, and we can — you can have a shot at it. You can throw it (at) me and I’ll get you the video,” Gibbs said. 
 
He did express one reservation. 
 
“My only concern at this point is that the water gets a little warmer maybe before we start throwing.”
 
And so at the appointed hour a little past 5 p.m., the press corps filed out for the dunking shortly before the start of the luau, cheered on by Obama, who poked his head out a West Wing door and shouted: “Go get him! Go get him! You can do it!”
 
Gibbs went into the water twice in five minutes — once at the hands of AP’s Ben Feller and a second time on the pitching of CBS’s Bill Plante, who’s been covering the White House for nearly 30 years.
 
Gibbs was still drying off as the luau got underway.
 
“Bill Plante,” he said. “Who’d have thought?” 
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Gibbs before, and after, being dunked)

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs took heat on Wednesday over the use of what one reporter called a “designated hitter” to ask President Barack Obama about protests in Iran.
 
“What kind of a message do you think that sends to the American people and to the world about the kind of free flow and pure questioning that’s been expected at presidential news conferences?” CBS White House correspondent Peter Maer asked.
 
Iran’s disputed election and the violent crackdown on the huge protests that followed dominated Obama’s fourth news conference on Tuesday.
 
But Maer and other reporters objected to Obama taking an arranged question from the Huffington Post website.
 
“What led to your decision to plant a designated hitter right here to ask the president a question,” Maer asked.
 
White House aides had arranged for Nico Pitney from the Huffington Post to attend the press conference and Obama called on him second, after answering an earlier question on Iran.
 
“I know that there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet. Do you have a question?” Obama asked.
 
Pitney then relayed a question from an Iranian who wanted to know under what conditions Obama would accept the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the disputed poll.
 
Obama dodged that but said “a sizable percentage of the Iranian people themselves, spanning Iranian society, consider this election illegitimate. It’s not an isolated instance, a little grumbling here or there. There is significant questions about the legitimacy of the election.”
 
Gibbs defended the White House’s decision to invite Pitney to the press conference to ask a question. He insisted the White House had no idea “what the exact question would be.”
 
He called the exchange a “very powerful message” of press freedoms Iranians do not currently enjoy in their own county, rather than an example of contrived newsmaking.
 
The Huffington Post and other liberal outlets often accused former President George W. Bush of planting questioners in news conferences to ask softball questions.
 
Gibbs left open the possibility that Obama could use the same tactic again, saying the president thought it was important to try to take a question indirectly from someone in Iran.
 
“I won’t make any apologies for that,” Gibbs said.
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Obama, Gibbs (left) at June 23 news conference)