On Thursday’s Radio Show…

• Legendary singer -and conservative- Pat Boone joins Alan for a friendly political debate.

• Will your pet join you in the afterlife? Psychic Sylvia Browne explains why she thinks so.

• Hello, neighbor! Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) offers to house the Guantanamo Bay prisoners in his district.…

Change Is More Than A Word

Obama has signed an order to close Gitmo in a year.  In addition, military war crime trials will be reviewed, and harsh interrogation techniques will be banned.

With his action, Obama started changing how the United States prosecutes and questions al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters who pose a threat to Americans – and overhauling America’s image abroad, battered by accusations of the use of torture and the indefinite detention of suspects at the Guantanamo prison in Cuba.

“The message that we are sending the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against …

Take 2

Fox News is reporting that President Obama retook the presidential oath at 7:35 p.m. ET tonight. 

The first attempt

The do-over occurred in the Map Room of the White House. Administering the oath for the second time was Chief Justice John Roberts, who flubbed it yesterday.

UPDATE: The Washington Times has the play-by-play:

“Are you ready to take the oath?” Mr. Roberts asked.

“I am and we are going to do it very slowly,” Mr. Obama replied.

It happened at 7:35 p.m., with no mistakes, and took 25 seconds.

Mr. Roberts said, “Congratulations, again.”

And …

Caroline Drops Out (UPDATE: Or Did She?)

The New York Post is reporting that Caroline Kennedy has informed New York Gov. David Paterson that she no longer wants to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

Her stunning move comes as sources revealed that Paterson had intended to appoint her to the now-vacant seat today.

The 51-year-old Camelot daughter’s decision removes the highest-profile name in the ring to step into Clinton’s seat, as she departs after getting confirmed as President Obama’s Secretary of State today.

Kennedy cited “personal reasons” for her decision, according to the Post‘s sources. But the move comes after many fellow Democrats questioned whether …

Confirmed

State Department photo

Hillary Rodham Clinton is now Secretary of State. The vote was 94-2.

Voting No were Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).…

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Jay Diamond weighs in on President Obama’s first official actions, and the end of eight years of Republican rule.

• Alan confronts conservative columnist Joseph Farah, who is “calling on godly Americans” to “pray Obama fails.”

• Alan shares behind-the-scenes details of his big appearance on the Dr. Phil show.…

Move To Suspend Trials At Gitmo

This goes to the heart of the offenses by the Bush administration: trials off US soil, which enables us to circumvent the Constitution.  Step two would be to close Gitmo entirely, and bring the 245 detainees to justice by trying them in the United States.

The motions, filed just hours after Obama’s inauguration, will be heard in the cases of five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks and of Canadian Omar Khadr, who is accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade in Afghanistan in 2002.

“It has the practical effect of stopping the process, probably …

The First Order Of Business

Item number one was to get rid of Bush’s midnight regulations.  Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel signed an order stopping those last minute things Bush did, just as Andy Card did the same to stop what Clinton enacted just before leaving office.

The Bush administration proposed one rule allowing concealed weapons to be carried in some national parks. Another would block federal funding for medical facilities that refuse to hire anti-abortion doctors, whose opposition to the procedure stemmed from religious grounds.

Obama is also expected to sign one high-profile executive order this week – to order the closing …

The Rev. Joseph Lowery Tells It Like It Is

Crooks and Liars dissects the difference between Rick Warren’s invocation and Lowery’s fiery homily.  Both suitable and relevant, but will the right wing go after Lowery for his words:

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from …

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• LIVE coverage of the first night of the Obama presidency.

• Alan discusses today’s historic transfer of power and Obama’s Inaugural Address.

• End of an Era: Alan reflects on former President Bush’s return to Texas.…

Goodbye

…