Today I attended a press conference announcing the presidential candidacy of former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK). Just for a little background, he’s the guy who read the Pentagon Papers aloud in the Senate and filibustered the draft during Vietnam. Some might describe him as a maverick, but I’m more inclined to identify him as absurd (in light of his future plans, not his past accomplishments).

Some major planks of the Gravel platform include:

• immediate removal of US troops from Iraq. no timetable, no consideration for a coalition government, nothing. (removing and redeploying US troops is admirable idea, but Gravel’s plan lacks practicality or substantial planning)
• a national legislative initiative to have the population vote on all policy issues
• stripping Congress of the power to declare war and making it a national referendum
• no sanctions against any country, ever
• elimination of the income tax, to be replaced with a national sales tax and annual “prebate” that would account for necessities

If he gets enough backing, Gravel could very well be included in the Democratic debates. He won’t make a great candidate or gain much support, but I think it can be healthy to get a strong voice in the public arena on tax reform and obstacles to electoral participation. Surely each of the issues Gravel brings up merit a serious discussion about reform, even if it won’t result in the extremes that the former Senator from the great state of Alaska might dream about.

The timing of Gravel’s announcement is curious – the 2008 election is over 30 months away all other potential candidates have stated that they’re waiting until after the mid-term elections to announce their decisions. Still, I’d say that Gravel made the right move, especially if he wants to be included in the Democratic debates and cattle calls. Once the first legitimate (sorry Mike) candidate announces later this year, media focus will coalesce around the bigger names, drowning out anyone who hasn’t already worked to establish themselves in the public eye. Gravel said it himself today, he’s currently the official frontrunner.

As they say here in Washington: it’s never too early.

ABC: Teddy Davis devotes today’s AfterNote podcast to the Gravel announcement

AP: Ex-Alaska Sen. Gravel Runs for President

My first article as a reporter for the Badger Herald was published in today’s edition:

Wiretapping scandal provokes Washington legislators

It’s not the headline I would’ve chosen. Scandal implies that the program was, without a doubt, illegitimate. There have been plenty of scandals plaguing Washington in recent months, but this doesn’t qualify. It very well may be that this particular system of warrantless wiretapping was illegal, but that’s a matter for further investigation and review.
A more appropriate headline would probably be “Wiretapping program potentially violates civil liberties and law”. The Bush administration contends the authority to engage in wiretapping was implied when Congress gave the “authorization for military force” agains Al Qaida after 9/11. The argument is really over whether that phrase actually gives them the right to do this or not. Sen. Russ Feingold doesn’t think so.

Most lawmakers, but Republicans and Democrats, don’t have a problem with what the program accomplishes, or even the methods used… but there is a concern that the president’s actions have bypassed the normal checks and balances enforced by judicial approval of warrents for such activities.

Similar arguments have been used for and against the alleged torture of terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay.

Here’s an excerpt:

WASHINGTON — Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., announced last week he will introduce legislation that would force the National Security Agency wiretapping program to be reviewed by the courts every 45 days.

As it currently stands, the program is re-authorized by President Bush every 45 days.

Dubbed the “Terrorist Surveillance Program” in an effort to focus on its role in thwarting future attacks, it allows the NSA to listen in without a warrant on conversations between Americans and suspected members of al-Qaida outside the country.

Lawmakers agree some level of terrorist surveillance is essential to national security, but some questioned the legality of warrantless spying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last Monday.

Specter, the Committee chairman, said during the hearing that he did not believe Congress’ authorization to use “appropriate force” in the War on Terror included domestic surveillance.

His sentiments were also echoed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

“I never envisioned that I was giving to this president or any other president the ability to go around FISA carte blanche,” Graham said.

Democrats and Republicans grilled Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez during the hearing, specifically questioning whether the Senate’s resolution to go to war in Iraq implicitly authorized surveillance normally approved in court under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Read the rest of the article at The Badger Herald

I’ll be helping to liveblog the State of the Union tonight for ABC News. We’ll be starting coverage at 6:00 ET and going until we run out of coffee diet Pepsi.

I really think that if you put a wig and some lipstick on Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), he could reprise Kathryn Joosten’s role of Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing. Uncanny.

My report on the annual March for Life anti-abortion demonstration (and acknowledgement for my reporting, thanks Teddy) was included the ABC News AfterNote podcast today (fast-forward to 2:00). You can listen to the AfterNote like any .mp3 file.

The event was huge; thousands of people were crowding the Mall. At points, it was almost impossible to move. People came from around the country, some driving through the night to attend the event. Several U.S. Representatives were present and President Bush addressed those in attendance via a phone call from Manhattan, KS where he was giving a speech today.

Speakers at the event made an effort to connect the march and the anniversary of Roe v. Wade to Bush’s new appointments to the Supreme Court: John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Some of the most prominent cheers of the event were for the resignation of Sandra Day O’Conner and the appointments of Roberts and Alito.

Pictures from the March for Life

ABC News Political Unit: The AfterNote

ABC News: Demonstrators mark Roe v. Wade Anniversary