First, in case you needed a more visual reason of why you shouldn't text and drive:



The return of Congress has arrived and with it the rain mentioned yesterday. It is a classic Seattle day here in Washington. Still basically dark yet already 9 am.

President Obama will give a speech to school children today, one that has been rather hotly contested across the country as some feel he is invading the space of their children. This is, of course, ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the President of the United States, the man with the highest office in the world, standing in front of school children, from Kindergarden to college students and telling them to stay focused on their academics and away from other temptations. It should be expected. Especially for someone as inspirational and as unique as this president.

Many will recall that during the election I continuously tried to quantify what a victory would mean for a black America. This is it. It means that President Obama can stand in front of a camera, looking like one of the least successful demographics in academia and say "stay in school" and these children will listen. You don't become president on the basketball court, you do it in in the classroom, with some hoop on the side. He should do this every school year.

The President will also give a large speech tomorrow, on healthcare reform. He got the ball rolling yesterday in Tennessee, where he said, "in every debate, there comes a time to decide, a time to act...and that time is now." He gave support to a much-needed public option and suggested that he will play hardball to get something done. It echoes the sentiment from last week that it would be worse to let this fail than to compromise and build a foundation to work on. Per a conversation I had on Sunday - many bills start weak, often do to these same political roadblocks, but are strengthened later.

So put simply, now is his time to lead, since Congress is struggling so mightily with it. But he also shows human qualities. It is the job of Congress to legislate and they have been given ample opportunity. The president may have waited too long to intervene, but now he will, as he should. Very few are as persuasive as him.

On the flip side of this, Chairman Max Baucus (R-MT) is urging his colleagues to sign off on the bill worked out in his Finance committee. He wants to have a bipartisan proposal prepared before Obama's speech tomorrow, but should he not be able to do it, Democrats are willing to skip that committee altogether.

Mentioned last night that Joseph Kennedy will not seek his uncle's Senate seat. That leaves the race wide open, yes, even for Curt Schilling. Edward Markey, of the Waxman-Markey energy bill, is all in the running. He is up in the air given his powerful standing in the House, but could be a good candidate.

The inevitable recount has been called for in Afghanistan. Apparently some very round numbers in non-existent polling places - all in favor of Karzai - have some election officials worried.

Partisan attacks finally got the best of one of Obama's "czars". Energy advisor Van Jones resigned over the weekend. Adding a good column for the Chicago Sun-Times about the possible role of race. As you roll your eyes and think, "there they go, playing the race card," and yes the writer is black, think about this for a second. The arguments against him are a petition he signed to investigate President Bush and Iraq and calling someone (who was white) the "a" word. Now, considering, as this column points out, that his biggest critic was Mount Vernon native Glenn Beck, it is hard to ask whether this is racially motivated. I mean, amazingly Beck would say he couldn't believe someone would call him racist, when he, in very certain terms, called the president a racist himself. He used the word. If it looks like a Duck and quacks like a Duck...it probably punches like LeGarrette Blount.

The French are advising children to "kiss 'La Bise' goodbye." La Bise is the French tradition where you kiss someone on both cheeks as a greeting. Swine flu could be the end of it for now...

Great summer video wrap up from Politico.

And today in history:

1664: The Dutch surrender New Amsterdam to the British. It is now New York.
1974: President Ford grants an unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon. I actually walked past the Watergate Hotel on Sunday.
1998: The steroid era officially exploded as Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' 37-year old "unbreakable record" with a weak line drive into the bullpen in St. Louis.

Today's sign of the apocalypse/just stupid comment: "If you think drunken driving, shooting yourself in the leg, and dog murder are frowned upon, I'm sure Roger Goodell has been itching to take a very strong stand against domestic violence." - Deadspin.com. Only Deadspin would think the commissioner of any league would be WAITING for one of his players to beat his significant other.

Stay classy y'all. And you too Oregon.