While today is not officially Turkey Day, I will warn you in advance that it's going to be a theme running through today's column, like gravy through a poorly-constructed dam of mashed potatoes. So to speak. And yes, this will include discussion of the recent Sarah Palin video, but before we get to that, we've got other turkeys to deal with first.

Ben Franklin notwithstanding (who wrote his daughter a letter suggesting among other things that the wild turkey was a more appropriate symbol for America than the bald eagle), the word "turkey" has come to denote, in a slang sense (from dictionary.com): (a) a person or thing of little appeal; dud; loser, (b) a naive, stupid, or inept person, or (c) a poor and unsuccessful theatrical production; flop.

And, by those definitions, the turkeys were flying fast and thick last week. First up was the decision to let Senator Joe Lieberman (CT - Ego Party) remain as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the Senate (see definition (a), above). Only 13 Democratic senators voted against Joe, who blackmailed the party by saying if they didn't give him his chairmanship back he would not only bolt to the Republican Party but also vote against Democratic proposals every chance he got. Way to demean your vote, Joe! Nothing like selling your vote in order to prop up your own ego!

What a turkey.

Lieberman was returned to his leadership post by the head Democratic turkey in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (see definition (b), above), who wasn't even challenged last week for his leadership post. Mark my words, Democrats are going to come to regret this, in a flurry of "what we might have accomplished" stories for the next two years. These stories will universally open with the line: "We could have gotten so much more done, if we had just been able to move things through the Senate...."

Go ahead, Harry -- prove me wrong. In fact, I'll go further -- Please, please, prove me wrong.

But the real flock of wild turkeys today is the flurry of rules and regulations the Bush administration is changing at the last minute. Now, these so-called "midnight regulations" come from every departing president (Democrats included), and have run to tens of thousands of pages of last-minute rules in the past few transitions. Bush is not going to break this streak. And today is the final day he can get away with such skullduggery without Barack Obama being able to undo these changes with the stroke of a pen.

This is because by federal law, rule changes have to be published for 60 days before they take effect, and any time during that period the president can revoke them. And 60 days from now is... you guessed it... Inaugural Day. So look for lots of breaking news late in the day today on this front.

But wait! Nancy Pelosi is rumored to be calling Congress back into session after Thanksgiving, which could save everything. Because Congress has the power to overturn these new rules before they take effect. The problem is, it's a fairly new law which gives them this power, and they've only ever used it once -- meaning some feathers are going to fly if and when it happens.

But then Bush countermoves! The federal law, it seems, says that rules and regs have to be published 60 days before they become law only if they are "major" rule changes. So Bush (who has never shown himself to be shy of interpreting language any old way he feels like) can just call every single change "minor," and wait another month to publish them at all.

This game of chicken [Editor: How did chickens get in here? We're supposed to be talking about turkeys!] may force yet another lame-duck [Editor: Turkeys! Focus!] session read more »
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Add to:      wrote his daughter a letter suggesting among other things that the wild turkey was a more appropriate symbol for America than the bald eagle), the word "turkey" has come to denote, in a slang sense (from dictionary.com): (a) a person or thing of little appeal; dud; loser, (b) a naive, stupid, or inept person, or (c) a poor and unsuccessful theatrical production; flop.

And, by those definitions, the turkeys were flying fast and thick last week. First up was the decision to let Senator Joe Lieberman (CT - Ego Party) remain as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the Senate (see definition (a), above). Only 13 Democratic senators voted against Joe, who blackmailed the party by saying if they didn't give him his chairmanship back he would not only bolt to the Republican Party but also vote against Democratic proposals every chance he got. Way to demean your vote, Joe! Nothing like selling your vote in order to prop up your own ego!

What a turkey.

Lieberman was returned to his leadership post by the head Democratic turkey in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (see definition (b), above), who wasn't even challenged last week for his leadership post. Mark my words, Democrats are going to come to regret this, in a flurry of "what we might have accomplished" stories for the next two years. These stories will universally open with the line: "We could have gotten so much more done, if we had just been able to move things through the Senate...."

Go ahead, Harry -- prove me wrong. In fact, I'll go further -- Please, please, prove me wrong.

But the real flock of wild turkeys today is the flurry of rules and regulations the Bush administration is changing at the last minute. Now, these so-called "midnight regulations" come from every departing president (Democrats included), and have run to tens of thousands of pages of last-minute rules in the past few transitions. Bush is not going to break this streak. And today is the final day he can get away with such skullduggery without Barack Obama being able to undo these changes with the stroke of a pen.

This is because by federal law, rule changes have to be published for 60 days before they take effect, and any time during that period the president can revoke them. And 60 days from now is... you guessed it... Inaugural Day. So look for lots of breaking news late in the day today on this front.

But wait! Nancy Pelosi is rumored to be calling Congress back into session after Thanksgiving, which could save everything. Because Congress has the power to overturn these new rules before they take effect. The problem is, it's a fairly new law which gives them this power, and they've only ever used it once -- meaning some feathers are going to fly if and when it happens.

But then Bush countermoves! The federal law, it seems, says that rules and regs have to be published 60 days before they become law only if they are "major" rule changes. So Bush (who has never shown himself to be shy of interpreting language any old way he feels like) can just call every single change "minor," and wait another month to publish them at all.

This game of chicken [Editor: How did chickens get in here? We're supposed to be talking about turkeys!] may force yet another lame-duck [Editor: Turkeys! Focus!] session">            |   Bookmarks  

The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said on Friday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he and top commanders had discussed sending five brigades to Afghanistan, including four brigades of combat ground forces as well as an aviation brigade, which a defense official said would consist mainly of support troops. An Army combat brigade has about 3,500 soldiers.

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen Sidwell Friends School for their two daughters, opting for a private institution that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended a decade ago.

"A number of great schools were considered," said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. "In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now."

She said Sidwell can provide the security and privacy that Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, will need as part of the new first family and Sidwell can help with that. She also said that Sasha and Malia had become good friends with Vice President-elect Joe Biden's grandchildren, who go to the school.

Sidwell is a private Quaker school with a campus in northwest Washington for grades 5-12 and another in suburban Bethesda, Md., for kindergarten through fourth grade. Malia is in fifth grade and Sasha is in second grade, suggesting that the girls would attend schools at different locations.

Although she's now divorced, Madonna is about to find out that she can't flex her muscles when it comes to her soon-to-be ex-husband's parenting style. As part of the agreement, she can still be a material girl and keep her fortune. However, while Lourdes stays in New York with her mom, Guy Ritchie's sons Rocco 8, and David 3, will fly to England as part of scheduled visitation to see their Dad.



Just recently, the self-described control freak reportedly gave a list of rigid rules documenting what Ritchie could and couldn't d o when he had his sons.



The list reportedly included a ban on TV, no Miley Cyrus for these boys, no non-organic food such as micro-waved pizza and soda, nor any clothes that were not 100 percent cotton and sent by her. She even wanted her total blessings on what water they drank -- Kaballah preferred -- and no toys that are "spiritually or ethically unsound."



What this sounds like is a recipe for disaster.



Divorced women tell me all the time that the hardest part of divorce is not leaving the husband but leaving the kids with him. And if you, like Madonna, are used to control, it becomes agony to realize the limited power you now have over your ex-spouse's parenting style. It's as though handcuffs have been put on you just when you thought you were finally liberated.



"Moms go nuts about this but all they can do is write to Dear Abby or Firstwivesworld.com," says noted divorce lawyer Raoul Felder. "The courts will not mini-manage or arbitrate parenting styles unless it involves safety or basic acceptable serious judgment issues."

Such as?

"Other than allergies like peanuts, religion and sky diving, the hand of the parent who turned the kids over for their weekend with Pop has about as much to say in what the kids do there as Bush does in the choice of the next Secretary of State," Felder says. "But isn't that what week-end Dads are all about? Lot's of hot dogs, chocolate and crummy blood and gory movies."

This is exactly=2 0what makes many mothers' blood boil. It undermines the discipline they have tried to instill all week.

Take, for example, Debbie who sends off her children Keith and Olivia with a sleepover bag. When they return all rumpled, she discovers that hardly any of the clothes have been used nor have the children showered or done their homework.

"I spend all Sunday night and the following day trying to get them back on their routine," she laments.

Another example is Kathleen, whose son Jake was punished before his weekend with Dad for hitting his brother, Luke.

"I explained to my ex that Jake couldn't go to a party this weekend in the neighborhood," she said. "But then my girlfriend called me up and told me that Brian had dropped off Jake at the party anyway. When I confronted him, this jerk just yelled at me and said he could do whatever he wants with Jake."

As Jeanette Lofas, president of the New York based Stepfamily Foundation frankly says, "fathers often spoil their children and divorced mothers have to get used to it."



Ouch. That hurts but is often the truth.

"Mothers can't reach into the other house and make rules, but the other part of that is, nor can your ex-husband enforce rules in your house," she says.

But that doesn't mean moms can't devise strategies to deal with the parenting reality of divorce.

Lofas suggests that Kathleen and Debbie say the following to their children:

"You're lucky that Dad is so easy with you. We have different rules in this house. Here we have consequences for actions and I'm trying to teach you these life lessons. There is a difference between going through a red light or a green light. If you read more »
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What this sounds like is a recipe for disaster.



Divorced women tell me all the time that the hardest part of divorce is not leaving the husband but leaving the kids with him. And if you, like Madonna, are used to control, it becomes agony to realize the limited power you now have over your ex-spouse's parenting style. It's as though handcuffs have been put on you just when you thought you were finally liberated.



"Moms go nuts about this but all they can do is write to Dear Abby or Firstwivesworld.com," says noted divorce lawyer Raoul Felder. "The courts will not mini-manage or arbitrate parenting styles unless it involves safety or basic acceptable serious judgment issues."

"You're lucky that Dad is so easy with you. We have different rules in this house. Here we have consequences for actions and I'm trying to teach you these life lessons. There is a difference between going through a red light or a green light. If you ">            |   Bookmarks  

Inspired by the news that "First Granny" Marian Robinson is moving to Washington, Arianna reflected on the importance of having grandmothers be a part of their grandchildren's lives.

Watch the segment from MSNBC.