President Barack Obama has bowed to royalty, with a greeting for the Japanese emperor that erases any doubts about what the president's posture was -- remember that bow to the Saudi king that was not really a bow?

And some people are falling over backwards today.

Our colleague, Andrew Malcolm, at Top of the Ticket, muses on the president's meeting with Japanese Emperor Akihito today, and suffice it to say that the article will light a brush fire of commentary stoked by the hot winds of the Drudge Report's headline.

See the Ticket's report there or read it here:

(And stick around for some comments below.)

The photo above is by Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty, Reuters All of this brought to mind our snapshots from our trip to Japan with then-Vice President Dick Cheney, and his meeting with the emperor, in February 2007. Our own photos suffer from a certain lack of light in the ceremonial arrival room at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and distance from subjects, but the closest we recall Cheney coming to a bow was that certain lean of his. These photos by Mark Silva:

by Andrew Malcolm
Top of the Ticket, Los Angeles Times

How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty?

This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention to the royal family living in its downtown castle. Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference to a superior.

To some in the United States, however, an upright handshake might have looked better. Remember Michelle Obama casually patting Britain's Queen Elizabeth on the back during their Buckingham Palace visit? America's royalty tends to make movies and get bad reviews and lots of money as a sign of respect.

Obama could receive some frowns back home as he did for his not-quite-this-low-or-maybe-about-the-same-bow to the Saudi king not so long ago. (See photo here)

Akihito, who turns 76 next month, is the eldest son and fifth child of Emperor Showa, the name given to an emperor and his reign after his death.

Emperor Showa is better known abroad by the life name of Hirohito. He became emperor in 1925 and died in 1989, the longest historically-known rule of the nation's 125 emperors.

Hirohito presided over his nation's growth from an undeveloped agrarian economy into the expansionist military power and ally of Nazi Germany of the 1930's.

And, later, Japan became a global economic giant. Hirohito, along with Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who authorized the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, were much reviled abroad during World War II.

Historically, debate has simmered over how much of a political puppet Hirohito was to the country's military before and during the war.

Even after Democrat President Harry Truman ordered the two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the summer of 1945, there were strong forces within Japan that wanted to continue to fight the Americans in the spirit of kamikaze suicide pilots.

But Akihito's father went on national radio, the first time his subjects had ever heard Hirohito's voice, and without using the inflammatory word "surrender," pronounced that the country must "accept the unacceptable." It did.

As the conquering Allied general and then presiding officer of the U.S. occupation, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, decided to allow Japan to keep its emperor as a ceremonial unifying institution within a nascent democracy.

Tojo, on the other hand, was hanged.

MacArthur treated Emperor Hirohito respectfully but, as his body language in this black and white postwar photo demonstrates, was not particularly deferential.

(But then MacArthur was not known as a particularly deferential person, as Truman discovered just before firing him later. But that's another war.)

Akihito was born during Japan's conquering of China and was evacuated during the devastating American fire-bombing of Tokyo, which was built largely of wood in those days.

The future emperor learned English during the U.S. occupation, but, inexplicably, his father ordered that his oldest boy not receive an Army commission as previous imperial heirs always had.

Akihito assumed the throne on Jan. 7, 1989. Within weeks he began a series of formal expressions of remorse to Asian countries for Japan's actions during his father's reign. In 2003, he underwent surgery for prostate surgery.

In 1959, Akihito married Michiko Shoda, the first commoner allowed to enter the Japanese royal family. That was two years before the birth of Akihito's future presidential guest, Barack Obama.

Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinois, a Republican who hopes to claim the Senate seat that President Barack Obama once held, advances his party's argument against Obama's health-care initiative in a weekly party address today focusing on other alternatives for easing the cost of health care.

"First, we could start lowering costs by reining in lawsuits in America,'' Kirk says in the GOP's weekly address. "We are the most litigious country on Earth. Lawsuit reforms can save billions in health care costs alone.

"Second, Congress should grant the right to each American to buy coverage from any state in the union - especially if you find a plan that has a lower cost or is more flexible for your family or your small business.,'' he says. "Third, we should give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.''

Kirk, one of eight Republicans who voted with the Democrats on a "cap and trade'' energy bill in the House curtailing the emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, voted with a party caucus that was nearly completely united against the House's health-care legislation -- only Republican Rep. Joseph Cao of New Orleans voted with the Democrats for a bill that cleared the House by 220-215.

Kirk, seeking the GOP's 2010 Senate nomination in Illinois, sides with fellow Republicans in calling Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill a tax-and-spend spree. The Senate is expected to take a test vote next week to see if it can muster the 60 votes needed to advance its own bill to the floor.

""In the teeth of the great recession, the Pelosi bill would impose ten new taxes on the American economy.,'' Kirk warns. "The bill opens a new trillion-dollar entitlement just as our national debt tops $12 trillion. Ignoring the future needs of Social Security and Medicare, the bill creates a new massive spending program, supported by heavy taxes and cuts to senior health care.''

See the address above and read it below:

This is the text of Rep. Mark Kirk's

"Good morning, this is Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois.

"When I returned home from active duty in Afghanistan, I dedicated my congressional service to helping families with health care. We can lower health care costs and provide coverage for Americans who lack insurance by enacting key reforms that already help thousands of families in many states.

"First, we could start lowering costs by reining in lawsuits in America. We are the most litigious country on earth. Lawsuit reforms can save billions in health care costs alone. In New Jersey, without lawsuit reform, it costs over $5,500 per patient to provide insurance. In California, with some of the strongest lawsuit reforms, insurance costs half as much as it does in New Jersey. Congress should enhance the effective reforms of many states by enacting lawsuit reforms for our entire country.

"Second, Congress should grant the right to each American to buy coverage from any state in the union - especially if you find a plan that has a lower cost or is more flexible for your family or your small business.

"Third, we should give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.

"I also offered an amendment - the Medical Rights Act - standing for the principle that Congress shall make no law interfering with the decisions you make with your doctor.

"Unfortunately, all of these common sense Republican reforms were rejected by Speaker Pelosi. The Pelosi health care bill has no significant lawsuit reforms and does not guarantee your medical rights from government waiting lines or restrictions.

"In the teeth of the Great Recession, the Pelosi bill would impose ten new taxes on the American economy. The top combined tax rate for my state of Illinois would be four percentage points higher than France. The Democrat bill levies new taxes on health insurance, income and even pace makers. The bill also cuts health care for seniors - my parents and many of yours - with $500 billion in cuts for Medicare doctors, hospitals and advantage patients. The bill even cuts Medicare for skilled nursing, wheelchairs and hospices.

"In sum, the bill opens a new trillion-dollar entitlement just as our national debt tops $12 trillion. Ignoring the future needs of Social Security and Medicare, the bill creates a new massive spending program, supported by heavy taxes and cuts to senior health care.

"We need to back the common sense health care reforms I outlined and reject a government takeover of our family health care.

"This is Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois. Thank you for listening. God Bless You and God Bless America."

President Barack Obama, who has warned the public against "jumping to conclusions'' in the alleged killings of 13 and woundings of 29 more at Fort Hood, Texas, by an Army major and pyschiatrist and Muslim said to have declared that God is great before opening fire on fellow soldiers at his base, today promised to find all of the conclusions necessary about not only a horrific crime, but also what might have avered it.

"As I said in Fort Hood, I am confident that justice will be done, and I will insist that the full story be told,'' the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address today. "That is paramount, and I won't compromise that investigation today by discussing the details of this case. But given the potential warning signs that may have been known prior these shootings, we must uncover what steps - if any - could have been taken to avert this tragedy.''

In a crime that inevitably reopens the fault lines of ethnic and religious tension exposed by the terroris of Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president now is warning against the necessary public investigation of the Fort Hood massacre becoming a "political theater.''

" know there will also be inquiries by Congress, and there should,'' the presdient said today. "But all of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington. The stakes are far too high.''

See the address above and read it below:

This is the text of the president's address:

"This was a week for honoring the extraordinary service and profound sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

Every fall, we set aside a special day to pay tribute to our veterans. But this year, Veteran's Day took on even greater poignancy and meaning because of the tragic events at Fort Hood.

On Tuesday, I traveled there to join with the Fort Hood community, the Army, and the friends and families of the victims to honor thirteen of our fellow Americans who died - and the dozens more who were wounded - not on some distant shore, but on a military base at home.

Every man and woman who signs up for military service does so with full knowledge of the dangers that could come - that is part of what makes the service of our troops and veterans so extraordinary. But it's unthinkable that so many would die in a hail of gunfire on a US Army base in the heart of Texas, and that a fellow service-member could have pulled trigger.

There is an ongoing investigation into this terrible tragedy. That investigation will look at the motives of the alleged gunman, including his views and contacts. As I said in Fort Hood, I am confident that justice will be done, and I will insist that the full story be told. That is paramount, and I won't compromise that investigation today by discussing the details of this case. But given the potential warning signs that may have been known prior these shootings, we must uncover what steps - if any - could have been taken to avert this tragedy.

On the Thursday evening that this tragedy took place, I met in the Oval Office with Secretary of Defense Gates, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Admiral Mullen, and FBI Director Mueller to review the immediate steps that were necessary to support the families and secure Fort Hood. The next morning, I met with the leadership of our military and the intelligence community, and ordered them to undertake a full review of the sequence of events that led up to the shootings.

The purpose of this review is clear: We must compile every piece of information that was known about the gunman, and we must learn what was done with that information. Once we have those facts, we must act upon them. If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability. Beyond that - and most importantly - we must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system, so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. Our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information. And our troops must have the security that they deserve.

I know there will also be inquiries by Congress, and there should. But all of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington. The stakes are far too high.

Of all the responsibilities of the presidency, the one that I weigh most heavily is my duty as Commander-in-Chief to our splendid service-men and women. Their character and bravery were on full display in that processing center at Fort Hood, when so many scrambled under fire to help their wounded comrades. And their great dignity and decency has been on display in the days since, as the Fort Hood community has rallied together.

We owe our troops prayerful, considered decisions about when and where we commit them to battle to protect our security and freedom, and we must fully support them when they are deployed. We also owe them the absolute assurance that they'll be safe here at home as they prepare for whatever mission may come. As Commander-in-Chief, I won't settle for anything less.

This nation will never forget the service of those we lost at Fort Hood, just as we will always honor the service of all who wear the uniform of the United States of America. Their legacy will be an America that is safer and stronger - an America that reflects the extraordinary character of the men and women who serve it.

Thank you.

As they work to shutter the controversial detention center, federal officials are talking to Illinois officials about buying the Thomson Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison about 150 miles west of Chicago.

With Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn and other key officials warm to the idea, federal prison officials have stepped up investigations into turning Thomson into a super-maximum facility with a unit for former Guantanamo detainees.

"This has emerged as a leading option," an Obama administration official said late Friday night, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

The official wouldn't say how many of the detainees could transfer to Illinois, describing it only as a "limited number." The official also wouldn't say whether the administration envisions Thomson as the sole domestic prison for the former Guantanamo detainees.

Officials are contemplating the details--including how they would persuade Congress to change a law that bars Guantanamo detainees from the U.S. unless they're here for trial.

If Obama can manage that, the Illinois prison could figure prominently in the complicated matrix for closing the infamous prison. Guantanamo has become a worldwide symbol of unpopular U.S. anti-terror and detention policies, and ordering its closure was President Obama's first act in office.

The shutdown has proven easier said than done, however, mainly because of the difficulty of finding other places to incarcerate the more than 200 people currently detained there. The Obama administration has appealed to allies around the world to house some of them, a request complicated by significant political opposition to accepting any of the detainees on American soil.

See the full Tribune exclusive on the Illinois prison eyed for Guantanamo prisoners by Christi Parsons of the Washington Bureau, with Julian Barnes, in Tribune newspapers and here in the Swamp:

But officials in a handful of towns around the country have expressed interest in hosting such a federal prison, a prospect some remote areas welcome as a means of economic development at a time of hardship.

The Mississippi River town of Thomson, on the Illinois border with Iowa, has suffered more than most. In 2001, the state completed construction of the $120 million complex, a maximum-security institution to house its most dangerous inmates. A tightening state budget crisis has left the prison practically unused for eight years, though. The prison has 1,600 cells yet holds only 144 inmates.

Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler was among the first to publicly raise the idea of housing Guantanamo detainees there, telling an ABC reporter in Chicago that, as prison management goes, "they can't be any worse than any murderer."

In a letter to Gov. Quinn recently, Hebeler made a more general case for selling the institution to the federal government, which already operates a prison in the downstate Illinois town of Marion.

"If the Illinois Department of Corrections has no need for this facility, perhaps the federal government would be interested in locating a prison similar to the one in Marion," Hebeler wrote to Quinn in an open letter published in local newspapers.

"After eight years of living in limbo, we are open to any and all alternatives," Hebeler wrote.

The plea found an audience in the state capital. Quinn has made $1 billion in cuts to his state budget in recent months, carrying out the task in part by sending layoff notices to Illinois prison employees.

Quinn recently discussed the prison with Obama, his fellow Illinois Democrat. Obama was a member of the Illinois Senate both when Thomson was built and as lawmakers realized they couldn't afford to fully open it.

At the same time, a Guantanamo task force, led by the departments of Justice and Defense, was conducting a review of federal and state prisons that might be suitable for the detainees.

The prison is surrounded by a 12-foot exterior fence and 15-foot interior fence, which includes a two-sided electric stun fence, Quinn pointed out in a follow-up letter to Obama's secretary of defense and attorney general this week.

"I understand that you are still considering other options," Quinn wrote in the letter, obtained by the Tribune Washington Bureau, "but the federal Bureau of Prisons would be hard-pressed to find a similar facility with such extensive safety and security measures already in place anywhere in America.

"As plans are being formulated to potentially move federal prisoners and to locate a limited number of detainees in the United States," he went on, "we stand ready to provide you with any assistance as this process moves forward."

Now the federal Bureau of Prisons is looking into purchasing the site and running it as a federal institution. The bureau would also lease a portion of the prison to the Defense Department to house "a limited number of Guantanamo detainees," the official said.

The early glimmer of support from Quinn and Hebeler could help Obama navigate the obstacles ahead, but only if it is the precursor to a more sweeping local response.

Congressional opposition has been a looming obstacle for Obama as he contemplates the Guantanamo closure, because current law says Guantanamo detainees can only be moved to the U.S. for "purposes of prosecution."

A strong show of support from residents and officials--and particularly from the Illinois delegation in Congress--could make the plan viable.

"Barring some sort of plan, the law won't change," one congressional staffer said Friday, hours before the administration official confirmed the plan in an interview with the Tribune's Washington Bureau. "And a lot of it depends on the location they choose."

Widespread resistance in and around Thomson would likely have the opposite effect, and give fuel to national Republicans who oppose closing Guantanamo as a matter of policy.

One sign of a possible fight to come was a statement put out Friday afternoon by Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), a candidate for the Senate. The statement came well before word of the Thomson plan, but after the administration announced that the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four alleged co-conspirators will stand trial in a federal courtroom in New York City. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others are currently being held at Guantanamo.

Mohammed is "one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world," Kirk said in the written statement. "His release or ability to communicate with the outside world would likely result in harm to more Americans. ... At best, key Sept. 11th conspirators will be in U.S. jails, free to convert other inmates to the cause of jihad against America. At worst, key leaders will be freed while jurors and prosecutors fear reprisal by Al Qaeda followers who seek to harm their families."

As they continue to explore the Thomson possibility, administration officials aren't saying how many Guantanamo residents could go there. But the number would probably exclude Mohammed and the other four. In addition, dozens of detainees have been approved for transfer to other countries.

In an afternoon briefing about the Mohammed decision, a senior Defense official alluded to the ongoing search for Guantanamo alternatives.

"I think we are making good progress toward closing Guantanamo, finding a new location," the Defense official said.

Later in the day, a different administration official identified Thomson as a leading option.

There are currently 340 inmates linked to domestic or international terrorism in the federal prison system, the official said, including 35 currently incarcerated in Illinois. The official also noted that Ali al-Marri, an Al Qaeda agent who studied at Bradley University in Peoria, is serving time in Marion.

At Thomson, the official said, the former Guantanamo detainees would remain separated from the general prison population at all times.

If the project moves forward, the official said, the bureau would enhance the perimeter security measures at Thomson to exceed those at the nation's only federal super-maximum security prison in Colorado from which "no one has ever escaped."

Julian E. Barnes contributed to this report from Washington.

President Barack Obama, delivering the first major public address of his Asian tour, told an audience in Tokyo -- Saturday morning there, Friday evening here in Washington -- that the United States "will always stand on the side'' of those who support human rights.

Speaking on Japanese soil, the American president reiterated his administration's warning to North Korea to comply with international demands, and said:

"The United States does not seek to contain China, nor does a deeper relationship with China mean a weakening of our bilateral alliances. On the contrary, the rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations...

"We will not agree on every issue,'' the president said, "and the United States will never waver in speaking up for the fundamental values that we hold dear - and that includes respect for the religion and cultures of all people. Because support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America.

"But we can move these discussions forward in a spirit of partnership rather than rancor,'' he said.

"There must be no doubt, as America's first Pacific president,'' said Obama, born in Hawaii and en route to an annual summit of Pacific Rim nations next week, "I promise you that this Pacific nation will strengthen and sustain our leadership in this vitally important part of the world. ''

This is the text of the president's address:

""Good morning. It is a great honor to be in Tokyo--the first stop on my first visit to Asia as President. It's good to be among so many of you - Japanese and Americans - who work every day to strengthen the bonds between our two countries, including my longtime friend and our new ambassador to Japan, John Roos.

It is wonderful to be back in Japan. When I was a young boy, my mother brought me to Kamakura, where I looked up at that centuries-old symbol of peace and tranquility - the great bronze Amida Buddha. As a child, I was more focused on the matcha ice cream. But I have never forgotten the warmth and hospitality that the Japanese people showed a young American far from home.

I feel that same spirit on this visit. In the gracious welcome of Prime Minister Hatoyama. In the honor of meeting with Their Imperial Majesties, the Emperor and Empress on the 20th anniversary of his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne. In the hospitality shown by the Japanese people. And of course, I could not come here without sending greetings and my gratitude to the citizens of Obama, Japan.

I am beginning my journey here for a simple reason. Since taking office, I have worked to renew American leadership and pursue a new era of engagement with the world based on mutual interests and mutual respect. And our efforts in the Asia Pacific will be rooted, in no small measure, through an enduring and revitalized alliance between the United States and Japan.

From my first days in office, we have worked to strengthen the ties that bind our nations. The first foreign leader that I welcomed to the White House was the prime minister of Japan, and for the first time in nearly fifty years, the first foreign trip by an American secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was to Asia, starting in Japan.

In two months, our alliance will mark its 50th anniversary - a day when President Dwight Eisenhower stood next to Japan's Prime Minister and said that our two nations were creating "an indestructible partnership" based on "equality and mutual understanding."

In the half century since, that alliance has endured as a foundation of our security and prosperity. It has helped us become the world's two largest economies, with Japan emerging as America's second-largest trading partner outside of North America. It has evolved as Japan has played a larger role on the world stage, and made important contributions to stability around the world - from reconstruction in Iraq, to combating piracy off the Horn of Africa, to assistance for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan - most recently through its remarkable leadership in providing additional commitments to international development efforts there.

Above all, our alliance has endured because it reflects our common values - a belief in the democratic right of free people to choose their own leaders and realize their own dreams; a belief that made possible the election of both Prime Minister Hatoyama and myself on the promise of change. And together, we are committed to providing a new generation of leadership for our people, and our alliance.

That is why, at this critical moment in history, the two of us have not only reaffirmed our alliance - we have agreed to deepen it. We have agreed to move expeditiously through a joint working group to implement the agreement that our two governments reached on restructuring US forces in Okinawa. And as our alliance evolves and adapts for the future, we will always strive to uphold the spirit that President Eisenhower described long ago - a partnership of equality and mutual respect.

But while our commitment to this region begins in Japan, it does not end here. The United States of America may have started as a series of ports and cities along the Atlantic, but for generations we also have been a nation of the Pacific. Asia and the United States are not separated by this great ocean; we are bound by it. We are bound by our past - by the Asian immigrants who helped build America, and the generations of Americans in uniform who have served and sacrificed to keep this region secure and free. We are bound by our shared prosperity - by the trade and commerce upon which millions of jobs and families depend. And we are bound by our people - by the Asian Americans who enrich every segment of American life. and all the people whose lives, like our countries, are interwoven.

My own life is a part of that story. I am an American President who was born in Hawaii and lived in Indonesia as a boy. My sister Maya was born in Jakarta, and later married a Chinese-Canadian. My mother spent nearly a decade working in the villages of Southeast Asia, helping women buy a sewing machine or an education that might give them a foothold in the world economy. So the Pacific rim has helped shape my view of the world.

Since that time, perhaps no region has changed as swiftly or dramatically. Controlled economies have given way to open markets. Dictatorships have become democracies. Living standards have risen while poverty has plummeted. And through all these changes, the fortunes of America and the Asia Pacific have become more closely linked than ever before.

So I want every American to know that we have a stake in the future of this region, because what happens here has a direct affect on our lives at home. This is where we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods. And this is where we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process. This is a place where the risk of a nuclear arms race threatens the security of the wider world, and where extremists who defile a great religion plan attacks on both our continents. And there can be no solution to our energy security and our climate challenge without the rising powers and developing nations of the Asia Pacific.

To meet these common challenges, the United States looks to strengthen old alliances and build new partnerships with the nations of this region. To do this, we look to America's treaty alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines - alliances that are not historical documents from a bygone era, but abiding commitments to each other that are fundamental to our shared security.

These alliances continue to provide the bedrock of security and stability that has allowed the nations and peoples of this region to pursue opportunity and prosperity that was unimaginable at the time of my first visit to Japan. And even as American troops are engaged in two wars around the world, our commitment to Japan's security and to Asian security is unshakeable, and it can be seen in our deployments throughout the region -above all, through our young men and women in uniform

We look to emerging nations that are poised to play a larger role - both in the Asia Pacific region and the wider world. Places like Indonesia and Malaysia that have adopted democracy, developed their economies, and tapped the great potential of their own people.

We look to rising powers with the view that in the 21st century, the national security and economic growth of one country need not come at the expense of another. I know there are many who question how the United States perceives China's emergence. But as I have said - in an inter-connected world, power does not need to be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success of another. Cultivating spheres of cooperation - not competing spheres of influence - will lead to progress in the Asia Pacific.

As with any nation, America will approach China with a focus on our interests. And it is precisely for this reason that it is important to pursue pragmatic cooperation with China on issues of mutual concern - because no one nation can meet the challenges of the 21st century alone, and the United States and China will both be better off when we are able to meet them together. That is why we welcome China's efforts to play a greater role on the world stage - a role in which their growing economy is joined by growing responsibility. China's partnership has proved critical in our effort to jumpstart economic recovery. China has promoted security and stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And it is now committed to the global nonproliferation regime, and supporting the pursuit of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

So the United States does not seek to contain China, nor does a deeper relationship with China mean a weakening of our bilateral alliances. On the contrary, the rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations. And so in Beijing and beyond, we will work to deepen our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and improve communication between our militaries. We will not agree on every issue, and the United States will never waver in speaking up for the fundamental values that we hold dear - and that includes respect for the religion and cultures of all people. Because support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America. But we can move these discussions forward in a spirit of partnership rather than rancor.

In addition to our bilateral relations, we also believe that the growth of multilateral organizations can advance the security and prosperity of this region. I know that the United States has been disengaged from these organizations in recent years. So let me be clear: those days have passed. As an Asia Pacific nation, the United States expects to be involved in the discussions that shape the future of this region, and to participate fully in appropriate organizations as they are established and evolve.

That is the work that I will begin on this trip. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will continue to promote regional commerce and prosperity, and I look forward to participating in that forum tomorrow. ASEAN will remain a catalyst for Southeast Asian dialogue, cooperation and security, and I look forward to becoming the first American President to meet with all ten of its leaders. And the United States looks forward to engaging with the East Asia Summit more formally as it plays a role in addressing the challenges of our time.

We seek this deeper and broader engagement because we know our collective future depends on it. And I'd like to speak for a bit about what that future can look like, and what we must do to advance our prosperity, our security, and our universal values and aspirations.

First, we must strengthen our economic recovery, and pursue growth that is both balanced and sustained.

The quick, unprecedented and coordinated action taken by Asia Pacific nations and others has averted economic catastrophe, and helped us begin to emerge from the worst recession in generations. And we have taken the historic step of reforming our international economic architecture, so that the G-20 is now the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

This shift to the G-20 - along with the greater voice that is being given to Asian nations in international financial institutions - clearly demonstrates the broader and more inclusive engagement that America seeks in the 21st century. And as a key member of the G-8, Japan has and will continue to play a leading role in shaping the future of the international financial architecture.

Now that we are on the brink of economic recovery, we must also ensure that it can be sustained. We simply cannot return to the same cycles of boom and bust that led us into a global recession. We cannot follow the same policies that led to such imbalanced growth. One of the important lessons this recession has taught us is the limits of depending primarily on American consumers and Asian exports to drive growth. Because when Americans found themselves in debt or out of work, demand for Asian goods plummeted. When demand fell sharply, exports from this region fell sharply. Since the economies of this region are so dependent on exports, they stopped growing. And the global recession only deepened.

We have now reached one of those rare inflection points in history where we have the opportunity to take a different path. And that must begin with the G20 pledge that we made in Pittsburgh to pursue a new strategy for balanced economic growth.

I'll be saying more about this in Singapore, but in the United States, this new strategy will mean saving more and spending less, reforming our financial system and reducing our long-term deficit. It will also mean a greater emphasis on exports that we can build, produce, and sell all over the world. For America, this is a jobs strategy. Right now, our exports support millions upon millions of well-paying American jobs. Increasing those exports by just a small amount has the potential to create millions more. These are jobs making everything from wind turbines and solar panels to the technology you use every day.

For Asia, striking this better balance will provide an opportunity for workers and consumers to enjoy higher standards of living that their remarkable increases in productivity have made possible. It will allow for greater investments in housing, infrastructure, and the service sector. And a more balanced global economy will lead to prosperity that reaches further and deeper.

For decades, the United States has had one of the most open markets in the world, and that openness has helped fuel the success of so many countries in this region and others over the last century. In this new era, opening other markets around the globe will be critical not just to America's prosperity, but to the world's.

An integral part of this new strategy is working toward an ambitious and balanced Doha agreement - not any agreement, but an agreement that will open up markets and increase exports around the world. We are ready to work with our Asian partners to see if we can achieve that objective in a timely fashion - and we invite our regional trading partners to join us at the table.

We also believe that continued integration of the economies of this region will benefit workers, consumers, and businesses in all of our nations. Together, with our South Korean friends, we will work through the issues necessary to move forward on a trade agreement with them. The United States will also be engaging with the Trans Pacific partnership countries with the goal of shaping a regional agreement that will have broad-based membership and the high standards worthy of a 21st century trade agreement.

Working in partnership, this is how we can sustain this recovery and advance our common prosperity. But it's not enough to pursue growth that is balanced. We also need growth that is sustainable - for our planet and the future generations that will live here.

Already, the United States has taken more steps to combat climate change in ten months than we have in our recent history: by embracing the latest science, investing in new energy, raising efficiency standards, forging new partnerships, and engaging in international climate negotiations. In short, America knows there is more work to do - but we are meeting our responsibility, and will continue to do so.

That includes striving for success in Copenhagen. I have no illusions that this will be easy, but the contours of a way forward are clear. All nations must accept their responsibility. Those nations - like my own - who have been the leading emitters must have clear reduction targets. Developing countries will need to take substantial actions to curb their emissions, aided by finance and technology. And there must be transparency and accountability for domestic actions.

Each of us must do what we can to grow our economies without endangering our planet - and we must do it together. But the good news is that if we put the right rules and incentives in place, it will unleash the creative power of our best scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. It will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and entire new industries.

Yet, even as we confront this challenge of the 21st century, we must also redouble our efforts to meet a threat to our security that is the legacy of the 20th century - the danger posed by nuclear weapons.

In Prague, I affirmed America's commitment to rid the world of nuclear weapons, and laid out a comprehensive agenda to pursue this goal. I am pleased that Japan has joined us in this effort. No two nations on Earth know better what these weapons can do, and together we must seek a future without them. This is fundamental to our common security, and this is a great test of our common humanity. Our very future hangs in the balance.

Let me be clear: so long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a strong and effective nuclear deterrent that guarantees the defense of our allies - including South Korea and Japan.

But we must recognize that an escalating nuclear arms race in this region would undermine decades of growing security and prosperity. So we are called upon to uphold the basic bargain of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - that all nations have a right to peaceful nuclear energy; that nations with nuclear weapons have a responsibility to move toward nuclear disarmament; and those without them have the responsibility to forsake them.

Indeed, Japan serves as an example to the world that true peace and power can be achieved by taking this path. For decades, Japan has enjoyed the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy, while rejecting nuclear arms development - and by any measure, this has increased Japan's security, and enhanced its position.

To meet our responsibilities - and move forward with the agenda I laid out in Prague - we have passed a unanimous UN Security Council resolution embracing this international effort. We are pursuing a new agreement with Russia to reduce our nuclear stockpiles. We will work to ratify and bring into force the Test Ban Treaty. And next year at our Nuclear Security Summit, we will advance our goal of securing all of the world's vulnerable nuclear materials within four years.

As I have said before, strengthening the global nonproliferation regime is not about singling out individual nations. It is about all nations living up to their responsibilities. That includes the Islamic Republic of Iran. And it includes North Korea.

For decades, North Korea has chosen a path of confrontation and provocation, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons. It should be clear where that path leads. We have tightened sanctions on Pyongyang. We have passed the most sweeping UN Security Council resolution to date to restrict their weapons of mass destruction activities. We will not be cowed by threats, and we will continue to send a clear message through our actions, and not just our words: North Korea's refusal to meet its international obligations will lead only to less security - not more.

Yet there is another path that can be taken. Working in tandem with our partners - and supported by direct diplomacy - the United States is prepared to offer North Korea a different future. Instead of an isolation that has compounded the horrific repression of its own people, North Korea could have a future of international integration. Instead of gripping poverty, it could have a future of economic opportunity - where trade, investment and tourism can offer the North Korean people the chance at a better life. And instead of increasing insecurity, it could have a future of greater security and respect. This respect cannot be earned through belligerence. It must be reached by a nation that takes its place in the international community by fully living up to its international obligations.

The path for North Korea to realize this future is clear: a return to the Six-Party Talks; upholding previous commitments, including a return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and the full and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. And full normalization with its neighbors can only come if Japanese families receive a full accounting of those who have been abducted. These are all steps that can be taken by the North Korean government, if they are interested in improving the lives of their people and joining the community of nations.

And as we are vigilant in confronting this challenge, we will stand with all of our Asian partners in combating the transnational threats of the 21st century: by rooting out the extremists who slaughter the innocent, and stopping the piracy that threatens our sea lanes; by enhancing our efforts to stop infectious disease, and working to end extreme poverty in our time; and by shutting down the traffickers who exploit women, children and migrants, and putting a stop to this scourge of modern-day slavery once and for all.

Indeed, the final area in which we must work together is in upholding the fundamental rights and dignity of all human beings.

The Asia Pacific region is rich with many cultures. It is marked by extraordinary traditions and strong national histories. And time and again, we have seen the remarkable talent and drive of the peoples of this region in advancing human progress. Yet this much is also clear - indigenous cultures and economic growth have not been stymied by respect for human rights, they have been strengthened by it. Supporting human rights provides lasting security that cannot be purchased in any other way - that is the story that can be seen in Japan's democracy, just as it can be seen in America's.

The longing for liberty and dignity is a part of the story of all peoples. For there are certain aspirations that human beings hold in common: the freedom to speak your mind, and choose your leaders; the ability to access information, and worship how you please; confidence in the rule of law, and the equal administration of justice. These are not impediments to stability, they are its cornerstones. And we will always stand on the side of those who seek these rights.

That truth guides our new approach to Burma. Despite years of good intentions, neither sanctions by the United States nor engagement by others succeeded in improving the lives of the Burmese people. So we are now communicating directly with the leadership to make it clear that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform. We support a Burma that is unified, peaceful, prosperous, and democratic. And as Burma moves in that direction, a better relationship with the United States is possible.

There are clear steps that must be taken - the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; an end to conflicts with minority groups; and a genuine dialogue between the government, the democratic opposition and minority groups on a shared vision for the future. That is how a government in Burma will be able to respond to the needs of its people. That is the path that will bring Burma true security and prosperity.

These are the steps that the United States will take to improve prosperity, security, and human dignity in the Asia Pacific. We will do so through our close friendship with Japan - which will always be a centerpiece of our efforts in the region. We will do so as a partner - through the broader engagement that I have discussed today. We will do so as a Pacific nation - with a President who was shaped in part by this piece of the globe. And we will do so with the same sense of purpose that has guided our ties with the Japanese people for nearly fifty years.

The story of how these ties were forged dates back to the middle of the last century, some time after the guns of war had quieted in the Pacific. It was then that America's commitment to the security and stability of Japan, along with the Japanese peoples' spirit of resilience and industriousness, led to what has been called the Japanese Miracle - a period of economic growth that was faster and more robust than anything the world had seen for some time.

In the coming years and decades, this Miracle would spread throughout the region, and in a single generation, the lives and fortunes of millions were forever changed for the better. It is progress that has been supported by a hard-earned peace, and strengthened by new bridges of mutual understanding that have bound together the nations of this vast and sprawling space.

But we know that there is still work to be done - so that new breakthroughs in science and technology can lead to jobs on both sides of the Pacific, and security from a warming planet; so that we reverse the spread of deadly weapons, and - on a divided peninsula - the people of the South can be freed from fear, while those in the north can live free from want; so that a young girl van be valued not for her body but for her mind, and so that young people everywhere can go as far as their talent, their drive, and their choices will take them.

None of this will come easy, nor without setback or struggle. But at this moment of renewal - in this land of miracles - history tells us it is possible. This is America's agenda. This is the purpose of our partnership - with Japan, and with the nations and peoples of this region. And there must be no doubt: as America's first Pacific President, I promise you that this Pacific nation will strengthen and sustain our leadership in this vitally important part of the world. Thank you very much.''

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker and purveyor of the GOP "Contract With America'' that helped his party win control of the House after President Bill Clinton's election, says GOP chairman Michael Steele has started work on a new framework for 2010 that he is calling "First principles.''

"I've been talking with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, '' Gingrich said today, speaking with students at C-SPAN's Cable Center Class.

"He is developing a first principles model that I think is a very exciting , positive step in the right direction,'' said Gingrich, who has said that he will decide by February about waging his own campaign for president. "B September , it might be very, very good for the Republicans in the House and Senate to have a common ground on which to campaign, whether they call it a Contract for America or some other device.

"Having a positive set of things that say, 'if you elect us, these are the positive steps we will take,'' Gingrich said, on a program that C-SPAN3 is airing at 5 pm EST. This "may well be the key building block to really become the alternative party, not the opposition party.''...

"If the Democrats stay stuck over on a very left wing program and if they continue to have a job-killing record in Congress, I think by September and October you could suddenly have a very exciting election.''

The fabled Contract which Gingrich, Dick Armey, Tom Delay and others fashioned six weeks before the midterm congressional elections of 1994 led to a GOP takeover of the House that kept a newly elected Democratic president in check - a formula that the GOP would love to revive for the 2010 midterms.

A Gallup Poll this week found that Republicans are doing well in the "generic candidate'' race - with more people saying they are likely to support a Republican than those saying they are likely to support a Democrat. Gingrich suggests that his party needs to put more than names on those ballots, and add some principled promises as well.

"We didn't do the Contract until very late in the campaign,'' he noted. "You could begin to put together a set of firs principles around which 80 percent of the country would rally... and then come Labor Day, you could begin to look a what are the five or 10 biggest things that the Republicans could offer as their contract for America.''

He's got four ready to go:

"The No. 1 issue is jobs... The No. 2 issue is energy... The No. 3 challenge... replace the big government monstrosity that they passed on Saturday ( a reference to the Democratic-led House healthcare bill. "The No. 4 challenge is education.''

Was Anita Dunn, the outgoing communications director of the White House, speaking for herself when she called FOX News "an arm of the Republican Party'' on a rival cable news network's program, or was this something that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and political adviser David Axelrod had planned ahead of time?

"I am not exactly one known for 'going rogue,''' Dunn said today, with an allusion to the well-known Republican, Sarah Palin, whose campaign had accused her of going off-script.

"The reality is that the media environment has changed so dramatically over the last decade, that what we think of as traditionally news sources, has changed,'' Dunn said, pointing to Comedy Central this week calling out FOX's Sean Hannity for mixing video of one well-attended protest rally with video of another less-attended rally ("We screwed up,'' Hannity acknowledged on his own program this week.)

"The people who did the fact checking on this, the people who exposed this, Jon Stewart on Comedy Central... well, that's where you're getting fact checking and investigative journalism these days, folks'' Dunn told an audience at Bloomberg's Washington Summit this afternoon, and so the White House too is watching when news is skewed. "For mainstream journalists, it is important for them to know that we are following those stories... that really don't live up to the scrutiny that you would bring to them.''

Okay then, was the president aware that Dunn was going to say what she said of FOX in that appearance on CNN, where she also suggested that FOX is not a news network in the traditional sense?

"I am not a person who is known for going rogue,'' Dunn said carefully, "but we also don't discuss personal decisions.''

This drew a knowing laugh from an audience here at the Newseum, where interviewer Al Hunt of Bloomberg News also asked Dunn what she thinks of MSNBC. It's different from other networks too, Dunn said. The morning host, she noted, is a Republican from the "Gingrich Revolution'' (that's former Rep. Joe Scarborough of Pensacola), and they have a lot of commentary. "I do regard them differently as a network,'' she said.

Dunn herself also has come under the scrutiny of FOX's Glenn Beck, who had some fun playing the video of a speech she gave in which she cited her two favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa. Dunn, who campaigned for Barack Obama for president, and fomer Sen. Bill Bradley before that, stepped in as White House communications director on an interim basis earlier this year, and is leaving on Dec. 1 - though says she will continue to serve as a consultant. Her husband, Bob Bauer, will become White House Counsel by year's end.

Is Obama disappointed on not having changed 'the tone'' in Washington that he hoped to change, Hunt asked? "I think he would have loved to be able to change more of the tone,'' Dunn said. "At the end of the day there is only so much he can do.''

For its part, FOX News wishes Dunn a bon voyage.

"We wish her well in her new position,'' a FOX spokesperson told the Swamp today, "where we're sure she'll continue providing brilliant strategic vision."

Is there one big communication success she can cite?

"I think that the successful communications triumph is probably, it always starts with the president, and his speech to a joint session of Congress,'' Dunn said. "Which really did redefine the issue, which really did give momentum to what you're seeing today.... We have a president who writes most of his best speeches and really delivers them well.''

One big communications disappointment?

"I wish that we had earlier put more attention and resources into building our online community in the White House, which is something we did successfully during the campaign,'' Dunn said. "I think, in keeping with the president's real commitment to transparency, but also in bringing more people into the process, there is more we can do..''

Asked about Republican strategist Karl Rove's comment that the Obama White House is uncompromising and running roughshod over critics with a Chicago-brand of politics:

"Well, gee, Karl... At times like this, as the mother of a boy who only recently hit his teen years, I am always inclined to fall back on something like, 'I'm rubber, you're glue.'... .

"You see a president who has really gone to extraordinary lengths to reach out with people who don't agree with him,'' she said.

"The reality is that, for the first time in history -- and this is a bell that can't be un-rung after we leave -- every visitor to the White House is going to be made public,'' she said of the Obama administration's decision to publish quarterly the list of everyone who visits the White House - a visitors log that the Bush White House fought to keep secret. "We are running this transparent and accountable administration that basically reaches out to people who agree and disagree with us... That was not the case when Karl Rove was calling the shots in the last eight years,''

Are the public opinion polls "heading South'' a measure of a problem of policy or communication, Hunt asked Dunn.

"This is my third go-'round with this,'' she said, having worked with Sen. Bradley on the issue and then during the New Jersey Democrat's bid for his party's 2000 presidential nomination. "There is a reason that people have not been able to do this. It is complex.... It is the communications challenge of all time... but when it passes, and when it becomes law, people will feel that real change has come to Washington.''

On Afghanistan, would it have been better for the administration to have moved more swiftly on a new deployment?

"I think the American feel we want to put a process in place, to ask questions before we put troops in,'' she said. "This is the toughest and most serious decision that any president faces, committing American troops... and taking the time to do it properly, to make sure you have asked all the questions and challenged all the assumptions... that is something the American people appreciate.

Dunn, one of the higher-level women to work in the Obama White House, also was asked here about those all-male basketball games that the president plays.

"I don't want to play basketball with the president,'' Dunn told Hunt. "We work really long hours. We want to go home.''

Here's a new variation on the Washington revolving door: Anita Dunn, the White Communications director, is leaving the White House. And Dunn's husband, Bob Bauer, is moving in as White House counsel.

It was one of Washington's worst-kept secrets that Greg Craig, President Barack Obama's chief counsel, was on his way out after helping the president set up office and pick and win confirmation of Obama's first appointment to the Supreme Court. Bauer's candidacy as a replacement wasn't much of a secret either.

Dunn's role at the White House was supposed to be on an interim basis from the start. As she leaves on Dec. 1, with deputy Dan Pfeiffer taking over her job, she says she will continue to serve as a consultant.

Dunn also had stirred quite a controversy recently as she stepped into the middle of the White House fight with the FOX News Channel in asserting that FOX is "an arm of the Republican Party'' and not really a news network in the traditional sense.

We'll be hearing more from her today, at an afternoon session of the Bloomberg Washington Summit which the Swamp has been watching. So tune in here later for an update.

Craig noted the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, as among the achievements that made him proud in the job. And Obama noted that today, in a statement issued about Craig's departure and Bauer's arrival.

"Because of Greg's leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history, and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values,'' the president sad.

Craig leaves his office on Jan. 3. Bauer, a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie with a deep resume in Democratic Party politics and policy, will arrive by the end of the year, the White House said today.

"Bob has served as a trusted counselor for many years to many elected officials and is known as a tough and widely respected advocate," Obama said in the statement issued today. "Bob is well-positioned to lead the Counsel's office as it addresses a wide variety of responsibilities, including managing the large amount of litigation the administration inherited, identifying judicial nominees for the federal courts, and assuring that White House officials continue to be held to the highest legal and ethical standards."

The Republican National Committee had a few statements of its own on all this today, noting that Bauer has served as counsel to the DNC, the DSCC and the DCCC, the party's Senate and congressional campaign committees.

"President Barack Obama has installed his personal and political attorney, Bob Bauer, as the Democratic Party's new lawyer, a move that gives Bauer unmatched power in Democratic legal circles and marks him as a top behind-the-scenes player in the president's inner circle,'' Kenneth Vogel noted in Politico, noting that Bauer "has reaped nearly $1.5 million in payments from Obama's presidential campaign and an earlier political group since Bauer started representing Obama in 2005." (

The pay isn't quite as good at the White House, but for this Washington power family, it will remain a one paycheck arrangement.

President Barack Obama has been called the first urban president.

Adolfo Carrion is the first White House director of urban affairs.

The former borough president from New York and schoolteacher is overseeing a White House policy of ensuring that investments "reflect the reality of modern urban America.''

"What's true of the United States is even truer of the rest of the world. The majority of the world's population is now living in the cities,'' Carrion said today at the Bloomberg Washington Summit at the Newseum. "This urban discussion that we're having about how the president asked us to invest (in the cities more intelligently) has global implications.''

What's the message for rural America, then?

"What's good for urban, suburban, exurban America... is good for rural America,'' he said. "We've been to at least a dozen cities'' - including Chicago, Philadelphia and many more. What stood out, he said, was Philadelphia's relationship with farming communities - "they came to an agreement that said we're going to build a 65,000 square-foot supermarket "which built "organic relationships'' between the farm community and city.''

Also, he said, "there's been a shift in the definition of what urban is,'' sad Carrion, who served as Bronx bourough president, a community of 1.4 million. "his is not just about Phoenix. It's about Mesa and Scotsdale... The whole definition has been shifted.''

To critics, Carrion is one of those White House "czars,'' who influence big national policy without congressional oversight. And people here today were asking about the pace of stimulus spending, and what the cities are gettng out of it. Half the money has gone out the door, Carrion said of a work in progress. "One of the strategies,'' he noted, "includes an $8 billion project for high-speed rail.''

"Our challenge is that we slow down the urban sprawl, and continue to urge people to move into urban areas,'' Carrion said, asked about Obama's role as the urban president. "He is on a very short list of presidents who get 'the urban thing.'... The experience of this president, having lived, stuided worked... He is a lover of cities. That informs everything that we do.''

President Obama sought today to reassure Japan that he views the country as an equal partner and that the United States will strive to lessen the disruption caused by military forces housed on Japanese soil.

After a private meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, the two leaders held a joint news conference and reaffirmed their commitment to the half-century old alliance.

Hatoyma seemed pleased with the meeting, saying the two men have taken to calling each other by their first names: "Barack and Yukio.''

The bond between the U.S. and Japan has been strained of late. Hatoyama heads a new Japanese government that has signaled the country's future may depend more on other Pacific Rim nations than the United States.

At the same time, residents of Okinawa have called for the banishment of a U.S. Marine base on the island -- a position that Hatoyama supported as a candidate for office.

At the news conference, the two leaders downplayed any differences. They said a high-level working group is trying to resolve the Okinawa dispute. And Obama made plain he views Japan as an equal partner.

Asked about the Marine base, Obama said, "Our goal remains the same and that's to provide for the defense of Japan with minimal intrusion on the lives of the people who share this space.''

Obama sidestepped a question from a Japanese reporter who asked if dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II was the right decision.

Obama said it would be "meaningful'' to him to visit the cities, though he said he had no immediate plans to make the trip. He then asked the reporter to remind him of another question he had asked.

The reporter tried again, asking his opinion of the bombing. "No, there were three sets of questions, right?'' Obama said. "You asked about North Korea.''

The president then proceeded to discuss troubles with North Korea.

Obama plainly wanted to avoid question that has bedeviled historians and policy makers for decades: Was the U.S. right to drop the atomic bomb, or was there a way to end the war with less destruction?

Obama's meeting with the prime minister came on the first day of a week-long trip to Asia. On Saturday he will give a speech in Tokyo laying out his broad Asia policy. Later in the day he will fly to Singapore for an economic conference. Then he is to visit China and South Korea before flying home on Nov. 19.

Rather than emphasize their differences, Obama and Hatoyama stressed agreements they had reached on climate change and nuclear non-proliferation. They issued a joint statement calling for "a world without nuclear weapons.'' And they said they "aspire'' to reducing carbon emissions 80% by the year 2050.

Obama also drove home a message he will repeat throughout his tour of the region: That the U.S. is determined to be an active player in Asia, even as China's economic and military influence grows.

"I intend to make clear that the United States is a Pacific nation, and we will be deepening our engagement in this part of the world,'' Obama said. "As I said to Prime Minister Hatoyama, the United States will strengthen our alliances, build new partnerships, and we will be part of multilateral efforts and regional institutions that advance regional security and prosperity.''

Obama's trip comes at moment when his administration is preoccupied with another country: Afghanistan. The president and his advisors have tried to settle on a strategy for the war in that country. Obama is not expected to announce a decision until after he returns home.

Asked about the delay, Obama said he needs to take his time and make the right choice.

"I don't think this is a matter of some datum of information that I'm waiting on,'' he said. "It's a matter of making certain that when I send young men and women into war, and I devote billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money, that it's making us safer.''

On another subject, Obama was asked about reports that the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, would face trial in federal court in New York. He is now being held at Guantanamo Bay.

The president said he would wait until Attorney General Eric Holder made a formal announcement today, but added: "I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people will insist on it and my administration will insist on it. And I'm sure we'll have additional things to say after the Attorney General's press conference.''

The plotters of the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington will be tried as terrorists and criminals in a federal court in New York, the Obama administration will announce today.

Five men, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, have been held for years in secret detention camps overseas, and most recently, at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. The Bush administration chose to interrogate these men for information about the al Qaida network.

After a year of internal debate, the Obama administration has now decided it can try them for their crimes in a civilian court.

One complication, however, is that Mohammad has been "waterboarded" while held in secret custody, and any information he disclosed during these sessions almost certainly will be barred from his trial.

The others due to be tried in New York included Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, who wired money from Europe to the men who carried out the hijackings of four airplanes on September 11, 2001.

The administration also plans to try several other Guantanamo detainees in military commission trials.

Attorney General Eric Holder is set to discuss the decisions at a press conference this morning .

TOKYO -- President Obama has touched down in Tokyo, the first stop on a week-long trip to Asia in which he will try to expand markets for U.S. exports and reestablish America's role as a leader in the Pacific Rim.

Obama left Washington on Thursday for the flight to Tokyo, which included a brief detour in Anchorage, Alaska, to greet troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

In addition to Japan, the president will visit Singapore, South Korea and China before flying home on Nov. 19.

Obama won't get much rest. Following his arrival in Tokyo he was to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for more than an hour. The two would discuss the global economy, trade, climate change, and the war in Afghanistan, among other issues.

Afterward, they were to hold a news conference and then attend a working dinner at Kantei, Japan's equivalent of the White House.

On Saturday, Obama is to give a major speech laying out his Asia policy before an audience of Japanese leaders and ordinary citizens alike.

A sticking point is the future of the Marine base on Okinawa. The island's residents see the base as an intrusive presence and want it evicted. For its part, the U.S. is pressing Japan to abide by a 2006 agreement in which the base would be moved to a more sparsely populated section of Okinawa.

A senior Obama administration official said today that the Marine base would not derail the talks, describing the issue as only a "subset'' of a complex and important U.S.-Japanese alliance.

Hatoyama heads a new Japanese government that is rethinking its relationship with Washington. His party has voiced unhappiness over what it sees as Washington's dominant status in the alliance.

The senior Obama administration official, briefing reporters before Obama's arrival, said the U.S. sees Japan as an equal. He said Obama has expressed the view that "we don't look to Japan as a junior partner. We look to Japan as an important partner, as an essential partner.''

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee and the first woman elected to Congress in her district, also serves as chairwoman of the songwriter's caucus. There is a growing choir of discontent with Washington among the public, she says.

Blackburn was among the Republican congressional leaders at the TEA Party tax protest outside the Capitol recently. She was asked today, at a conference in the shadow of the Capitol, if she is concerned about "the tone'' of the protests - the suggestion, for instance, that House Republican Leader John Boehner has made that the health-care legislation is the greatest threat to American freedom that Americans have seen for some time.

"You know what is so interesting about the TEA Party movement?'' Blackburn asked. "The amazing thing to me about the TEA Parties is, when you look out across the crowd, the crowd is predominantly female... It's amazing, the number of women attending these events, and women are speaking out as never before... They are looking at what is happening with the cost of health care, they are truly concerned about the strong arm of government reaching into their lives and into their pocketbooks.''

But is the health-care bill, as some have called it, tyranny?

"Let me tell you why it is a clearly defined threat, because this is a bill that will change the way health care in this country works,'' she said at the Bloomberg Washington Summit at the Newseum this afternoon. "There's a lot of worry....''

Readers of the Swamp might recall Blackburn as the Republican who warmed up the crowd for the acceptance speech of Republican presidential candidate John McCain at the 2008 GOP convention in St. Paul (pictured there, above, in a photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images.)

"We are the gun totin', God fearin,' flag wavin' Americans who are excited to see two crack shots on the ticket with the status quo in their sights,'' Blackburn told the crowd in Minnesota. ""We don't need to elect someone to install an ATM machine on Pennsylvania Avenue that debits your liberty to fund wasteful programs.''

"I think many would appreciate seeing a much more civil tone here in Washington,'' she said today, at a far less emotional forum than the convention or TEA Parties.

"People are very concerned that we are compromising our freedom because we are accruing so much debt... and we don't have the desire, or the political will, to stop this spending,'' Blackburn said today. "Most Americans are just tired of the rhetoric that seems to swirl around itself,'' Blackburn said today. "The expectations of the American public have not been managed or fulfilled.''

Asked about a potential restoration of Republican control of the House, the Republican from Tennessee said:

"It is going to be important that we lay out an orderly process... The American people want to see jobs-growth. What they want is for leaders to define how they're going to do this... ''

What happens if Republicans take back the House? How much of the agenda becomes a question of dismantling what's been done - such as health care, or the economic stimulus?

"What the American people want to see is, No. 1, not so many penalties and punishments being put in place,'' she said.

One of the keys to jobs-growth is examining the tax code, and making sure that the tax cuts of 2001 and '03 don't expire, she said. "Looking at taxes and regulation, that is one thing that unites all Republicans.''

With about 25 legislative days left until Christmas, Peter Orszag, the president's budget director, was asked today if the White House still expects delivery of a health-care bill by year's end.

"That's the goal and I think we will get there,'' Orszag said at a conference of political, business and military leaders today. "There is some distance left to go, and we will get there, but don't forget how far we have come.''

The nation cannot reduce spending outside of health care sufficiently to change the course of deficit spending, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget said this afternoon at the Bloomberg Washington Summit. The health-care bills underway include elements to help "bend that curve,'' he mainained.

Asked which bill does a better job of this, the Senate's or the House's, Orszag suggested that the House bill does more to deliver health care to those who need it, but also includes some "curve-bending'' initiatives for government health-care spending.

"The legislation has to be deficit neutral'' for the first decade, he said,, reiterating a central White House demand for bills that could cost $1 trillion or more over the coming decade, "and better than that'' during the second decade. He refused to get into debate over various provisions of the House or Senate bills, however, saying the White House will wait to see "the whole package.'' And he expects that package by Christmas.

He already is spending a lot of time putting together the president's proposed budget for fiscal 2011, which the White House will roll out in February.

Orszag, wearing a gray suit and black cowboy boots, was asked by Bloomberg's Al Hunt if it's true that the OMB has asked the agencies for two budgets, one that holds spending flat and another that cuts spending by 5 percent.

Orszag said: "I'm glad that things in Washington stay secret for so long.''

There will be an oral history of the Bush administration.

It will be carried out by the scholars in Virginia who conducted oral histories of the Clinton and Carter administrations and the Reagan and earlier Bush administration.

Former President George W. Bush, who is building his own presidential library, museum and think tank in Dallas, has picked the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia to conduct a comprehensive oral history of his presidency.

"This oral history project will offer future generations a comprehensive look at what it was like to lead the country during some extraordinary challenges,'' Bush said.

Scholars conducting the George W. Bush Oral History Project will interview the key figures of the Bush White House and Cabinet, as well as political advisers, members of Congress and foreign leaders - 100 interviews planned over five years.

It's a continuation of the work the center started in 1981 with interviews of people surrounding the Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations.

Prof. Russell Riley, chairman of the Miller Center's Presidential Oral History Program, encourages people to "speak candidly to history about what they saw and experienced during the White House years, so that future generations will come to understand each presidency as it actually was."

"The 43rd presidency was, by any standard, among the most consequential of all in American history,'' Riley said. "We intend to hear directly from those who led the country during an exceptional time, to find out what the Bush presidency looked like from the inside--including both its successes and failures.''

The Miller Center's work is unique. The interviews are conducted by a panel and can last for a day.

:"Oral histories are an especially valuable complement to the paper and electronic records of the modern presidency, because much of the most important work of every White House is conducted orally," Riley says.