Oath

There was an unusual aspect to the naturalization ceremony that took place yesterday at Fort McHenry: All but one of the 14 people sworn in as U.S. citizens are in the military, and several have already served in Iraq. "This was perfect - I wouldn't change a thing," said Sgt. Jose Figueira, a member of the Army National Guard's 729th Brigade Support Battalion, who served 15 months in Iraq. Figueira, 31, a Dundalk resident and a native of the Portuguese island of Madeira, moved to the United States with his family in 1977, when he was 14 months old. While his three siblings long ago became U.S. citizens, Figueira only just got around to it yesterday.

There were 51 of them in all: an accountant and an advertising executive, a music producer and a minister, a teacher and a theater manager. Among them, they had 33 homelands, from Albania to Ethiopia to Vietnam. Together, they reached the end of a journey yesterday, miniature American flags in hand and dressed in their Independence Day best. And when the man at the podium said, "Repeat after me," they raised their right hands and - to the best of their ability to pronounce the words in English - they did: I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies ... On the Fourth of July, during a morning ceremony at the historic Annapolis home of a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, they became American citizens.

WASHINGTON -- In forbidding his top aides to testify publicly and under oath on the firings of eight federal prosecutors, President Bush has set the stage for a possible legal battle with Congress that he might not be able to win, experts say, making a compromise more likely. With the House Judiciary Committee authorizing subpoenas for the testimony of Bush's top advisers yesterday and the Senate Judiciary Committee prepared to do the same today, the White House says that preventing Karl Rove and other key officials from providing sworn public testimony is a matter of executive privilege.

Heading into one of its most contentious votes in years, the Baltimore City Council is almost evenly divided over a proposed smoking ban for bars - casting unusual uncertainty over a body where outcomes are typically predictable - but last-minute support for the proposal appears to be growing. At least seven of the 15 council members are expected to vote in favor of the ban - one shy of a majority - at tonight's meeting, and the deciding vote might be cast by Sharon Green Middleton, the newest member of the council, who is expected to be sworn in this afternoon, hours before the vote.

Promising to deliver a more cohesive government to City Hall and cleaner streets to city neighborhoods, Sheila Dixon was sworn in yesterday as Baltimore's 48th mayor in an inauguration that celebrated recent progress but repeatedly acknowledged the daunting challenges ahead. "I don't think for one second this is going to be easy. I think we've grown accustomed to explaining away problems instead of solving them," Dixon said inside the cavernous War Memorial Building. "But I don't think any of us wants Baltimore to be known as the city that knows how to make excuses."

Martin O'Malley, sworn in as the state's 61st governor yesterday as a 19-gun salute echoed in wintry air, promised "a new day in Maryland" marked by bipartisan respect and a fresh resolve to improve the lives of state residents. "For too long in the capitals of our nation and our states, we've acted as if our people have somehow lost the capacity to sacrifice and to make tough choices, but, my friends, to govern is to choose," O'Malley said from a podium outside the historic State House.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley will become Maryland's 61st governor when he takes the oath of office Wednesday. Government House in Annapolis, vacated today by departing Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his family, awaits the new first family of Maryland. The rest of us - neither living in a 52-room mansion nor taking any oath - await significant changes and challenges. When one administration replaces another, the real changes can often be subtle. As always, historians look first to hair for answers: Out: Barbers In: Hairstylists Out: Polo shirts, turtlenecks, sweat pants In: Power suits, power ties, power socks Out: Motown In: O'Malley's March Out: Unseasonable tans In: Pale Irish skin Out: Barbecue chicken, Chinese noodle cookies In: Corned beef and cabbage Out: Basketball, golf In: The gym, the gym Out: ESPN's SportsCenter In: John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage - then maybe time for C-SPAN Out: Democrats fighting Republicans over slots In: Democrats fighting Democrats over slots Out: WBAL's The Chip Franklin Show In: NPR's The Thistle and Shamrock Celtic music show Out: Leon's Restaurant in Arbutus In: Cafe Hon in Hampden Out: The spirit and wisdom of William D. Schaefer In: The spirit and wisdom of Parris N. Glendening Out: 10-foot inflatable Santas In: 10-foot inflatable leprechauns rob.hiaasen@baltsun.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Despite a broken right leg, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off his second term yesterday promising "post-partisanship" leadership in which Democrats and Republicans don't simply compromise but forge new ideas together. In an inaugural speech in which he compared California's cultural diversity and "harmony" with genocide in Darfur and "bloodshed and hate" in the Middle East, the Republican governor portrayed California as a utopian "nation-state" that should serve as a model for the rest of the world because of its apparent peace and prosperity.

WASHINGTON -- The first Muslim to be elected to Congress has not been sworn in yet, but he's already taking heat. Dennis Prager, a conservative columnist and radio talk-show host, objects to the holy book on which Rep.-elect Keith Ellison plans to take his oath of office Jan. 4. The Minnesota Democrat plans to use a Quran instead of a Bible. Poor, naive me. Here I thought it was an encouraging sign of this country's respect for liberty and diversity that Americans would elect a Muslim to Congress in the midst of an international war against Islamic terrorists.

The face of regional government took on a new look yesterday as three newly elected county executives were sworn in at ceremonies in Anne Arundel, Harford and Howard counties, while the governor-elect watched as a slate of returning officials were inaugurated in Baltimore County. Promising to maintain quality of life while confronting looming growth challenges, Harford County Executive David R. Craig, a Republican, said the next four years "have the potential to be the most exciting and challenging we've faced.