Can Bipartisanship Work?

One wants to put America first and the other doesn't give a rat's ass

Earlier today I made reference to what happened in the 1930s when reactionary Republicans used the same arguments against FDR's Stimulus Package-- the New Deal-- that DeMint, Boehner, McConnell, Vitter and the rest of the GOP thugs are using against Obama's today. FDR's 1936 re-election netted him every state but 2-- and every electoral vote but 8-- while the GOP obstructionists wound up with 16 seats in the Senate and only 88 in the House. In today's Washington Post, Eugene Robinson points out that there's a time and a place for bipartisanship and... this crisis isn't it. He points out that with "hardheaded Republicans, time running out-- bipartisanship is doing more harm than good... If the loyal opposition chooses to obstruct economic recovery, those who hold power are obliged to use it."

One of the most effective items in the House bill was $79 billion to be transferred to state governments, which are hurting; in California, our most populous state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is ordering furloughs of state workers. Any dollar given to the states will fly out the door by sundown. That $79 billion would have instant impact.

But in the Senate, the ad hoc "gang" of moderate Republicans (all three of them) and conservative Democrats cut those state funds to $39 billion. It's wrong to see this as the normal give-and-take of legislative sausage-making, the usual trek down a well-worn path toward the golden compromise that everyone can live with. This is not, repeat not, a time for compromise. Meeting in the middle, which the Senate sees as its role in our democracy, renders the whole exercise potentially useless. If we don't get enough money into the economy, and if we don't do it soon, we risk wasting a king's ransom on a stimulus that's too puny to stimulate.

This is not an issue where the answer is to be found in the "middle." This isn't a matter of left, right and center, it's a matter of yes or no: Does the federal government try to get the economy moving again, or not? This will sound ridiculous, but the fact is that the details of Obama's plan don't matter that much. If anything, many economists believe, the government needs to spend even more than Obama proposes.

Republicans are using this debate as a branding opportunity, positioning themselves as careful stewards of the public purse. This is absurd, given their record when they were in charge. It's also cynical. They know that some kind of stimulus will get passed anyway. If it works, they'll claim their principled intransigence made the plan better; if it doesn't, they'll say, "I told you so."

Obama and the Democrats have public opinion on their side and the wolf at the door. Republicans need to get out of the way-- or get run over.

Peter Baker made a similar case at this morning's NY Times, pointing out that while "Obama has made a show of reaching across the aisle since taking office, inviting three Republicans into his cabinet and wining and dining other opposition leaders," the GOP responded with not a single vote for the Stimulus Package in the House and only 3, very grudgingly and only after cutting between 500,000 and 1.2 million jobs from the bill, in the Senate. Baker says the President is showing a slightly tougher side now, "railing against the status quo and dismissing critics as apostles of a failed philosophy." It's about time.

Three weeks into his tenure, Mr. Obama acknowledged that his effort to change the political climate in Washington had yielded little. He made clear that he had all but given up hope of securing a bipartisan consensus behind his $800 billion economic recovery package, arguing that the urgency of the economic crisis had at least for now outweighed the need for unity.

The Republican obstructionists who would rather see America fail than Obama succeed have ignored two important points from his inaugural address. 1- "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." They must have been laughing up their sleeves at that one. Later in the speech he said, "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Mitch McConnell, Tom Coburn, Richard Burr, John McCain, Jim Bunning, Jim DeMint, David Diapers Vitter, Johnny Isakson have only been unwilling to unclench their fists in order to give the president-- and American working families-- the finger.

Yesterday in Elkhart, Obama said that he wants good ideas from both sides of the aisle but that doesn't mean he's going to "return to the failed theories of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place, because those theories have been tested and they have failed. And that’s part of what the election in November was all about.”

Gone were the soothing notes of the last three weeks. Authoritative and unsmiling, gloomy rather than inspirational, Mr. Obama cast the nation’s economy in dire light and offered a barbed point-by-point critique of the Republican argument that his plan would just create more government jobs and authorize a raft of new wasteful spending.

“It’s a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they presided over a doubling of the national debt,” he said at the news conference. “I’m not sure they have a lot of credibility when it comes to fiscal responsibility.”

Also in today's Times Bob Herbert pointed out that "the crowd cheered and supported him enthusiastically throughout his appearance." But that wasn't the point of today's column. Although we've been warning about this for the three weeks Obama has been in the Oval Office, Herbert has finally said what no other mainstream columnists have dared to say:

The simple truth is that most Republican politicians would like Mr. Obama to fail because that is their ticket to a quick return to power.

. Herbert predicts doom for this GOP enterprise though. He thinks President Obama is a far better chess player than this crew of "clowns carrying leadership banners for the G.O.P."

He’s smart, deft, elegant and subtle. While Lindsey Graham was behaving like a 6-year-old on the Senate floor and Pete Sessions was studying passages in his Taliban handbook, Mr. Obama and his aides were assessing what’s achievable in terms of stimulus legislation and how best to get there.

I’d personally like to see a more robust stimulus package, with increased infrastructure spending and fewer tax cuts. But the reality is that Mr. Obama needs at least a handful of Republican votes in the Senate to get anything at all done, and he can’t afford to lose this first crucial legislative fight of his presidency.

The Democrats may succeed in bolstering their package somewhat in conference, but I think Mr. Obama would have been satisfied all along to start his presidency off with an $800 billion-plus stimulus program.

As we mentioned yesterday, many Republican governors-- the ones who actually have to cope with the problems 8 years of the Bush economic agenda and these harebrained Republican orthodoxies have caused on the ground-- are urging their congressional delegations to support the Stimulus. Charlie Crist failed to get a single Republican member of Congress to go along. Today's he's sharing the stage with President Obama in Ft Meyers as an example of bipartisan cooperation reaching across the aisle to solve problems. Crist doesn't want to be identified with the obstructionist wing of the GOP that is reaching out to a narrow, shrinking regional base dependent on Rush Limbaugh's ratings.


UPDATE: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S BRILLIANT SPEECH IN FT MEYERS TODAY

If the Republicans even considered putting America first, they would apologize to the American people for their obstructionism and get onboard right now.

I want to start by thanking your governor, Charlie Crist, for joining us today. Governors understand our economic crisis as well as anyone; they’re on the front lines dealing with it every day. And Governor Crist shares my conviction that creating jobs and turning this economy around is a mission that transcends party. When the town is burning, we don’t check party labels. Everyone needs to grab a hose!

Governor Crist and governors across the country understand that. Mayors across the country understand that. And I think you understand that, too. Which is what I want to talk about today.

Last night, I addressed the nation to explain why I believe we need to put the economic recovery plan that is before Congress in motion as soon as possible. But during the day, I spent some time out in Indiana talking to folks. And today, I wanted to come to Florida and visit you all in Fort Myers.

You see, too often the debate in Washington tends to take the measure of our challenges in numbers and statistics. But when we say we’ve lost 3.6 million jobs since this recession began-- nearly 600,000 in the past month alone; when we say that Lee County has seen its unemployment rate go from 3.5 percent to nearly 10 percent in less than two years; when we talk about the plummeting home prices and soaring foreclosure rates that have plagued this area, and layoffs at companies like Kraft Construction and Chico’s-- companies that have sustained this community for years – well, we’re not just talking about faceless numbers. We’re talking about families you probably know.

We’re talking about people like Steve Adkins, who has joined us today with his wife Michelle, and their son Bailey and daughter Josie. Steve’s the president of a small construction company in Fort Myers that specializes in building and repairing schools, but work has slowed considerably. He’s done what he can to reduce overhead costs, but he’s still been forced to lay off half his workforce. And he and Michelle have made sacrifices of their own-- they sold their home and moved into a smaller one.

That is what this debate is about. Folks in Fort Myers and all across the country who have lost their livelihood and don’t know what will take its place. Parents who’ve lost their health care and lie awake at night praying their kids don’t get sick. Families who’ve lost the home that was the foundation of their American dream. Young people who put that college acceptance letter back in the envelope because they just can’t afford it.

That’s what those numbers and statistics mean. That is the true measure of this economic crisis. Those are the stories I heard every time I came here to Florida and that I have carried with me to the White House.

I promised you back then that if elected President, I would do everything I could to help our communities recover. That’s why I’ve come back today – to tell you how I intend to keep that promise.

The situation we face could not be more serious. We have inherited an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression. Economists from across the spectrum have warned that if we don’t act immediately, millions more jobs will disappear, and national unemployment rates will approach double digits. More people will lose their homes and their health care. And our nation will sink into a crisis that, at some point, will be much tougher to reverse.

So we simply can’t afford to wait and see and hope for the best. We can’t afford to posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us into this mess in the first place. After all, that’s what this election was about. You rejected those ideas because you know they haven’t worked. You didn’t send us to Washington because you were hoping for more of the same, you sent us there to change things, and that is exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Now, the problems that led us into this crisis are deep, and they are widespread. We need to stabilize and repair our financial system. We need to get credit flowing again to families and businesses. We need to stem the spread of foreclosures that are sweeping this country. My Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, outlined a plan to address these challenges this morning.

We know that in order to address our economic crisis, we must address our foreclosure crisis. I know Fort Myers had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last year. I know entire neighborhoods are studded with foreclosure signs, and families across this city feel like they’re losing their foothold in the American Dream. So we are going to do everything we can to help responsible homeowners here in Fort Myers and other hard-hit communities stay in their homes.

If we want to fully turn this crisis around, the starting point is to get people back to work right now.

Last week, we saw 1,000 men and women stand in line for only 35 Miami firefighter jobs. It’s a story repeated across the country-- there’s so much demand for jobs that just aren’t there. That is both the paradox and the promise of this moment: at a time when so many Americans are looking for work, there is so much work America needs done.

That is why I put forth a recovery and reinvestment plan, and that is the simple idea at its core. It’s a plan that will save or create up to four million jobs over the next two years, ignite spending by business and consumers alike, and make the investments necessary for lasting economic growth and prosperity.

We’ll begin by ensuring that Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own can receive greater unemployment benefits and continue their health care coverage. That means an additional $100 per month to more than 760,000 Florida workers who have lost their jobs in this recession, and extended unemployment benefits for another 170,000 folks who’ve been laid off and can’t find work.

That is not only our moral responsibility-– to lend a helping hand to our fellow Americans in times of emergency – but it also makes good economic sense. If you don’t have money, you can’t spend it. And if you don’t spend it, our economy will continue to decline.

For that same reason, the plan includes $1,000 of badly-needed tax relief for middle class workers and families, putting money back in the pockets of nearly 6.9 million workers and their families here in Florida. And we’ll also provide a partially refundable $2,500 per student tax credit to help 195,000 Florida families send their kids to college, relieving your household budgets in the short run, and rewarding America in the long run.

Most importantly, this plan will put people to work right now by making direct investments in areas like health care, energy, education, and infrastructure; investments that save jobs, create new jobs and new businesses, and help our economy grow again.

More than 90 percent of the jobs created by this plan will be in the private sector-- 90 percent. And they won’t be make-work jobs; they’ll be jobs that lay the groundwork for our lasting economic growth-- jobs that put people to work today preparing America for tomorrow.

Jobs building wind turbines and solar panels and fuel efficient cars; doubling our investment in clean energy, and helping end our dependence on foreign oil.

Jobs upgrading our schools, creating 21st century classrooms, libraries, and labs for millions of children across America.

Jobs computerizing our health care system, saving billions of dollars and countless lives.

Jobs constructing broadband internet lines that reach Florida’s rural schools and small businesses, so they can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.

Jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our dangerously deficient dams and levees so we don’t face another Katrina.

And the jobs of firefighters, teachers, nurses, and police officers that would otherwise be eliminated if we don’t provide states with some relief.

Of course, there are critics who say we can’t afford to take on these priorities. But we have postponed and neglected them for too long. And because we have, our health care still costs too much. Our schools still fail our children. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. And we’ve seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail.

They say we can’t afford to take on these tasks. But Florida, you know we can’t afford not to.

Now, I’m not going to tell you that this plan is perfect. No plan is. I also can’t tell you with one hundred percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope. But I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act in the face of this crisis will bring only deepening disaster. Doing nothing is not an option.

We’ve had a good debate, but the time for talking is over. Folks here in Fort Myers and across America need help, and the time for action is now. The Americans I’ve met understand that even with this plan, our recovery will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months-- but what they don’t have patience for is more waiting on folks in Washington to get this done.

I know people are struggling. But I also know that folks here are good workers and good neighbors who step up, who help each other out, who make sacrifices when times are tough. I know that all folks are asking for is a chance to work hard-- and to have that work translate into a decent life for you and your family. You’re doing your part down here-- and it’s time the government did its part too.

This is a responsibility we did not ask for. But it is one we must accept for the sake of our future and our children’s. And being here in Fort Myers with all of you, I am more confident than ever before that we can and will set our differences aside, commit ourselves to the work ahead, and come together to meet the great test of our time.

STIMULUS PACKAGE PASSES IN THE SENATE-- NOT MUCH BI-PARTISANSHIP THERE

The only difference in the vote count today, 61-37, is that John Cornyn was back to vote after working on the financing for the GOP propaganda efforts with Wall Street banksters and lobbyists.

Post-Partisan Day In The House... Almost

Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX), Paul Broun (R-GA) & Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)

A few days ago we were trying to determine who were the absolute worse asshats in Congress-- you know, not the bottom of the barrel, underneath the barrel. Georgia imbeciles Lynn Westmoreland and Paul Broun figured prominently in the proceedings. Yesterday we saw some further proof of the toxic puddin'.

The real action was over on the Senate side yesterday; slow day in the House-- other than Hoyer's powerplay in using his vile, contemptible Blue Dog kennel to go after poor Nancy. But there were three votes, each exactly the kind of post-partisan pap that Obama wishes the whole world was made of. At 6:55 pm they voted on raising awareness and encouraging prevention of stalking by establishing January 2009 as “National Stalking Awareness Month.” 247 Democrats and 170 Republicans voted for it. It passed 417-0. Didn't January, 2009 just pass, though? Whatever. At 7:06 pm they voted to support the goals and ideals of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week. This time 248 Democrats and 171 Republicans voted for it and 419 members of Congress are on record supporting those lofty goals (with none opposing). You're on record, Patrick McHenry. and we know what you do with all those teenage boys... so watch out because we are watching you. Then at 7:19 pm they voted on HR 559, a bill sponsored by Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and cosponsored by Peter King (R-NY), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) that amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish an appeal and redress process for individuals wrongly delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight. This time 245 Democrats were joined by 168 Republicans to give this one 413 votes. But it wasn't 413-0. There were 3 members of Congress who opposed the bill: Paul Broun (R-GA), Ted Poe (R-TX) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA). Hard to imagine why these three voted no, except that they are all virulent racists and never vote for bills proposed by African-Americans. Other than that, it was a perfect post-partisan day in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Daschle's Out-- How Will It Impact Health Care Reform?

Rootless, Inside-the-Beltway hacks all start acting like Republicans sooner or later

The nation's first post-partisan president is experiencing some speedbumps on the Post-partisan Express. As expected, John McCain announced he would oppose the Stimulus Package that Obama wants to use to fix all the problems caused by years and years of Republican economic and fiscal perfidy that McCain supported. And then Nancy Killefer's withdrawal for the new job at OMB, turned out to be the tipping point for Tom Daschle, who withdrew. Hopefully Obama won't nominate Bill Frist. I guess if he goes for Howard Dean he'd accomplish four things: teach his partisan enemies not to look a gift horse (Daschle) in the mouth, reinforce his commitment to keep lobbyists out of government (and that includes people married to lobbyists-- "Oh but I'm not in the Mafia, only my spouse is"), prod Rahm Emanuel into committing suicide, and-- if anyone really cares-- wind up with real health care reform, not the kitty cat version that Daschle envisioned.

Limbaugh and his cadre in Congress smell blood in the water and they're not into this whole post-partisan thing. Watch them go after Hilda Solis now-- and watch Obama run for cover... and lose the trust of the people who elected him. Next time, let's make sure we elect a partisan president to play in the shark infested waters.

Oh-- and here's the brand spanking new Howard Dean for HHS Facebook page. Expect all Inside-the-Beltway types to oppose this. Watch and you'll see who's trustworthy and who's not.

Gee, I thought I Was Voting For A Democrat In November, Not A Post-Partisan-- 1,445 Days 'Til We Get Another Chance

Will Obama roll over on Hilda Solis' nomination?

Hard to imagine that the President of the United States-- even a post-partisan wimpy one who is apparently keeping his powder bone dry for something important (I can't wait to find out what's important enough for him to fight for)-- offers someone a great Cabinet job that they're not remotely qualified for and certainly don't deserve by any stretch of the imagination and the answer "yes, but only if..." and then makes what most people would think of as a pretty hostile demand. That's what's happened with Obama's choice of reactionary New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg. He said he'd take over the Commerce Department (which he has advocated abolishing) but only if he were guaranteed that a Republican were named to the Senate seat he's leaving. Republicans have done a great deal of damage inside the Commerce Department; I have no doubt that Gregg will continue that tradition. What a deal! America gets a crappy Commerce Secretary and Blue-trending New Hampshire gets an appointed Republican senator who would never have been elected. And the Democratic Senate caucus still doesn't have enough votes to override the shrill and fanatic Obstructionist Caucus.

And why should President Post-Partisan stop there? Sure, he's got 3 Republicans in his Cabinet already but that isn't enough, not by a long shot, for the Republicans who are walking all over him. How about Doctor "Dollar" Bill Frist for Health and Human Services? After all-- even though most Republicans are salivating to get a total pushover like Daschle into the job, someone whose every instinct will be to please the Insurance Industry and the HMOs and compromise on every single issue that caused Americans to vote for Obama -- some overtly partisan extremists-- who are a little slow on the uptake about the new post-partisan rules-- are demanding that Obama withdraw Daschle's name "effective immediately." (An even better idea would be to have an independent auditor audit the taxes of Daschle-- and every member of the Senate. You think they'd go for that? Why not?)

And the radical right's next target, of course-- like who couldn't have guessed this was coming-- is Labor Secretary-Designate, Rep. Hilda Solis, the only proven progressive in the Cabinet and someone who has the nerve to favor working families and their aspirations over the bottom line greed and selfishness of the kind of unfettered corporatism that finances American politics. The far right wants her head-- on a pike-- and Obama has given them no indication that if they whine enough he won't be willing to work something out, something nice and post-partisan. Like maybe bring back McConnell's "wife." Now, her tenure didn't bother anyone at all... except some dirty, smelly workers.

It's obvious that Solis is going to turn back all those strides that have been made in the last 8 years turning the Department of Labor back into an organization that protects working people instead of what Business and their GOP lackeys thinks it should be doing: policing unions and supporting Big Business. After all, Judd Gregg can't be expected to do that all himself. You know, post-partisan politicians care about their careers of course, but they don't get all steely about the vision thing the way the partisans do. Big Business and it's bought and paid for advocates-- the GOP + the Blue Dogs and DLC types-- know exactly what they want and how to go about getting it. And it doesn't look like Obama is going to do much to stop them; in fact, it looks like he's happy chucking the one who brung him to the dance for the ephemeral support of those who would have barred him at the door. Good luck with that.

Meanwhile, the vision thing. Republicans and their ilk inside what we used to think of as the working family party, have a vision for America. They even got to try it out. After Obama's political hero abolished slavery, it took the most recent breed of his political party's leaders to bring it back. They tried it out in an American colony, a commonwealth in the Marianas, on the island of Saipan. You may remember back before Colorado voters only bestowed 42% of their votes on Bob Schaffer in his bid to become a senator, the hard right ex-Congressman had some trouble explaining away his Jack Abramoff-funded adventures in the Marianas-- particularly why he called the Saipan's system of indentured servitude a "model" for a system he would like to see imported onto the mainland. Most Colorado voters seemed a little turned off to the prospect. At least they were smart enough to send him packing. Fully half the voters in northern San Diego County (CA-50) didn't care that their congressman, Brian Bilbray, who also took one of the Abramoff junkets, said much the same thing: that it is a place to seek "answers for the rest of the American family." I want to wish that vision on the families of the folks who voted for him. And Thomas Frank explains it beautifully in The Wrecking Crew-- How Conservatives Rule.

The CNMI [Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands] system was the product of a unique economic deal the islands had struck with the world; a deal in which wages could be kept extremely low, workers had no citizenship rights, and virtually the entire power of the state stood behind employers as they extracted profit from the toil of others. For most of the workers who came to the island, this arrangement meant indentured servitude; for a few, it was tantamount to slavery. For Tom DeLay the situation was so gratifying that he promised personally to block all efforts to divert all efforts to divert Saipan from its chosen course. "Stand firm," he once told a gathering of the island's overlord. "Resist evil. Remember that all truth and blessings emanate from our Creator."

...But in some fundamental way Tom DeLay was right about Saipan. So were all those newspaper columnists and feature writers who described the place as "America's Hong Kong" or "a free-market model." Let us give them their due here: what happened on Saipan really was an experiment in the free market, in about as unregulated a state as it gets. It really was a model from which all the world could learn what happens when the laissez-faire believers get their way.

...So let us look closely at Saipan, this laboratory of misgovernment and exploitation. It was here that conservatism confronted-- and vanquished-- the original, fundamental enemy: labor. The war mobilized the entire right wing-- from Christian soldiers, to national securitarians, to populists and libertarians. Saipan is where the fight against the left distilled itself down to its one essential and irreplaceable component: the war on the worker.

Bring that back to today and those same forces-- the ones who fought the U.S. in the 1860s, the ones who ordered the murders of union organizers for opposing child labor, for demanding the eight-hour day and the weekend, for insisting on safety regulations in factories and mines and, worst of all, for demanding a right to collective bargaining and a minimum wage-- are hysterically fighting the Employee Free Choice Act, and the one member of Obama's nascent Administration willing to stand up for it. It is driving the right insane and they are threatening to wreck everything if Obama doesn't give them their way on this.

And just as the right's twisted vision and barrage of propaganda persuaded dolts like Bob Schaffer and Brian Bilbray that a system of slavery was actually a worker's paradise, a very well financed campaign-- tens of millions of dollars worth-- has mobilized to convince Americans that the rights of workers is an insidious and dangerous and un-American thing. They'll say anything; they always do. This isn't what you ever hear from O'Reilly or Hannity or Coulter or Limbaugh or any of Limbaugh troops in Congress:

Does Obama Catch Too? Or Just Roll Over?

Blue America has raised about $2,000,000 for progressive candidates and issues. We helped elect some great candidates and a few who turned into real stinkers. One, Chris Carney, we even asked to return the money he got from us under false pretenses. There's no chance we would ever ask President Obama for our money back we gave his campaign. That's because we didn't give one cent to his campaign, having carefully studied his Senate voting record. You see, as we warned all during the campaign, despite Fox/Limbaugh spin that Obama was the most liberal member of the Senate, he was actually the 46th most liberal member-- not quite as liberal as Joe Lieberman but a smidge more liberal than reactionary goon Mark Pryor. Look at this chart from Progressive Punch:


So I can't even say "I want my money back" and I would never say "I want my vote back," because all he ever was (to me) was a relatively cool symbol and... much better than McCain. Well, maybe not that much better. But somewhat better. I certainly voted for him knowing full well what we were getting. So I can't say I'm disappointed in all the compromising with Republicans over everything; it's really what comes natural to him. If you thought he would pursue charges against Bush or any of the criminal elements around him... well, he didn't mean that much change. Basically he was talking about small change. Incremental, imperceptible small little teeny weeny changes here and there gradually sometimes maybe... if he can find 80 votes for it.

My friend Danny Fields, a perceptive observer of the political scene for many decades, thinks Obama is more than role playing in the way he plays out The Prince. I want to believe the same. But at this point it will have to be proven to me-- with a big red bow around it. Why is he giving a reactionary like Judd Gregg an important and consequential Cabinet position and not even getting a Democratic replacement senator out of it. Danny is certain that Boehner hasn't read The Prince and that he has the IQ of a bean, unless he managed to stumble across a Classic Comics version. Anyway, maybe Obama just wants a real break with liberals. I think so. Well, good luck to him when they do to him what they did to the last Democrat who played footsy with them. Or maybe Danny is right.

Republicans Can't Understand Why Obama Doesn't Adopt Their Program Of Failure and Ruin

Michael Steele promises to be GOP's connection to average Americans and, apparently, below average ones too

One of the worst of the Inside-the-Beltway political journo hacks has long been-- for as long as anyone remembers, in fact-- David Broder over at the Washington Post. And those looking for a dose of insipid, asinine Broderism won't be disappointed by his silly column tomorrow about how badly Obama needs Republicans. Broder, of course, is non-partisan, bipartisan, post-partisan... so long as all those sans accrue to the benefit of whichever Establishment GOP elitists he happens to be shilling for. When he says that "The first important roll call of the Obama presidency looked as bitterly partisan as any of the Bush years," he isn't blaming his heroes the Republicans, of course. He knows the talking points-- it was Pelosi's fault. That not a single Republican legislator voted for a Stimulus package Obama gave away the store to Republicans when crafting and that not a single Republican legislator voted for a Stimulus package that the overwhelming majority of American voters want to see passed isn't because they're too partisan; it's because Nancy Pelosi, Charlie Rangel and David Obey are. And Broder ought to know; every single Republican in Town has adopted that point as their mantra this week.

Broder, of course, would never in a million years think to ask the real front-line Republicans-- the party's governors, who have to face real families in real pain all over America, not just Grover Norquist, Tony Perkins and Rush Limbaugh sucking down weenies at Villager cocktail parties. The Republican governors see it a little differently from the viciously partisan ideologues and obstructionists.

Most Republican governors have broken with their GOP colleagues in Congress and are pushing for passage of President Barack Obama's economic aid plan that would send billions to states for education, public works and health care.

Their state treasuries drained by the financial crisis, governors would welcome the money from Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers are more skeptical of Obama's spending priorities.

Inside the Beltway, the talk is about how Republicans are losing patience with Obama and the Democrats. Mitt Romney, still deluded enough to think he's going to be his bigoted party's first Mormon nominee was appalled that the Democratic President, House and Senate didn't adopt the anti-Stimulus bill the Republicans offered, chock full of proposals that have impoverished the country over the past 8 years while further enriching a few thousand families, one of which happens to be named Romney. Unless the Democrats adopt these failed and catastrophic policies, which were overwhelmingly given the big thumbs down by the voters in November, the Republicans are going to... continue obstructing and whining to the media and trying to undermine America. They're Republican politicians; what else could anyone expect from them.

Their Party's laughable new chairman, Michael Steele, started his term with a huge acknowledgment that the GOP is the Party of Doom and Obstruction:

"Let me start by saying, the goose egg that you laid on the president’s desk was just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Now, folks, I know we’re in the era of bipartisanship, but it’s easy to be bipartisan when you outnumber the minority two to one. Anyone can be bipartisan then. But I thought it was very, very important that you sent a signal, and you sent it loudly and very clearly, that this party, that the leadership of this caucus, will stand first and foremost with the American people. You made it very clear that in order to grow through this recession, that you would not redistribute the wealth of the people of this nation. That you would empower them to earn it, invest it, save it, and spend it on their terms."

I suppose by "the American people," he means the folks in those board rooms he's vowing the GOP will be taking its marching orders from. The actual American people want the Stimulus package-- just like the Republican governors, who Steel ought to be paying more attention to, unless he's planning on hitting the pavement looking for a new job along side Ken Blackwell and Chip Saltsman.

GOP '09: The Party Of Bad Faith

Let's hope we get more change than this

Cantor and Boehner and that whole, rotten, reactionary crew-- in fact, every single Republican in the House-- rolled Obama. In his first week in office he offered them his hand-- and billions of dollars in tax breaks for their corporate buddies-- and they responded with a clenched fist. Remember at his inaugural when he said "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." He may have been addressing other unsavory characters but the shoe certainly fits. And many Democrats feel this whole post-partisan thing is a charade and, for starters, they want those billions of dollars in tax breaks for businesses to be yanked from the Stimulus bill and used more productively.

Republicans fight for real-- and with knives. Obama better stop throwing flowers. He finally spoke up about the scandal of the banksters who accepted hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars and then doled out $18 billion to themselves and their cronies in bonuses-- all the while passing on alleviating the credit crunch Democrats thought (naively) they would be getting for the unaccounted for billions that they foolishly entrusted to the same Bush Regime that had already ripped off untold billions over the past 8 years-- at home and abroad.

"It is shameful," Obama said from the Oval Office. "And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility."

The president said the public dislikes the idea of helping the financial sector, only to see the hole get bigger because of lavish spending. The comptroller's report found that Wall Street employees got paid about the same amount of bonuses as they did in the boom time of 2004.

Obama said he and Geithner will speak directly to Wall Street leaders about the bonuses, which threaten to undermine public support for more government intervention. The House just approved an economic stimulus plan that would cost taxpayers more than $800 billion; the Senate is considering its own version.

..."There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses," Obama said. "Now is not that time."

No, it isn't. It's the time for fucking accountability already. And I don't mean a slap on the wrist. These criminal banksters should all be rounded up and thrown in prison like the common criminals they are-- and I mean prison, not multimillion dollar penthouses. And those bonuses? That $18.4 billion should be taken back immediately-- with interest. The Obama DOJ should follow Andrew Cuomo's lead in New York on this.

In yesterday's Washington Post Dan Froomkin was wondering where that populist is who inspired millions and millions of America while he campaigned for a fairer and more equitable America last summer and fall.

[A]s Obama takes on the enormous challenge of trying to right a perilously listing economy, he seems to be abandoning at least some of that populism in an attempt not to upset Republicans and Wall Street.

In his first days, Obama has spent more time jawing with-- and making concessions to-- Republicans than Democrats. His photo ops are with corporate CEOs, not labor leaders or laid-off workers. His senior economic team represents the dominant Wall Street culture, and is apparently considering a financial rescue plan that will most directly help the same fat cats who gave themselves more than $18 billion in bonuses last year, even as they tanked the economy. Despite dramatic new ethics policies, Obama is peppering his administration with lobbyists. And he appears to be in no hurry to repeal Bush's tax cuts for the rich.

At the same time, the Obama team is eschewing even the easiest appeals to populism, responding with discreet pressure rather than more public outrage earlier this week when it was revealed that executives at Citibank-- who received a $45 billion infusion of tax dollars -- were buying a $50 million corporate jet.

And what does Obama have to show for all this outreach and restraint?

A stick in the eye... and lots of bad faith. Cantor and those clowns want to play games? The Democrats should pass the Employee Free Choice Act next week and ask them what game they want to play next. It's what they fear and loathe more than anything. Nevada reactionary John Ensign:

If you know anything about politics, it is a game changer. It is a total game changer for the next 40 to 50 years if the Democrats are able to get this legislation.

Ensign's paymaster, former WalMart CEO, Lee Scott:

We like driving the car and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.

Obama has got to wake up and realize that not only is Republican dogma worthless and counterproductive-- just look what that dogma has wrought-- but that these Republicans themselves are dealing from bad faith.

Rahm Emanuel Reaches Out To Republicans-- And THAT Is Supposed To Be News?

About a month or so ago an old friend, know of the antipathy and disdain with which I hold Rahm Emanuel, asked me if I would have voted for Obama even if I knew he was going to appoint Emanuel his chief of staff. Before I blurted out, "No!," I said, "Well there's nothing that would have ever gotten me to have voted for John McCain. Ask me in a year and hindsight we allow me to give you  a better answer."

Mike Leibovich pridefully referred to his co-religionist-- a man I've often called the Democratic Party's doppelganger for Tom DeLay and with whom I nearly had a first fight last April in a Washington bar-- "arguably the second most powerful man in the country and, just a few days into his tenure, already one of the highest-profile chiefs of staff in recent memory."

Leibovich professes shock and awe that Emanuel "has been an ardent ambassador to Republicans, including Mr. Obama’s defeated rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona." Why? Yes, Emanuel has long been a "fierce partisan," as is always pointed out, but not especially on behalf of Democratic Party values or principles. Emanuel's always been a vicious little gut fighter who likes to win-- regardless of what the game is or how the teams are divided. As for reaching out to Republicans... Emanuel was wrongly credited with the Democratic midterm landslide of 2006, when he was chair of the DCCC. By using DCCC financial clout as a club he was able to "persuade" countless grassroots, anti-war progressives to either drop out of contested primaries or to "moderate" their views, especially the anti-Iraq war views. (Emanuel is and has always been a die-hard Iraq War supporter and, basically, and American Likudnik.) I may blame him for the defeats of progressive candidates like Lois Murphy, Christine Cegelis, Dave Lutrin, Steve Porter, Charlie Brown, Larry Kissell, Diane Benson, Angie Paccione, Ellen Simon but there are two candidates even I give him total credit for: Tim Mahoney and Heath Shuler. Both are Republicans.

Heath Shuler was a Tennessee celebrity, a mediocre quarterback whose only recorded political contribution before he recently decided he was a Democrat-- and a candidate-- was $1,000 for Republican Lamar Alexander. Shuler's family gave generously to familiar names-- almost exclusively Republican names-- like George Bush, Zach Wamp, Bob Corker, and John Duncan. The GOP was trying to entice him to run for Congress in Tennessee. Emanuel swooped in and persuaded him he would have a far better chance to win in North Carolina against corrupt and damaged Charlie Taylor-- as a Democrat, a pro-war, pro-business, anti-choice, xenophobic, reactionary... Democrat. Shuler did win and has racked up a voting record in Congress that Emanuel is probably very proud of: on substantive matters he's been the 4th most frequent aisle crosser in the Democratic caucus, only marginally less likely to support the GOP agenda than fellow Dixiecrat Travis Childers (MS) and a pair of Indiana reactionaries, Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth, also Emanuel recruits.

Mahoney is an even clearer case of reaching out to Republicans. Mahoney was a lifelong Republican. But he was a rich one and Emanuel knew a little secret about a certain closeted GOP incumbent in Florida. It was hardly news that Mark Foley was gay and alcoholic. What Emanuel did know was that Foley was about to star in his own TV scandal: Republican hypocrite resigns after molesting young male pages. Emanuel told Mahoney that if he switched his party registration to Democrat, he would clear the primary field for him and guarantee him a seat in Congress. And he did and Mahoney promptly joined the Blue Dogs-- as Shuler did-- and started voting like the Republican he still was.

Mr. Leibovich may not know that. The Times is in financial trouble and they don't hire qualified reporters any longer; too expensive. It doesn't cost nearly as much to hire puff piece writers. And if there is one thing Rahm Emanuel knows how to do well, it is to work with puff piece writers. That, after all, is how he got where he is. Some of the puffery sounds exactly like the kind of stuff Rahm and his staff have written for "reporters" in the past:

He is not accustomed to fading discreetly into the background. As a staff member in the Clinton White House, a three-term House member from Chicago and the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he was viewed by many as a consummate purveyor of a crass, kneecapping brand of politics.

This also sounds like it was more likely to have come from Emanuel's office than from... say, Joe Biden's:

Emanuel initially resisted taking the job. He came around after Mr. Obama insisted, saying these were momentous times and that the awesome tasks he faced required Mr. Emanuel’s help. The president-elect also assured Mr. Emanuel that the position would be the functional equivalent of “a No. 2” or “right-hand man,” according to a person familiar with their exchanges.

When Leibovich quotes Emanuel saying that Republicans are “bad people who deserve a two-by-four upside their heads,” he doesn't seem to realize that the word "Republicans" would just as easily be "progressives," "grassroots upstarts," or, better yet, "anyone not on my team."

The Problem Really Is That Which Is Most Basic About Right Wing Parties-- So Good Luck With The Post-Partisan Shtik

Clyburn (left) calls a spade a spade

President Post-Partisan had congressional leaders over to the White House for a meeting about his stimulus package yesterday. It was an opportunity for McConnell, Kyl, Boehner and Cantor to gripe and whine about Democratic solutions to the problems that have been caused by Republican dogma and failed Bush era policy. They basically want more of the same. (If you think I'm exaggerating, be sure and check out the Update on this post from the NRCC which boldly claims that "Thanks to Republican economic policies, the U.S. economy is robust and job creation is strong.")

President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning-- but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

The right wing talking point, parroted today by Boehner, is "Government can't solve this problem." It's a tune they never change. The Republican Party does all it can to degrade government-- by purposely driving out and starving out the most talented people-- and replacing them with political hacks (think in terms of that horse groomer Bush had in charge of FEMA when Hurricane Katrina hit; that was not just a bad coincidence). A Republican Party mantra has long been "Personnel is Policy."

In his brilliant new book, The Wrecking Crew-- How Conservatives Rule, Thomas Frank talks about the GOP's "hostility to talent" and how devastating that has been for government.

It is a basic principle of conservatism-- an axiom, a cornerstone, an immutable law of human nature, world history, and all the planets and stars-- that turning over government operations to private business is the most efficient way to get things done. In reality, the conservatives' outsourcing system has been a ripoff of such massive proportions that it deserves a Grace Commission all its own. In each of the Bush administration's great initiatives-- antiterrorism, the recovery from Hurricane Katrina, and the administration of Iraq-- privatized government has played a starring role and has proven itself a gold-plated botch... shielded from oversight and accountability.

...The chief consequence of the conservatives' unrelenting faith in the badness of government is... bad government... When the Chamber of Commerce called for "inefficiency in government" and when Doug Bandow wrote that we ought to "keep the very best people out," they did so because they objected to the meddlesome things government did; keeping government shorthanded and ineffective was explicitly seen as a way to keep government from doing those things. To you it may seem like a bad idea for the USDA to cut way back on food inspectors-- especially in this age of mad cow and toxic spinach [and poisonous peanut butter]-- but it is a wonderful idea when seen from the perspective of the food processors, who can run their assembly lines as if it's the nineteenth century all over again.

And not only are they not held accountable in any way, ever, neither is John Boehner and his gang of Republican thugs or the scummy Blue Dogs who countenance-- for a price-- this attack on American working families.

At least Obama seems to be getting the symbolic things right. I was very happy to see that he reversed another heinous Bush agenda item, the Mexico City policy, signing "an executive order Friday striking down a rule prohibiting U.S. money from funding international family planning groups that promote abortion or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion services."

Obama Slams Bush And GOP In No Uncertain Terms (Really)

I wonder if President Obama will be able to bring Americans along on His Great Big Post-Partisan Adventure. They sure booed Bush when he came out for the inaugural ceremonies yesterday-- or were they booing John Boehner? I guess it doesn't matter. At least all the show throwing ended the day before (see White House photo above). Nor was it just the 1.8 million unwashed masses eager to see Bush for the last time. Even Colin Powell threw a proverbial shoe at the ex-boss who turned his name to mud. On CBS News yesterday he waxed poetic about how American prestige abroad had improved significantly when Obama beat McCain, who the world saw as a stand in for Bush.

...Barack Obama's election to the nation's highest office a "reaffirmation of American principles values that will help us overcome some of the difficulties of recent years with respect to the attitude of the world toward us... I think it has really, really been a remarkable event in terms of getting everybody to stand back and say, look at what we have seen here in America," Powell said. "The America we remember is back again."

And even President Obama, for all the sickening post-partisan mania, took some major slugs at the Bush Regime-- if not Bush personally-- and at the Republican's venal philosophy of governance... in, of all places, his Inaugural. In fact, on a personal level, he was very kind to the universally reviled failed ex-president: "I thank President Bush for his service to our nation as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition," the new president began as politely as his grandma taught him.

Now let me pull a few lines out that tore into the GOP and the 8 years of malfeasance and incompetence that has virtually wrecked the country. In fact, on a personal level, he was very kind to the universally reviled failed ex-president:

Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.

If that doesn't sound like an indictment of Republicanism in general and Bushism in particular, you haven't been paying attention. And this next line wasn't really a slam against Senator McCain as much as it was a slam at Bush and the GOP again: "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." Do you think those lines made Bush, McConnell, Boehner, et al sweat a little? I don't; but they should have. He even turns God against them: "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."


The President talks about the path to greatness and makes it clear it isn't one Bush took and it isn't one Republicans take. "It must be earned... It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame." He talked about an America filled with men and women who "worked till their hands were raw," not exactly something one associates with Republicans, and about Americans who saw our nation "as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction." That's how the Chamber of Commerce fascist scum define the communism they tried pinning on Obama during the election campaign. "[O]ur time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions-- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

I think by then Bush was praying 1.8 million people weren't going to start throwing their shoes at him. And then Obama walloped him and his reactionary and rejected party:

We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its costs. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

Each line must have felt like another shoe bouncing off his skull. So Obama gave him a respite-- and went after the GOP itself (and maybe their Blue Dog allies as well):

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

He slammed Republican theology and their most sacred hysterically-guarded dogma: "[T]his crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous." That line, more than any other is probably what set Hannity off on another of his utterly out of sync, tone deaf tirades today. And then it was back to Bush-- with a vengeance: "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake." (Actually that might have gone right over Bush's head, even if he was paying attention. But I hope it was Eric Holder who was paying attention then anyway and that Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders repeat it to him... quickly.)

There was more than an implied criticism of Bush's approach to foreign policy; it was more like a complete condemnation of its very foundations:

And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.

They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan.

Although this may sound like he's talking to Mitch McConnell, Jim DeMint, John Boehner and Eric Cantor, the context seems to indicate it was meant specifically for foreign fanatics, not domestic ones: "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Although this next bit was a warning shot he clearly wanted Republicans to hear: "And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it." I think Wall Street knew he wanted them to hear too. When he got to the Oval Office he started signing proclamations: "I'm a lefty. Get used to it," which he is, though not in the way we wish he was.

Meanwhile, Bush made a halfhearted stab at defending his disastrous legacy of misery to small crowds in Midland and Waco, Texas after President Obama's stark repudiation. Perhaps not fully cognizant that his wrong-headed policies have left President Obama with the worst economy since the Great Depression, 2 wars, a hostile and distrustful world and a divided nation, Bush blathered on how “I always felt it was important to tackle the tough issues today and not try to pass them on to future presidents, and future generations."

The Whole World Celebrates The Beginning Of Obama's Presidency

I spent most of December in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world. When I first arrived in the capital, Bamako, the only place most Americans would recognize as even remotely part of our world, I was stunned to see American flag decals and Obama stickers everywhere. I mean everywhere. I never saw anything like it. Every taxi, every truck, every bus had some kind of a pro-America or pro-Obama sign. Even more shocking was that when I left Bamako and visited remote parts of the country-- including villages with no electricity and far from roads-- I still found American flags and Obama-Biden bumperstickers!

Across Africa people are accutely aware that it is an African-American who is becoming president of this country today. And I know it is difficult for people who don't travel outside the country to understand this, but for many, if not most, people across the world, the president of the United States really is looked at as the leader of the whole world. In the last 7 years people have been very, very disappointed. And now the world is ready to be inspired by America again. Today's NY Times ran a piece datelined Paris about how the rest of the world looks at the inauguration.

Around the globe, from Hong Kong to London, Barack Obama’s inauguration became a day for millions to fete an event they refused to see as reserved for Americans and insisted was one that touched lives far beyond the United States.

The focus for Americans may well have been defined by the election of the first black president, by the end of the Bush Administration, by the promise of renewal or by the hope for change. But, in specific terms, many outsiders saw the transition as a signal for their own new era, a starting gun for a new manner of international behavior.

...In Paris, a celebration at the ornate Hôtel de Ville on the banks of the River Seine was set to be followed by less formal merriment around the city. The American Library in Paris offered a screening and a debate. British cities including Belfast, Liverpool, Leeds and London, scheduled big-screen viewings of the inauguration.

...In Tottenham, a multiethnic neighborhood of north London, Juliet Alexander, the organizer of an inauguration celebration in an arts center, said the significance of the American election lay in the belief that “he is not just a black president, he is a politically educated man who has touched the imaginations of people all around the world.”

“He represents a movement to people-- and we are happy to celebrate that,” she said in a statement.

Many of the events in Paris and London were organized by groups representing American Democrats living abroad, but, like Mr. Obama’s election campaign, they drew in many others who saw the change of leadership in Washington as bearing directly on their own lives and hopes.

As President Shimon Peres of Israel put it, “Today is a great day not only for the United States of America, but for the entire world.”

“I pray here in Jerusalem that Barack Obama will be a great president of the United States. If he will be a great president of the United States, he will serve all humankind, all nations and all persons,” he said.

Indeed, Israeli forces were pulling out of Gaza on Tuesday, anxious to be out after their war on Hamas by the time the inauguration ceremonies began in Washington.

The political significance was not lost on German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said she hoped the Obama era would be built on a broad international agreement that “no single country can solve the problems of the world,” a hope built in part on the perceived unilateralism and bellicosity of the Bush years from 2000 to 2008.

It's estimated that more people in the U.S., and more people around the world, are watching Obama's inauguration than have ever watched anything on TV... ever! If you've been watching TV-- other than Fox-- you know the whole country has been galvanized by Obama in a way that no one has united the country since FDR first came to power in the midst of the last Great Depression. There is a great sense of history today, unlike anything I can remember. Earlier, we looked at some of the skunks at the party in the media and in the GOP. Even today, Texas reactionary and extremist John Cornyn, was threatening to place a hold on the confirmation of Hillary Clinton as Obama's Secretary of State. I wish President Obama all the best in terms of his post-partisan idealism-- all the best and a good defense against an Inside the Beltway power system where the good will is unlikely to last beyond Friday.


UPDATE: Gingrich Isn't Buying Into Any Post-Partisanship, No Way

When Newt Gingrich was driven from the speakership and Congress in disgrace he went out as one of the most disliked and divisive figures ever. Looks like nothing has changed at all. He's urging his fellow right-wingers to fight President Obama's from Day One. Knowing it isn't a battle they can win, Gingrich is urging rightist senators to make a stink about the nomination of Timothy Geithner.

Some leading Senate Republicans publicly have avoided confrontation of the nomination with the economy in dire straights.

"Now is not the time to think in small political terms," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said recently. "I don't see any desire by the Republican Party to play 'gotcha' on this."
Mr. Graham said he thinks Mr. Geithner is "the right guy" for the job.

But Mr. Gingrich insists that it "would be wrong for someone who did not pay taxes to become secretary of the Treasury in charge of getting taxes from the rest of us. It would be doubly wrong to appoint him in an administration which intends to raise taxes on the rest of us."

I thought not paying taxes was a Republican ideal. Perhaps Mr. Gingrich should make a statement about the $100 billion that is lost annually to the U.S. Treasury by because Republican-sponsored loopholes allow big corporations to use off shore tax havens with no fears of retributions.