Keeping his enemies close, my friend.

Na, just sleazy business as usual.

I recommend driftglass be read and considered.

I went to his site at change.gov and registered my displeasure. About Hillary too. I urge everyone to flood the box with our complaints.

It's sad to rediscover that our present crop of Democrats consists of nothing but cowards and enablers. Sadly, Obama is one of them. From Pelosi's "impeachment is off the table" to the fact that, in mere minutes, the caucus is going to let Holy Joe Lieberman keep his chairmanship and seniority, the Democratic way is to cave in to any and all requests from the right. Since holding Bush and his cronies accountable for their innumerable crimes against humanity might hurt the feelings of Republicans, well, we can't have that, can we?

Besides: I'm sure that we'll see a return to the rule of law the instant Lieberman decides to actually use the government oversight powers of his committee to investigate the Obama administration. That should begin right about Feb. 1. I wonder what Harry Reid will do then? Probably adopt his own variation on the new American motto:

Nobody could have anticipated that Lieberman, after having campaigned for the Republican presidential candidate, after having campaigned for Republican senatorial candidates, after having spent the last eight years getting cozy with Bush and a whole coterie of right-wing extremists, would use his committee to launch an endless stream of partisan witch-hunts against Obama.

Well, it's official now. Lieberman keeps his committee chair.

I'm sure Reid will be outraged when Joe starts his oversight hearings come February. Why, Harry might even be forced to write a letter politely asking Joe about his intentions.

The Democratic Party is worse than disorganized: It is intent on proving itself to be completely spineless and utterly gullible. So sad!

I'm kind of with Mahakal and driftglass on this one. Every time I thought Obama should do something and he didn't, he turned out to be right. I am being forced reluctantly to the conclusion that he knows more about politics than I do.

The only question worth asking about a politician put at the head of a fundamentally corrupt system by an ignorant electorate is not what he says or even what he does, but what he would do if he had absolute power. The best we can hope for is a president whose druthers tend toward the Golden Rule. Around the edges, on the close decisions, he will once in a while do the right thing, or as much of it as is possible. Further deponent expecteth not.

Robert Reich said, some years back, that the public debate moves to the right because the Republicans stay put and the Democrats keep meeting them half-way. That's the spirit of compromise. Which explains the wars, the financial collapse, the end of the American empire, the lack of health care, the precipitous decline in educational standards, torture, the failure to rebuild New Orleans, and the refusal to say or do anything that might tend to enforce the laws and the Constitution.

I wish I'd voted for Nader.

What Jerry said. Barack Obama has political instincts that are better than mine too. Which is as it should be, since he's the president-elect and I'm not.