And he sings real pretty, too

And...

Big Day in Hyde Park

All of these things happened today:

1. David Axelrod announced that he is creating an Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
2. Team Sassy watched Mayor Emanuel, Rachel Maddow, George Stephanopoulos, David Brooks, and Alex Castellanos have a sit down about the 2012 election.
3. Bridget came very close to crying her way into the event where this all took place.
4. Ilsa enabled Bridget to preserve some of her dignity by (sooprise, sooprise) working her connections at the University (real quote: “You didn’t say your friend was ILSA FLANAGAN.”)

It was a fascinating, and oddly sexually charged, conversation. Here are some random highlights from my perspective:

1. The consensus was that Romney would be the Republican’s candidate and that he is a pretty problematic choice, or as Rachel Maddow put it: “[Romney] is the tallest midget.” Brooks tried to walk his criticism back a little, but it was still pretty clear that the Rs on the panel wished they had a stronger choice. This isn’t to say that they feel that Obama is a shoo-in, more that they’re surprised the Rs couldn’t do better.
2. Alex Castellanos ran Romney’s 2008 campaign, but doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of love for him. Nothing overt, but I wouldn’t say he was campaigning for him at this event. On the other hand, Alex (and other panelists) have very clear disdain for Newt. As Castellanos said in dismissing Newt’s surge in SC, “Every time Newt stands up, he hits his head on the ceiling.”
3. Maddow thinks that the Dem base is “inspirationed out.” She would like to see Obama use the SOTU to outline small clear steps the government can take to improve the economy, etc. Rahm disagreed, saying that is how you govern, but not how you campaign. Castellanos was somewhere in the middle, wanting to get people to be able to see “above the horizon again,” but also acknowledging that the fervor of 2008 was unlikely (“It’s not all that exciting when you lose your virginity the 2^nd time.” Yep. He said that.)
4. On the current political context, Brooks made an interesting point about not having a majority party and a minority party right now, but rather 2 minority parties. He believes that this forces parties to be more entrenched, insular, and unwilling to compromise.
5. I found Brooks to be extremely charming and engaging, but he demolished almost all of the good will I was beginning to feel for him when he said that he would like to see a Nader-Buchanan presidential ticket. Uh, say what again? 
6. Rahm was heckled by protesters shouting about budget cuts and Chicago being a police state. It went on longer than I expected, stretched out by the use of the "human megaphone," and was extremely annoying and/but pretty effective.

Thanks to Ilsa for getting me into the event. Looking forward to her thoughts on the afternoon.

Frustrating Disconnect

A new Pew survey reports that Americans think the divide between rich and poor is the largest source of tension in the country today. Combine that with the fact that the leading GOP contender, Mittens, is himself stinking rich, largely because he ran a cut-throat vulture capitalism fund, openly advocates for huge tax breaks for the wealthy, and says crap like, "it's fine to talk about those things [income inequality] in quiet rooms" and you'd think that Obama would be cruising toward an easy November victory. Yet, Intrade currently gives the Prez a 51% chance of reelection. I trust Barack to run a highly effective campaign and to hammer away at Romney on economics but given the vast differences between their stances I just don't get why he's not already running away with it.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

I'm sure you all saw this already, but President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. Apparently, this came as a shock to the White House, especially since Barack took office only a couple weeks before the eligibility cutoff for this year's award.

The Nobel Committee cited Obama's initiatives to reduce nuclear weapons, to ease tensions with the Muslim world, and to rely more on diplomacy than unilateralism in world affairs. I immediately also thought that they wanted to pressure Barack to stick with his guns--a thought I believed to be uniquely insightful until I saw it all over the Web this morning.

It does make me reflect, though, on America's role in world affairs. The last two sitting presidents to win the award, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, did so because they directly brokered peace talks. Barack has done nothing of the sort and stands poised to intensify the conflict in Afghanistan. But, we are a much more powerful nation than we were in 1906 and 1919. Obviously, those on the Nobel Committee believe that we have a disproportionate impact on world peace because of our overwhelming military strength. Thus, incremental moves towards peace and diplomacy by America have a large impact.

If Barack follows through with his statements in favor of diplomacy and follows through on his efforts to the world's nuclear arsenal he could earn this honor. I really hope he does.

UPDATE: Of course the Repugs are losing their minds over this crying that Obama hasn't done anything to deserve the prize. The Prez answered those criticism well in his remarks.

Obama on Kanye: "He's a Jackass"

This is just awesome. And, I love that people thought it would somehow damage Barack, but that people have just been applauding it.

The Health Care Speech

The President's speech got rave reviews in our household, but then again, Bridget and I are totally in the tank for Barack. In particular, I liked that: he laid out the key provisions that he'd like to see clearly, without being too wonky; he reminded many Repugs that they were for a lot of these provisions before they were against them (I thought McCain's "F-you for reminding the American people about that" smile told a lot); and he all but said that he'd do this without Repug support. Pretty much what I wanted to see.

But, how did it go over with everyone else? CNN posted a promising poll on this. They cite a 14-point rise in support for the plan among those who watched the speech. That's great. I just hope enough people watched.

Of course, the key question remains whether the Dems will be able to get the votes to achieve cloture. Salon has a good summary of some key players' reactions. Sadly, it shows that the Blue Dogs remain noncommital and Olympia Snowe insists she's still against a public option. Even if they get all of the "moderate" Dem senators, without Kennedy's vote, it seems like they have to get at least one GOPer. Snowe seems the likeliest target, and if she's unmoved, there's still a lot to be done.

Sonia Sotomayor

So, what do we know about our latest SCOTUS nominee? I don't have much to add to the e-mail that Seana circulated. We know she'd be the Court's first Latino, it's third woman, and that the Repugs are trying to label her as an intellectual lightweight even though she graduated from Princeton summa cum laude and was an editor on the prestigious Yale Law Review.

From what I've read, she's pretty direct in her opinions, generally writing about law and precedent rather than lofty ideals. However, we'll likely only hear about one of her decisions: Ricci v. DeStefano, in which she and her colleagues upheld a decision to invalidate a promotion exam on which minority firefighters scored disproportionately low. That's the one Limbaugh's pointing to when he calls her a "reverse racist." It could also be overturned by the SCOTUS soon, which would be awkward (granted, Alito also had a big lower court decision overturned). Anyhow, Slate's Emily Bazelon has an interesting analysis of the Ricci case.

For those who want more information on her, Slate has a number of features here and SCOTUSBlog has a series analyzing her decisions: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Larry O'Donnell on Cheney

I've been a poor blogger lately, but this series of clips from TPM has me back in action. Watch MSNBC's Larry O'Donnell go off about Cheney's demagoguery at AEI today:



Meanwhile, I've heard pretty good things about Barack's speech. Hopefully, he will get the Congressional Dems in line and actually close Gitmo.

Exceptional

From the Washington Monthly: In Europe, Barack was asked if he "subscribe[d]...to the school of American exceptionalism." His response:

I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I'm enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. If you think about the site of this summit and what it means, I don't think America should be embarrassed to see evidence of the sacrifices of our troops, the enormous amount of resources that were put into Europe postwar, and our leadership in crafting an Alliance that ultimately led to the unification of Europe. We should take great pride in that.

And if you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.

Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.

And so I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we create partnerships because we can't solve these problems alone.

I can't express how much I love that answer.

Barack Beats Reagan

Fox News has a poll out this morning that offers yet more fascinating results. In Washington Monthly's summary, they highlight this question and answer:

Q: What do you think the nation's economy needs more of right now -- the economic policies of Ronald Reagan or the economic policies of Barack Obama?"

A: Obama 49%, Reagan 40%

Wow. Is it too early to re-name National Airport?

They also highlight another interesting question, "Do you think asking the wealthiest Americans to pay more in taxes is a good idea because it levels the economic and social playing field, or a bad idea because it punishes work and success?" 55% of those polled thought it would be best to raise taxes on the wealthy. But, by all means, GOP, please keep arguing this point.

Friday Update

I'm in a blogging mood today, so here are a couple interesting items from the news (i.e., liberal blogs) today.

First, I'd like to point out that we Sassy writers were once again ahead of the mainstream. The bloggers are discussing an article from the Guardian UK which argues that when Barack openly reached out to Congressional Repugs he was really reaching out to the country. Duh! Nice of you to join us, mainstream. We've been saying for days that Barack's main victory was political. This is supported by two recent polls: 1) an AP poll showed that 62% of the public think the Prez is doing enough to reach out to Repugs, while only 27% feel that the GOP is doing enough to reach across the aisle, and 2) a Fox poll showed that 66% of the public think Barack is doing enough, while only 33% said the same about the Repugs. That's called political capital.

Second, there was a slight hint of optimism in Krugman's column today. Yes, he still warns that the economic slowdown could be long, but he concedes that Barack's trying to do right. Money quote: "Let’s be clear: the Obama administration’s policy initiatives will help in this difficult period — especially if the administration bites the bullet and takes over weak banks." That counts as high praise from our favorite economic Chicken Little.

Finally, an amusing tidbit. Richard Perle was almost laughed off the stage yesterday when he tried to claim that there's no such thing as neoconservatism. He even tried to say that when he talks about regime change, he's not talking about the military. Jackass.

Obama: D.C. Needs "Toughness"

The Prez is bringing a little bit of Chitown to the District. He teased the press today about how wimpy the D.C. area is when it snows. Love it.

Late Morning Update

Obviously, the struggling economy continues to dominate the news, as yesterday saw a staggering number of layoffs. However, the CBO yesterday did release a report indicating that President Obama's stimulus plan will help the economy. Even Krugman's onboard, with qualifications.

Of course, the GOP is being ridiculous in their efforts to block stimulus spending and other moves by Barack. The latest from the Washington Monthly is that Boehner asked the House GOP to vote against the package. Barack's trying to be bipartisan, but the GOP isn't having it.

The Repugs are also doing their best to keep Gitmo from closing. They're actively working to block moving the inmates to prisons in the U.S. They're busily working to scare the public that the prisoners will be "in their backyards" rather than locked up in the beastly Supermax prisons to which we send our "worst" criminals (including other terrorists such as the Unabomber and Ramzi Yousef, the architect of the 1993 WTC bombing). And, the Repugs "fear" that moving the inmates to U.S. prisons will make those prisons potential terrorist targets. Honestly.

There is happy news, though. The Prez directed the EPA to allow CA and other states to set their own emissions standards. And, Rep. Conyers issued a new supoena for Karl Rove. Now, Barack's people will be giving the word whether Rove is protected by executive priviledge.

More Great News from Washington

Two great items today:

1. President Barack (I can't get enough of saying/writing that) will be issuing an EO ending the Bush policy of refusing to support international groups that support or perform abortions. This will allow us to fund many groups doing key family planning work around the world.
2. The Senate approved the Lilly Ledbetter Act to make it easier for women who think they've faced pay discrimination to seek legal help. The House has to make some small changes to the version they passed and then it will become law.

Seriously, change has already come to Washington.

Tuesday Update

Today Barack's really warming my bleeding liberal heart. First, I saw that he's invited an openly gay Episcopal bishop to say a prayer at a pre-Inauguration event on Sunday. Earlier, he tapped a female Evangelical pastor to lead the National Day of Prayer the day after the Inauguration. This makes me feel better about the fact that Rick Warren will be doing the invocation at the Inauguration proper. I'm hoping that Warren's a part of his message of bringing a divided populace back together, while the other two pastors reveal his commitment to pushing the progressive agenda. I'm still a little uncomfortable with all this official sanctioned prayer, though.

Second, there's tons in the news about Barack trying to right some of Bush's worst wrongs. The NYT leads with a story about how he'll release an EO on his first day calling for the closing of Guantanamo. The same story talks about how the new administration plans to immediately halt the military commission system. And, the WSJ includes a line in their story about Guantanamo saying that Barack will also soon issue an EO about interrogation methods. Good stuff all-around.

In administration news, both HRC and that physicist tapped for Energy, Steven Chu, have their confirmation hearings today.

Morning Roundup

It's been a while, but we're back at it today with a morning roundup.

Of course, the big news in the world continues to be the fighting in Gaza. CNN's reporting a break in the fighting to allow in relief supplies and notes that the death toll is just about 900. I'm just not sure what exactly Israel is going to accomplish. The last time they tried an invasion, Hezbollah came out battered but stronger.

Speaking of Israel, the NYT featured a story yesterday about how the U.S. had denied support for an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Apparently, we've got some covert (well, they were covert) efforts in the works.

WaPo says today that Bush's term made up the worst 8-year stretch for the economy in decades. Any gains were because of unstable bubbles, which meant that the economy really was in rough shape even before the housing/banking collapse. 8 more days, people.

As for our boy, Barack, he's using pretty wishy-washy language on whether he'll investigate W.'s most aggregious moves, torture and wire-tapping. But, he did say that prosecutions will proceed if DOJ finds evidence that laws were broken. I read that to mean that the whole W. Administration will skate.

Of course, Barack's chief concern is the economy. To that end, Krugman offers some bits of advice today.

Finally, for those of us who like to try to see the Oscar-nominated movies and performances each year, the Golden Globes basically let us know that we need to see: Slumdog Millionaire; Revolutionary Road; and maybe the Wrestler.

Lunchtime Roundup

Back to the grindstone for a couple days. While celebrating the holiday, I completely missed the development of the horrific violence going on in Southern Israel and Gaza. Short of ceasing all arms dealing with Israel, which we would never do, I'm not sure the U.S. can do anything to halt the bloodshed. For what it's worth, W. blames Hamas, and while Barack has been pretty silent on the matter, he's also been critical of Hamas in the past. No one can deny that a country facing rocket attacks has to do something, but this full-scale invasion is sickening.

The biggest domestic story on the blogs I read is how W. let industries essentially run OSHA. We've got less than a month of him, people.

Nothing much new on the Blago stand-off, but the Gov is trying to use the report by Barack's team to show that he, too, is clean.

Finally, there are some concerns floating around about some poor moves by Barack. First, there's the whole Rick Warren thing, about which, my feelings are clear. Second, Paul Krugman mentioned last week that while there's nothing really wrong with the Obamas renting a posh Hawaiian house for their vacation, it does strike an odd note during a financial meltdown. Now, Lynn Sweet is miffed about his closed transition meetings. He's still wildly popular, but things can change fast. Hopefully, he'll get his groove back starting Jan. 20.

Morning Roundup

My apologies to all Sassy readers and writers who've been enjoying the Barack pic, but here are some quick news tidbits from the last couple days.

In yet another way that Barack's election is changing the world for the better, European countries are showing more willingness to accept Guantanamo prisoners to help Barack close that horrible blight.

In other Barack news, he'll be swearing on the same Bible as Lincoln did at the inauguration. I find that cool, but the Washington Monthly's expecting two negative reactions: 1) the nerve of him using Lincoln's Bible! and 2) what, no Koran?

I suppose this shouldn't be surprising, but conservative radio hosts and folks like Rove are arguing that the economy's not all that bad, but the liberal media is saying it is to help out Barack. It must be nice to not have to worry about actual truth when writing/reporting.

New Census data is out with implications for Congress and Electoral votes. Interesting tidbit: for the first time since the early 1970s, Florida lost population. I, for one, am happy anytime Florida loses a little influence.

For those of you traveling today, be safe and have a great holiday!

Weekend Roundup

I am SO looking forward to this election:

Sen. Joseph Lieberman appears to be paying a high price for his embrace of Sen. John McCain in the presidential race. This is the highest disapproval rating in any Quinnipiac University poll in any state for a sitting U.S. Senator - except for New Jersey's Robert Torricelli, just before he resigned in 2002. Among those who say they voted for Sen. Lieberman in 2006, 30 percent now say they would vote for someone else if they could.

Nate is predicting a Franken lead at the end of the day. Oh Nate, whatever happened to us?

Andrew Sullivan makes the case for Rick Warren and moral legitimacy. I have to say, it's persuasive. It does make me think that we need to reconsider our knee-jerk reactions as Democrats and start to develop a new paradigm for governing and good citizenship.

I don't have a strong opinion yet about Caroline Kennedy except on the personal level I really like her. But I do have a problem with political dynasties and the established party system. Barack almost didn't make it to the Illinois Senate because of cronyism and all that sh**. However, she is a true progessive and that makes me happy.

Finally, I'm really not sure what to say about the auto bailout, BofA layoffs, California's budget disaster, Madoff's house of cards, or that our new Veep thinks the economy is "tanking". I'm just going to ignore this nightmare and enjoy the holidays. Luckily, our current president keeps opening his big, stupid mouth and reminding all of us, on his way out, how grateful we should be for our new President--concern about Cabinet picks aside.

Can you imagine Barack saying that being president made him sleepy?:

In the interview, Bush said he did not regret his wartime decisions.

"I was a wartime President and war is very exhausting. War is hard for a country. And, you know, I made the decision that we were going to win.

Morning Roundup

The shoe throwing incident has me conflicted. For one, it's an embarassment to W., which I support. At the same time, I have to admit that he handled the whole thing very well. But, I'm also disturbed that the POTUS was basically assaulted. That's just not good.

But, I'm back to being outraged at W. after reading that the Bushies quietly rewrote the bailout bill to pretty much strip out the executive compensation limits.

While on the topic of W.'s awfulness, Newsweek has an article about an intelligence employee who leaked the NSA wiretaps to the NYT. Naturally, he's being tormented by the Feds for being a whislte-blower.

In news of other Repugnancy, Rove is trying to make the fight against Eric Holder a rallying point for the GOP. He hasn't been successful at much lately, though.

Going from the nefarious to the ridiculous, in an article about Blago, the NYT notes that he refers to his favorite comb as "The Football," as in the briefcase that contains nuclear launch codes.

On a promising note, Obama's defense folks are talking the talk about trying to cut back on the Pentagon's largesse. We'll see if it actually happens.

In more Obama news, he's planning an honest to goodness whistle-stop tour before the Inauguration. Cool.

Finally, some great news: the members of the Electoral College will be meeting in state capitols today to officially elect Barack!