We tried, seems Washington is too tough. After 2 years of proclaiming how important it was to move past the divisiveness that divides us, Obama supporters have now discovered that Republicans are more intransigent than they believed, and have decided to move on to the next step, post-post-partisanship, otherwise known as, "I Give Up". Well, the first 150 hours of the Presidency is the toughest - it had to happen sometime.
A new meme is now going through TPM, if not the rest of the Internets - Obama as chess-master if not kick boxer or Ninja warrior, who suckered the Republicans into looking partisan by compromising with them and then getting zero support. Of course if the Republicans trounce the Dems in 2010 as they did in 1994 by playing on a lame bailout bill they courageously refused to support, we might have to identify 1 or 2 chess-masters on the other side.
And well, the Democrats have had a fun week, arguing that a CBO report that exists doesn't actually exist, defending contraception as "stimulus" (it's actually anti-stimulus, folks, like wearing a French raincoat if you know what I mean), cheering the removal of the international gag rule on abortion while forgetting it still exists at home, feeling our oats with the passage of a stimulus that involves mostly tax cuts and sops to special interests and not too much that feels like it'll kick start the economy within the next 4 years. (Uh, education? Fast spending? Back to construction projects? State money not delivered until end of 2009?). Cram-downs unsurprisingly got eliminated (DC to homeowners: we really like to watch you suffer.) Business tax cuts unsurprisingly rule the day. (DC to business leaders: we got your back, keep those taxpayer-subsidized donations coming). And where's that IT infrastructure money?
And about those TV talk shows - now that the Democrats control all the houses and such, is it too much to get some coaching before they go out and make asses of themselves and forget crucial details in arguing against blatant falsehoods? Admire them as you like, Barney Franks and Paul Krugman don't constitute an anti-disinformation media team by themselves.
The real winner, the chess master in all of this, is unsurprising. Hillary. Foreign policy? Hard to lose there, not part of the bailout, no embarrassing votes, just the relatively easy job of getting entrenched foreign despot dictators to like us, vs. the impossible task of getting Republicans to like us. If Bosnia was a gaffe, what would "a change to business-as-usual in Washington" be? And while frequently foreign ministers end up better liked abroad than at home, that still serves what's a more likely outcome for her - Secretary General of the UN, rather than President. But in any case, I think I can safely predict that the Clinton brand will be in better shape in 2012 than it is today, something I'd hate to wager for anyone else at this point (okay, it might be when Al Franken gets seated, so make him #2). Alright, will wait until end of February before more optimistic pronouncements, such as how Iranians and North Koreans respond to Hillary love-letters.
So keep on compromising, folks - those Republicans will come around, just as you promised. One day, some day. Maybe they just need another tax cut and a faith-based initiative. Oh yes, Obama just appointed a new outreach minister for faith. Would be nice if he appointed one of those for progressives and stopped kicking sand in Howard Dean's face. Guess I've always been a dreamer. What about this week's victories?
As Dissenting Justice notes, more back to the future, almost all the way to the status quo of the 90's.
That's it, my most audacious optimistic take, Queen to Bishops 4, another below-the-belt play. I've always liked
unorthodox openings, and
here's my favorite odd entry. Your move.
