Obama's whole MO, from the primaries till now, has been to work against the grain of the 24-hour news cycle. Nothing has changed, at least procedurally, yet everyone who was cool (now, in retrospect) with that strategy is suddenly not cool with the very same approach. At one level, I get it: it's time for my guy to deliver, and he damn sure better deliver like I want him to--yesterday would not be too soon, either. But: this--the way Obama works--is also what we signed up for by becoming supporters.

"Deliberate haste," he called it in his press conference last week. Yessir. Especially that "deliberate" part. And, given that TNR post--and, for that matter, Obama's own list of first priorities for his administration--health care won't be an afterthought. So, y'all chill already. He's got this.

Romney? They seem to like pretty faces over there in GOP land.

Who knows how much weight smarter conservative thinkers carry in the party these days; but if they carry much, they've already pretty much field-dressed Palin before this campaign has ended (and, by inference, McCain and whoever else thought she should be the Veep nominee). Republicans have a long memory and don't forgive easily; four years of penance for her and her advocates is unlikely to be enough to atone for this horrible campaign.