His learning curve may be longer than the orbit of Neptune, but still.
On Thursday, Mr Obama defended his decision to criticise Republicans, sometimes by name.
“I think it’s fair to say that I have gone out of my way in every instance - sometimes at my own political peril and to the frustration of [...] Read more »

Via Atrios:
Assholes Timmeh And Larreh.
In the fall of 2008, Democrats saw a good opportunity to pass cramdown. The $700 billion TARP legislation was being considered, and lawmakers thought that with banks getting bailed out, the bill would be an ideal vehicle for also helping homeowners. But Obama, weeks away from his [...] Read more »

Markos has a post up entitled “McConnell handled ‘bipartisanship’ correctly“. It starts with a quote from Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority leader:
“We worked very hard to keep our fingerprints off [legislation advanced by Democrats],” McConnell says. “Because we thought — correctly, I think — that the only way the American people would know [...] Read more »

Maddow on Obama: He’s the inverse of Ghandi.

Rachel, have I told you lately that I love you? Read more »

President Obama

You are a loser.

Loser loser loser.
You may not get the message, but…you’ll still be a loser. Read more »

The BBC reports:
The United States is abandoning efforts to persuade Israel to renew a freeze on settlement-building as part of efforts to revive Middle East peace talks.
Yeah, why not? Despite the complexities of how and in what degree this is a classic loser move by Obama, I’m far more tempted to just jeer and hoot [...] Read more »

During the 2008 election I supported Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. I felt then, as I do now, that Clinton would have been a rot in the White House and in her leadership of the Democratic Party. I am now convinced that Obama is worse. Oh. My. God. This is SO painful to live through. Read more »

I’m conflicted. I want to be healthy, but I also really like fast food. Sometimes I’m good, and I can resists the Arby’s down the street. But sometimes…
How can you tell what someone really really wants? Of course it would all be easier if we had psychic powers or a crystal ball, but sometimes a [...] Read more »

Mike Lux’s latest posting on OpenLeft asks whether progressives will have the wisdom to engage with President Obama if and when the opportunity presents itself:
So is it all nirvana? Is Obama turning into Bernie Sanders? Of course not. But if the Obama White House starts a concerted effort to reach out to progressives, and appoints [...] Read more »

I really REALLY enjoyed this dismantling of Obama’s speech explaining his “surge” in Afghanistan. Click the link fo the dismantling; here’s Obama’s explanation why Afghanistan is different than Vietnam:
First, there are those who suggest that Afghanistan is another Vietnam. They argue that it cannot be stabilized, and we are better off cutting our losses and [...] Read more »

Hopefully he learns from his mistakes.
President Obama deserves much of the blame for the sad turn the stimulus debate has taken. His negotiating strategy was deeply flawed, as debcoop and Theda Skocpol have explained. He should have started the debate on the stimulus with a much higher dollar number and a clear statement that he [...] Read more »

Pretty well-done:

Dear President-elect Obama:
 
I know this is a bit awkward, you being black and me being white, but I feel compelled to point out that there’s a slight problem with your logic here.  You see, the whole “fierce advocate for equality” thing doesn’t really square with being opposed to gay marriage.  Because you can’t [...] Read more »

After watching last night’s debate, I just have to point out how well-spent all that “clean coal” public relations money was. They must be laughing themselves silly. For all the talk from Obama and McCain of “clean coal” technology, and how important it is, it doesn’t actually exist - it’s just an idea, made up [...] Read more »

Is this an underhanded ad? Of course it is. I imagine that even McCain supporters might be embarrassed by it - particularly if they know that the purpose of the bill in question wasn’t to teach kindergarteners about sex, but instead how to avoid sexual predators.
But getting mad at McCain about it seems to me [...] Read more »