If nothing else were to change, we finally will have a leader in the White House who can string together two sentences and who will not pretend that he is speaking to third graders:

"We’ll need to bring together the best minds in America to guide us – and that is what I’ve sought to do in assembling my economic team," Obama said. "I’ve sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold new ideas..."

I'm sorry, but I just drink this stuff up. It is like an opiate. Sure, while he is organizing his team and preparing to lead the free world, the message is general and not specific. This guy is not some spoiled rich kid whose father had to keep bailing out for forty years. This is a community organizer (one of the big jokes at the Republican convention). A man who understands organization and community.

One recent Nielson-type poll noted that whenever W was on TV, 2/3 of the viewing public changed channels. I was one of them.

It took W eight failing years to get us to this point. I am going to give the new guy on the block some time. And I am certainly going to look forward to hearing what he says.

Joan's got it right. Ari's like a vampire. You cannot kill him and his crew will always be with us, like spam. It's his incessant smile/sneer that gives me heartburn every time he hits cable.

Wasn't one of the first treaties signed by George Washington with pirates off of the Barbary Coast? Maybe diplomacy with pirates is not as dumb as it sounds. Meanwhile, I think we built Blackwater with hundreds of millions of dollars of our tax money. Now its an army with no national allegiance. Isn't a team of pirates an army/navy with no national allegiance?

At least we do not have to wait til March, thanks to FDR who could afford to give up 6 weeks anyway--of course he was kind enough to die in office so it did not make any difference to him.

It took a long time to count votes two hundred years ago when the time between elections and inaugurations was established. But since we still do not know what is going on in the Minnesota Senate Race, we really have not solved that problem yet. But we find a better reason for the length of the transition period. Obama needs this time. He has demonstrated (I should say his team has demonstrated) a thoughtful and careful approach to putting together a New Administration. This approach has taken into consideration the actual economic situation, the actual foreign relations situation, the actual national security situation etc., etc. etc. In short, gathering the facts in order to make some initial determinations as to what courses must be taken for the next four years. And he needs time to approach potential nominees and get some feedback. And don't forget the importance of "vetting". This approach has produced real benefits. Many Republicans have praised at least some of the nominations, and Independents like David Gergin are impressed with almost all of Obama's choices.

This wait does give W free reign to pardon felons, produce executive legislation per presidential orders and begin his musings about what a good job he's done while still in office.

But it was we, the electorate, who gave W a second term. It was our stupidity that made him Chief Executive from January 2005 until January, 2009. And we will live with this choice for another 7 weeks or so.

Good for Glenn. Nice, crisp research tidbit. Which way is the wind blowing? You know I remember thinking about the movie Independence Day and Karl Rove at the same time. That was exactly the picture that Karl was painting. Many of the viewing public did not realize that the carrier was right off the California Coast. As far as a lot of people knew, W had just flown a fighter into the face of death somewhere over Bagdad and wiped out Sadaam himself.

Reporters are not that stupid. Most of them know when propaganda is being thrown at the public like monkeys throw their feces at the zoo. What will play in Peoria and how can I look good on camera playing off the public's feeling?

I would have had more respect for Klein in this matter if he had claimed that between the time of the carrier debacle and now he had found Jesus and seen the errors of his ways.

It is fun when a little bit of research discloses a truth. Discloses hypocrisy. Stewart has done it many times over the last eight years.

Keep up the good work.

I am also grateful and I am glad you included Biden. I was watching another forum on C-SPAN where the discussion was centered around Media Bias--you know the subject that always comes up when Republicans lose.

Everybody dumped on Biden with their noses in the air. He's a fool, he's irrelevant, the Media let him off the hook.

Senator Biden forgot more about domestic and foreign issues that concern this country than all the people combined at that forum will ever learn.

On this crisis in India, if I was the President-Elect, the first person I would speak to about it would be Senator Biden.

My second call would be to Senator Clinton.

You are the first journalist to recognize the value of Senator Biden. At least in the last few months.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow. Ole Glenn knows how to wake everybody up. I was asleep for a couple of years. No wonder Chavez despises us. Nixon and Kissinger all over again and somehow I missed it. Even the responses are worth reading. I do not know how you do it, but for heaven's sake, don't stop.We need the NYT, but it needs to be called to account from time to time. I thought Judy Miller was bad.