...and THAT has already led to a recovery package that is deeply flawed. (a third of the economic plan, which is not big enough to begin with, is tax cuts? are you kidding?)

the best face that can be put on this kowtowing to repugs is that it will be shown they are purely obstructionist, first last and forever, when out of power. so eventually obama can move away from them, shrugging his shoulders and saying, we tried. you can't work with these people.

BUT, and this is a big but, precious time is being wasted here -- he and the dems have a window to truly effect a progressive agenda, and they're throwing it away. they should have had a stimulus package in place ALREADY, for signing in the first two or three days of the administration. by the time they wake up and see nothing's changed for the repugs, and that they'll have to go it alone (and be the stronger for it) that window will have long since closed.

The standard measure is 100 days; i'd say obama, to make a true imprint, needs to have major programs presented to congress by mid-march, tops. otherwise, he'll merely be a caretaker, subverted by a minority party that will then turn around and say, you see? another incompetent, like jimmy carter.

...and particularly someone like daschle, who had always carried himself as a reasonable man in unreasonable times. (whhich is why, in the end, he was so ineffective.)

daschle will get in -- he's too tight with obama not to -- but don't think for a minute that, while they're vastly more culpable over all in such sleazy behavior, the republicans won't use this. they'll be shocked, shocked, etc.

and once again the mighty wurlitzer will wheeze forth, and this will be the "scandal of the day, tarnishing obama's record," blah blah blah. meanwhile, the true issues -- the stimulus program, health care, iraq, torture -- get put off, subverted, co-opted, forgotten.

...let's not forget the character of those chosen to cover the white house. the most famous reminiscence, of course, is that of elisabeth bumiller, she of the new york times.

"I think we were very deferential because ... it's live, it's very intense, it's frightening to stand up there. Think about it, you're standing up on prime-time live TV asking the president of the United States a question when the country's about to go to war. There was a very serious, somber tone that evening, and no one wanted to get into an argument with the president at this very serious time."

such sturdy folk.

...the same sources repeatedly (which might account for the reportorial abuse of extending anonymity to sources, but that's another topic). it not only makes a paper seem disproportionately reliant on a handful of quote manufacturers, it suggests that the reporters aren't out there meeting enough people who can speak on a given subject.

seems like mr. mccarthy has clearly been passed around the staff a bit too often, unless he is NOT, say, representative of a class of conservative former prosecutors who are now columnists. nyt editors ought to take note, and exclude him from their pages for a good long while. and then he could feel victimized all over again. a win-win.

....oh crap, i can't even finish the line. this was exactly what was expected, indeed, it was what was sought. and the BEST face you could put on the passage of this piece of garbage "law" last year was that dems caved merely because of their election-season concerns.

let's get real: the dems are now as complicit if not more so than the reps on the evisceration of our civil liberties, starting with the 4th amendment. (and obama really is no better than a 21st century clinton, formerly known as the best republican president of my lifetime.) the executive will not yield in its accrual of power, which is now essentially unchecked by either the legislative or judicial branches. and the folks running the government are hostage to the military-intelligence complex (sic).

o brave new world of vanishing rights and protections. i'm not sure this was ever as great a country as we remember, but even that pretense is gone.

...by hewing to the conventional village wisdom about no investigation/no prosecution even as he releases to the planet the contents of these damning memos.

he can say to the washington establishment, hey i'm with you on this, but he's putting out the information that will be gathered and cited by those who want those investigations and prosecutions.

effectively, it seems as though he is sidestepping history, saying i'm not going to have my administration founder on this point of principle, but if there's enough interest in an investigation, you folks who want one have got a lot more ammunition to conduct one.

he is not using his power or bully pulpit to foster the next steps, but he is a facilitator nonetheless. i actually feel better about him today than i did yesterday, when i assumed these memos wouldn't be released or if they were, it would be in abridged or redacted versions.

it almost lends credence to those who say, just wait until he's safely been re-elected: that second term will really be something.

...than the bleatings and lowings of the village commentariat in retreat.

the sense of these last few days seems that, while it's not there yet, the capital is reaching a tipping point on the whole issue of torture investigations, having gone from unthinkable to eventual.

the next step will be making it inevitable, and the step after that, insuring that it's not some weak-ass whitewash commission.

this is why we must continue to apply the pressure and extend the education of the public -- because the chattering classes will be doing everything they can NOT to. way to go, glenn!