There are three things we can safely predict regarding President Obama and Osama bin laden starting on January 21, 2009:

1. Every single Conservative who declared his/her absolute moral conviction that Osama bin Laden was dead will instantly declare that he is alive and want to know why he has not been captured.

2. Conservatives who declared that it was "good enough" that Osama bin laden was "on the run" and "hiding in caves" will find that totally inadequate. (I'm talking about you, Tucker Carlson).

3. NeoCons who declared that capturing Osama was "not that important" will decide that capturing him is the most vital link in the world to ending the War on Terror. (And here we are talking about George W. Bush himself).

There is a fourth prediction, but this is a slightly longer shot. That prediction is that FoxNews will suddenly, on January 21, 2009, start a counter on "number of days free' on Osama bin laden during the Administration of president Obama. The counting may be from January 21, 2009 or from September 11, 2001, depending on which one Roger Ailes believes will assist in electing a Republican Congress in 2010 and Republican president in 2012 the most.

Of course if these ploys actually work and a Republican is inaugurated in January 2013 (and Osama bin Laden is still free), all Conservatives will instantly revert to their Bush Administration position.

Watch and see.

belltunes...

Re: "My brother who is a Colonel in the Air Force believes Osama is dead and has been dead for awhile. Can we quit beating this dead horse?"

Since he is a Colonel, and likely rose to that rank during the Bush years, that makes it 99.99% certain he is a Republican.

Will he still "believe" that bin Laden is dead on January 21, 2009? Or, like 100% of all other Republicans will he suddenly decide that Osama is alive and that President Obama's "failure" to capture bin Laden ("Dead or Alive") is a major failure of his administration?

I repeat my assertion:

On January 21, 2009 100% of the Conservatives who are morally convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead, or if he is alive, not worth the chasing, will perform a 180 degree pirouette and declare that they know for a fact that bin Laden is alive and well (their cousin who is a Major in the Special Forces told them) and “why hasn’t President Obama kept his promise to capture bin Laden, “Dead or Alive” yet?”

And, watching the Conservatives here, I am even more certain that one of the FoxNews commentators, Rush Limbaugh, or some other Republican outlet will begin a counter of the “Days Osama bin Laden has been free” as part of their daily performance.

Any takers on my bet?

The Auto bailout vote will take place this week. Republicans will fillibuster it down the line (perhaps had Michigan voted for McCain that might have been different). The Bush Administration insists that the bailout of the auto industry is DIFFERENT from the one for automobiles (Correct, most of the auto workers who will lose thier jobs are Unionized Democrats, most stockbrokers are Republicans).

We will see what Senator Joe does. If he does not side with the Democrats, I'm all for stripping him of his chair right now and getting it over with. Since the Republicans have the votes, Mr. Lieberman's vote is purely symbolic. If he sticks his finger in the Democrats' eye over this, then we know what will happen later on.