Praying for a Civil War...

Since I don't pretend to be non-partisan, I'll readily cop to loving the heck all those stories about the Republicans going at each other's throats.

But I'm starting to get the distinct feeling that some in the News Media also want a war between the Obama and the left-wing of the Democratic Party.

Look at some of the news stories that have cropped up in the last 24-48 Hours:


Huffington Post: Obama Considering The 'Original Lieberman' For Post?

The Hill reports that President-elect Obama is "considering Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) for the USDA post. His transition team declined to comment on Cabinet speculation."

The news of Rep. Peterson's consideration has some Democratic activists up in arms. A DailyKos post titled "Who was Lieberman before Lieberman was Lieberman?" notes that Peterson has often been a thorn in the side of House Democrats, much like Joe Lieberman in the Senate.

Up in arms?  Really?  Over the USDA?

Maybe putting the "original Lieberman" at USDA is a great way to get him out of the House.

Murdoch St. Journal: Longtime Crisis Manager Pleases Wall Street, Mystifies Some Democrats

At a time of crisis unmatched since the Great Depression, President-elect Barack Obama has put his faith in one of the world's most experienced financial crisis managers -- a man popular with the Wall Street leaders he's consulted with closely over the years, but a mystery to many traditional Democratic constituencies.

"He is a great choice," said Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Thain, who was considered a candidate for Treasury secretary if Republican Sen. John McCain had been elected. "This will be one of the most important jobs in the new administration as we get through this crisis, and Tim understands markets and policies better than almost anyone."

But Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, said recently: "I always worry about somebody who has spent his whole life at the Federal Reserve....I just don't know him."

Never known Murdoch's papers to have an agenda or anything...

If Andy Stern was saying this about the nominee for Labor Secretary, it'd be an actual story. 

New York Magazine: MoveOn Meeting On The Upper West Side Gets Heated

At some 1,200 locations around the country last night, members of MoveOn.org gathered to celebrate Barack Obama's presidential victory and plan their new political strategy as part of a celebration called "Fired Up and Ready to Go!" Our man Tim Murphy attended a meeting on the Upper West Side populated by veteran activists and the younger types inspired by Obama to join the process. So can these two generations agree on an agenda? Not so much! "It was like a co-op tenants' meeting," said one attendee. "Everybody wants to hear themselves talk." Watch the video and get fired up.

Really, you want to go here? Really?  Now we're supposed to be concerned about the elites??

Huffington Post: Kinsley Warns Of Coming Blogopocalypse

But many readers may be reaching the point with blogs and websites that I reached long ago with the Sunday New York Times Magazine--actively hoping there isn't anything interesting in there because then I'll have to take the time to read it.

When you need column inches to fill, why not yet another story about the schism between the Traditional Mainstream Media and the Blogosphere.

Anyone noticing yet how many of these stories link back to the Huffington Post?  No one's ever accused them of being right wing, yet here they are fanning the flames of B.S. stories.

Here's a twofer.  A Huffington Post article called Dem Foreign Policy Experts Fear Clinton Team, really leads to a Washington Independent story called: Will Clinton Fill State Dept. With Loyalists?

The dispute is only partly ideological in nature. While the coterie of foreign-policy thinkers around Obama have been more liberal, in an aggregate sense — on issues like Iraq and negotiations with America’s adversaries — the Obama loyalists question the boldness of the Clintonites. They fear that Obama’s apparent embrace of Clinton represents an acquiescence to the conventional Democratic foreign-policy approaches that they once derided as courting disaster. Some wonder whether a Clinton-run State Dept. will hire progressive Obama partisans after an acrimonious primary.

Ummm, Barack Obama's still going to be the President, right? I mean he's not abdicating his Constitutional Authority, right? Hillary Clinton, ultimately, will be reporting to him, right??

And of course, the Politico: 5 on the outs in Cabinet shuffle

The new administration still has some major posts to fill, including heads for the departments of Defense, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Labor and Energy, not to mention the Environmental Protection Agency. But a number of the biggest prizes seem to have already been won, and a handful of serious contenders already been passed over in the speed-dating game that is the Obama transition.

Here's a look at five major players and the jobs they have apparently not been given:

Watch out progressives, chances are your favorite person won't be getting the job you want them to get (if they even want it).  There were what? Five people (Kerry, Richardson, Holbrooke, Susan RIce and Gregory Craig) all rumored to be going to State? Someone was walking away unhappy in all this.

And my new favorite (also Politico): White House political office will remain...

President-elect Barack Obama has answered bipartisan calls for the disbandment of the White House office central to the Karl Rove-style politics the Democrat condemned as a candidate. The office stays.

Funny, between ending the War and the implosion of the Economy I don't remember this being one of my big issues during the campaign, or even coming up in the Blogosphere. Plus, the problem wasn't the Political Office's existence...it was the fact that Bush and Team made sure the Political Office was put at the front of everything they did.

Ugh.

I'm a little lost...

Is there something I'm missing here?

I mean the Status of Forces Agreement isn't perfect. Hell, anything that doesn't call for our immediate withdrawal from Iraq falls short in my mind, but as far as things go, this isn't a bad deal for the Iraqis:

• U.S. Forces out of Iraqi Cities by June 30th.
  
• U.S. Forces out of Iraq in three years (yeah, I think we could do better).
  
• Increased Command and Control over U.S. Missions in Iraq by Iraqi Forces.
  
• Inspection of U.S. Cargo by Iraqi Forces.
  
• Occasional (if supervised) inspection of our Troops' mail by Iraqi Forces.
  
• Contractors working in Iraq losing all their Legal Protections. Priceless.

This was all summarized in this Countdown With Keith Olbermann Report (read by David Shuster) from November 20th:



The Iraqis seem to have a real problem with this deal, a deal that their own leaders admitted they wouldn't have signed if McCain won the election.

Several Iraqi officials said they were assured that President-elect Barack Obama would honor the agreement. During his campaign, Obama pledged to reduce the U.S. presence in Iraq over his first 16 months in office, removing them by the summer of 2010.

Last I checked, Obama won, and now protests over the accord sprung up around the country, apparently at the behest of Muqtada al Sadr.

Tens of thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr packed a central Baghdad square Friday, where they protested a U.S.-Iraq security agreement and likened Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to fallen dictator Saddam Hussein.

Sheik Abdul Hadi al Mohammadawi read a nationalistic speech on behalf of Sadr urging a rejection of any pacts with the U.S., charging that approving one would infringe on Iraqi sovereignty.

The crowd chanted back, "Leave, leave, occupier."

Okay, I get it but...we're leaving. We're leaving.  Barack won the election.  We're outta there!  I would get the protesters chanting "Not Fast Enough! Not Fast Enough!" but they seem to be protesting the deal itself.

That whiny little...Part II

Mitch McConnell is speaking to Harry Reid, finally, but now to give him a warning:

In letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), McConnell urged Reid to adopt a more conciliatory tone and warned him that Republicans will unite against Democrats if he does not. The letter was signed by all 40 GOP senators and two Republican incumbents who are awaiting the results of elections in Georgia and Minnesota.

“As a caucus, Republicans will insist on our basic right to participate in the legislative process,” McConnell wrote to Reid. “The Republican Conference intends to protect the Senate’s history of full and open consideration of major legislation, which includes a fair amendment process and the opportunity for debate.”

Reid responded by saying that he supports working across party lines but blasting Republicans for obstructing the work of the current Congress.

Uhh, Mitch, you do remember the part where you lost the 2008 Election, right???

Fireside Chat for November 22, 2008

Calling on all Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike to put their shoulders into it, and help those who are wondering what's going to happen next...

Maybe it's Politico...

So the day Hillary is rumored to be getting Secretary of State, Politico runs a story about Kim Gandy of NOW complaining there aren't enough women on the Cabinet.  I complain about NOW's timing...

Now, the day Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) is rumored to be getting Secretary of Commerce, Politico runs a story about how Latino Groups feel there aren't enough Latinos on the Cabinet.

I'm starting to think I was wrong.  Maybe, the timing issue is more on Politico's part...

UPDATE (5:59am Pacific):  From the New York Times: Women feel that Hillary getting SOS is a good thing.

That whiny little...Part II

Mitch McConnell is in a snit.  He's not speaking to Harry Reid.

The bigger question is, when isn't he in a snit.

Never mind...

Penny Pritzker says she's out.

Penny Pritzker, in the mix to be President-elect Barack Obama's Commerce Secretary, just sent [The Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweeet] an e-mail saying she is not a candidate for the post. Pritzker is a member of the Obama transition operation and chaired his finance committee. Money she helped raise from major donors in the first quarter of the campaign was crucial to establishing Obama as a viable presidential candidate.

TPM: Holy Crap!

I agree with Josh Marshall.  Holy Crap!!  (And that can never be said enough)

House Democrats voted 137-122 this morning to give the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee to Rep. Henry Waxman over longtime chair Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, who has been a lifelong advocate for the auto industry.

Krugman on the Big Three...

Paul Krugman says yea on the Auto Industry Loan (note, it ain't a Bailout if you gotta pay it back).

Basically, he says yes they're idiots, but we can't let 3 million jobs go poof.

The Krugman/Bailout portion of the Video begins about 2:20 in.

I always listen to Laurence O'Donnell

Laurence O'Donnell reminding us all that while 60 Senate Seats is nice, remember there are at least eight Republican Senators running for Re-election in States that went for Barack Obama in the General Election.

On Leaking...

By the way, once Team Obama get a notion to hire someone for a Cabinet position, it's not necessarily someone on Team Obama doing the leaking.  That's not to say it's not happening.  It may prove useful to Team Obama to leak these names to let the Press do some of the vetting.

At the same time, since the FBI has to do some background checks (I think), any one of them could be the source of a leak.  And certainly the people they're talking to could leak.

Heck, if you live on the same block and see the FBI or Vetters roll up to your neighbors house, you might be of a mind to tell a Reporter.

I think simply saying that Team Obama is suddenly springing leaks is a little simplistic.

One more hire while waiting for Hillary...

According to the New York Times:

Penny Pritzker, a Chicago businesswoman and national finance chairman of the Obama campaign, was in the final stages of vetting for Commerce Secretary.

A longtime friend of Mr. Obama, Ms. Pritzker was a chief architect of his record-breaking fund-raising efforts during the presidential campaign. Ms. Priztker is one of three cousins who manage their dynasty’s financial empire, which includes the Hyatt hotel chain, casinos and many other ventures. But some of Ms. Pritzker’s business dealings may also raise tough questions during any confirmation process. She was involved in running and overseeing Superior Bank, an Illinois institution co-owned by her family that was at the forefront of turning subprime loans into securities, the risky practice at the heart of the financial crisis. The bank collapsed in 2001 after regulators discovered accounting irregularities that overstated its assets.

UPDATE: (7:31 am Pacific): But of course, the Washington Post disagrees.

Two more hires while we wait for Hillary...

The Heads of Health and Human Services and The Department of Homeland Security have been appointed.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions.

And...

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) will be Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration, with the delicate mission of shepherding a health care bill through Congress at a time of punishing budget constraints, two senior Democratic officials said.

Definitions

Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders. Its stated goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism. On March 1, 2003, DHS absorbed the now defunct United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and assumed its duties. In doing so, it divided the enforcement and services functions into two separate and new agencies – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additionally, the border enforcement functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) were consolidated into a new agency under DHS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The United States Federal Protective Service falls under Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).

With over 200,000 employees, DHS is the third largest Cabinet department in the U.S. federal government, after the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. Homeland security policy is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council. Other agencies with significant homeland security responsibilities include the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Energy.

Health and Human Services

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America".

The department was created when President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act (PL 96-88) into law on October 17, 1979. It split the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, (HEW), which included the Social Security Administration, agencies constituting the Public Health Service, Family Support Administration, and the Office of Education into the Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Department of Education. Both began operation on May 4, 1980. (In 1995, the Social Security Administration was removed from the Department of Health and Human Services, and established as an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States Government).

Stay Classy, Larry Eagleburger!

Senator Begich, Part II

Mark Begich's lead over hopefully soon to be former Alaska Senator Ted "Tubes" Stevens has jumped from 1, 022 Votes, now to 2,300 Votes, with counting expected to last until 6pm tonight (Pacific Time).

Per Ed Schultz, they might want to start thinking about renaming the Anchorage Airport.

The "Third Way" wants its say...

More advice the President-Elect should feel free to ignore.

Uhh, it was the so-called "Third Way" that Obama sought to move away from during the primaries, right? It the so-called "Third Way" that helped poison the atmosphere in Washington, right?

More Hillary Mania...

It must be an addiction. They (the Media) must go into counseling...

So first we have Politico fanning the flames of a Obama Supporters vs. Hillary Supporters possible spat...

And now we have Politico saying that Hillary might turn down the damn job...

Two lame stories. Same lame website!

This in addition to one paper (in the U.K.) reporting that Hillary's accepted the damn job...

This is not what the Boss meant by "no drama"...

UPDATE (3:05pm Pacific): I have no idea what this means:

According to The Hill:

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) designated Clinton to head a task force to develop a Senate Democratic proposal to expand health insurance coverage as part of his larger push to move a major overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system next year.

Glenn Beck. Racist...

Glenn Beck got himself accosted at a Wendy's last Saturday night by a guy calling Beck a racist.

Beck was shocked by the allegation.

Really?


January 25, 2008

Hillary Clinton [D-NY] wants to be consistent, I believe, affirmative action, she should give [Sen.] Barack Obama [D-IL] an additional 5 percentage points just for the years of oppression."

October 25, 2007 (to a Muslim Guest):

"But how do we know the difference -- I mean, you're reasonable. How do we know the difference between you and those that are trying to kill us?"

Second of two times for that one...


April 2, 2007

I mean, I was talking about it with my family yesterday. I said, "I'm tired of being the least popular person in the world." I said look at our family. We're Americans. Nobody likes Americans. We're Americans, so the world hates us. But then inside of America, we love America -- and that's becoming more and more unpopular. So, we're not popular with Americans.

Then we're Christians. That's not popular anymore. But not only are we Christians, we're Mormons. So, we're not even liked by the Christians. I just -- I'm white. I'm human. There are a lot of environmentalists that don't like humans, but within the humans that accept humans, I'm white.

The majority of humans don't like whites. I mean, I just can't win. You can't win. And why is it? Because if you are a white human that loves America and happens to be a Christian, forget about it, Jack. You are the only one that doesn't have a political action committee for you.

God forbid, I forgot that I'm also a conservative. I'm a conservative, which is not popular in America, but I'm a conservative that doesn't like the Republicans. I can't win! I've got to find one thing that I agree with, you know, the rest of the world on, I guess. I'm tired of being in that group. Conservatives get no respect.

Feb. 12, 2007

Barack Obama is "very white in many ways. He is colorless. As a white guy you don't notice that he's black. So he might as well be white. Do you know what I mean?"

November 14, 2006, to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim ever elected to Congress:

OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. ... With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, 'Let's cut and run.' And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.'

September 5, 2006

"Muslims and Arabs" don't "act now" by "step[ping] to the plate" to condemn terrorism, they "will be looking through a razor wire fence at the West."

July 21, 2006

Now, I understand that we are uncomfortable with each other. That is -- that is a part of life. You are right there that, you know, white people generally hang out with white people. Black people generally hang out with black people, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera -- all down the line, because we have -- we have our cultures in common. We have our histories in common in many ways, but, see, that's the problem. That's why we used to've concentrate on being a melting pot.

And the other reason why we're afraid to hang out with each other is because we're afraid that, you know, somebody's gonna sic the NAACP on us, or somebody's gonna sic an attorney on us. We -- we're both -- I contend that African-Americans are just on -- as uncomfortable speaking in a room full of white people as I am speaking in a room full of black people, because I'm constantly -- I have a constant inner dialogue in my head -- not of "don't say anything racist," but "don't say anything that might be perceived by others as racist." And here's why it freaks you out, and you just clam up and don't say anything, because I don't know what would be perceived as racist. Because what I say is not racist.

July 21, 2006

If we speak the same language, if we use the same -- if we use the same language -- and I mean that by not Spanish and English, although that's important -- I mean, drop the Ebonics crap. There's times that I've gotten into conversation with people, and I don't know what they're saying to me, because it's Ebonics, and I don't wanna say, "What the hell are you even talking about? What?" And it -- I don't wanna say anything because I just don't want -- that's the whitest white guy ever. Like that's a slam. Let's speak the same language. Let's believe in the American dream that you can accomplish anything with hard work, with education, with optimism. Let's start melting into each other again.

September 9, 2005

Beck referred to survivors of Hurricane Katrina who remained in New Orleans as "scumbags." Also, after acknowledging that nobody "in their right mind is going to say this out loud," Beck attacked victims of the disaster and the families of victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying: "I didn't think I could hate victims faster than the 9-11 victims."

America's Top Cop

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff is saying that Eric Holder has been tapped for Attorney General.

At the same time, since Michael Isikoff got the story, doesn't that mean someone from the Transition Team is going to be fired now?

Lieberman gets to keep seat...

From our "With friends like these" department...

UPDATE (9:25am Pacific): Laurence O'Donnell has a tidbit that puts Evan Bayh to shame.

The President-Elect delievers a surprise speech at the Governors Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles

Via Video, of course.

I tend to take warnings from Michael Ware seriously...

Layoffs we can believe in...

Finally, some layoffs I can get behind...

Memo to Al Franken...

Academic studies are nice. Votes are better.

Phil Gramm, Unrepentant Scumbag

Randi Rhodes said on her radio show today that Former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) should be in jail.

Reading a new profile in the New York Times, it's easy to understand why.

“Some people look at subprime lending and see evil. I look at subprime lending and I see the American dream in action,” he said. “My mother lived it as a result of a finance company making a mortgage loan that a bank would not make.”

On Capitol Hill, Mr. Gramm became the most effective proponent of deregulation in a generation, by dint of his expertise (a Ph.D in economics), free-market ideology, perch on the Senate banking committee and force of personality (a writer in Texas once called him “a snapping turtle”). And in one remarkable stretch from 1999 to 2001, he pushed laws and promoted policies that he says unshackled businesses from needless restraints but his critics charge significantly contributed to the financial crisis that has rattled the nation.

But wait, there's more from the man who would've been Treasury Secretary under a McCain Presidency.

In two recent interviews, Mr. Gramm described the current turmoil as “an incredible trauma,” but said he was proud of his record.

He blamed others for the crisis: Democrats who dropped barriers to borrowing in order to promote home ownership; what he once termed “predatory borrowers” who took out mortgages they could not afford; banks that took on too much risk; and large financial institutions that did not set aside enough capital to cover their bad bets.

But looser regulation played virtually no role, he argued, saying that is simply an emerging myth.

“There is this idea afloat that if you had more regulation you would have fewer mistakes,” he said. “I don’t see any evidence in our history or anybody else’s to substantiate it.” He added, “The markets have worked better than you might have thought.”

And finally, a new question. How the hell did this man get a PhD???

Mr. Gramm sees himself as a myth buster, and has long argued that economic events are misunderstood.

Before entering politics in the 1970s, he taught at Texas A & M University. He studied the Great Depression, producing research rejecting the conventional wisdom that suicides surged after the market crashed. He examined financial panics of the 19th century, concluding that policy makers and economists had repeatedly misread events to justify burdensome regulation.

“There is always a revisionist history that tries to claim that the system has failed and what we need to do is have government run things,” he said.

From the start of his career in Washington, Mr. Gramm aggressively promoted his conservative ideology and free-market beliefs. (He was so insistent about having his way that one House speaker joked that if Mr. Gramm had been around when Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, the Texan would have substituted his own.)

Oh, A&M. That explains everything...

So...this counts as a Story?

The Center for Public Integrity has a story up about Big-Time Obama "Bundlers" people who help raise vast amounts of Campaign Cash by getting others to tag along, in bundles...are getting jobs in the Obama Administration.

We already know that Obama’s transition staff is stacked with campaign donors and fundraisers. And despite the vaunted small-donor base developed by the Obama campaign, big-ticket bundlers are also beginning to filter into the emerging Obama administration, led by Gregory Craig and Valerie Jarrett.

Both Craig, who will be White House counsel, and Jarrett, tapped as a senior adviser, have strong professional credentials. Craig served as a foreign policy advisor to Senator Ted Kennedy and in Madeleine Albright’s State Department. He also has the distinction of having played John McCain during debate prep. Jarrett is a force in Chicago politics and one of Obama’s longest-serving advisers.

It’s worth noting, though, that both Craig and Jarrett offered the Obama campaign more than just trenchant advice. Jarrett raised more than $100,000 as a campaign bundler, according to Public Citizen, a D.C. watchdog group. Craig raised more than $200,000.

Okay, here's my problem with the piece. One, it admits that these two folks have strong credentials. Two, it doesn't talk about Valerie Jarrett's personal relationship with the Obamas at all, which is a pretty big thing to be skipping. I'll admit the article is on stronger ground with Gregory Craig, whom apparently has only been in the Obama orbit since 2006, but one look at his CV should dispel any worries.

But if you're Valerie Jarrett, and you've known the Obamas for years, back to the State Senate days. If you're the woman who introduced Barack Obama to David Axelrod, if this is your friend, aren't you going to give just about the maximum you can, even if in a bundle to your pal? Shouldn't any of this be mentioned in the article?

Job or no job, Valerie Jarrett was raising that kind of money for the Obamas. Period.

This strikes me as a chicken and the egg story. What existed first the relationship or the bundle? If it's the relationship, I don't think you've got a lot to complain about.

Last chance to stuff your luggage home with those Footballs of cash...

Quick, before the new Boss is sworn in!

The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing oversight officials who were installed to fight corruption in Iraqi ministries by order of the American occupation administration, which had hoped to bring Western standards of accountability to the notoriously opaque and graft-ridden bureaucracy here.

The dismissals, which were confirmed by senior Iraqi and American government officials on Sunday and Monday, come as estimates of official Iraqi corruption soar. One Iraqi former chief investigator recently testified before Congress that $13 billion in reconstruction funds from the United States has been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste by Iraqi government officials.

My only question is one of grammar. Is Maliki dismissing the Oversight Officials by order of us Americans, or were the Oversight Officials installed at the order of us Americans? I confess that I'm a little lost.

Memo To Mark Cuban...

Mr. Cuban, owner of the last place Dallas Mavericks (3-7), good Liberal, and early critic of Barack Obama's Economic Team...

Keep your advice to yourself. Please.

Joe Lieberman: Running out of friends...

First it was Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT)...

Then it was Byron Dorgan (D-ND)...

Now, it's Senator (and Lieberman ally) Tom Caper (D-DE).

"There need to be consequences, and they cannot be insignificant," Carper said in a Monday interview with The Hill.

If I had to put money on it, I'd bet that Lieberman stays in the caucus, has a Chairmanship, just not Homeland Security.

On the other hand, this could all be a load of posturing for Liberals who want their pound of flesh.

CNN: The Sit Down...

"I know you won and all, but..."

According to Murdoch (fka as the Wall Street Journal), McCain is expected to press the President-Elect on Iraq:

One senior McCain adviser said he suspects Sen. McCain will use Monday's meeting to press Mr. Obama not to withdraw U.S. forces precipitously from Iraq. The adviser added it would be "very damaging" to Mr. Obama to have Sen. McCain "out there as a critic" on national security and foreign policy.

Damaging?  Really?  Well, I got 66 Million reasons why the President-Elect isn't going to sweat it too much.

The Obamas on 60 Minutes...

Barack and Michelle's Interview from 60 Minutes, the complete interview...


Watch CBS Videos Online

Ambinder: More White House Hires...

The latest White House hires aren't the highest-profile jobs in the world (although Memo to Kim Gandy of NOW, Mona Sutphen, a woman, has been appointed Deputy Chief of Staff).

UPDATE: 5:25pm, Pacific: Oh, and she's a Sistah, to boot.

The video is from a promotional tour for a book she wrote with Nina Hachigian The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive As Other Powers Rise.

And they're talking about opportunities as well.