Rich Lowry points out: “On the stimulus, when Obama says ‘I won,’ he’s out of better arguments.” It’s also not very changey. I thought he was all about “an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
John McCain’s finest moment? His hardline stance against the Obama stimulus bill. Giving up the approval of the elite media and Democrats for conservative economic principles is earning him well-deserved plaudits.
I don’t blame Leon Panetta for getting the answer wrong on rendition. It’s very hard to keep all the half-truths and posturings straight.
All the misdirection does have a price, however: “A foolish inconsistency is the hobgoblin of political minds, and Mr. Obama’s executive order did allay the anti-antiterror left. But the larger danger is that his multiple personality disorder — aggressive interrogations are banned, except when they aren’t — will lead to a nervous, risk-averse CIA that can’t or won’t act when most needed. Someone in Washington will always decide later that U.S. intelligence officers went too far, usually when lives no longer seem at stake.”
Things are so bad, Jon Stewart figured out how to mock the Obama administration. (h/t Mary Katherine Ham)
Gail Collins has this one right: “Although the Commerce Department has many important duties, like supervising the patent office, it’s sort of like an old attic where people throw stuff that doesn’t fit anyplace else. And while there have been some sterling commerce secretaries, it has been run for lengthy periods of time by complete morons and the nation didn’t seem to suffer appreciably.” Translation: boy, is Judd Gregg a sap.
Martin Feldstein joins the president’s economic advisory board (aren’t there about three of these things?). His first bit of advice might be: Mr. President, read my op-ed explaining that the stimulus plan is a “$800B mistake.”
Joe Biden says there’s a 30% chance the White House will get it wrong. Better than 0% — the chance that Biden can stay on message (or the chance that Obama is satisfied he made the best VP pick).
It’s early but the Republican has a big polling lead in the race to fill Kirsten Gillibrand’s House seat.
Peter Robinson writes: “Permit House Democrats to draft his stimulus legislation? What could Obama have been thinking? Only one answer fits: Obama wasn’t thinking.”
A heart-breaking interview with the mother of a U.S.S. Cole victim who isn’t pleased at all with President Obama.
Maybe Robert Gibbs should email all the answers to reporters rather than give unintelligible ones at the briefings. I’m thinking Gibbs will be “promoted” before March 1.
Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell graps an early lead against his Democratic competitors. If you’re a Republican you’re probably lucky to run in 2009. (Unless of course the pork-a-thon spending bill proves to be exceptionally popular and effective. And fast-acting.)
Professor Bradley Smith’s advice to President Obama: “He’s got to make a case for the bill that goes beyond stating a) we need change and b) this particular bill is necessary, will create jobs, and restore economic health. Because right now, a growing number of people don’t believe any part of that second proposition. It is not enough to keep asserting things as true, or appealing to an imaginary ‘consensus’ of economists that doesn’t really exist. . . The problem is, I am not sure that there is a respectable intellectual case for this stimulus bill.” Well, that would be a problem, especially for the economy.
