Quote of the year, from of all people, Bernard Goldberg, telling Sean Hannity enough is enough with criticism of Obama:

"I'm sorry, Sean....but we have to stop going out of our way to find fault with every single thing he does.... If something bad happened here, and thank God it didn't, but if something bad happened here, I guarantee you, I'll tell you who would have been leading the crusade against him: you."

Hannity was looking to find fault with the way Obama handled the pirate/hostage situation.

These far-right talking heads have become laughing-stock buffoons, even more so than they've ever been. Since nothing seems to stick with regards to smears against Obama, it's been an exercise in continuously raising the bar of mud-slinging, propagandizing, and just sheer over-the-top behavior (see Glenn Beck). When and how will it end? Will their tea-bagging day become their jump-the-shark moment?

Until then, it's quite sad to watch the escalation of idiocy.

As for Kevin's question concerning Norm Coleman, I'm sticking with my original premise. I wouldn't be surprised if Coleman files for appeal around Memorial Day....

Just loving the latest Letterman interview with Bill O'Reilly, a riot.

Dave starts off fairly early by delivering the money quote, telling Bill "I think of you as a goon." Dave refers to a picture of a young Bill and is concerned because Dave has a young son and some day his boy may grow up to likewise become a goon. The crowd roars with laughter....

Bill makes the claim that it wasn't Rush Limbaugh's big mouth, or RNC head Michael Steele, or the millions of fearful Dittoheads that hurled Rush into the limelight regarding the Republican Party. No, Bill claims it was James Carville's doing... Ah, yeah, OK.

I love the way Bill claims to be the luckiest guy in the world now that he's out of talk radio. Easy to believe that a guy who sells his fans coffee mugs, golf balls, and "No Pinheads" doormats would supposedly walk away from talk radio $$$.... OK, right.... I imagine it had zilch to do with ratings problems....

Another fave money quote, Bill says "I don't check in with the Republican Party very often." Seriously, he said this....

Bill asks Dave, why "cheap shot" Rush? Are you kidding me? Limbaugh, The Master of the Cheap Shot? But more so, it's choice to hear Bill plead with Dave to ease up on poor, undeserving Rush -- this coming from a guy who sends his attack-dog producers to hound people at their homes....

Bill considers Rush and Glenn Beck as "entertainers" and yet considers himself to be a "journalist," providing hard-hitting news and facts.... You can't make this stuff up....

Finally, speaking of making stuff up, Dave point-blank asks Bill what is the percentage that you just make up, and Bill immediately responds to Dave in a serious fashion! He doesn't laugh or snicker, or even just ignore the question, which would at least then provide the appearance that he was in on the joke. No, dopey Bill barks back at Dave that gosh darn it he makes nothing up, he has a top-notch research department, blah blah blah.

You can just see that Dave is having so much fun taking shots at the "goon" and yet it's just too easy. Bill is a clueless straight man and yet no good comic likes to capitalize on punch lines that are coming way too easily. As bad as Dave makes Bill look, make no mistake, it could have been much worse.

We have the right criticizing Obama because he's Obama, and we have the left criticizing him because he's being too much like GW. Lovely.

Folks, he's been in office for about two months, i.e. a fairly short time. Most of us who voted for him knew he was an enormous improvement over the intellect of the previous guy in office, not to mention the alternative (McCain). Can we now at least have a tiny bit of faith that Obama is not completely clueless and may in fact know what he's doing, or is at least making the best decisions possible under the circumstances?

That's not to say we must stifle dissent or blindly follow our leader, not at all. When Obama screws up or does something I disagree with, I'll be there to criticize. However, with regards to much of what he's rightly spending his time on, that being the economy and the financial crisis, the proof in the pudding will not be known for many months from now, so I'll refrain from harsh words until some real evidence becomes known as to whether it's working or not. Until then, I'll just exercise some faith.

Very true words from Ruth:

If it weren’t so appalling, it would be fascinating to compare the behavior of Republican and Democratic congressional legislators when confronted by an Administration of the opposite party. I watched in dismay as Republican leaders arrogantly obstructed efforts to address the growing economic crisis as millions of families contemplate poverty. Their vindictive, mean-spirited posturing adds nothing to clarify and improve the legislation; all effort goes to ridicule and defamation. On the other hand, the Democrats during the Bush years paid obsequious deference to the President and supported a litany of Administrative debacles. The Iraq war, the Patriot Act, and a no-strings bailout are just three that continue to haunt us. Neither party has served us well.

You have the a-hole Republicans who would continue to play partisan politics even if they knew a gigantic asteroid was about to hit the planet. And yet you also have the spineless Democrats, who enabled an a-hole president to get just about anything and everything he wanted -- compare to the opposition party today and the current president.

Yes, at times, one indeed wonders which party is worse....

I agree with Kevin, they've gone too far.

Steve Benen has it right regarding Cheney's recent burst of absurdities. Quayle? Gore? Did they trot out harsh (and misleading, fact-challenged) criticism weeks after leaving office? Don't think so. Where's the criticism against such unprecedented behavior and motives? This from a VP of an administration that disdained criticism from without as well as within. Just more proof that these walking embarrassments continue to be in hyper-revise-past-and-repair-legacy mode.

Here's an idea: whenever Obama gets back to health care, he should consult with Hillary. Although numbing in detail many years ago, her work on this issue was far (too far?) ahead of its time when it came to recognizing the need for change. Obama would do well to include her in discussions. Yes, she's now foreign policy, but still she's a multi-talented resource.

I never would've thought it was possible but the far-right talking heads have become even more insane, with Man-on-Dog Rick Santorum claiming that "the fundamentals of American economy is still strong" and Michael Savage believes that "the environment...is being used by the Obama administration in an attempt to gain control of the US population." You have to listen to believe it. And of course it includes comparisons to Hitler. (Is Obama a fascist or a socialist? Make up your minds fellas.).

This is what they did to Bill Clinton for eight years and they haven't missed a beat in starting it up again versus Obama. The worst part is their doddering minions just lap it all up, without questioning a thing....

Incredible.

The American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, plans to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

When can we finally go ahead and nationalize these sinkhole institutions? When is enough enough?

UPDATE: Even more priceless: "An even bigger problem...was that financial products employees who are denied payments could quit and that AIG's losses...could spiral enormously if the only people who understand the company's convoluted dealings are not around to 'unwind' the damage they have caused." Don't you love it?! AIG has to pay the screw ups millions of dollars so they won't leave because supposedly they're the only ones who can undo the damage they've wrought... AGHHHH!!!!!

Leader of the supposed "Country First" party:

So what is it now, we're up to three Republican politicians who have criticized Rush Limbaugh only to recant and grovel for forgiveness from the almighty blowhard....? Gingrey, Sanford, and now Steele.

Dare I say the first Republican to criticize Rush and actually stand by it and not blink later will receive surprising popularity from their own side. I know, it's a stretch, but I'd like to believe that the entire GOP hasn't sunk to the level where they've simply degenerated into a clamoring horde of mindless, doddering Dittoheads -- but I could be wrong.

The downward slide of the GOP continues, with Jindal's excruciatingly bad performance following Obama's speech now coming with an admission that he told a story that was false. I still can't figure out what was worse, Jindal's "Mr. Rogers" delivery or the sophomoric content of his speech...

But even more so, I don't know the particulars but I would have to guess that before Jindal trotted out in front of a primetime national TV audience and gave the Republican response to Obama, that his comments would have been fully vetted by top people in the GOP. Assuming that's true, it's even more alarming to realize that not just Jindal had the poor judgment to go ahead with that inept performance and speech but that it was apparently given the green light by his party.

If there was any doubt up to that point that the GOP has seriously gone astray, that debacle drove home the sad reality.

Obama is already talking about cutting the budget deficit (he inherited), by half no less...? Is this another bone thrown to the GOP?

Enough already. Yes, it's good to know that Obama is cognizant of our huge deficit, but there is a time and a place for stressing a balanced budget -- and now is not that time. We're facing an economic calamity requiring fiscal spending to first and foremost reverse the tailspin. After evidence surfaces that this objective has been achieved, then and only then should Obama turn his attention, albeit quickly, to resolving the deficit problem. It's just a matter of prioritizing.

After eight years of mangled words and crude expression, how refreshing was it to witness a president who was quite the opposite? Last night Obama was inspiring, not insipid, direct and yet not threatening, forceful while still conveying gentle optimism and encouraging words of hope. Compared to what we had it was like air conditioning on a 100-degree, humid day. To not see the scowl of Cheney in the background or to hear the many references to war, terror, enemies. It was wonderful.

The moment that was most revealing -- in a disturbing way -- was when Obama said "America does not torture." It was an eerie moment with the sense that everyone in the chamber knew that over the last several years we did exactly that, tortured, despite Bush/Cheney's denials and wordplay around the matter. It was an unspoken, accepted belief in the room that we had tortured and after Obama spoke those words, everyone rose to their feet and clapped, acknowledging that a shameful period of time had finally passed, but recognizing also that crimes were committed and nothing was or has been done. Really sad.

Alan Keyes is still hard at work being insane.

What a shocker! The Bush presidency was indeed providing the likes of Fox News, Limbaugh, etc. with talking points. Just call them partisan disseminators.

If there's one thing certain about this year's Oscars, it's that Slumdog will win best picture.

From a recent AP poll, approval ratings on handling of the economy: Obama +41% (68% approve vs. 27% disapprove), Democrats in Congress +4% (49% vs. 45%), Republicans in Congress -26% (33% vs. 59%). Looks like the GOP has their work cut out for them...

And it appears as if one of the things they're going to spend their time on is getting to the bottom of the whopping 3% of the stimulus bill that they believe to be pork. I'm willing to bet in the many bills that the GOP-controlled Congress passed during the Bush years, the amount of pork in those spending behemoths was well above 3%, well above... It's never about the amount of pork but rather that the spending is going towards things the GOP does not favor, plain and simple.

GW's former speechwriter declares that recessions can be good for you. I suppose this follows the same logic that global warming is good because it will boost crop output in certain parts of the world. Gads. And I thought Bill Kristol's column in the Times was dopey...

The biofuel boom is destroying rainforests.

Dennis Kucinich on Fox Business talking about the SEC and Allen Stanford. What's most disturbing to me is to see the depths to which Fox will go to get people to tune in to their fledgling (and failing?) business channel. Watch the video: young "hip" male with long hair, to his right a gorgeous model with a VERY low cut dress, the "newscast' taking place at a bar -- WTF?

The Republicans may have screwed themselves with their adamant stance against the stimulus bill. I get the fact that they stacked all their chips on the bet that Obama and this bill will not successfully impact the economy, and in effect they're hoping we transition from a recession to a depression (have to love that "country first" BS!).

But it may not work the way they believe. If the economy does in fact slowly recover, needless to say Obama (and the Dems) wins and the Republicans lose, game over. However, if indeed the economy stays in the tank and it appears as if the stimulus bill was all for naught, there is a good possibility the public will not immediately and categorically blame Obama (and the Dems) for this outcome. The Republicans may try to make the case that the $800 give/take billion was a waste, but the public isn't always that dumb and mindless. With the help from Dems, the public could realize that 1) 20/20 hindsight blame is cheap and easy, 2) at least Obama and the Dems tried, at least they tried to do something in the face of grave circumstances, and 3) the public will hopefully recall that the economy was already in deep, deep trouble before Obama set foot in the White House. It's more difficult to slowdown a runaway train once it's been able to attain higher speeds. As many have already written (particularly Paul Krugman), this stimulus bill may be too light to tackle the problems we now face, but arguably it also came too late.

As it is there's already signs of rescue plan fatigue. A few more such plans were announced recently and the stock market just heads lower on the news. People may now have low expectations that any of this stuff will work -- which further gets to my point. For the Republican plan to work, they need not only that Obama fail, but also that people have very high expectations that he will succeed. Regarding the latter, the public is hopeful and supports Obama, yet that doesn't necessarily mean they have high expectations given the daunting task(s) at hand (only the worst economy since the Great Depression).

To sum up, if the economy recovers this year, Obama and the Dems are big winners and the GOP huge losers. If the economy does not recover this year, and either remains as bad as now or possibly even gets worse, the Republicans still may not end up winners. They didn't try to do anything to help, were rooting against the president at the time, and the public may decide that given the degree to which the economy is and has been reeling, no one person or entity can be blamed for it.

In my mind, Republicans face more of a lose-tie or lose-nothing scenario on this matter as opposed to what they believe to be a lose-win situation. Regardless, one thing is clear: they're clearly betting against the economy, and the country.

Absolutely priceless. The shameless GOP at work.

Regarding what I wrote about Norm Coleman and the GOP on Feb. 9th, six days later it appears as if I was right. Franken may never see the light of Washington.

I also wrote on Feb. 9th: "Obama needs to do what he did to win the White House: appeal directly to the public, circumventing the wrapped-in-politics swamp that is currently and has been DC." Four days later in Politico: "But the strategy to promote these items is getting an emergency overhaul. Obama plans to travel more and campaign more in an effort to pressure lawmakers with public support, rather than worrying about whether he can win over Republican votes in Congress." Excellent.

Can we stop reading about how Obama has got his wish: to limit the pay of all financial executives on the planet? Many are making it sound as if this executive pay limit applies to all companies in the entire financial industry, as opposed to just those companies requesting taxpayer-funded aid -- obviously not true. That still leaves thousands upon thousands of firms that can pay whatever they want to top talent.

As for the pay limit applied to TARP-needy firms, what's wrong with some form of "punishment" for their past misdeeds in exchange for lifeblood aid? Also, the exorbitant plane purchases and lavish parties attracted as-expected wide attention, all but forcing the hand of media-sensitive Obama and Congress to originate and implement this pay limit.

Also, don't you just love the way these complainers don't necessarily mind capitalism bending a bit by way of receiving savior funds to prop up companies that the invisible hand is supposed to extinguish, and yet they'll scream "socialism" if you dare curb compensation on said firms...?

So enough with the excessive generalities. Obama and Congress are not instituting a blanket ban on high comp for all financial companies. Such mischaracterizations are irresponsible and serve as simple-minded propaganda.

Why the political content of Forbes magazine is nearly as funny as that of the WSJ editorial page:

Before the September meltdown one might have graded George W. Bush with a "B" (on the Reagan scale) for his two-term presidency. On the exemplary side, Bush prevented a post-9/11 attack, and he cut taxes in 2003, which sparked the economy. What prevented a higher grade were bad appointments (Donald Rumsfeld, Michael Brown and the near disaster of Harriet Miers, to name only three, with more to come) and speaking skills that embarrassed even his fans.

Alas, the Bush Administration's bobble of the 2008 financial crisis knocked W down to a "C," at best....

Yeah, Harriet Miers was his big screw-up -- geez.

I wonder, could the GOP be encouraging Norm Coleman to keep up his hopeless fight to win Minnesota, to at least delay Franken's seating as long as possible to deny him voting on the crucial matters that face us?

Michael Hirsh of Newsweek recently wrote a column with some terrific points. Some segments:

The reason Obama is getting so few votes is that he is no longer setting the terms of the debate over how to save the economy. Instead the Republican Party—the one we thought lost the election—is doing that. And the confusion and delay this is causing could realize Obama's worst fears, turning "crisis into a catastrophe..."
<..>
Obama's desire to begin a "post-partisan" era may have backfired. In his eagerness to accommodate Republicans and listen to their ideas over the past week, he has allowed the GOP to turn the haggling over the stimulus package into a decidedly stale, Republican-style debate over pork, waste and overspending.
<..>
Obama has allowed Congress to grow embroiled in nitpicking over efficiency when the central debate should be about whether the package is big enough.
<..>
Obama needs to remind the American people that unless the Republicans get on board, they will bear political responsibility for failing to act in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The lesson: to court bipartisan compromise only works if both parties involved are sincere in their intentions. Obama tried (too) many times to win over Republicans and as much as he tried, he got nowhere. Instead, he's been treated to harsh criticism from the GOP's water-carriers, namely talk radio and Fox News.

Obama needs to do what he did to win the White House: appeal directly to the public, circumventing the wrapped-in-politics swamp that is currently and has been DC. As we now fully understand and realize, the GOP is willing to do only that which they perceive to be in their interest -- the country be damned.