I was disappointed that President Obama even acknowledged the existence of Rush Limbaugh in his meeting with Congressional leaders on Friday, although the statement he made was about as controversial as Norway: “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” This, after Limbaugh said he was rooting for Obama to fail, which [...]

Irwin Stelzer has a smart and unexpected piece in the Weekly Standard, praising the general outlines of the Obama stimulus package. Two specific points he makes are noteworthy: 1. It’s a good thing the a reasonable percentage–25%, according to the Administration–of the spending occurs in the out years, especially if the money is spent on [...]

I missed the very beginning, but in what I’m seeing now, he’s acquitting himself quite well. Plus, the View ladies seem quite charmed by him. UPDATE: Unlike me, JP saw the whole thing, and offers his professional assessment. It begins: You might not think that the spectacle of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment and media [...]

At the New Yorker website, Jane Mayer has a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the evolution of candidate Barack Obama on the issue of torture, and how that resulted in the four executive orders he signed last week. As Mayer recounts, the process began more than a year ago in Iowa, shortly before the caucuses, when [...]

As the Illinois Legisture begins his impeachment trial Monday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich won’t be there. He is instead embarking on a media tour that will include an appearance on “The View.”  We got a taste of what is coming in this morning’s appearance on The Today Show Sunday. As Lynn Sweet recounts: As Dec. 9 [...]

The Washington Post says that Al Qaeda is boggled by Barack Obama. The New York Times says the Pakistani government is boggled by the Taliban. This is a far more concrete and disturbing story, with tremendous downside potential. It seems clear that the Pakistani Taliban–and we should begin distinguishing these guys, as best we can, [...]

The future is now. Forget about television. Everyday politics has made the leap to your laptop. Here are this week’s offerings: President Barack Obama’s weekly (radio) address: House Minority Leader John Boehner’s weekly Republican address: Both videos have left open the comment feature on YouTube.

It seems to me that President Obama is doing just about the right amount of consulting with Republicans over the big stimulus package, given that the Republicans are promoting a theory of economic expansion–tax cuts uber alles–that not only has been proven defective in recent years (last year’s attempt at short-term stimulus didn’t work), but [...]

Photographer David Bergman made a massive composite 1,474 megapixel photograph of the Inaugural audience at the moment Barack Obama gave his address. This means that you can zoom in on any point in the crowd and see clear faces, the sort of technology that the CIA always seems to have in spy movies. It’s quite [...]