Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/22/08: 66,672
11/21/08: 65,687
11/20/08: 64,551
11/19/08: 65,523
11/18/08: 62,639
11/17/08: 62,297
11/16/08: 57,868

Uh-oh, here's another dragonfly-diddlin' apostate* — Dr. Jared Ball, communications professor at Morgan State University: Read more…

Crossposted at Democratic Underground.

Many Democrats who will play key roles in the new administration voted for the AUMF.

In another thread, someone posted this scathing view of the Clintons' history re: Iraq, from Scott Ritter who was outspokenly correct about the lack of justification for the war.

Biden's history of hawkishness on Iraq is described here.

John Kerry, Evan Bayh, and others who voted for the AUMF have been suggested for possible roles in the Obama administration. Read more…

Glennzilla:

The notion that Obama is some sort of aggressive or radical Leftist challenger of establishment power is and always was the by-product of fear-mongering from the Right and, to a lesser extent, the projected desires of some progressives. As I've said many times, I intend to wait and judge Obama on the policies he pursues, not the administrators he appoints to carry out those policies.

But John Brennan is a different matter. To appoint someone as CIA Director or Director of National Intelligence who was one of George Tenet's closest aides when The Dark Side of the last eight years was conceived and implemented, and who, to this day, continues to defend and support policies such as "enhanced interrogation techniques" and rendition (to say nothing of telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping), is to cross multiple lines that no Obama supporter should sanction. Truly turning a page on the grotesque abuses of the last eight years requires both symbolism (closing Guantanamo) and substantive policy changes (compelling adherence to the Army Field Manual, ensuring due process rights for all detainees, ending rendition, restoring safeguards on surveillance powers). Appointing John Brennan to a position of high authority would be to affirm and embrace, not repudiate, the darkest aspects of the last eight years. Read more…

Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/21/08: 65,687
11/20/08: 64,551
11/19/08: 65,523
11/18/08: 62,639
11/17/08: 62,297
11/16/08: 57,868

Uh-oh, here's another flea-fiddlin' apostate* — journalist/filmmaker John Pilger: Read more…

Dan at Pruning Shears:

Lambert and the gang at Corrente were largely behind Hillary Clinton in the primaries; unlike some sites (and individuals) that lapsed into self-parody afterward, they remembered the issues that made them support her in the first place. But while they supported Sen. Obama in the general election they didn’t forget the bruising fight for the Democratic nomination or why they preferred someone else for it. That wariness and skepticism was on full display last week, and it strikes me as an extremely healthy outlook to take into the coming Obama administration (also see digby). Read more…

msnbc.com headline:

Suri Cruise tops list of hot Hollywood tots — Forbes.com salutes Tom and Katie’s daughter for style and media attention

Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/20/08: 64,551
11/19/08: 65,523
11/18/08: 62,639
11/17/08: 62,297
11/16/08: 57,868

It looks like Noam Chomsky is going to be the next heretic accused of tapping tick tush:

America’s election of a black man into the White House may not be as historic as it seems, Noam Chomsky said at the Arlington Street Church Wednesday

About OHW....

Barring the emergence of a black-and-white-and-read-all-over knight to save it, the day the newsies died is well nigh upon us.

Another one bites the dust?

AltHippo is scandalized that Corrente hasn't posted in praise of AG nominee Eric Holder.

The fact is, I'd seen a few quotes from Holder that gave me pause, but after reading Glenn Greenwald's considered look at the pros and cons (including the concerning quotes), he sounds like a promising pick.

Glenn has been a champ about 4th Amendment issues, so his recommendation goes a long way with me. No one, not even Glenn, has my proxy forever and ever, but I look forward to seeing what Holder can and will do. Read more…

Now, I gotta friend who spends his life
Stabbing my picture with a bowie-knife
Dreams of strangling me with a scarf
When my name comes up he pretends to barf
I've got a million friends!

-- Bob Dylan, "I Shall Be Free No. 10"

It's not enough to vote for Barack Obama expressly because you like the idea of a first African-American president.

You have to make sure that you don't discourage treating his presidency as a four-to-eight-year Hallmark Moment. Because if you do, progressives will call you a "bugfucker." Read more…

Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/19/08: 65,523
11/18/08: 62,639
11/17/08: 62,297
11/16/08: 57,868

About OHW....

Congrats to Dustin Pedroia for winning the AL MVP!

I think I speak for the entire universe in saying that when we first saw this kid, we didn't see it coming. Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, MVP. Heart of a lion in that little guy.

Oh, and congrats to another local hero on a special day for him, too!

On having no place to go:

[Democrats] believe that most "progressive movement" activists will actually do what they did during the last election - berate anyone who floats the idea that movement organizing and carrot-and-stick treatment of the Democratic Party during election time is actually a good thing. They believe, in short, that come 2010, we'll all fall in line and be an ATM machine of partisan campaign contributions and candidate volunteer time because we are still very much organized as a party, not a movement.

And here's the thing: Except for a few fleeting primaries, most of recent history suggests their calculation is right.
 Read more…

I had to get a credit card replaced, and the card company's voice prompt asked me this question: "Do you have a lost or stolen card?"

Unless it's a trick to ferret out dimwitted ID thieves, I'm not sure that the answer to that would ever be "yes," rather like the old conundrum, "Are you asleep?"

So, if I wanted to report a lost or stolen card, I'd have to lie and claim that I had one, and that would be unethical. It's hard staying on the straight and narrow, ain't it?

Digby considers HRC as SoS as an exercise in the Piñata Principle.

Correntewire: "the most bloodcurdlingly awful liberal blog out there"!

Good, good. But I still think this one is the best evah!

Jacob Heilbrunn at HuffPo:

Democrats who worry that Obama is selling out to the opposition may have it backwards. His ingenious approach could end up marginalizing the GOP for decades. Tapping Cheney might be going one step too far, but could a post for the Decider himself be far behind?

I asked for a blue pony, but I guess they're on back-order.

On the myth of excessive partisanship.

What Glenn didn't say is that the president-elect ran (in a can't-lose year) a campaign founded on this canard, and that the official platform of the Democrat Party bronzed this idea: "A great nation now demands that its leaders abandon the politics of partisan division...."

It was always gauche to mention this, and apparently it still is.

Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/18/08: 62,639
11/17/08: 62,297
11/16/08: 57,868

About OHW....

Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/17/08: 62,297
11/16/08: 57,868

(Starting today, we'll just include the stats based on the current methodology).

Each day, we see how many items Google News finds that include the words: "Obama" and "Historic."

11/16/08: 57,868

Note: On 11/16/08, OHW switched to a search by date. This search eliminates duplicate items and makes it easier to see the newest relevant content. The change in methodology reduced the # of search results by about 5%.

Results using earlier search string (duplicates not filtered):
11/15/08: 58,083
11/14/08: 60,792
11/13/08: 60,001
11/12/08: 57,946
11/11/08: 57,632

About OHW...

Shortly before the election, Bob Kerrey wrote the following in the NY Daily News:

My worry is not with increased threats from abroad. I am convinced those threats will be reduced with Obama's election and the beginning of a much more sensible and trustworthy American foreign policy.

By my lights, the primary threat to the success of a President Obama will come from some Democrats who, emboldened by the size of their congressional majority, may try to kill trade agreements, raise taxes in ways that will destroy jobs, repeal the Patriot Act and spend and regulate to high heaven. Read more…