I think you are on to something.

That's been rattling around my head these last few months - we coulda had Roslin, and now we're stuck with Baltar for 4 long years ..... I've just embarked upon season 4, and Baltar may redeem himself in some as yet unimaginable way, but so far it doesn't look good - he's still a creepy self-involved weasel.

I give the honeymoon less than a year. The alt press is full of good advice for O from all the leading lights, and being so connected to the grass roots and all, and having his finger on the pulse of what the unembittered cling-free America wants and needs, if he fails to take heed right on Day One, well, he'd better hold onto himself for all the drama and kitchen sinks headed his way. On the other hand, when (and if) he fails to take heed of the leading lights' good advice, they won't have any place to go, having already disgraced themselves getting O elected. Most of them made their bed, so we had better stock up on the fainting couches.

I saw the very end of Hillary's confirmation hearings today on CSPAN, and the very first person they allowed on the air as those "against" the nomination was ranting about how Hillary couldn't be trusted, and how she was the one behind painting Obama as a Muslim, etc...it was as if the primaries never ended.

In my personal experience, the Obamans are just as rude and heated as they were today, and if anything, many former primary Clinton supporters seem to have either dropped out or are supporting Obama, altogether. The only change I've seen is in the relaxation of the rhetoric on the Clinton side of things. That's it. Oh, and the average Republicans I've talked to, and seen and heard, are downright bitter in every sense of the word. They are mad at McCain, mad at the GOP, mad at Obama, mad about everything. Only the Village Republicans seem content.

they're all working busy as little honeybees on their service projects for the 19th [actually it's been expanded to cover that whole weekend].

i'm pissed that the obama campaign subverted community organizing organizing principles to win an election, and i'm pissed that the obama transition team has subverted community organizing principles to do community service, and now i'm a bit miffed that they've subverted martin luther king day into a national day of service.

king would probably have approved of a national day of service in his name, but still....

Well, maybe periodically.

"many former primary Clinton supporters seem to have either dropped out or are supporting Obama, altogether."

I believe there are still many Hillary supporters or to reframe, supporters of Hillary Clinton's 'brain' and the belief she would have been best for the nation. I think they are vocal and aware and are writing as fast as they can but perhaps not getting the attention.

I wish that Obama would not do the Lincoln inaugural reenactment. I think it embarrassing and childish. If Clinton had been elected, and permitted her inauguration to be marketed as the second coming of Eleanor Roosevelt, she would have been vilified and made the laughing stock of Washington and the world. Can you imagine? Clinton would never do such a thing. She would, I suspect, be so proud of herself and simply take the oath of office and get to work.

The Obama election is looked on as historic and I assume people have the right to view it that way. I, myself, am waiting for history to be made by electing a woman president.

That's just a Village narrative.

Had a conversation recently with a smart, local guy who is as aware and, er, realistic about local and state politics as it is possible to be, and who's struggled long and hard to do the right thing on very important state and local issues, with success. And his view of Obama? "I think we all need to figure out how best to help him." To which my response was "No. We all need to figure out how to defend our values and interests." This is the same Obama supporter who yelled at me at the town's caucus.

I don't know what to do about this.

So there you are. People are very strange. Authoritarian followership can exist in one compartment of the brain, and not, seemingly, affect other compartments.

I said all along that I thought that the differences between Hillary and Obama were marginal, but that marginal was not insignificant; I felt and feel that Hillary would have been better on health care, and I know she would have been better on housing, since she proposed HOLC, which is still outside the Overton Window, unbelievably. I'd amend that today to take account of the viciousness of Obama's tactics in the primaries, which I fully expect to continue in his White House tenure.

So, we'd be having the same sort of conversation with Hillary, as Hillary made her own compromises and walked back her own commitments -- with the admixture that Obama supporters would be, no doubt, continuing to leverage the CDS, and with the support of the press.

As for the online stuff, when Axelrod starts paying for the OFB again, they'll ramp right up. (Nobody who actually dealt with them on a constant basis thinks they weren't coordinated, I would assert.)

I think the people I like to call the "American Idol" crowd, satified that the candidate they voted for won, went on to another show. I was amazed at the personal attacks on any dissenter or critical thinker. Since we are now still in the general period of "Hope" the need to attack has lessened. More blood in the water in other game shows. As the hope fades and the reality of the enormity of the national problems and the complexity of solving small portions of them given the despair of many in this predicament will shorten what would not have been a long honeymoon to begin with.

Perhaps the people who are still actively seeking change can produce accountability by realizing the election is over, the work is just beginning.

as long as he is president. The media is so enamored of him, that he will have a free ride as long as he holds the office. Far more enamored of him than they ever were of Bush. And they don't often change their bias. This is an extremely bad situation, when tied to his lack of experience. I hope for the best. The next four years certainly would be easier with Clinton, but we have to go with the president we got (excuse the "Rumsfeldism"). Already we have seen his lack of experience, how he talks about Social Security, his assertion about Iran supplying arms to Iraq, and a few others. The foreign affairs inexperience will be rectified by Clinton's presence, but in making her SoS, he effectively nullified any pull he may have had to the left when she was a domestic entity, allowing him to go to the right as much as he wishes. He (and we) needs a entity that is watching over his left shoulder. I'm hopeful about him, but I'm still shaking my head pretty regularly.

... reminds me of the "incompetence" meme.

The honeymoon is a Village concept. We need to bypass the Village, not discuss its concepts. No, I don't know how to do that (yet).

The honeymoon is a Village concept

Never more obvious than the last eight years. But Obama gets no honeymoon from me. He wanted the job - he knew what he was in for. I hope he's well rested.

I still would have much preferred Hillary for president. I was reminded of just how much when I listened to her yesterday. He is too slick and too marketed, which is too reminiscent of Bush. That disgusts me, especially this Lincolnesque bullcrap. But the entire Dem leadership, who now have a say in our new path (if there is a new path) will share the criticism and accolades with Obama, the vessel through which the different policies are sold to the public and implemented. I'm not too crazy about some of his advisors either. Hopefully, he'll listen to lots of people, not just them.

If the dems are the grownups and serious about governing, then they'd better start acting grownup and serious. No more rock star nonsense or swoons from ditzy females and pumping fists from adolescent little boys.

We're at a very low point in our history, and the problems seem insurmountable. Let's stop playing and get to work cleaning up the mess!

One more thing: I expect little or no republican support for most of the legislation that is suggested unless blackmail is involved. ;)

...at least in the fauxgressive blogosphere, is a sense of unverbalized (and perhaps not-yet-consciously acknowledged) buyers remorse. There is an undercurrent of an awareness that "we've been had", but those who got on the Obama bandwagon really don't want to come right out and say it. (For example, right after the election, the fauxgressive line was that we shouldn't criticize what Obama does until he actually becomes President and does stuff --- you don't hear that line much anymore.)

The Oborg is still out there -- but its kinda like the Oborg was up until January 2008, before critical mass was reached and the most of the progressive blogosphere became the fauxgressive blogosphere. (They're the people who couldn't acknowledge that Burris had the legal/constitutional right to the Senate seat because Obama opposed the nomination. The people who say stuff like lamberts friend - that our job is to "help Obama" now...)

The media, on the other hand, is still in love with Obama, if for no other reason than being pro-Obama is good for business (see the Ms cover, or the new Pepsi logo, or the "banner" discussion over at Swampland.) And one sees echos of the media's post 9-11 treatment of Bush when it comes to Obama; this is more than just "honeymooning", its an exaggerated sense of regard for the guy.

that the vast majority of people are happy and relieved to finally be rid of Bush. To different degrees, this has affected their thinking about his replacement, leading some to go absolutely ga-ga and place all their chips on his space. Some really look at him as a savior. Some are more realistic, hoping for small steps in the right direction, and others are totally cynical, expecting business as usual.

It'll be interesting to see worlds collide and how much leeway he's given for how long.

For eight years it was almost impossible to stomach listening to the Bullshitter-in-Chief's press conferences, SoU addresses, etc., because he was such a goddamn liar.

I find Obama's "inspirational" speeches anything but. Just slick razzmatazz for the guileless. Yet, he will be, y'know, presiding at a time of great instability and danger, and he may be forced to deliver some substance re: our financial and other woes. He has the opportunity to actually make some changes that sane people have hoped for.

I have a hard time imagining that he'll become a straight talker (an appealing brand that John McCain certainly didn't earn), with earnest Fireside Chats (though I expect he'll be marketed as doing just that).

AFAIK, um, he doesn't give a flying fuck about disenchanted progressives, so I'm just having a hard time imagining being able to watch him on TV with much less skepticism and frustration than with the out-going president, even if I cling to the hope that he'll raise his game up to the 2%-less evil benchmark.

even in spite of the affair, I remain convinced the party and the nation were deprived of a visionary and a fighter who had a sense of what we need to get working America back on its feet (and if it comes out, somewhere down the line, that the OBF's behind the placement of the woman with whom Edwards had that affair, well quelle surprise! only NOT, y'know?) -- and let's face it. The top 15% of the top 2% of the country's income-receivers aren't hurting.

Especially not in comparison to the now pension-less and health-care deprived former dependents of UWMA and UAW workers (widows, orphans, and cripples, in the terms Our Betters prefer).

Look around out there. We're a nation that's a paycheck, maybe two, away from Dickensian conditions. Thanks to Wall Street, the Conventional Wisdom, and the scam that owning stock would make you rich beyond the dreams of avarice.

And we're a nation where more and more, instead of paychecks our corporate overlords are handing out pink slips -- with the backing of the courts when it comes to paying corporate officers and stiffing actual working people.