Oh, this is rich...Karl Rove is advising Obama about how to run his administration. In the Wall Street Journal article, "Now Obama Has To Govern," Karl Rove's condescension is palpable as he attempts to advise the President-elect who he must think is in need of his counsel. Personally, I think Obama will be able to govern without the assistance of the lowest of the low Republican dirty tricksters known as Bush's architect. Given Bush's penchant for making a shambles of all that he touches, perhaps Rove does not realize that most people would not be proud of the "architect" moniker. Just like Bush, he seems to be trying to polish fabricate a legacy as a person of high ideals and good judgment. HA, Ha, ha, ha, ha! Doesn't he understand that we will never forget his nefarious acts such as outing a CIA agent, his disregard for the law when he underhandedly engineered the firing of U.S. Attorneys for political reasons, the way he used emotional wedge issues to turn one group against another--and, we certainly don't care about his views? He finally is out of power and no longer can affect the nation's policies. He just doesn't seem to realize that he and his opinions, thankfully, do not matter anymore.

Click the link above for the entire article.

The November meeting of Montgomery County Democratic Committee will be held tomorrow night--Thurday, November 20, at 7:00 PM at the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Building on Pepper Street in Christiansburg. All Democrats are welcome to attend.

 

A couple of really important "apparent" appointments by the President-elect are worth noting today. First, there is former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, the person now serving as Obama's health policy advisor during transition time. His most important job in that position will be working on a new health-care coverage reform package. In addition, he will be in charge of Medicare and Medicaid, Food and Drug Administration, and improving public health. Many Democrats seem excited about this appointment because of his involvement in and knowledge of the health care field and the fact that he knows almost everyone in the Senate and is well-liked there--a big plus in trying to involve Congress in the planning for a new health care program and in securing votes for it.

The other choice is Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General. His hardest job will be trying to restore the Justice Department's traditional, non-politicized role in the administration. Just as George Bush has been the worst president ever, Alberto Gonzales was the worst U.S. Attorney General ever and did inestimable damage in just the two years that he served. He used the Justice Department as the Bush Administration's personal "Get Out Of Jail Free" card. You remember well that he allowed and claimed to even make legal torture and illegal domestic surveillance (you know, spying on us--American citizens); he denied habeas corpus to enemy combatants; he detained American and non-citizens illegally; and he fired U.S. Attorneys for political reasons, even though he seemed not to be in contol of his own department when he testified about it before Congress, to name but a few of his worst crimes. Expanding on the second sentence in this paragraph--not only must Holder restore the DOJ's role, but also he must prove once again to the world that the United States Justice Department stands for justice.

Connect to watch a video featuring Eric Holder discussing our Constitution, the rule of law, and our fractured moral leadership that occurred during the Bush administration that now must be restored. I think you will be impressed with his judgment.

I promised I would not say anything more about Lieberman getting to keep his plum positions in the Senate, but some liberal bloggers have plenty to say about it. Read the entire posting from John Aravosis at AMERICAblog. It starts with these angry words:

The Democrats have sent a clear message to all of you out there, to the entire blogosphere, but also to the larger Netroots (and that includes MoveOn, Media Matters and everyone else in the progressive online space). You don't matter to these people. They don't fear you, so they don't care what you think...

I don’t think this is the last we will hear about the issue. As I said previously, I hope it is a smart enough political move to counter the substantial negative feelings from some of Obama’s most ardent netroots supporters.

Here's something I didn't expect to read tonight:

A grand jury in south Texas indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on separate charges related to alleged prisoner abuse in federal detention centers, Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra told CNN Tuesday.

Ah, would that this were a meaningful indictment...

In the spirit of reconciliation, Senate Democrats allowed Joe Lieberman to keep his committee chair of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and remain the subcommittee chair of the Armed Services Committee. This was evidently acceptable despite his criticism of Obama, his support of McCain, and his speech at the Republican National Committee. Hope the Dems know what they are doing. In the spirit of reconciliation, that's all I plan to say about this matter. 

You gotta' listen to the Catholic Cardinal of Baltimore. I'm sure he believes what he is saying, but I think it's a little a lot hypocritical to be so full of anger and intolerance over Barack Obama's beliefs. Some of us remember that your sect is full of tolerance for those in positions of power and influence over young people who violated their Christian responsibility and molested little girls and boys--children who were brought into this world by mothers and fathers who made that choice. Those same parents did not have the choice of knowledge, however, when they placed their children in the care of those they trusted most--those who betrayed that trust and, in an uspeakable manner, hurt their precious children. Then, trust was betrayed again as superiors passed off the offenders to other unsuspecting congregations to do the same again. I don't think I care at all what you think of Barack Obama. I won't be paying any attention to you , and I certainly will not be taking any Christian instruction from you and your ilk. Where is the tolerance and love that Jesus taught?  
                           

Hat tip to AMERICAblog.

Although it has been four days since Hillary Clinton traveled to Chicago to meet with President-Elect Barack Obama about the position of Secretary of State, there is no word yet on whether she will get the job or whether she will take the job if it has been offered to her.

The talking heads on TV and the blog commenters have been focusing on former President Bill Clinton. Will foreign contributors to his library and foundation, and the remuneration from his various globe-trotting speeches exclude Hillary from consideration? Should she be considered given some of the comments she and Bill made about Obama during the primary? Will Bill pass the vetting process? Will Obama seek assurances that there will be no conflict of interest on the former President's part from this time forward? What are your thoughts on this? I'd like to hear from you.

There's an interesting article in the Washington Times today featuring comments by Virginia's 7th District Representative Eric Cantor (who Democrats couldn't defeat this time around, unfortunately) in which he says that the Republican Party is no longer relevant to voters. Click the link above to read the entire article. Here's an excerpt:

"Where we have really fallen down is, we have lacked the ability to be relevant to people's lives. Let's set aside the last eight years, and our falling down in living up to expectations of what we said we were going to do," Mr. Cantor told The Washington Times in his district office outside of Richmond. "It's the relevancy question."

It really worries me when more and more people criticize the bailout, no matter what side of the aisle they sit on. Now, super-conservative Jim Inhofe is talking. Read the entire Rawstory article from which the following excerpts are taken: 

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is making waves by criticizing Treasury Secretary Paulson's handling of the bailout and saying that Congress should take back whatever is left of the $700 billion "blank check" it issued to the Bush administration in October.

The ultra-conservative Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World, "It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money [Paulson] has given away to anyone. ... It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing. ... He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it."

On "60 Minutes" tonight, Barack and Michelle Obama sat for their first interviews since the election. Obama, with his usual calm demeanor, talked about the work he is doing during the transition including his plans for stabilizing the economy, creating jobs, and instituting good health care policies; but, he also said that he wants to make sure he has his national security team in place because the transition time is when the U.S. might be especially vulnerable to terrorism. To see the complete interview with more on Obama's planning for the Presidency as well as a glimpse into their personal family transition, click here.

Terry McAuliffe, former DNC Chairman, has thrown his hat into the ring for next year’s Gubernatorial race in Virginia. He is well-known in Democratic circles because of his history with the party and his national exposure, lately as campaign chairman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but it’s also true that he has picked up both supporters and detractors along the way. Politico’s article, “McAuliffe starts Va. charm offensive” from which these excerpts are taken, outlines his plan for winning the Democratic primary and some of the obstacles he will face:

He's got the charm, cash and connections, but now the consummate Democratic pitchman is facing his toughest sales job in Virginia.

The brassy 51-year-old Syracuse, N.Y., native is preparing to run for governor of Virginia in 2009, a bid that will start with a Hillary-esque 60-day listening tour of the Old Dominion.

McAuliffe’s central strategy is classic Terry-buys-the-drinks: He’s planning an ambitious fundraising campaign on behalf of Virginia’s Democratic establishment…

McAuliffe, though, faces an uphill climb in the primary, confronting a pair of tough, popular opponents who have spent their careers building reputations inside the state: Alexandria County Del. Brian Moran, brother of Rep. Jim Moran, and state Sen. Creigh Deeds, a downstate moderate…

…McAuliffe intends to run as a fairly conventional Democratic campaign on the issues. He says he wouldn’t raise taxes or cut education and health care to cope with the state’s $2.7 billion deficit — and puts the new emphasis on recruiting new businesses to the state.

Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is highly critical of John McCain, not for what you think--that he ran a bad campaign, that he picked Sarah Palin, that he allowed hate speech at his and especially, Palin's rallies--oh, no. He is upset that John McCain has betrayed conservative principles. Does he really think a Republican would have won the election if only he had been more conservative? It's like reality is a far off dimension for the likes of DeMint. George Bush has probably soiled the conservative brand for a generation or more by allowing himself to be used by the neo-cons who in turn prodded him into a disasterous war that has caused the greatest spending spree in our history using funds the country does not have, thus turning conservatism on its "fiscal responsibility" head. Additionally, DeMint appears to want little or no governmental regulation. We, as taxpayers, have already been held up by the modern-day robber barrons who have run amok and have transferred so much wealth that, if we didn't have leadership and policy changes such as those Obama can provide to try to "redistribute the wealth" (no, that is not a dirty term,) we would be on the verge of having a tiny percentage of the population extraordinarily rich and the rest fairly to very poor. A healthy middle class is what makes a robust economy and thriving country. According to CNN, what follows are some of the complaints from DeMint about McCain. I guess these McCain stances do not conform enough to DeMint's isolationist, backward-looking, exceptionalist ideas of what he envisions the United States to be and how it should function:

"McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat," DeMint said. "His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."