I'm sorry, but I can't imagine anything pettier than deciding not to support Obama

[cali]

because you don't like this or that staff or cabinet appointment. Just seems like a simple, small minded way of going about things. I can't help but think that those doing so, have a predilection toward not supporting him anyway. Either that or they don't understand Obama and presidential politics.

[onehandle]

1. Bingo. Especially on the last sentence. nt

[Phredicles]

2. On top of which, you gotta admit his judgement has been pretty good so far,

and so if some of his appointments don't have my heart racing with excitement, I'm willing to wait and see if he can make it work. He's been very good at making things work.

Mind you, I wouldn't exactly be heartbroken if the senate democrats decided to go ahead and flush the Lieberturd despite his urgings. But I believe I see why he's taking this approach.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Yes, it's petty, and, yes, people here are VERY petty and don't understand...

how Washington works.

[Skwmom]

4. Obama says he wants to unite the country. Well having H.Clinton play a MAJOR role in his admin

will NOT help to achieve that goal. In fact it will do the EXACT opposite because MANY on the left and right (and the independents) do not trust the Clintons.

Foreign policy is the area that Obama has the best chance of making a very favorable difference. It makes me wonder just how much credit the Clintons want to take for that happening?

There is NOTHING petty about wanting real change.

[cali]

15. lol. forgive me if i trust Obama's judgment over YOURS.

your post stands as a great illustration of the kind of pettiness and sorry, ignorance, I was pointing out.

[Skwmom]

17. Ignorance? Well I'm far from always right but....

I thought the deregulation Clinton passed would lead to a financial meltdown that would dwarf the S&L debacle.

I thought that NAFTA and GATT would suck jobs from this country and lead to world wide worker exploitation and environmental devastation b/c there were no worker rights or environmental protections.

I thought the whole real estate market boom was a fraud waiting to explode and was most likely just a way for them to keep this phony economy going until a new administration was sworn in (and a way for them to stockpile more ill-gotten gains).

I told my friends months ago to pull out of the market.

I'm not always right b/c no one has perfect judgment. But I will continue to speak my mind b/c as it stands now, I seem to be right a lot more often then the geniuses (politicians and political consultants) running D.C. Of course, Lawrence O'Donnell did say that Palin demonstrated the average intelligence of a Washington politician so I guess that shouldn't be too hard to do. Wow, was that comment ever comforting.

[sufrommich]

16. "Real change" will be what ever Obama decides he can

realistically get. Unless you think Hillary will go "rogue" on his ass,I'm assuming she'll be carrying out the wishes of the POTUS.The Clintons are popular politicians,I'd venture to say that most Democrats will be pretty pleased to see her given a role.

[blueclown]

5. This is typical interest group politics.

These small interest groups are trying to vie for power and prestige in the upcoming administration.

Common in any new administration.

[TwilightZone]

6. I suspect that those looking to nitpick every selection or overreact to every rumor...

Weren't exactly on Obama's side to begin with.

[OKNancy]

7. It's a good thing Obama is listening to his own brain rather

than some DUers... who have no say in the matter anyway.

He is doing exactly as he said. It's like some people weren't listening to what he has been saying for two years. How many times did Obama use the word bipartisan?

[elocs]

13. I'll give an amen to that. There are too many people here who believe

that they know exactly how things should be done. For months I have read "Obama needs to do this" or "Obama needs to do that". Right, because he has been such a dud at making his own decisions and choices. I think he has done quite nicely and I am perfectly willing to trust his judgment and to not second guess him at every turn.

[ellacott]

8. People here don't even have enough faith that he'll pick the right puppy for his daughters

I believe it's the nature of the beast around here.

[Bicoastal]

9. There are only three categories of people I feel Obama should avoid putting in his Cabinet:

1. People who are Bush loyalists and apologists.

2. People who appear on Fox News in order to slam Democrats.

3. People who are named Joe Lieberman.

If Obama hires any of these people, he's out of his mind. Other than that...it's an open field.

[HeraldSquare212]

10. I haven't seen anyone saying that here.

[Alter Ego]

11. There are gonna be lots of things to be upset with Barack about

in the next four to eight years. The fact that the media is speculating like wildfire about his cabinet appointments is causing folks here to vomit on their shoes, when in fact there are absolutely no concrete sources to back up their allegations.

Fuck all of them. You know what? Obama's been right so far about pretty much everything. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a while.

Also,

--Losing Dean from the DNC does NOT FUCKING MEAN THE 50-STATE STRATEGY IS DEAD. GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, IT WON US TWO ELECTIONS. YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE BRAINDEAD TO ABANDON IT NOW. OBAMA DID NOT FORCE DEAN OUT, NO ONE FORCED DEAN OUT. HE LEFT OF HIS OWN ACCORD.

--Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff does NOT FUCKING MEAN THAT OMG OBAMA SEKRITLY HATES HOWARD DEAN. It means that Obama thinks Emanuel will be good at the Chief of Staff job--enforcing the President's (for you chicken littles, that is Obama, in case you forgot) agenda.

--If Dean does not get the HHS spot, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT OMG BILL CLINTON'S PENIS IS INFLUENCING OBAMA'S THOUGHTS AND JAMES CARVILLE IS GOD AGAIN AND THE DNC IS CLOSING OFF AND OMG OMG OMG OMG NO ONE IS EVER GOING TO LISTEN TO US EVER AGAIN. It simply means that Dean did not get the spot.

--If a lot of Clinton vets seem to be getting temp spots in Obama's transition, guess what? It's because Clinton, love him or hate him, was the most influential Dem Prez of the last 30 years. You could shoot an arrow into the air from the Capitol and probably land it on a former Clinton staffer, who would then bang into three more Clinton staffers, knocking over another few Clinton staffers.

God, I have a feeling that a year from now, some of the folks saying this shit will be all: "OBAMA DOESN'T USE VERMONT MAPLE SYRUP--HE MUST HATE HOWARD DEAN!"

[WI_DEM]

12. Isn't that the truth?

[Astrad]

14. Can one criticize the picks but still support him? Hope so. n/t

[H2O Man]

18. That would seem

a rather obvious distinction from what the OP addresses.

[4lbs]

19. I'll wait 6 months after his inauguration and see which executive orders and legislative bills he's

signed.

That will give a better indication of what he's about than the talks and appointments he's done just two weeks after being elected.

[kevinds13]

20. People are acting like his appointments determine everything.

He is STILL the boss! This isn't some GWB situation where he's the dumbest one in the room and deflects all decisions on Dick...he will be having the final say folks, I hope thats why you voted for him and don't lose sight of it.