America is burning & the GOP is doing what?

As a writer I can sometimes get a tad obsessed with finding just the right way to say something. What a delight to see that someone has already come up with a very short and very sweet message for Obama and team to employ on the stimulus. Here it is:

Republicans fiddle, while the economy burns.

Pre-stimulus, bipartisan terrors strike the blogosphere

Paul Krugman's column is getting a lot of comment in the lefty blogosphere this morning, largely from folks who agree with Krugman that Obama may be declaring stimulus surrender before the real fight over the plan starts. Like other bloggers, I worry that Obama is emphasizing bipartisanism to the point of self destruction. (Translation: Placating Republicans matters more than finding real solutions.)

On the other hand, I still want to see how this all plays out and what the Obamites actually do. On the other other hand, I applaud my fellow bloggers for bellowing about their concern. If we don't speak up early and often, we won't be able to affect the outcome.

And so life in the Age of Obama begins, 15 days before inauguration.*

Here are some of the more interesting posts I've seen.

Kevin Drum:

Obama's team is so focused on getting a big bipartisan majority for their stimulus legislation that they're negotiating their goals down even before they actually start negotiating

Josh Marshall:

Obama seems to be telegraphing that to a significant degree the fundamental structure of the legislation is being built around accommodating the concerns of Republicans -- members of a political party that are about as unpopular and weak as you can get at the moment

John Aravois:

But don't worry, if we just appease the Republicans this once, they'll stop being mean to us.

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*Obviously, the transition to our new prez has been barreling down the tracks for weeks now. With the holidays behind us, though, we've finally gotten beyond questions of who's going to do what in the new administration and into substance. That's why I'm marking today, Jan. 5, as the real start of the Age of Obama. (Remember, you heard it here first.)