SmartRemarks

Sorry I haven’t posted for a few days. But the holiday interregnum is now well and truly over, and the ordinary part of winter has commenced. Kids are back in school, the full staff is back in the office, and as of today the new Congress has been sworn in.

(Of course, that last part took place absent the junior Senators from Minnesota—although Franken’s win in the long, long recount, finally certified yesterday, is heartening, Norm Coleman’s legal challenge will delay things further despite being almost certainly doomed to fail—or Illinois—one can’t help but feel a little bit sympathetic to Roland Burris, but rejecting him as a symbol of Blago’s hubris is the sensible thing to do, and Burris certainly knew what a minefield he was stepping into. From Delaware Joe Biden is actually still there, until his successor is formally appointed on January 20; and likewise New York and Colorado will need new appointees Very Soon Now too, when Hillary Clinton and Ken Salazar move on to the cabinet.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun.

Seldom in political life has two-and-a-half months seemed quite so long a wait. People voted for Obama because they want change, and the daily news just makes them want it all the sooner. (Just today:  GM stock hits its lowest value in 60 years, DHL ceases North American operations and fires nearly 10,000 people, Circuit City declares bankruptcy as it goes into the holiday season owing $650 million to its suppliers.) But the inauguration isn’t until January 20, and as Obama pointed out in his press conference Friday, the country only has one president at a time.

Read the rest of this entry »