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- In preparation for a Thursday pitch for his economic stimulus package, Barack Obama announced a new position in his administration, a chief performance officer, tasked with government reform and restoring fiscal order. The first CPO will be McKinsey & Company senior director Nancy Killefer.
- The supposed drama between Harry Reid and Roland Burris has predictably given way to an alternative path for seating the Senator-designate, and the Illinois House says an impeachment of Rod Blagojevich could come by week's end.
- Barron Young Smith and Suzy Khimm have an interesting post explaining the backstory between Dianne Feinstein, Leon Panetta and the politics of California's defense industry.
- The fight for the RNC chair has become almost comedic in tone, as the committee's members can't even get together a quorum for hosting a second candidate debate and Dave Weigel summarizes the GOP's curious obsession with outreach instead of substance (e.g., McCain's new PAC). See also Paul Jenkins on the enduring legacy of white supremacists on the GOP.
- Would you believe that Al Franken's (presumed) victory in Minnesota is actually great news for Republicans? Benjamin Sarlin would like you to believe so, quoting one Republican strategist as saying "Al Franken is a very tempting target because he is so outrageous. It's similar to Joe Biden -- we hope that Al Franken is the gift that keeps on giving." Oh, that deeply unserious and gaffe-prone Biden, always sticking his foot in his mouth, when he's not spending his last days as a U.S. Senator on bipartisan Congressional delegations to southwest Asia to get a jumpstart on diplomacy in the region.
- The wingnut fun doesn't stop with Adam's look at Big Hollywood. No, the least-missed figure from campaign 2008, Joe the Plumber, has been tapped by Pajamas Media to be a "war correspondent" in Israel. So much for the Right's dreams of building a conservative journalistic enterprise with integrity.
- Whether it's Arlen Specter comparing Eric Holder to Alberto Gonzales, Cliff Stearns putting Congress on hold for some gridiron action, or George Bush subtly snubbing Barack Obama, it's painfully clear that the GOP is fatally incapable of being serious about the business of governing.
--Mori Dinauer
