Jim Jones

Well, that would be good news. The best news in what we have seen so far is that it doesn't look like he is picking a combination of martinets and sycophants.
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It continues to strike how low a bar Bush has set.

Peter Pace-now there is a crew cut I do not miss.
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Another impressive pick it seems.

Can we just forget "Team of Rivals" now, and instead start using "Best and Brightest"?

Or, how about "Best and Brightest All-Star Team Rivals"?

KT-
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Did you see this bit by Benen:
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http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015770.php
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It harks back to Kristol's famous memo that health reform has to be stopped, because it will work, people will love it, and the middle class will be lost forever to the conservatives.
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A statement that effective policy that is net beneficial is bad politics for conservatives seems to be worth exploring. Especially given the comparative success of the US and European models over the last 15 years.

That Best and the Brightest thing didn't work out too well.
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This looks more like the Art of the Possible to me, which I'm generally happier with than the hubris that surrounded the Kennedy cabinet.
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I remember when a guy I was taking a course from said "Back when Jim Tobin and I were running the economy..." That belief didn't work out so well.

And therein lies the rub. Pragmatism. Who decides what that is?
For health care under reaching may be more legislatively doable but is it more pragmatic in the sense of solving the problem?

What I'm hoping is that the pragmatism that we are seeing in other early moves by this administration-to-be will also govern the health care reform effort.
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Yeah. Except sometimes there is no middle ground. I really don't see an effective solution that includes the insurance companies in their current for-profit gatekeeping role. And I can't imagine a "pragmatic" person concluding that such a big player could really be swept out.
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Edwards' ideas came closest. An effective government option would eventually eliminate the insurance companies, as the need for a subsidy to allow medicare hmos demonstrates. But I assume the insurance companies are aware of this, and will seek similar subsidies.

How about "the best and the brightest among people who actually know what they are doing"?
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That's good too. I still feel like the dewy eyed bride on the third day of the honeymoon too.
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We'll see.

Has anyone seen hydroplane races?
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I ask that because it seems that the Obama plans a similar running start on Jan 20th. I've noted that all of his appointements are hard nosed organizational types.
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I have the feeling that when most of his team is in place, he will turn his attention to shaping and codifying the most important bills ready to be presented on the House and Senate floors the moment he takes office. The 'hard nosed' aspect of his operatives is for making sure that things go smoothly on the Dem side of things.
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He's set the table with his move with Liebermann and his conferences with moderates in the GOP and they know what's coming, maybe not in detail, but in general. When Jan 21 comes, the ball will be in play. The Dems will know, the GOP will know, and the far right will know what's coming and they will not be able to stop it.
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Obama's going to play his high cards early.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any instance in modern US history (even back to the Depression) when a president has had so much political momentum.
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He has the House, 59/58 in the senate (domestic/defense) at least, and a popular mandate of his own. Has that ever happened before?

"and the far right will know what's coming and they will not be able to stop it."
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They may have given up trying 53. I just looked at The Corner and it appears the biggest issue is the Sarah Palin turkey video. They are going to show everybody how tough they are by eating turkey. Or something. It's hard for me to understand to be honest.

As far as momentum as it translates to mandate I think bush showed us that mandates are demanded. He came into office with arguably the least amount of momentum and a split senate and he was able to push through his tax cuts rather easily.

PNNTO:
Yeah, and blood-spattered holiday greetings to you too! I could not get over just how bizarre that was.
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I think Obama knows he's got an extremely rare, if not unique, opportunity. He's essentially subducted Hillary's machine and has incorporated it into his own. I know a lot of people don't like what he did with Liebermann (some won't speak to me now because of my stand) but he sure seems to be stacking every advantage he can in his favor.
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I seriously doubt that he even expects Liebermann to lockstep on the FP issues, either. He just wants Lieberman for his domestic policy votes, because that's what he's going after early.
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At the same time, the Jim Jones and other FP appointments are going to be smoothly revving up. There was a guest on one of Rachel Maddows' shows that commented that Hillary isn't really that far apart from Obama on foreign policy, and I think the unspoken thread is Obama's plans on how to deal with Israel. Look for a LOT harder shove from Obama than GWB ever gave.
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"Center Right" my eye!
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He's going to go left of center domestically (which is what is needed) and move the US closer to the Rooseveltian "walk softly and carry a big stick" approach.

"He came into office with arguably the least amount of momentum and a split senate and he was able to push through his tax cuts rather easily."
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I agree to an extent PNNTO. But one thing he did have was a majority in the House and Senate, not of the present quality, but a majority nonetheless. He also had the wind at his back economically. My memory isn't clear, but I think even the dotcom debacle occurred after he took office.
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For him, though, the similarities disappear in that his popular mandates were very narrow, and fraught with skulduggery.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any instance in modern US history (even back to the Depression) when a president has had so much political momentu
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Johnson in 1964.

I agree that as stinky as the Lieberman stuff was there will be benefits on the domestic side. But sweet Hay-Zeus I cannot stand Joe. i hope you were joking about people not speaking to you over that.
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I think what I was saying, poorly, is that a President Obama needs to be bolder rather than more cautious right out of the gate. If bush was able to perform as he did than all the more reason, with the current conditions you point out, for BHO to Go Big.
If Rahm was being straightforward than that is exactly what he will do.

And, no, while Bush was aggressive, he wasn't effective. The Rumsfeld death watch was on. There was talk of a one term presidency. 9/11 made Bush.

jayack:
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It's interesting that Johnson and Obama have a common denominator here, namely a left of center agenda and civil rights. What Obama could do with that 68 to 32 bump in the Senate, instead of having to cobble one up with Liebermann, et al.
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PNNTO:
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I take these appointments as a signial that he will. He's really putting together a shadow government, made all the more effective by Bush & Co's de facto abdication of the throne.

jay,yes, he wanted tax cuts and got them. That was the sum and total of what he desired. At that point anyway.
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I just looked back a review on his first 100 days, which I thought we were discussing, and that was about all he was trying for. That and embarrassing our country with China.
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By the end of summer he was Mr One Term (recall his having to go to Crawford to ponder Stem Cell position? Oy) and of course then 9/11 made him.

"There was talk of a one term presidency. 9/11 made Bush."
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Yeah. His political armor was such that even Hillary felt compelled to vote for the Iraq war. A lot of other Dems did, too.
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That's why I've never really held it against her.
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He used that political capital to every advantage, and the first major test, Katrina, was accompanied by the naked display of politically motivated spin meant to surpress any disagreement and to shift the share of blame for that debacle away from the GOP and the administration. The dichotomy of world opinion vs. what we heard here was rooted in reality, not ingorance on the part of outsiders.
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Obama on the other hand, doesn't need that type of political capital. His appears to be genuine.

Collins in the NYT today wants Bush to make it a de jure abdication 53.