Michael Tomasky, always a voice of sanity and lovely prose stylist, weighs in on the alleged disappointment of liberals with the pre-partum Obama Administration.
I’d add two thoughts: Obama’s oft-stated intent to make the infrastructure program a green jobs program that will help wean the nation off foreign oil, is at once progressive, environmentally smart and good for national security–a major step beyond any previous administration. I’d also disagree with Tomasky that naming Robert Gates as SecDef is somehow a concession to the centrist Establishment. As I’ve often argued here, Gates is the best person for the job–and very much in line with Obama’s diplomacy first doctrine. He says as much in this piece in Foreign Affairs.
We journalists are never so dopey as when we make predictions, but our tendency to extrapolate on the basis of practically no actionable information–and I’ve been guilty of this more than once–is a close second in the legion of dopiness. Everyone should just wait, watch–perhaps take the opportunity to read a good book (I’ll have some wonkified Chrismas suggestions soon)–and hope for the best.