Do over

Well this is where we find out whether or not Obama has learned anything in his first few weeks on the job. Here are three lessons he should be taking away from the Stimulus debate.

1) The Democrats in both houses of Congress are pathetic, selfish, sniveling idiots. I know it's an unpopular point of view to say this but the distorted GOP criticism of the stimulus as a "pork" package does have some basis in fact. It is loaded down with pet projects and dumb ideas that give too much power to the lie that the whole endeavor is worthless when all reasonable people agree that the opposite is true. This is mostly the fault of Congressional Democrats but also Obama's mistake for opening the process with an insufficiently narrow definition of "shovel-ready project" If the idea behind a stimulus bill is "let's throw a bunch of money around" it shouldn't be this difficult to get people in line behind throwing the money at building things and putting people to work. But letting the stupid and selfish Congressional Democrats fantasize their way to a bill isn't the best way to get there. Even so, Obama's major fault lies in his refusal to understand that...

2) No matter what you do, Republican dead-enders will not help you. See, for example, the following footage of Senator Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor yesterday.



There is no point in flattering these clowns. They're just waiting to turn on you with more bullshit. Also the last election cycle (3 months ago!) was a resounding negation of public support for their so-called ideas. They don't get to drive the bus right now. Stop giving them a spot in the front seat.

3) Also in the back of the bus we should find the hostile/ignorant/indifferent national punditry elite. The so called journalists in the entertainment industry continue to cling to their fantasy that wisdom in public affairs springs only from the mythical fount of "bi-partisanship" Few ideas could be stupider not only because "one of the parties is insane" but also because it... well... it just flies in the face of logic to sell out the people who put you in office in order to make the the TV people smile prettier. Obama, the candidate, was a master at handling the stupid media. Obama the President needs to follow that example.

One way for Obama to regain the initiative and bring everyone back in line is to call them all out. Obama should threaten to veto any stimulus package that either a) throws the money at too many dumb ideas or worse b) contains more of the same discredited Republican tax giveaways to the wealthy. A veto threat is credible because even the stupidest lawmakers have to acknowledge that we are in deep shit here. The consequences of doing nothing are too great to ignore. Make them all shut the fuck up and get back to work doing it right.

Update: Let the record show that, through this crisis, Louisiana continues to be represented in the Senate by a "high-hung nincompoop" We are all very proud.

Upperdate: And, of course, this should have been Obama's first move.

Uppestdate: Looks like the crappy Senators may have reached some sort of crappy deal. More on how possibly crappy tomorrow.