Via Shakesville, a story about President Obama writing an excuse note for a child who attended one of his events.

Politico posted an article last night that highlights Republican claims that the national deficit will be Obama’s downfall. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was quoted as saying: “This is not an inherited situation. This was a matter entirely of this administration’s and this Democratic leadership’s making.”
Cornyn’s statement is an easily disproved lie. The current deficit is $11.4 trillion and that hefty sum was not amassed in the less than five months Obama has been in office. The New York Times analyzed nearly ten years worth of CBO reports to find the …

“Make certain he doesn’t run around in East Harlem without identification.”

- Sen. Chuck Rangel, responding to a question about what President Obama should do during his visit to New York.

I’m not a lawyer, nor have I ever played one on TV, but I have to think that, if you were a plaintiff bringing suit, you would not want the very first sentence of the judge’s decision to read like this:

Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal’s Deputy Editor, wrote in a column that Republican’s should get back to their roots (Reagan) because voters would probably prefer those economic policies to Obama’s. Too bad a poll conducted by Fox News (of all places) proved him wrong: 

This type of poll isn’t exactly a bastian of scientific integrity, but the results are especially promising considering the source. If a legitimate polling organization did the polling, the numbers would slant more in Obama’s favor. 
Republicans are all about two things: tax cuts and Reagan (three if …

Obama’s speech before Congress was satisfactory but not spectacular. It was erudite and engaging, sprinkled with populist phrases and encouraging enough to keep the market from going into a free-fall. Variations of the word responsible were used a dozen times. A metaphorical finger was wagged at the banking industry. Health care, energy and education got top billing. But the speech came up lacking on specifics- perhaps by design.

Oh, Obama. This Gregg to Commerce thing had better start making sense soon or we’re going to have some words, Mr. President.

Judd Gregg, still a sitting senator, has announced he will recuse himself from congressional voting as he awaits his appointment. This voting includes the stimulus plan that Gregg has been a vocal opponent of. As Brian Beutler says, a non-vote in this situation is the same as a “no” vote:

Hey, you guys remember Shawn? Yeah, neither do I, really, but he’s back from London and at the crack of dawn this morning he jimmied the lock on my patio door (especially impressive since I live on the second floor), plopped himself down on the couch and started watching the inauguration coverage. So meh, when in Rome…
Seriously, we would’ve used the liveblog room, but my technological wizardry is such that I can’t blog and watch cable at the same time. I could watch the streaming coverage online, but that would …

It’s 3:30 in the morning, and I’m drinking coffee before I head down to the Lincoln Memorial.  In approximately eight hours, Barack Obama will take the oath of office and America will have our first black president.  It is nearly impossible not to feel a thrill as I write those words.  How fitting and how beautiful that the Inauguration is part of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend, where we can be reminded of how far we’ve come.  The work is not done yet, but there is still a great …

I posted this for the first time almost a year ago, at the height of primary season, and then posted it again right before the Democratic National Convention. Seeing as how it’s officially January 20th, 2009 (in my time zone at least), I thought we’d start Inauguration Day off right: