It's just that media has nothing else to talk about and nobody expects Bush to actually accomplish anything positive.

Yes, I saw the headline on Huffington Post, "DEMS: OBAMA NEED TO BE MORE HANDS-ON." And Barney Frank: "He's going to have to be more assetive than he's been." and I though WHAT THE FUCK? Jesus Christ, Barney, shut the fuck up and give us a break here. You should be talking to the PRESIDENT, not the President-elect if you want something done. Man, all this hand-wringing 7 weeks before the inauguation is really pissing me off.

Well I posted on this in the Open thread. So yeah, I agree (somewhat. Paul Krugman has lent credence to the idea that Obama has to be a co-president or else! And given Bush's worry about his legacy, if he'd stop doing stuff to be in the way and instead actually let the Prez-elect be a "co-president" he'd at least salvage some piece of his legacy. The Paul Krugmans of the world would have to give him some credit for putting country first...)

BUT. Seriously. Barney Frank had the line of the night:

"At a time of great crisis with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time," Frank said. "I'm afraid that overstates the number of presidents we have.

Seriously - that's really one of the funniest things I've read in a while.

QT

Actually, QT, that is a funny quote and you can always count on Barney Frank for that kind of snark. But still, the initial premise that Obama has to do more before he officially takes office just looks like a lot of whining and provides fodder for the MSM to say that the Dems are already disgruntled with Obama. What can he realistically/legally do?

Obama will go down as the first President in history with a full head of gray by the time he's sworn in.

Frank said some funny shit but I can't really see what a President-ELECT can do beyond what he's doing right now.

I mean, it's not his fault the guy we have sucks balls.

Obama is in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Our sitting President ( and I use that term lightly) is doing just that, sitting on his ass and just ticking off the days on his Inauguration
Advent Calendar waiting for the chance to gallup into the sunset. Maybe he will really disappear into that sunset never to be found again.

My real hope is that the real No Drama Obama is just doing what he does best, which is to be really smart and always very well prepared.

I don't think the President-Elect should have to do anything. But - the fact remains that there is an entire constituency that is actively drafting him into service. Bob posted about this, complaining about the media narrative - but on the day he posted, the NY Times had had no less than 3 articles recommending that Bush resign and Obama take over. In short - the editorial staff has made a decision to push for Obama to step into the leadership breach. And, there was no more urgent call than Paul Krugman's, who weighed in on the issue of the vacuum of leadership during the transition before the Great Depression. OK - way to scare us into drafting the President-elect! And - it seems that the liberal folks trust Mr. Krugman... so I have to assume that his concerns are valid, and that something needs doing.

What can be done? Well - a lot, actually. The President can give him a lot of room to step in and do stuff, right now. And, from the article (and despite Frank's whining), it seems that Obama has actually already offered. He's already advised the president on what to do (hold a bipartisan meeting of congress) and offered to be at that meeting if needed. That's already a lot more than we've ever seen from any President Elect in our lifetimes (OK, I'll speak only for myself. In my 41 years, I've never seen anything like this.)

I take note, as well, Joe Biden's most recent "gaffe." "Gaffes" are when a politician says what's true but he wasn't supposed to say it, right? At the economic team roll-out, Biden called Obama "Mr. President". By the end of his speech he switched up to "Mr. President... ... ... Elect" Yeah. It took him that much effort to get the rest of the honorific out.

There's a truth here that can't be overlooked - despite the facts, there's a touchy-feely sense that Obama is already in charge. There's a DESIRE for him to already be in charge. It's like we've been in a long dark tunnel and we can see the light - and no one wants to walk steadily toward it - everyone wants to RUN! That's what it feels like, and Obama has stepped right up to the plate.

Despite how unfair it is - the fact is, ball players know this. They know what it looks like when their team mate is choking - when we're in the clutch and everyone is afraid to shoot the ball cuz - they might wind up being the goat. But real ballplayers aren't afraid of being the goat - they ask for the ball, and they shoot. Even if they weren't supposed to be the shooter. That's where we're at, and I'm very grateful that Obama isn't afraid to take the shot. It's too bad that he has to, but it looks like he does.

QT