Maybe it is TT's fault for taking our eye off the ball and coasting since the election.
As Obama put together his Team of Rivals, we had to wonder if it was not possible for the tent of inclusiveness to be just too big. We held our breath (and nose and tongue) when the tent opened up to include Hillary (and BILL). Maybe it was a smart way of neutralizing her. Maybe it was a politically savvy move that will reap more rewards than the ginormous list of negatives bringing back the Clintons, their drama, their baggage and their conflicts of interest will enevitably bring in industrial quantities. Maybe.
The whole National Security team requires 36 point bold faced type so large are the egos. Was O exhibiting just a bit of overconfidence in his ability to control this crew? He must know what he is doing. Right?
Then we have the Secretary of Agriculture. No one remembers who is Secretary of Agriculture ten seconds after they are nominated but we do. Tom Vilsack? Is he not just a tad too close to big agri-business and big biotech? What happened to all that talk about the family farm? There is governing from the 'centre' but Vilsack, like others, assumes the centre is a pretty big place.
Our angst blossomed with the release of the inaugural festivies and the inclusionn of Homophobe Rick Warren. Now don't get us wrong. Warren has and is doing some really good things vis a vis HIV/AIDS, global warming and poverty.But surely O could have found a man of the cloth who didn't equate gay unions with pedophilia, incest or polygamy!!! Does the fact that he provided donuts to gay rights activists during an anti-prop 8 demonstration balance out pedophilia analogies??
O says he wants to be inclusive. O says we have to disagree without being disagreeable. Strikes TT that comparing gay marriage to pedophilia or incest is pretty disagreeable. This is no policy difference. If Rick Warren can fit in the big tent that is Obamaland, then can we expect an anti-Semite to speak? How about giving the Klu Klux Clan a float in the parade. How about an al- quaeda representative so that their viewpoint gets taken into account??
This tent is starting to look a little disfunctional. And, we get the uneasy feeling that there is a certain hubris driving the train. Time, of course, will tell .But, as we look at our wilted roses, we cannot help but wonder if the bloom is already off the O rose even before the President-elect takes over
