and that is progress. Well, for me, personally. I'm one of the dreaded "Obama apologists," but I'm more than willing to sell Daschle down the river. For the first time, I can publicly tell the administration, "meh." Oh, to be sure, I could make arguments for ignoring Daschle's lapses, but in this instance: why bother?
So, I have had trouble to date transitioning from campaign mode to oversight mode. Sue me. I have wholeheartedly supported Barack Obama for President, and believed in the man, for almost two years. I'm as cynical as the next person, but I believed Obama, and when you believe a person is telling the truth, that belief ultimately will influence your analysis of that person's actions.
For so long, during the primaries and the general election, when the attacks on Obama were so ridiculous, the default reaction of "defend, justify" was easy, right, and popular.
When Obama won the general election and beat McCain, some folks here were ready, willing, and able to immediately switch over to opposition mode. They could oppose Cabinet picks, oppose policy pronouncements, and from my point of view, not give Obama a chance to actually show that "the proof is in the pudding." I was a bit more forgiving, because I irrationally felt so invested in the person, the phenomenon, Obama.
Therefore, if you check my recent comment history, you will see that my default position is to defend the Obama administration's decisions. In part this is in good faith, because I'm more moderate and (shudder) centrist than a lot of the other Dems here, and Obama's actions to date have been pretty moderate and centrist. So I would approve.
But on another level, I still hadn't moved on from the election. It was still "us v. them," Obama was by default the good guy, and he needed my support. And that's where I was until just recently.
Now we find Daschle afflicted with the same problems that plagued Geithner, more or less. Despite his problems, I thought Geithner should have been confirmed. And here I am, ready to offer arguments in defense of Daschle. It would be so easy. A part of me wants to do it, and in fact it wouldn't even be that hard to rationalize it.
But I just don't care. Daschle would probably be a fine HHS Secretary, but it's not hard to imagine many, many others that would be as good, if not better. Dean, for one.
So on this one, I won't be reflexively siding with Obama. Get rid of Daschle or keep him, for all I care. Whichever position will make advocating for and achieving universal healthcare easier, is what I will support. Sorry Daschle. Sorry Obama.
I knew this day would come, and I'm glad it has. I'm ready to move on.
PS: I'm drunk, so this probably doesn't make sense. Go Steelers! =)