FYI:
I think it was Chris Matthews on MSNBC last night who said he's talked with senior Obama staffers who have said Obama's inner circle / cabinet will be 3 things:

Bi-partisan
Diverse
No Retreads / Youth

Basically, they want a bi-partisan group of diverse individuals who havent been around the White House too much before.

FWIW:
Rahm Emanuel has been offered the Chief of Staff position

Well, there goes the "bi-partisan" thing right out the window, because this one's known as an "elbow pusher" for the Dems.

Kap, don't start this so early. As soon as he picks one democrat "bi-partisan" is out the window? Rahm knows the Congress and is an asset to get bills through.

FWIW:
Rahm Emanuel has been offered the Chief of Staff position

So how many Supreme Court retirements do you think we get in 2009? 2? 3?

i think 2 or 3 in the first term

Has anybody here ever heard the Black National Anthem? The last line of the song is "Let us march on, 'till victory is won." Someone sent that to me in an e-mail today and the lyrics to the song look deeper than they ever did before.

So how many Supreme Court retirements do you think we get in 2009? 2? 3?

I bet there are a bunch of, er, retiring Republican staffers who are a wee bit annoyed that their bosses opposed extending unemployment benefits.

The HS I went to was about 80% African American during the time I was there. I learned that song and always wondered what there is about the lyrics that makes it the 'Black NA.' Great song, for everyone.

Opening shot...

While I expected a little last-minute racial ugliness at the end of the 2008 campaign, particularly as Republican hopes faltered, I did not expect to find it on the Drudge Report, a right-wing but otherwise respectable Web site.

Yet the kind of stories chosen to top this site read by millions took a disturbing turn Tuesday.

" 'BLACK PANTHERS' BLOCK ACCESS TO VOTING STATION" linked to amateur video of a pair of ominous guys loitering around a polling place in Philadelphia. "IN OBAMA WE TRUST: 'He is Going to Pay For My Gas and Mortgage,' " inaccurately quoted an African-American woman saying that, if Obama is elected, she won't have to worry about those two essentials -- a big difference.

And on and on. "Ayers, Farrakhan Vote at Same Polling Location as Obama." "America jittery." "Prepare for chaos."

It was alarmist, unfair and racist -- partisan propaganda at its worst.

What was the deal with the woman who sang the National Anthem at the rally last night? Someone should have made her practice using the correct words.

Hillary Clinton Resumes Attacking Obama
November 5, 2008 | Issue 44•45

NEW YORK—Less than 20 minutes after Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, New York senator Hillary Clinton officially resumed her political attacks against the senator from Illinois. "My fellow Americans, I admire Barack Obama, but in his first 20 minutes as president-elect, he has failed time and time again to deliver the change he promised," the former Democratic presidential candidate said at a small rally in Harlem. "Mr. Obama may deliver a rousing victory speech, but right now this country needs more than just speeches. It needs real leadership." In addition to her numerous scheduled public appearances, Clinton has also released a series of coordinated television and radio ads questioning the near-half-hour Obama has spent away from the White House, his failure to meet with a single foreign leader at Camp David since being elected, and the current lack of any female or minority appointments to his cabinet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZHTJsR4Bc

She. Didnt. Know. Africa. Was. A. Continent.

Holy s***.

Before that he said she didn't know what countries were in NAFTA, but it's completely overshadowed by what he says after that.

I just wonder why you are so sure that this is the media "perpetuating" something.

I know that people blame the liberal media constantly, but theres also the possibility that the media was easy on Palin and we are going to find out she really had absolutely no clue.

I mean some of her answers to questions are just mind numbing.

This is just stupid f***ing bulls***. The media perpetuating this is just terrible. Faux News included.

This is just stupid f***ing bulls***. The media perpetuating this is just terrible. Faux News included.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZHTJsR4Bc

She. Didnt. Know. Africa. Was. A. Continent.

I could seriously picture her not knowing who the members of NAFTA are.

I couldn't. I think this is all blown out of proportion crap. But whatever, who cares, it doesn't matter anymore.

They are, and I agree with that point, but I just think it's ludicrous that she doesn't have second grade knowledge.

I didn't remember offhand where Myanmar was, I had to guess because they were brown people and I knew it was in SE Asia. But that's like in a different category than not knowing where China is.

Among the findings:

—One-third of respondents couldn't pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.

—Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.

—Two-thirds didn't know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.

—Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.

—While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.

—While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.

—Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.

—Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.

Some of it might be hyperbole, but I think that she may have had a stunning lack of world knowledge for a potential VP candidate. I think right now there is a certain group of Republican's who are out to take down Palin, the ones who come from big cities, with big money and big corporate connections.

Obviously all theory, but I just have this feeling so much negative Palin stuff is about to hit.

Kap,

Some of it might be hyperbole, but I think that she may have had a stunning lack of world knowledge for a potential VP candidate. I think right now there is a certain group of Republican's who are out to take down Palin, the ones who come from big cities, with big money and big corporate connections.

Obviously all theory, but I just have this feeling so much negative Palin stuff is about to hit.

And almost by definition...Fox News is part of the big money, corporate section of the Republican party.

For those of us who cant' see YouTube at work... what is the deal with this Africa thing you are talking about?

For those of us who cant' see YouTube at work... what is the deal with this Africa thing you are talking about?

Smith: Now that the election is over, Carl, tell us more about those reports of infighting between Palin and McCain staffers.

Cameron: I wish I could have told you more at the time but all of it was put off the record until after the election. There was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lack the degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, and a heartbeat away from the presidency. We're told by folks that she didn't know what countries that were in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that being the Canada, the US, and Mexico. We're told she didn't understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself ... a whole host of questions that caused serious problems about her knowledgeability. She got very angry at staff, thought that she was mishandled.....was particularly angry about the way the Katie Couric interview went. She didn't accept preparation for that interview when the aides say that that was part of the problem. And that there were times that she was hard to control emotionally there's talk of temper tantrums at bad news clippings.