Countdown Monday: State and the Union
Posted: Monday, December 01, 2008 8:59 PM by Countdown
Filed Under:
Blogging the Countdown
State and the Union:
Abraham Lincoln managed to appoint to his cabinet, four of his rivals for the 1860 Republican Convention. Barack Obama has now made one of his, his Vice President... another his Secretary of State... a third likely to become his Secretary of Commerce. But in our fifth story on the Countdown: as he rolled out his national security team this morning, the President-Elect could now out-Lincoln Lincoln... He also has a Secretary of Defense fresh from the Bush Administration... An Attorney General and a U-N Ambassador from the Clinton Administration... A head of an Economic Recovery Advisory Board out of the Carter and Reagan Administrations... And a National Security Advisor who appeared at at least one campaign event for the Senator he defeated in the election last month. This is not the dream of Doris Kearns Goodwin's publishers come true -- another "Team Of Rivals"... This is bordering on... a Coalition Government.
Clinton Initiative:
Secretary of State Nominee Hillary Clinton, Day One. Part Two -- to offend lovers of Hemingway -- is.. "Ask Not For Whom The Bill Tolls; It Tolls For Thee." Our fourth story on the Countdown: with his wife poised to become the nation's official point-person on international diplomacy, the former President agreeing to detail not only the 10 million dollars he earned last year, mostly speaking about international diplomacy.ODDBALL: Romanian Debates gone wild.
Undocking the Doctrine:
If George W. Bush were prime minister of India, receiving intelligence, as India has, that Pakistani elements played a role in last week's terror strike, we might well expect India soon, to attack... well, Iraq, of course. But in our third story tonight, India, instead, is understandably focused... on Pakistan... And has in its diplomatic arsenal the precedent of the Bush Doctrine, the claim that nations -- at least, those run by Mr. Bush -- have the right to attack countries that might pose a threat. Leaving Barack Obama, and us, to ask the question we will ask nightly until the inauguration... What Do We Do Now?
Worsties...see below.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: George Will and Bill-O the Clown vie for tonight's top honors.
Palin Pitch: On the eve of the run-off election between Senator Saxby Chambliss and his Democratic challenger, Jim Martin...Their surrogates -- Governor Sarah Palin and the rapper Ludacris -- campaigned in Georgia today. Clearly... a vainglorious attempt to sway voters with gibberish from a so-called younger generation... And I'm not referring to the hip-hop star. In our number one story on the Countdown... it's Governor -- Give Me A Turkey Killin' Backdrop and I'll Talk All Day -- Palin... Stumping for Chambliss... with a vigilant eye on... her prospects for 2012.
