No doubt it won’t be boring. I think Obama has the potential to be one if the greatest leaders in the country’s history, but I also still think that Congress is still a bunch of self-serving, graft-swilling, lobbyist owned, narcissistic half-wits incapable of looking past staying in office or even upholding their oath of office. Pelosi and McConnell, looking your direction.

Such contrasts are the things of great comedy and/or great tragedy.

AP,

That rightist bias that existed for so long is dying out for two reasons: 1) The right wing has little appeal to the young and is increasingly perceived as the value system of angry old people. 2) Liberalism is largely a byproduct of education and as technology democratizes education, liberalism will only grow not just here, but globally.

We may be center-right for now, but that won’t last. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. The right wing is more about competition and the left wing is more about cooperation. Cooperation and the conscious decision to cooperate over competing is the path to the future because right now, as a species, we are competing the planet to death.

Are you joking? Since 1912 there have only been 7 elections where the winner had FEWER than Obama’s 364 electoral college votes. Did all of those presidents have mandates? And, as far as history is concerned, Obama’s “win ratio” of popular votes is nowhere near the top of the heap. Just because the last two years were close doesn’t mean Obama’s win is some unprecedented victory. Had the Democratic Party offered up a candidate with a fraction of Obama’s charisma in 2000 or 2004, we wouldn’t have had the buffoonery of the last 8 years.

Obama’s victory is, at best, a mandate for change; not a mandate for the wholesale enactment of any and every Democratic policy. Just look at the ballot measures and exiting polling on individual issues; a solid majority of Obama voters have yet to adopt even the most basic liberal ideologies. There’s certainly a migration toward the left, but, for better or worse, this is still a very center-right country.

I agree, but I would like to say that while Novak in particular isn’t much of a threat moving forward, we do need to watch diligently for those who would take up the cause of his masters. He’ll be replaced soon enough. Fascism is like rust. It never sleeps and destroys everything it touches unless neutralized.

So long as this country remains starkly divided ideologically, no executive has a mandate to institute any policy he or she may wish. President Bush did not have a mandate; Barack Obama does not have a mandate. When politicians begin tossing around words like “mandate” America runs an immense risk of having individual liberties demolished, as evidenced by post-9/11 American politics.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/05/novak-mandate/

I also wonder why people like Bill Kristol, who have been wrong on just about everything (most recently, wanted Palin on the ticket) and Novak keep getting print space without questions asked.

It seems to me that whoever wins a particular election has a “mandate,” but that mandate should be used cautiously and is always subject to the voter’s speaking again.

Have a great day and God bless you!