A New Circus

There's the Burris circus, which may be resolved this week, tho Blago's will go on, crashing the center ring of the new circus. P. J. O'Rourke starts with a bang:

Is it too soon to talk about the failed Obama presidency just because Obama isn't president yet? That depends upon how quickly Barack Obama is able to apply the lessons he's learned from Management Secrets of the Illinois Governors. So far he's not doing very well. He has allowed America's current number one jackleg, crackpot, smut-mouth, slime-licking politician to give the Obama Senate seat to a lovable old African-American doofus whom no one has the heart to execrate. Roland Burris will be the kind of ornament to this year's Senate that the broken plastic Rudolph with its antlers missing was to last year's Christmas tree.

It's not just the right talking about a one-term Obama presidency, though on our side it's probably more wishful thinking than threat. (Will Barack be a uniter? :“When the current president was elected, one of the first things he did was sit down with The New York Times and a battery of reporters,” Berke said. “This president has not sat down with our New York Times press corps in a very long time, as even Bush did.”)

Jennifer Rubin sums up his missteps and immediate political challenges, including the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General, a figure of controversy for his role in the Clinton pardons, and even with a connection to our tawdry governor. HotAir:

That same impression will be made when the subject turns to Holder’s aborted partnership with Rod Blagojevich. Holder neglected to mention this on his questionnaire, but he agreed to represent Blagojevich to the Illinois Gaming Board to help push through a casino that Blagojevich and Obama ally Tony Rezko needed for his own financial benefit. The Gaming Board refused to accept Holder, and the Senate Judiciary Committee (or at least the Republican members) will be interested in hearing what exactly Holder intended to do for the corrupt cabal in Illinois.

The biggest question will be whether Barack Obama wants to have Blagojevich, Rezko, Clinton pardons, and freed terrorists discussed on the national news in connection to his incoming Hope and Change administration. Will he stick with Holder?

The Tribune headlines, 'Change' crashes into the Washington way. It could be Barack has stumbled in the transition because of the distraction of dealing with all his Chicago Way baggage--or it could be because he shares their sense of entitlement and machine assurance that they can control events--except when they can't. But at each step of the way, when people got in his way, Barack the ringmaster has tossed them aside. Democrats are already wondering who they have elected. The rest of us skeptics can be forgiven for wondering who Barack Obama really is for some time. He ran way left in the primaries and his voting record in both the Illinois and U.S. Senate was the most liberal among his colleagues. Yet he has flip-flopped or been vague on most of his major issues since then. As Bill Kristol notes:

Usually, presidents pretend their campaign positions are more than “campaign rhetoric.” Not Obama.

Has he filled his cabinet with figureheads? Will the real power be vested in all his issue czars in the White House? And how will he resolve the conflict between his relatively moderate economic czar Larry Summers and his leftie eco-czar Carol Browner? How will he prosecute the war on terror and protect us at home with a cabinet deputy like Indiana law professor Dawn Johnsen --pushing us to disconnect the dots, blindsiding us again pre-Sept. 11th, with such tragic consequences.

A new circus is in town, all the world's a big top.