Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Updated

Kiss Kiss: I’m very happy that our president-elect is bringing people with measurable IQs, degrees from accredited schools and actual expertise back into government, in decision-making positions, no less. I do hope his economy team has the vision and the courage to be bold – and concern about that is not mere trolling. Some of this, please.

On the foreign policy front, where we will be represented by the natural leader of our country, we’re in excellent shape. It speaks very highly of Barack Obama’s judgment and self-confidence that he has been willing to embrace a co-presidency (which seems to be Hillary’s fate) – especially with a partner as formidable and dedicated as she. It’s all the more impressive that he is doing so over the frothing objections of – perhaps with the intent of sending a message to? – some of his most prominent supporters.

Bang Bang: Note to Chris Matthews, Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, Christopher Hitchens, Josh Marshall, John Avarosis, Markos, Arianna Huffington and the rest of the zombie crew (you know who you are): I recommend the film below for your holiday viewing pleasure. I myself give thanks, with you in mind, every time I get to the 2:00 mark in this clip:

And for one whose brains long ago exploded, here's another option for you, Keith Olbermann (1:40 et seq.):

Update: John Heilemann has an excellent piece in the latest New York magazine on the political meanings of Obama tapping Hillary for SoS. It concludes:

"It demonstrates strength, whereas selecting her as his running mate would have displayed the opposite (the stories would all have been about how he did it because he had no choice). And it demonstrates a level of self-confidence remarkable even in someone who just won the presidency. One of the cardinal rules of the Beltway is that you never appoint a subordinate who, for all practical purposes, can’t be fired. Colin Powell was very nearly such an appointment, and George W. Bush came to regret it. Hillary Clinton would be another. Obama is wagering that Clinton will do his bidding and not pursue her own agenda because she will see that her future—in electoral politics, in how she’s treated in the history books—will be bound up with his success. He’s not just bringing her inside the tent; he is making her a tent-pole. This strategy is either shrewd or delusional. But timid it is not."