From the Los Angeles Times
NEWS ANALYSIS
New political era? Same as the old one
The all-too-familiar machinery of partisan politics surfaces over the House economic stimulus vote.
By Peter Wallsten
January 29, 2009
Reporting from Washington - Democrats talked about the jobs to come from modernizing the electric grid, weatherizing homes, and repairing roads and bridges. Republicans too had ideas for reviving the economy, focusing on tax cuts and carefully targeted spending. But many in the GOP also wanted to talk about something else: sexually transmitted diseases.
As the House on Wednesday gave President Obama the first big legislative victory of his term, it was clear that his efforts so far had not delivered the post-partisan era that he called for in his inauguration address, when he proclaimed an end to the "petty grievances" and "worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."
The fault lines of past ideological wars were in view during the fight over the $819-billion stimulus package, with shots coming from well-known conservative warriors such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Matt Drudge.
The familiar machinery of partisan politics, a fixture of the Clinton and Bush eras, kicked into operation undaunted as Republicans began running a TV advertisement in the home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, charging that his support for the stimulus bill was tantamount to "wasting our hard-earned money."
Continued
While the idea that the Democratic administration should have done away with all partisan bickering within a week and a half of Inauguration Day is clearly absurd, the article seems almost happy about it. I have to wonder if Limp-ball's stated desire to see Obama fail has started to permeate the weak minded and attention driven. (I know nothing about Wallsten, so I could be miles off base here, but the article really annoyed me.)
