John Aloysius Farrell 04:37 PM ET

Campbell Brown and CNN Get Tiresome On Barack Obama and Media Criticism

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

While channel surfing last night, I came upon an irate Campbell Brown on CNN, scolding Barack Obama with a mighty wind of righteousness.

I sat there, mesmerized, as Brown did an incredibly bad imitation of Keith Olbermann, whose audience, I suppose, she's trying to steal.

Apparently, CNN has decided to go the way of Fox and MSNBC and the Associated Press and be very opinionated in its evening news hours. Like we don't have enough of that.

Sam Dealey 04:17 PM ET

Fixing the North Korea Nuclear Error

By Sam Dealey, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

So just how bad was the Bush administration's hastily contrived deal with North Korea in October that led to the country's immediate removal from the U.S. terror list? As the AP now reports:

The top U.S. negotiator in talks to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons said Tuesday that Pyongyang must agree to a verification of its disarmament activities and the deal must be put in writing.

North Korea agreed last year to disable its nuclear reactor in exchange for aid. But negotiations have since stalled after the Stalinist state denied it agreed to allow inspectors to take samples from its nuclear complex to verify past nuclear activities.

So it turns out the brilliant "pragmatists" at State failed to get the nuclear verification agreement with North Korea in writing. And now, in what is surprisingly a surprise to these pragmatists, the North Koreans have proved yet again they can't be trusted and are reneging on their alleged promise.

Thankfully, there's a chance now to scrap the deal entirely. And would some responsible adult at the White House remember to please put North Korea back on the terror list, from which it never should have been removed?

Bonnie Erbe 02:24 PM ET

For Government, Science Is 'In' Again

Remember those annoying "who's in" and "who's out" lists that pop up online and in newspapers at the end of each year? This year, there's an uplifting addition to the "in" list. It's science. Science has been banished from the nation's capital these past eight years, as the federal government started basing many important policy decisions on biblical interpretation and personal mores, rather than on real, live science. Well, science is back and biblical interpretation is out as the Obama grown-ups take over. Read on and smile (or weep—depending on your orientation).

Robert Schlesinger 01:30 PM ET

Barack Obama: Pragmatist or Liberal? How About Both?

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about how Barack Obama's cabinet choices thus far have reflected a pragmatic approach to governing, rather than a liberal one. That's rather like saying that my lunch today will taste like chicken, rather than like purple.

Liberalism, unlike pragmatism, is an ideology; pragmatism reflects the approach one takes to instituting that ideology. Is that to suggest that there aren't pie-in-the-sky liberals who would press doctrine regardless of real-world circumstances (like political realities)? Hell, no. There are plenty of ideologues wandering around Washington from all sides of the political spectrum. (Recall ivory tower conservatives who blithely promised that bouquets would be thrown at our troops in Iraq, rather than IEDs.)

Bonnie Erbe 12:30 PM ET

Gas Prices Drop, but Food Prices Remain High. Why?

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

I've been going into the grocery stores I frequent with high hopes recently, only to be disappointed. Gas prices are dropping—costing half what they were less than a year ago. And when food prices spiraled up earlier this year, food manufacturers explained that as gas prices rose, transportation costs rose with them.

Michael Barone 11:03 AM ET

Obama’s Win Is Not Necessarily the Beginning of a Political Realignment

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Beneath the numbers in political polls, which suggest a certain continuity of opinion, are millions of voters who keep changing their minds. This is the finding of a series of Associated PressYahoo polls as laid out in this Associated Press story. The APYahoo poll tracked some 2,000 adults periodically throughout the campaign—a panel back in the lingo of pollsters—starting in November 2007. Overall, 17 percent of those who ultimately voted for Obama said they were for McCain in at least one of the 10 tracking polls, while 11 percent of eventual McCain voters said they backed Obama. In other words, 14 percent of all voters switched from one candidate to the other over a period of 12 months. As the AP story concludes, "Election polls that showed only gradual shifts in support for Obama and McCain were masking a much more volatile electorate."

Robert Schlesinger 10:28 AM ET

Nuclear or Biological Terrorism in the Next Five Years

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Here's one early benchmark for an Obama administration: If we haven't been hit with a nuclear or biological attack by the end of his first term (or more precisely, the end of the first year of a second term), it's a success. Happy holidays!

Bonnie Erbe Yesterday

Sprawl Is Killing Hunting

Hunting is a so-called sport that I have never understood. Taking pleasure in the destruction of another living being is unfathomable to me. And the claim that it is challenging is bunk. I've had so many deer freeze right in front of me and continue to stand and stare after I shout and clap at them to run away, an infant with a BB gun could have easily shot them.

I've witnessed whale hunting in Alaska by native Inuits sporting high-powered, scoped, elaborate weapons. They eat at chain restaurants and shop at chain grocery stores in Barrow, Alaska. They inhabit mobile homes with huge satellite dishes so they can watch 500 channels, and they claim the need to "harvest" whales for subsistence living. There's not an igloo or spear in sight. It's a sorry, sorry spectacle.

Luckily for nearby residents and for the animals, hunting is becoming a dying sport.