I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Howard Dean for all he has done to resuscitate the Democratic Party. Dean is stepping down soon as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (Obama announced his successor today), after steering the party through the 2006 and the 2008 elections.

That's really the best way to mark his tenure as DNC head -- since results speak louder than words. And the results in both 2006 and 2008 where not just impressive, they were overwhelming. When Dean took over at the start of 2005, Democrats were in the minority in both houses of Congress, and Bush had just been elected to his second term. Dean leaves behind, as his legacy, enormous majorities in both the House and Senate, and a Democrat entering the White House.

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Want a ticket to the official Inauguration Day swearing-in event held on public property? Well, you can easily have one -- guaranteed -- for the low, low price of only $12,500. [To be completely honest, that price is much like how airline's advertise "one-way based on roundtrip purchase" fares that don't actually exist -- since you have to "donate" a whopping $50,000 for four guaranteed tickets.] But wait! It's a package deal! You also get, for your hard-earned dollars, bleacher seats to watch the Inaugural Parade, tickets to at least one of the Inaugural Balls the Obamas will actually attend, and other sundry perks and goodies. What a deal, eh?

At least the official Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) is being transparent about this. They not only openly advertised this package deal, but they also have posted the list of big donors on their web site for all to see. You can check it out to see exactly who has ponied up the fifty large so far. Hollywood celebrities such as Halle Berry, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks have paid up, as well as too many corporate CEOs to list here (from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Levi Strauss, Qualcomm, ExxonMobil, Sony BMG, Coca Cola, and others). Almost 400 folks have already bought the premium package as of this writing. The San Jose Mercury News recently ran a story of the most prominent San Francisco Bay Area donors, just to highlight a few examples.

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The American television news media is slipping out of Iraq, as quietly as they can. This story was reported by the New York Times over the holidays, and it may prove to be a consequential part of the way the war ends. Because it might actually make it easier for President Obama to wind the war down, and avoid a lot of squabbling over how he does so.

The story is, at its core, that there is no story. At least not in Iraq anymore. The Iraq war, as far as the television news media is concerned, is no longer all that "newsworthy." In other words, boring. Barring some flareup or some special event, Americans are tired of hearing about Iraq, and tired of seeing it on their television screens. At least that's the way the news media sees it, and so the media are cutting their losses on a story which they feel their audience isn't interested in, and are moving their assets elsewhere.

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"I am now the junior senator from the state of Illinois. . . . Friends, we're going to have to have some powerful prayer. . . . They can't deny what the Lord has ordained."
--Roland Burris, yesterday, speaking from a church pulpit.

The growing intensity of the rhetoric surrounding Roland Burris, Rod Blagojevich, and Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat reached new heights (or depths, depending on your point of view) this weekend, by both Burris and his supporters. This is getting so completely out of hand that some perspective is sorely needed here.

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Happy New Year 2009!

Because I've always felt it is more amusing to make new year's resolutions that others should follow, today's Friday Talking Points will be some resolutions for Democrats. For once, I will keep a foolish resolution I made at the beginning of 2008 to write shorter columns, because this close to New Year's Day it's about all I can handle writing (and probably about all you folks can handle reading).

I have to limit this to Democrats, as well, since making resolutions for Republicans is even more an exercise in futility (George Bush: "I will not issue blanket pardons before leaving office," for instance). Worthy resolutions spring to mind for other groups as well, such as: "We in the mainstream media will stop being idiots, go to any decent community college and take a refresher course in Journalism 101, and then start doing our jobs the way we should have been doing all along." But the list would be way too long if I didn't limit it in some way, so I've chosen to restrict it only to Democrats.

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And the air was full of shoutings,
And the thunder of the mountains,
Starting, answered "Baim-wawa!"

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from "Song of Hiawatha"

[As is traditional, I start this article about Lake Superior State University with the immortal words of Longfellow. Baim-wawa, indeed.]

From Lake Superior State University (LSSU) comes the annual list of banished words, which have overstayed their welcome among our popular culture, and are henceforth banished into the linguistic wilderness.

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Is Rick Warren, pastor of a California mega-church and author of The Purpose Driven Life considered unacceptable in American society at large? Was Obama's invitation to Warren to speak at his inauguration akin to, in today's world, inviting a white supremacist, an anti-Semite, or a blatant misogynist to speak? To put it another way, is Rick Warren beyond the pale?

Before I attempt to answer, I have to insert a little linguistic history here. Because the use of the word "pale" in that last question is in no way related to any sort of description of color. "Pale" in this instance means "fence." The same root word gives us "palisade." Pale has been used this way since Middle English was spoken, to describe a fence of stakes erected to keep the barbarians out. "Beyond the castle walls" would be a direct equivalent. The concept was used more recently in Ireland, where the area around Dublin (which the English held) was known simply as "The Pale," which kept the "wyld Irysh" out.

Inside the pale, in other words, is civilization and polite society. Outside the pale is barbarism and savagery. So what, exactly is still allowed in the American pale of thought? That is the question.

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Welcome (once again) to the second part of my annual tribute to the McLaughlin Awards. [Part 1 ran last week, in case you missed it.]

Now, the McLaughlin Group television show (on a PBS channel near you) last week did not do Part 1 of their awards, so it looks like they're running a week late. But my schedule is locked in, so we continue with our year-end awards here, and hopefully you'll be able to check my picks with theirs next week (and my picks last week with what they run this week). Got all that? Well, don't worry, there won't be a quiz at the end or anything.

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Dateline: Washington, D.C., Christmas Eve, 2008

I fully admit I would rather be at home now than covering the annual "sit on Santa's lap" photo-op for politicians, but I seem to have annoyed my editor, so here I am -- your intrepid holiday reporter. While I fully admit that I did spike the punch at our annual holiday party, I explain this away in traditional Washington fashion -- by stating that I was young and irresponsible when this occurred. Last week, I was much younger and much more irresponsible than I am now. Ahem. Besides, nobody got hurt (much) and I think everyone had a much better time at the party as a result... the "Elf Incident" aside.... Anyway, this explains why I was assigned to cover this particular event -- instead of being snug at home in my bed, wondering what a sugarplum looks like (in case one should dance in my head tonight).

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I am not usually an enormous fan of California's senior senator. But I have to give Dianne Feinstein credit where credit is due, and praise her for stepping up to the plate on introducing some accountability and limits to the Wall Street bailout money. Also (being filled with the holiday spirit) I have words for praise for Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and even Joe Lieberman (Joe Liebermans For Joe Lieberman Party - CT).

Today, Senator Feinstein put out a joint press release with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on a bill they cosponsored back in November. Their announcement is that they will be reintroducing S. 3698 once Congress reconvenes. This bill would ban the use of any bailout money for lobbying or political donations, would force the Treasury to come up with regulations about the use of such money for perks, private parties, corporate jets, and even year-end holiday parties. It would also force recipients of the bailout money to publish quarterly reports on how the money is used, to be made available to the public.

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