Kausfiles: A mostly political weblog.

Return of the Washington Turf War

Thursday, January 29, 2009 

The Fist Next Time: What if Obama's first foreign policy crisis is a new Tienanmen Moment in China? Bob Wright and I discuss (after trying to figure out what it means, in Obama language, to "unclench your fist").  ... 11:23 P.M.

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Geithner: I am not not not being eaten alive by Larry Summers! (Turns out Geithner's just been "exerting subtle bureaucratic influence"!)  ...  P.S.: For some reason I'm looking forward to the press coverage of mindlessly vicious bureaucratic infighting in the Obama administration. (That sort of ego-tussle can be productive--see Ickes vs. Hopkins.) Was there no domestic policy infighting under Bush, or did the press just not care enough about it to report? ...  10:50 P.M.

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In Gambling, I Think They Call This A Lock: When Obama gives a rousing speech, it just shows what a brilliant wordsmith he is. When he gives a dull speech, it's "perhaps by design"--he's intentionally deflating excessive expectations!--and his "Spare Inaugural Rhetoric Signals Strategic Mastery." ... Nice work if you can get it. ... 7:28 P.M.

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