A Couple of Things From Inside the Beltway

I think it’s safe to say the love affair is over. From Dana Milbank, writing in today’s WaPo:

Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee.

Fresh from his presidential-style world tour, during which foreign leaders and American generals lined up to show him affection, Obama settled down to some presidential-style business in Washington yesterday. He ordered up a teleconference with the (current president's) Treasury secretary, granted an audience to the Pakistani prime minister and had his staff arrange for the chairman of the Federal Reserve to give him a briefing. Then, he went up to Capitol Hill to be adored by House Democrats in a presidential-style pep rally.

[…]

The 5:20 TBA turned out to be his adoration session with lawmakers in the Cannon Caucus Room, where even committee chairmen arrived early, as if for the State of the Union. Capitol Police cleared the halls -- just as they do for the actual president. The Secret Service hustled him in through a side door -- just as they do for the actual president.

Inside, according to a witness, he told the House members, "This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for," adding: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."

As he marches toward Inauguration Day (Election Day is but a milestone on that path), Obama's biggest challenger may not be Republican John McCain but rather his own hubris.

And it’s about freakin’ time, innit? A lot of the things I’m reading in the MSM today is simply repetition of stuff that’s been said in the right-wing blogosphere for quite some time now. The upshot of all this is The Candidate is beginning to believe his own press, apparently, and that’s a great good thing for Senator McCain. “Pride goeth before a fall,” and all that.

Heh. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy, methinks.

Ah… but wait. There’s more. Even Maureen Dowd is smacking The Obamanon around. I got a chuckle out of this:

I asked him what presents he takes home to his daughters. “Anytime I make a stop, Sasha gets snow globes and Malia gets key chains,” he said. “Somebody is assigned to that.”

“You have a snow globe aide?” I marveled.

Now there’s as unlikely a job title as I’ve ever seen: “Chief of Snow Globe Procurement.” Or whatever it is the aide is officially called.

―:☺:―

Eye candy for political activists. Hell, it’s eye candy for the REST of us, too! I’m speaking of The Hill’s annual “50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill.” Here’s an example:

Name: Brecke Latham
Age: 28
Hometown: See explanation below
Political party: Republican
Dating status: Single

Dang. Her politics are correct, too. What more could a guy ask for? In case you’re wondering… the piece has pulchitrude for the distaff side of the house, too. This IS America we’re talking about, ya know. Equal time, and all that.

And apropos of nothing… if you’ve never laid eyes on Mrs. Dennis Kucinich, you should… as she makes the cut at Number Four. That’s all and everything I’m gonna say on the subject. Except for perhaps… Yowza!

(h/t: memeorandum)