The Real Chicago Way

Steve Benen's right: Isn't Obama supposed to be the most bloodthirsty, partisan, ruthless President ever? I mean the nerve of him, appointing yet another well-respected Republican to his administration like Chuck Hagel. Obama named him as co-chair of his Intelligence Advisory Board today.

If memory serves, Hagel is the seventh Republican to take on a fairly significant role in the Obama administration. He follows John McHugh (Secretary of the Army), Ray LaHood (Secretary of Transportation), Robert Gates (Secretary of Defense), Jim Leach (National Endowment for the Humanities), Jon Huntsman (U.S. Ambassador to China), and Anne Northup (Consumer Product Safety Commission). It would have been eight were it not for the unpleasantness with Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Obama's numbers slipping on his "willingness to work with people whose viewpoints are different from his own."

I'm not sure what more the White House can do on this front. Obama has not only repeatedly sought out GOP lawmakers for support on legislation, but he also keeps giving Republicans jobs in his administration, arguably at a level without modern precedent.

Also note that the president's efforts haven't generated any goodwill with the opposition party. Obama has added more than a half-dozen Republicans to his team, and GOP leaders continue to whine about the president being some kind of strident partisan.

But it doesn't matter, you see. None of those Republicans count as Republicans anymore because they are now working for the Other in the White House. When they joined his administration, they ceased being Republicans. There are no Republicans in the Obama administration. If they joined Obama, they were really closet Dems. Ergo, Obama is a horrible partisan who lied about doing things differently in Washington because there are no Republicans in his administration.

It really is that simple to the GOP.

Even better, the Village buys it hook line and sinker. Do a Google search of "Obama" and "Nixon" and see what you find. Obama could appoint Rush Limbaugh as VP, and he would still be the most divisive President ever.