Rahm Pushes the Networks

"Hubris made him reach for too much, too soon; brazenly overpromise about the effects of his program; overestimate his control of events; think the golden touch of his brilliant team could solve intractable problems; and believe his words could trump reality . . . What Obama needs is a little modesty . . .

"He could have taken steps to address the financial crisis -- basically continuing the Bush program, as he has -- and pursued a genuinely bipartisan stimulus . . .

"He could have followed up the stimulus with incremental health reforms -- say, new insurance regulation and subsidies for the uninsured -- in a continuation of the salami-slice approach to health care that has been so successful for Democrats. Again, he'd have gotten substantial Republican support. At the six-month mark, he'd have a few important, if not sweeping, legislative accomplishments; he'd have avoided all of the liabilities of his stimulus and health-care proposal; and he would have split the Republican party. He'd own the center."

But he wouldn't have delivered what he promised in the campaign. And the last president didn't seem terribly interested in steering toward the center.

Stop Making Things Up?

The blog AlaskaReport says flatly that Sarah and Todd Palin are divorcing -- which her spokeswoman denied on Facebook -- and the mainstream media don't touch it. The denial, naturally, drew some attention online. I heard about the story and the knockdown on Twitter. (And no, the person who wrote the post isn't a CNN stringer, as was claimed on my show yesterday.)

Early Warning

Best thing I've seen in the Dan Balz/Haynes Johnson book "The Battle for America": A 2006 memo from David Axelrod, telling Obama: "I don't know if you are Muhammad Ali or Floyd Patterson when it comes to taking a punch. You care far too much what is written and said about you. You don't relish combat when it becomes personal and nasty." Obama also recalls Ax telling him he might be too normal to run for president.

Boosting the Birthers

Who is pushing this craziness? At the Daily Beast, Max Blumenthal tracks her down:

"Almost as soon as Orly Taitz answered her cellphone, before I could even ask a single question, the leader of the movement determined to disprove President Obama's American citizenship breathlessly told me the president was 'connected' to 39 bogus Social Security numbers, including one for a deceased person born in 1890. 'If Obama is not stopped, we will be in Nazi Germany!' "

So nice when everyone engages in reasonable rhetoric.

"Taitz, who has a thick Russian accent, shrieked. 'Forgery is a criminal matter and he committed it. Obama should be in the Big House, not the White House!'

"Since Taitz's 'birther' campaign began, in the summer of 2008, during the late stages of the Democratic primaries, the dentist, lawyer, and mother of three has begun winning friends in high places. Taitz told me excitedly that since she opened her Facebook account, she has had to hire a staff of five to process the thousands of friend requests she receives each week.

"Among those requesting her online friendship, Taitz said, are House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA), and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. She has even received a request, she said, from someone saying they are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . . .