Wha--?

I certainly don't have, and don't expect to have, any regrets about voting for Barack Obama (or at any rate, against the GOP). I figured that I would get mad at them soon but I didn't expect it to be quite this soon. But look at today's news:

• The auto bailout. Okay, it is not an Obama initiative. But it looks like it is going to happen, and it looks like Obama won't be able to stop it and perhaps won't want to stop it. Ironic that most of the opposition is coming from just those Republicans I would most like to see sent packing out of town. Just one more demonstration that ideas have a truth value independent of those who hold them.


• Hillary. That's the wha--? part. With so many others, it is hard for me to see why she would want it. But unlike so many others, I can't imagine why he would want her. Yes, yes, Team of Rivals, Lincoln and Seward, a smart guy hires smart guys to work for him. But foreign policy? It has never been her brief, and I don't know of any evidence that she is specially good at. I admit my admiration for Hillary has always been somewhat less than unlimited. But I concede her talents, and she has certainly earned herself a place in public life. But Secretary of State? What am I missing?

[For clarification--my own first choice is still Chuck Hagel. I saw somewhere that three percent of voters currently characterize themselves as "moderate." Lonely out here.]