I watched the events at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday with my eyes tearing up on multiple occasions. It was both emotional and incredible, to say the least. At the end, I realized that an acquaintance--someone in the music industry whom I respect immensely for his talent and genius--had actually been one of the senior folks involved in its production, and that was just icing on the cake.

Then I went online to get my daily dose of news, and as usual, I made my way over to one of my favorite haunts, The Automatic Earth, only to see Ilargi going a little over the top about the costs of the Inaugural production(s). However, the guy's argument did have some merit to it. $50 million is a lot of money for a Party, considering how tough times are right now. But, I thought to myself, "If this funding is coming from the private sector, then what the hell."

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This is incoming from Politico tonight: "Big changes to Obama stimulus plan."

Overall, I'd say it's a very positive report. Highlights of the proposed modifications to the original plan's first draft include:

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If you think incoming President Barack Obama's biggest foreign policy concerns are comprised of a myopic focus upon Israel, Iraq, or Iran, you may want to reconsider your point of view.

Tomorrow's New York Times Magazine has an exceptionally insightful piece on what may be our country's biggest and most practical foreign worry: preventing the collapse of a nuclear Pakistan. Here's the link: "The Worst Pakistan Nightmare for Obama."

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President-elect Obama's stimulus package--which more than one MSM outlet has described as a little bit of something for everyone--is concurrently and quickly being widely perceived as short of the mark by many liberal economists.

Obama Warns of Irreversible Decline Without Action

By Julianna Goldman

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach "double digits" and the U.S. risks losing a "generation of potential and promise."

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Blessed are the gatekeepers, for theirs is the power to getting things done.

If President-elect Obama thought that changing the way Washington works was going to be a breeze, he got his first lesson in comeuppance with his selection of Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency. His mistake wasn't the choice per se but rather not checking with the gatekeepers, the Washington power brokers pertinent to this decision. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the incoming chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she was surprised by the pick and complained that she wasn't consulted. That's one gatekeeper with ruffled feathers. Another gatekeeper not reckoned with, and therefore not terribly amused, was the outgoing chairperson Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Through an aide, the long-serving member of the Intelligence Committee let it be known that while he "has tremendous respect for Leon Panetta" the aide said that Senator Rockefeller "believes the CIA director should go to someone who has significant intelligence experience and someone from outside the political world of Washington DC."

Had these gatekeepers been consulted prior to announcing the selection, I suspect their tone would have been more conciliatory and supportive. Certainly, we would have fewer ruffled feathers.

Even Senator 'for two more weeks' Joe Biden conceded it was a "mistake" in not consulting the Senate's gatekeepers before tapping Leon Panetta to head the CIA.

"I'm still a Senate man and I always think this way," he told reporters in the Capitol. "I think it's always good to talk to the requisite members of Congress."

Yup. It's always good to talk to those blessed gatekeepers. In doing so, President Obama will likely get his way more often than not but ruffle their features by pulling surprises seems like a recipe for not getting things accomplished. Blessed are the gatekeepers, for in their hands is the power of the gavel. Some aspects of Washington, it seems, will never change.

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