..."but the time for talking has come to an end and we must now begin some serious negotiation."

Wow.  McCain has a long history of nonsensical and self-refuting statements, but that's one of his best.

McCain often didn't know his own policies during his presidential campaign, and the policies themselves were generally bad to disastrous.  He's always gone the PR-headline route with policy, selling his persona and little else.

I wonder if anyone other than the party faithful and Mark Halperin will buy this latest BS.    

Wow.  The GOP has been little more than obstructionist, and many of its members have vowed to continue to be so.  So if this is true, it's good news.  The more the Obama team pitches their plans to the American people, the better.  

It makes a pleasant change.  May this trend continue.

The sad thing is Gergen is one of the more sensible Republicans out there on the air.  Wouldn't it be nice if instead some pundits cited public opinion polls to warn Republicans they better not obstruct the people's will any more?  

Good news. Bush left so many messes to clean up.

I like your term "left wing straw men."  It seems as if Obama is anticipating and trying to fend off GOP attacks, even when they haven't occurred, but most of all, even when they're not likely.  Obama will never win over the hardcore rightwingers, so why pitch to them?  Being careful with one's language should not preclude honesty.  There's a huge difference between abusive language and calling something straight.  I always feel uncomfortable when Democrats try to distance themselves from liberal ideals.  The best way to deal with the's right caricatures of the left is to expose them, laugh at them, refute them, not to tacitly accept them.    

Haha.  Nice.  I'm sure we'll hear some of this over the weekend, if not before.

Matt, while I assume you're writing partially in jest, you've come up with not only a big idea, but a pretty good idea!

Not that the Republicans have ever cared about the "good" part.  Remember Gingrich? We should implement term limits (versus allowing something called elections to work).  We should eliminate the Department of Education (because education would be better served without a cabinet position, apparently).  These guys seldom if ever gave a reason for their position.  They just staked out a position and argued for it vehemently. Gingrich in particular always took the stance that he was expressing the frustrated but overwhelming desire of "the people" versus his own selfish agenda.  

Here's what your position does beautifully - it re-introduces the idea of transparency and public accountability.  Any "big idea" that puts those vital issues back into the public arena is a good thing.

Thanks, Matt, for posting this.  The piece lays it all out very clearly.  

Nicely done!  

Matt, over at Crooks and Liars a few suggestions were tossed around about how to keep this going... for instance, sending a few stamps every day to key Republicans... but I would imagine the trick is getting publicity on it.  It'd be nice if the Dems did another "rubber stamp" bit on the floor in a week or two, to keep it alive.  What's the next step?  

As a filmmaker, though, I wanted to pass on one trick.  Some folks suggested you invest in a spy camera, but another alternative very useful for docs is to discreetly tape over the "on" light, so it can't be seen.  I've found black electrical tape works best for most cameras.  

Thanks for the great work!