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I’m just starting to read The Audacity of Hope, and already I feel like I know what President Elect Obama is going to say. His message of moving beyond politics as usual is by now, at least to me, so obvious that it seems like second nature, how things are supposed to happen. But as I watch certain key politicians twist in political winds of their own making, the payments that they made in their bids for glory are coming due.

Joe Lieberman chose to support Senator McCain’s bid for the presidency. There is no fault in that because it was consistent with his relationship with McCain, his hawkish pro-Iraq invasion stance, and his continued angst with the Democratic Party after not getting their nomination for the Senate back in 2006. Where I do find fault with Joe the Senator is his vehement and repeated attacks on the President Elect during the campaign. This was especially a betrayal because then-Senator Obama journeyed to Connecticut to campaign for Lieberman when he was fighting for his political life, and yet Joe chose to try to help Senator McCain’s attack machine on the campaign trail and in his speech at the Republican National Convention. I personally think Harry Reid and the Democratic Caucus should strip him of his chairmanship. I know, President Elect Obama has said he thinks that Joe the Senator should still caucus with the Democrats. I just think what Lieberman has put out there is now coming back to him. Strong.

Sarah Palin is an inexperienced politician, who opened her mouth way too much on the campaign trail, with far too many lies and xenophobic, small-minded, partisan attacks. That which she hath sown, though, she must now reap. Yes, the Republican Party is in search of leadership and direction right now. But her “off the reservation” attacks and lies seem to be returning to her rather quickly. The “anonymous” sources inside the McCain campaign which are tearing down any type of positive national image she is trying to build, let alone derailing the bid for experience she is trying to launch by filling Ted Stevens’ Senate seat (will she still be a maverick inside the beltway?) appear to be the universe’s way of making her the butt of her own joke.

And I’m just tired of Andrea Mitchell. Since Tim Russert died, her reporting has gone from passable to bad. She, more than many others, appeared to take a deep breah, and then gave in to a huge dose of “buyer’s remorse” about President Elect Obama. Her slights, choice of language, dismissal of gains, and overall demeanor during the last two months of the campaign continue to impugne her credibility and make her someone I just don’t want to listen to anymore.

Reaching across the aisle, working with those who disagree, listening to varied points of view in order to get things done are all necessary habits those who serve in our government should develop and I’m glad that our President Elect sets that example for his team, our government and our nation. That does not, however, mean that the things that we do (or they do), the actions taken and the decisions made don’t have consequences, immediate and far-reaching, for ourselves and for others.

Karma always manages to give you just what you give out. Always.

It’s Official: Full Dem Caucus Will Vote on Lieberman’s Fate

President Palin? Alaska Governor Ponders Her Future

Views of Palin deteriorate as GOP looks ahead

Cross posted at Spreading the Word on November 11, 2008.