And here they are walking and talking and such. Well, talking, at least:

Know what struck me most as I watched that video? That it’s really close. It’s about to happen. Any day now (January 20th – Ed) Barack Obama is becoming President. Wow.

*Update* Rachel Maddow talks about the meeting (and includes footage of a new interview with Obama, which leaps rather strangely from talk of the economic stimulus package to body-surfing in Hawaii, but still):

Seven houses standing,

Six guys a-playing,

Five bold things,

Four scientists,

Three million jobs,

Two little girls,

And Joe Biden for VP!

*Update* Here’s a look back at Bush’s failures – thanks to the brilliant David Letterman:

- and here’s the very last word on the Bush years.

*Update* I just read this by Glenn Greenwald (via Andrew Sullivan):

“It’s just a fact that there are all sorts of people close to Obama who have enabled those Bush policies and who are mobilizing now and attempting to ensure that nothing meaningful occurs in these areas. It simply is noteworthy of comment and cause for concern — though far from conclusive about what Obama will do — that Obama’s transition chief for intelligence policy, John Brennan, was an ardent supporter of torture and one of the most emphatic advocates of FISA expansions and telecom immunity. It would be foolish in the extreme to ignore that and to just adopt the attitude that we should all wait quietly with our hands politely folded for the new President to unveil his decisions before deciding that we should speak up or do anything.”

As Greenwald points out in his article, rather worryingly – although not altogether unsurprisingly – Obama is surrounding himself with an awful lot of Democrats who let George Bush get away with murder (and torture and wiretapping and…) over the past eight years. This is probably pragmatic, sensible and to be expected – some of these Steps In The Right Direction may turn out to be baby steps, after all. But it’s also all the more reason why we lefties need to hold him accountable.

It should be noted that Nancy Reagan didn’t express outrage at the remark and demand an apology. Sean Hannity, however, did.

Albert Brooks, writing on HuffPo, is annoyed that Obama’s apologised, and told him to just be himself.

Now, I’m all for the latter – and completely agree with Brooks’ sentiment that America should “lighten up”. (Although asking Sean Hannity to “lighten up” is, of course, futile. What with Indignation At Ridiculous Things being Sean Hannity’s modus operandi.)

I also really, really liked Brooks’ work in Broadcast News.

But it strikes me that apologising because he realises he may have upset someone’s feelings is Barack Obama being himself. And failing to apologise for things has, in fact, been one of the hallmarks of the Republican administration (come to think of it, it was also a hallmark of Blair’s administration).

I haven’t heard an apology from George W Bush for the deaths of thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians in Iraq. An apology for the torture of people in his country’s name. An apology for his government tearing up the Constitution, doing away with habeas corpus and spying on its own citizens. An apology for squandering a budget surplus and helping to bring about America’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

And I haven’t heard Sean Hannity demand one, either.

Funny, that. Although not quite as funny as a Nancy Reagan séance joke, obviously. That was a doozie!