The Difference Between Intelligent Analysis And the Not So Intelligent

From Hotline:
"Dick Morris, on Emanuel: "It's a horrible choice. First of all, he is the sharpest, most aggressive partisan in the Democratic party. He is more partisan than Rove is a Republican. He's absolutely like a Tom Delay in a sense. ... Secondly, he's always been far more interested in Rahm Emanuel than in the fate of the president he serves. ... I think Obama's going to find that he has a chief of staff far more loyal to Washington and to his journalistic sources than to the president. ... Former ballet dancer. Did you know that?" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 11/5).

TW: "the sharpest, most aggressive partisan" and this is a bad thing for a politician?; "more partisan than Rove/Delay" I don't think so; "a ballet dancer", Emanuel is also a former combat veteran in the Israeli army, so Morris had a choice- mention the ballet or the army naturally he chose the former but what was Morris' point anyway, is Emanuel effete?

"MSNBC's Scarborough: "Ronald Reagan went 90 miles an hour, he never looked back, he never slowed down, he never apologized for his ideology. And he very quickly consolidated his grip on Washington, D.C. He said this is what I believe in. And he ruled with a very strong, very firm hand. I think Barack Obama needs to do the same thing. ... He does need to be bold and needs to come out very quickly. I would suggest with an energy independence plan, and give the United States of America their first forward-looking energy policy in half a century" ("1600," 11/5)."

TW: I dont know that energy policy should or will be the first priority out of the gate but Scarborough makes a good point, one that Obama should heed. Scarborough is a rock-ribbed Republican but he is not a fool like the other guy above. If Republicans start listening to folks like Scarborough and tell the ones like Morris to move on they will re-gain electoral power far soooner.

Another relevant quote from Politico:
"Obama wants a bad cop so he can be good cop 90 percent of the time."-- An Obama adviser, quoted by Politico, on why President-elect Obama wants Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff.

TW: My take on Emanuel (who we hear about often since he is a local boy) is that he epitomizes hard-nosed but effective pragmatism, which is why the equivalent Republicans are squawking.