QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 3:52 P.M. ET:  From The Wall Street Journal, on the embarrassment in Copenhagen:

If Mr. Obama and the White House made a mistake, it was in their apparently boundless faith that somehow Mr. Obama's personal popularity would carry the day. As if, merely by seeing the rock star in person, the delegate from, say, Egypt would abandon his simmering dislike for America, forget all the dinners and deals cut with the Rio Committee, and reward Chicago. In that sense, the Olympic defeat is a relatively painless reminder that interests trump charm or likability in world affairs. Better to relearn this lesson in a fight over a sporting event than over nuclear missiles.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  But we worry that it was not a lesson learned.  As we said earlier this morning, it remains to be observed whether the Obamans are capable of change.  This is an administration marked by one of the most dangerous combinations you can have in politics - high College Board scores, education in the classrooms of professors left over from the sixties, extreme arrogance, and minimal experience. 

As a result, the Obama administration values process over result, style over substance, and invitations to the right parties over all else.

October 3, 2009