Joe Liberman is a sanctimonious dickhead who was rewarded by his fellow Senators for stabbing their party in the back and using his committee post to protect George W. Bush. Hillary Clinton voted in favor of a resolution the Bush Administration was using too help march to war with Iran. Barack Obama has internalized the whole “team of rivals” concept to the point that he’s not only going to appoint Republicans to his cabinet, but solicit their discredited ideas in his decision-making progress.

I could freak out about all of this, but I won’t. The Obama Administration has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact a progressive agenda. For now, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and approach every big decision he makes with the question “How does this help Obama move his agenda through Congress?”. Does saving Lieberman’s ass make it more likely that moderate Republicans will join Democrats? Does appointing Clintonites to various positions make it more likely the Dems will solidly support Obama’s plans?

It’s easy to get infuriated about the day to day news coming out of Washington, but I’m trying to keep my eyes on the prize here. I want universal healthcare, an end to the war in Iraq, and an economic bailout that creates jobs through a massive government investment infrastructure and alternative energy. My anger at Joe Lierberman doesn’t compare to my desire for a truly progressive agenda to make it through Congress. Two months away from inauguration and consensus already is starting to coalesce around goals #1 & #3 (with the Iraqis doing their best to make #2 a reality). As long as Obama’s pragmatic choices make it easier to make his stated agenda a reality (rather than simply watering down his own plans to make them more palatable to centrists), then he can declare Joe Lieberman emperor for life for all I care (though he’ll never replace Norton in my heart).