Keep your friends close, your enemies closer and the conservative commentariat closest. Not content to merely take Joe Biden's word for whether the Fresh Prince is really as bright and clean as advertised by the "liberal media," the latest stop on the wine, dine and 69 'em tour took a decidedly Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego turn via the transition pool report:

Mr. Obama, who has been staying at the Hay-Adams Hotel in advance of his inauguration next week, arrived at 9 Grafton Street, an upscale address in Chevy Chase, Md., at 6:34 p.m. The Montgomery County property tax records list this address as the home of the conservative Washington Post columnist George Will, the host of the dinner party. Also attending the party was Charles Krauthammer. Together, some of the columnists at the dinner party have been some of Mr. Obama's severest critics.

I guess you can consider this the sausage-making phase of diplomacy. Unavoidably messy, but required. I've been itching to see how many succumb to the magic Negro fairy dust this weekend to wax rhapsodic on how humble Barack was and how they were all so surprised at how great his manners were and how he wasn’t hollerin' for "motherfuckin' iced tea" throughout the dinner.
So, what's the feedback from the fervent opposition?

"He's making good on his promise to reach out to Republicans and conservatives and this post-partisan stuff, whatever that means," [Larry] Kudlow said. "I was very impressed. He's a nice guy, terribly smart, well-informed, great smile. He just really engaged. He said he likes to know the arguments on all sides."

[Michael] Barone called Obama "an attractive person in a small setting. It's harder to hate someone you've had close contact with and who has pleasant characteristics."

"Obama's a man who has demonstrated he is interested in hearing other views," said syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer.

To break bread with people who insinuated he was a Manchurian candidate and out to destroy America. That his wife was an unpatriotic redux of Angela Davis. That he couldn't beat Clinton and had loser written all over him because of Caribou Barbie's hockey mom hagiography. Now they have to smile politely at the living embodiment of their utter defeat.

What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in between hors d'oeuvres.

Labels: Barack Obama, politics, vast right-wing conspiracy