'publicans in the era Obama

'60s radical Ayers cheered, booed at St. Mary's
Sherry Perussina of Danville (right) and St. Mary's student Moises Gonzalez argue about whether Bill Ayers should be speaking on campus. (Brant Ward / The Chronicle)

The photo says it all. The 'publicans can't give up because they know nothing else.

So Obama, notwithstanding all the bipartisan stuff and the meetings and the têtes-à-tête with McCain, managed to get exactly zero votes form the 'publicans in the House for the stimulus package. And after he screwed the entire thing with all those tax cuts. If this is the era of responsibility, he should look Americans in the eye and say, "Look, buddy, ya got a job. Be happy.We'll get you some tax cuts once we fix this thing. In the meanwhile, we're spending our money on infrastructure."

The stimulus package is not, alas, an indication of a new politics. It is a whole bunch more of the same. Some infrastructure, not enough. Nothing earth shattering. Where is the complete reconfiguration of the nation's approach to water? What about the new information highway? It's not there. But perhaps the package is an indication of a new spirit of working together, the lion and the lamb, old dogs and wee kittens gamboling in the streets.

Well, that would be a no. Because the 'publicans in the House believe that the biggest threat they face is from a right wing extremist in a primary. After all, these are the ones who resisted the Obama surge. So they swallowed their cud and started creaming, "Nooooooooo" as only extremists know how.

And this nincompoop, Mrs. Perussina, displays the technique that worked so well for them for 28 years. Scream at everything until you are blue in the face ... or red in the face. And then scream some more. Don't, for chrissake, allow even a moment for reflection.

Screw 'em, Obama. You won. They lost. Time for the revolution you promised, the new way of thinking and acting.