Bipartisanship?

If I had told you on November 3, 2008 that within the first month of his term the new President would push through the largest tax cut in history, send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, would fight nationalizing banks by stressing that a privately held banking system is critical, and would be unwilling to go after former Bush officials for abuses of power - which party would you have thought won the election?

I mean this mostly tongue in cheek - Obama has been championing many progressive causes in the early days of his Presidency, and those items above were all pretty much things he had campaigned on. But it goes to show just how ridiculous the Republican party is when they claim Obama is too radical and won't work with them. They have decided to spend the next few years as the obstructionist party - the much needed stimulus plan passing without a single Republican vote in the House. But Obama has reached out to them, both symbolically with multiple visits to GOP leaders and members, and substantively as noted above.

More to the point, I'm getting tired of seeing politicians on both sides claiming "the American people want bipartisanship". Really? Last I checked those same American people voted in a Democratic President, Senate and House - and all by landslides. That's like saying the 1972 election showed that the American people really wanted George McGovern to play a major role in U.S. policy. Right now people want progressive leadership and policies.