Obama Wants Strong Opinions, Not Apologies, Right?

I'm not one of those who thought an Obama presidency would be the First Coming for the American Left, so I'm not going to indulge in much hand wringing over whether he has or hasn't deviated from campaign promises. Anyone who can't read reality between the lines of a campaign speech deserves whatever disappoint they feel.

Appointments? Too moderate? From the guy who named more conservative editors at the Harvard Law Review than liberals and disappointed some of his brothers and sisters?

Retreads? Who, exactly, would Camera Girl consider acceptably unconnected? Sarah Palin? Alberto Gonzales? Ole Savior?

But here's what does bother me, written by the managing editor of the Washington Independent:

While liberal critics sound increasingly uneasy with President-elect Barack Obama’s nominations of centrist, Clinton-era Democrats to Cabinet positions, some are overlooking how Obama has also been assembling a tight progressive cadre to serve with him in the White House.
[...]
Consider the people Obama has selected to be his advisers on domestic policy and national politics, as well as his communications director. Other prominent progressive players, including labor and feminist activists, also will be members of his future White House staff.

That's pretty thin gruel for analysis, let alone for solid reporting. It sounds to me like the kind of piece that convinces paranoid readers the liberal/conservative publisher is really calling the shots on the news pages.

If the Independent wants to be seen as "a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that operates an independent online news network in the public interest," it's got to be stealthier.

Otherwise, more people are going to think Mitch was right — that a "tight progressive cadre" is serving, all right.