Obama Turns Corner With String of Remarkable Successes

It's a great week to be an American, and great to be a Democrat, because it's been a remarkable week of much-needed, important successes for the Obama administration. After all...

• Judge Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latino-American, and the third woman, to ascend to the U.S. Supreme Court;

• Baitullah Mehsud, top leader of Pakistan’s Taliban, was killed this week in a C.I.A. missile strike;

• Two U.S. political hostages were freed peacably from North Korea, thanks, in large part, to former President Bill Clinton;

• Unemployment took an unexpected dip in July;

• The $1 billion Cash for Clunkers program has proven a resounding success, popular with the financially distressed American public and a great boon to the U.S. auto industry. And Congress approved $2 billion more for the program to continue it through Labor Day.

And yet, Republican extremists, unable to admit that the Obama administration might be getting it right on something, anything... continue to moan and groan, nit-pick, rant and rave, and shrilly act like the sky is falling.

I loved it when yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laughingly quipped to CNN's Fareed Zakaria about John Bolton's criticism of the hostage rescue, "If President Obama walked on water, he'd say he couldn't swim."

Yes, it's a great week to be an American, and a Democrat, because the Obama administration is starting to see the first fruits of our President's smart strategies and long, hard labors.

Hallelujah! We're finally glimpsing the blue skies of success, after the stormy, dark night of the Bush/Cheney administration. This is what I voted for!

Next up: passing meaningful health care/health insurance reform legislation. Mark my words: it WILL happen.

Essential Reading

• Do the Blue Dogs Help or Hinder Democrats?
• Ugly Republican Racism and Sexism over Sotomayor Nomination
• President Obama's Health Insurance Reform Plan

• Obama's Health Insurance Reforms Herald Major Middle-Class Relief
• Obama's Health Care Reform Plan - Answers to Questions

Also enjoy my William J. Clinton Foundation Photo Archive.