2009 Year in Review: February

The endless bummers of January continued into February, which meant that something had to be done to lighten the gloom. Ergo, a very special Cabinet post for Chris Dodd:

As Secretary of the Department of Unicorns and Rainbows, Dodd will face "daunting challenges in this time of crisis," the president said, referring to the distinguished silver-haired senator as "one of our nation's most visionary leaders."

Other insightful political commentary from February:

• "There is a marked tendency for heterosexual men to be interested in women."
• The low ebb for Republicans came when the House GOP could muster only 135 votes against the S-CHIP expansion.
• February was the month of stimulus: 1,434 pages, $789 billion and not a red cent for me.
• Exactly what did Obamanomics mean? Reinflating the bubble and the Fiscal Trap of Hope.
• MEGA-BLOGGER: "How to Get a Million Hits."
• Ace of Spades: Hanging with Hitch in Beirut.
• The first-ever Rule 5 Sunday.
• CPAC! CPAC! CPAC!

February also saw the beginning of the Tea Party movement, which sparked the beginning of a long-running argument with Rick Moran:

Rick doesn't seem to believe that opposition to Obamanomics could ever become a decisive groundswell. And he is entitled to that opinion. But to say that such opposition is not now a groundswell does not mean it will never become one.

Wow, did I call that one, or what? I followed up with a long post entitled "Tea Parties, Defeatism and Wolverines" -- the first of what became an informal series with a populist theme -- and quoted Jennifer Rubin: "The opposition party must oppose."