Our famous linkfest taking you to sites of varying viewpoints.

Both Sides Of Blogosphere Note Obama/Gitmo/Centrism: President Elect Barack Obama’s comment that he might not close Gitmo during his first 100 days in office is getting a lot of attention..and raising some eyebrows. Crooks and Liars’ Nichole Bell finds his declarations indicating he’ll do some stay the course (at least initially) heartbreaking. Don Surber says Obama won’t close Gitmo because he “is an intelligent man who realizes that George Walker Bush was absolutely, positively, unassailably correct.”

Is The Problem That Obama Is Too Centrist? Writes Salon’s Glenn Greenwald:

The central tenets of the Beltway religion — particularly when a Democrat is in the White House — have long been “centrism” and “bipartisanship.” The only good Democrats are the ones who scorn their “left-wing” base while embracing Republicans. In Beltway lingo, that’s what “pragmatism” and good “post-partisanship” mean: a Democrat whose primary goal is to prove he’s not one of those leftists. The Washington Post’s David Ignatius today lavishes praise on Barack Obama for his allegiance to these Beltway pieties — and actually seems to believe that there is something new and innovative about this approach…

He further down, this:

Whatever else one might want to say about this “centrist” approach, the absolute last thing one can say about it is that there’s anything “new” or “remarkable” about it. The notion that Democrats must spurn their left-wing base and move to the “non-ideological” center is the most conventional of conventional Beltway wisdom (which is why Ignatius, the most conventional of Beltway pundits, is preaching it). That’s how Democrats earn their Seriousness credentials, and it’s been that way for decades.

That’s one way to look at it. Another way to look at it here in 2009 as the U.S faces its worst multi-pronged crises in decades is that given the challenges the country may not be able to afford base mobilization politics anymore — and that it may be time to give consensus politics, negotiation politics and broad coalition building a chance. The tensions in the Democratic party were greatest during the Harry Truman and Vietnam years.

Trying to get more people on board to support policies may not be the same as spurning them…here in year 2009, in an era of people unifying more and more via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn…and memeorandum… FOOTNOTE: Greenwald believes it’s too early to know what Obama will do, but he’s alarmed by what he sees as a lurch away from the progressive policies many who voted for him wanted. But centrists and moderates are pleased with what they see. Some don’t see Obama as, in effect, a sell-out but as an open-minded pragmatist.

But Conservative Bloggers Are Also Upset over Republicans who are cooperating with Obama, too. (Does it sound as if Obama has angered the left and the right? A troublesome development for those on the right or left but usually considered a hopeful sign by those in the center. But, then, each side sees each other as the uninformed, mistakenly naive enemy — the old “mirror image”‘ idea.

Obama’s Team Was Once Considered Politically Seamless but it has now entered rocky political waters…

The Face Of Non Government Organization’s Service Is Changing writes Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu in the Huffington Post.

What’s Bush’s Legacy? Is it THIS?

By The Way, We Aren’t The Only Ones Who Do Comprehensive Roundups — others do, too.

Illinois’ Gov. Blago Is An Embarrassment — even to Cubs fans..

Yes The Weblog Awards Voting Is Going On and some sites such as TMV’s close friend skippy (who invented the word “blogtopia”) are making subtle requests for votes. Here at TMV we’re just honored to be nominated in our category so, no matter what happens, Gracias! We have lots of blog friends who are up for awards, including The Glittering Eye.

They Auto Know Better: There’s a Big Three car show in Detroit this week, but will it be more like a funeral? One more car maker could go under this year..

When Is Torture Not Torture? George Bush has some ideas…

ATTENTION GERMANY: IT’S NOT A GOOD IMAGE PROBLEM when given your history your police apparently break into an apartment to remove an Israeli flag that offended Muslims… It starts to remind some people of this.

Just In Case You Thought It DID Matter Department: Vice President Dick Cheney says, why, it doesn’t matter that the Bush administration never captured Osama bin Laden. What’s the saying about when you get a lemon, make lemonade?

The Sarah Palin The Victim Show Continues — this time with a screamfest on a talk show featuring a reporter and a former talk show host turned filmmaker.

Is A Barack Obama Cabinet Nomination In Big Trouble? Sounds that way…