Clinton

A HUGE ovation for the former President and the next Secretary of State. It took the gasbags off guard. It shouldn't; this is a Democratic crowd, and Clinton is still in the memories of the nation, and considering the last eight years, I would say fondly.

Hillary Clinton has power and cachet of her own, not just in America, but around the world. Her hawkish tendencies aside, what she expressed in her confirmation hearing, the principle of smart power, multilateralism, a return to diplomacy and mutual cooperation, is going to be as important as the symbolism of the new President. This is an important change, but in many ways it's a very mundane change - away from the belligerence and unilateralism of neoconservatism, toward the respect and positive feeling of liberal internationalism.

Now if we can end this bumper sticker of the war on terror we'd be getting somewhere.

Bush, on the other hand, is being booed.

...I hate to echo Tweety, but Cheney leaving the world's stage in a wheelchair is brutally symbolic.