You got it all wrong. He spent the whole time planning the continued rape of America and laughing at the rubes.

It would be a good thing if the unhinged rhetoric from the right (see above comment) cooled off a bit, at least. But I don't expect it.

I should note that I'd gladly clear my schedule for him.

Better yet invite him to Vermont.
Rumor has it that a president, or president-elect, hasn't visited The Green Mountain State in over 8 years. You guys are due for a little post-Bush lovin'...

Applying salve to the wound before it's infected? Seems smart to me.

The press BBQ worked for Maverick Man for a quite awhile. Obama must be taking cues.

Yet another instance of the master of political ju-jitsu at work. Shades of "Mandrake gestures hypnotically". . .

Media celebrity elites. Cigars, even without Rush, were in order.

Now how about a dinner with some common folks who know the meaning of work of the non cerebral kind. That would truly be out of order.

Straight out of Sun Tzu.

With that quartet of conservative pundits, breaking wind would be more appropriate.

Personally, I think he went just to rub their noses in the fact that they were completely ineffective at stopping his steam-roller of a candidacy. That and George Will makes a mean creme brulee.

There is a whole world of people who live outside the Beltway. For the rest of us, simply being heard in a respectful manner, even through our proxies, means something. I might never agree with you, but I probably won't hate you.

That is what was so infuriating about the recent Republican rule. Once they got to 50% plus 1, they really didn't care what anyone else had to say and refuse to even let people have their say. That is an underlying cause for the contempt and hatred of the Republican rule of 2002-2006.

I think Obama understands that listening is not only the right thing for him to do, it also pays dividends. Reagan had a knack for convincing everyone that he was listening to them. That was one reason it was so hard to organize a counter-attack.

...the unhinged rhetoric from the right (see above comment)...

Actually, I think the above comment was unhinged rhetoric from the left.

"keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" (i like to add, "the knife goes in so much easier that way")

maybe reincarnation is real, and obama is actually sun tzu instead of jfk.

Yeah, so much to hear - Wills on the Baltimore Orioles, Kraut on "Water boarding on a psychiatric couch", Kristol on "I'm sure I said or wrote something pertinent, once", and Brooks on buying .22 caliber rifles at Wal*Mart, following lunch at Overland Park's Applebys. Shame that none of them have the ability to really listen to and understand the wisdom of Obama.

@Spanky
Apparently. I probably should have realized that a right-winger wouldn't have used 'rape' as a metaphor.

maybe picking up some new credibility from the David Broders of the world

Not when Broder wasn't invited.

I going to try and check my cynicism for a moment and concede that there might be value in an of camera discussion about national priorites with conservative opinion framers. That is change I will try to believe in.

Not when Broder wasn't invited.

You may be the only one who noticed that. I doubt anyone in the room did.

I hope Obama asked to use a bathroom and "got lost" so he could check out a) Will's baseball card collection and b) whether he has a whole set of bad toupees, or whether the only atrocious rug Will owns was residing on his head.

They probably spent the whole evening talking about the Fairness Doctrine. Also, Mark Shields must have had that "what am I- Alan Colmes?" feeling.

"If Obama, in the interest of ideological diversity, also wants to chat with some writers on the left, I should note that I'd gladly clear my schedule for him."

irony is not dead in the age of obama.

I do not want to see Obama being disrespectful to his opponents and should meet with and listen to the Republicans in Congress. However I feel strongly that his dining with these neocon pundits only enhances their legitimacy just at the time Americans have woken up to how disastrously wrong their world view is.

The last 8 years should leave no doubt that these guys are the last people to listen to. Their position on both economics and foreign policy, both of which Bush implemented with a vengeance, has been totally discredited. Neither Republicans nor Democrats should give these guys any attention.

I for one think that this is very ominous. It becomes more and more clear every day that he is going to go out of his way to please the Krauthammers and Kristols by abandoning basic liberal positions in the name of reconciliation and bipartisanship.

His first dinner with columnists should have been with Krugman and Yglesias.

Bad rugs? Did Cal Thomas sneak in?

i couldn't imagine trying to eat dinner while looking across the table at the hammer. let alone having to listen to him.

President-Elect Obama did fail to meet with the New York Times editorial staff so they laid a curse on him (the "One-Term curse.") You can see why it is imperative that he meet with all newpaper writers eventually.

For Obama I think this is akin to a pick up game of basketball. Show up at the court, throw the ball around with whoever shows up and see who's got the moves. This is his 'hood now and like 'em or not, these are the guys who will be showing up. Might as well acknowledge that and let the jokers know that he'll walk on to their court and not be intimidated.

I agree with Obama's approach in general, but I wish he were a little more discerning in the particulars.

Will can be reasoned with, and Brooks is a non-ideologue. Dining with them makes all kinds of sense - in part as a reward for their both breaking ranks on Palin.

Kristol and Krauthammer on the other hand really hae no particular redeeming qualities (except, I suppose, that they write for the two most important papers in the country - a big exception to be sure). Neither can be persuaded of anything but their own rightness, neither has shown any tendency or ability toward open-mindedness, reflection or rationality. Kathleen Parker would have been a good choice - she's taken a hell of a lot of heat for her Palin articles; this would have been a nice salve. But there is just no sense wasting time on the likes of Kristol.

Might as well acknowledge that and let the jokers know that he'll walk on to their court and not be intimidated.

Yep. Now picture Junior having the stuff to break bread with liberal or even centrist columnists. The dude couldn't even handle a rally in a deep red state unless everyone there had been screened for adoring loyalty.

zeit, I don't disagree, but I rather doubt the guest list was left entirely up to Obama. I assume it was a "George Will is convening a dinner of conservative columnists; will you meet with us?" kind of thing...but maybe not. It would be interesting to find out.

If Limbaugh wasn't there, then who brought the coke and hookers?

Shorter Benen on this post and others: This would seem to suck, but really, it's yet another sign of Obama's brilliance.

Obama sucking up to the Village and Steve doesn't get it.

Hmm, I might have to Photoshop a picture of Obama burying his head up David Broder’s ass.

Progressive writers I would like Obama to dine with:

Steve
Hilzoy
Glenn Greenwald
Digby
Andrew Leonard

There are others (Maddow, Krugman, etc.) but they already have had an opportunity to interact directly with the President-Elect.

I'd also include Kevin Drum on that progressive dinner list--that is if Obama actually wants to have a serious policy discussion, as opposed to a bunch of bs about how great Reagan was and how FDR sucked.

Will can be reasoned with, and Brooks is a non-ideologue.

Only compared with Kristol and Krauthammer. By any other standard, not so much.

Of course, Obama could do a dinner with some of the people who didn't actually slander him to try to prevent his election, but imagine the recoil in the Village if he actually had a dinner with, say, Josh Marshall, Matt Yglesias, Duncan Black or (horrors) Markos Moulitsas.

"People say dirty words on those sites- and they actually occasionally criticize Republicans"

Never happen.

Remember when Obama said he'd sit down with enemies without preconditions? That, apparently, applies as much to Will, Kristol, et al. as it does Ahmadinejad and the like. And I can't see why it would be a good idea in the latter case and not in the former.

i cannot believe that people think that this was a bad idea. Ask yourself this: who is more likely to be affected by the dinner? Is Obama more likely to yield to the power of their conservative arguments and adopt their (idiotic) positions because he ate with them and liked them personally? Or, are they more likely to reduce their most hateful rhetoric if they eat dinner with him and like him? Easy answer. The worst Obama gets is a break even, plus kudos for reaching out.

god, this was an easy call.

orange.

eric

This just makes it nearly impossible for these guys to demonize Obama in the future. Criticize, yes. But Obama invites criticism.

Obama probably wants to reinforce the concept of a civil discourse based upon facts, not ideology.

But Obama is good at controlling the parameters of debate, so going directly to the major fountains of this debate is a good step. He might even give them some tips.

If Obama is willing to sit with Ahmedinejad and Lil Kim, pshhh, who the hell are Brooks et al.