Blue Dogs, progressives, Yellow Dogs, liberals, ideologues ... these are the many faces and names given to Democrats. Conservatives, Tea Party, reactionaries, obstructionists ... these are some of the faces and names given to Republicans.

The use of political labels to describe Congressmen and women seems to be the mainstay of pundits on cable news channels. The labels and insulting one-liners result in accusations of biased reporting based on how outlandish and audacious the pundit. And really, you can't blame the pundits, entirely. The behavior of adults, particularly our elected representatives, embroiled in a culture war, is typical of a bunch of teenagers in high school.

As President Obama negotiates with Capitol Hill to pass his legislative agenda, these and many more political labels are hurled around like hand grenades. It seems that derogatory labels are crucial weapons in the ongoing political warfare.

This creates a political climate that is toxic and passing any legislation a minor miracle. But President Obama has steered an unprecedented number of bills through the mire of political opposition. This President has compromised with Republicans to achieve his goals and that makes far left Democrats mad.

Sometimes our political leaders defy the labels in spite of themselves. For instance, Dennis Kucinich, a lefty by any standard, voted for the controversial tax bill. When this bill passed, a black cloud descended over many of us who believe our President should have fought harder.

But, as it turns out, this cloud has a silver lining since now the Republicans cannot criticize Obama and blame the economy on his actions. They have bought into this stimulus package. They have given Obama the right to claim victory if the economy recovers; but they will have to take the blame if the strategy fails.
With regard to the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Kucinich described Sen. Lieberman's leadership as "noteworthy". The Ohio congressman explained that Lieberman's actions should discourage people from judging lawmakers too quickly. "If I learned anything from this last vote, it's to have compassion for my fellow members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who took positions on both sides of the issue," he said in an interview with Lawrence O'Donnell.

Finally at the end of the 111th Congress, the so called lame duck sprouted wings and soared to dizzying heights. It can hardly be called a lame duck session when you count President Obama's end-of-session victories that put Republicans on the defensive. Senator Lindsey Graham of SC said, "Harry Reid has eaten our lunch. This has been a capitulation in two weeks of dramatic proportions of policies that wouldn't have passed in the new Congress."

Willie Mills in the following Monthly 2 Cents Worth is right: coming to a compromise on the crucial tax bill is the job that President Obama was elected to do. This compromise paved the way to an unprecedented number of wins. He was practicing the art of politics — making what appears to be impossible, possible.