Be prepared, my friends. If you thought the anti-Clinton mania was bad, wait till you see the “of-course-it’s-not-racist” anti-Obama mania.

That’s right, four — not all five [of the Iowa delegation]. U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Kiron Republican known for his warning that the election of Barack Obama would lead to terrorists “dancing in the streets,” declined to participate, according to congressional aides.

King said in an interview that he would have had to use money from his campaign fund to pay for the cookies and coffee to be offered up at the reception and he didn’t think it was an appropriate use for the money. “It’s not anti-anybody,” he said. “My disagreements with Barack Obama have never been anything but philosophical.”

How Rush Limbaugh?

My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, ‘Well, I hope he succeeds. We’ve got to give him a chance.’ Why? They didn’t give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated, the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I’m not talking about search-and-destroy, but I’ve been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don’t want them to succeed.

If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he’s talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the U.S. government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don’t want this to work. So I’m thinking of replying to the guy, ‘Okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.’ (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here’s the point. Everybody thinks it’s outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, ‘Oh, you can’t do that.’ Why not? Why is it any different, what’s new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what’s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don’t care what the drive-by story is. I would be honored if the drive-by media headlined me all day long: ‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’ Somebody’s gotta say it.

Young Americans for Liberty, an idiotic group that grew out of Ron Paul’s quixotic quest for the presidency and the grossly unfair tax policy he proposes, planned to distribute literature against Obama’s policies on college campuses. Said the group’s executive director:

We want to let young people know that one day of Obama is enough.

By the way, did you catch Fox “News” and their lingering shot, sans commentary, of GW’s plane flying off into the distance after take-off from Andrews AFB? All the other nets were talking about Obama’s speech at the time. Not Fox, though, just that dreamy, wistful image. Speaking of Fox, Chris Wallace thought the Chief Justice’s switching of the wording of the oath meant that Obama wasn’t really president.

Well, again, we’re wondering here whether or not Barack Obama in fact is the president of the United States. They had a kind of garbled oath. It’s just conceivable that this will end up going to the courts.

Yeah, Chris. Just like all those Obama wasn’t born in America lawsuits. But in fact, the “botched oath” is top news on just about all the gasbags’ Web sites, along with some bullshit about Dianne Feinstein talking about Obama taking the “oaf of office.” Two words. Didn’t happen.

Michelle Malkin, meanwhile, is going on about Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango, who is in this country illegally and was spotted in Washington for the inauguration. According to Malkin, she’s safe, though, because nephew Barack is protecting her. Never mind that Obama hadn’t seen her in years. She also thought it was horribly rude that GW was booed. And it was an unnecessarily race-based benediction when Rev. Joe Lowery prayed that “white will embrace what is right.” Malkin’s one of the ones still hung up on Obama’s arrogance too.

Michael Savage is all hung up on the same things, plus he thinks Obama’s gonna take away his right to free speech. What’s that old thing about shouting “fire” in a crowded theater? Plus, it’s a bad thing that Obama noted there are people other than Christians in this country.

But the really weird thing is Ed Rollins, Republican strategist and former chairman of Mike Huckabee’s campaign. Writing after the oath and the speech for CNN, Rollins said

I don’t believe any other American at this time could have brought this country together in the same way and made Americans feel as good as they do about our new president.

Huh?

As I watched our former presidents, Jimmy Carter, the elder George Bush and Bill Clinton introduced at the beginning of the inauguration ceremony, I remembered how at each of their inaugurals they began their administrations with great promise.

But in the four years of Bush senior and of Carter and the eight years of Clinton — as well as the two terms of the man who left the world stage Tuesday, George Walker Bush — each found their success often overwhelmed by challenges and failure.

This president inherits challenges as great as any president in modern times. But with his incredible discipline, his keen intellect, his empathy with ordinary people and his extraordinary communication skills, Barack Obama might just be the man to guide us through these troubled times.

Wha???

The new president is what John Kennedy was to Irish Catholics and Democrats of my generation. He can be what Barry Goldwater and, later, Ronald Reagan were to a new generation of conservatives.

He is the leader of a revolution and a political movement. For my 13-year-old daughter and many of her friends, Obama is their first political hero. He is viewed as different. If he succeeds, he will be a historic president.

Also, his beautiful young family is going to be an extremely positive influence for America, and watching those precious little girls grow up will be a joy for us all.

I write this Tuesday as an American full of pride for my country. I know I will over time differ with the president on many issues, but for today I believe he made us proud and inspired us all. Once again our system works. For that we all should be proud.

OK then. Pity the rest of the idiots who incite Americans to more stupidity don’t understand what Rollins apparently does — that what makes this country great is not which ideology rules but how whoever is in the Oval Office and the halls of the Capitol rule.

And the proper “how” is not to eliminate the opposition but to work with it, to cooperate with it. That only works, though, when everyone involved has the same goal in mind — and for this country, for any country, that goal should be to make things better for the people of that country. We’ve just been through eight years of something decidedly different. How much change Barack Obama brings to the ship of state remains to be seen, but we can have a direct influence on it.

Here in America, we all come from many different places, physically, mentally and spiritually. Acknowledgement of that simple fact, understanding that simple fact, is the beginning of change. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “We may have come in all different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

And that boat is sinking. We have some hard, hard choices to make, nationally and individually. We have no choice but to change the way we’ve been living since the Reagan “revolution” put us on the path to destruction.

The conservative windbags are helplessly caught in the past, refusing to see what’s right in front of them. We must pay them no mind, and instead sweep them aside and leave them where they most fear — behind us, as we move forward.

This country has gotten out of some powerful fixes before, and can certainly do it again. But only if we truly come together, not in some mythical “bipartisan” magic mixture, but as human beings, as citizens of America and the world.

Obama, today:

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

We’re the risk-takers now. Not those fools with billion-dollar jobs on Wall Street, but us. And the risks we must take won’t drain someone else’s life savings. Instead, we’ll enrich the lives of all of us, and make a much better place for those who come after.

As this country has always done. At least before it was hijacked by selfish, greedy bastards.

It’s the least we can do, and honestly, it’s not that hard. All it takes is a willingness to stop pulling against one another and blaming one another for our lack of progress.

Stop looking to stockpile everything, to “get what’s coming to us,” and focus instead on making sure we all get what we need.

Honestly, we’ll all end up with more that way.