So there we are, my staff and I, dealing with A-Rod’s coming clean about doing steroids while he was at Texas — although nothing about Madonna, sadly — when the president decided to hold a news conference.*

I know! What nerve. I mean, it’s not like we’re in the middle of some crisis. You’d think he’d have the decency to wait until there’s nothing else going on to attract our attention. Surely he knows we a all have ADD and are attracted by all manner of shiny objects.

But anyway, reluctantly, I tear myself away from A-Rod to listen to the president.

First, let me remind you that this Obama guy was not my first, or even my second choice for president. He was definitely my choice when it came to the general election, however, and I’m beginning to really like the guy.

He starts off with a lot of things I’ve heard him say before — that his economic recovery bill is the right size and scope, that it’s not perfect, that have to act now or we’re really be in trouble, that the federal government is the only entity with the resources to break the “vicious cycle” we’re in.

It is absolutely true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or economic growth. That is and must be the role of the private sector. But at this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life.

True, it means much borrowing for the government. But the bankrupt banks — and they are bankrupt, they just won’t admit it — certainly can’t do it.

The Republicans, naturally, were trashing what he had to say before he said it, whining about the spending and the lack of bipartisanship and the rhetoric. Obama had an answer for that too.

First of all, when I hear that from folks who presided over a doubling of the national debt, then, you know, I just want them to not engage in some revisionist history. I inherited the deficit that we have right now and the economic crisis that we have right now.

The president’s about a week late with this — dealing directly with the people the Republicans spent all last week lying to — but it was a good effort. I was especially impressed at how he worked two of the GOP’s main stimulus-bashing points into answers.

One, the Republican’s newest meme, that the New Deal failed.

You have some people, very sincere, who philosophically just think the government has no business interfering in the marketplace. And, in fact, there are several who’ve suggested that FDR was wrong to interfere back in the New Deal. They’re fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago.

And two, that Japan fell into a ten-year funk in the 90s because of big spending. Not so, said Obama. Japan’s trouble was that it did too little too late.

We saw this happen in Japan in the 1990s, where they did not act boldly and swiftly enough and, as a consequence, they suffered what was called the lost decade, where essentially, for the entire ’90s, they did not see any significant economic growth.

And he certainly didn’t shy away from blaming the Bush administration for this mess, although without, of course, naming names — just that repeated mention of “the last eight years.”

The FDR mention, the Japan mention, the last eight years mentions — those were all very pointed. But I think my favorite was his very simple insistence that he would continue to talk with Republicans as he did on the stimulus bill — whether they vote in lockstep with Rush Limbaugh or not.

Old habits are hard to break. We’re coming off an election, and people sort of want to test the limits of what they can get. There’s a lot of jockeying in this town and who’s up and who’s down, testing for the next election. And what I’ve tried to suggest is that this is one of those times where we’ve got to put that kind of behavior aside, because the American people can’t afford it.

And whether we’re Democrats or Republicans, surely there’s got to be some capacity for us to work together, not agree on everything, but at least set aside small differences to get things done.

Now, just in terms of the historic record here, the Republicans were brought in early and were consulted. And you’ll remember that, when we initially introduced our framework, they were pleasantly surprised and complimentary about the tax cuts that were presented in that framework. Those tax cuts are still in there.

I mean, I suppose what I could have done is started off with no tax cuts, knowing that I was going to want some, and then let them take credit for all of them, and maybe that’s the lesson I learned. But there was consultation; there will continue to be consultation.

One thing that I think is important is to recognize that, because all these — all these items that you listed are hard, that people have to break out of some of the ideological rigidity and gridlock that we’ve been carrying around for too long.

The president’s got their number.

You know, when I made a series of overtures to the Republicans, going over to meet with both Republican caucuses, you know, putting three Republicans in my cabinet — something that is unprecedented — making sure that they were invited here to the White House to talk about the economic recovery plan, all those were not designed simply to get some short-term votes. They were designed to try to build up some trust over time.And I think that, as I continue to make these overtures, over time, hopefully that will be reciprocated.

But there’s a line drawn in the sand, too.

And I’m happy to get good ideas from across the political spectrum, from Democrats and Republicans. What I won’t do is return to the failed theories of the last eight years that got us into this fix in the first place, because those theories have been tested, and they have failed. And that’s what part of the election in November was all about.

That’s a clear message and it says this: Listen, you morons. I’m doing exactly what I said I would do during the campaign. You’re being dicks, and the American people know it.

And they do. CNN released a poll today that said some interesting things. While CNN.com painted it as “Obama is more popular than his stimulus package,” a closer look at the numbers shows something a little different.

Seventy-six percent of the people polled approve of the job Obama’s doing. Fifty-four percent favor the recovery bill. But here’s where it gets interesting. Three out of every four Democrats support the bill. Independents are split down the middle, and two-thirds of Republicans oppose it.

Typical partisan divide? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just plain, simple obstructionism. Here’s what else the poll said.

Three out of four people polled — everybody, not just Democrats — said the president is cooperating appropriately with Congressional Republicans. The flip side? No so much. Only 39 percent say the GOP is cooperating.

Sixty percent like the way the Democratic leadership is doing its job. Just 44 percent like how the Republicans are handling themselves.

Now, I don’t advocate governing by polls, but this one is a bit telling. Another simple message that apparently the GOP is too far gone to hear.

You’re wrong. You’ve been wrong for years. Get out of the way and let somebody who gives a damn about something other than his bank account, about people rather than material assets, see what he can do to turn this ship of state around.

*Note: This is for literary effect. I’m perfectly aware that we knew about the news conference last week.