AND MORE FUNNY THINGS...

Posted at 8:23 a.m. ET

I don't recall that we've ever run two stories in a row on exactly the same subject, but there are things in politics that are just too much fun to keep down.

Add this to "A Funny Thing Happened..." below, about the new Clinton saga, Hil's possible move to State, and Bill's money secrets.  Now The Politico reports that there's even more trouble in Obamaland over the Hil thing than we'd believed:

From his supporters on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, to campaign aides of the soon-to-be commander-in-chief, there's a sense of ambivalence about giving a top political plum to a woman they spent 18 months hammering as the compromised standard-bearer of an era that deserves to be forgotten.

"These are people who believe in this stuff more than Barack himself does," said a Democrat close to Obama's campaign. "These guys didn't put together a campaign in order to turn the government over to the Clintons."

Republicans, it's okay to smile again.  You see, these guys have problems, too.

The Obama campaign had no compunctions about poking holes in that legacy and even sent out mailings stressing the downside of the last "8 years of the Clintons" – enraging the former president in particular.

And now the former president would have new access to state secrets, and an inside-the-administration way of getting back at folks.

"There's always a risk of a Cabinet member freelancing and that risk is enhanced by the fact that Hillary has her own public and her own celebrity and that she comes attached to Bill," said Robert Kuttner, a Clinton critic and former American Prospect editor whose new book, Obama's Challenge, implores the president-elect to adopt an expansive liberal agenda. "The other question is the old rule – never hire somebody you can't fire. What happens if her views and his views don't mesh?"

A little over the top.  He can fire her.  Truman fired MacArthur, and Hillary ain't Mac.

During the primary, top aides like David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs developed a particular distaste for all things Clinton, one that filtered down through the campaign. So the transition from viewing Hillary Clinton as a relic of a drama-filled Democratic past to the top choice to run the foreign policy of an Obama administration has been difficult for some campaign veterans, to say the least.

This may be the week when some of Obama's supporters graduate from high-school politics.

"I can't stand her – but I think she's a great choice," said another Obama insider.

Now that's the spirit - Chicago politics.  "Hey, so Louie had my brother whacked.  But he's so good at it!"

One person who apparently has shown no ambivalence: Obama. "It's not like he hedged his bets in conversation with her," said a person involved in the process. While both sides say the situation remains fluid, this person said Obama was quite direct: "He offered her the job."

Either the guy is showing remarkable guts and leadership, or he's into self-abuse.  We'll know pretty soon.

November 18, 2008.