well, today actually "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne, i always like to read him, echoed a theme i've been hitting. it was his original thought, too, the president has to get on offense. state his goals out there for the country and tell us how he's going to get there. "what is president obama fighting for? what is point of his second term? his ability to answer these questions in a compelling way will have more to do with his success or failure than all the republican congressional investigations combined." this week, announcing three nominees to the d.c. circuit court and putting insiders susan rice and samantha power in powerful security and foreign policy positions. he certainly did that. he showed he's ready to give efforts of conciliation a rest and push forward with his agenda, the one he believes in and the people he believes in. joan walsh is msnbc political analyst and editor at large for "salon." nira, is president for center of american progress. i want to start with you then to joan. it seems to me this president is always, i don't want to say behind me, because i'm always excited. maybe i'm excitable. and he's one of these cool