Dear Barack Obama and Harry Reid,

This is what happens when you try to "reach out" to the other side, and when you think you can "change the way politics is done in this country" and "change the tone" and be "inclusive" of the Republicans:

In a bid to beef up House Republicans' ability to scrutinize an Obama administration, incoming House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is moving to increase the GOP side of the panel's oversight power.

A day after he was formally selected as ranking member last week, Issa ousted 14 of 39 Republican committee staffers, including many senior aides. Outgoing staffers said they were told the panel's minority will shift its focus away from legislation toward oversight of federal agencies.

By bringing in aides with investigative backgrounds, committee Republicans believe they can increase their capacity to conduct independent investigations, despite lacking the majority's subpoena power.
"The role of the Republican committee is going to change," Issa spokesman Frederick Hill said. He declined to discuss details, but said Republicans want to be ready to probe executive branch waste, fraud and abuse on their own if bipartisan cooperation fails. Hill said positions are still in flux, though Larry Brady, previously a senior policy adviser on the panel, will become minority staff director.

Mr. President-Elect, they are going to spend the next four years trying to trump up charges against you the same way they did to Bill Clinton. They are going to use investigations to try to cut you off at the knees just the way they did Bill Clinton. And their lackeys in the media are going to gleefully go along, because they now realize they weren't tough enough on George W. Bush. And after they destroy you and get Jeb Bush or Sarah Palin into the White House in 2012, they know you won't do the same, and the media will soul-search and say they were perhaps too hard on Obama and the new Republican should get a free pass. These are the people you embrace when you do things like have Rick Warren give the invocation of your inaugural. It just makes you look like Charlie Brown dealing with Lucy and the football.

And Sen. Reid, you ought to know these people by now. You ought to know that folding like a cheap car is not the way to get anything accomplished. Republicans are wild beasts, and when they smell blood or weakness, they pounce on it.

The answer to all this is very simple: FIGHT BACK.

So why don't you both actually do it?