Sources say Davis has given Sessions veto power over judicial nominees in Alabama, and we all know how important that Middle District federal courthouse is to the intel/military industrial complex in Alabama — and the U.S.

Jimmy Carter, discovered the hard way that being 100% upright and ethical gets you hated by congressional leaders of your own party, few if any major initiatives passed, and increased lethargy on the part of leading civil service bureaucrats.

The starry-eyed idealists who were swooning about the coming of the Age of Aquarius just after Obama’s election ignored two centuries of tawdry deal making that is the hallmark of DC politics.

While Obama is a huge improvement on his predecessor, it will serve us all to remember that hardly any other players in the Babylon-by-the-Potomac soap opera went away. They may have new roles — e.g., Hillary as Secretary of State. etc. — but they are 99.9% the same merry band of players who’ve been around for years. And as for the civil service bureaucrats who actually run most executive agencies, many if them have been around since Carter or Reagan.

Keeping Canary on as U.S. Attorney, given factors cited, is an outcome that should only be mildly surprising. Every president is faced with trading horses to get what’s desired. If Obama’s senior aides think this horse trade is worth it, they’ll do it. It’s part and parcel of DC culture and politics.

Are things better, and will they get even better, with Obama in the White House? Certainly. But things will not be perfect and change will be incremental.