Give Jen O’Malley Dillon full credit for honesty, at least, if not for class and decorum. When hasn’t bipartisanship and compromise meant working with “a bunch of f****rs” in the other party? It’s practically the dictionary definition in the Beltway. Joe Biden’s incoming deputy chief of staff is only offering a vulgar version of what everyone already knows.

Usually, though, that’s the attitude an administration makes public only after it’s been around a couple of years. When they first arrive, a new administration wants to paint itself as the Bearer of All Reasonable Sweetness and Light. And in O’Malley Dillon’s interview with Glamour Magazine, she actually started off well enough:

Like Joe Biden says all the time, “Great leadership starts with listening.” It’s challenging for us to do that right now, because of how polarized we are. But politics breaks down to one-on-one conversations and not being afraid to talk. I get that you’re not supposed to talk politics at the holiday dinner. Well, fuck that. It’s because we don’t do that that we are in this situation now.

I also think, as in love, compromise is a good thing. The atmosphere in the world now is like, “Oh, if you compromise, you don’t believe in something.” No, it’s: I believe in it so much that I’m going to work to find a path we can both go down together. That feels to me like the heart of relationships and love and success across the board.

Awwwwwwww. Love and success! And, er … well …

That might be what we’re missing—is that redefining of compromise. That it is or it can be the ultimate victory.

Yes, exactly. And frankly, that’s what we need. The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity. In the primary, people would mock him, like, “You think you can work with Republicans?” I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of fuckers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.

So let’s get this straight. The message from the incoming White House is … Our country needs healing! And at the same time, everyone in the other party is a “bunch of f****rs”!

Sounds pretty much like the Obama administration’s attitude, right? Plus ça change, plus ce la même chose. Barack Obama and his team were just a little smarter about it, at least at first … but only at first:

Is it new, though? Obama in 2012 called conservatism a « fever » to break or « blister » to pop. GOP in 2020 said Biden would ban Christmas and destroy America. But negotiations continued. https://t.co/XKMWKfxDGR

— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) December 16, 2020

Can you feel all the healing? David Harsanyi can!

The healing is palpable. https://t.co/meytuYzmSE

— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) December 16, 2020

Twitchy has more reaction to this find from Politico’s Alex Thompson, but no one’s really surprised, and no one’s seriously disputing O’Malley Dillon’s take either. Will compromise be tough to find? Sure, but that’s not because the “f****rs” are all on one side of the aisle. In fact, there’s a high likelihood of an even distribution of them, a point that perhaps O’Malley Dillon should concede if she really does want compromise.

And if McConnell’s office doesn’t have a graphic up by tomorrow celebrating his status as “Mitch the Terrible,” I’ll eat my hat.