Campaign politics aside, we now have a new President-Elect. Now it's time to enter the world of politics where (theoretically) what you do is more important than what you say. On the Agenda page of Change.gov it says:
The principal priorities of the Obama Administration include: a plan to revive the economy, to fix our health care, education, and social security systems, to define a clear path to energy independence, to end the war in Iraq responsibly and finish our mission in Afghanistan, and to work with our allies to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, among many other domestic and foreign policy objectives.
But what does it mean? What is "a plan to revive the economy"? Is it simply taking credit if they system recovers based on what's been done over the last few and the next few months? Or is it something concrete that 50 years later we'll be able to look at and say "This made things better." Is giving the same system that's made such a mess of education and social security control (to whatever extent) of health care going to help? Energy independence is a great idea, but are we going to try to further regulate existing technology, or are we going actually put forth the Apollo or Manhattan Project type will power (and funding) to actually make a serious goal of it? Is the emphasis on "ending the war" or on "responsibly"? If Iran continues to work towards nuclear weapons, and continues to threaten its neighbors, would President Obama be willing to use military force if other reasonable means are exhausted?
I hope that the incoming administration has answers to these questions, and even if those answers are not to my liking I hope that they honestly work towards making things happen. I want to revisit this post on May 1st. (Remind Me!) At that time, Obama will have been in office for 100 days. I'd love to see the promised changes starting to happen. What progress will be made by that point? We'll have to wait and see. What would you like to see, and how likely do you think we are to see it?
Kinda pessimistic outlook I'd say. 100 days? Do you really think s**t is going to change after 8 years of failed policy™ in 100 days? It's not like he can appoint a new Fed chief and cut interest rates.
Why no belief in simple optimism? That perchance a level of integrity we've not seen from the executive branch in quite some time can help move the ball down the field. When we might score is debatable, but the fear of another safety isn't imminent.
Ok, no more football clichés. I'm sorry you don't feel the relief I do, but I trust that the person I in my oh-so-humble way helped get elected will work tirelessly for both of us.