Our president-elect has chosen his chief of staff. Rahm Emannuel is a Washington insider. That's got the media tongue's wagging..."Is this the change he promised?"
No sooner had Obama been declared the winner than my inbox began to fill with letters from people with agendas, urging me to be sure and contact him to push for a list of changes that runs the gamut from universal health care to safer chew toys for puppies. Nancy Pelosi is already making up her to-do list and Senate Republicans are promising to stand firm and push back on anything the new president proposes.
The president of Iraq is filming an obnoxious little statement saying he's sure that our new president will be "flexible" on a timetable for withdrawal.
Give the man a little room!
I voted for Obama because I believe I can trust his judgement. His stated agenda - the economy, renewable energy, health care, foreign relations and the war in Iraq - fit with what I believe are our top issues. And the actions he proposed during his campaign sounded reasonable and appropriate.
Yes, we should pay attention. President Obama is an unknown quantity - we don't know what happens to a candidate once he's had all the security briefings and given the full picture of the reality of trying to get things done in Washington.
But I refuse to start picking apart every move he makes before he's had more than a couple of nights' sleep as the president-elect.
I intend to sit back, breathe, and watch. I am confident I will be satisfied with what I see. I have to - or the joy I felt at his victory means nothing.
It tickled me no end that the head of ICE quietly disappeared as soon as the election was over. The cockroaches are beginning to flee as the curtains are pulled back.
And I'm simply astounded by the GOP dogs turning on Sarah Palin. Do I doubt that there's truth in what they're saying? Not really. But I also think it's a perfect illustration of the dysfunctionality of the Republican machine. They can't accept that they ran a bad campaign, that they distorted their candidate until the country couldn't accept him, that they couldn't overcome the country's utter disgust with the state of the nation under the current administration. So they're going to try to blame Palin. And maybe try to be sure to torpedo any thoughts she's entertaining about running in the future.
Or wait - maybe you have to think in a more twisted fashion to understand the strategy. The leaks were made by Republican campaign workers to Fox News, their biggest apologist.
Maybe they're trying to make us feel sorry for her. "Give the woman a break - they were SO mean to her after the 2008 election!"
Governance by manipulation. A time honored Republican strategy. No thanks.
Get to work, President Obama. And let me know how I can help.
No comments:
Post a Comment