Getting the job done--what a difference!

[vixengrl]

I was just thinking back on the first couple days of the W administration, and the kind of b.s. "the Clintons trashed the White House" story they had put out--remember that? I think they ended up not merely whining about the disarray in public, but they had some kind of wacky $millions$ investigation for no good reason.

The "adults were in charge", indeed.

The mess Bush left behind for the current officeholder is something a bit more sticky--not "W"'s pried from keyboards, but actual thorny legal issues caused by a staggering lack of foresight, especially in regard to the Gitmo detainees and the potential liability for people who engaged in torture. What we can expect to see over the next several months, and even years, are some boundaries drawn in the heretofore "Terra Incognito" of just what "executive power" Constitutionally and in practice means. ("Terra incognito" because I think this past president boldly Segwayed through legal minefields were angels would've feared to tread, all the while clutching his hall passes from Gonzales & Yoo as if memorandums and white papers could shield him from a) prosecution for violation of international law, b) a trial in the court of world opinion and/or history, or c) blowback.)

Has Obama and co. complained about the White House being trashed? Well, they found the technology a little rudinmentary..., but I can't help but notice that when I check in with Huffpo or Buzzflash, like I seem to need to do every few hours or I get antsy, Obama's done some other thing to clean up the reputation of the country and show he means serious business. The messages he's come across with in respects to no torture, transparency in gov't, and a renewed attention to ethics, is a breath of fresh air, not stale grumbling. The people he continues to bring in impress one--his decision to appoint special envoys to current hot spots was discussed on some news I watched just today (I think on PBS?) and it was mentioned that usually, a special envoy is what you appoint when you have a crisis (I think Phil Zelikow said it.) Hmm, imagine an administration realizing that Afghanistan/Pakistan and Israel/Palestine are now and have been crisis issues that kind of matter and shouldn't have to get worse before we set an experienced hand or two on them!

I find it impressive that "change you can believe in" has so quickly become "change I'm already starting to see."