[Wayne Luke]

Originally Posted by GSeybold

I agree Wayne, but President Obama does appear to me to be a bit unsure of himself now and that scares the heck out of me. Spewing unrealistic, idealistic rhetoric, to gain votes is one thing, but to release poorly thought through idealistic, ideology based agenda to the public AFTER gaining office is worrisome.

He has been in office for about 20 days. You cannot accomplish anything in 20 days. Every President in the history of this country has had this transition stage where they had to adapt. However his agenda is very well thought out and documented on his website as well as change.gov and whitehouse.gov. This is not an agenda that will be implemented overnight. It will not be implemented in four years. Hopefully enough is put into place in those first four years that it can be followed through. It can change the country. However I am not placing all my faith in Barack Obama. He is just one man. His primary job will be to inspire others to take up change and rethink how they want their government to work for the long term and no focus on 20 days.

Perhaps his decision to close Guat Bay was a bit premature or releasing this intention to the public was perhaps a bit eager? I believe his administration should have thought this through a bit more before even considering leaking this to the public. A see a pattern of this developing(with his nominations) and I'm hoping this is just a symptom of getting his feet wet and getting his administration organization.

Guantanomo was going to be closed. Even Bush said it outlived its purpose. McCain was going to sign the executive order closing it after inauguration if elected as well. Postponing the decision would only be delaying the inevitable. However to think that the President could sign a piece of paper and all the gates are unlocked and every one sent home is a bit naive don't you think. It will take months to close this facility and transfer those incarcerated to proper holding facilities where they can receive the legal representation and either have charges dropped or receive a jury trial of their peers as guaranteed right in this country. We cannot uphold the Constitution of this country or the Declaration of Independance and say that these people have no rights because they are no United States citizens. That isn't what this country was founded on.

It's sort of a think before you speak thing and at this point President Obama is failing miserably at this.

As stated before, all presidents falter on this at the beginning. Speech writing for the President is a crash course in on the job training. They learn fast. On the other hand it proves that the President is still just a human being like anyone else. I don't want someone with all the answers running the country. I want someone who is willing to admit their mistakes and listen to their advisors before making a rash decision like invading another country.

I'm a bit disappointed in this-politics as usual from what America has deamed another JFK Camelot-ish utopian administration.

Is it? Obama has threatend the Democratic Majority with vetoes if they don't listen to his ideas. He has Republican Advisors and even kept the Secretary of Defense from the previous administration. That is a key position that usually goes to political comrades. However at this time, keeping the seated secretary is the best option. He alone in the new administration has the experience to pull troops from the current conflicts and help the governments of those nations restore stability. Obama also updates people on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and presents video addresses online as well as off. This is a big change from previous administrations. Embracing technology instead of shunning it is a step forward.

Anyway, I didn't vote for Obama because I wanted Camelot or a Utopian government. One has to be realistic in understanding that the Democratic and Republicans have different ideas on what is good for this country. Politics will still happen. When everyone starts agreeing 100% then we're most likely on the first steps to a Totalitarian state, at least if history repeats itself. I want my leaders to be opinionated and debate the issues. I have to hope that through debate and compromise that the best feasible solution is brought to bear.

Anyway, I didn't vote for Obama because he was perfect or even necessarily the best man for the job. I do feel he was a better person for the job than his opponent.