I'm going to say good about Obama and hope like hell I'm right

[ThomWV]

To say I have been disappointed in President Obama's performance so far would be an overstatement but I've been very much concerned about apparent lack of motion on fixing problems that I consider paramount. Its the Constitutional and legal matters that are receiving scant public attention that disturb me most, not the matters of immediate crisis, like the economy, health-care, and the wars. I am encouraged by two men in the President's Administration who are looking better to me as time goes by. Possibly the President deserves congratulations, possibly not, but consider the following.

There is hope at the Justice Department. Finally the news reports that Eric Holder is giving deep consideration to the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to look into matters concerning torture by Americans. Hopefully next we will see action from this front on the surveillance of Americans without warrant and other intelligence gathering that may have been against any one of a number of laws. Expecting action in this arena I'm now more appreciative of the President's choice of Mr. Holder. It would appear that Mr. Holder has been using his time to set the stage for a Special Prosecutor, he has let it be known that the Department of Justice, and he as its head, are now in possession of facts that a reasonable person would use to justify further investigation. Politically it will be hard to stop him, and the President doesn't get shot right in the heart on this one because the decision is the Attorney General's, not his. As I said, there is hope at Justice.

Then there is the CIA. This is a real problem, as real as it gets. The CIA has become little less than the President's private army. They have been, and for all we know still are, acting above the law and doing so with impunity. Leon Panetta walked into a bear's cave knowing the bear was at home. I was dismayed with the ease with which he seemed to fit in. It was as if when he became Director, CIA he had always been Director, CIA; he assumed its identity and defense immediately. It did not bode well. However this weekend a fresh report comes out about a previously unknown program so secrete its subject matter is kept from us. And we are told that Mr. Panetta closed down the program immediately on learning of it and informed the Congress as quickly as could reasonably be done - and I mean reasonable my my standards, not those of someone in Government. And so now I'm looking at the President's appointment of Mr. Panetta in much the same light as that of Mr. Holder. Has he sent a strong manager in there to clean up the mess? Has Mr. Panetta now spent enough time in his new Office to understand where and how the cleanup must begin; was that the plan right from the beginning?

One can only hope of course, there has been little to no action on several of these matters yet but it looks like real action is coming. If so then let me be the first to say, the President had done us all good here, and he will deserve our thanks when it begins, as it continues, and finally when things have been righted.

[Burma Jones]

1. A lot of the shit that has happened over the last, well let's face it, four administrations...

has happened quietly, administratively under the deep cover of the regulatory process. There are changes being made, but they also are quiet and deal with what at first seem to be the most arcane of matters, but later grow into things that touch us all. A very important thing a President can do, maybe the most important, is change the regulatory atmosphere - the political appointees that oversee the regulatory process, and that sort of stuff rarely makes the news. It's incremental, and missteps can sink any initiative.

Will Obama make everyone here happy, of course not, but it is already a damned sight better than it was.

[movonne]

2. I think it is a lot better than it was...I love many of the things he does,,

[TexasObserver]

3. K&R. Thoughtful. Intelligent. Relevant. Progressive.

If people want to understand how to get Recommends, they should read your OP for this thread.

[TexasObserver]

4. deserves another trip to the top