???Change has most certainly come to America. Only now, after President Barack Obama's first week in office, the change refers to more than just the man himself. Obama spent his first four days keeping busy, making decisions on several topics with confident immediacy, including his decision (and pending plan) to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay within the year as well as lifting the ban on federal funds for international groups that endorse or execute abortions.
???And it appears that Obama knows how to play the P.R. game. According to a news report in the Saturday issue of the Boston Globe, "in contrast to his orders earlier this week, including banning torture, reporters were not invited to record the [lifting of the international abortion ban]."
???Obama signed the executive order late Friday afternoon, rather sneakily, and rather intelligently. After all, abortion is a topic as hot as an iron these days. Can't let it get in the way of hope.
???In the midst of a dwindling economy and continued international strife, decisions of any kind are needed and Obama is doing a good job in that respect. Unfortunately, for every decision made there are four more decisions that are required. Close Guantanamo? Great. Now where do we put all of the detainees? How do we try them? Is the Patriot Act officially null and void?
???No ban on federal funding on international pro-choice groups? Great. How much is the government willing to give other countries, then? Are we not opening a Pandora's Box of handouts? Aren't we in a recession and shouldn't the primary concern be to get our own country out of debt?
???Obama's first week was undoubtedly historic, defining a clear break from the generally stubborn policies of the Bush Administration. That being said, the Dow is still as unreliable as it was on Jan. 19 and soldiers are still in Iraq and Afghanistan.
???Our new president has been preparing for these first 100 days for a while now, reading Jonathan Alter's The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, among many others, as a source for advice.
???He seems to be on the right track. Hopefully, Obama knows that hope is just a four-letter word and any triumph he will achieve may not register for some time, walking as he is into the White House in the middle of a mess.
???Keep making decisions, Mr. President, and keep listening to the people-both those who got you into office, and those who are still waiting for proof that you deserved it.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
