Put yourself in Barack Obama's sensible shoes. In less than a month, you'll be President of the United States and, upon entering the Oval Office, one of the biggest messes in history will be yours to sort out. So let's make a list and see exactly what the new president will be facing.
On the plus side, the media is still firmly on Obama's side and will continue to blame George W. Bush for everything until at least 2011. The media, in general, has a lot invested in the new president and will spin most events his way. That gives President Obama some public relations room. He'll have a few months before any pressure from the media comes directly at him. Heck, if the liberal press didn't scream about the conservative preacher Rick Warren praying at the Inauguration, you'd know the fix is in.
Also, Congress is now dominated by pro-Obama Democrats and it will do pretty much what the new President wants, so that will make Obama's life a lot easier.
On the downside, Congress simply does not know what it is doing. The financial crisis caught our lawmakers by surprise and the continuing chaos clearly demonstrates that these people have no idea how to deal with the recession. So Americans are just going to have to tough it out and pray the president and Congress don't make things even worse.
On the terrorism front, some Americans, including this one, are worried for a number of reasons, beginning with Obama selecting Eric Holder to be Attorney General. This almost defies belief. In addition to lobbying for the pardon of über-tax cheat Marc Rich, Holder was part of the Janet Reno gang that made it impossible for the feds to investigate terror-related activities inside the USA. You'll remember that then-Attorney General Reno, with her assistant Holder's guidance, actually ordered the FBI not to share information with the CIA. Thus, the 9/11 hijackers were free to roam this country until doing their deadly deeds.
Now, Holder may be running the show at Justice and unless he has had a complete epiphany (apologies to you secular-progressives), his selection is chilling. The fact that President-elect Obama has had so much trouble finding a new CIA chief speaks to Holder's situation. CIA veterans well understand that an anti-agency Attorney General could cause them great harm.
Overseas, the military is calling the shots and Obama will not take on General David Petraeus, the genius behind the Iraq turnaround. So here the fight against terror will continue to be waged aggressively. However, the prison at Guantanamo Bay will be shut down, and coerced interrogation will not be allowed on Obama's watch. So the terrorists gain an advantage.
Barack Obama is a brilliant man. He knows his success hinges on getting us out of the recession and preventing another terror attack at home. He also understands that he has to do both of these things if he wants a second term.
And a Happy New Year to you, Mr. President-elect.
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