President Obama's Super-Highway to Growth and Prosperity

Checking Facebook, it's easy to see that there are over 500 Facebook pages devoted to the former Vice-President, and more than that to the former President. They're not complimentary, kind or supportive entries. Quite the commentary on the popularity of their "regime".

Listening to President Obama's careful 100-day speech yesterday, it's striking how little the new President prevaricates and obfuscates the truth. It's very heartwarming to see how clearly he is able to tell the truth, for example, concerning previous torture policy, without obscuring the mistakes of the past. Indeed, he bravely calls it a "mistake"and doesn't absolve the previous administration where his predecessor learned to hide and build smokescreens. The more I listen, the more likable the new President is, and the easier it is to see America needs him to heal unfathomable wounds inflicted by President Bush's "regency".

The good news is that he will focus on immigration. The bad news is that he wants to deal with both the economy and healthcare issues first. Focusing on all these issues is both pragmatic and realistic, given amongst other issues, the
a) weight of mighty economic issues
b) out-of-control healthcare costs
c) the backlog of cases at immigration
d) educational inequalities needing attention, and
e) energy and transportation infrastructure improvements

National Public Radio (NPR) summarizes it this way:

"The 100-day milestone has...provided a stark tally of what the new administration has faced in its early months — from swine flu and Somali pirates to an economy that remains deeply troubled, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and bitter battles on Capitol Hill.

President Obama is proving to be the most internationally inclusive president America's had in modern history, more outward-looking and aware even than President Clinton. In the words of the President:

"I see the process moving this first year. And I'm going to be moving it as quickly as I can. I've been accused of doing too much. We are moving full-steam ahead on all fronts."

So much hope is resting on his slender shoulders after neglectful, even harmful policies of the last administration. Perhaps with the President's quietly strong voice, America will get some of the softer social policies at home that will heal a country that sorely needs personal attention right here at home. Let's just hope traffic is moving and all lanes are open.