Subject to Change

Boring topic, I know. But, watching our president deal with the debate over spending is providing much insight into his character. So far, Barack Obama has refused to put on his big boy pants and get serious about handling the country’s finances. Instead, he has resorted to fearmongering, finger pointing, and storming out of the room. Namecalling can’t be too far behind.

One talk show caller had a great idea, but I would take it further. He said we should allow the debt limit to increase $100 billion each month, provided the president identifies matching spending cuts. I like the plan, but the Republicans also need to consistently refer to the monthly increase as “Obama’s Allowance.” Even if the MSM trys to downplay the strategy, the imagery should stick. Obama is behaving like a child and he should be treated as one.

One of the digital billboards East of downtown has a message from the new president: “Yes we can!”

Drive by and check it out in all its creepy splendor. I’m sure this is intended to inspire hope. I just couldn’t help thinking I’d traveled back in time to Orwell’s 1984.

Barack Obama promised an open White House. We got a glimpse of that new openness on Thursday night. I’d have to say this is a major change in approach from previous administrations. On the campaign trail some reporters complained that Obama was tight lipped. On his third day in office he continues to snub reporters. Compare that to George W. Bush, who often addressed his press corps by name. Before that Bill Clinton loved to hear himself speak. If he hadn’t said so much, he might not have needed to correct or contradict himself so often. That might be Obama’s strategy.

The burning question is, how long can the press stand to be spoon fed? They may want to avoid stepping on the toes of the guy so many of them supported for president, but they’re real people with real jobs to do. Those jobs depend on filling column inches with news from the White House. If they’re reduced to printing telegrams from the oval office their jobs will be at stake sooner or later.

Who will be the first to get desperate enough to print the headline: President Obama Refuses to Answer Question XYZ?

One would suspect that the President’s announcement on the closing of Guantanamo Bay places today in the “change” category. When I had a chance to talk this over with my co-workers I realized something, though. The executive order to close Gitmo is probably the first major rope-a-dope of this administration. If there’s one thing Democrats are good at it’s saying one thing and doing another, the only way to keep their insane voter base coming back for more.

As it was reported the plan for closing Gitmo includes moving detainees to facilities within the United States, handing them over to other countries, or releasing them back into the wild. I’m actually in favor of all of that if it means moving them to gang infested maximum security prisons, handing them over to Israel, or releasing them in the wilds of Antarctica. But, that isn’t what we’re talking about. The Obama plan falls just short of giving the detainees honorary nuclear technician credentials and setting them free in downtown USA.

The left doesn’t realize that we aren’t dealing with a civilian prison at Gitmo. It’s a POW camp. The people being held there were caught conspiring against the United States in a time of war. That’s not necessarily criminal in the countries we caught them. Yet, it isn’t safe to have them freely wandering the world. President Obama needs to keep these enemy combatants contained just as much as President Bush did. There’s no better place to do it than Gitmo. A former co-worker of mine once explained it best:

• If they run for it the Cubans will shoot them.
• If they climb the fence the Cubans will shoot them.
• If they somehow make it through no-man’s land the Cubans will shoot them.
• If they escape into Cuba the Cubans will shoot them.

Obama’s probably biding time with his voter base by issuing this order, giving them false hope. Ultimately he’s got to leave Guantanamo Bay open or find some alternative that’s equally restrictive. Of course, there may be a way to sugar coat the whole thing so that we’re none the wiser.

Today was a day for hope: hope that the new president is simply playing political games and recognizes the need to protect our homeland against an unconventional enemy. If we’re wrong about them we can always pay reparations fifty years from now, right after we send them the bill, with interest, for their room and board.

Inauguration day was quite obviously a day of change. I heard that it took a little over five hours to move one president out of the White House and another in! It was also a day of hope. Barack Obama raised hopes with his inauguration address. Some are hoping that he makes good on his campaign promises. Others are hoping that he makes good on some campaign promises he never actually made. The rest of us are hoping that he doesn’t follow through on too many of his promises.

President Obama’s first full day in office was a day of change. He used his new presidential powers to reverse policies of the previous administration. Guantanamo Bay is on the chopping block and the grey wolf is now effectively back on the endangered species list. This wave of change is likely to continue today, possibly even tomorrow.