Getting To Work

The man isn't losing any time. One might think he would be exhausted, mentally, physically, but obviously not. He remains serene of countenance, with an assured determination to begin constructing the new reality of his administration. The re-administration of the oath of office, a blip on the duties of the day. Speaking to the four Mid-East leaders to assure them he's prepared to make his mark there.

Freezing White House salaries to demonstrate to the public that their pain is being shared. Beginning the first phase of implementing U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq. He's already reached beyond mere symbolism into the hard core of his office. The installing of new rules governing lobbying. He's out there, front and centre, and his audience is gape-mouthed and hopeful.

His silver tongue will perforce be required to practise the transparency of which he speaks. Surrendering the coveralls of vagueness to the precise language of details. He has promised an open and transparent government, in stark contrast to the administration he succeeds. Not many doubt his promise to waft a fresh air of frank openness, for he has promised he will have nothing to hide.

It may seem a trifle incongruous that a man who has come to office with the promise of a clean sweep, a new and open government, one which eschews the practises and performance of the previous Republican-led administration, has chosen to welcome into his inner Cabinet men and women who have been closely aligned with the discredited policies of the Bush administration.

But, among other items of primary significance, President Barak Obama, while he was yet Senator Obama, indicated that he valued inclusiveness, that he would make it a personal mark of his administration to go beyond partisanship, that he would select from among his country's brightest and most promising, for the greater good of the country.

We're staying tuned. To assess the value of his appointments to his administration's avowed intent. To reach conclusions with respect to his ability to somehow wrest his country away from financial ruin, back into its position of world economic leadership. To bring international respect back from the depths to which it has plunged through pride and unilateralism.

There is little doubt in the public mind that he will manage, somehow, over a respectable period of time, to achieve much that he has promised. The extent of his success, and the results obtaining from it are yet a long way into the future. But the thing of it is, the country has fallen so low that it has nowhere to go but up. And with the goodwill extended toward this man, and the eager willingness of his fellow lawmakers, much can be accomplished.

Time will elapse, the tides will swell and ebb, and the world awaits Barak Obama's trials, errors and successes.