The first few days

HE promised us change during his campaign, and in the first few days in office, President Barack Obama has been busy putting that in effect. But he does have a lot of work to do, and with the extraordinary wave of political goodwill he is riding on, he should be able to get a lot done, especially in his first 100 days.
The pressure to get to work quickly is there, and President Obama has issued his first public act in office by freezing salaries on White House aides making over $100,000. But there are other problems in this country that are waiting to be tackled—the economy is in turmoil, there are wars to end, schools to fix, pollution to eradicate or lessen and health care costs that are spiraling out of control.
Still it just has been barely a week, and President Obama and his team have had plenty of time to figure out what needs to be done this week and next. There are eight years’ worth of entrenched Bush policy to reverse, and it feels like he’s swooping in and saving the Constitution.
As far as the first two days of his administration is concerned, they have had a triumph of image, which is important. This alone keeps the country’s hope afloat, until such time real change has come. (AJPress)
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(Published on January 24, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A11 )