President Obama's Takeoff

Thursday, January 01, 2009

On this first day of 2009, as we grimace watching the news from Gaza and Israel, Barack Obama is only 19 days away from moving into the White House. The world must be wondering if he will be able to make a difference in that unholy land. In Baghdad today, the Iraqis took charge of the Green Zone. Where will that tripartite country's government, corrupt as it is (sharing second place with Myanmar among the world's most corrupt governments), go in conjunction with Iran? How much more of Afghanistan will the Taleban control this year? Where is Pakistan headed? And on and on it goes.

But I think nobody doubts that our new president will first direct his energy toward the crises at home. And what a tsunami to face on waking up the first morning as leader of the nation. While people lose jobs, sweat over grocery and medicine costs and watch the foreclosures on their block, the big shots still get away with murder. With the Wall St. bailout heading for $8.5 trillion (and AIG alone getting $150 billion of those bucks), CEOs are still walking away with huge golden parachutes that are even tax free. In the meantime, where the bailout billions are going is to a great degree a mind-boggling mystery. (By the way, to get a grip on the figure $8.5 trillion, realize that it is more than the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Korean War and the Vietnam war combined.)

Take a very deep breath, Obama team...