Obama is settling into the White House and getting right to work with the Executive Orders. From what I've seen so far, there's no big surprises given what we have seen the last couple of months since the election. During the transition process, I think that we have seen a glimpse of a more centrist President. As a conservative leaning libertarian, I think I'm pleased so far with what I've seen. Ironically, one of my friends who supported and voted for Obama, is actually having buyer's remorse. Not that he would have voted McCain, but Obama apparently is not living up to his expectations.
Obviously, the biggest news that I heard coming out of conservatives where the Executive Orders regarding interrogations and the closure of the prisoner camp at Guantanamo Bay. More to my surprise, however, was the outlandish "news" about these items that I heard from my mother Friday. According to the news that she heard, the President ordered Gitmo closed in 10 days and for all the prisoners to be released. Wow, I was floored. I tried to explain to her that where ever it was that her coworker got that news from was grossly misinformed. Mom defended the erroneous news, claiming that it was from a "news website". The thing is, though, is that there is no reason to get false information from poor "news" websites when you can get the actual text right from the source at www.whitehouse.gov.
Just for those who don't keep up with the actual text, Gitmo will not be closed in 10 days, but within the year [Sec. 3]. All the prisoners will not be released to go wherever they want to do whatever they wish. Instead, their cases will be reviewed, and those who should be prosecuted will finally go to court to be tried, as they should [Sec. 4]. In the meantime, we will cease interrogation methods that board, or cross into, torturer and rely on the existing Army codes regarding interrogation. So it seems that there is hope that we may return to Franklin's ideal of putting liberty above temporary safety once again.
Another thing that has been bothering my is the whole ordeal involving the oath of office being misspoken by Chief Justice Roberts. It was a blunder, a goof-up, and sometimes it happens. Going by memory was probably not the best idea, but it was not a big deal. Besides, do you think the Supreme Court would really nullify Obama's Presidency because it's own Chief - the head of the body responsible for interpreting the Constitution - made a minor misquote? I doubt it. I've also heard a few people wondering if the second oath is nullified as there was no bible. Just an FYI, Section 1 of the Constitution makes no mention of the bible, or any other manuscript or deity, when it comes to the oath, aside from the obvious mention to upholding and protecting the Constitution (I'm looking at you, Mr. Miller).
The final bit from the week that I want to mention was the video address by Obama on Saturday. I think it was a fairly good address. I have to say that as a libertarian, I really do not like the idea of more government programs, but unfortunately we are not in ideal times. Government spending is one productive way to get money back into the economy. Tax cuts are another option, and under normal conditions, I'd prefer the tax cuts. I'd much rather spend my money the way I want instead of having the government spend it on projects that I may not support. But with the economy in the mess that it is in, I have to admit that tax cuts might not be the best of ideas. Either way, the money needs to be spent in order to benefit the economy, so there needs to be a balance between tax cuts and government spending. But when you consider that individuals with the money are more likely to horde it instead of getting it into circulation, then it make since that the government spending by a higher priority than I would like it. The government spending may be slow to help, but individuals sitting on their dollars won't help at all.
