First 100 days, try the first week
Many balk at Obama’s message of change as nothing more than grand yet empty rhetoric. Regardless of your political persuasion, it is impossible to ignore the change that has already occurred in the first week (from the FT):
In a flurry of decisions, the president announced the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention centre within a year, banned “enhanced interrogation techniques” (torture), put teeth back into freedom of information, opened up the presidential records, told the state department he likes diplomats, told lobbyists he does not like lobbyists, promised “to restore science to its rightful place” and lifted George W. Bush’s “global gag” on family planning.
While some of these decisions can be seen as the liberal agenda, how can you argue with a more open, honest government that doesn’t support torture.
I understand these were very easy wins, but within a single week Obama has made major progress towards restoring our reputation on the international stage. The economy will be a long hard road, but with change like this, it is hard not to be optimistic.