There comes a time in all great nations when it’s necessary to hit the brakes and back up. My hope is that today we’ll start to see Obama hit Ctrl-Z several dozen times such as:
- Rerouting funding for abstinence-only education to programs that provide education on and help obtaining condoms and birth control.
- Repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and allow everyone who wishes serve their country with dignity and not in hiding.
- Repeal the “Defense of Marriage” Act and federally recognize same-sex unions, under whatever label, just as the federal government does opposite-sex unions.
- Provide more stringent requirements on the financial industry to prevent a occurrence of this last financial fubar.
- Hold all government agencies responsible for constitutional violations such as warrant-less wiretapping and ensure future violations do not occur.
- Mandate more fuel-efficient vehicles and remove our dependency on foreign oil.
- Listen to scientists who tell you the environment and planet is going to hell in a handbasket and act on the information.
Most of the above (with the exception of DADT) were done under Bush’s watch, if not by his hand. I’m hoping over the next few months we’ll see Obama make judicious use of Ctrl-Z and undoing some of Bush’s (and in the case of DADT, Clinton’s) screwups either via Executive Order or working with Congress. I don’t think Obama is the nation’s savior and I don’t think I’ll be happy with everything he’ll do, but for the first time in 5-8 years I have some confidence in our executive branch.
And, borrowing from my friend Mark, lets hope the undo buffer is big enough to support these actions.
Digital Ramblings 