Obama's Team

     Once more Obama has shown that he is not afraid to have strong, intelligent amd experienced in his Cabinet, and they do not come any stronger, or more intelligent and experienced than Hillary, Gates , Richardson and Jones. Weak and incompetent leaders surround themselves with toadies and kow-towers, and the nation suffers as a consequence. Strong, confident leaders, like the challenge of advisers who are involved, informed and willing to disagree. This is healthy and benefit the nation.

      Governer c'est choisir.......Obama has made it quite clear that he has the final say, quoting Pres. Truman that " the buck stops here ". Lest we think that he will do all and accomplish all, we must remember Pres. Kennedy " best and brightest ", who got stuck in Vietnam and who suffered from too much " gruop think ", forgetting their intellect and their integrity and reverted to the theoretical academics they were, who love ideas ( fortified villages etc.), that look good in books, but are a disaster in practice, but refusing to accept that they were wron9 ( cognitive dissonance )

      Obama has chosen the tried and tested, pragmatists, experienced in the ways of Congressional politics and foreign and domestic politics. In Richardson and Napolitano, he has border states Governors ( immigration, commerce and security being the key here ). In Clinton , Gates, and Jones ( and vice- president Biden ), he has foreign policy, defence and militray expertise. Like his economic team, his foreign policy and security team seem well balanced, capable and competent. The expectations are high and the people ( at least 72% , think he has chosen well ),will expect the economic, military, security and other problems to go away quickly. We must heed Durkheim and his theory of anomie.....when expectations are high and are not met , the people either rebel or they become apathetic, resigned to pessimisn. Ted Gurr ( relative deprivation ) wrote about men rebelling when espectations are not met.

      Obama must clearly spell out what he wants to do and make sure that the people understand that there is no overnight cure, that the journey back will be long and hard. He has a small window and his first actions will be the defining ones. Many want him to fail and will jump on any opportunity to blame and find fault.