Change.

Was President-Elect Barack Obama telling Barbara Walters, in his best Trumanian, "The buck stops with me" a Change? Is it a Change from the lack of responsibility and accountability of the last eight years. Is it a Change from it "depends on what 'is' is" before that, or "I do not recall" before that? Would someone taking responsibility for their actions as President be a Change?

When asked at a recent press conference about his cabinet not looking like a Change, President-Elect Obama responded "I suspect the American people would be troubled if I selected a treasury secretary or a chairman of an economic council at one of the most critical economic times in our history who had no experience in government whatsoever," "What we're going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking," "We need people who will be able to hit the ground running,"

There is a difference between the Need for "experienced" personnel to implement and advise on, at least the practicality of, policy, and the vision that was Needed in the Head of State to create a new direction in policy. It's like someone designing a house and then hiring carpenters and masons to build it. I understand that people are uneasy with so many cabinet picks having Clinton on their resume, but appointing someone who has experience, with say a recession like the one left by h.w. bush, might be a good idea. Anyone on the left, left center, or center with experience in the federal government, under the age of 60, will have the Clinton Administration somewhere in their resume, no? Not to mention the fact that eight years of peace and prosperity weren't such a bad thing.

Another problem Obama the Architect seems to be having is that some of the houses built by his recent nominations in the past are not to Our (the left's) liking. An economic team, composed mainly of those that were there for, and were proponents of, the further "deregulating" the banking and other industries during the economically prosperous Clinton years, concerns many of Us "hungry" for a Change. With the worst unemployment numbers since the 70's, retail sales and consumer confidence down and falling, the economic experts being nominated right now might realize that deregulation didn't work, at least not long term and not for most Americans. Who knows maybe they'll see the err of their ways. Imagine a Change in government where it's employees can admit a mistake and adjust, to a new situation, or to a New President.

The cabinet serves at the pleasure of the President. Underlings like dick, wolfie, rummy, and rover may have run the cheerleader puppet in chief for the last eight years, but that has not historically been the case, or at least isn't how the job description reads. With the power that Obama has right now, I would be surprised if he's nominating anyone who would not execute the policy of their President. Disagreements, discussion and debate? Sure. But at the end of the day the decisions on policy will be Obama's. Having an intelligent, competent President in the White House making those decisions is a Change from the eight if you ask me.

Tying energy, the environment, efficiency and health care to the economy, in a way that helps all three? Now that would be Change. At defense he's keeping bush appointee, Robert Gates. Nominating someone from the "other side of the aisle" is a Change in itself. We should have been out of Iraq before we went in, but at least he has been an adult at the helm. Gates has been a marked improvement over sometimes "funny", never accountable, "stuff happens" rummy. He is for Our withdrawal from Iraq and Closing Our prison in Guatanamo Bay. That is a Change. And he knows where the troops currently are, which may make it easier to get them out. The possibility of a Nobel Laureate in Physics as the Secretary of Energy? Now that's a Change. A president that believes in scientists, let alone that there is a climate change happening and we can help ease it without hurting ourselves. I see Change.

Unfortunately, some things don't Change. The incoming President, like his predecessor, will enter the White House greeted by serious warnings of threats against US and Our allies. "It is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013." On the day President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama announced his Foreign Policy team, a bipartisan commission headed by Bob Graham(d) and Jim Talent(r) released it's congressionally mandated report, "World at Risk". One Change, the report refers to the country of Pakistan as an "unwitting source of a terrorist attack on the United States" as opposed to the popular nomenclature for countries that posed a similar risk in 2002. You remember "harborer of terrorists", don't you? All joking aside, the report is very serious and very scary.

The Change I most Hope to see (intel received by a book signing goer recently has taken Robert Kennedy Jr. off of that list) is a government that Works, and works for the bulk of the American People and not just for the royalty of industry. Barack Obama was labeled by the right as the most liberal senator, a radical from the left, but he is not. Being for a rational and conscious energy policy is not a solely liberal idea. The American government not condoning or participating in torture is not just a liberal idea. Nor are Habeus Corpus, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights, though there is a part of me that wishes I could claim them for the liberal left. Barack Obama has been and will be a consensus builder. He will listen to all sides (the ones I like and the ones I don't) and will come up with a rational thought out solution. He is surrounding himself with smart, capable people not based on an ideology, like the last eight years, but based on the fact they can and will get the job done. Pragmatism, not to mention reality, may be just the Change Our politics and Our government need right. As much as I, personally, would like a lurch left, would it be a real Change from the failure's "you're with us or you're against us" bushit?

Oh and just real quick... still governor rod blagojevich is a complete and utter asshole and should definitely and immediately resign.