The Tripod

"Change". It's his rallying cry. We hoped and prayed for change, for anything but the status quo, and when Obama promised it, we were prepared to move the heavens and earth to make it happen. Obama invited us into his unmarked van of outsider politics with promises of sweet sweet change, and all we had to do was climb on board.

So, today, with President-elect Obama beginning to announce his cabinet appointments, a fair amount of hopeful Americans are beginning to wonder where the candy the nice man promised actually is. Promises of breaking with the "politics as usual" crowd ... surprisingly, appear to be plain and simple lies. Alongside the appointments of hardened Washington insiders that he's already announced, even more veteran politicians seem to have locked up key positions in his cabinet (I'll assume, for this piece, that they're already in place). For a regime that was supposed to be refreshingly new and strive for change, it's beginning to look like we're going to have to deal with a mishmash of the choices of past presidents - almost as if Obama's originality can't stretch beyond his rousing speeches.

Obama begins his stunning movement for change with his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, because you can't get much further from "choices of ex-presidents" than their wives. Secretary of the Treasury goes to Robert Rubin, who was Secretary of the Treasury as well as Director of the NEC under Bill Clinton for over seven years. Bill Richardson, Secretary of Commerce, merely served the Clinton administration in a capacity as UN ambassador and Secretary of Energy ... merely. UN ambassador under Obama will be Susan Rice, another perennial Clinton fave. Oh, and then there's Janet Napolitano for Secretary of Homeland Security ... she only served as Clinton's U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Obama is also dipping into the Bush, Carter, and Reagan administrations with people like NEC director Larry Summers (old Harvard president, got the boot because people misunderstood a statement he made about women being intellectually inferior, ring a bell?), Eric Holder for Attorney General, Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense, and Max Cleland for Veteran affairs. It doesn't matter though, because Obama's got it under control - he's taking care of the experience side.

But what of the fresh eyes that Obama's bringing to the table? Y'know, the ones who haven't been befouled by Washington's oily taint of evil? Well, there's Secretary of Transportation James Oberstar with his 33 consecutive years in Congress, and Dick Gephardt as Secretary of Labor who comes back to Washington with new eyes after a three-year retirement following a 31-year stint in Congress. And, of course, who could forget the name Norm Dicks, new Secretary of the Interior, with an inconsequential 31 years of Congress. Tom Daschle rounds out the young pups with his 30 year casual foray into Washington politics.

The list goes on. The Clinton section above ... it could have been three times as large, but I have a word limit. Obama is just beginning to show his true colors as an inexperienced politician with no originality. He has done away with pulling the wool over our eyes in favor of bludgeoning us to death with the original sheep. His claims for change? Cockamamie bullshit.

In a more serious vein, though, Obama supporters have repeatedly listed his lack of experience as an asset because he hasn't been corrupted by current politics. His lack of any apparent voting record in the Senate? Overlooked. His lack of any real plan in order to accomplish his goals? Nobody cared. And, maybe, I'm willing to admit the possibility that he could have brought "Change". However, what our nation now has is a political newcomer as president, one with no history of actually standing up for his ideals or creating change, and a cabinet of people who have been running this country for 30 years. This is their country, this is how they made it, and they aren't afraid to speak their mind. So brace yourself America, because we're in for a rocky four years of a president that's constantly being second-guessed by his own, far more experienced, cabinet. But hey, you reap what you sow.

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