Restitutor Orbis

I finally got to watch the Obama interview from the Today Show. I'd h ave enjoyed it more, and might have watched the entire thing, if they hadn't spread it out as teasers over the entire length of the broadcast. More than a little annoying but typical of the show. It was, however, nice to see Obama relaxed and without suit and tie, and the beautiful rooms and corridors of the White House. He seems like such a "real" person after the banana republic dictator-types we've had there for the past eight years - Bush, Cheney and their storm-trooper followers. I heard Andy Card even criticized Obama over not wearing a suit and tie. As if that makes you a better president. It sure didn't help Bush to dress up. He was a petty little thug in nice duds. How is that a good thing?

There was some news today as well. The Washington Post reports that there will be some changes in Obama's National Security Council.

President Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues.

The result will be a "dramatically different" NSC from that of the Bush administration or any of its predecessors since the forum was established after World War II to advise the president on diplomatic and military matters, according to national security adviser James L. Jones, who described the changes in an interview. "The world that we live in has changed so dramatically in this decade that organizations that were created to meet a certain set of criteria no longer are terribly useful," he said.

Jones, a retired Marine general, made it clear that he will run the process and be the primary conduit of national security advice to Obama, eliminating the "back channels" that at times in the Bush administration allowed Cabinet secretaries and the vice president's office to unilaterally influence and make policy out of view of the others.

This is not unreasonable, given the changes in the world. I don't think Bush kept up well. He ran the country on hunches, by the seat of his pants. He probably really had no need for advisors because he had already made up his mind. He needed only "yes" men. Obama is cut from a different cloth. He actually wants to be advised, which is a refreshing change of pace. It's almost too good to be true:

"We're not always going to agree on everything," Jones said, and "so it's my job to make sure that minority opinion is represented" to the president. "But if at the end of the day he turns to me and says, 'Well, what do you think, Jones?,' I'm going to tell him what I think."

The Associated Press reports on the stimulus package and the future course of events:

The Senate's $827 billion stimulus legislation seems assured narrow passage by Tuesday. Harder work for Obama and the Democrats comes in the days ahead, when the House and Senate attempt to reconcile differences in their two versions.

Obama and Democratic Party leaders had hoped to have a bill ready for the president's signature by Feb. 16 — a goal that appears increasingly unlikely.

It's going to be tough. The Republicans are not making it easy. They want the same old same old even though they lost and they're not enough of a minority in the Senate that their will can be brushed aside. I think the next few days will define this presidency. Obama points out that it's early and that trust takes time to develop, but he's putting a good face on it. The Republicans have no intention of compromising or cooperating or developing trust. With Rush Limbaugh as their Pope, they've made it clear that they're the party of the not-so loyal opposition.