Obama's New Cabinetware

So far Obama's reappointed Gates at Defense, named a centrist at Treasury, and announced Paul Volcker as an advisor. And Hillary is the next Secretary of State.

What this says is that he's being pragmatic and actually centrist in his picks. He's not appointing old school liberals looking to party like its 1933 or 1965 again. That's good.

What this also says, to me, is that he's a man who will probably figure it out as he goes along. He's not a man with a vision or a real plan. I thought he had a vague plan that he outlined during the campaign. There were times I heard him and thought for sure this guy would be the most liberal president I've seen in my lifetime. I am not sure he's going in that direction given some of these picks.

All in all, I think that's a good thing given that the policies he outlined during his campaign are disastrous. From tax the rich to universal health care to leaving Iraq in 16 months to his gut-busting assurance that every dime in new spending was paid for, each proposal seemed more laughable than the next.

So who knows? My sense is that this presidency is shaping up to an "analysis by paralysis" one. He'll probably have interesting insight into the complexity of each problem and decision we face but he'll likely offer little of substance to navigate through it. In other words, he knows the problems. He just won't know exactly what to do about the problems. At least he'll give a good speech doing what he'll do.