Guest Blogger: The Big Picture

Note from the Strike: From time to time, we will be featuring guest bloggers to analyze different aspects of the Obama agenda. One of our recurring guest bloggers will be my friend Andy from New York, who will be writing about "The Big Picture," such as what Obama's agenda means for the broad scope of American politics and policy, what lessons the Obama team should take from history and putting the President's decisions in their proper context. His first entry is below:


The Big Picture: After having been in office for one week, Obama will have taken decisive, far-reaching action setting the United States in a significantly diffferent direction on a) how we conduct the war on terror, b) our global image, c) global warming and energy efficiency, d) children's health care, taking the biggest step in decades in the direction of health care as an entitlement for all rather than means-tested for the poor, and e) standing on the side of the victims of discrmination rather than its perpetrators, and more broadly workers rather than corporations, f) free speech, the right to choose, science over ideology, and most importantly family planning to help poor people across the world gain control over their own lives in the most crucial way.

It's important to note that each of these accomplishments point to Obama's unique political skill in making progressive policies seem "non-ideological." Hillary might have done all these things, but they would have been screwed up somehow, turned into a P.R. nightmare, rather than decisions that matter a ton to the people affected, but are causing no waves with Republicans. A new dawn, indeed.