The Ice Flow

If you've followed Guru's writing in other forums, you know that Guru didn't Vote for Barack Obama. I voted proudly for Hillary Clinton in the primary and was embittered by the vitriol directed towards the Clintons by elements of the Obama campaign.

I voted with difficulty for John McCain in the Election. The first time in my life that I have voted for a Republican candidate for National Office. I admire McCain and his moderate service to his country and require his resume to support a candidate. But I joined millions of Americans in reviling the elements of the GOP represented by the outgoing administration and the Vice-Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin - a woman whose every utterance is at odds with who John McCain has been in the Senate.

The truth of my vote, in a Blue Manhattan that would go 80% for Obama, was the importance of holding to your convictions. McCain and Biden, different men from different parties, represent the type of experience that I admire, having spent their lives in Government and Military. Barack Obama is a different cat, a cool customer...an academic, an activist, a social worker... honorable traits and experiences, but atypical for the role he has chosen. Still, any disaffection towards him on Guru's part is not substantive, simple style points. We wouldn't hang together, but on POLICY and HISTORY, we walk as one. Bill Clinton made that point beautifully at the Convention. Bill is MY guy, but there isn't a dimes worth of difference between ALL of us in terms of what matters.

Since the election, Obama has been masterful in the composition of his cabinet, allaying concerns about the team he would build and avoiding the types of rancor that was so disappointing during the campaign, by returning succesful elements of the progressive braintrust under the Clintons to key roles in the cabinet, including Secretary of State Designate, Hillary. New York is well-represented with Treasury Designate, Timothy Geithner, Attorney General Designate, Eric Holder (from Stuyvesant High School, a Senior when Guru was a Sophomore!), HUD Designate, Shaun Donovan...Rahm Emanuel is Chief of Staff, Lawrence Summers is on board with the Economic team. I would prefer to see the brilliant, General Wesley Clark at Defense, but cannot quibble with the logic of continuity given the extent of inherited activity Obama inherits. The mess must be cleared and that is best done by those who understand what has come and where we stand. There will be time for a change when it is time for new challenges, perhaps two years? Maybe four.

It matters little that Axelrod and Jarret are there as well, it is Obama's victory and they are his team. What matters is that the Administration has been built with wisdom and breadth and has not memorialized the differences between us that flared up in the campaign, but instead has blown them apart through sheer inclusiveness and with an absence of ideological declaration. Guru isn't the type to wear a button with an 'O', stand in a stadium for a Politician or shudder in the cold at the inaguration. The Presidency is a J-O-B and he has demonstrated vision and balance, delivered from a progressive voice.

That works for Guru.

I'm not interested in Barack's family life any more than I was Bill's sex life, but is sure is nice to see SMART back on the job. There IS a place for the 'C' Students that Dubya sent his Yale shout out to...it just shouldn't include 'Leader of the Free World'.

I welcome and salute the new President, he authored a rationale that I did not share and PROVED its construction - stunningly in his election victory. He marshaled disparate elements of the electorate, assembled the right team and hit the ground running with a brilliant speech that discarded the soaring rhetoric of campaign for the pragmatic details of vision. He understands the world and shares the values of the Progressive founders, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. He deserves ALL of our support and ALL of our efforts to join him in finally ushering the 21st Century to America, here, in the century's 9th year.

As for the reason we went from the digital '90s to the feudalist, fundamentalist fantasies of the past eight years...THAT guy hopped a Helicopter to Texas at 1:16PM and I've spent each of those eight years writing about him. He's DONE and so is Guru's energy to speak of him.

We move forward.