From the Publisher / Arnold G. York
As I write this column Tuesday evening, it’s becoming more apparent that Sen. Barack Obama is going to be the 44th president of the United States.
Although the magnitude of the victory appears significant, he’s going to take over a deeply divided country, with a significantly large minority of the population deeply frightened about his presidency. He’s also coming into a domestic and global economic situation that is swinging somewhere between difficult to potentially catastrophic with stock markets and credit markets reflecting that sense of uncertainty.
Lastly, the international military and security situation has half a dozen hot spots, like Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Syria and Pakistan, any of which could erupt suddenly.
Neither the security situation, the military situation nor the economic situation may wait until Obama takes the oath in January.
Normally, the new president-elect wants to keep some distance between his incoming administration and the outgoing president’s team, particularly when it’s the other party’s team that’s leaving. Usually they don’t want to be tainted by the former’s policies that have been rejected by the voters.
But, in the current situation, I don’t believe that waiting would be a good policy for a number of reasons.
First, as a country we should recognize that we have truly done something remarkable. We’ve elected a first term U.S. senator from an urban area, Chicago, a man of mixed race, raised in Kansas, Hawaii, and Indonesia, by a family of modest means, to be our next national leader and, thusly, the leader of the free world. Nothing any of us could say about America could resonate throughout the world as powerfully as our choice of Obama to be our leader. In every city, in every town, in every village of the world, the older men and woman will remember watching on TV the police dogs and fire hoses being turned on black protest marchers in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama in the 1960s. They will be awed that a generation and a half later we’ve elected a man to lead us who couldn’t have sat down at a counter stool in a Woolworth’s store in the South and ordered a tuna sandwich and a coke 40 years ago. In every country of the world, young men and women are going to see the message of America-that we don’t just talk the talk of equality, we also walk the walk. No PR program or speech can match the message we’re sending out to the world with this election, and thusly we are improving our security immensely around the globe.
Next, we know that Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, is probably correct in predicting that somewhere some country or power will try and test us. A confrontation is unavoidable and probably necessary for a new administration to establish its bonafides. It is nothing to fear irrationally.
If I were an advisor to the president, I’d recommend several things immediately.
€ It’s crucially important, both for economic reasons and national security reasons, that the country and the world see a very smooth transition of power from one administration to the next. That means Obama and his team should sit down with Bush and his team as quickly and as publicly as possible in the White House, around the big oval table, in a shirtsleeve working session, and try to create as seamless a transition as possible. It’s more than just a photo op. It would go a long way to calming the country and some of the crazies who are out there, and also the national and global financial markets. We also tend to take for granted this passing of power, even where it’s to the opposition party. But to most of the world this transfer is truly startling. That power can pass without soldiers and guns, without rioting in the streets, without strikes and accusations of ballot theft and tampering, in an atmosphere of civility, is truly a remarkable phenomenon and is substantially at variance with what happens in much of the world.
€ The meetings and face-to-face discussions, perhaps Obama and Bush, walking in the woods in Camp David, would both reassure many in the country who are uncertain of the new president, and also would go a long way to resurrecting Bush’s reputation. If Bush is perceived as having left the presidency without rancor, his graceful exit will be remembered long after he’s gone; the blood will have been cooled and will serve to reassure our country that we are in good hands, and that Obama perceives and understands that, despite their differences, Bush has information and even advice that only one president can impart to another.
€ Shortly after the election there is going to be a major world economic conference in Washington. I strongly believe that both Bush and Obama should participate together so that our position is not the Bush position, or the Obama position, but the American position. It’s also an opportunity for Bush to introduce Obama to the other world leaders, again something that will resonate around the world.
€ There are a few things that the new president can do as soon as he’s sworn in.
One would be to close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, disband the military tribunals and transfer all the prisoners to our federal court system where they could be tried or released. The current system is so politicized and strewn with command influence there is no way fair trials can be conducted to separate out the true terrorists from those who were merely caught in the web.
Launch a “Buy America Recovery Bond” campaign much like war bonds in World War II. Many Americans are eager to help our recovery and want to do something for their country. Buying bonds will give them an opportunity to be involved, and by investing in our own country, it means we simply need to borrow less money from the outside world
Launch a program to rebuild our infrastructure, sort of a contemporary WPA. It will create many new jobs, and could include job training and retraining elements to get people back into the workforce.
Meet with the members of the Defense and Intelligence establishments, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and perhaps a few former chairs of the Joint Chiefs and former defense secretaries. Additionally, meet the chairs and senior members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees.
Quickly meet with the Iraqis and begin negotiations on a timetable for a phased withdrawal of our troops and our money so we reduce it from the current $10 billion to $12 billion per month.
Immediately launch an energy conservation program, something the Bush administration never took seriously, but that could produce quick results. It doesn’t take much. A five percent or 10 percent cut in energy use immediately changes the supply/demand calculation worldwide and probably the price of a barrel of oil.
Currently, both our economy and international situation are adrift. Part of that is the natural end of any administration and part is the worldwide economic crises in which we find ourselves. However, I believe Obama comes to power with an immense reservoir of goodwill in a world that’s highly curious and very anxious to know him. It’s a historic window of opportunity. If the transition is handled well and with grace, we will go a long way to repositioning ourselves again as leaders of the free world.