My Near-Timeless Obama Op-Ed

Written before Christmas, printed here and there by papers of the GPD syndicate, and today also in the Nederlands Dagblad (in Dutch). It's about Obama's transition process, and what we can expect from his administration based on the people he has chosen and the way he has chosen them. One phrase I would not put in any more today: where I refer to the fact (still mostly a fact around December 20th) that so far the selection process for Obama's top aides had proceeded without any scandals. Back then, you could have objected: let's wait for the Holder confirmation hearings, but today we've also had the Richardson withdrawal and the Geithner tax issue. Other than that, I might add today that given what we've learned recently about Israel's desire last year to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, and in light of what we know about how soon Iran is likely to be able to build a nuclear weapon (soon), Obama may very early in his administration be faced with a crisis that will make JFK's Bay of Pigs dilemma look like child's play in comparison. But that's probably something for a different piece.