Barack rocks

Say what you will about our new President. The guy isn't perfect. But the last few months have been such a breath of fresh air that I can't help but feel grateful that Mr. Obama is in charge.

I have not felt proud about the United States of America for some time. Over the last eight years, we have done things, especially in the foreign policy arena, for which we should be ashamed. The Iraq war in particular has been a nightmare--a colossal waste of money, energy, and lives. And we have fought the "war on terror" with rules that are even beneath the likes of Jack Bauer. Anyone who writes a virtual blank check on forms of torture and degradation is as unAmerican as can be; don't let pious "patriots" tell you that the U.S. is somehow entitled to ignore important humanitarian and legal principles. In both the short and the long run, these principles are our very soul and give us our best hope for true global influence.

The closing of Guantanamo is a welcome first step. So is--despite criticism from the right--going to Europe and owning up to our arrogance on the world stage. And the idea that we should actually talk with our adversaries--a weak and pitiful idea in the minds of some--may have had something to do with the release this week of an American journalist in Iran.

On the home front, there's finally some hope--a sense that we can make progress. And the White House itself has become more the kind of place with which we can identify. A dry drunk is no longer running the show--it's OK to be a little more casually dressed and a little less anal. There's a vegetable garden on the grounds. Gay people are invited to participate in important events. And there is culture in the house--imagine a President who professes to really like poetry! And his wife is just as attractive and smart as anyone we've had as a First Lady.

A long, painful nightmare has ended.