So President Obama here is my wish list.

Correction: Boston Boomer posted the first link in the last post, not riverdaughter. It was on her blog and I did not pay close enough attention. Please forgive the oversight.

Type Oh note: I am the king of typos. I write this blog quickly and have terrible typing skills. Not to mention that I was high during half my secondary school English classes. I'm a guy with opinions, who is grateful for my audience around here. Some of you have the eye for typos - I know it. Feel free to correct me in comments if you feel the desire or they bug you. Or continue to graciously ignore my mistakes. I have an unhealthy, defensive, ego in parts of my life - but not on this point. Maybe someday L.R. will have a staff to catch things before I push "publish".
Maybe.

Onward!

So President Obama here is my wish list. In no particular order. I have no hope for you, therefore I am free from foolish expectations. I consider this a plus as we move into your first year.

1. Issue a real executive order to close Gitmo. I know, we all know, it is difficult to solve the problem of those held there who are dangerous. This is not an excuse. It is your job to solve it.

2. Put "Don't ask, Don't tell" to death. It is past time to allow gays an lesbians to serve openly in the military. You do not need to make the same mistake Clinton made and promise the end of this discrimination immediately - however, an executive order phasing out DADT over the course of 2009 is in order. We will be a stronger nation.

3. A reasonable investigation into W era abuses of power is in order. Looking forward without seeing the past clearly is unwise. We need to know what happened even if no one is prosecuted.

4. Reverse Ws executive orders on stem cell research immediately.

5. Ban signing statements.

6. Come clean with the American people about Iraq. We are there and will follow Bush's timetable for withdrawal. You know it, yet many of your most ardent supporters are still delusional about how, when and if, we will leave Iraq. Tell the truth.

7. Release your school records from Occidental and Columbia . The holes in your history need to be filled in. Now. Deal with it.

8. Forget all "czars". Dump them. We don't need and can't tolerate a redundant Federal Government. We don't need and cannot tolerate a shadow government. Either your picks can withstand Congressional hearings and head agencies that already exist or they should not be in the government. A "car czar"??? Come on.

9. Send Timothy Geithner home. For good. If you don't pay taxes, you can't collect them.

10. Reel in TARP now. It is illegal. Specifically, the legislative branch cannot cede the power of the purse strings to the executive branch. As a constitutional lawyer, you know this already. It is W's last and most dangerous extra-constitutional legacy.

11. Brace the country for the coming expansion of the war in Afghanistan. This is for your own good. And ours. Politically, you only risk alienating the far Left - and frankly - you already have. I do not know if this policy is sound or wise. I do know you are going to do it. Tell us how and why.

12. Do what you can to abolish the BCS college football system.

13. Get Hill crackin on the Israel/Hamas problem. Yesterday. No one will be happy with the outcome. Deal with it. Hamas must grow up or go. Our blind allegiance to Israel must end.

14. Put the celebratory Obama orgy to bed immediatly. You're another President, not the second coming. Obamamania has jumped the shark and is gross.

15. Ditch President's day. We should be, and can afford to, honor both our first President and the one who saved the union. Separately. "Business concerns" can get over it. There would be no "business" without Washington and Lincoln.

16. Add a national holiday honoring an American woman (Susan B. Anthony?) or the women's rights movement in general. The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. August is the perfect month for this. Dr. King's birthday holiday is a perfect time to remember the contributions of women and codify them in our national pantheon.

17. Take Pelosi to the woodshed for her restrictions on motions to recommit. This is the minority's only real recourse in the House. And has been in place for a century. I don't like the minority in this case. No one enjoys seeing right wing GOPs cut off at the pass as much as me. So what. Fair is fair. Democracy is messy. Deal with it.

18. Move to make all Federal elections publicly funded. Remember when you were for this? Back before you were against it. In a democracy more cash should not equal more freedom, more say, more power. Money is great. I am all for it. But it perverts politics.