American Civilization

I’m getting very tired of all of the news stories which need to evaluate politicians by « the first 100 days. »Â Â  This time the focus is on the Obama presidency, but he’s not the only politician who has been submitted to this rather artificial time line.  In what other kinds of jobs is it necessary to show tangible results in just 100 days?

That being said, it does seem as if Obama has taken off on a sprint.  His presidency can certainly be characterized by the number actions he’s taken in the last 100 days.  Here’s just a sampling of all he’s done:

• signed an order to close Guantanamo
• signed a bill making it easier for employees to sue for work/pay discrimination
• extended health coverage to 4 million uninsured children
• had his economic stimulus bill passed by both houses of Congress
• approved sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan
• set an end date for the U.S. combat mission in Iran
• said he’d be open to approaching moderate Taliban in Afghanistan
• lifted restrictions on the use of federal funds for stem cell research
• called the AIG executive bonuses « an outrage »
• told Iran he wanted to end the differences between the two countries
• forced out the chair of GM, called for a world withou nuclear weapons at a speech in Prague
• told the Turkish parliament that the U.S. is « not at war with Islam »
• lifted restrictions on Cuban Americans visits to Cuba, as well as dropping the limits on money sent to Cuba.

I wonder how realistic it is to keep up this pace!