What has Obama done well?

[12thMan]

Interesting thread...

First I think it's worth mentioning that there are no perfect presidents, no perfect cabinets, and certainly no perfect policies - at least none that a 100% of the people will agree on 100% of the time.

Angry's and Saden's posts, in my opinion, tend to portray a pretty accurate account of his first seven months in office. If nothing else I think he's proven to be an extremely savvy and tactful politician. I'm particularly struck by some of his Republican appointments:

John Hunt (Ambassador to China)
Ray LaHood (Sec. Transportation)
Jim Leach ( National Endowment of the Humanities)
Robert Gates (Sec. of Defense)
John McHugh (Sec. of Army)
General Jim Jones (NSA)

John Hunt and Gen. Jones could easily, and they still may, run for national office one day. Along those same bipartisan lines, in 2007 Obama and Dick Lugar (R) crafted legistlation on nonproliferation law. It wouldn't at all surprise me to learn that Obama and Lugar talk on a regular basis about a host of foreign policy issues. So I find it difficult to swallow the notion that on one hand Obama is some radical leftist trained by terrorists who hates America, yet when I look at the makeup of some of his most trusted advisors and colleagues, they are seasoned men of stature who are anything but radical. It just seems like an unfair standard some here hold him to.