This is rather strange. One would have expected things would look definitely more positive and people in a better mood on the very day of the inauguration of a new president of the US.
Sadly, that is not the exact scenario. The world stock markets dip into the negative territory, and unbelievably Dow falls more than 300 points (4%) to close below the 8k mark. This does not augur well for the global economy, reflecting badly on the dire state-of-affairs of the US economy in particular.
One explanation for the lackluster performance could be because consumers may not have that much confidence in the new administration team in bringing the bashed financial institutions back to normal that soon. If that is the case, there is no need to talk big about CHANGE and end up offering false promises.
In short, just quietly and diligently do the necessary work to bring about the correct result via right actions. Show the world Washington CAN and will.
(Tan Boon Tee, btt1943@yahoo.com)
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National-Security Adviser | Continuity Is Key
By Brent Scowcroft
Transitions are interesting, and no single one is typical because they're all different. They depend on whether it's a transition not only of administration but also among parties. It depends on the nature of the president and the nature of the campaign. One of the most difficult parts for any transition will be the national-security framework, especially dealing with the National Security Council. The first time I was transitioned out, I was kind of appalled at the notion. On Inauguration Day, movers came and all the safes were locked and moved out. All the people walked out and closed the doors. A new administration then came into empty offices. I remember thinking, "What a way to run a system." Sadly, that's still the way they run it.
The easiest thing is when you inherit the position from someone you can work with, like I did with Colin Powell in 1989. The hardest will be one like the one ahead. This transition will be very complicated, mainly in terms of the financial crisis. President Bush is going to have a conference in the middle of November with all the finance ministers of the G8. He's the president, yes, but he's not going to implement anything that comes from that meeting. The question will be what he does for the president-elect. There are still more tough decisions the president will make; many, if not all of them, will have an impact on the next president.
To whoever takes over as national-security adviser, I would say this: when you get there, you should ask for a list of the status of any ongoing discussions with any foreign country. That has to come directly from the office of the incumbent. Then I would follow up on that with anything that looks like it needs papers. To get anything after the fact means an enormous process involving legal government requests. To do it beforehand would mitigate that process.
History has shown that the president meets with his secretary of state maybe once a week. But he meets with the national-security adviser almost once a day. That person has to represent the views of many different cabinet members honestly and accurately to the president. If he or she doesn't, and there's not that trust, the system will break down. But the challenge is also to be the national-security adviser to the president, unassociated with the affiliation with any other department bureaucracies. Maintaining those separately is very complicated. If it's done well, you have a smoothly functioning system. If not, you'll have deadlock.
—Brent Scowcroft was national-security adviser under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush
© 2008
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