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I see Madden's point, being a socialist liberal myself (I am still in awe of the article by Michael Lind, "is it ok to be liberal again, instead of progressive?" for its great historical outline and clear perspective) that when many of us voted for Obama we were expecting a clear change, and after all the charges of "same-o" lobed at Hillary by the Obama campaign, seeing some former Clinton policymakers back in the saddle does not seem to be as radical a change as might be needed.
Having said that, I think Clinton surrounded himself with very capable people. To appoint Hillary Clinton to State is a very wise move, as her talent and leadership must be counted upon. But I would like to see Obama reach out to the Democrat left and to the independent left, to Ralph Nader, whose ideas about the crisis and how to solve it are genial, who has proven throughout his career to be a real watchdog for the consumers of the US. I would like to see Obama put the teeth back into the EPA, by naming some of the really committed environmentalists, of whom there are many talented ones. Likewise, I'd like to see a moral stand taken by the appointments to the Justice Dept., CIA and Defense, one that will show us that Obama is really geared to stop the bleeding and torture, physical and financial, brought on by the Iraq war, as well as the Patriot Act's disrespect for civil liberties.
We liberals are proud of it, have always been proud of it, and hope that more people will become proud to be liberals. President-elect Barack Obama,we are with you and ready to help out.
