Undoing the damage of the Bush years

My first reaction to reading about President-elect Obama's plans going into office was to wildly cheer. He can by executive order reverse some of the more heinous ideological excesses of Bush in such matters as federal funding of stem cell research, the ill-advised global gag rule on family planning counseling and the denial of California's authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. These are all critical policies where time is of the essence and President Obama has a clear mandate from the electorate to make these changes swiftly.

However, my colleague BJ at Newshoggers also makes a good point. Policy by executive fiat under Bush is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place and the ultimate goal is to restore the checks and balances that were so skewed by the Bush regime. As the wingers will now no doubt rediscover a grave concern for the balance of power now that their party doesn't hold it, it would be good for progressive liberals to remember as well that absolute power corrupts even if it's used for the common good instead of partisan ends.

The pendulum always swings eventually and another administration could once again use it to evil purpose.

[More posts daily at The Newshoggers and The Detroit News.]