This week's Letter of the Week comes from regular writer Matt Orr who urges fellow citizens to hold Obama accountable even as he stacks his administration with Clinton-era appointees, including his former opponent Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Thanks for the letter Matt, you can pick up your top secret prize at the Source headquarters, 704 NW Georgia.
No doubt if you were stranded beside the road with four flat tires and the vultures circling you would be grateful to the man who came by and offered you a tow and tire change. You might even shed a tear of renewed hope as the kind man tightened down the last lug nut and pocketed your payment. It would be hard, however, not to harbor a certain disappointment-the kind that could easily turn to anger or resentment-when, at the first rest stop, you noticed a suspicious seam encircling the new tires. Retreads!
Just as there is more than one way to change a tire, there is more than one way to change politics. After George Bush ran the wheels off our national wagon, Obama's "change" comes straight out of Slick Willie's Scrapyard. Obama assured us this week that his many Clinton-era retreads will bring "Experience with fresh thinking." That sounds like the kind of political spin that makes me carsick.
Anjali Kamat writes: "Unless the inspired millions who brought him to power continue to believe their demands matter and insist on holding him accountable each step of the way, it will be Obama's corporate and hawkish friends who determine the domestic and foreign policies of the coming administration and our collective future." Another way to put it is that some retreads work okay, while others are a rip-off - especially if sold as something new.
Matt Orr, Bend
