Why Obama should swing for the fences: America's future depends on a radica/ departure from business as usual

Now that we have elected a bLack President, we need to make some more history and reboot, revive, and reinvigorate America.

While it is impossible to exaggerate what a radical departure it is from our past that we have elected a black President, it is equally impossible to exaggerate how much our future depends on a radical departure from our present.Opportunities for bold initiatives and truly new beginnings are rare in our system--in part because of the sheer inertia and stalemate designed into our Constitution, with its deliberate separation of powers, and in part because of the way lobbying money, a 24-hour news cycle, and a permanent presidential campaign all conspire against big changes.In the 1930s, the Great Depression enabled Franklin D. Roosevelt to launch the New Deal and redefine the role of the federal government. In the 1960s, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the civil rights movement enabled Lyndon Johnson to enact his Great Society agenda, including Medicare, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act.We need to get back to work on our country and our planet in wholly new ways. The hour is late, the project couldn't be harder, the stakes couldn't be higher, the payoff couldn't be greater.E-mail: jhancock@desnews.comAccording to the warrant, the tipster told police had seen the small garden and described the marijuana growing in detail."We are very excited and feel fortunate to have Jim on board. Jim is a
perfect fit for our team and his ownership and operations background will
improve the quality of support that our master
franchisee owners receive," said Will Greene, spokesperson for
Vanguard.Contact: Lydia Biagini Vanguard Cleaning Systems, Inc. Phone: (650) 287-2404 Fax: (650) 312-1327 Email: Email ContactI hope Barack Obama is a closet radical. Not radical. left or right, just a radical, because this is a moment for radical departures from business as usual.Thomas L. Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times.

Thomas L. Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times.

Author: Thomas L. Friedman