Your New National Security Team

Defense Secretary: Robert Gates aka the same guy who is already there. Good news, those "Gates: Defense Secretary 4 Life" t-shirts you had made up? They're still valid. On the plus side he's been much, much better than Rumsfeld. On the minus side, the only two lower bars than that are 'better President than George W Bush' and 'less of a craven baby eater than Dick Cheney'. He also might be Bush's one competent selection, but BFD. The rationale is that Obama is going to be so busy personally pulling levers and turning gears to get the economy working he'll need continuity at Defense, so he doesn't have to worry about it. As if they're going to hide all the important papers from the new guy at Defense and Obama will have to come over and help look for them. Concentrating on foreign and domestic policy, isn't this the walking and chewing gum thing we all derided McCain for when he said he couldn't handle a debate and pretending to do something about the financial crisis?

The other school of thought is that when Obama pulls us out of Iraq, disbands the military, and hands over all our soldiers to an Islamic theocracy for trial, that he'll ostensibly need the cover of a Republican Defense Secretary. Yes, because no one will bitch if Gates is around. The final reasoning is "bipartisan blah blah blah" to which I'm making a furious "wank off" hand gesture. Whatever, Gates was open to withdrawal and hasn't been bad, so I give Barack my all important not thrilled, but not angry, 'meh' of approval.

National Security Adviser: General Jim Jones. You thought he died with his followers at that mass suicide in Guyana, didn't you? Nope, he escaped, joined the Marines and rehabilitated himself, rising to NATO supreme commander, then started UK garage/psychedelic/hard rock band Thee Hypnotics. He's back and he's ready to advise. Let's hope his early tenure is better than Condi's, where she spent the months ignoring Richard Clarke, ignoring terrorism, and concentrated on missile defense. I forget what happened after that.

Changey enough? Not changey enough? This are the men making the national security decisions for you when you join the military to escape debtors prison.